May 17, 2010

Gold Vending Machine

AFP: There’s no mistaking what’s in this vending machine. The well-heeled in the Gulf can now grab “gold to go” from a hotel lobby in the United Arab Emirates, when the need for a quick ingot strikes. On Thursday, a day after its inauguration, the shiny machine attracted spectators of many different nationalities who gathered […]

Gold Vending Machine Read More »

My Biz: The Comfort Company

Renee Wood says she’s used to weeping at work. She runs an online bereavement-gift outfit, Comfort Co., from suburban Geneva and gets calls all day from people who want to buy something special for someone who has just lost a loved one, reports BusinessWeek. Compassion comes naturally to Wood–she was a social worker in a

My Biz: The Comfort Company Read More »

What’s Holding Women Back?

The Wall Street Journal: The phenomenal growth of women-owned businesses has made headlines for three decades–women consistently have been launching new enterprises at twice the rate of men, and their growth rates of employment and revenue have outpaced the economy. So, it is dismaying to see that, despite all this progress, on average, women-owned business

What’s Holding Women Back? Read More »

My Biz: Little Pim

Her father, renowned linguist Dr. Paul Pimsleur, was the brains behind a language learning system that bears his last name. So when Julia Pimsleur Levine, then a documentary filmmaker, wanted to teach her first son how to speak French, she was understandably picky. According to BusinessWeek, audio learning materials for myriad languages based on her

My Biz: Little Pim Read More »

My Biz: Harrison Harmonicas

The harmonica may seem as American as the blues. But for years, virtually every harmonica in the U.S. was made somewhere else, with Germany’s Hohner accounting for most of them. Musicians now have a homegrown alternative reports BusinessWeek. On Feb. 1, Harrison Harmonicas shipped its first batch of products from a workshop in a business

My Biz: Harrison Harmonicas Read More »

My Biz: YoYo Lip Gloss

BusinessWeek reports that Angie Onassis Parlionas admits she was “obsessed with lip gloss as a kid.” But between softball games and wrestling matches, she often ended up having to buy yet another tube after losing the one she had been using. Today’s generation of girls can be flighty, and it won’t cost them. Parlionas, 31,

My Biz: YoYo Lip Gloss Read More »

Franchisor Services

EuropeanFranchising.net: Callswitch Technologies is a UK-based business that provides a range of communication packages to franchisors in the UK and European franchisors looking to expand their business concepts into the UK market. The company was established in 2006 and draws upon its founders’ 30 years of experience in the telecom industry. Over the years Callswitch

Franchisor Services Read More »

My Biz: Beer Chips

When Brett Stern sees a problem, he fixes it. A lifelong tinkerer, the 50-year-old inventor used his expertise in industrial design to market snack foods, so says BusinessWeek. Unable to find a beer-flavored potato chip, Stern whipped up his own batch. Within two years, he was shipping packages of aptly named Beer Chips, which retail

My Biz: Beer Chips Read More »