Working capital is one of those business school topics that has real-world relevance for the small business owner with no formal training, operating mostly on his or her own common sense, such as Zalman Silber, serial entrepreneur and success story. In business management theory, working capital is a way to measure finances, in particular those readily available to a business. Working capital is thus an indication of operational liquidity, as simply derived by subtracting the amount of current liabilities from the amount of current assets. When current assets are less than current liabilities, a condition of working capital deficiency exists, also known as a working capital deficit.

All such individuals know about working capital, however, comes from having dealt with inventory and accounting day in, day out. But when these small-time businessmen and women think of the matter, they are likely only imagining two things, borrowing money or putting more equity in their business – the traditional sources of business capital.

Yet most business owners don’t realize that one of the greatest ways to raise working capital is to let their suppliers do it for them! There’s no need for a small business loan when the money is already there. One must “think outside the bank” to use this strategy, but if you think about it, working capital finance is simple when carried on the backs of your suppliers.

Typically, banks are not the most suitable alternatives for problematic situations concerning working capital. They can really gum up the works when all you want is to know whether they will lend you money. Bureaucratic red tape is inevitable, as is being nickeled and dimed on every little thing when it comes to banks. And now in these recessionary times, the typical business will also find whole lines of credit eliminated outright.

Instead, why not just let your suppliers finance your assets? If you think about it, suppliers typically finance working capital already, insofar as they provide and deliver supplies but only receive payment for them at the end of the month (or even later, in some cases). Such a situation in effect frees up your money for other purposes, money that is literally working capital!

They’re already participating, whether they’re aware of it or not, and since you’re only taking advantage of something that’s already in place, you needn’t worry about any legal ramifications. What you do need to do is find a way of calculating your supplies-to-finances ratio right now so that you can increase and maximize it to your benefit. One simple-to-understand formula for supplier-financed working capital is to multiply your total assets by a hundred (to get an answer in percentage form) and then divide by the amount of your accounts payable (whether monthly or whatever terms you have secured).

Then you too can be a Zalman Silber!

As one of the most promising platforms to have come forth at the turn of the century, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was originally greeted with widespread derision as a Johnny-Come-Lately to the nine billion-dollar videogaming industry (which is at this moment worth many multiples of billions more every year). These days the Xbox is considered cutting-edge and competes directly with Sony’s similarly impressive Playstation, but just lately the stakes were elevated with Microsoft’s introduction of its Kinect technology that claims to do away with game controllers completely, using the player’s own body movements to direct all onscreen activity. The highly state-of-the-art motion-detection technology makes it possible to scan even facial gestures!

The recent PBS/POV documentary “Wo Ai Ni Mommy” concerns the adoption of a Chinese eight year-old by an American family. More specifically, it’s a video chronicle of a slightly handicapped older child’s integration into the social milieu of a Long Island Jewish family. Most of the documentary can be rather uncomfortable to watch, in a creeply queasy way, the cringe-worthy kind reminiscent of family get-togethers, as audiences are treated to some potentially unflattering details which jointly seem to make the case for better pre-adoption screening beforehand.

It is not known from the ninety minutes of screentime whether such matters were involved, as the filmmakers intent appears to be a simple record of what happens in such cross-cultural/racial/national adoptions. Nevertheless, even a psychological evaluation can only do so much, since it’s difficult to guage the subtle aspects of human motivation, which also usually happen to be those bearing the most weight.

In the documentary “Wo Ai Ni Mommy,” one such subtlety concerns the very fact of a cross-cultural/racial/national adoption. While the Sadowskys, the American family featured by this film, were asked why they happened to choose a Chinese girl as compared to any number of children in the United States, there was never really an answer given.

It was just love at first sight, claims the mother, which begs the question of why she had happened to select to view Chinese babies first. And even though one with an understanding of the wider context of the popularity of Chinese adoptions in turn-of-the-century America might point out that she had many friends who had also adopted girls from China, the ultimate question of just why China, of all places, remains unanswered.

A fine look into some of the nitty gritty details of older-child adoptions further complicated by language, cultural, and even physical barriers due to mild disformity, “Wo Ai Ni Mommy” is heartwarming while wistful, raising a lot more questions than it intends to answer, in the process highlighting just how complex an adoption may be.

