Christmas website

http://www.christmasrants.com/dont_forget_your_teachers_christmas_present.html
This website is for people to buy christmas present. In this site, it gives you some advices about christmas present. And it gives you some pices of information. It gives you many kinds of presents to choose. All the information is very clear. The main color of this website is red, it's a good color for christmas. But I think that's not enough. This site is still too simple. They can make this site more colourful and put more pictures in this site. They can also put some songs about christmas in website. When people search this site, make them feel that christmas is coming and feel happy and exciting. So that people will more likely to search this site.

Business idea for car windshields

Is this a product extension strategy: "Make all car windshields out of photochromic glass that darkens to a moderate sunglass tint when exposed to sunlight. This innovation would improve driver comfort and safety, especially when traveling into the blinding glare of a rising or setting sun."
In China and some countries many traffic accidents happen at night. Beacuse when people driving at night the lights which are from the cars coming in opposite way make driver can't see. So I think this product can solve this problem and improve driver comfort and safety. But is it effect the sight of drivers ? If this product can make sure that it not effect the sight of drivers, it will be a nice and useful product.

"Introduce mugs and cups with special sensors that would give a voice alert like 'This is your third coffee today', 'Your coffee is getting cold', 'I am empty; refill me if you want', and so on." - would these sell well at Christmas?
This product sounds quite good, it's a new product which is interesting. It can make people happy while they are drinking. I think the piont of this peoduct is not how useful it is. It's just new and for fun. People maybe would like to have one or buy one as a present. This product also can buy it for childern, they will interested in it. So I think this product do have a market. Maybe it will have a good sale.

The idea from Google

"Add an 'I'm NOT Feeling Lucky' button to Google that would automatically take users to a random webpage that would NOT be the topmost return for their query. This option would complement the 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button, giving the search process a creative twist." - would this be popular? Would this increase Google's revenue?

I think this button is useful and convenient. As we know, this kind of website is for search the information or other website which we need. The more information the website get the more people will use it. But sometimes when we are like to go to some websites but we forget the address, then we will try to search it. Normally after we type the key word we will have thousands of links. It's difficult for us to choose. This button probably can go straight to the website which we need. In this case, it will be very useful. So I think it's a good idea, but it won't increase Google's revenue a lot. Because Google is already famous, many people already know this side, so maybe some more people will use this side because of this button, but it wouldn't be a lot. And revenue of this side is not only from people who use this side, but also come from the advertisement. Some other websites pay for google and we people search the information, that website will be in the first page. The price of advertisement depends on how popular the webside is. Google is already very popular, so the price of advertisement wouldn't increase a lot.

So in a word, this maybe will increase Google's revenue,but it won't be a lot.

Recycling Vending Machine

Users bring empty beverage containers to this ‘reverse vending’ unit and the machine sorts the machine sorts the materials into recyclable groups and crushes it. Income is made by being the local supplier of such machines to governments, school and large organizations and emptying them.
http://www.reversevending.co.uk/
This is a business idea which is good for society and environment. As the environment become more and more important. Government will definitely support this business. After receiving empty beverage containers, they can sell to the factories. My advice for this business idea is put vending machines to the right place, such as near the dustbin and the place which are selling drinks, then people will like to put empty beverage containers into the vending machines.

In-Store Surfing Simulator

Originally available on cruise ships and in water theme parks, the Flow Rider uses pressurized water to create an indoor surfing simulation experience with wakeboards.
http://www.adrenalinastore.com/
I think it’s a nice idea. The cost of this business will be very high. But no matter where the country is, no matter how bad the weather is, we can still surfing whenever and wherever we want. That’s the U.S.P. of this business idea. As we can see in the picture, we can also sell clothes and boards at the same time. This surfing is also more safety, so more people can do this sport. But the weakness of this business idea is in winter, less people will like to do this sport, that’s the problem, so the temperature is very important for this business. So when they choose the place location is very important.

