Crates, boxes, barrels, kegs and finally the pallet. The history of pallets.

Business

On the surface, they may appear to be quite mundane but without them, the World simply couldn’t operate in the same way, we are of course talking about pallets, the wooden structures that have transported goods across the globe for many years. The pallet, though simple in form has made logistical transport, storage and warehouse practices far easier and helped businesses to run far more smoothly and effectively.

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The history of the pallet is an interesting one and today we’re going to look in a little more detail just how these little structures came into being, how they replaced previous forms of transportation and the way in which over the years, they have dramatically altered the shipping industry.

The Pallet is Born

Pallet-style equipment has been used as far back as the times of Ancient Egypt but the modern day wooden pallet was born in the early 1920s just after the birth of the fork-lift truck. The structure of the pallet was designed to enable a fork-lift truck to easily slide the forks in underneath the pallet, and lift the goods quickly and securely on the pallet. Once this method of lifting goods started, it wasn’t long before warehouses discovered the benefit of stacking pallets on top of each other, this meant that warehouses could optimize airspace and maximize how many goods they could store per square foot.

During the War

The mass production of pallets boomed during the second World War and a universal agreement was reached between the allied countries that the pallets would be 48 x 48 inches, this made the transportation of munitions and  supplies far simpler and quicker too.

Narrow Style

In 1954, British company Lansing Bagnall became the creators of the first narrow-aisle lifting truck, this truck would go on to revolutionize warehouses once again as they could travel down narrow aisles which meant that warehouses had more space to store goods. As a result of the new truck, a meeting was called between major Canadian suppliers in 1968 to resolve the issue of multiple sized pallets being used, this was costly and slowed the process of shipping down, eventually they settled on a 48 x 40 standard size, this has gone on to become the recognized standard size for pallets around the World.

Modern Day

There are currently around 1.9 billion pallets in use around the World every day and around 450 million pallets are produced in North America each year. Pallets have revolutionized the World of shipping through their space saving ways, ease of use and heavy loads which the wooden pallets can take.

You can buy pallets all over the World for personal or professional use and there are pallets for sale Perth to Peking and everywhere in between. Many people look to use pallets around the home and the garden and pallet style furniture has become very trendy, you can pick pallets up for as little as $10 from places like Pallet West , at those kind of prices, it’s easy to see why people are getting on board.

Pallets will be around for a long time to come, they save space, they are cheap and they are reliable, why would anyone look for anything else!

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Landscaping Your Business Premises

Business

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One of the biggest expenses you face as a business owner is the cost of running your work premises. Unfortunately, most firms simply cannot avoid this expense; they cannot operate successfully without a base to work from.

The fact that keeping the lights on, and these premises ticking over, costs so much means that many firms tend to cut corners on things like landscaping. Whilst doing so is understandable, this is not usually a wise approach.

Why invest in landscaping

It normally works out to be a false economy. You need to bear in mind that the way your business premises look say a lot about the type of company you are running.

If a potential customer visits your offices, factory or warehouse, and sees you operating out of shoddy, poorly kept business premises they are not going to be impressed. In business, appearances matter, so it really is worth your while to landscape the area around your buildings.

Keep it simple

Fortunately, landscaping does not have to be complex, and you do not necessarily have to spend a fortune. It is enough to smooth out the land around your premises and cover it with lawn, gravel or paving. Once down, you just need to be careful to maintain it properly, which should be easy to do if you avoid the temptation to lay our flower beds and buy big trees.

Keeping everyone safe and organised

You also need to make sure that the area around your office, factory or warehouse is laid out in an organised fashion. You can invest in customised signs like the ones you can buy from http://www.roadtrafficsigns.com/ and deploy them to control the flow of pedestrians and traffic. Doing this will help to keep everybody organised and safe.

It is important to provide enough parking for your workers and visitors. This area needs to be planned and aid out well. You should also consider lighting it at night. In the colder months, you may need to grit the car park to keep it ice free, and reduce the chances of someone having an accident at your premises.

