Company Archives - Page 2 of 3 - BOLLYWOOD SURKHIYAN

Can a Market Research Company Increase Business Opportunities

Research can be used companies of any scale to build a strong foundation, understand their product, know their market segments. A Market research company guarantees them these benefits.

Helping companies with how they conduct business:

A startup is smaller in scale and enters their market with the intention of positioning themselves as a unique name with a unique product or service. So, naturally they want to cater to a niche market. A good amount of research can be used to help build a product and get it out to that market. They can even determine why consumers may not want to purchase that product.

With relevant data, they can identify their target segments in a market. You see, start-ups know that a type of problem or need exists and that they can solve it. They are even aware that the service or products that they have will benefit people, but they aren’t sure who those people are. Research shows them exactly who it is that they need to cater to.

Big companies need to adhere to a product development phase that is much slower. Competitors can easily surpass them in the time that it takes to perfect a product. This reduces the differentiation that the company could have used to get ahead.

Research can help bridge this gap. They can use exclusive market research reports to evaluate where they stand in a market. With this viewpoint, they can understand how fast their product iterations need to be, if any. They can even focus on what’s more important to them and what needs changing, like pricing, derivative product offerings or if the product requires redesign.

Big companies and start-ups benefit from research in this way:

The main reason are the risks of loss. Startups always need to revise their product offering several times. It’s because they launch a product immediately, usually without the prerequisite research to define a particular set of customers. They don’t want to invest in understanding who their customer is, as it’s assumed that they already have buyers.

The general thought is that capital will be better utilized in building or developing the product and not business plans.

Bigger corporations do have plenty of capital, but don’t have the time to gather individual customer feedback, expert opinions – they use market research for that. They’ve also got a much bigger, commercial level market too and research agencies are the feasible approach.

To set long-term goals, prevent cash overspending and actually sell a product in the market, companies need to have plans – detailed plans, which can only be developed once they have the right data.

Unlike start-ups, they are focused on improving a product and price points and not on proving how many consumers they have for their respective products. Only detailed data, collected and assessed using precise parameters, enables them to do that.

Having the right market research partner can prevent costly mistakes or the failure of startups. It’s the tool that’s required for getting that game-changing business strategy that could make all the difference.

Ford Motor Company – Case Study

Background (General Facts)

Ford Motors is one of three leading automotive manufacturing companies in the United States. Based in Michigan in 1903 by Henry ford and grew to reach revenue of $150 billion and more than 370,000 employees by 1996 [1]. In the 1970’s, the automobile market for the major auto makers – General Motors (GM), Ford, and Chrysler- was crunched by competition from foreign manufactures such as Toyota and Honda. In 1999, Ford acquired the Swedish Volvo model in an attempt to compete in the foreign market and expand to other regions. Furthermore, Ford launched a full organization re-engineering business process plan called “Ford 2000” aiming at reestablishing the company’s infrastructure. The process meant reduction in their Vehicle Centers (VCs) to only five covering the operations that spanned 200 countries. It also meant cutting redundancies and requiring Information Technology (IT) to be the driving force and the link between Ford centers worldwide.

In building Ford’s IT infrastructure, the company focused on implementing a setup that supported the TCP/IP communication protocol based on the U.S. department of Defense requirements. At those days, Ford internal network was meant to serve files transfer unlike most companies that used the network mainly for email communications. Throughout the 1990’s, Ford developed a cost effective Global Enterprise Network Integration (GENI) process to link all its locations compromising on the type of the connection and the cabling in favor of full coverage. During the same time, Ford started building its Web Farm, which was basically a set of hardware and software managed by a team for building Ford’s public website. The work started by publishing documents for technical references and moved to more advanced images from a live auto show. As a result, the website received 1 million visits a day in less than 2 years after its official launch. Throughout the end of the 90’s, Ford established its web services by increasing the amount of information published, building more intelligent and standard web application in 12 weeks period, purchasing more Netscape browsers for setup on its users’ machines, and creating a B2B server to allow the suppliers secured access to Ford’s Intranet.

In the path towards service cost reduction and bringing more business through the web, Ford worked closely with its competitors in the U.S. market GM and Chrysler to establish what came to be known as “Automotive Network Exchange” (ANX) certificate. The protocols aimed at providing a unified communications standard through the Internet to enable suppliers to provide common technology for all manufacturers. Moreover, Ford focused on making information on its web site more accessible and useful by deploying a team to manage the process of adding and updating information based on an analysis of how humans deal with information. One final aspect of Fords endeavor was to try to build a model through its infrastructure that benefited from the model implemented by Dell computers to improve their supply chain and delivery process. The direct model would not work well for automotives as it would with computers, as a result Ford worked on its retailing network remodeling and identifying what would eventually give it the extra edge in delivery time.

Enterprise Architecture Issues

Ford’s regional expansion to address the competition for market shares demanded cost management for the infrastructure upgrades
IT infrastructure places limitations on the type of application development based on the platforms
Easy access to information and prompt delivery of vital data to key individuals requires proper knowledge managementOrganizations reengineering and process remodeling is necessary when adapting new technologies to maintain the cost and increase efficiency
Supply chain errors and delays can severely affect the progress of the business and the market value of the corporation

Analysis

Infrastructure Upgrade

Since the inception of the Internet in the 1960’s, much effort has been made in standardizing how computers connect to it. In 1982, the International Organization for Standards (ISO) realized that during that period many ad hoc networking systems were already using the TCP/IP protocol for communications and thus adapted it as a standard in its model for the Internet network [2]. The main driver for IP convergence, at that period, was the growth in data traffic through wide area networks (WANs) established by local companies. Furthermore, in 1991, the Internet was open for commercial use, and that demanded a reduction in the total cost of operating the network to cope with 1 million Internet hosts that materialized in only 1-year time. Telecommunications companies like AT&T understood the potential and worked on standardizing the network offering voice services over IP networks that managed the separation between voice and data transmission [3].

At the same time, Ford had launched its plan to update its infrastructure, and seized the opportunity brought by the global movement of integrating the voice, fax transmission network with data transmission and expanded its WAN to include its offices in Europe and elsewhere. The financial benefits also came from the fact that Ford adapted the TCP/IP protocol from the beginning and made sure that all its technical infrastructure upgrades adhere to the standards. This made the transition of its system to the Internet as cost effective as it could be.

Web Technologies

Intranets employ the hypertext and multimedia technology used on the Internet. Prior to 1989, when Tim burners-Lee invented the Web [4], most applications used standard development languages such as C and C++ to create desktop applications that were proprietary and dependent on the platform. For example, applications running on a command-based operating system such as UNIX would not run under Windows, and those working for PCs might not work on Apple computers and vice versa [5]. The invention of HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) introduced a new model for applications that conform to the standards provided by a single program, the “Web Browser”. Unlike standard applications, the browser brought a unified interface that had a very fast learning curve. Users seem to require no additional training to work with web browsers. Furthermore, system administrators did not have to spend time installing upgrades on users’ machines, since the Intranet client/server architecture facilitated all the updates through the connection with the web server [6].