British Empire(company report)

Website: http://www.british-empire.co.uk/

Type: Public Limited Company

The company: The company is an investment trust and its shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange. It is a member of the Association of Investment Companies. The Group's net asset value at 30 September 2007 was 815million pounds and the marker capitalisation was 762 million pounds.

Objective: The investment objective of the Company is to achieve capital growth through a focused portfolio of investments, particularly in companies whose share prices stand at a discount to estimated underlying net asset value.

Business idea from another blog

My new business idea is about tips in the local pubs and restaurants.Yesterday I was in the “Dong Dong” and after dinner a waiter bring me the bill with 1.5 pounds tips including. It really disappointed me, because service was bad, food was awful. And I thought about the improving of the income from tips.I would like to explain some of the reasons. The first reason is to motivate employers to work harder and to be polite. The second reason connects with the first one. It is a new good staff who wants joy your business.It should be a psychological pricing strategy. It is tominimalise the value of the tips. (Minimum 1 pound) And make some notes in the bottom of the menu, like “We like to now, what the money you are minimum forget on the as table 1 pound, thanks for coming, weare wait you again tomorrow” The reason why tips should be 1 pound, because the change what they have not more than 1 pound and if costumer want give more tips it is probably and they stopped care about that, few extra pounds. It is better if we charge average cost of tips. The local pub or restaurant have average no more than 30 pound per day, but after that decision income from tips increasing incredible depend from how many customers coming per day.I can see just one weaknesses connect with the local pubs where the customers now the barmen, but actually the can spend one money for a good barmen friend. You can say what if you have a restaurant the tips more than one pound, but entrepreneur can variable the minimum tips, without depending from bill. And one more things you can say what some people are coming just to have cup of tea, but it just 11% of all customers. Not so much, and the business can decide about minimum price to include the small clients. I no it’s not so clear but I need more time to develope this idea.

This is an idea from another blog. The first thing is about spelling mistakes.
1 We like to now(should be "know"), what the money you are minimum forget on the as table 1 pound, thanks for coming, weare wait you again tomorrow
2 I no(should be know) it’s not so clear but I need more time to develope (should be develop)this idea.
3 It should be a psychological pricing strategy. It is to minimalise(I know what he wanted to say, but the spelling was wrong.) the value of the tips

I don't think this is a good idea to improve income. As I know in the UK tips are about 10% of bills. Just ask more tips for customers is not a good idea. And also tips are for waiters to improve thier own income, not for restaurants. I think if how much tips waiters get depends on how good thier services are, maybe it will be a good idea to improve service and it a kind of way to motivate staff.

Dink-Mixing Vending Machines

In another interesting vending machine variation, a British company has created a machine capable of mixing drinks and requiring far fewer top-ups than conventional machines through an innovative internal pouch system.
Technology: Interconnected resealable pouches can be stored in high volume and filled in-machine on demand.
www.waterwerkz.co.uk
The vending machines for selling drink is a very old idea. But their U.S.P. are the machine it self which can require far fewer top-ups than conventional machines and the drink they sell. So if this new drinks are really good. I think put vending machines in school and near office is a good idea. If they can keep creating new drinks when the sales goes down, many people will like to try the new drink. I think it will be a good business.

Acting Troupe for Home Performance Hire

Teatr Rozmaitosci in Warsaw, Poland, offer clients an in-home theatrical performance form a group of professional actors-what a party or dinner novelty!
http://www.springwise.com/entertainment/teatr_rozmaitosci
This is a new business idea which is a kind of service. Their customers are the people who feel lonely and bored at home and also they are not definitely poor. But why people choose to have this service instead of going to theater? I think probably most of people will prefer to go to theater or cinema. So I think it’s difficult to make this idea work and let business make more profit. But when someone have a big party and celebrate some festival at home, maybe they would like to ask this service. And some old people who can’t go out will like this service. So it still have some market. This is a new idea, so how to let other people know this service is very important, and different customers like different shows, so they should have many chooses for customers. If they want to do this business in other countries, location and culture are the other tings they need to consider.