Make your premises more secure

When deciding how to lay out the space outside of your business premises it is important to consider security. Unfortunately, thieves regularly target commercial premises, so this is an increasingly important consideration. It is well worth putting a fence around your land and setting up cameras to monitor the perimeter. Doing so will make it far easier for your security staff to control who enters your premises, and what areas of your property they can gain access to.

Brand your business premises

You need to bear in mind that the properties that you operate out of are part of your brand. It is important to invest in a good quality sign that incorporates your company colours and fonts. Doing so boosts your brand and ensures that people recognise the fact that the premises belong to your firm. You can read more about branding your business premises, here.

 

 

 

 

 

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What Makes Anura Leslie Perera Tick

Business

Different people have different reasons and motivation to explain and justify the things they do. The same can be said about successful businessman Anura Perera Raycom. The man is not happy to simply just sit on his laurels now that he has achieved so much professional success. Indeed, his situation makes him even more motivated to have a happy, healthy, balanced life which includes helping those people who are less unfortunate than him.

The Many Professional Successes of Anura Leslie Perera

Anura Leslie Perera was born in Colombo, the capital city of the tropical island Sri Lanka. He first tried his hand on business by moving across the world to as far away as Africa. In Zambia, he dabbled in engineering and sales for Caterpillar Inc., the heavy equipment manufacturer before switching to aerospace engineering. He is now the chairman of Raycom Aerospace Pte Ltd., a Singaporean aerospace manufacturer. Additionally, Anura Leslie Perera also does training workshops and seminars on business development for the Raycom Aerospace in the Middle East and various other locations. Recently, he facilitated the signing of an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between Raycom Aerospace and the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) to improve the infrastructure of the Al Ain aerospace cluster.

Anura Leslie Perera’s Humanitarian Efforts

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After achieving so much success in his professional life, Anura Leslie Perera is now regularly doing charity work to help those in need. Through the George Phylnormel Foundation, he was able to raise enough money to fund the construction of the Nairobi Buddhist Temple and dedicated it to the memory of Mr. George and Mrs. Normal Perera. The Theravada Buddhist temple busies itself with helping victims of natural disasters like the earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal, the Philippine typhoon and the Asian tsunami. The Nairobi Buddhist Temple also supports the survivors of the Sri Lankan civil war rebuild their lives and offers dharma and meditation classes to people of all faiths. Every time there is a need anywhere in the world, the Nairobi Buddhist Temple would seek to offer help to the best of their ability.

Anura Leslie Perera’s Life and Leisure Philosophy

Aware of the benefits of living a more mindful life, Anura Leslie Perera follows the pH diet, which strives to incorporate more alkaline food in eating like leafy green vegetables, grains and fatty fish while limiting the consumption of more acidic food like red meat and other meat products. The diet also encourages adherents to chew their food slowly and thoroughly, not only for increasing mindfulness but also to ensure that proper digestion is achieved. Anura Leslie Perera was able to control his diabetes by using this food philosophy. In his free time, Anura Leslie Perera engages in his two favorite activities, which are reading and cricket. He also regularly appears in radio and television programs in order to spread his wisdom and knowledge that he has been accumulating through the years. Moreover, he continually calls for more corporations to engage in corporate philanthropy.

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6 tips for creating the most compelling signage a retail store can have

Business

Looking for tips for creating the most compelling signage a retail store can have? We got 'em.
Photo by CC user Ray Moore on Flickr

Want to pull in new customers off the sidewalk by the dozens? By creating a compelling pitch on a visually attractive sign, you can do just that.

When you are looking for signage design Perth that can help you accomplish this goal, you may be tempted to rush off to a sign creator like Kingman Visual with your order based on a few hunches you might have.

However, we recommend that you keep the following pointers in mind if you want to get killer results for your business.

1) Make sure it can be seen by your customers

This one may seem obvious, but you would be shocked by the number of amateurish signs that you’ll see at the average intersection.

Built far too small for anyone lacking superhuman vision, the message of the entrepreneur goes unnoticed, despite the capital and time put into their creation.