Since Ford established its Intranet, it was aiming at building web applications through the initial analysis of “Mosaic”, the early form of web browsers. The technical department at Ford used web languages to create the first web site in 1995. In 1996, the team started building applications making use of the unified “Netscape” browser that was deployed on all machines at the company, and working on a standard template to cut on the development life cycle. There was a substantial cut in training cost due to the user-friendly interface of web applications. Furthermore, the speed of development made vital applications available to different individuals across the company. For example, the B2B site allowed suppliers remote and secured access to various sections of Ford’s Intranet. In addition, the development team created an application as a virtual teardown on Ford’s website where Ford’s engineers could examine parts of competitors’ cars and evaluate any new technologies. The alternative would have been an actual trip to a physical location where Ford tears down cars to examine the parts.

Knowledge Management

While there are many definitions for knowledge, each company might adapt its own based on how it analysis data and information to acquire knowledge. The University of Kentucky, for example, defines knowledge as “a vital organization resource. It is the raw material, work-in process, and finished good of decision-making. Distinct types of knowledge used by decision makers include information, procedures, and heuristics, among others… ” [7].

Organizations go through different activities to manage the amount of information they collect to form the knowledge base of the company. Activities include creating databases of best practices and market intelligence analysis, gathering filtering and classifying data, incorporating knowledge into business applications used by employees, and developing focal points for facilitating knowledge flow and building skills [8].

Ford was excited about the traffic it was receiving on the Web site and everyone was publishing all the material they have on desk on the Intranet. Nevertheless, there was a growing concern about the usability and usefulness of the material people were adding. As a result, Ford created a “Knowledge Domain Team” to build complete information in nine areas that were identified as vital to the business. The process Ford took was based on surveys and specialists input in how people perceive information, and what is considered vital and what is distracting in the structure of Ford’s website. The aim behind the initiative was to reduce the time individuals spent in searching for information through proper indexing of the website content, and making sure that what was important could be accessed in due time, and what is trivial did not overwhelm the researcher with thousands of results.

Business Re-engineering

In the area of organization’s re-engineering process innovation is the set of activities that achieve substantial business improvements. Companies seeking to benefit from process innovation go through the regime of identifying the processes, the factors for change, developing the vision, understanding the current process, and building a prototype for the new organization. History shows that organizations who define their processes properly will not have problems managing the issues and developing the change factors [9]. When introducing technology, business redesign is necessary. The industrial fields have been using Information Technology to remodel processes, control production, and manage material for generations. However, it is only recently that companies recognized that the fusion of IT and business would go beyond automation to fundamentally reshaping how business processes are undertaken [10].

When foreign companies were allowed to compete in the U.S. market, Ford understood that to succeed in business in a competitive arena it needed to implement strategies that competitors find difficult to imitate [11]. As a result, Ford bought Sweden Volvo to enter the European market, and partially owned Mazda to have a competitive edge with Japanese cars1 [12]. To achieve that it re-engineered its production development activities and global corporate organization and processes for dramatic cost reduction. Furthermore, it understood that expansion requires collaboration and alignment, and thus planned to establish the IT infrastructure through a WAN that connected all the offices. In the process of innovation and re-engineering, Ford has set policies to manage the cost of establishing the network, built models for continuous implementation, and organized global meetings to align all parties with the process. Adding to that, when it came to managing the website, Ford facilitated an awareness campaign for all the branches to understand that Ford is using the web to collaborate and research and adapting information technology as a way to maximize its business value. The goal for Ford was to maintain its leadership in the market and to do that in the most efficient and cost effective method that is there.

Supply chain management

Supply chain management (SCM) is about coordinating between suppliers, manufactures, distributors, retailers, and customers [13]. The basic idea that SCM applications revolve around is providing information to all those who are involved in making decisions about the product or goods to manage delivery from the supplier to the consumer [14]. Studies show that reducing errors in supply chain distribution, increases revenue, enhances productivity, and reduces the order-to-fulfillment period [15].

Ford often compared its supply chain process to that of Dell’s, in an attempt to close the gaps in its own process and reach the level of success Dell has reached. The difference in the distribution model between Dell and Ford lies in the middle link of using retail shops. Since Ford cannot skip retail as a focal distribution point, it worked on establishing a network of retail shops that it owned. Ford made sure shops are not affecting each other in terms of sales, and gave them all a standard look and feel to establish itself in the consumer’s market as a prestigious cars sales retail company. Furthermore, extensive re-engineering initiatives were undertaken to enhance Ford external network by eliminating the correlation with smaller suppliers. In that way, Ford made sure that key suppliers have access to forecasting data from customers’ purchasing trends and production information to enable a faster order-to-delivery cycle. Ford vision was to create a model that allowed flexibility, predicable processes and delivered the product at the right time to the right consumer.

Conclusions

Ford is an example of how traditional organizations can mature to adapt what is current and maximizes the business value. The process that Ford went through necessitated the continuous support from management. In addition, it depended on alignment between those involved as a key for success. The correlation was not restricted to internal staff; it extended to cover competitors to reach mutual benefits, to work with suppliers to maintain similar grounds and adequate infrastructure, and to create training programs to educate all on the vision and organization’s objectives.

Ford technical progress came at a time where the Internet was yet to reach its full potential. The introduction of Fiber-optic cables in the late 90’s and the substantial increase in bandwidth would have helped Ford and cut on the cost in endured connecting its own offices. Furthermore, the ISP services that provided hosting servers were limited to only few players, which explained why Ford preferred to manage its own web server and maintain the overhead of the 24 hours uptime and backup.

From this case study, I understood the level of commitment large firms have to maintaining their position in the market. These companies know the revolving nature of business in the sense of how easy it is to fall back if they did not keep up with the change. The Ford process also shows the need for quick and resourceful thinking when faced with situations that might seem to be unfavorable. The way Ford ventured into the foreign market by acquiring local manufacturers was a strategic decision that did not only enabled Ford to merge with different technologies, but it also saved it the additional cost of establishing production centers in Japan and Europe.

Recommendations

Maintaining leadership in the market requires innovative organizations willing to reengineer to succeed.
IT fusion with the business means restructuring and remodeling to understand the role IT would play to meet the business objectives
Planning and modeling is vital when coordinating work with large teams.
Constructing websites is not about content; it is about understanding what adds value and how humans interact with information.
Knowledge management is a plan that companies need to develop as part of their initial business process modeling
It is not wrong for large firms to try to adapt to successful processes implemented by other firms.