This is a quite good advertisement. But next one is unbelievable!!! Be careful the word he said, and the environment of the room.

Free Photocopies on Advertising-Sided Paper

Tadacopy in Japan offers students free photocopying though there is on reason why the business model could not work more broadly. The revenue comes from advertising placed on the reverse side of the paper.
www.tadacopy.com
This is a really new business idea. And it’s a new way to make profit. The revenue comes from advertising placed so if we want make business bigger. I think first we should let more and more students come there and use it and make it popular. So that the price of advertising placed will be higher. But I think the costs of this business will be very high. Because photocopies for students are free. How to reduce the costs is another thing we should do. Maybe we can limit the number of students to copy in a day. So if students want to copy they will come earlier and maybe it can make it popular at the same time.

iPod Vending Machine

A company specializing in ‘automated retailing’ now offers iPods through vending machines. They also sell Elizabeth Arden cosmetics, digital cameras and other electronic products via sophisticated vending machines.
http://www.zoomsystems.com/
Using vending machines to sell iPods can reduce costs and it is easier for customers to buy the product? What about the guarantee for the product? How can I make sure OF the quality of the product, especially this kind of product? Another problem is to how to keep the machine safe. If using vending machine s to sell products which are expensive. Probably someone will break the machine and steal products. So it’s difficult to keep them safe. I think they can put machines inside of the shop.

Soccer Ball Vending Machine

Nike has developed football vending machines-perfect for special edition balls that are not available in normal retail channels. As Nike stared this program in Singapore in 2005, these machines should be starting to turn up on second-hand marker and thus offer an interesting business proposition.
www.mediabuyerplanner.com/2005/09/19/nike launches soccer ball/
The U.S.P. of this business idea is the special edition ball. But why sell them in vending machine? I don’t think it’s really good idea. Using vending can reduce the cost that’s true. But if balls are really specially, maybe someone wants to steal them. And also selling balls need more space then selling sweets and drinks in vending machine. So if they want to sell more we must make it bigger.
I think they can put vending machines which are selling cheap balls near football playground or park.

Fully Retractable Umbrella

The Lotus 23 is a self-cleaning (think rainy water), fully-retractable umbrella with flexible ribs that allow it to flow with the wind, It is also cheaper to manufacture and more durable than a conventional umbrella.
I like this product because it’s a product which is easy to take and use. Also it’s more durable than a conventional umbrella. So that’s the U.S.P. of the product. It's a fully retractable umbrella which is good for protecting the environment. Retraction will also reduce costs. Countries which are rain a lot will have a big market. Especially for some countries which are rain a lot and have strong wind. Customers need more durable and convenient umbrella. So it will have a big market. But if the product sell very well, they should try to preventing others copy it.

Portable Esprossa Maker

Introduction of the product
Discover the products designed to offer you an outstanding espresso wherever you go, whenever you want. Premium quality espresso – anywhere! With Handpresso, coffee breaks are shared and enjoyed together. Actually, Handpresso has invented a new coffee ceremony for you. So, now, your espressos can be prepared with friends, guests or within the family, indoors as well as outdoors.
www.handpresso.fr
This is a nice product which can let you make coffee whenever and wherever you want. I think the U.S.P. of the product is very easy to use and carry. While we are having a picnic, make a nice cup of coffee. That's a really good idea. So in my opinion, this product will have a big market. Because it's a new idea, maybe it won't be have many competitors. If demand is very big, and they want to make the business larger very soon, cash flow is very improtant. How to sell this product is also very important, let customers know this product is the thing they need to do.

