Patio Furniture Swing – A Good Addition to Your Home Furniture

Adding patio furniture swings are a very great addition to other furniture pieces. They are a great option especially if you have a large garden or backyard. Adding this furniture makes your outdoor living area a better place to stay.

Patio furniture swings are best when you are relaxing or when you are drinking your cold drinks while reading your favorite book on a hot summer afternoon. If in winter season, it will become a best spot when you drink your favorite hot drink and snuggled in a few blankets.

Metal and wood frames are usually the materials used in making patio furniture swing but modern ones now use different materials. For wood varieties, the preferred ones are cedar, pine and alder. Due to its natural looks and its resistance to mold, fungi and rot, the cedar is a very popular choice. The resistance of the wood is very important especially if you put the swing outside where they are exposed to sun and rain.

The northern white cedar and western red cedar are the types of cedar that is used to make furniture swings. Because of the richer and smoother texture of the western red cedar it is more popular to manufacturers.

There are also other kinds of woods that are used in making furniture swings. Cypress is very resistant to insects because of the oil present in its wood. Porch swings made of pine woods are also very good and they are highly resistant to rot if they are properly treated.

The swing designs differ greatly because of their quality as well as the expense of their construction. Patio swings normally hold at least two people but some are able to hold three or more. There are also comfortable single seat swings available on the market.

Buying patio swings are really very suitable or fit in outdoor living spaces. Wherever they are placed, they add to the appearance and beauty of your home.

Vacation and Travel Planned in Casual Luxury

Not all of us can afford to book an airplane ticket and reserve a deluxe accommodation to places we only imagine. Aside from that we also need some funds to spend when we arrive to our chosen destinations. Travel and shopping always come together. We cannot close our eyes when we see the products they offer in our chosen location. To make our trip enjoyable and affordable we must have a plan.

Access to the internet will be the best tool to guide us anywhere in the world. There are sites where we can compare the prices of airline tickets. If you book flights through an online travel agent today, you can pay nearly $50 per transaction in additional booking fees. Now, some travel agent says ‘no’ to booking fees. By booking online, the booking fees will be removed and you can use that money to shop in your destination and enjoy the holiday you deserve. Ask for coupons and promos. Airlines offer discount travels depending on the time of the year like the low season. Travelling with group like tour group or travel club will also give you a lot of savings. Take advantage of glorious all inclusive packages.

After booking your tickets, you must look for the accommodation. You can search the site again. If you want surfing, search for a hotel near the surfing area. If you desire for a night life, book near the city. You only need a place to stay during the night or to take nap. So, you don’t need an expensive place. You will be out and exploring the area all day. Don’t reserve for long days. One day is enough, You can always extend your stay if needed. You will be going to places and you can stay in that particular place if needed so that you will not be going back and forth. Time is gold when travelling. You have to make you use of it every minute. My point here is not to spend too much in your travel time. Keep going, don’t go back. See all the interesting places in that area. If you’re in the northern area, explore the place. Spend your night with the locals and tomorrow will be another day. That way, you will be saving a lot from hotel accommodations. The people in every country will be more than willing to extend their hospitality thereby gaining more friends.

There are so many ways where you can make your journey less expensive. And for a piece of advice don’t bring too much clothes. Bring only the daily necessities. Anyway, you can always do travel and shopping together.

Top 3 Reasons Small Businesses Fail

Before You Say “I Do”

Before you say I do, before you make the investment, before you hang the sign, before you set up the company, there is something that you should know. Small businesses are similar to a marriage – no one goes into the venture thinking that it won’t work out. Yet a significant portion of small businesses fail. According to the Small Business Administration, as many as 30 percent of small business startups fail within the first two years of the honeymoon – and up to 50 percent within the next three years. Do the math and you’ll come up with a staggering 80 percent failure rate among small businesses within the first five years. The odds are stacked against you, but our business model is based entirely on helping small business owners maximize growth. To avoid the pitfalls that cause other businesses to fail, you’ve got to understand what business failure is, the reasons why small businesses fail and what it will take to be part of the remaining 20 percent that achieves success.

Just like someone whose marriage has ended in divorce, failed small business owners often blame anyone but themselves. They look for factors outside their control as scapegoats for the downfall of their business endeavors. They blame the economy, the government, their partners or their employees, just to name a few. If you dig a little deeper, the real root of the problem can often be revealed in a lack of business acumen, inadequate resources or insufficient capital. Without exception, these issues are ultimately the responsibility of the small business owner.

Lack of Business Acumen

Making the transition from an employee to a small business owner can be extremely difficult. The disciplines that you have developed as an employee are totally different than what you will need when you step into the owner’s shoes and start running the show. The reality is that many owners’ expertise lies in accounting, law, medicine or some other discipline unrelated to day-to-day operational concerns. Don’t assume that you can just open a business and find clients or patients lining up outside your door. It takes skill and experience to drive business your way. Identify the areas where you lack expertise and look for consultants, partners, professional services or employees to fill in the gaps.