References

Robert D. Austin and Mark Cotteleer,”Ford Motor Co.: Maximizing the Business Value of Web Technologies.” Harvard Business Publishing. July 10, 1997. harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml;jsessionid=WDARNHINBSYKSAKRGWCB5VQBKE0YOISW?id=198006 (accessed July 30, 2008).
Computer History Museum, Internet History 80’s. 2006. computerhistory.org/internet_history/internet_history_80s.shtml (accessed July 30, 2008).
Darren Wilksch and Peter Shoubridge, “IP Convergence in Global Telecommunications.” Defense Science & Technology Organization. March 2001. http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/publications/2400/DSTO-TR-1046.pdf (accessed July 30, 2008).
Computer History Museum, Internet History 80’s.
H. Joseph Wen, “From client/server to intranet.” Information Management & Computer Security (MCB UP Ltd) 6, no. 1 (1998): 15-20.
R. Boutaba, K. El Guemioui, and P. Dini, “An outlook on intranet management.” Communications Magazine (IEEE), October 1997: 92-99.
Joseph M. Firestone, Enterprise Information Portals and Knowledge Management (OXFORD: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002), 169.
David J. Skyrme, “Knowledge management solutions – the IT contribution.” ACM SIGGROUP Bulletin (ACM) 19, no. 1 (April 1998): 34 – 39, 34.
Thomas H. Davenport, Process Innovation: Reengineering Work Through Information Technology (Watertown,MA: Harvard Business Press, 1993), 28.
Thomas H. Davenport “The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign.” Sloan Management Review 31, no. 4 (Summer 1990): 11-28, 12
Gary M. Erickson, Robert Jacobson, and Johny K. Johansson, “Competition for market share in the presence of strategic invisible assets: The US automobile market, 1971-1981.” International Journal of Research in Marketing (Elsevier Science) 9, no. 1 (March 1992): 23-37, 23.
Austin and Cotteleer, “Ford Motor ” , 2.
Henk A. Akkermans, et al. “The impact of ERP on supply chain management: Exploratory findings from a European Delphi study.” European Journal of Operational Research 146 (2003): 284-301, 286
Thomas H. Davenport and Jeffrey D. Brooks, “Enterprise systems and the supply chain.” Journal of Enterprise Information Management 17, no. 1 (2004): 8-19, 9.
Kevin B. Hendricks, Vinod R. Singhal, and Jeff K. Stratman. “The impact of enterprise systems on corporate performance:A study of ERP, SCM, and CRM system implementations.” Journal of Operations Management 25, no. 1 (January 2007): 65-82.

Giving a Business Client a Gift Basket From the Company

When searching for the right gift to say thanks to a client consider a variety of options before spending the money in order to accomplish the desired customer result. Sales professionals and business owners who want help finding the right gift for a clients may find the best solution for various situations can be a company gift basket. Many business leaders and sales people give gifts to their customers each year as a token of appreciation and as a subtle reminder to think of their organization the next time the client wants to place a similar order.

The easiest route to take for gift baskets is to get one that someone has already put together. Shopping for a gift basket that is already put together for a on the web is easy and in many department stores during a holiday season. Typical gift baskets that can be purchased include edibles such as candy, cookies, crackers, wine, meat, cheese and so forth. Also flower arrangements can be bought at a local florist or ordered over the internet at anytime. However these gifts are gone after only a few days. They may be appreciated, but will these gifts be remembered months later when the client wants to place a new order? Non-seasonal gift baskets are harder to find unless shopping is done at a specialty shop or gourmet store.

Although food baskets are nice, a client can get too many during the holidays or from competitors during the sales cycle. To insure remembrance, plan a special gift basket and find someone inside or outside the organization to customize it and arrange it in a nice container. If the container is a reusable item for the person receiving the gift basket, then it makes for an even better gift as they continue to use it! Company logo items used in a custom gift basket make an excellent reminder to the client every time it is used. These logo items are often practical gifts that will last for months to come. Often these types of gifts include mugs, calendars, clips, magnets, pens, or notebooks with the company name as the gift-giver imprinted on it along with the website and possibly a phone number. A miniature gift basket can be made by placing several small items in a mug and then wrapping it in cellophane, tying a bow around the top, and adding a gift card or business card. These types of baskets are nice-to-have and do have the desired company reminder aspect. Often customers will appreciate a gift that is both practical and helpful.

For a sales person who is looking for a meaningful appreciation gift to give clients during the sales cycle or when shopping for a holiday season, consider something to go along with the typical company logo item that reminds the client of their willingness to help grow the customer’s business as well as their own. Business books are often appreciated by professionals so they make a great addition to any gift basket. Often a custom gift basket can be built around the message of the book(s) being considered. There are so many business and improvement books to select from. When considering the best business book to give, think about complaints or concerns the recipient has expressed in the past and look for a title on that subject. The client will appreciate that their problem was remembered and that a solution may be provided in the gift. When saying thanks with a book for improving client’s business, the message is conveyed to “remember me because I want to help your business grow.” This additional message of business aid is often received with extra gratitude above what a gift basket alone gets. A salesperson should always include their business card in the book to be used as a bookmark. This way if the book is passed around in the client company, so is the salesperson’s name and contact information.

Many business leaders and sales people give gifts to their clients and customers each year as thanks for business and as a way to build future relationships. Sales professionals and business owners who want help finding the right gift to may find the best solution for various situations can be a company gift basket.

TIP: If looking for book ideas, check out article “Ten Book Options to Use for Business Gifts.”

How To Plan A Banquet – A Guide To Planning Perfect Banquets For Company Or Private Parties

First time planners are often stricken with complete fear! Even those that plan events over and over again still fear that something will go wrong and they will be the subject of ridicule. Hopefully we can allay the fears and quell the butterflies in your stomach by helping you through the entire project.

There are a lot of questions you need to ask. First timers probably don’t have the foggiest idea what questions to ask, so, the first thing we’d better do is outline these for you.

Perhaps the easiest way to do that is to fill out a form. (I love forms!)
If you were to phone me and ask me to help you make arrangements for a special event, the first thing I would do is reach for a blank form, and over the phone we would fill it out. When I had all the information, I would be better prepared to help you.

Before you continue reading, you may want to print the banquet planning worksheet(PDF) from my website. That way you can follow along with the worksheet as I describe the planning process. I’ve also included a pre filled sample planning worksheet that you might help.

Let’s begin with fact finding.

PURPOSE

The first question to ask is, “What is the purpose of the event?” This question should be really easy, but it’s perhaps the most important. The purpose of your event will determine your event’s agenda.

DATE

Break out your calendar to decide a date for your event. Look for possible conflicts. It might be tough to get people out to a Saturday night banquet if it’s a three-day holiday. It would be unwise to put on a church social if your local school, where most of your congregation had children attending, were having an open house or play that night.

Pencil in a date and then try to think of possible conflicts. I know of one organization that booked a very popular and relatively expensive Jewish comic into the club house of a predominantly Jewish retirement community. Attempts to sell tickets failed miserably, because they had not realized they had scheduled his appearance on a Jewish holiday – a very expensive oversight!

BUDGET

There are many, many determining factors in establishing a budget. First of all, how many are expected to attend? You might have a pretty good idea for a company party, but in some cases you might just have to make a “guess-timate” until you can get more information. Make the best possible estimate based on what facts you have, and proceed.

TICKET PRICE

Another factor to determine before we select a location is how much your attendees are willing to pay. Sure, we can work the other way: we can pick a location, hire a band, select the menu, etc., and then add up how much it all costs and thus determine how much everyone needs to pay, but doing so will probably leave you hurting in the end.