BBC NEWS "China toy firm closure"

A Chinese toymaker which supplied firms including US giant Mattel has gone out of business with the loss of up to 7,000 jobs.
Rising raw material and labour costs and slowing US demand forced Smart Union to close its doors this week.
Workers have since been protesting outside the firm's factories and a government building in Guangdong province to demand their unpaid wages.
More than half of China's toy exporters have gone bust so far this year.
Hard times in Toytown
The Chinese news agency Xinhua said 52.7% of the country's 3,631 companies making toys for export went out of business in the first seven months of the year.
It blamed rising production costs, the stronger yuan and tightened toy safety standards.
Smart Union's shares were suspended on the Hong Kong exchange on Wednesday and provisional liquidators were appointed by the High Court in Hong Kong on Friday.
The company's financial difficulties were clear from the results it released last month - Smart Union made a pre-tax loss of 201m Hong Kong dollars ($26m; £15m) in the first half of the year. In the same period a year earlier it had lost HK $2.5m.
Pay withheld
Former staff protesting outside one of Smart Union's factories were met with a sign which read, "Because business is bad, we are unable to give you your salaries," the Reuters news agency reported.
"I feel very agitated now," said factory worker Huang Luo Hui.
"We need money to pay for our housing and food. We have been waiting for a few days now. The government said they will solve this problem in three days. Today [Friday] is the third day and we have had no reply from them."

Discussion:
Many companies put there factories in China, or let factories which are in China produce and supply produce products. Because in China labour and raw material are very cheap. So build factories in China can reduce costs. Maybe that’s why many products here are made in China. So the factories in China only get little money for producing products. Companies which are from other countries keep the most of profit.
But as the rising of raw material and labour costs, the owner of factories in China realize that only produce products can’t make a lot of profit. And also as the exchange rate of yuan going higher and raw material costs rising, producing products in China will be more expensive.
Many people said that many business in China just copy. That’s true. But nowadays we realize that copy is not a good idea because copy can only make a little profit, because most profit is given by companies which are have patent. So Chinese government begin to encourage independent innovation. And also Chinese government and bank of China will support small businesses. But in the short term, many factories in China will still keep copying. As the developing of China and more and more people join in independent innovation, the business in China will change a lot.

about the word "factoring"

Chris could help me please. I try to translate to Chinese,but I'm not sure. For example there three groups of people bank, A, B. A owe B money. So bank give 80% value of invoiced sales to B as a cash advance. And then bank ask A 100% value of debt. So bank can keep 20% as profit. Is that right?

‘Affordable’ Recreational Submarine

A Dutch company now offers recreational submarines that have a top speed of 3.5 mph, can submerge to 50 metres and weigh around a ton – pricing is approximately $130000 per submarine.
http://www.uboatworx.com/
It’s a nice product which has good-looking and high speed. So people who like submerging will like it. But $130000 is a lot of money, only people who are very rich will buy it. Because of the high price, the market will be smaller.
So how to make the market larger is very important. I think they can rent submarine in the sea side to tourists. So the price will be much lower and many tourists will like to try it. So they can make more profit.

$10000 Car Wash For Celebrities

By offering a week-long, 61-step car wash with rare Brazilian wax called Zymol Royale wax. Witty Brit Paul Dalton has built a fiercely loyal celebrity following in Britain who are happy to have their exotic cars lovingly TL Ced by him. For $10000 per car wash. And he is about to put his prices up.
www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleld=114981
This is a new business idea. I think some celebrities do like this kind of service. They not only need to wash cars, for some good cars but also need to maintain cars. But celebrities only the some group of people, so the market is so small. I think they don’t need to celebrities, they separate the service level. They can focus on the people who have good cars not only celebrities. So they can have three prices and three different services. The price is higher the service is better.

The Tweel Rubberless Wheel

Michelin have developed an "airless, intgrated tyre and wheel"(think a wheel without a tire, like a kind of small metal wagon wheel) that creates wheels far more durable than ever before and can be fitted to wheelchairs, Segues and eventually passenger cars.
So this kind of new product is quite new, there is no competitors. The U.S.P. is also clear and obvious. But while they solving one problem, it may bring other problems. Is it save when car drive very fast or drive on snow? When cars suddenly turn around what will happen? So if they can make sure these things are OK, I think it will be a really good product. And also the price is important as well. With the technology, maybe the price is very high, so reduce the cost is also necessary.
If all these problems are solved, it definitely will be a nice product which have a big macket.

