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Infant Crib/Tent Recall
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said five retailers will voluntarily recall crib tents and play yard tents made by Tots in Mind Inc. due to strangulation and entrapment hazards.
Since Tots in Mind is no longer in business, Amazon.com, Bed, Bath & Beyond Inc., Toys “R” Us Inc., Burlington Coat Factory and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will offer refunds or store credit to consumers. The recalled products were sold at numerous retail stores and online for between $60 and $85.
Tots in Mind had recalled the play yard tents in July 2010 and offered a repair kit that is no longer available. Chicago Products Liability Lawyers urge consumers to stop using these products immediately and to not attempt to repair these products.
The CPSC said it is aware of 27 tent failures, including one fatality and one serious injury, that occurred between January 1997 and April 2012.
For more national and worldwide Business News, visit the Peak News Room blog. Read more…
Sustainability is back on the agenda
Those who believed that by marketing products as green or environmentally friendly meant they could dodge the recession haven’t lived to tell the tale. But even though we’re not back on the straight and narrow just yet, experts believe businesses need to return to environmental sustainability issues.
In an event hosted by the Carbon Trust Standard, experts warned that businesses will see their competitiveness diminish over the next few years if they fail to provide customers with information on their carbon footprint and environmental responsibilities.
Unfortunately, ignoring sustainability is no longer a luxury business can afford. Sustainability not only cuts costs through using energy and water efficiently, but toughening up on your plans can also improve your reputation. Most customers would prefer to buy from a responsible source and the upturn in fortunes could be reason for change.
Chinese Real Estate Developers Arrested for Corruption
HONG KONG – More than $5 billion was wiped off the market value of Sun Hung Kai Properties on Friday, after the billionaire owners of Asia’s largest real estate developer were arrested on suspicion of corruption.
Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) arrested the owners in the agency’s biggest investigation since it was set up in 1974 to root out what was seen as widespread corruption in the government and police.
The arrests on Thursday come just days after Hong Kong elected its next leader, pledging land for cheaper public housing, and as soaring property prices, the most expensive in the world, have stirred public discontent. Home prices almost doubled in the five years to end-2011.
The owners were released late on Thursday but were expected to return for more questioning, according to a source familiar with the matter. Read more…
Is it all over for Big Marketing?
Lo how the mighty are fallen. The Gods of Industry humbled by technology. Perhaps the first to go was Big Steel. The mighty Andrew Carnegie built up US Steel to be the largest corporation in the world. Now commentators talk about the Rust Belt. Big Auto was brought low by the competition from the Eastern car manufacturers, especially the Japanese. Big Oil has had its troubles too with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Royal Dutch Shell’s overstatement of its oil reserves. Even Big Pharma, seen as the archetypal modern industry, has been showing signs of strain as patents expire, the flow of blockbuster drugs dry up and Western Governments start cutting back the cost of their healthcare systems.
But now there are hints that we might be seeing the eclipse of Big Marketing.
Revamp Your Website on a Budget (5 Easy Ways)
While I believe every business owner should be an expert in direct-response marketing (e.g., marketing designed to solicit a direct response which is specific and quantifiable), I don’t believe it’s necessary to become an expert on building websites.
It’s something a hired programmer can do while you focus on growing your business.
However, even hiring and managing someone to take care of this for you can be time-consuming-and you still have to know what to ask them to do in the first place.
So here are 5 simple things that can make your website more effective that either you or any programmer can easily do.
#1: Set up a blog
Even if you don’t have a website, you can go to WordPress.com and create one for free.
Want to know the news? It’ll cost you
Today the Times and Sunday Times announced it will start charging its readers for use of its website. Users will be offered a day’s use for £1, or £2 for a week’s subscription. But is this a wise business move at a time when the majority of us are watching our pennies?
On Tuesday, the Telegraph reported that the publisher of the The Times and The Sunday Times lost £87.9m in the year to June 28, 2009, so it appears there is a method to the perceived madness.
James Harding, Editor of The Times, said: ‘Our new website – with a strong, clean design – will have all the values of the printed paper and all the versatility of digital media. We want people to do more than just read it – to be part of it.’
The Times is clearly hoping that the news it provides will be as valuable to a consumer audience as the Financial Times has proved to be for business readers. But will consumers be as prepared to pay as companies?
Unfortun
Taking the Liberté
I don’t want to get stuck into a rut of complaining about the French – particularly after my last rant a couple of weeks ago. I genuinely do like them, but seriously guys what are you playing at? First we reported how it was illegal for Google to give away maps for free and now they’re at it again, but this time the French have passed a law which effectively gives the rights in all books written before 2001 to a French Quango.
The story was broken by the Register who said:
It’s essentially a Compulsory Purchase Order for intellectual property – the author’s work is no longer their own. Ownership is instead transferred to a quango answering to the French Ministry of Culture, which is authorised to make it digitally available. Publishers are the big beneficiaries. <
Bootstrap Funding: Examples & How to Get It
Many of my newsletters and blog posts are on the topic of raising capital. I talk about how to raise angel funding. And venture capital, etc.
And don’t get me wrong, I think, actually I know, that raising funding is critical. Because the #1 reason (by far) why entrepreneurs fail, is that they don’t have or run out of cash.
But one thing I’d like to clarify is that you CAN start and grow a business without funding. Or with little funding.
In fact, many great businesses have been started this way. A survey of Inc 500 companies found that 48% started with $20K in financing or less, and 73% started with less than $100K in financing.
And, if you are looking for BIG funding sources, like venture capital, they will often want to see that you have bootstrapped or already raised other, smaller funding sources before they fund you.
So, if I misspoke or implied that you absolutely must raise lots of funding from the get-go forgive me.