If you expect 1,000 people, and you determine $25.00 a person is acceptable, then your entire budget for food, printing, entertainment, etc., is $25,000. If you expect only 20 people and you know they won’t come if it’s over $5.00 a person, then you know you’re far more limited.

LOCATION

Determine the geographical area where the event is to take place. If you live in the area where the event will take place, you may already know of various hotels, country clubs, restaurants or catering halls that can accommodate your group. If you don’t live in the area, be sure to go look at the potential location before you book it. If the event is in a distant city and it’s not possible for you to travel there, and the event is a significant one, I suggest you hire a professional meeting planner.

I once attended a banquet in a quaint “50’s malt-shop-type restaurant. The party planner had not gone there to look at the room where the party was to be. She had just taken the word of a friend. True, it was a great restaurant, but their “room” had about 5 permanent booths on each wall. Guests were facing in all different directions. This made it almost impossible for the magician they had hired to perform. To further confuse the issue, it was not even a private room. Restaurant customers could not get to the restroom without disturbing the party, and the 50’s music continued to blare through the ceiling speakers throughout the evening because it was piped throughout the whole restaurant and could not be isolated from one room. A visit beforehand could have prevented this nightmare.

Many, if not most, facilities do not charge a fee for the use of the room but instead absorb the rental fee into the price of the meal. For instance, in our example of 200 people, a banquet facility would be delighted to supply a private room in order to sell 200 dinners.

Usually they will have several dinners to choose from – perhaps a chicken dinner, complete with beverage, salad and dessert, for $12.00 per person; or prime rib at $18.00 each; or sirloin steaks at $25.00 per person. In our example we are charging $30.00 per person. Let’s select the prime rib at $18.00.

Does that include tax and tip? Oh, Oh! Find out if it does, or you may get a surprise at the end of the night. Let’s say it does not. 15% tip and 8% (or whatever) tax makes the dinner a total of $22.14 per person. Our sample budget calls for 200 people at $30.00 each for a total of $6,000. If all 200 people attend, dinner will cost $4,428. That leaves $1,572 for all other costs.

By the way, the facility may ask you for a deposit and guarantee. If you guarantee 200 people, you will have to pay for 200 dinners even if only 175 show up. Generally, a facility is prepared to serve about 10% more people than you guarantee. So it makes sense to guarantee a lesser number than you expect. Even some of those who told you absolutely they would be there, maybe even gave you a deposit, don’t show for one reason or another.

Just to be on the safe side, in our example of 200 people, I would guarantee the restaurant 185. If you’re pre selling tickets, which I recommend, you can always adjust your estimate upwards with the restaurant a day or two ahead of time if needed. Ask the facility about their requirements in regard to a change in the guarantee.

AGENDA

The evening agenda is largely determined by the event’s purpose. A typical event might go like this:

6:00 – 7:00 – Social or cocktail hour

7:00 – 8:00 – Dinner

8:00 – 8:15 – Meeting/Awards/Business

8:15 – 9:00 – Entertainment/Speaker

9:00 – 9:10 – Raffle/Door Prizes

9:10 – 1:00 – Dancing

Having an hour to “gather” is always good. You and the facility both will want everyone present when you actually sit down to eat. It’s been my experience that almost everything starts late, so plan for it and don’t be disappointed when it happens.

Will you be having a cocktail hour? A “Hosted” bar means that drinks are free to the party-goers. If you choose to host the cocktail hour, be prepared to spend about $1200 for our sample group of 200 people. Most organization-sponsored events have a ‘No-Host’ bar, in which guests buy their own drinks. It’s appropriate to announce ‘Hosted’, or ‘No-Host’ in the invitation.

Some form of entertainment during the cocktail hour is certainly a plus. The facility may have music piped in through its sound system, which is certainly the most economical; however, for around $300 you could have live music. Most banquet facilities have a piano, sometimes on wheels, and will let you either rent the piano or use it for free. Fee for the piano rental should be around $50 to $100 and a piano player anywhere from $150 to $250.

Other cocktail hour entertainment could include a chamber group, a jazz or “society” trio, harpist, or a strolling accordionist. A strolling “close-up” magician, performing from group to group or table to table, is always fun. Other forms of entertainment for the cocktail hour could include celebrity look-alikes, mechanical or conventional mimes, a balloon animal sculptor, caricaturist, graphologist, palm reader, tarot card reader, stilt walker, or just about anything else you can think of! Again, your budget is your gauge.

DINNER

This is pretty easy. When the Maitre’d says dinner is ready, have your party sit down!

The vast majority of banquets have certain people assigned to sit at the head table while everyone else may sit where they wish. If you choose to have a head table, you should make small place markers for those assigned to sit at the head table, and don’t forget to discuss table arrangements with the facility.

OPENING

Someone, perhaps you, should step to the microphone and announce that dinner is ready and ask everyone to take a seat. When this has been accomplished your President, or whoever is presiding, should welcome everyone.

It is appropriate at most banquets to have someone lead the flag salute, followed by a blessing on the food. People should not be called upon for these jobs extemporaneously, but should be asked in advance and their names and responsibilities should be listed on the printed program if there is one. Following the flag salute and prayer, your Master of Ceremonies (or who ever is conducting) should introduce the people sitting at the head table, introducing himself last.

THE PROGRAM

If business of any sort needs to be conducted, begin when dessert is finished, or at least served. Make sure that the facility knows that you do not want any bussing (clearing of tables) or coffee served after the program starts, as it can become an irritating distraction and take away from the enjoyment of the program.

ENTERTAINMENT

Following opening remarks, and/or other business, you could either introduce the main speaker, or present some form of entertainment.

This could be the highlight of the evening! There are many outstanding after-dinner performers and speakers. If you really want to have a successful event, hire a professional. At this writing $500 to $1,000 can buy you some pretty top-notch entertainment.

How about a comedian-magician who uses a member or two of your group and does some hilarious bits of business and audience participation magic tricks – 30 or 40 minutes of non-stop laughs!

Or picture this…the dessert has just been served and in walks “Lt. Columbo,” complete with overcoat and cigar…”Oh, excuse me,” he says, “I was looking for somebody else.” All eyes are riveted on this familiar figure as he turns and starts to walk out. “Oh, one more thing, is this the Walker party?’ Then for the next 30 minutes or so he does a comedy routine in the style and delivery of Peter Falk as Lt. Columbo, using names of people in your group.

That will rock your people out of their seats with laughter. These are just a couple of suggestions. Everybody loves to laugh, and a good professional entertainer can make you a hero.

How do you find that kind of entertainment? Again, watch out for the well-meaning friend. Sometimes hiring a friend of a friend who tells jokes or plays the banjo can put a wet blanket on the evening if they don’t live up to your expectations.

Probably the best way to secure talent is to work with a professional talent agent that specializes in special events. Ordinarily there is no fee for his services. He can make recommendations and suggestions based on what your needs are, and work within your budget limitations.

Some entertainers may have special requirements, like a stage, spotlight, two mics or something else, and these items need to be arranged with the facility. There may be a rental fee involved.

