Its Own World

The main reason for this is they make products that are consumed by the general public. Their target is not a special industry or sector; these companies try to have as much broad appeal as possible.

There are other companies that are not so well known. These companies often focus on certain industries and perform important roles in their field. Take the case of SMIT.  With a 170 year history, it’s older than Apple and Microsoft combined. Though it has performed jobs all over the world you don’t really hear much about it since it does not directly deal with the general public.

Perhaps that’s why on the company’s website the heading is, “Welcome to SMIT’s World”.  The world of SMIT is in the maritime industry, but not the more glamorous cruise liner sector.  It may be the company whose tugboat is safely guiding a magnificent cruise ship as it leaves or enters a busy port.

SMIT has four lines of businesses:

• Harbor Towage - it has over 150 port and coastal tugs that provide the vital link of guiding ships and cargo through the world’s major ports.
• Terminals - it has expertise in handling all aspects of port terminal operations.
• Salvage - whether it’s emergency response, wreck removal or environment care, the company has world-wide resources and expertise to tackle the job.  One of its better known salvage operations involved the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk. 
• Transport and Heavy Lift - it provides tugs, transport barges, support vessels, and self-propelled floating sheerlegs.

SMIT’s world is certainly not glamorous. In fact it can get dirty and downright unglamorous with all the heavy equipment involved.  It’s a world that helps keep the global economy working. The company uses and deals with machinery and equipment that costs millions or hundreds of millions of dollars.  This must be combined with the right personnel to handle this equipment.

SMIT was acquired in 2010 by Royal Boskalis Westminster. Boskalis is a giant in its own right with revenues in the billions of Euros range.  Like SMIT, this company is no stranger to the unglamorous world Since its core business is dredging and earthmoving.

SpreadShirt: Giving the Power of Fashion to All

SpreadShirt customers are able to go crazy with more than one hundred different articles of clothing as they create their own designs and messages with which to customize these articles of clothing.

The messages and designs can be used to market a club or a business or just be something that you think looks cool. The SpreadShirt website also gives the budding fashionista in all of us a way to create our own online shop to sell what we have created. SpreadShirt truly puts the ability to create one’s own style at your fingertips.

Its website boasts that there are over 400,000 SpreadShirt shops open all day and night so you can be sure your creation will be made and sent to you soon after you order it. To continue to give people the power to create their own fashion, SpreadShirt has the following goals:

• Impress everyone: designers, customers, shop partners, their employees and their industry.
• Wow their customers with exceptional quality and speed.
• Create a platform which is fun and easy to use for both Salvador Dalís and Homer Simpsons.
• Communicate openly with their community and encourage them to actively take part in SpreadShirt’s mission.
• To be a fun and inspiring place to work, where reliability is a constant in a changing environment.

SpreadShirt seems as if it could be a great way for parents and their children to work together to design clothing that is both fun and parent-approved.

Montana's Contribution To The Craft Beer Revolution

Out of the Great White North -- Missoula, Montana, to be exact -- a relatively young newcomer to the exploding American craft beer market is sweeping across the plains with a memorable menu of brews whose names have been inspired by the traditions of the Rocky Mountains themselves. Big Sky Brewing, founded in 1995 through a comprehensive start-up process by a pair of transplanted Michiganders and a native Montana business major, currently sells more than half a million bottles of beer annually in about half of the fifty United States.

Big Sky becomes less and less of a secret to the craft beer-buying public every year -- in no small part because of unforgettable label names like Trout Slayer Wheat and the brewery's flagship label, Moose Drool Brown Ale. These monikers are no coincidence: the brewers consciously chose to create their market identity through Montana's distinctive wildlife. In the case of Moose Drool, it probably doesn't hurt that the word "drool" rhymes with another term historically associated with a Western dietary staple: gruel.

Of course, nomenclature alone does not make a great beer. Big Sky augments its menu of tasty selections with both a pair of seasonal brews (Powder Hound Winter Ale and Summer Honey Ale), as well as a handful of limited releases -- all of which incorporate unusual marriages of diverse hop selections.

For a taste of the rugged Montana life, nothing beats a Big Sky Brew.