Getting Small business financing is often tough unless of course you’re so successful banks are virtually throwing money at you! But for most entrepreneurs, it’s hard finding any financial help. Sadly, it often comes down to family members to help out and get the would-be capitalist’s dreams kick-started! Such Little business financing present rather distinctive challenges, of course.

Family and friends members seem like the ideal allies to enlist when it comes to making good on your dreams, but the reality is that quite often relationships are strained because of the vagaries of chance. Getting into business for yourself is a hell of a roller-coaster ride, after all, financially and otherwise, and borrowing money from your nearest and dearest is actually subjecting them to about the same stresses you’d be under yourself!

Tough stuff indeed. That’s why it’s better to get your small business loans from strangers, typically. Just as typically, nonetheless, strangers do not care about your hopes and will provide money only to pursue theirs – which is to make their money grow! Thus the conundrum, specifically for those just starting out: how to convince someone that his / her money will grow through investing in your vision? Tough stuff!

But banks are infamous for not planning to deal with startups. It’s a rare loan officer who will even make an effort hearing you out, never mind making an offer! And obviously, who could blame them: the overwhelming vast majority of small businesses fail with the first five years. From the bank’s point of view, lending an entrepreneur seed money is just gambling – and banks are in business to make money, not gamble it away in exchange for some good times.

(Needless to say, that’s exactly what has occurred with the current financial meltdown, the Great Recession of these past 2-3 years, where senior executives merely looted their own banks by granting bad loans from which they personally profit at the expense of the company as a whole – but that’s another article or, rather, compilation of articles!)

Eventually, the only real business loans available for a small business would be forthcoming only after a few months or even a couple of years in business, making money and maybe even turning a profit. Once your financials are in order, lenders might be much more comfortable taking a look at helping out. In your first step, you can mostly rely on your own savings and not too much else, most of the time.

In reality, a small business loan is technically a life saver, or business saver I should say, and keeps a neat record similar to that of a person’s credit ranking. Not very identical to credit history but similar to whether or not they are worthy of a loan. But it also depends on credit also, unfortunately there’s no escape from that.

Museum replicas allow artwork lovers to indulge their fantasies without spending a fortune. Of course, even with all the money in the world, some treasures may simply not be available for purchase, for example Greek vases of proven antiquity and aesthetic merit.

The art of ancient Greece consists of some of the most wonderful ever produced by man, and museum replicas make available to everyone a little of the joy involved in owning art.

Museum replicas are often handmade, as well, so that the verisimilitude can be strikingly inconspicuous in the case of one-to-one scale reproductions or amazingly faithful in any other proportion. This kind of a Greek vase, however, may be surprisingly affordable given the quality, so that it is possible to own a entire collection of them, just like a genuine well-heeled conoisseur.

In fact, some are so faithfully reproduced as to fool even professional appraisers! For such reasons, replica Greek vases make fantastic gifts too, thoughtful and possibly a bit out of the ordinary. And because they are replicas, they are practical, able to be utilized as actual vases.

Imagine how charming that would be, to see actual live flowers in one, as if restoring it to life after so many centuries! And naturally, it’s simply fun to walk through a museum picking out pieces of which you own a copy. Having such beautiful objects of art bear witness to the elegance of one’s own soul, too, expressing one’s highest hopes and deepest desires.

They also link us to a glorious golden age of Western Civilization, lending an elegant gravitas to any setting, an air of tradition and authority that feels at once austere and light. Such are the attractions of art and the potentially practical applications of museum replicas. They’re joys now accessible for one and all.

Are you looking to purchase a property? if you are the same as most folks, you very likely dream of buying your own family home. There are quite a few advantages to getting your own residential home, advantages which include the pleasure of ownership, developing your own equity instead of developing someone else’s, never having to cope with your landlord, and needless to say there are the tax pluses.

Having said that the way to owning a house is not easy, particularly when having to do business with a bank to get your home loan. In today’s difficult economy the banks are being quite tough on giving out mortgages and your credit score will most definitely be a major factor in the banks determination. So what do you do if you have a low credit score? you repair it that is what you do. You should find a reputable credit repair agency to assist you to repair your credit score.