Waterless Urinal

Waterless Urinal can keep urinal clean by itself. Usually after being used for a long period, it will become dirty and smelly.This product can solve this problem.

ZeroFlush’s totally unique and patented design achieves the ultimate in waterless urinal design. Requiring considerably less maintenance than other green solutions, ZeroFlush is highly attractive to those responsible for building services.

However, this product not only keep it clean, but also save money,time and water. So that's quite good product for public toilet. This is a new idea which with the technology. So it won't have a lot of competitors.

Evaluate the ideas (2)

‘Shark Shield’ Shark Deterrent

People who like surfing, diving, and swimming will like this product. With these products people won’t be afraid of shark any more when they are diving, swimming, or surfing. It’s the new idea and with the technology, there won’t be a lot of competitors. So we find the U.S.P. and the way they sell products which is selling in internet is cheaper and easy to enlarge the range of products.
But the weaknesses are also obvious. In 2001 only 76 people attacked by sharks, there’re only 5 people died. How big the market is? What’s the probability of people can be attacked by sharks? And the price is $670. Will people pay for that price only for a little probability attacked by sharks?
I think on beaches, we can rent these products, that’s much cheaper and maybe more people will use it.


Cheeseburger In A Can
This idea is not bad. For people who camping and travelling in the wild it’s convenient. And the price is acceptable. But as a food the one of the most important things are tastes. How can they ensure the taste of the food which isn’t fresh and cold. The main customers are the people who camping and travelling in the wild. So that’s not a big market.

Evaluate the ideas

Sugar Jewellery
These products are for children. As the sugar the most important thing is taste. Using beautiful shapes to allure children is really good idea. While children eating delicious sugar at the same time they are enjoying the good-looking sugar. So the U.S.P. of these products is the shape.
However the weakness of these products is lethal. Low technology makes competitors very easy to copy. So the new U.S.P. is meaningless. Because everyone can do it, so I think it’s not going to be a long term.

Air-Powered Car
Nowadays more and more people have cars. Especially in the developed countries, almost everyone has a car. Except the different shapes and capability, the motivity of the car are the same. So this new car will have a new market for sell. And also the price is only $5000, it’s quite cheap. That means it will have a larger market. With the new technology, competitors can’t have the similar car in short time.

Starbucks Hot Coffee Vending Machines

Hot Coffee Vending Machines are not new ideas anymore. But it's not very popular, so it still can make some profit. I think the problem is very difficult to make this business bigger. Maybe in school, office some people do like it, to be honest the market is not very big.

$100 Cup Of Cat-Poo Coffee

People drink coffee everyday, it's a very common product. How can we make it special? Here is a new idea: By mixing the extremely rare Kopi Luwak bean freashly 'expellded' from a rare Indonesian cat through its faeces into coffee, one London entrepreneur has created an exotic new coffee brew in London that sells for 50 pounds/$100 a cup. Would Ripley believe this?

I think it's a really good idea, the price will get attention for people. People will think why the price is so high? And then they will interest in it, they want to try it. If the coffee is really nice, they'll think it's worth buying it. So they add the value to coffee and low cost make more profit. It's easyer to break-even.

However, high price also can be weakness, it's very expensive for many people, so that make the market smaller. And if we want to make this business bigger, the fixed may very high, because they need to buy a lot of shops to sell coffees. So it's better to open shops in some big cities and in some developed countries. That means open shops which people have high income.

Edible Tablewate

It's a good idea, because it's good for protecting emvironment and people can save time. They don't need to clean forks, spoons, dishes.... I think this product has a big market. Everyone use these things everyday. These are also one-off products. After people have meals, they will eat these dishwares and next time we need to buy a new one. So that means if people use these products, they well buy a lot.
At the same time, there're still some problems. First is price, everyday one person use 3 forks and spoons. Then people will pay for 90 forks and 90 spoons a month. People may think it's very expensive, and they need always to buy forks and spoons.
I think we can make that Edible Tablewate more delicious, not only made of flour. They can have a lot of tastes like chocolate, cheese... so that maybe many children will like them.

