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Posts Tagged ‘California’

How Some States are Dealing with a Budget Crisis

August 4th, 2010 by stevezog

You know a state is in deep financial trouble when it’s thinking of capitalizing on strip clubs to fix its debt.

Raising taxes is the last thing most state governments want to do — or suffer a major backlash with the people — so states that are struggling with debt are looking at taxing specific items and services to help decrease their gaps in budget. Some of the ideas seem downright outrageous.

For example, lawmakers in Georgia proposed a “pole tax,” which would charge strip club patrons a $5 entrance fee. The bill was not approved.

Other examples:

New York proposed a “fat tax” that would put an 18 percent tax on sugary beverages. That didn’t pass. Next door in New Jersey, however, there is now a sales tax on health club memberships.
School’s out for summer! Some school districts in Utah shortened their school years by a few days in hopes of saving money.
California proposed legalizing marijuana, and introduced a bill proposing taxing pot by $50 per ounce. If legalized, marijuana would become California’s No. 1 cash crop, bringing in an estimated $1 billion a year in state taxes. The bill was shelved this session, but it is rumored that a revised bill will be reintroduced.
19 states have looked into gambling-related tax proposals, according to the National Council of State Legislatures. In Alabama, lawmakers considered bringing in more bingo games and legalizing slot machines, but it was not approved. Along the same lines, Delaware’s Democratic Gov. Jack Markell signed legislation creating a sports lottery that legalizes single-game betting. Four professional sports leagues and the NCAA have filed a lawsuit over this because they say it threatens the integrity of the games.

Guess you have to hand it to legislators, these ideas are definitely outside the box…

Tags: Alabama, bill, California, club patrons, Delaware, Georgia, Gov. Jack Markell, health club memberships, jack markell, national council of state legislatures, New Jersey, New York, professional sports leagues, school, state, strip, tax, Utah
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Interview with Brad Sugars After his Business is Booming Seminar

June 17th, 2010 by stevezog

Brad Sugars has been dispensing his knowledge about business and secrets and strategies for succeeding in business while on his 52-city Business is Booming tour.

Troy Casey, a green entrepreneur and known as the “Certified Health Nut,” interviews Brad Sugars after one of his stops on his tour in California. Brad shares some tips for building your business in the interview, but to really benefit, go see him on tour! Click here to register and use ticket code NAT197.

Tags: Brad, Brad Sugars, business, business coaching, California, city, entrepreneur, health nut, knowledge, knowledge about business, ticket code, tour, tour in california, Troy Casey
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Franchises CAN Outlast Their Parent Company

February 1st, 2010 by stevezog

What's the fate of Fat Burger?

The idea that some franchises can be left hanging after a parent company experiences financial trouble is a scary thought. But it can happen, and it’s happened a lot more in this economy.

Some franchises, like Dial-A-Mattress and Fatburger are left in limbo while their companies decide what they should do. Dial-A-Mattress was sold to the highest bidder, Sleepy’s Mattress, for $25 million, and franchisees are waiting to hear if they’ll be kept or not. Similarly, Fatburger Restaurants of California and Fatburger Restaurants of Nevada, subsidiaries of Fatburger Corp., filed for Chapter 11 in April, and its 90 franchisees are waiting to hear their fate.

However, some franchisees are able to pull through. Take Cork and Olive in Tampa, Florida. Franchise owners didn’t even realize they’d filed for Chapter 11 until a laid-off employee of a company-owned store applied for a job at a franchise.

However, they’ve managed to stay alive, and all the franchisees meet regularly to discuss how to keep their brand alive and well – without their parent company. It just takes good planning and focus on business fundamentals.

This is exactly what ActionCOACH specializes in – helping small businesses be successful, especially when something unplanned happens. Even if a parent company files for Chapter 11, a franchise may be able to remain successful.

As Brad Sugars has said, managing business processes and cashflow is key. Also, focusing on what differentiates the business can also be crucial in surviving.

ActionCOACH has several franchises all over the country, and just like other small businesses, how they manage their individual businesses is a key factor to their success.

All businesses should focus on controlling their operations at all times. Sometimes a downturn gives businesses a “kick in the pants” to help them realize what they need to do in order to survive – and in all cases, it’s about getting back to the basics.

Tags: Brad Sugars, California, caption, Chapter, company, company experiences, Cork, dial a mattress, Fatburger, fatburger corp, Florida, florida franchise, Franchise, Nevada, Olive, parent, Tampa
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Is the Recession Really Over?