Don’t let the dream of home ownership pass you by as a consequence of your credit score.

The all-important first date. This getting-to-know-you can be greatly enhanced by an amusement ride, and the most thrilling one of all must be the Skywalk by Zalman Silber. A serial entrepreneur who made his first big fortune with New York’s infamous Skyride, a much ballyhooed but modest thirty-minute movie of helicopter flyovers, Sydney, Australia’s Skywalk is a much more visceral affair – and for a first-date, visceral is where it’s got to be at!

No, get your mind out of the gutter – “visceral” here simply means heart-pounding thrills which, studies show, make dates more attracted to one another. Uh-huh, really: the more physically exciting the activities the more likely dates are to view one another as being physically attractive. Scientists have paired up total strangers of the opposite sex and asked them to secretly judge one another’s attractiveness. Then each pair was put through a roller-coaster, sitting side-by-side, and asked again to rate one another’s attractiveness after the ride. The second set of responses were almost always substantially higher than than the first set!

So if you would like to make a great impression, make sure to get her (or him!) engaged in some kind of physically exhilarating activity with you – such as the aforementioned Skywalk from Zalman Silber. Found at the top of the Sydney Tower, the Skywalk is effectively a catwalk with glass flooring that provides visitors with a panoramic view of the city a thousand feet above street level. Being a catwalk, everything is out in the open, with no windows between guests and…nothingness. The Skywalk offers not only a bird’s-eye view of the Harbour City but all the visceral feelings to go with it as well!

And if the simple fact of being up so high doesn’t get your date’s heart throbbing, make sure she looks down! Visiting the Skywalk is a perfect first date because the Skywalk is the perfect ice-breaker. Don’t be surprised if she reflexively grabs your arm! Even though everyone is tethered by cable to sturdy metal support structures, the frequent gusts of wind can be strong enough to make one forget all the safety features built into the experience. Afterward, you and your date can retire to the conventional observation deck of the Sydney Tower to enjoy the romantic view while sharing fond memories of your Skywalk. Or better yet, purchase another set of tickets to really jack up the excitement and send her emotions through the roof!

To make money by blogging, you’ll want to find explosive niches to blog, topics folks care about – a lot of folks. The easiest thing to do, if all you really care about is money, is to start up an MFA website. No, this isn’t a Master of Fine Arts website, but a made-for-Adsense website. A website designed specifically for Google’s Adsense program, where you place interactive advertisements that pay you for every click made on them!

Each click from a unique visitor, as determined by a unique IP address, typically. That is why it’s so essential to find explosive niches to blog about, because you’ll only be making money if enough people click on the advertisements you put up on your site. Of course, you now come to the next problem to be solved: how to attract all those people?

First off, know that you should appeal to tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of visitors to your site – each day. That is right; each day, your website needs to have enough traffic for you to make money, because every click will usually only yield pennies – yes, pennies! So you need thousands of people clicking those ads in order to make a decent amount of money every day. That’s how you blog residual cash to your business, by getting commission off of referrals!

But conversion rates, the number of folks who actually generate income for you, are generally around three percent. That means for each hundred visitors, chances are only three or four – or two or one! – will actually click on an ad, netting you less than ten cents, generally. That’s why it’s so important to find topics that will interest the greatest number of folks! Blogging popular television shows is a good way to go in many cases.

Is it possible to use an online course to get the kind of knowledge a developer like Isaac Toussie has regarding real estate?

The information superhighway will soon be celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. It took a handful of decades for the web to percolate out from a fairly small coterie of research scientists and other academics into the wider general population, but once it did, our world was changed forever: It was wired.

And so practically everything is on the internet these days, and almost everything is done through it – even sex! And the once near-exclusive preserve of worthless diploma mills, so-called distance learning has really come of age with a vengeance with the advent of the worldwide “w.” And now, in this age of Web 2.0 going on 3 or even 4, it seems like every corporate body and its subsidiary is getting in on the action.

