7 Step Consulting

Interesting Business: Ringtones

It’s one of those businesses I haven’t paid much attention to. But something you might want to look into if you’re looking to start a business.

There’s a new website that provides you with Rap Ringtones. The website is clean and not cluttered with all kinds of ads. Something I truly can appreciate. I’d give the design an overall thumbs up.

Michael Phelps is a Beast

Seriously. The kid is just a sick swimmer. Sick in the best sense… but sick nonetheless.

That relay last night (the 4×100 Men’s Freestyle) was one of the best sporting events I’ve seen in quite some time.

I still think the Olympics are… different… being hosted in China. But I’ve got to hand it to them. The opening ceremonies were amazing.

Disaster Recovery Plan

Do you have a disaster recovery plan? This could be an individual or family disaster recovery plan… or something really big like a corporation wide disaster recovery plan.

I’ve been learning a lot in a course I am taking currently. Primarily that people are overconfident, think they are in more control than they really are, and think more good things and less bad things will happen. I like to call it the “ostrich symptoms”. Plainly put, you don’t think that anything could possibly happen to your business’ core operations because of a disaster. That kind of stuff happens to the other guys, not us.

Well, it just might. And if you don’t have a disaster recovery plan in place, you’re risking more than you know. (Just ask business owners in New Orleans right after Katrina).

How can you prepare for a disaster? First off, have a plan.

After you’ve got a plan, what you need is power. That’s where a solid kubota diesel generator can come in extremely handy in a pinch.

But this isn’t just for commercial or industrial applications. You might want to consider getting a diesel generators for your home if you live in a remote area. It’s one of those things you hope you never need to use — but you just might. GenSetCentral can connect you with all kinds of generators. The website is easy on the eyes and doesn’t have a lot of flashy looking graphics. It’s actually rather refreshing rather than looking dated.

A Long Week

We have a crazy project going on right now. There are a bunch of our consultants flying across the country from site to site doing project implementations.

No big deal, right? Sure, when the project lead and his assistant are in the office.

They leave for one day, and all heck breaks loose.

Let’s just say this afternoon was a tad bit stressful…

Proper Incentive Packages

The company I work for makes a ton of money every year. Correction… several tons of money every year. We’re flowing in cash. No problems with internally financed growth here. No debt. No need for an IPO. Just one big crazy company.

Every year, the top performers in our company get to go on an awesome trip to a tropical area and … hang out, I guess. I haven’t been around long enough to get to go just yet, but I hear it’s great. (As one might expect — I mean they are in some tropical locale…).

Also every year we do a big national meeting with a majority of the employees going. I’d say at least 75% of the workforce gets to go to this very expensive meeting every year. I liken it to a church camp experience.

Now, why would companies go on and spend lots of money on trips like this? Well, they have a solid understanding with the math behind a properly balanced and scheduled meeting or incentive trip.

I hadn’t thought of this before, but if a lot of other organizations do this, someone has to help all of these companies manage the process and not spend little or too much money. You want to spend just the right about and get a huge return on your investment.

The folks at Peak Performance can help you do this with incentive management meeting assistance.
They’ve got the experience to help shape your incentive trip into something truly worthwhile for the company and the employees. The Meeting and Incentive Planner you work with will make sure everything goes according to plan.

And you didn’t get to be this size of a company without planning, did you?

China: Open Country? Closed Country?

We’re still watching the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics. (Did I mention I love DVR? Best $5 we spend every month.)

So I’m listening to the talking heads on NBC give all of the imagery and thought behind what is going on with the 15,000 performers that are doing the opening ceremonies. How they want the world to see China in a new light, an open light.

But Tianemen Square was not too long ago… let us not forget…

Franchising?

Have you thought about franchising your business? Or have you recommended it to any of your consultation clients?

Or are you still working up the corporate ladder.. or perhaps stuck on one of the lower rungs of the corporate ladder? It can be expensive in some cases, but maybe franchising is the best option for you to start up your very own business.

But where to start?

Excellent question. The folks at My Franchise Path want to help you make that decision. Their process will connect you with a multitude of franchise opportunities. The best part is they will help you narrow down your selections based on industry or investment level required to get started.

So if you have a love of interior decorating, you might look at window covering franchise. Or maybe you don’t love interior decorating, but the franchise opportunity seems like the best fit and the investment required to get started is lower than others.

I’ve always thought of opening up my very own car shop. But I don’t know the first thing about setting up a shop like that — there is a lot of heavy, expensive equipment involved. Too little expensive equipment and you can’t service your customers. Too much and you’ve paid out too much. Maybe you should look at some car repair franchise opportunities to help you make your decision.

So take a look at the website — it is easy to navigate and gives you a lot of great information.

The 2008 Olympics

China. A closed communist country. A developing economic system.

Over one billion people. One crazy opening ceremony.

What do you think of all the politics behind the Olympics? Pretty nuts just watching it on TV…

Hmmm… Lasik

I’ve got to admit, Lasik eye surgery makes me nervous. I’m not sure why… probably because I am not fully educated on the subject.

For the uneducated, Lasik is the laser eye surgery that can help eliminate your need for contacts or glasses.

For me, it makes me nervous. I’ve heard they’re essentially pointing a laser at your eye — with you conscious and awake — and they melt part of your eye… or something like that. Doesn’t sound too pleasant. Quite the understatement. Remember, you’re awake! Ahh!

I’ve also heard that most doctors that do Lasik still have glasses which wouldn’t give me a lot of confidence in the procedure. I’m guessing that isn’t exactly true and could easily be proven untrue. I’m not sure if there is a significant difference in Lasik in different parts of the country — but you might want to try Lasik in San Francisco if you’re in the area.

Georgia Isn’t Half Bad

We love Georgia. I went to school in Georgia. I would have been happy anywhere in the south, but Georgia really wasn’t all that bad. (Except for the Georgia Bulldawg fans…!)

We now live one state over in Alabama, but still make regular trips back to Georgia… specifically the Atlanta area. I made some really great friends in college and now, of course, all of them live in Georgia around Atlanta. We actually just made a trip back the other weekend to celebrate one of my best friends’ birthdays.

I used to go there a lot with my parents a lot. We would go to the Lenox mall area. I remember one Atlanta tours trip that took us to Atlanta Underground and Coca Cola World. I was rather young, but remember it being really cool. I think it was leading up to the Olympics being in Atlanta… so there was a lot of Olympic stuff for sale. We had bignets at a shop at the Atlanta Underground.

One of the most memorable things about that trip was the tour of Coca Cola World. At the end of the tour you could taste one of what seemed like hundreds of world wide sodas. I had something from Italy that was by far the worst thing I have ever put in my mouth.

My parents thought it was hilarious. Ha. Ha.

When I went back to Georgia this weekend to be with friends, we discussed going to Savannah as part of our next real group trip. (By real group trip I mean going someplace other than someone’s house.) If we end up doing that, probably sometime in January of 2009, we will need to take some Savannah tours since none of us are from there. Should be fun!