January 19th, 2010 by stevezog

Photos from BusinessWeek capture today's employment situation.

BusinessWeek's photo captures today's employment situation.

Just last week in Bloomberg Businessweek, job market statistics were published…and they may not be what you thought they were.

The U.S. unemployment rate hit a 26-year high in 2009 (but it still didn’t top the Great Depression’s unemployment rate of about 25%) and the magazine predicts that the U.S’ long-term unemployment average of 6% won’t come back until long after 2011. In fact, economists predict the unemployment rate will stay around 10% this year, and only decrease to 9.3% next year.

But there’s a glimmer – a tiny glimmer – of hope: health care professions (nurses, orderlies, home health aides), customer service professions, retail jobs, office clerks, accountants and auditors all top the list of jobs expected to grow most by 2018, and for the most part, they’re in high demand today.

That’s a tiny glimmer because, well, 2018 is a ways away right now.

Armed with these statistics, business coaches should be ready to take businesses in need of coaching by storm. The full article included a map which color-coded states’ unemployment rates; California, Nevada, Oregon, Michigan, South Carolina and Florida still have state unemployment rates of 11% or higher.

Businesses across the country have been affected by the recession, but small business coaching shouldn’t be overlooked, either. What can you do to help businesses in your area?

Tags: California, caption, Florida, glimmer, glimmer of hope, health care professions, home health aides, long term unemployment, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, rate, small business coaching, South Carolina, U.S., unemployment, year
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Jim Rohn – The Passing of a Legend

December 9th, 2009 by stevezog

Jim Rohn's books, CDs and seminars touched several lives.

Jim Rohn touched several lives.

We’ve talked about how Brad Sugars has several of his own mentors, people who he’s looked up to and who have inspired him to achieve all he’s achieved today. One of those mentors was Jim Rohn. Brad still remembers saving up to pay for a ticket to one of Rohn’s seminars in his teens. He often says that seminar changed his life. That’s how powerful of a speaker Rohn was.

Rohn passed away December 5th after a long battle with Pulmonary Fibrosis. It was a sad day – he touched the lives of millions with his books, articles, CDs and seminars in the past 46 years. But the fact that he carried on while fighting the disease and had no fear in his final months just stood even more as a testament to his message: fight the good fight; never give up or give in.

Rohn focused on the fundamentals of human behavior that most affect people’s business performance – as well as their personal performance. He had a unique ability to bring great insight to everyday thoughts and events, and there is something about his substance and style in which he tells people how to achieve their dreams that deeply affects those who hear or read his words.

Rohn was born to an Idaho farming family in the mid-1900s, and thus ingrained with a work ethic that has served him well throughout his life. At 25, he met his mentor Earl Shoaff, and during the next six years he made his first fortune. This led to his first speaking engagement in Beverly Hills, California, which turned into several speaking engagements, then moved on to conducting seminars. By 1963, he was in the personal-development business and a trailblazer in the self help and personal development industry.

Jim’s “Treasury of Quotes,” something that we keep in the ActionCOACH Global Office for inspiration, is a booklet the size of a passport filled with quotes that reflect on his philosophy on life and business. One of Sugars’ favorites: “Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems; wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenges; wish for more wisdom.”

For more “vitamins for the mind,” click here, and you can view a special tribute to Rohn here.

Tags: Beverly Hills, Brad, Brad Sugars, business, California, caption, Don, Earl Shoaff, farming family, fight, fundamentals of human behavior, Idaho, Jim, Jim Rohn, life, performance, pulmonary fibrosis, something
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Significant Firsts in Internet History

September 23rd, 2009 by stevezog

There have been several firsts when it comes to the Internet.

It’s hard to remember a time before the Internet. Nearly everything in business depends on it – email, company websites to find information and help promote business, social media sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter…the list goes on and on.

Have you ever wondered what the first email ever sent was? How about the first spam email, and what that said? Or if there was life before Google (which, by the way, yes, there was a search engine before Google)?

Below are some of the Internet firsts that happened because of innovative people. There will certainly be more to come:

First email: Email was created by a programmer named Ray Tomlinson in 1971 by creating the email structure with the @ symbol. By bringing the “@” symbol in, it separated the e-mail user from his machine, and, therefore, he could send his electronic message to anyone on any machine. The first email ever sent was: ‘QWERTYUIOP’ or something similar. However, the first real email he sent was a message to his co-workers explaining how to use email over the network

First spam email: the first spam email was sent out in 1978 by Gary Thuerk, a marketing rep for DEC. That’s the Digital Equipment Corporation. The reaction was not a good one.