Bah, humbug, some are tempted to say. No mere Luddites, these, some people just wonder whether e-learning can ever truly replace the face-to-face interactions of traditional modalities. In this article, we shall be taking a look-see at the issue for ourselves. Due to issues of legal liability, we shan’t name any names, lest we libel the guilty – wink, wink. But a brief survey of three of the most widely advertised such courses online has revealed to this author at least that business fundamentals can indeed be properly passed along online. These courses will never compare to actual field experience, lending anyone the knowledge of an Isaac Toussie, but then again nothing ever can.

No, the main attraction for these courses – their competitive advantage, to borrow an economist’s term, if you will – is that they are extremely accommodating of your schedule. With most such courses, you can attend class whenever you want – and certainly in whatever you want, including your birthday suit! Convenience is their number one draw, and this kind of accessibility is not to be discounted, especially since it is not necessarily any more expensive than the kind of learning offered by the traditional classroom setting. In fact, these courses can cost rather less money, particularly if you factor in considerations like time, such as the time it takes to commute to a brick-and-mortar school.

More challenging is the hands-on approach that is probably necessary for a really good grasp of how the real estate business works. Learning about the relevant laws is important but not quite what one actually does in real estate. What’s really required is a way to develop the mindset of a real estate tycoon! Perhaps one of these internet real estate courses, possibly offered by a “real” school such as a government-supported local community college, may involve an actual internship as a part of the experience, which would go a long way towards just that end of teaching real-world knowledge.

Now even with all that said, however, we must end on this note, that of the legal disclaimer: Neither the author nor the publisher shall be deemed liable for the content of this article, which is mere opinion only and should never in any way be misconstrued as professional advice of any kind whatsoever! Always consult the relevant professionals, properly licensed and/or otherwise qualified, when making business decisions of any financial consequence.

State tax forms are required to file state taxes – but exactly where is our tax money going? Taxes are used to support the government, but in a democracy the government is supposed to be “for the people,” as a popular rumor has it. All the state tax forms filed year in, year out seem to have no effect on our local governments, which across the country are a lot more likely than not operating at a deficit. How is this possible with all the money pouring into government coffers?

Most people simply file their state tax forms and leave it at that, too busy with their lives and some even hoping not to attract any government attention. But a growing number of our fellow citizens and residents are deeply concerned over where “their money” is going. Almost everyone agrees with paying for firefighters, sanitation workers, and other civil servants, but even then there can be a lot of controversy over the details.

Take educators for example. Again, nearly everybody agrees that educators are necessary. But how to compensate them with our tax dollars, exactly? Currently, numerous folks across the nation are up in arms over teacher perks and salaries.

It is felt that educators have things much too comfortable, and there are people who would like to make the profession of teaching a job like any other, which in the United States means “hire and fire at will.”

These individuals want to, they say, hold teachers more “accountable” for student performance, which is often proposed to be assessed by standardised test scores. But the other side of the argument believes that teaching isn’t just a job like any other, that the training of minds and the inspiration of hearts is not something which can be neatly measured on a quarterly or yearly basis like some corporate earnings report.

With media attention typically centered on foreclosed homeowners, this article will take a brief look to consider the effect on homebuilders such as Isaac Toussie.

Embittered homeowners who have been foreclosed upon have taken to trashing the property before getting kicked out, with anecdotal estimates by real estate agents putting the number of such vandalized properties at up to half of all such units. But given all the media coverage of foreclosed homeowners, it’s time to take a look now at how the same crisis is affecting homebuilders like Isaac Toussie. After all, many of the small-time businessmen had to take out loans in order to finance their housing developments. Of course, there are no such developers out on the street, and their cases, unfortunate in themselves, are not anywhere near comparable to that of homeowners who have nowhere to go at all. But it’s interesting to see how things can turn out for businessmen and women caught up in the same economic hurricane, and how responses can differ – or not.

For example, many small homebuilders have had to dip into personal savings just to keep their companies afloat, a familiar state of affairs to many homeowners. Buyers were disappearing with cash deposits of several thousand left on the table, proof that local residential property markets had turned ice-cold. Even more unfortunately, many homebuilders have proceeded since then to file for bankruptcy protection, with vast sums owed not only to their lenders but also their subcontractors and workers. But still worse yet, these small-time builders have often financed their businesses with so-called recourse debt which allows banks to seize homes, cars, and other personal assets in case of default – again, quite a familiar scenario comparable to that faced by many homeowners.

