Personal Finance Issues

Personal finance issues can have a huge impact on a business venture. With either positive or negative issues, your business can benefit or fail. Financial issues are a huge reason for alot of failing business because there isn't enough to keep the business running. Setting up a plan for proper spending and saving will help create a successful venture.

Setting Up Your Venture

After taking MGT240 I have learned quite a bit about being an entrepreneur. I have realized that being creative and patient are two important characteristics in this field. I have never really thought about beoming an entrepreneur but after learning about it, there are areas that I believe I can expand on.

Setting Up Your Venture

I have never found it difficult to view myself as an entrepreneur. I have learned that the most difficult part of the entrepreneurial process for me is deciding on a venture. I find it difficult to be creative and reasonable at the same time. The most reasonable venture ideas are usually the least creative. I would like to work on bridging this gap.

Planning and Financing Your Venture

Personal fiance issues have a great impact on business venture ideas. An entrepreneur's personal finances can dictate what ideas are feasible. Especially in the current economy, banks are sometimes unwilling to invest in entrepreneurial ventures, this means that one must finance there own venture. An individual with limited financial resources may have to postpone starting a venture or find creative ways to gather funds to meet start-up costs.

Personal finance issues can also foreshadow or explain financial issues within a venture. If an entrepreneur has difficulty managing his personal finances it is likely that he will also experience difficulty with his business's finances. In this situation, even a good venture idea can fail when it is not financially sound.

The apple falls gently from the tree

Apple inc just released their second quarter fiscal earnings. Although retail sales are down of their computers, they were saved from any unrest by the sales of their Iphone and ipod products. The ipod product is even up by %3 of sales, compared to last year. THis goes to prove that even in a recession if one has a strong brand power one can succeed.

THe brand is also counting down to its billionth iphone application dowload. There is also rumor that a new model of the iphone will be released soon. Apple spokespeople are hesitant to answer the rumor, but do say that they are working on the 3rd version of the iphones operating system.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2009/tc20090422_557162.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

Over the Rainbow

In todays economy many people wish that products and services are run/produced differently than how they are. Unfortunately its hard to establish a unique way to do so without failing. If I could have all my dreams come true in the marketplace, I would wish for trednyclothing stores to be more popular/common is this area, restaurants that are just chains from up north to migrate down south. Its hard to say exactly what I would dream about because during this time its hard to want everything perfect.

Creativity vs. Innovation

The difference between creativity and innovation is that innovation is how you go about doing something where creativity is the mental and social processes of new ideas and concepts. Being an entrepreneur you would need both of these because its important to know how you want to go about creating your products/company and also the creativity you use to appeal to your customers. Lacking spark in your product could cost you the business.

The british are coming !

The past two or three times I have visited NYC, i have seen the Coming Soon sign for TopShop in the shopping district of SOHO. I have been waiting for the London based retailer to hit the states for about forever.

The rocker glam style has a limited amount of mens apparel, but i am still excited to see what they have to offer the male and female shopper.

They have hit the states with a great integrated marketing campaign, the includes a van driving throughout NYC and passing out bags and gift cards from $5-$500.

Kate Moss, who has had an exclusive deal with the retailer since 2006, will release her spring line concurrently with the opening of the Flagship store in NYC.

http://origin.www.wwd.com/retail-news/topshop-lands-in-new-york-2087669/?module=most_emailed