It was 1978, and modems were slow…so when they tried to download a long email, like this spam email that just included info about where they’d be presenting their DEC Systems in California, people were infuriated when they waited all that time to download…well, all that info about something they didn’t care about.

First Search Engine. Yes, there was a search engine before Google. The first search engine was called Archie, and was created in 1990 by Alan Emtage, a student at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

There was a big reason the Archie engine didn’t catch on – you can only search for FTP and Polish websites. That’s kind of limiting for a search engine, don’t you think?

First Item Sold on eBay. Pierre Omidyar started eBay in September of 1995. And Omidyar sold the first item on eBay… a broken laser pointer that went for $14.

Very compelling, right? A broken laser pointer….that actually sold.

First Tweet. Biz Stone, one of the co-founders of Twitter, posted the first Tweet ever… just 11 minutes before the other co-founder, Evan Williams. On March 21st, 2006, at 12:51 PM, Stone Twittered: “just setting up my twttr.”

Tags: Alan Emtage, Archie, California, Canada, caption, email, engine, Evan Williams, Gary Thuerk, mail user, mcgill university, Montreal, montreal quebec canada, Pierre, Quebec, Ray Tomlinson, search, spam, spam email
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Confidence in the Marketplace

September 8th, 2009 by stevezog

Despite positive signs, there are still negative signs out there that the economic recession will stick around just a little longer.

States still have high unemployment rates (the top three highest rates in the US are Michigan, Rhode Island and Nevada, with California trailing at four) and companies are still being careful when hiring in terms of salaries and jobs altogether.

But life goes on, and instead of focusing on negative numbers, companies are focusing the money they’ve saved during the last year to make somewhat risky investments.

This probably isn’t something unstable companies should do. But a stable company, like Disney, who can afford to risk $4 billion, can make that risky investment, and bet on a payoff.

The acquisition of Marvel by Disney marks the first big media deal since the economic downturn started.

Disney’s move amounts to a rare display of confidence in an industry that’s going through an economy that forces doubts about its traditional business models.

Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said during a conference call with Forbes Monday that Marvel was an attractive target for Disney despite the challenges facing the media industry, such as the decline of DVD sales.

“[Marvel is] not immune from the changes that we’re seeing, but they have established a footing that we think is more solid than what you typically see in the non-branded non-character driven movie.”

“This is another sign that confidence is returning to the marketplace,” said Miller Tabak analyst David Joyce told Forbes.

Think like Disney and founder and CEO of ActionCOACH Brad Sugars and know what to invest in.

By minimizing costs, you’ll also have more money to invest in something big that will have an even bigger payoff. If you’ve recession-proofed your business, this will be easy to do.

It’s always a good idea to be prepared. Prepare your company while looking to make an investment – being confident in the marketplace pays off, but better safe than sorry in this economy.

Tags: attractive target, Brad Sugars, California, Chief Executive Robert Iger, confidence, David Joyce, Disney, economic recession, industry, marketplace, Marvel, Michigan, miller tabak, Nevada, Rhode Island, traditional business models, U.S.
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Miss Universe – Opportunities Abound

August 24th, 2009 by stevezog

Miss Venezuela won the Miss Universe pageant over the weekend.

The Miss Universe pageant occurred over the weekend, and Miss Venezuela, Stefania Fernandez, was declared the winner.

The Miss Universe Organization puts on the pageant, along with the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants.

The first pageant of its trilogy of pageants, Miss USA, started in 1952 as a local swimsuit competition in California. Who would have thought the event would grow into an international beauty competition that millions of women vie to become a part of?

The competition was, and is, appealing to women because besides being beautiful women, contestants need to be smart, savvy and goal-oriented.

Winners of the competition and even those who compete have more opportunities than ever to accomplish their overall goals, be they humanitarian goals, helping those in need or career goals.

The same idea was ActionCOACH founder and CEO Brad Sugars’ idea, too: using business coaching to creating opportunities for ActionCOACH franchise and firm owners and Business Coaches.

In fact, many current ActionCOACH Business Coaches are former clients and customers who saw in ActionCOACH a new opportunity to use their training and learning and business success in new ways.

When people join the ActionCOACH family, they are given the opportunity to begin helping small to medium-sized business owners, and help them accomplish their goals, increase their profits and help them work on, not in, their business.