Such problems have increased and are now considered widespread across the country. Many a builder has been left with unsold units and land, falling behind on interest payments and facing foreclosures. And in a very bad sign of the extent of the destruction involved, even very large homebuilders are in trouble, with legendary builders such as Levitt & Sons, founders of Levittown, New York on Long Island, famous for epitomizing postwar suburbia, forced into bankruptcy like some small unlucky start-up.

It’s gotten so bad that once solid partnerships and friendships have frayed as an every-man-for-himself mentality creeps into the proceedings. Contractors and subcontractors have had to take out liens on the property they build in order to protect themselves. And it is in this respect that the experiences of homeowners and homebuilders differ: the latter have almost no hope of any governmental assistance whatsoever, despite being affected by the same subprime mortgage industry shenanigans that’s made owning a home so suddenly burdensome.

Legal Disclaimer: Be advised that such information as has been presented so far only constitutes mere opinion and should under no circumstances be misconstrued for professional advice of any kind whatsoever! Always consult those properly licensed and/or otherwise qualified when it comes to making business decisions of any financial importance.

During those bygone halcyon times of console gaming, when a system failed, the oft reaction was to raise one’s hands toward the sky and curse the God’s of every pantheon for having smote your system. There was little in the way of diagnostic alternatives leaving most to wonder vainly what condition had stricken their beloved console, snatching it from this mortal coil. The power would be activated and nothing would occur and there’d be little choice beyond cursing nefarious fortune and her ambiguous design, frequently plunging into a void of existential woe. Nonetheless, with the most recent generation of consoles, there is at least some onboard indication of what evils have befallen your system, most infamously the X-box 360 and the Red Ring of Death.

One can’t help but wonder if this knowledge has been of greater use to mankind, or if the question of console demise is one best left unanswered, for where tragedy once came like a breath of wind and left as little trace, it now bears a face and a name to be loathed by mortals. Four times divided, each of the ring’s quadrants on the face of the X-box 360 displays a vibrant green hue when in good health. However, when hardware failure or pestilence or an ancient curse has marked a console with its wicked taint, the four lights will glow a hellish fiery red to indicate the source of its ailment. The configurations of these cursed runes are telling of the specific affliction and are interpreted as follows.

When the ring is solely aflame in its southeastern most quadrant, facing the same direction as the flight with the migratory birds, the X-box 360 is then victim of hardware failure, the exact nature of which is alluded to only by the apocryphal two-digit sequence of symbols that appear upon the linked display. When the ring is cleft in twain from scalp to groin by the pink hue, a great fever has taken your console causing its components to overheat.

When cloaked entirely in the Masque of the Red Death, you probably just forgot to plug the AV cables in, jackass. Or some higher malevolence has seized some vital aspect to your console, for which you may seek the guidance of a soothsayer, an apothecary, or even… Microsoft. But seriously, just check to make sure it’s plugged in. Most feared, nevertheless, among we mere puppets on this earthly stage are the red lights that seize the ring in all quadrants save for that between north and east.

Glance but for only a moment to confirm your sickly apprehensions, then avert thine eyes for what stares back is the eye of the devil whose red gaze will indelibly sear the soul. General Hardware Failure, plight of men and Gods alike and bane of all things good and sacred, has corrupted your X-box. Abandon all hope, for even among sorcerer’s alchemy and mystic’s incantations there is naught that men of earthly constitution can summon.

But one option remains, to relinquish your console to the ethereal high court of Microsoft or perhaps a trusted third party hardware technician whose tangible connection to the divine can provide the steel of nerve, the authority of conviction, the edge of wit, the fortitude of soul required to perform the ritual exorcism which will rid your X-box of its demons. Please allow two to three weeks for repairs.

The Mediterranean Diet is one of the most recent and popularly accepted methods of losing weight, and it’s based on one of the most ancient ways of eating anywhere in the world. So named because of its origins around the Mediterranean region, the Mediterranean Diet today is usually said to reflect the healthy culinary habits traditional to Greece in particular, where salads predominate and any meat is grilled, almost never fried.