Massaging Backpack

I think it's a nice business idea. Because it's a compelely new idea and don't have a lot of competitors. This product is for the people who travel a lot or use backpack a lot. While they find the U.S.P, at the same time the product has technology. So it's not very easy to copy.

But I think this product still has some weaknesses. First is how big the marked is? We do have some people need this product, but how many people like travelling and use backpack a lot? So I think the market is not very big. Another thing is, this product can't change the weight of the backpack,so do the people who carry backpack really feel comfortable? So there're still some problems we need to solve.

Mobile phone sale

Several days ago, I lost my mobile phone. So my host mother said she can give me an old phone, all I need to do is buy a new SIM card. Next day I went to a shop which called 4U to buy SIM card. The card is very cheap to call aboard. I just said I need a SIM card to salesman. Then he gave me two SIM cards and said 20 pounds. They didn’t ask anything even what kind of card I need where I need to call. I don’t know what’s going on at that moment. So after that I checked the card they gave me was the thing I wanted. I also can’t understand why they gave me two SIM cards, but I only need one. And they gave me 20 pounds for top-up (10 pounds each).
But unfortunately, I can’t use that card in that phone which my host mother gave me. So I have to buy another one.
I went to some mobile phone shop such as O2, Orange and so on, but most of phones are locked. That means phones which are in Orange only can use the SIM card in Orange. Finally I bought a phone in 4U. Again, they gave me a SIM card and I have to pay 10 pounds for top-up (this card is for making phone calls in the UK). Why it’s so hard to buy a phone? All I need is a phone.
So in the end I got 3 SIM cards
Selling is very important in business, businessmen use different ways to try to sell more products. But I don’t think sell phone like this is a good idea.

● They use B.O.G.O.F. to sell SIM card, but this product is not like the food, or other products, the more the better. One SIM card one number is enough. How can your friends find you if you have many phone numbers. Also nowadays SIM cards are completely free, just top-up first, so use B.O.G.O.F. to sell SIM card is meaningless.
● All the phones in Orange are locked, so if customers buy phones from Orange have to use Orange SIM card and network. Maybe it can make more profit, but at the same time they lose some customers. If someone has SIM card and want to buy a phone, he can’t buy a phone in Orange. So I think Orange should have some mobile phone not be locked.

So I think the way they sell phones is not a good idea, at least some customers are not happy with that. Maybe in a short time they can use this way to make more profit. But I don’t think the business which only think about to get more profit and never think about customers will be a long term. In other wards, in the long term think about customers first, then you can make more money.

The problems a British business faces in trying to do business in China (1)

China is one of the largest market in the world, 1.3billion people and cheap labour force. It's a place which full of opportunities.

I really don't know about business in UK, so I only can think of a few things. But I'll try to know more . After that I'll continue to write about this question.

I think language is a problem, some times we need interpreter if English people do business in China. But I think the problem is not as big as we think, nowadays more and more Chinese can speak English.

Compared with China,The consumtion level in UK is higher, if the products are too expensive and also don't have Unique Selling Point, that will be a problem in sales.

Most of Chinese people pay more attention to the practicability of the products, so maybe English is a bit different, if the businessman doesn't realise the difference, that also could be a problem.

The first week to study business

This is the first week to study business. It's a completely a new subject for me. Other subject such as maths and chemistry I've learned some before. So when I heard this subject, my first question is "what is business study?"

In the dictionary the business means: the activity of marking, buying , selling or supplying goods or services for money.

Then the second question is "how to learn this subject", compared with maths there's no question to calculate, and most of question have more then one answer. You can find many ways to solve problems and there's no formula to solve the problem. The only thing you can do is keep thinking and find out your way to solve problem.

But for a international student I think the biggest problem is language, hundreds of new words are waiting for us.

Step by step I believe sooner or later I will find a good way to study business.