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Administrator on June 1st, 2009
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Any of you who have taken a look at our silverandstone website can see that as our business and products increased, pages were added like the extra rooms built onto old farmhouses. At this point we felt that it would be helpful to our customers to separate the gift baskets from the jewelry and candles and give them their own website. We are pleased to announce the launch of our newest website Better Gifts and Gift Baskets.
The first few pages are now up and we intend to continue transferring pages and adding new items in the months ahead.
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Administrator on May 19th, 2009
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Last year my eggplant crop was considerably better than usual — which meant that I either had to convince my husband that we should go on an eggplant diet, or I had to find a way to preserve some for later use.
I had previously made a ratatouille and frozen that successfully, but wanted to see if I could freeze the eggplant on its own. I was pretty sure that freezing it “as is” would result in an inedible mess. I prepared the sliced eggplant as I usually would (ie. salting and draining under weights in the refrigerator. I then dipped it into an egg batter and fried it. The fried slices were put onto cookie sheets in single layers and frozen. Once frozen, they were put into freezer bags.
I decided to use a bag of them to make Eggplant Parmesan last night and they worked just fine — with one slight exception. For some reason, the dish tasted quite salty. Guess I should have rinsed the salt off before freezing the eggplant, but since I’ve never done that when making the same dish with fresh eggplant, I can’t quite figure out what the difference could be. At any rate, this does seem to be a good way to save your harvest for future use.
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Administrator on April 19th, 2009
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Although the official calendar date for the beginning of Spring has come and gone some time ago, it’s finally starting to look like Spring outside my window. The narcissus and forsythia are in bloom and the yard is slowly turning from brown to green.
As we all shed the last of a long and difficult Winter season, I’m hoping that most of us will take advantage of this traditional season of renewal and re-birth to re-energize ourselves and turn this year into a much better one than the last.
Our business, like just about all the retail outfits in this country, suffered through a terrible Christmas season, but we’re still here. It seems that there is a glimmer of light at the end of this tunnel and we intend to make our way out into the sunshine.
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Administrator on February 26th, 2009
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If you choose to open a “brick and mortar” business, your rent will likely be one of your most substantial operating costs. Because of this, I would advise you to buy property rather than renting if at all possible. Although credit is tight at the moment, you will probably never again find such a combination of low mortgage rates and discounted property prices as the current ones.
Over the years, I have easily spent more than enough in rent to cover the purchase of commercial property. Hindsight is always 20/20 of course. Even if your business doesn’t pan out, you will at least be building up equity and could probably rent the property out to another business. I can tell you first hand that being a landlord with residential property is a complete nightmare, but commercial leases are written to favor the landlord rather than the tenant.
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Administrator on February 7th, 2009
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It probably doesn’t sound like a good idea to many people, but statistics show that businesses started during economic down times proved more likely to stay in business than those started when the economy was good.
Obviously during a recession, there’s a lot less latitude when it comes to things like inventory control and overall costs of doing business. It may also mean that our hypothetical business owner will have to get a lot more creative when trying to spread the word about his or her new venture. For instance, getting a local paper to print a press release or cover an event will bring it to the attention of local subscribers without the cost of buying ads.
In the online world, participation in forums and social media can provide a great deal of traffic for your website without the cost of “pay per click” advertising.
Even if you have a substantial budget at your disposal, it’s a good idea to try some alternate methods along with the more traditional forms of advertising.
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Administrator on December 28th, 2008
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Whether or not you are going to need to raise funds from a bank, venture capital company, or family and friends, in order to start your business, you should prepare a business plan.
Your local Chamber of Commerce should be able to direct you to a low or no cost source that can help you draw up your plan. Most areas have a SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) group that not only offer free help in this area, but can also provide great advice on many aspects of business. The volunteer mentors in this group have many years of business experience behind them.
I must admit that I made up a plan over twenty years ago in order to seek funding from local banks and have not looked at it since. (Actually I don’t have any idea where it is or whether or not it even still exists!) One of the things on my “To Do” list for the coming year is to go to one of our local organizations that offer help in this department and write up a new one. After all this time I have finally come to realize just how much help it can be to have your business goals and plans in actual written form so that you can periodically review it. It is all too easy to get caught up in the day to day work of running a business and to forget to chart your course. You want to make sure that you are moving in the right direction and taking those extra steps necessary to meet your goals.