The brand that was CNN

CNN, which is Synonymous with cable news has in its first time ever dropped from the number one spot in ratings of cable news. It not only dropped from number one, but it sits at the number 3 spot behind Fox news and MSNBC. I know this has nothing to do with apparel or business, but it does relate to building a brand. Apparently the notion of Obama unifying our country is not true. People are still polarized on their political opinions. Fox news caters to conservative viewer who enjoy Bill Oreily and Sean Hannity, and MSNBC caters to more liberal viewers who share the same opinions as Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. The shows on Fox and MSNBC also have a much higher loyalty to their favorite TV personalities. This article, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jeEr_9iwtdieF9FQS0td-iGANTgQD976K4IG2, suggests that CNN is the fair and unpolarized option for news. Even though CNN has tried to position itself as unbiased amongst its competitors, I believe many news viewers see this station having a more liberal view. The past election was still very evenly split, and although Obama won because of independent support this mindset is still a minority. I see that political opinion in the US is a dichotomy. Fox news is the only option for conservative viewers and therefore it takes all the market share of those who hold more conservative views. Therefore MSNBC and CNN are splitting Liberals and Liberal moderates. I see MSNBC taken a bigger share of Leftists and CNN taking a bigger share of moderates. The article also points out that CNN is missing a TV personality that its competition have. Campell brown is competiting against Olbermann and Oreily. She also does not have the following that the others have. Her positioning of no biased and no bull is not taking her very far. CNN is going to need to find a better way to position itself as moderate or try and go for more of the liberal market share. I don't really have a solution, but I at least have noticed the problem.

Made in America

If there is anything that is nationalistic about me, it is that I find pride in products made in the US. I love the fact that they are made under stable and good working condidtions and that the flow of currency that is being spent on these garments stays within my own economy.

According to a new article on WWD men's apparel firms are seeing an increase in sales and market share. This is because we consumers are not only paying attention to the price of a product ,but also where it is being made. Perhaps we are looking out for one another and hoping that that shirt made by american apparel will save one more american job. http://origin.www.wwd.com/menswear-news/mens-firms-see-boost-by-being-made-in-usa-2074850?module=most_emailed

Jill sanders joins UNIQLO

I love the uniqlo brand. whenever i visit New York I have to take a trip to their SOHO store. The Japanese retailer is the eastern equivalent to the GAP. In my opinion they are way more innovative and fashion forward then the dieing american retailer. I am pleased to have read this article on WWD that German Designer Jill Sander is on board as UNIQLO's design team. I believe she will bring even more fashion oriented apparel to the retailer.
http://origin.www.wwd.com/fashion-news/jil-sander-said-to-take-on-design-role-at-uniqlo-2072975?module=most_emailed

A sign of improvement

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200903031517DOWJONESDJONLINE000697_FORTUNE5.htm

This recent article shows that there may be some positive news in the retail world. Same store sales are going to be up in February, compared to January. Most categories of retail are expected to do well. Walmart is the biggest winner, again. Target unfortunately is not seeing the same upward trend. They are looking to drop anywhere from 3-5 %. When push comes to shove people are going to choose price, and target cannot compete with Walmart's prices. I don't worry for target, i expect it to flourish again in the long run. I still refuse to shop at Walmart, and my budget is becoming thinner and thinner everyday.

Slumdog Governer

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/26/carville.republicans/index.html#cnnSTCTe

James Carville was a political adviser for President Bill Clinton in the 1990's and a huge supporter of Hillary Clinton's presidential bid last year. He wrote this amusing commentary for CNN. Carville Discusses Louisianan Governer "Bobby" Jindall's response to President Obama's stimulus speech. Jindall has criticized the presidents plan as wasteful spending. Jindall himself refuses to take any money from the package for his state, because it will enforce him to change the states unemployment law. I agree with Carville when he writes that expanding unemployment benefits will help boost our economy. A former Mccain economic adviser predicts that every dollar put into unemployment will put over $1.50 into our economy.
This is a bad move for Jindall and the republican party. He is criticizing a solution to our economic crisis, without supplying any possible ideas of his own.This is all a ploy to make Jindall the next superstar of the GOP. That fake southern accent really kills it for me.

It's Electric boogie woogie

Recently I read an article on CNN.com in their money section. The article discusses the stimulus package's affect on the electric car. President Obama has extended tax benefits to electric car buyers, by offering up to %10 of modification costs of electric cars. Not only do you save money 0n gas, but also you recieve tax releif. They also focused on some up and coming electirc cars.

