Posted by Brian Reed on April 23rd, 2011 ~
0 Comments In front of a group of children, puppet shows can present fables with a moral of the story, teach different subjects using puppetry as the medium, and entertain the children with skits, comedy, and music. Puppet shows, the traditional children’s entertainment, are back in demand with the same techniques but with a host of new stories, contemporary topics, and of course dolls and puppets that attract todays generation.
Says one puppeteer, From birthday parties to traditional events and even at the summer camps, the demand for puppet shows is increasing day by day. In fact, many of the parents are preferring to go for puppet shows as compared to magic shows just because of the storytelling aspect involved in it.
For any art to survive, changing with the times is something very important, and children’s birthday puppet shows are no different. Today, puppet shows are also a common feature in schools, library shows, and other events featuring kid’s entertainment. One such place that holds regular puppet shows has recorded an increase in the number of children of all ages watching the shows. Read more…
Tags: Puppet Shows, Shows
Posted by Sara Lopez on April 18th, 2011 ~
0 Comments Just finishing your academic year and looking for a summer job so you can make some money over the summer?
One solution to the “how am I going to make some money this summer” question is to start your own business, working for yourself rather than working for someone else. While some people are still looking for a summer job, your own business will already be up and running – and making money.
And if you’re continuing your studies in September, you may be able to continue running your business part-time and keep making money while you’re going to school. Here are the best business ideas for students.
Getting Your New Business Off the Ground:
Posted by Brian Reed on April 17th, 2011 ~
0 Comments TEMPE, AZ–(E&E Exhibit Solutions April 13, 2011) – No matter the current economic climate, smart trade show and event marketers continually look for ways to reduce costs and improve return on investment. However, the cost of custom displays can quickly escalate beyond your budget. This year, consider custom trade show booth rentals and save about 60 percent on your display budget.
While show management companies do offer booth rental kits at a fraction of the cost of custom booths, these basic kits lack the ability to be customized to your specific functional needs — which may include interactive kiosks, large presentation areas or conference rooms — in addition to not adequately showcasing your corporate images and brand messaging. Frankly, show management booth rentals look rented. Protect your brand image with trade show booth rentals that can be customized to look purchased at a third of the cost. Custom trade show booth rentals look like you own your display without the same financial investment.
Four Reasons Trade Show Display Rentals are the Smart Choice:
1.
Read more…
Tags: Exhibit Solutions, Solutions
Posted by Sara Lopez on April 17th, 2011 ~
0 Comments I’m well into my business plan marathon again this year, in Houston today looking forward to judging the Rice Business Plan Competition, one of my favorites.
Regarding business plans, instead of just complaining (again) about unrealistically high profitability projections, today I have some specific suggestions. And this has nothing whatsoever to do with the six excellent plans I’ve read for my part of the judging today.
But, as my mother used to say: “if the shoe fits, wear it.”
The underlying problem is that projecting high profits doesn’t usually mean you have a great business plan. It almost always means that you’ve underestimated expenses or direct costs. It’s usually a bad thing, rarely a good thing.
So here are those concrete suggestions:
- Compare your projected profitability (net profits or pretax profits as percent of sales) to standard industry profiles. The most well-known source in the Annual Statement Studies published by Risk Management Associates (RMA). These will give you standard profitability rates for more than 700 common types of business. I searched th
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Posted by Nathan Torres on April 16th, 2011 ~
0 Comments When you have $60,000 of credit card debt and you can barely afford the payments, all you can think of is a way out. You dont want to file bankruptcy, because of the long-lasting consequences. Other debt relief strategies, like credit counseling and debt consolidation may not work for you because you dont qualify or because you cant afford time. Do it yourself debt settlement is a much-neglected solution, but one that could work for you.
Heres how DIY debt settlement works: you would get your creditors to accept around $30K on your $60K of debt. The credit card issuers cancel the rest of the debt. The slate is clean and youre completely debt-free (unless you have mortgage or student loan debt thats more difficult to settle).
There are several steps, and maybe a few years, in between you and debt freedom. This do it yourself debt settlement guide will help you understand what you need to do to settle your debts.
Consequences of Debt Settlement
Before you decide to go through with debt settlement, you should know there are some negative side-effects to the strategy.
Read more…
Tags: Debt, Debt Settlement
Posted by Sara Lopez on April 15th, 2011 ~
0 Comments there are two things you need to know:
1) Even though self-employed people have longer to file their Canadian income tax (until June 15th), they don’t have longer to pay whatever Canadian income tax they owe; you still only have until April 30th to pay your income tax. (although this year, because April 30th is a Saturday, you get a bit of a break and have until the Monday, May 2, to pay up.
2) There are late-filing penalties if you don’t file your income tax return on time. (The standard late-filing penalty is 5% of the balance owing and an additional 1% of the balance owing for each full month that your return is late, to a maximum of 12 months – but if you haven’t filed for several years, the penalty for filing your Canadian income tax late could even be higher.)
So you’ll want to at least make a “guesstimate” and pay what you think you’re owing by April 30th, even if you’re not able to get your income tax filed by that date.
Tags: Canadian Income, Canadian Income Tax, Income Tax, Tax
Posted by Brian Reed on April 10th, 2011 ~
0 Comments Business owners often have to make tough decisions when it comes to their bottom lines. Unfortunately, for many self-employed and micro-businesses, health insurance has become a luxury item – purchased when times are good and given up during times of belt-tightening. A contributing factor to this “unhealthy” reality is the fact that the self-employed do not receive a tax benefit for purchasing coverage, unlike every other type of business entity, which can write off the cost of health insurance as a business expense.
Congress passed a temporary reprieve of this minor quirk in the tax code that has a major effect on our nation’s smallest businesses when it passed the Small Business Jobs Act last fall. For the 2010 tax year, self-employed business owners are able to deduct the cost of their health care coverage, which will put about 15 percent of their premium back in their pocket. The average self-employed business owner, who pays about $3,000 a year in health insurance premiums or $6,300 for family coverage, will save $456 to $962 in taxes on this year’s deduction.
A large business might not notice such a relatively modest amount of extra cash on its books, but this is not an insignificant amount to a self-employed business owner. The tempo
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Tags: Businesses, Businesses Get