When you create signage for your business, keep your target audience in mind. If your goal is to be seen by pedestrians walking down the sidewalk, the size of the letters won’t need to be as large as they would if you want motorists to read your message, as they are in motion and are further away from your sign.

For example, if you want your message read clearly from 100 feet away, your letters should be at least 10 inches tall.

2) Don’t make it too busy

Concise messaging is another key component for shop owners looking to create compelling signage for their business.

Often, there is a compulsion to stuff a sign with as much information as possible. This is the wrong approach, as your pitch can get lost in an ocean of unnecessary detail. Most people are busy rushing off to somewhere else, so keeping it simple is of paramount importance.

Also, don’t forget to leave plenty of whitespace: experts recommend that as much as 40% of the sign should be left blank to create added focus on the message you are trying to get across.

3) Use appropriate font faces and colors

The colors and the type face you employ can induce a variety of emotions in your prospects, so choose wisely when you are laying out your sign.

For example, yellow is synonymous with friendliness and optimism, black is associated with seriousness and authority, Times New Roman gives the reader a feeling of tradition, while Helvetica grants a feeling of stability and reliability.

Use these design features to create the emotions you want to evoke, while avoiding ones that conflict with your intended message.

4) Add relevant images

To add even greater impact to your signage, consider adding images that are congruent with the message you are trying to get across.

For instance, if you are starting a chicken noodle soup street cart, having some imagery depicting noodles, a soup bowl, and/or a chicken will make it crystal clear in the minds of passersby what you have to offer.

5) Make sure the font and background color contrast well with each other

Some colors play better than others. Black on white, which is the scheme used in this blog and many others, is among the most popular.

Black on yellow is the one with the best contrast overall, which explains why caution signs on roadways in North America are colored the way they are.

On the other hand, combinations such as green on red and red on yellow are as appealing as nails scratching on a chalkboard. Avoid these and similar color combos at all costs.

6) Write killer copy

Get your message across in two short sentences … minimum. What pain does the customer have, and what is your solution?

Example: “Cold day? Warm your insides with our dark chocolate cocoa … on now for $0.99 a cup!” Bait the hook, and reel them in!

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Why Should We Care About High Oil Prices?

Business

Why Should We Care About High Oil Prices?
Photo by CC user skeeze on Pixabay.

As any expert in the oil gas industry like Cody Winters can explain, there are many reasons why consumers should care about the price of oil. Even if you ride your bike everywhere and heat your home with solar panels, you are affected by the price of oil, even if you are not aware of it. Here are some of the main ways that high oil prices affect us all.

Oil Prices Impact Us Directly

This is basically a reference to the shock that we get at the pump when we fill up. For many of us, eliminating our use of cars for transportation is not an option – we can try to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels by carpooling, using public transit, planning trips more efficiently, and eventually perhaps shifting to an electric car. However, for most of us there is a limit to far we can reduce the use of our cars and for that reason, after a certain point we cannot escape the immediate effect on our wallets every time we fill up.

Oil Prices Impact Us Indirectly

The same pinch that we feel at the pump is shared by every producer in every industry. The costs of moving finished products to the consumer and the price of moving inputs to the production site, whether by air, sea or road, will be passed onto consumers in the form of higher prices.

Economic Growth Suffers

With high costs of oil, there are spill-overs into economy as a whole. Larger portions of consumers’ budgets are taken up by increased prices on goods, and increased direct costs of transportation and heating. This leaves a smaller portion of disposable income available for discretionary spending. As consumer spending goes down, businesses begin to struggle. Larger production costs mean that to a point businesses will need to raise prices for consumers to break even. However, if consumers have reduced resources as well, it is not long before spending grinds to a halt.

Innovation Suffers

On one level, high prices for oil can spur investment in new technologies or more efficient processes to compensation for the increased cost of oil. However, in the short to medium term, the research and development budgets of companies will be eaten up by increased costs of doing business, leaving less for innovation.