Inadequate Resources

For small business owners, relationships mean everything. The right relationships result in a strong foundation, but incompatible or incomplete teams translate to inadequate resources. What team resources can you leverage to balance your own strengths and weaknesses? Too often, new business owners attempt to do it all themselves. This strategy may work in a one-man operation for someone whose goal in life is to only work by himself, for himself. Unfortunately, it’s an ineffective strategy for running a full-scale business. Instead, you need the right team and the right advisors. One of the most powerful tools you can use to increase your chances of success is to learn where to turn to get the right resources to fit the needs of your business. That won’t necessarily mean consulting with your best friend or hiring a former co-worker. Your selection process should extend beyond friends and family. Looking for the lowest price may also not be the best decision-making criteria. The truth is you get what you pay for. Locating and utilizing the best resources possible is one of the keys that will differentiate your future between dissolution and success.

Insufficient capital

The number one reason why marriages fail is because of money issues, and small businesses are no different. The amount of capital available to you at the time you establish your new business is a critical determinant of the success or failure of your business. Simply put, your available capital is the sum of your cash, lines of credit or trade credit for the business. For most start-up businesses, the costs incurred within the first two years far outweigh income – except in the case of acquiring a business that provides income on day one.

One of the largest and most common problems is muddying the line between business expenses and personal expenses. Separate your personal life from the business. Resist the temptation to remove cash from business accounts to satisfy a shortfall in your personal budget. While it’s true that the business should provide income to the owner, too-frequent personal withdrawals cause undue hardship. Plan withdrawals that are sufficient to maintain your household needs and stick to the plan.

In order to flourish in business, you must be accountable to yourself, your employees, your family and your clients. You must be able to grow right along with the growth of your business. If, as a small business owner, you take the same “’til death do us part” commitment pledge taken by a newlywed, and commit to sticking it out through thick and thin, you will increase your chances for success. Don’t give in to the temptation to wander off and explore the next, newest thing. Focus and commit to your business and eliminate failure as an option.

Career Training Through Online Education and E – Learning by 2010

The appeal of an online education through distance learning as an educational alternative is ever increasing. “Its presence will continue to grow”, say curriculum directors, who expect that by 2010 nearly a fifth of students will be taking some of their career training coursework through online education or E-learning at an online university or college.

Technological advances in medicine, aerospace, agriculture, the environment, communications and education permeate the world we live in. We have new drugs and vaccines, new ways to strengthen the immune system, the International Space Station, alternative crop and livestock systems, renewable energy sources, personalized information technology and E-learning, online education and distance learning.

oWith the introduction of $100 Laptops by MIT, E-learning will reach millions of children in developing nations like Brazil, China, South Africa, Egypt and others.

Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is working on a plan to distribute the laptops to schoolchildren. A goal of the project is to make the low-cost PC a grassroots movement like Linux or Wikipedia. The laptops will have a 500MHz processor, 1GB of memory and an innovative dual-mode display that can be used in full-color mode, or in a black-and-white sunlight-readable mode. Power for the new systems will be provided by electric current, batteries or by a windup crank attached to the side, since many countries do not have power in remote areas. The systems will be Wi-Fi and cell phone-enabled and will include four USB ports for connectivity. “The idea is simple. It’s an education project that will make online education a simple reality.”

Research has predicted that in the future more people will complete their studies at home as distance learning concepts continue to evolve. Over two million students enroll for online university and online college courses each year. Just as the world continues to change so must the conditions in which we live and learn. In a fast paced society we will see E-learning designed to accommodate busy students – time flexible, geographically independent, competitive cost and value and learner-centered. E-learning offers both synchronous and asynchronous modes of learning thus enabling a student to access information anywhere and at anytime. The numerous features and benefits of an Online Education and E-Learning will play a major role in post secondary career oriented education.

o E-learning is self-paced and gives students a chance to speed up or slow down as necessary

o Geographical barriers are eliminated, opening up broader education options

o 24/7 accessibility makes distance learning easy and allows a greater number of people to attend classes

o Travel time and associated costs (parking, fuel, vehicle maintenance) are reduced

o Online education fosters greater student interaction and collaboration

o E-learning is self-directed, allowing students more control over their learning process, leading up to a 60% faster learning curve.

o Web-based products allow instructors to update lessons and materials across the entire network instantly.

o Develops knowledge of the Internet that will help learners throughout their careers

o Exposure to resources not commonly found in standard classroom settings

Wireless technology has paved way for Mobile Learning, where one can easily access learning materials anywhere and at anytime. Instructional and communication techniques create an interactive online education environment including case studies, demonstrations, role-playing, simulations, streamed videos, online references, discussion groups, personalized coaching and mentoring, chat rooms, bulletin boards, tutorials, FAQ’s and wizards.

Collaborative education will play an important role in developing future Online Education and E-learning strategies. Almost all Learning Management Systems (LMS) conforming to E-learning standards offer collaborative networks, enabling students from remote areas to share knowledge and communicate ideas with fellow classmates from around the country and the world.

Virtual and Augmented learning will gradually replace existing scenarios thus giving a new dimension to knowledge management. Certain concepts which are difficult to imagine or simulate can be implemented using augmented learning.

As we make our way into the future we can appreciate and embrace the way technology has created education options that give us the flexibility to balance our lives. The future is upon us and it is up to each one of us to take advantage of what technology has to offer!

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