Drop the Chalk: Teaching in the 21st Century

Although data driven teaching has become a buzzword in academic circles, the time it takes to develop a real understanding of it; how best to implement data driven techniques; and the simple act of collecting the data can be overwhelming. To quote the slogan of the startup company Drop the Chalk, the key is to “be data driven, not data drowning.” The feeling of drowning is something the company is hoping to eliminate with its intuitive program, Kickboard. Founded in 2011 by Jennifer Medbery, Drop the Chalk is focused on making new, technologically advanced programs for teachers that are easy to learn, use, and master. Kickboard is its first program, and will be used in nine cities for the school year 2012-2013.

Jen Schnidman discusses Drop the Chalk

Despite its name, Kickboard is not a replacement for a teacher’s blackboard; it is a way for teachers to track, analyze, and react to data about their classrooms and the needs of specific students. That in and of itself requires an ocean of data which Kickboard allows the teacher to navigate with ease; thanks to a simple, easy-to-use interface. Things like learning trends, grade ratios between subjects, between grade levels, or anything else, can be calculated and viewed with a few clicks.

Traditional teaching methods have their fair share of disadvantages. The American educational system has remained virtually unchanged for decades. While other industries adapt to changing demands and new information, the majority of schools trudge along much as they have been. Granted, not everything about the traditional model is negative or needs to change but the Kickboard program is something new in that it supplements a teacher or administrator’s intuition about what works or does not with actual data.

The advantages to this are two-fold: first, it takes pressure off the teachers, a group of people who are already burdened with enough stress, by making new data driven methods simple and achievable; second, students will benefit from teachers whose style has been tailored to perfection. Kickboard helps to make data driven less of a buzzword and more of a reality.

A Green Resource for the Informed Consumer

As part of the global green movement, Lin Merage and Solne Collections believe in participating in a culture of hope. Everything people do contribute to their relationship to the natural environment, and Lin Merage, the Chief Executive Officer of Solne Collections, provides one way for individuals to make informed decisions about their purchases of everyday things like clothing, accessories, health and beauty items, and food.

This commitment to excellence in organic, earth-conscious living resounds in every aspect of Solne Collections, from the products to its employees. Lin Merage remains passionate about offering new solutions for daily living that help eliminate harmful toxins and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from household environments.

Lin Merage belongs to Organic Trade Association, as well as the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Green Building Council Colorado. Firmly dedicated to promoting a culture of healthy, organic living, Lin Merage has attended West Coast Green: The World’s Leading Event on Green Innovation Conference, the International Green Build Council Expo, and multiple Summit events hosted by AlwaysOn Network, LLC.

For Lin Merage, Solne is more than a business. It embodies the potential for empowering people in their everyday lives. No detail of daily life is too small for consideration by Lin Merage and her team of skilled professionals at Solne. For example, the company offers a full line of baby products, with everything from blankets and clothes to safe, non-toxic toys. The bodies of babies and toddlers are developing and absorbing everything around them, and Solne understands the desire of parents to surround their children with a healthy, nourishing environment. Lin Merage ensures that her clothing is free of harmful dyes and synthetic material, and that cleaning supplies and home products are toxin-free.

By providing products that are grown, harvested, and assembled using sustainable, environmentally friendly methods, Solne plays an important part in the responsible stewardship of the earth. Practicing informed environmental responsibility allows everyone to live healthier lives today and leave behind a cleaner, more sustainable planet for future generations.

Gemvara: A (Customized) Diamond in the Rough

Everyone knows what he/she likes; it may seem like stating the obvious, but in many ways a person is asked to choose between several previously-available options rather than true freedom of choice. If you’re shopping for a green shirt, for example, the store will have green shirts to choose from; but if you have a specific shade in mind, chances are you’ll have to find one that is close enough as opposed to the one, exact shade. If you are shopping for jewelry, even though there can be an apparently limitless number of options, chances are still good that the item you choose will still be only close enough.

Matt Lauzon, founder of the online company Gemvara, had a vision where customers could design every aspect of their jewelry and have it professionally crafted. Gemvara is committed not only to customer choice, but also to customer service; and has a wide spectrum of always-available options to helping anyone with questions or concerns regarding their design or the very act of purchasing jewelry online. Lauzon’s ingenuity has won Gemvara two rounds of venture capital funding; and the forty person team plans to expand to seventy employees and designers while offering even more options for its customers.