Government Finances Take a Huge Hit

Although prices of a whole range of goods increases, there is downward pressure on wages as businesses begin to feel the pinch of reduced spending. This vicious cycle hits government directly in the form of demands for increased social spending in the form of subsidies and unemployment assistance. At the same, the government’s largest sources of income – direct taxes (in the form of personal and corporate income taxes) and indirect taxes (in the form of taxes on the sale of goods and services) – begins to decline.

Of course, the story is not all about doom and gloom. High oil prices can also attract heavy investment which might not be attractive at lower prices, and this in turn can fuel both innovation and energy security in the long run.

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The Benefits of Providing Work-Place Benefits

Business

The Benefits of Providing Work-Place Benefits like child care pay for themselves
Photo by CC user R. K. Singam on English Wikipedia

More and more, it is becoming accepted that there many benefits for employers that come with providing health and other work-place benefits to their employees. For professional insights on the related accounting issues, it is important to speak to a certified public accountant like Heather Weber. In the meantime, here are some of the most important advantages that come with providing benefits to employees.

Healthy Employees Miss Fewer Days

This is an obvious point, but a very important one. Healthy employees are less likely to miss a day at work and employees are more likely to stay healthy when they have regular access to medical services. This applies not only to seasonable cases of the flu – regular medical checkups also make it more likely that debilitating or long-term illnesses will be caught when they are treatable, thus reducing the likelihood that employees will need to take extended medical or disabilities leave. Moreover, even healthy employees may need to miss work in order to care for sick children or spouses. The advantages of providing extended family benefits are clear in this case.

Healthy Employees are More Productive

If employees feel well both mentally and physically, they will be able to dedicate their complete attention to their tasks. This applies to physical as well as mental health – in fact, mental health issues are one of the greatest causes of workplace underperformance.

Employee Morale

When employees know that they are working in a culture that supports them in their healthcare needs, they are more likely to demonstrate high levels of morale and loyalty. Team-work and mutual respect between employers and employees increases as well; employees are not forced into over-work situations to cover absence colleagues, which reduces workplace stress. The provision of extended benefits for families is another key to improving moral.

Public Relations

There is no shortage of good press that comes from being seen as a good corporate citizen. Moreover, as you develop a positive image as a good employer, the best and brightest young people will want to join your company – and those who are already there will want to stay.

There are many schemes and options available to businesses to help them balance these benefits (and others) against the costs. Employers will need to consider whether they provide medical only or whether they will also provide dental and vision benefits. Various ancillary benefits, including life insurance and employee-assistance programs to support mental health or substance abuse counseling can also be considered. Employers will also need to consider their options with respect to cost-sharing. All of these decisions should be explored with a professional accountant with expertise in this area to make sure that you are reaping the best benefits for your company while providing the best benefits to your employees.

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How To Be Sure Your Boss Won’t Regret Promoting You

Business

Do you know How To Be Sure Your Boss Won’t Regret Promoting You?
Photo by CC user Tookapic on Pexels.

As experienced managers like George Bardwil can tell you, if you have been promoted in your job to management, it means that your boss has a lot of confidence in you. This isn’t a decision that your boss took lightly, and you can be sure that there was a lot of discussion about you, and about your ability to take on the responsibilities of your new position. Here are some things to keep in mind so that no one regrets that decision.

Be a positive role model

The chances are that you can probably recall times when your past behavior was less than managerial. Moments of complaining about the boss, of leaving work early, of gossiping about co-workers. Everyone has these moments – but as a new manager, you are no longer allowed to indulge. To be clear, you will probably hear and see the same sorts of things among management as well, but as a new member of the management team, your job is to appear professional and impersonal at all times. Bring your A game and nothing less.

Redefine your relationships

In the same way as your former manager will have to redefine their relationship with you as a new member of the management team, you will need to redefine your relationships with your former peers. A conversation, no matter how awkward, needs to happen with your former office mates pretty much right away. Depending on how close you were, you many need to have an explicit understanding that friendships need to be kept outside of the office. Similarly, you should try to establish a new normal with anyone that you did not have a great relationship with previously – your job now is to manage the entire team, and you must reassure everyone that their contributions and participation are welcome and valued.