RAFFLE/DOOR PRIZES

Giving away door prizes or raffle prizes should not be held until after the entertainment or main speaker. Perhaps it’s an inducement for your guests to stay until the end.

If you’re selling raffle tickets, again you need to make out a budget. How many tickets do you expect to sell and for how much money? Do you want to make a profit? Let’s say you expect to sell 100 tickets to those 200 people expected to come, and we sell them at the banquet for $2.00 each. That’ll give you $200 to buy prizes with. You can put this in your general budget or assign someone to take care of the whole raffle, including purchasing the prizes and selling the tickets.

DANCING

Following the raffle, the formal portion of the program is really over. Your people can now go home. If you’ve elected to have a deejay or band, they may stay for dancing.

The facility might charge to set up a dance floor. Sometimes this is a portable dance floor they build right on top of the carpet. A band will cost anywhere from $150 per band member to $450 per band member for four hours. A small trio of keyboard, drum and guitar could be anywhere from $750 to $1,500.

An $1,800 to $3,500 five-piece band, including a vocalist, is average. If you hire a band, you may be able to use one or more of those same musicians to provide cocktail hour and/or dinner music for a small additional fee. You normally need to make a deposit at the time you hire the band. Anything over four hours’ playing time is considered overtime, and you should talk with the band or agent about the cost of overtime when you make the initial arrangements. Bands also need to take a 10-15 minute break each hour. Ask if the band will supply recorded music during their breaks.

MOBILE DEEJAY

Sometimes you might prefer a DeeJay playing recorded music instead of hiring a band. This gives you the advantage of hearing the original recording artist instead of a dance band’s rendition.

Another advantage is that most mobile DeeJay units will set up before dinner and offer to play dinner music at no additional cost, and of course, a DeeJay does not take a break during the evening, so you have non stop music for your event.

Cost-wise, there is not a lot of difference between a 3-piece band and a DeeJay. Some DeeJays offer a full light-show that few bands do, and even with an additional charge, this could be a real plus. I think it’s just a matter of taste. Some people insist on a live band and others are just as adamant about a DeeJay.

PHOTOGRAPHER OR VIDEOGRAPHER

Video taping an event, except for historical purposes, is unnecessary. Seldom will the video tape or DVD be watched more than once after the event. Yes, maybe a Bar or Bat Mitzvah will watch his or her recording years later when they grow older, and maybe even a bride and groom would watch a well-edited and condensed recording. A company or organization’s banquet, however, will be seldom if ever watched.

I would recommend that you hire, budget permitting, a professional photographer rather than leaving it up to one of your guests or a friend of a friend who only takes photos twice a year. You can have the photographer deliver prints or a CD of digital photographs in which case you could print just the photos you want.

PROMOTION

Probably the most traumatic thing that could occur is that you planned the entire event and then no one came. If it’s a company party and the food, entertainment, drinks and dancing are all free, I don’t think you will have a problem, as long as you let everybody know when and where and that it’s FREE!

But if that’s not the situation, you may need to promote the event. Once you have all the facts (WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, WHO, and HOW MUCH), you can create a flyer – a piece of paper with all the facts on it, designed to motivate people to attend.

If you’re an artist, great! You can create the flyer yourself. If not, maybe someone in your group is and they can help you. Otherwise, you need to “rough it out” the way you’d want it and take it to a graphic artist to do the “camera-ready copy” for you, then off to a printer to print however many you’re going to need. How many you need will depend on how you’re going to distribute them.

The layout, printing, envelopes and postage all need to go into your budget. There are, of course, additional ways you can promote the event – word of mouth, bulletin boards, phone committee, club or company newsletter, posters. If your event will be open to people outside your organization, you might try using the publicity channels of other related groups, companies, schools, etc., as well as your own. Have a “brainstorming session” with your committee, if you have one, to think of all the ways you can get the word out.

And remember that if you want people to come to your activity, you can’t just tell them. You have to tell them and tell them and tell them! Use all the resources at your disposal, and don’t hesitate to repeat yourself. The more times you tell them, the more will come!

TICKET SALES

There are as many ways to handle this as there are ways to promote the event. If you have to lay out funds ahead of time (which is usually the case), it is good to get as much money as you can up front. Pre selling your tickets will help you do that. Of course, your publicity must state your requirements and deadlines. This also will help you get a handle on how many are going to attend. Remember though, that there will still be some last minute cancellations and additions, so stay flexible.

TABLE ASSIGNMENTS

As mentioned earlier, most organizations assign only the head table, and the rest of the attendees are left to sit where they wish. Some groups insist on drawing pictures of the tables on a sheet of paper, numbering them, and then assigning people to specific tables.

I think it’s far more work than necessary, but if you must, then have at it.
Some banquets, especially those honoring individuals or groups, offer entire tables “for sale.” 10 people per table at $30 each means that for $300 someone could reserve a whole table. Make sure you put a “reserved” sign on that table, showing the name of the host.

THE PRINTED PROGRAM

When all the facts are in, if the budget will permit, a nice printed program could be put at each place setting or handed out as people arrive. It should contain the agenda for the evening and credits given to all those who contributed to the event.

Many organizations have been successful in selling ads in the program to defray the cost of printing or even to raise some extra money. I’ve put $250 income under the income column of our example. Don’t you think you could convince 10 people to give you their business card and pay $25 to be advertised on the back page of the program? Of course, this idea could be a little tacky if the event is to celebrate little Bobbie’s 10th birthday. Use your best judgment.

DECORATIONS

This could be a big item or not – strictly up to you. If you picked a beautiful location, and it’s not a special seasonal event like a Christmas or Halloween party, why not just enjoy the facility’s decor? If you feel you need decorations and you have a sufficient budget, call a party decorator who uses balloons. They go a long way towards dressing up a room without spending a lot of money.

Centerpieces on each table look nice. You can ask someone to donate these or have someone clever make something for each table. Many facilities make such a nice table layout that a centerpiece is not necessary. Don’t spend money unnecessarily, but do remember that the nicer the ambience, the better the memories or the event will be in the minds of those who attend, which means that they will want to come to your next event, too!

One note of caution. If you’re having entertainment, be careful that large
centerpieces, particularly balloons, don’t block the view of the performing area or even the people sitting on the opposite side of the table who want to see and talk to each other.

YOU DID IT!

Yes, you will fret and worry until the whole thing is over, but every party planner does. Just relax, do your best and enjoy! (Here’s a secret: If you enjoy what you’re doing, the people you are doing it for will enjoy it, too!)

Ideas for Financing a New Embroidery Company

Because the area of financing can be confusing, yet crucial to the success of any business endeavor, let’s look at some do’s and don’ts of financing as pertains to the embroidery industry.

The “Do’s and Don’ts”

Do your homework.
Do a market research study for your area.
Do all of the work necessary to create a comprehensive business plan.
Do decide which equipment best serves your needs to complete the business plan.
Do spend about 1,500 hours preparing projections and proposals.
Do contact every financial institution within a 2,000-mile radius.
Do send up offerings to whichever heaven you prefer.
Don’t let the seemingly endless process deter you from your goal of owning your selected equipment.
Don’t take it personally when, after reviewing all of your thoughtfully prepared work, they hand you your hat and coat and boot you through the door.
Don’t take no for an answer!