As the world begins to recover from the economic recession, more and more  businesses that offer customizable products or perhaps more importantly operate without a standing inventory like Gemvara are the way of the future. Such a model cuts down on costs because it means businesses do not have unsold inventory sitting on the books; in addition to the bonus of not having storage expenses. For businesses in high-end markets like jewelry, customization means that customers will likely have a higher degree of attachment to the product and, consequently, to the business that provided it.

Los Angeles Tax Consulting and Management

Serving the greater Los Angeles community, Duban Sattler and Associates, LLP, offers comprehensive tax consulting and management services, as well as retirement and estate planning. The firm is led by Managing Partner Dennis Duban, who, as a licensed CPA, has over three decades of experience in the financial industry.

One particular issue affecting corporate clients in California is an increasingly complex tax structure. As state and local governments fall short of funding goals, they look towards corporate revenues as ways of garnering funds. Regulations of concern involve franchise, income, payroll, property, and sales taxes, as well as city business taxes, which often put business owners at a distinct disadvantage, as they are based on gross revenues instead of on net income. A company can be underwater financially and still owe substantial city business tax penalties.

Another corporate concern is new State Board of Equalization enforcement protocol, which targets foreign account reporting and use taxes on out-of-state purchases. Increased regulatory oversight not only increases business tax burdens, but also adds significant expenses in complying with complex tax reporting requirements. Given the state’s political environment, a number of firms are considering moves to states with more business-friendly tax structures. His company provides due diligence prior to such moves, and is often retained by firms after their transition is complete.

Despite significant tax hurdles, Southern California remains a dynamic corporate environment, attracting many of the nation’s best and brightest professionals. A key challenge faced by businesses involves engineering expansion within a challenging capital-lending environment. Duban Sattler and Associates, LLP, focuses on fundamentals, establishing close communication with banks and other institutions, providing a wealth of accounting detail on behalf of clients seeking corporate loans. Dennis Duban and his team assist financial institutions in compiling documents that meet the stringent expectations of auditors and boards of directors.

Duban Sattler and Associates, LLP, is located in Los Angeles, at the Dennis L. Duban Building, 4250 Wilshire Boulevard. Information on the firm’s accountancy, tax preparation, and other financial services is accessible at DubanSattlerCPAs.com.

Reducing Errors in the Healthcare Industry

Unless you work in the medical field, you’ve most likely never heard of McKesson. You may have seen a box of tissues bearing its logo at your doctor’s office or signed your credit card receipt with one of tits pens, but have you ever wondered what it is or what it does? Today, McKesson is involved in healthcare distribution and healthcare information systems and is one of the largest healthcare providers in the U.S. It was ranked at number 15 on the Fortune 500 in 2011 with revenue in excess of $108 billion.

Founded in 1833 as a company that imported botanical drugs and sold them wholesale, McKesson has grown into a medical powerhouse, distributing more than 30 percent of the pharmaceuticals used in the U.S. each day and supplying healthcare information technology systems to more than 70 percent of the country’s larger hospitals. It has pioneered technologies that make patient tracking and treatment safer for the patient and easier for healthcare providers, thus improving the quality of healthcare throughout the U.S.

Although the company did face a scandal in 1938, which lead to the Securities and Exchange Commission to enact more stringent laws regarding public companies using independent auditing companies to verify their financial information, it came back stronger and has gone on to become one of the oldest continually operating companies in the country.

In a medical community that is continually overworked and understaffed, life threatening mistakes occur when medical personnel are rushed and key pieces of information are overlooked or there is failure to properly identify a patient. McKesson is continually working to reduce the possibility of errors with better information tracking systems and barcode scanning programs that ensure that the patient receives the correct treatment all the time. These types of systems are critical to the continued success of the healthcare industry in the U.S.

Money, Money, Riding PayPal Around the World!

The world is more interconnected than ever these days. You can go virtually to any place in the world with the means currently available. You can go by boat, land vehicle, or airplane.  Inventions and innovations have made these all possible.

Communication too has made the world ever smaller. We have the landline phone and the cell phone to provide communication on the go for the masses.  The internet has made the world a smaller place, we not only communicate by typing and voice, but we can even have video.

This trend has also happened in the world of finance. Before you could do telegraphic transfers that usually involved the same bank or correspondent a bank and you needing to physically go to the bank to execute the transaction. Then came the remittance services which enable you to transfer money from one location to another. Again you had to go to a physical location to execute the transaction.