Focus on the big picture

As a member of the management team, your priorities and responsibilities have widened and you cannot afford to let loyalties to your old department or colleagues cloud your judgement or complicate decisions that need to be made with the well-being of the entire company in mind. Your first job as a new manager is to be sure that you are informed about the priorities of the company as a whole, and to work with the people you are supervising to achieve those goals.

Seek inspiration and knowledge

Find out if there is a mentoring program for new managers and if there is, be sure to take part. Learning from people who have gone before you is a great way to gain insight and understanding of the challenges you are about to face. Make sure that you understand your new boss’ priorities and work to help him or her achieve those. Learn about the company from your new perspective. If there are workshops or seminars, take them. If there are meetings that you can attend, be there. If there are manuals and policies, read them. And if there are personnel files, review them so that you have a new perspective of the strengths and skills of the team you are managing.

Taking on new responsibilities in your business means lots of work and dedication – just remember that you were promoted because your boss has faith in you, and you can rise to the challenge!

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3 Ultimate Ways To Earn Money Online In Your Free Time

Business

Relax And Work From Home At The Same Time

Read about the Ultimate Ways To Earn Money Online In Your Free Time in this post...

These days, we are accustomed to earning our income in a lot of peculiar ways. No one finds working from home weird or uncomfortable anymore. But what about our free time? Is there a way to diversify your lazy hours and raise your income a bit at the same time? Yes, there are literally dozens of activities online people can engage in, making money with great ease and joy. In this article, we present you with three ideas that are quite different in nature, yet they all allow you to engage in making money gradually depending on how many extra cash you need.

Get Ready For Some Extra Cash!

WRITING A BLOG

This option presents you with loads of opportunities, from making extra $200-300 per month to rearranging your life completely, to the extent of becoming famous. For certain, starting a blog is not a straightforward and simple process. However, should you not be afraid of financing your idea a bit on the beginning, hundreds of tutoring websites and blog writing courses are at your service. If you are not so sure about whether writing is exactly your cup of tea, in this case, some free blog platforms are just what you want.

You begin making money through blogging as soon as you take a step into the affiliate market industry. It is not as difficult as it sounds, though; the only thing you will need to do is promote products for companies by placing ads and writing articles. It can be perfectly performed in your spare time and is pretty lucrative, as well.

DEVELOPING ONLINE VIDEOS AND/OR COURSES

If you are not a man of pen and ink, do not worry – you still can realise your marketing potential through creating your own video channel. A lot of people start shooting and posting videos on YouTube just for fun, only to find themselves later earning sizable sums of money. Again, try linking Google AdSense for a start and then move on to some serious areas, such as making product reviews. Maybe, not just as profitable as blog writing, making videos is just more fun – which is sure what you want to have in your time off work.

ONLINE GAMBLING

Are you not altogether innocent of getting a lot of excitement in card/slot games? There was a time when people haunted gambling houses in the feverish desire to become rich. Being a modern gambler, though, has long ceased to mean we actually need to leave the comfort of our own homes to scoop some amount of hard cash. Those who are interested in professional gambling might like to try even no deposit/free slots that provide an excellent opportunity to master gambling techniques.

In the end, spending free time online can sure generate some supplemental income for you. Of course, one should not expect this idea to be super-fast or super-productive when it comes to earning a living. Just do not forget to enjoy your free time!

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How to Pre-Screen Potential Tenants

Business Legal

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Renting your home or apartment is a great way to invest in your future, but you definitely need to know what you are doing. Every landlord knows the importance of carefully screening potential tenants before anything is signed.  This typically begins by requiring the interested person to complete a detailed application form which will collect the applicant’s financial and credit details, references from past and current employers and landlords, and information about things like whether the applicant smokes, owns pets, or has ever been convicted of a felony.