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Administrator on December 23rd, 2008
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If you’re taking the time to read this, you have probably been at least seriously considering going into business. As a veteran (over 23 years) independent retailer, I would urge you to first consider the pros and cons of an online business versus a “brick and mortar” one.
At this point in my own life, I am getting rather tired of working for the landlord and would give a big plus to the much lower overhead entailed in a web-based business. This is not to say that you will not have some pretty heavy expenses, depending upon your particular business model; however an online presence will definitely cost you less “rent”!
One downside of being an internet business is that you will have to work somewhat harder to convince both prospective customers and suppliers that you are a legitimate, trustworthy business entity. It’s a lot easier to trust someone with an easily verified physical place of business. It is therefore crucial that you make it easy for these groups to contact you. If you intend to do business nationally, a toll-free number will give a great boost to your credibility — as long as you make sure that there is someone available to answer it during regular business hours (and a recorded message for anyone who calls outside of these hours).
If you have done any research at all, you will undoubtedly have come across the expression “Location, location, location!”. It is definitely one of the most important factors in the success or failure of a “brick and mortar” type business, but the “location” of your internet business in the search results will play just as crucial a part in the success or failure of your web-based business. Whatever your budget, whether you intend to have someone else build your site or intend to do it yourself, I urge you to sign up for free SEO (search engine optimization) and Website Marketing classes at
http://www.gnc-web-creations.com/seo-optimization.htm
I cannot over-emphasize how much these classes helped my own online efforts!
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Administrator on November 24th, 2008
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If there’s actually anyone out there who looks for updates on this site, my apologies that it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything new. I just couldn’t think what to write about that would have any value to anyone else. Now I think I’ve come up with a plan (or two)
I’ve already put in most of the tips and techniques that I’ve learned about making gel candles and now plan to put in some “lessons” on how to make some simple jewelry. In addition, I’m planning a series of articles on starting and running a small business. You see, it finally dawned on me that after 23 years of running a “brick and mortar” store and several years online, I might actually be able to help some people that want to start out in business. Stay tuned!
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Administrator on October 2nd, 2008
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I can’t believe that I’m the only one who is sick and tired of all the political ads, “debates”, news articles, etc, etc, ad infinitum. Tonight I am hunched over the computer trying to avoid the TVs on both floors of this house. Seems to me that the run up to this election has been going on just short of forever.
Please tell me just who, among people over the age of four, actually believes campaign promises? The only sensible thing from my point of view is to take a look at the candidates’ voting records and the stands (if any) they have taken on matters that are important to you before the Presidential Olympics began. Then pick the lesser of two evils.
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Administrator on September 13th, 2008
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Although large sea scallops have become a budget buster of late, a local supermarket had them on sale and we decided to indulge ourselves. I checked the web for a seared scallop recipe and found one that sounded pretty good except that the amount of butter it called for looked like “coronary on a plate” to me. The original recipe called for seven tablespoons of butter, but I cut the total to four and think that it might still be quite tasty with only two.
1 1/4 lbs large sea scallops (if the ligament is still attached, remove and discard it)
4 T. butter, cut in 1 T chunks
2 T. finely chopped shallots
1/4 c. dry white wine
1/4 c. white wine vinegar (I realized mid-recipe that I didn’t have any, so substituted natural rice vinegar. If you use rice vinegar, make sure that it is natural, not seasoned)
1 T. finely chopped French tarragon
Pat scallops dry and season with a little salt and pepper.
Heat large cast iron skillet over medium-high flame. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil, or enough to coat the bottom of pan. Sear scallops, turning once, until golden brown and just cooked through, about 5 minutes total.
Transfer scallops to a platter. Add shallots, wine, and vinegar to skillet and boil, scraping up any browned bits, until reduced to about two tablespoonsful. Add juices from platter. Reduce heat to low and add two tablespoons of butter, stirring until almost melted. Add remaining butter and swirl until mixed. Stir in tarragon and salt (if needed). Pour sauce over scallops and serve.
Enjoy!