Miss Universe contestants compete for the crown for the opportunities they receive if they win. ActionCOACH Business Coaches number one reason for becoming a Business Coach is to help and teach people. Those are great new opportunities they can leverage in the ActionCOACH system.

Tags: ActionCOACH, business, California, caption, competition, Founder Brad Sugars, Miss Teen, miss teen usa, Miss Universe, miss universe contestants, miss universe organization, miss universe pageant, Miss USA, Miss Venezuela, pageant, sized business owners, Stefania Fernandez, USA
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The Car Industry Revs its Engine

August 13th, 2009 by stevezog

The Chevy Volt

The recession has made some car companies say, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

In a 2006 documentary, “Who Killed the Electric Car,” General Motors gave a select few California residents electric cars to test, hoping to prove that electric cars weren’t necessary. This experiment actually proved the opposite – not only are they better for the environment, but there was no need to buy gas. But instead of producing electric cars and profiting, GM destroyed them.

The film explored why the electric car was put to death – oil companies were afraid of losing out on trillions of dollars in potential profit from their transportation fuel monopoly over the coming decades, while the auto companies were afraid of losses over the next six months of EV production.

But it looks like to survive this recession, some car companies are giving in and entering the electric car market sooner than anticipated.

Chevy has already aired TV ads for its Chevy Volt, which gets 230 MPG, and Chrysler is aiming to have its Tesla Roadster ready by next year.

Car companies might be looking at this as a bad thing, since electric cars require a lot of time and money to make (the Chevy Volt won’t be ready until 2011), but really, it seems that car companies struggling has forced them to make a fuel-efficient car that’s better for the environment.

At ActionCOACH, Business Coaches see these types of situations all the time – when business owners think the situation they’re in is bad, and maybe even hopeless. But sometimes, there could be an overlooked benefit.

As Brad Sugars says, being adaptable is important.

The auto industry is learning to adapt – it’s catering to the same customers, but retooling its product.

How can you adapt your business as the times change?

Tags: Brad Sugars, California, caption, car, Chevy, chevy volt, EV, tesla roadster, Volt, who killed the electric car
Posted in Brad Sugars | 1 Comment »

What Recession? Continued…

August 7th, 2009 by stevezog

California's unemployment rate is on the rise.

California’s unemployment rate keeps on rising…it is currently at 11.6, more than the national unemployment rate of 9.5.

More than 2 million people are unemployed in the Golden State, and according to Reuters, that number will continue to grow instead of diminish.

What would a Business Coach advise panicking businesses in California to do, as the media predicts even worse times ahead?

Brad Sugars, founder and CEO of ActionCOACH, would tell them to “master your numbers” and take a “media diet.”

Reading the newspapers every day is a perfect way to start your day on a negative note – because even the business media is anti-business these days.

Avoiding the papers and turning off the TV will help you “get rid of head trash.”

All that doom and gloom needs to be turned around into what you can do to turn your own situation around. Besides, worrying doesn’t help success come any faster.

Then, Brad would advise getting your marketing in place. What’s the quickest way to generate business? Go to your current customers. Brad always advises owners that the greatest asset of their business is their current customer base. It costs between six to eight times (or more) to acquire new customers than sell to your existing customers.

If you’re a business in California, you’ll need to focus on your numbers, and you’ll need to concentrate on existing customers and repeat business. That’s the basic model of a winning strategy.

Rather than wasting time and precious resources scrambling for new customers, go back to your existing customer base – then step-up your customer service, add value to your product and/or service line, and start a referral plan (after all – wouldn’t you rather give a $50 gift card to someone who sent you business than buy a $50 ad that may or may not pull?). Who knows? You might start getting more referrals than ever … and instead of putting effort into getting new customers, you have started to work “on” your business. Companies in California should take note!

Tags: Brad, Brad Sugars, business, California, caption, customer, doom and gloom, national unemployment rate, rate, referral plan, unemployment
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About Brad Sugars

Posts Tagged ‘California’

How Some States are Dealing with a Budget Crisis

Interview with Brad Sugars After his Business is Booming Seminar

Franchises CAN Outlast Their Parent Company

Is the Recession Really Over?

Jim Rohn – The Passing of a Legend

Significant Firsts in Internet History

Confidence in the Marketplace

Miss Universe – Opportunities Abound

The Car Industry Revs its Engine

What Recession? Continued…

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