Welcome to the wonderful world of financing. Once you have decided on the type of embroidery equipment, the direction of your new venture and the location for your shop, then comes the how. The how is the money part.

There are three ways to purchase equipment:

Cash
Finance
Lease

Even if you are in a position to pay cash, sometimes it’s more prudent to hang onto as much cash as possible and finance anyway. This provides more back-up capital for the start-up period. What lenders are really looking for is as much stability as possible in a prospective loan customer.

Here’s another reason to consider holding back some cash: You may need an operating loan a few months down the road, and if everything. you have was already applied toward the machine, there won’t be any cash reserve to reassure the bank.

Unless the financial institution has a lot of experience dealing in the embroidery business, it will know nothing about re-sale values, and will discount your equipment’s worth severely upon consideration for a loan.

So, if you can’t-or choose not to-pay cash, you still have two possibilities: finance or lease. These options also have their own advantages and disadvantages. Let’s start with the advantages of financing. First, you own the equipment (or at least that portion of the equipment that the bank doesn’t own.)

You create an equity interest in the machine and therefore add to the asset column on your balance sheet. With each payment, that equity increases. You also create a liability on the balance sheet, but with each payment the liability decreases. At the end of a three- or four-year period, you own the equipment outright, so 100 percent of its value goes to the asset column. Naturally, there has been some depreciation on the equipment, but it rarely approaches its value at the end of the finance term. In our business, equipment maintains an extremely high value over the years. So do try to own the equipment whenever possible and practical.

Another advantage of financing is that generally you can find lower interest rates from banks and credit unions than from leasing companies. In many cases, leasing companies borrow money from the same lending institutions that you might approach. In order for the leasing company to make money, it adds a percentage to the interest rate of the transaction. Even in cases where the leasing company is so large that it is using its own money, the interest rate is often about the same as that charged by smaller leasing companies. It is possible to shop around for more favorable interest rates on leases if you currently own a business, and have operated it for at least two years. If you have sterling business credit, you may be able to obtain a fairly good rate from a company that does its own funding, rather than one that brokers funds on your behalf.

Some advantages of leasing are lower entry costs, tax benefits (ask your accountant), and the fact that it is sometimes easier to qualify for a lease program than to qualify for conventional financing for such a large amount. The disadvantages are higher interest rates and, sometimes higher payments. Also, at the end of the lease period, you don’t automatically own the equipment. Let’s look at these factors more in-depth.

One of the biggest advantages of leasing is lower entry costs. Whereas a bank is typically looking for a 20% or 30% down payment, a leasing company is usually looking for the first and last payments, and maybe one additional month’s payment as a security deposit.

In some cases, a deal with which a leasing company is not comfortable can be strengthened by an additional capital deposit. For example, what if instead of providing first and last payments, plus an additional month’s payment as security, you offer a security deposit equivalent to six monthly payments? Or maybe one year’s payments? An easy way to provide such a security deposit is to post a certificate of deposit from your bank. If you have such an investment, you can pledge it to the leasing company as security on your lease, and still earn and receive the interest. The leasing company is covered, your security requirement is minimal, and you still receive the interest.

One concern here is that in some cases, when pledging a large amount of money on a lease, the transaction becomes a purchase rather than a lease and may be treated differently from a tax standpoint. The primary reason that you would want the lease to be viewed by the IRS as a true lease, rather than a financed arrangement, is that monthly lease payments are deductible as a business expense. Loan payments are not deductible-only the interest paid each year is deductible. Of course, on an outright purchase, there are different tax benefits, such as investment tax credits. These can be significant, however they must be repaid when the equipment is sold because the sale results in a capital gain. This is a complex area, and each situation is different. Talk with your accountant about which avenue best suits your situation. If you don’t have an accountant, consider consulting one on such major issues as this.

At the end of the lease term, you have the option of turning the equipment back to the leasing company, or paying from $1 to 10 percent of the original cost of the equipment (or its fair market value) to purchase it. Be careful here, because if the purchase residual is too low, the IRS may look at the transaction as a financed arrangement or purchase, rather than as a lease.

Another point to remember is that we are talking about leasing embroidery equipment-not automobiles or farm equipment. Some leasing companies specialize in certain types of business and know the resale value of equipment.

You are going into business with every expectation of succeeding, but the bank or leasing company is looking at it from the viewpoint that if you should fail, it must limit its exposure on the downside. How much can it get for the machines if you can no longer make the payments? A leasing company that doesn’t know embroidery equipment might assess a re-sale value on a machine at 10 cents on the dollar, whereas a company experienced in this business would use a valuation of 50 cents on the dollar.

If your proposed equipment package includes digitizing equipment, you should ask about the prospective leasing company’s policy regarding software. Most leasing companies place a limit on the dollar amount of software value in a deal. This varies widely, but software value is usually limited to between 20 and 50 percent of the total lease package.

No matter what you do, make sure that you are well prepared when you approach a financial institution about a loan for your machine. Be sure you can confidently answer all questions. Those questions will undoubtedly include some of the following: Do you have a business plan? What experience do you have in owning a business? Why do you think your business will be successful?

There must be some sort of general rule in the banking or leasing business that no matter how many documents the customer brings to a first and second meeting, a loan cannot be transacted until the customer has been to the office at least three times! Kidding aside, there is no alternative to being prepared, and it may take a lot of legwork to find the deal that works for you.

Other sources that are emerging in the world of finance are government programs and the economic development council (EDC) programs. Do not overlook these possible sources of machine financing. Small Business Administration loans administered through the banks can be difficult to qualify for, but those who qualify are rewarded with low interest rates and favorable terms.

There are other programs available in some areas from regional or municipal economic development councils that are referred to as Revolving loan Funds. Here’s how they work: The borrower is required to provide from his own funds in the amount of 15 percent of the transaction total. The balance of the deal is split between the EDC and a participating bank. The bank usually loans its half at 2 percent over the prime interest rate, while the EDC provides its funds at 2 percent under prime. Here, you just may have the ultimate deal. Your down payment responsibility is only 15 percent, and you are borrowing at prime. (Donald Trump can’t borrow at prime!) Terms are usually 4 or 5 years and there is no prepayment penalty for early payoff.

Financing your own equipment may not be fun, but it is a necessary part of getting into the embroidery business. Be resourceful, and investigate all of the avenues available before jumping into a deal that might not be right for you. The long-term financial wellbeing of your new business is at stake. Take some time to find a arrangement that works best for you, so that the equipment you eventually buy will be a true pleasure to own.

A Strategic Business Plan, Does Your Company Have One?

Did you know, 9 out of 10 Small Businesses fail within the first year? Unfortunately, companies are not successful by accident. Every company must have systems in place, thus yielding them the most profits, creating a happy staff and customers, and optimizing their status. At the heart of any true company should be a Business Plan.

