Business & Finance Online Expert

Archive for August, 2009

Deficiency of milk may exist even at a very early period after delivery, and yet be removed. This, however, is not to be accomplished by the means too frequently resorted to; for it is the custom with many, two or three weeks after their confinement, if the supply of nourishment for the infant is scanty, to partake largely of malt liquor for its increase.

Sooner or later this will be found injurious to the constitution of the mother: but how, then, is this deficiency to be obviated? Let the nurse keep but in good health, and this point gained, the milk, both as to quantity and quality, will be as ample, nutritious, and good, as can be produced by the individual.

I would recommend a plain, generous, and nutritious diet; not one description of food exclusively, but, as is natural, a wholesome, mixed, animal, and vegetable diet, with or without wine or malt liquor, according to former habit; and, occasionally, where malt liquor has never been previously taken, a pint of good sound ale may be taken daily with advantage, if it agree with the stomach.

Regular exercise in the open air is of the greatest importance, as it has an extraordinary influence in promoting the secretion of healthy milk. Early after leaving the lying-in room, carriage exercise, where it can be obtained, is to be preferred, to be exchanged, in a week or so, for horse exercise, or the daily walk. The tepid, or cold salt-water shower bath, should be used every morning; but if it cannot be borne, sponging the body withsalt-water must be substituted.

By adopting with perseverance the foregoing plan, a breast of milk will be obtained as ample in quantity, and good in quality, as the constitution of the parent can produce, as the following case proves:

I attended a lady twenty-four years of age, a delicate, but healthy woman, in her first confinement. The labour was good. Every thing went on well for the first week, except that, although the breasts became enlarged, and promised a good supply of nourishment for the infant, at its close there was merely a little oozing from the nipple. During the next fortnight a slight, but very gradual increase in quantity took place, so that a dessert spoonful only was obtained about the middle of this period, and perhaps double this quantity at its expiration. In the mean time the child was necessarily fed upon an artificial diet, and as a consequence its bowels became deranged, and a severe diarrhoea followed.  

Short on cash, but need equipment? Consider leasing what you need. Leasing equipment may be a better alternative to buying, depending on your situation and needs.

Today, leasing is common practice in business. Over the past two years, equipment leasing has risen approximately 20 percent, according to recent research by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). And 8 out of 10 U.S. businesses lease all or part of their equipment, reports the Equipment Leasing Association.

Leasing is appropriate for just about any business at any stage of development. For start-up businesses with no revenues, smaller leases—those of $100,000 or less—may be better managed on the personal credit of the owners—if they are willing to make the monthly payments.

Comparing Leasing to Buying When you buy a piece of equipment or vehicle, you usually have to pay for it in full either by using cash or by financing the balance. After you finish paying for it, you own it.

Equipment leasing, on the other hand, is essentially a loan. The lender buys and owns the equipment and then “rents” it to a business at a flat monthly rate for a set number of months. At the end of the lease, the business has several options. It can purchase the equipment for its fair market value (or a fixed or predetermined amount), continue leasing, return it or lease new equipment.

With a lease, you actually only pay for using the equipment. But at the end of the lease period, you could end up owning nothing. So why lease? The answer is simple: By leasing equipment, you leave money in the bank that can be used for other purchases. Since lease payments are usually smaller than regular loan payments, you don’t have to pay out as much each month.

However, keep in mind that a lease is not cancelable like a bank loan or other debt. If you need to get out a standard loan you can sell the equipment and pay off the loan, or even refinance it. With a lease, you generally have to pay off the lease in full. So you have to be sure you make the payments when you enter into a lease.

So what kinds of equipment make the most sense for a small business to lease? According to research by the SBA, the most common items leased are office equipment, computers, and trucks and vehicles.

Benefits of Leasing Leasing equipment offers a wide range of benefits, from consistency with expenses to increased cash flow. But perhaps the most significant advantage of leasing is the ability to maintain up-to-date equipment. Leasing allows you to easily and affordably add equipment or upgrade to a complete new piece of machinery to meet future needs. This lets you transfer the risk of being caught with obsolete equipment to the leasing company.

Many movies have been made about the tragic story of the Titanic. Arrogance and ignorance was definitely present during its maiden voyage, which was Titanic’s last voyage.

Many warnings were given, but unfortunately, the warnings were not taken seriously. On April 14th, 1912 Titanic received six warnings that icebergs were present in their perimeter. On the night of April 14th, Titanic struck an iceberg and ultimately sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

For other entities, what happened to the Titanic does NOT have to happen to them. Many have learned from the mistakes that Titanic had made.

There are several examples that follow and form a parallel to what happened to Titanic and how an entity can learn from Titanic’s mistakes.

1. The Titanic only had 16 lifeboats, which was not nearly enough to save everyone on the ship.

Only about 60% of the entire lifeboats’ capacity was utilized! Does your company have a disaster plan in place? Are your computers, especially your servers, being backed up on a regular basis? Many servers are now being backed up on a daily basis and sometimes on an hourly basis.

When I was working at a Helpdesk, one of our afternoon gals was named the “Backup Queen” because she took EVERY major server backup VERY seriously. The company was very lucky to have the “Backup Queen” because there were several instances where our most critical server had crashed and lost information. Fortunately, information restoration was quick and painless due to the machine being backed up on a regular basis.

We were very lucky to have someone who took the initiative to handle the server backups. Is your company that lucky? Yes, doing backups can be VERY unexciting. However, losing valuable data can be very exciting, but in a negative way.

2. The crewmen in the lookout tower, or the “crow’s nest,” were not issued binoculars to better search for icebergs.

Employees were not given the proper tools to use to do their job. Is your company using the right software for the job? Are you saving money on upgrading your operating system and software, but are losing customers? If you are losing customers, you’re NOT really saving any money at all.

The right equipment can range from the very basic, such as issuing headphones that are compatible with the phone system to customer service representatives, to ensuring that a backup generator can adequately run due to a power outage.

3. Titanic had a total of 16 watertight compartments. Initially, it sounded fine, but unfortunately, each compartment did not hold water on its own. Every compartment was similar to an ice cube tray. When one compartment overflowed, water flowed into the next compartment. Each compartment did not completely seal off water on its own.

Does your company have a good disaster recovery plan in place? If a flood or a fire struck the premises, would you be able to resume business operations in a matter of days or would it take a matter of months?

Is your information that you have on site being sent off site so you CAN have another place to access your valuable information?

When advertising is considered from its entire history it is not surprising at all that it currently maintains such a significant factor in our lives and society.   The history of advertising can be traced all the way back to the people of Babylonia and was present in several societies from that time forward.  Moving forward outdoor adevertsing was implemented announce such things as properties for rent and sites where food and drink was available in places such as Rome.

It seems that we’ve all heard various tales of town criers and the travels to various villages to spread the day’s most significant news.  But, these traveling announcers also delivered promotional pieces detailing the positive qualities of various products.  The products producer’s of course were behind the promotions.

Although, the property advertisements were a form a graphic advertising it wasn’t until 1472 that the first printed ad appeared in England.  What was for sale?  As one indicator of issues and products of importance today, the same held true in 1472 England.  A prayer book was for sale.