Archive for October 5th, 2011
FoamAroma: A Better Coffee Lid
FoamAroma: In 2007 inspiration presented itself to Craig Bailey in the form of a latte at a coffee shop in Ridgefield, WA. Why was the foamy latte so much better while drinking it in the shop from a ceramic mug compared to the typical to-go paper cup and lid? The issue is the plastic lid. [...]
Truancy costs school districts as much as $50 per day per student. Two California high school students realized that offering a service to combat it was a huge opportunity. The NY Times has more: Zak Kukoff, 16, and Jonathan Yan, 18, classmates, started TruantToday after Mr. Kukoff skipped a 7 a.m. honors geometry class at [...]
Pepsi Pink: Carbonated Strawberry Milk?
InventorSpot: Just in time for Japan’s “winter party season” comes Pepsi Pink, a blush-tinted cola which should sell well in the homeland of Hello Kitty. According to Pepsi Japan, new Pepsi Pink is bursting with the rich aroma and refreshing taste of strawberry milk. Is the world ready for carbonated strawberry milk, or at least [...]
Truck Sales Up: Economy is Rebounding?
More than 7 million light trucks were sold in September, which was the highest monthly sales count for trucks in 3 and-one-half years going all the way back to March of 2008 (see chart above). September truck sales were up by 9.5% compared to August and up by 20.3% compared to last September. Why are [...]
Starbucks Tips to Fund Startups
Bloomberg: Howard Schultz is giving new meaning to “start me up.” The increasingly activist Starbucks Corp. chief executive officer is taking donations online and through Starbucks cafes to create a small business lending fund. The company will donate $5 million in seed money to give the project, umm, a jolt. That money can be leveraged [...]
A farmer in Colorado tried hiring American workers in place of migrant labor. It didn’t go so well: “It didn’t take me six hours to realize I’d made a heck of a mistake,” Mr. Harold said, standing in his onion field on a recent afternoon as a crew of workers from Mexico cut the tops [...]
Does Social Media Make Us Lazy?
What was once said about television has made its way into social media: too much of it makes us lazy. At least, that is the theory Edward De Bono has, according to News.com.au. “There’s a danger in the internet and social media,” says Mr De Bono. “The notion that information is enough, that more-and-more information [...]
Names like Levi Strauss and Rube Goldberg are generally well known for many reasons, but the Quincy Herald Whig looks at what these people did before they reached fame. Levi Strauss (1829-1902) Twenty-four-year-old Levi Strauss left New York for San Francisco in 1853 to open a dry goods store with his sister and brother-in-law. They [...]
Chinese Entrepreneurs Fleeing From Debts
A lot of focus has been placed on the need to grow small business in the United States, but what about China? A recent article from AFP highlights a need for change in the way money is loaned to small businesses in their country. China’s banks — which are not allowed to charge higher interest [...]
What Entrepreneurs Need To Know About PR
According to Forbes, there are five must-haves for successful public relations. Three of them are below. Does your small business have what it needs? Write Well. All the tools in the world won’t help if nobody reads your tweets, posts, pitches or press releases. Josh Ochs, a social media guru in Los Angeles, says, “Great [...]