What plan am I referring to? It’s a plan that every small business owner should take the time to establish. This plan will provide the “what and how” the company is doing at any point in time? It is called a Strategic Business Plan covering your total company operations.

It should be a “written” plan. It would include defining your business mission, goals, objectives, and what strategies you plan to use on achieving your mission, goals & objectives. It would also cover the tactics (systems) of how you’ll conduct your business covering a period of 12 months and less (short-term) and a period of three to five years (long-term). Whether it is a short-term strategic plan or a long term strategic plan it is truly your business road map.

The Strategic Planning process involves the creation of the company Mission Statement, a SWOT (an acronym for its four sub-parts: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) or situational analysis, development of company objectives, which will determine the specific strategies, which are developed by action plans and systems (Money Management: accounting or record keeping, Budget System, Marketing System, Product Development System, Cash Flow Management System, and Customer Service System.

Usually the Strategic Business Plan is followed up with the establishment of an strong money management system (which relates to the accounting, bookkeeping) and also a strong budget system. These are essential to improving the bottom line and complying with government requirements such as taxes.

A great resource for establishing a detailed business plan for all web-based businesses is the Web Business Planner. It’s a wizard based software (fill in answers to specific questions) that will help you to develop and establish in numbers the various systems listed above, plus forecast projections based upon your Strategic Business Plan’s mission, goals, objectives and strategies for each specific product or product line. It is especially recommended for all digital product sellers (your own products or selling affiliate products).

Have you created this essential Strategic Business Plan for your business? It is imperative that you develop a business plan so you can have a concrete tool to organize your business. If you don’t document (write it down) your plan, then you may suffer miss-communication regarding goals, strategies, tactics, and objectives. You could miss out on future business and lose time and money.

Take the time to tackle this important business system and you will set your company up for a successful journey. The Companies that rise to the top and reap the rewards are those that have a Plan in place. Follow their lead and create your plan today.

To Your Success In All That You Do and Dream Of….

©Kim Parsley

Finding the Right IT Support Company for Your Business

It can be a daunting task trying to find the best IT support a company has to offer and the right IT support services for your needs. There are so many factors to take into account, and it can often feel like navigating a minefield.

The truth is that if you want your business to operate at its peak potential, it’s a minefield you must conquer. One of the key factors in running a successful business, and optimising your activities and processes, is finding the right IT support company.

Here’s a rundown of the process of choosing, and the essential steps to getting it right.

Step 1: Assess your requirements in terms of IT infrastructure

This can be quite an involved process, but it’s pivotal that you get it right! Assess your current IT requirements and identify what you need right now, and what you’re going to need moving forward.

Step 2: Do some research

Make a list of prospective IT support companies and do some research. Be sure to get several references and, if you can, speak to someone at a company they’re currently servicing. Check out their customer reviews and client testimonials -They should have dedicated sections on their website where you can freely view these. Google the company and see if they have a Google business account – this includes reviews!

Step 3: Get in touch

Once you are crystal clear on what you need (now and looking ahead) and you have your list of possible companies, get in touch with them and tell them your requirements. Ask for an obligation-free estimate. Gather responses, and see what they come back to you with. Don’t be afraid to meet them in person and discuss your needs. Think of it like any other interview – if you were hiring a new assistant or manager, you wouldn’t rely on email or even phone calls, you’d interview the candidates in person. You need to see how you get on, personally, and whether or not you’re compatible enough to form a good business relationship. Get them into your office. While they’re there, assess their attitude and perspectives, bring up a specific issue or two that you’re having, or have had in the past, and see how they react.

Step 4: Read the fine print

A tedious but completely necessary step is to look at the fine print that comes with each of the companies you’ve met with. How good is their confidentiality agreement? What are their terms? How long would you need to give notice if you needed to change to a new company? Are there any ‘hidden’ charges that might apply to you? There are a myriad of small details like this that can sway your final decision. Make a pros and cons list for each company based on their estimates, your experience while meeting them, and the benefits and downsides of working with them.

Step 5: Make a decision

It’s time to be decisive! Making the final decision really comes down to a combination of price comparison, the benefits on offer, and gut instinct. When all else is equal, go with your gut!

Step 6: Choose a person

The work doesn’t stop when you choose a company to work with. It’s your responsibility to keep on top of things, take care of all the basics and liaise with your new support company to ensure you are getting exactly what you need. You should appoint a single person to act as the point of contact between your business and your IT support. One person who always deals with them and knows the workings of your relationship backwards. Any problems, on either side, they deal with them – it will make everything run a lot more smoothly!

Step 7: Start a fault log

This is a simple but often overlooked process. Start a log of all faults in your system. It ensures you have a record if you need it and will aid your new support company in looking after you as best they possibly can.

The Procedure of Mobile Application Development by a Mobile Application Development Company

Before when a team submits a proposal, they understand the need of the app, what are the features that can be incorporated and what are the client’s requirements. There are many key steps involved in creating a successful application.

If you want to reduce the risks and time associated with the application development then hire a mobile phone application development company for the best results which provides the below mentioned process for the standard development. They will have the competence to understand your business requirements and deliver you with cutting-edge mobile applications. There are different activities or steps in the process and they are mentioned below.

1. Research and discovery: The team of a mobile web application developer firm understands your vision and requirements. They provide all the possible solutions for any technological hurdles. Before committing to your project, they conduct research proof of concept and discover the type of business and its main technologies which have to be incorporated.

2. Planning and understanding the project: The team determines the immediate and long term requirements for your app development which even includes the third-party services also. It ensures that the objectives of your business, creative design and mobile technologies are properly communicated to the team members. They understand your needs and provide documentation for the process to be done.

3. Prototyping of the user flows: The custom mobile application developer platform provides an interactive visualization of the app and develop a proof of concept. They even create wireframes that demonstrate major situations and how a user can interact with your app. In the effort of wireframe development, they reduce the chances of risks for the estimate and modify the project if any changes required.

4. Designing: If it is possible, the team sends design samples to the client to get an idea about the design for the particular app from a visual point of view. They proper look and feel of your app to look overwhelming on the mobile screens for many different resolutions. They concentrate on taking the wireframes and create a single concept with several revisions of the core screens. They create a complete new design with typography, color scheme, logos, images and layouts.

5. Coding and development: The mobile developers start working on development and coding for the client’s project. They consider the suggestions and feedback from the customers and create two or three restatements of development. They make ready the app for the testing and reviewing and if any additional changes to be made, they will even work on them for best results.

6. Deployment and testing: Once the mobile product is ready, they consider the feedback from the client and then release then in Apples app stores and Google play market places. They test the entire app, individual functions and screens and make sure that all the individual parts all work together. They even test the design, coding as it is being done and test every phase of the development process.

7. Support and optimization: The team goes on giving the support to the client in improving of the app, platform updates, functionality and new features. They handle all the aspects of the submission of the app to be ready for the sale.

Hence, these are the procedures done by the mobile application development firm with the developers working with it.

Brand Entertainment and Ticket Company Product Review

This product review is of the Seatgeek website and mobile app. Here is the product review.