As the auto-industry in the us is bombing, i have asked this time and time before. How are these american car manufacturers going to re-innovate themselves and become competitve in the car market. I think Chevy has answer with the Volt. This car is very innovative. It runs 40 miles on its just an electric charge and for longer travel has a small gas tank. 40 miles, according to the article, is more than the average american drives everyday. One could go weeks without filling up with the volt. If one is just running around town for work and errands this would be the perfect alternative.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/autos/0902/gallery.electric_car_credits/2.html

Walmart

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200902171051DOWJONESDJONLINE000487_FORTUNE5.htm

According to this article, the world's largest retailer Walmart is one of few retail stocks that is doing well. Yet they recently laid-off a few hundred employees. I learned from my boss at Wrangler that these lay-offs were not a sign of poor business at the discount retailer. In fact it is a strategy to save money. They have laid off many of their apparel buyers. These people are located in Bentonville, AR. Walmart is trying to move their buying team to NYC. Therefore these employees can re-apply for their jobs, but they also take the financial cost of moving. Another one of my co-workers noted that the retailer might be trying to compete with targets fashion oriented apparel, by hiring younger fashion oriented buyers. This just shows that walmart will do anything to save money, even if it means throwing there longtime employees under the bus.

Past Failures Helpful?

I can't think of a past failure of mine that would be helpful to me as an entrepreneur. However, I do think that failures can help entrepreneurs. Failures provide opportunities to learn from mistakes. The knowledge gained from from making mistakes helps to improve the chances of success with the next venture. Failure can also give entrepreneurs a since of determination, a trait that is needed for success.

Social Entrepreneurship

Social Entrepreneurship is the development, creation, and management of social change. A social entrepreneur is one who typically recognizes this social problem and will work through nonprofit organizations to fix it.

Low grade fashion week

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2009-02-11-fashion-week_N.htm

The recession is hitting our economy in every aspect possible. This article points to the fact that even that the most fashionable and expensive brands are downgrading during fashion week. Multiple brands are scaling down there shows, not showing at all, or using other tactics besides a runway show to promote their new lines.

I think this points to a new mentality in consumer spending. For the past few years, consumers have been buying flashy apparel items that show status and wealth. I believe now will come a time of thriftiness and how consumers can save. People are going to be off put by the notion of flashy materialistic items and high-end brands. Its very difficult for someone to flaunt their $2,000 prada bag, when many families cant make enough money to pay their rent, feed their children, or retire when planned. Social influence will make it hard for those who can afford extravagant items to even consider it.

This same mentality might keep us in a recession longer. Because when consumer are spending less and the flow of money is stagnant, then we are going to be in a recession longer.

What Lay-offs?

Every day I read the news online I am bombarded with headlines that read "x" company has laid off "y" amount of employees. As an upcoming college graduate the reality of our economic climate becomes more frightful with every headline. While I was perusing through CNN.com, I came across an article that gave me hope that not every business is throwing their employees overboard.

Forbes released this article. Which is 9 companies and retailers that have never had to lay-off employees.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0901/gallery.no_layoffs.fortune/index.html

Many of these companies have great strategies that recruit and create great talent, maintain fiscal responsibility, and have low employee turnover that doesn't flood the company with high labor costs.

There are some smart strategies that are mentioned in this article, ones that caught my attention was Nugget Market's use of versatile employees and meeting fluctuating labor needs with the use of college students on break for their seasonal increase in business.
I also respect Aflac's motto that "If we take care of our employees, the employees take care of the business." I feel that employers loose sight of this, and are only focused on their shareholders or their profit.

Its a quick read that puts a little optimism in your heart and a some relevant retail and business strategies in your artillery

In the Year 4076

Happy New Years.... China. It is begining of the year of the Ox and according to the Chinese Calendar it is the year 4076. The Chinese years is a time of Celebration for the entire country; it can be the seldom time of the year that many industrial workers recieve a vacation. Although its time for celebration in the country of china, there thought of economic woes in the mind of the chinese people. http://www.wwd.com/business-news/chinas-consumers-scale-back-1947253?module=today. The article points at how the recession is affecting not only the us economy but also china and its consumers. This crisis is very scary, and it makes the job market even smaller and smaller. I feel like even with all my experience and the education I have recieved i still wont be able to land a job. Although I am skeptical of Obama's recovery plan actually working, I feel there are no other options. I do agree that recovery needs to begin soon, but this recession is unlike any other. It is driven by consumer's lack of confidence. In an economhy that thrives on the flow of money, it will be hard to see how we will recover.