How important is location to business success?

For years, real estate developers have recited the mantra of "location, location, location," and start-up businesses do well to take heed. Location is often the single most important determinant of a company's success or failure. Place your brick-and-mortar building in a prime locale and, other things being equal, the firm will have a greater chance of accomplishing its objectives. Set it down in the wrong place, and the business may struggle for years.

What factors should you consider when deciding where to locate your fledgling business?

Type of company. If you're starting a roofing business that plans to provide services at clients' homes, location may not be as important as, say, a barbershop that takes walk-in customers. The same might be true of a company that deals mainly with suppliers and vendors (a wholesaler, for example) versus a firm that generates revenue from drive-by traffic.
Demographics. A careful study of your customer base should factor into the location decision. A child care service that caters to busy professionals will need a location that makes drop-off and pick-up easy and secure. A store that sells geriatric supplies to senior citizens may want to make easy access a priority. If your customers are mostly teenagers, a mall setting may fit the bill.

Competitors. Ever notice how fast-food restaurants are often clustered along the same highways or near the same malls? Hotels and motels often locate near each other as well, in close proximity to airports and freeways. It may seem counter-intuitive, but placing your storefront close to your competition is often a wise choice. You can take advantage of your competitor's marketing, and customer traffic they've generated may spill over to your store. If Home Depot doesn't stock that widget, your specialty hardware store is just around the corner.

Affordability. Be realistic and find a location you can afford. A spot in an upscale mall might be great for snagging boutique customers, but if those clients don't bring in substantial revenue, rental costs may eat your business alive. You might be better off locating on a busy street near your target demographic. By renting a more affordable space, you'll ensure that more of your income stays in the company.

Above all, remember: There's no substitute for doing your homework — before you put down roots.

www.atconnercpa.com/

HER Launches Blogspot Talk Radio Show

I want to invite you to listen in on my talk show.Yes,you heard that right, I have my own talk show, Launching Sunday, April 1, 2012 at 6:30pm. Get all the juicy details about it by clicking on the following link Small Business...The Backbone of our Communities 04/01 by HERHealing Empowering Restoring | Blog Talk Radio

Candidate Night

Bouncy Houses

Content by Mitch Osborne

Our mall just opened a room with bouncy houses in it for kids. It’s awesome. It’s got about 4 or 5 different bouncy castles, and you can pay to play in 15 minute increments. I think every 15 minutes is $3.50. So, yeah, it’s not cheap, but it makes the perfect bribe for good behavior while I do my shopping. Today, I told the kids that if they were polite and patient while I shopped for sandals, we would go play in the bouncy houses. It worked like a charm! It was so worth the $7.00 I had to shell out for two kids. They had a tv going and comfy chairs for the parents to relax in while the children played. I saw a commercial for http://www.cabletvadvisor.com/, and wrote it down on one of my receipts so that I could remember to check it out once I got home. The commercial made it sound like a really useful site. By the time we left the jumpy houses, the kids were exhausted and slept all the way home.

Feed Your Hair From Within

"Your health is your most prized possession"... so is your hair health, it is a living part of your body just like your skin, teeth and nails...

Your hair is fed by your blood stream. The health of your hair and scalp depends to a great degree on the quality of your blood just as your general health depends on the quality of your blood. The quality of your blood, which feeds your hair, depends on nutrition. If your diet does not contain all the necessary vitamins, minerals, proteins, and amino acids, then your blood will be deficient in all important nutrients and cannot supply them to your hair.
If your hair is falling out or your experiencing baldness, you would be wise to get immediate attention. Usually, hair loss caused by severe conditions is sometimes temporary, and when the condition is cleared up, the hair will resume it's normal growth.
However, the greatest majority of all hair loss in men are so called male-pattern baldness and in women "female pattern". In these instances, baldness is caused, as Dr, Mikus would say, by impaired blood circulation to the hair follicles, prolonged mental stress, affected by the influence of male hormone on the galea {causes it to thicken} or by impaired blood circulation caused by nutrition, or may be affected by the constriction of the blood vessels{cause by smoking} in the scalp, also emotional stress.


Finger Massage:
Place both hands firmly on your head and without moving the fingers or palms, push the whole scalp in circular movements for a few seconds... then place the fingers or palms in a new position repeat until you cover the whole scalp including the forehead, temples and neck...

Brushing
Use a fine brush of fine quality, natural bristle, brush hair for 3-5 minutes morning and evening. Alternate up and down strokes. Regular brushing improves the quality of your hair and helps to prevent baldness. Brushing deep-massages the scalp and cleanse the surface of dirt, dead skin and stale oils. It also helps the sebaceous glands to release their secretions and stimulate their normal activity. And don't be afraid to brush thinking you will pull out too many hairs. If the hair is loosely attached in its cuticle that will come off in brushing- then it would be of no benefit to keep it there. The sooner it comes out the better...The emptied hair follicle stimulated by vigorous brushing and the flow of new blood, will soon start growing new hair.

Shampooing
I do not advise using detergent shampoos or hot water. For your last rinse mix a 1 oz of Bragg's apple cider vinegar to 5 oz a of warm water as your final rinse. Or use Aginah's Herbal Hair Products.

Black History & Culture Showcase April 7-8