One company has successfully used the internet to execute funds transfers. This company is PayPal. While your initial transaction may involve opening up an account with an accredited bank, the rest of the transaction can be done through the internet.  This has made the lives of millions of people much easier. With your email address you can do a host of financial transactions.

PayPal is an online payment company founded in 1998.

Not only has this made things easier, but it has also opened up new opportunities. With PayPal, even small sized companies or individuals can do cross country payment transactions, without the hassle of having to go to a bank or a remittance center.  Online auctions also benefit from the service PayPal brings, which eventually led to PayPal being purchased by Ebay for a cool $1.5 billion in 2002.  Its stated annual revenue was $3.4 billion in 2010 and represents close to 40% of Ebay’s annual revenue. This was not a bad purchase.

Like any institution that has grown large, PayPal has had its share of controversies.  There are quite a number of websites dedicated to inform people about what’s wrong with PayPal. It also got hacked when it closed the account of Wikileaks.

The vast majority of clients know the convenience and security this service provides. It does charge fees; it is a business after all.  It’s continued existence and profitability is a testament to its success. Why is it successful? As one who uses it, I know why it’s successful. It works!

The Fundamentals of Facebook

While Facebook is far from a small business today, it got its start in a Harvard University dorm room in February 2004. The social networking site was only available to students at Harvard to begin with, but quickly expanded to include other Boston-area colleges and universities, and eventually colleges and universities across the United States. and Canada. Now Facebook is open to all users, not only those in college, and currently boasts 800 million active users.

In its less than ten years of operation, Facebook has been the subject of a blockbuster movie, several lawsuits, and a media storm. The beauty of the free social networking site is that it allows users to see what their friends and family are doing and lets them stay connected through a centralized location. Users can find long-lost friends as well as make new friends who share common interests or play the same games.

Although other companies, including Google Inc., have tried to launch their own social networking sites, Facebook remains the most popular social network choice. Continued development brings new features regularly, including the ability to log into other sites using your Facebook login information. Additionally, most smartphones offer Facebook apps, so users can stay connected on the go, uploading pics they snap with their camera phone and “checking in” at area locations.

One of the biggest benefits for businesses advertising on Facebook is the ability to target consumers based on the information they provided in their Facebook profile as well as the pages they’ve liked. This allows advertisers to target the consumers most likely to use their goods and services. This benefits consumers as well as they are made aware of local offers as well as offers that are based on their interests and likes.

Facebook is currently estimated to be worth more than $66 billion and an initial public offering is expected in the spring of 2012.

Starbucks

Whether you savour the flavour, tolerate its taste, or use it solely as an early morning pick-me-up, there’s no denying that coffee has become a commodity many cannot live without. With revenues of over $10 billion US dollars in 2010, Starbucks is certainly extracting every last drop from those little black beans.

Caffeine can be addictive. Socially however, there is very little stigma attached to a caffeine addiction. Certainly, you wouldn’t be too pleased if your office had a designated ‘Coffee Drinking Area’, forcing people to stand outside in the cold and rain, quickly drinking their brews so they don’t get soaked. But just look around you as you go about your morning routine, virtually every desk has its own coffee mug. Think of all those lost employee hours, as they stand in front of the kettle, chatting idly with Susan from accounts, waiting for their next fix. 

Coffee has been cleverly marketed as quite a sexy product. Especially during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the idea of inviting a lady friend back to your penthouse for a coffee was seen as quite the romantic gesture. Though how you were expected to enjoy each other’s company once you both had coffee breath is anyone’s guess. 

Then with the 1990’s came TV show ‘Friends’, truly glamourizing the coffee house experience. Unsurprisingly, many wished to live that lifestyle – perhaps ignoring the small fact that even with the combined income of a chef and a waitress, they still wouldn’t be able to cover the rent of a Manhattan apartment. 

You only need to venture into a Starbucks coffeehouse today to see people trying to recreate that lifestyle. Whether typing up their latest blog post on a shiny Macbook Pro, or curled up on the couch, discussing the events of last night with a girlfriend, the Western world has embraced coffeehouse culture – a fact not lost on Starbucks who now have over 17000 stores in 50 different countries.

Whatever your take on Starbucks – whether you like or loathe their coffee, admire or dislike their corporate policies, think they have too many stores already or can’t wait for one to open in your area – you cannot deny their ability to capitalise on the popularity of the lifestyle their product implies, and with a net profit of nearly $1 billion US during 2010, it’s clearly one that many people buy in too.