The company is located in New York. I was able to navigate the website to find hundreds of events in my area and throughout the country. The search engine is called Columbus.

The app. can be easily downloaded from Google. Once you download the app, the SeatGeek search engine helps you find thousands of events, seating charts and tickets online. The app. is mobile compatible and ready, and tickets can easily be purchased online.

There are several different options when purchasing tickets and these options include:

1. Tickets can be purchased and delivered to a customer’s address.

2. E-tickets options are available and tickets can be delivered directly to a customers email. Please make sure you have a printer available to print your tickets.

3. An instant download option is available and tickets can be downloaded instantly via computer or mobile phone.

4. An option is available and tickets can be picked up at or near the venue.

Another great part about this website is the blog. The blog includes hundreds of amazing articles, pictures, and news about amazing artists, events and sports. The blog also includes exclusive links to purchase tickets to upcoming events. The blog is amazing and is worth reading everyday.

Here are my top ten of artists and events I recently found while using the search engine.

1. Tickets to the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade.

2. Tickets to the Superbowl

3. Tickets to the Rose Bowl.

4. Tickets to the CMA Music Awards.

5. Tickets to see comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

6. Tickets to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

7. Tickets to see singer Taylor Swift.

8. Tickets to see country music star Jason Aldean.

9. Tickets to the US Open Tennis Tournament.

10. Tickets to see any NFL team,NBA team, or MLB team play.

This search engine is easy to use and fun. The best part is the search engine is 100% free to try to find tickets to any event. The great part is you can purchase tickets instantly online using the website. This company is truly outstanding in the entertainment ticket business world.

The website has an easy to read terms of use and privacy policy as well. Here are five of the best features of the website:

1. Easy to read terms of use and privacy policy.

2. Access to event tickets and seating charts.

3. Vivid well-written blog.

4. Great newsletter sign up.

5. Great access to this companion social media websites such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Overall, I gave the website and blog 5 of 5 stars rating. I would suggest this website for those 18 years old and older with parental guidance suggested. As with any business product or service, read carefully before ordering and enjoy the shows.

In conclusion, this review provides a great overview of a great website. It is important to understand the purpose to search online for tickets and gain VIP access to ticket news. This company entertains!

7 Tips to Choose the Mobile App Development Company

A unique mobile app idea can literally change the world. Apps like Facebook, Pinterest or Uber are immensely popular today, not due to the fact that those were started by famous business personas. It is rather the innovative approach of these mobile apps that has taken the technological world by storm.

With increasing number of tech-savvy users across the globe, mobile application development has created disruptions across all major industries for offering business-friendliness, great ease of use, and on-the-go data accessibility to employees and customers alike. As the need for mobile application development keeps surmounting, a lot of mobile app development companies have come up to deliver right and specific app solutions to their clients.

These companies can help you get started with the mobile app development process, especially if you have a creative app development idea in your mind. But, what if you don’t have any idea and yet require a mobile app for your business? Or, you have the perfect concept of how you want your business app to be, but want that within the very tight deadline or budget? Here’s where a careful selection plays a role.

To put it in simply, you need to pick out a company that understands your business requirements and can provide innovative solutions as per your specifications and guidelines. Just making a search on Google for a mobile app development company will not do; there are thousands of such companies that offer just this, and thus, leads to a whole lot of confusion. You need to analyze, sort and put modified requirements on the search engine to get the right results.

Wondering how to go about it? Here are some tips from the App development team that will help you choose the best mobile app development company for your business.

7 Effective Tips to Choose the Mobile App Development Company

If you have a mid-to-large scale business, the mobile app can be a very crucial part of your business growth strategy. Therefore, you have to choose a mobile app development company that has an innovative approach along with futuristic thinking. But before you judge the strengths and weaknesses of any company, you need to begin by assessing your organizational needs and check whether the chosen company can fulfill those. Here are 7 proven tips for finding the mobile app company of your choice:

1. Know What Your App Requirements Are

It might sound like a no-brainer but having a thorough understanding of your app development requirements can certainly help you in filtering the mobile app development companies. This process should start with the close analysis of the specific business demands and objectives, which you need to convert into meaningful app features and functionalities. We have seen that a lot of our clients struggle while determining what they want from their business app. To help them progress, we provide a questionnaire that helps drive them toward their goal:

What types of products/services are you trying to sell?
Where do you want your app to be: on Android, iOS, Windows-based Mobile Application Development Platforms?
Who will build your user base?
What kind of mobile app do you want- native, hybrid or web-based apps?

Once you are convinced about what you want from the app, you are ready to move to the next step.

2. Inquire About their App Delivery Time-to-Market

Faster ‘time-to-market’ is the new demand in today’s’ age of digital disruption. If your chosen mobile app development company is slow at rolling out apps to the market, there is an increasing possibility that you will fall behind your competition. The quicker your business app hits the market, higher would be your ROI. Therefore, concentrate on choosing mobile app development companies that deliver high-quality apps quickly, while keeping in mind the changing trends in the app development market.

3. Take a Close Look at their Portfolios

Once you open the website of any mobile app development company, start by checking their portfolios. Portfolios provide a good overview of the business domains and project themes the company has been involved in, and the kind of technical expertise they hold. You can also get in touch with the company to understand whether they have worked on the kind of app you want before or have the potential to deliver it.

4. Check How Affordable They Are

When it comes to choosing the right mobile app development company, you will always find the development cost and app quality to be in conflict. A lot of organizations opt for start-ups to keep the development cost low and receive a finished product which has little market relevancy. On the other hand, it is wrong to assume that best mobile app development companies offering quality app solutions will be always high-priced. What you need to keep in mind here is that only strong market players can afford to provide quality apps at efficient costs. If you choose to go for long-established companies with good market visibility, you will notice that their charges are comparatively lesser than the start-ups and others.

5. See How Transparent Their Process Is

The product development cycle and transparency policy followed by the mobile app development company also play a very important role in the selection process. Low code methods of mobile application development have gained immense popularity for faster app delivery, but few leading mobile app development companies in US follow it nowadays. In addition, look for companies that provide transparent communication and feedback loops in the development process for holding better mutual understanding, and promptly respond to errors and iteration requests.

6. Check Their Experience and Reputation Online

Market reputation and experience speak volumes about the credibility of a mobile app development company. Apart from checking the portfolios, keep an eye on the number of positive reviews posted about a particular company, years of experience in the app development domain, and the different kinds of mobile application development services that they provide. Just remember that you can achieve good Return on Investment (ROI) from your app only when the company chosen by you can deliver solutions with innovative, out-of-the-box ideation. Also, if a company projects in-depth knowledge of multiple mobile device requirements and all popular Mobile Application Development Platforms including Android and iOS, rest assured that they are capable of delivering what you want from them.

7. Mark Their Customer Approach

If you end up choosing app development companies offering poor customer service, you are likely to face troublesome issues right from the development stage. A lot of organizations fall prey to mobile app development companies that are just trying to sell their app and will disappear from the scene once the deal is done. Only companies with good market reputation and a loyal client base understand their customer worth and are always ready to assist you at every step so choose the best mobile app development company