However, getting this information is only the beginning – in order to make sure that you are protected, you need to follow through on the process of actually checking the information you have been provided – this means calling references, reviewing credit reports and obtaining a criminal background check. This process, however important, takes time and energy.  Savvy landlords know, however, that the screening process actually begins before the application – these landlords will ask several pre-screening questions when they are first contacted by the applicant that help them to determine if it is worth the time and energy to undertake a more careful screening. Here are a few things to find out before you take the process further.

How many people/pets will be living in the property?

This preliminary question is important to ask for a few reasons.  First, there are laws in some states against renting to more than two tenants per bedroom – this is in place to prevent over-crowding situations for reasons of safety and health.  It is also relevant because more people using the space means more wear and tear on carpets, bathrooms, appliances, and so on.  In this case, you may be justified in asking for a higher rent, or to exclude utilities or apply a premium if they are included.  Similarly, if there are pets, there is reason to anticipate that damage may occur as a result, and again you may want to increase the rent or include a damage clause.  This is something that could be discussed in your first contact with the potential tenant, and this will be their opportunity to decide if they are willing to pay a higher rent.  If not, then the conversation can end there.

Will they provide references from their employer and landlord?

For obvious reasons, you want to know something about their record of employment and especially about their reliability as a tenant.  Anyone who indicates that they are not prepared to give you that information, or who has a story about why that information is not available, should be politely declined during the first conversation.

Will they allow you to check their credit report and conduct a criminal background check?

Anyone who refuses to allow you to check their background or conduct a people search on them should be immediately passed over.  Potential credit problems may have a legitimate explanation, and a credible person will be prepared to let you check and will provide an explanation that you might accept.  Similarly, a criminal background check is necessary because you as the landlord may be responsible for criminal activity on your property. Again, you should not automatically discriminate against someone with a criminal past, but you should be wary of anyone who refuses to disclose it.

With these simple questions in mind as you take phone calls from people interested in renting your house or apartment, you can focus your screening efforts on serious applicants and find the right tenants for you.

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How to Find the Keyword with the Best PPC Returns

Business

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Pay per click advertising is all about making sure that you pay for certain advertisements that the people you want to reach actually click on. If someone who has no interest in your products or services clicks on your advertisement, you will have to pay for it, but you will never see a return. Pay per click management or PPC management is a very complex area of internet marketing, and you need to know what you’re doing to really benefit from it. This is why it is better and recommended to hire a professional to help you out. That said, there are a few things that you can do to at least familiarize yourself with the subject.

How to Manage Your PPC Campaign for the Best Results

The starting point of PPC management is that you cannot rely on getting sufficient traffic from organic search results alone. However, PPC costs money, which means that you have to make sure that you get the highest possible return on investment (ROI) for your efforts as well. So what do we know in terms of the ROI percentages for the different marketing techniques? Statistically speaking, the returns are:

  • 5% to 1.5% for banner click throughs.
  • 2% to 2.5% for newsletters.
  • 5% for TV advertisements.
  • 9% from your personal 404 error page.
  • 4% from writing articles.
  • 3% to 5% from PPC through Google AdWords.
  • 15% to 20% through word of mouth.
  • 20% through random searching.
  • 45% through the search engines.

Search engine traffic, or organic traffic, is the best type of traffic to build your website rankings. This makes sense, because it means you have done your keyword research and actually worked at what you have. Furthermore, if you can create an optimized site, you really are in control over your own content. It is down to writing content that is compelling and interesting, with text rich in keywords.

Backlinks are also very important in order to get your Google page rank up, but it takes many hours of work just to build a link structure that is safe. You also need to get tons of reciprocal links if you are to make a difference. This is a stumbling block for the Google algorithm.

The best type of link is the one way link. This means other people actually think your content is great, and they want to see you get better. If you are ever asked to agree to having a one way link, make sure that the anchor text has your best keyword phrase in it. An example would be: <a target=”_new” rel=”nofollow” href=”http://www.your-domain.com”>keyword phrase </a>

If, however, you have to pay for traffic, which most of us have to do at least in the beginning of our websites, you need to make sure you get the highest possible ROI. You have to work out which keywords are best for your returns, and focus specifically on those. This is a very complex area of work that is generally best left to the professionals.

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