Like much of Greek cuisine, the Mediterranean Diet focuses on dark leafy vegetables, fresh fruit, and high-fiber beans. Fats and protein comes from cheese, grilled meats and seafood, and of course olive oil.

Yogurt also forms a staple of this diet, as does nuts and grains. Such foods are suggested by most doctors as immunity-boosting and cancer-fighting, cutting heart disease and diabetes risks substantially and almost immediately.

With these foods, one normally feels a lot more satisfied and less likely to binge-eat, some studies show. An important part of this Mediterranean or Greek way of eating involves a lot smaller portions, which are also shared. But take care: a few classics of Greek cuisine can be very fattening, too, for instance the popular spanakopita, or spinach pie, which is loaded with butter and can contain as many calories as a bacon cheeseburger!

All in all, however, eating in a Mediterranean manner is generally recognized by study after study as having significant benefits. Little wonder, then, that everybody from sedentary couch potatoes to competitive athletes follow this diet so enthusiastically! Of course, the best diet is the one that you are able to really stick with while helping you achieve your goals, and the Mediterranean variety is no do-it-all miracle on its own. Depending on your particular circumstances, you may also need to augment proper nutrition with adequate exercise and rest. But there is no better-tasting first step than some grilled and sautéed Greek staple to get you moving forward!

When choosing real estate, articles generally consider what is recommended by industry experts such as Isaac Toussie. But learning from failure is as important as learning from success; indeed, the two are symbiotically intertwined. And thus, following up on the previous installment’s discussion of desirable but still affordable New York City neighborhoods, we will consider the worst of the worst here by way of steering you to properties elsewhere!

A borough-by-borough run-down concludes as follows:

Staten Island: generally speaking, the areas closest to the ferry terminal will be the worst, with crime, noise, and other social ills most prevalent.

Manhattan: a much more diverse set of conditions here, but a good rule-of-thumb principle holds that areas north of Central Park should be avoided (though gentrification has made many such areas much better than previously was the case). With the exception of Chelsea and Upper East and West Side areas like Lincoln Center, avoid all areas with a public housing project.

Bronx: the whole borough should be avoided (but for Riverdale on the west coast and Throgg’s Neck on the southeastern one).

Queens: the most complex situation in the whole city, with many neighborhoods fairly mixed ethnically, racially, and socio-economically. But clearly inferior places include vast tracts of Jamaica and surrounding areas, especially towards points south near Brooklyn. Ravenswood is another problem area, next to Astoria in Long Island City. Roosevelt Island is deliberately mixed, but as is always the case, the bad will drive out the good, and it’s quite a debate whether gentrification can work there. East Elmhurst (but not all of Elmhurst proper) should also be avoided for the mix of noise, crime, and other social ills presented by many of its denizens. Jackson Heights is on the borderline, once a nice nabe but now host to a vast illegal immigrant community.

Brooklyn: another complex case, though rather more clear-cut than that of Queens mentioned above. Sunset Park is gritty and working-class but at least somewhat safe, relatively speaking. Definitely avoid Bushwick and surroundings, as well as Flatlands and even, nowadays, Canarsie. Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights are not very desirable areas and have a history of violence, as is the case with Ocean Hill and Brownsville. East New York should be avoided like the plague. Coney Island is also often bad, though the City of New York is finally committed to a wholesale revitalization effort.

Tough stuff? Scarcely. One cannot be too truthful when it comes to the persisting pockets of urban blight. For those new to New York, such “color” is quite often fun. But for many others, peace and quiet is desired above all for thinking, studying, and enjoyment of being.

The neighborhoods listed are anathema to those values, peopled as they are by those of a disposition, whether cultural or otherwise, towards noisy commotion and even physical violence. Yet because the city bursts with new arrivals each day, industry observers like Isaac Toussie agree that property prices and rent will still be very expensive, even when compared against more desirable spots in the same city. For example, Kingsbridge and Bedford Park in the Bronx, ghetto to the core, can still command rents only a couple of hundred less than those in premier places like Riverdale or Throgg’s Neck!