BizAims

There are a lot of misconceptions, myths, bad advice and outright lies about what it takes to be successful in business.  And most of those are continually spread by people who have never gone into business for themselves. Here are 5 of the most common myths about doing business.

      1.      To be successful you have to be first.  This is also sometimes reworded as “the first in, wins”.  While there are some cases where there is such thing as “first mover advantage” it does not guarantee success.  Remember the leading edge is also known as the bleeding edge.  If you had to be first, then explain to me the success of Dell and Microsoft.  Dell was not first in the PC market.  Microsoft was not first with the GUI or the word processor or the spreadsheet, yet it dominates in all those areas.

      NL Financial's list ranks the largest U.S. banks and thrifts by assets. The following list gives the current ranking, the bank or thrift's name, its previous ranking, its headquarters, its total assets (in billions) and its total deposits (in billions).

      1.  Bank of America Corp., 1, Charlotte, N.C., $2,343.9, $956.5

Bank of America Corporation, banking and financial services corporation formed through NationsBank’s acquisition of BankAmerica in 1998. One of the largest banking organizations in the United States, Bank of America is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The bank’s history dates to 1904 when Amadeo Peter Giannini opened the Bank of Italy in San Francisco. It eventually developed into the Bank of America and was for a time owned by Giannini’s holding company, Transamerica Corporation. It issued the first bank credit card, BankAmeriCard, in 1958.

SOUTH  STREAM  GAS  PIPELINE
South Stream is a proposed gas pipeline to transport Russian natural gas to the Black Sea to Bulgaria and further to Greece, Italy and Austria, supplying 63 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas annually. The project is seen as rival to the planned Nabucco pipeline. The completion is due by 2015.
The South Stream pipeline project was announced on 23 June 2007, when the Chief Executive Officer of Italian energy company Eni Paolo Scaroni and the Vice-Chairman of Russian Gazprom Alexander Medvedev signed in Rome a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for construction of South Stream. On 22 November 2007, Gazprom and Eni signed in Moscow an agreement about establishing a joint project company for the commissioning of the marketing and technical feasibility studies of the project. The joint venture South Stream AG, equally owned by Gazprom and Eni, was registered on 18 January 2008 in Switzerland.

Noida (short for the New Okhla Industrial Development Area) is an area in India under the management of the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority. Noida came into administrative existence on 17 April 1976 and celebrates 17 April as "Noida Day". It was set up as part of an urbanization thrust during the controversial Emergency period (1975–1977). The city was created under the UP Industrial Area Development Act. It is also home to the Noida Film City.

Noida is located in Gautam Budh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh state. The district's administrative headquarters are in the nearby town of Surajpur.

India was one of the first in Asia to recognize the effectiveness of the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) model in promoting exports, with Asia's first EPZ set up in Kandla in 1965. With a view to overcome the shortcomings experienced on account of the multiplicity of controls and clearances; absence of world-class infrastructure, and an unstable fiscal regime and with a view to attract larger foreign investments in India, the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Policy was announced in April 2000.

The Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, was passed by Parliament in May, 2005 which received Presidential assent on the 23rd of June, 2005.

The main objectives of the SEZ Act are:

a)      generation of additional economic activity

b)      promotion of exports of goods and services;

A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is a geographical region that has economic laws that are more liberal than a country's typical economic laws. One of the earliest and the most famous Special Economic Zones were founded by the government of the People's Republic of China under Deng Xiaoping in the early 1980s. The most successful Special Economic Zone in China, Shenzhen, has developed from a small village into a city with a population over 10 million within 20 years. Following the Chinese examples, Special Economic Zones have been established in several countries, including Pakistan, India, Iran, Jordan, Poland, Kazakhstan, the Philippines,Russia, and Ukraine. North Korea has also attempted this to a degree, but failed. Currently, Puno, Peru has been slated to become a "Zona Ecomomica" by its president Alan Garcia. In the United States, SEZ are referred to as "Urban Enterprise Zones".

The AGA estimates that the Nevada sports books account for only 1–3% of all sports gambling conducted in the country. The vast majority of sports bets, then, 97–99%, are illegal. This makes it difficult to assess exactly how much money is involved.

The 1999 final report of the NGISC estimated that $80 billion to $380 billion per year is wagered illegally on sports in the United States. In 1998 the FBI estimated that illegal sports gambling was a $100 billion industry.

Illegal sports gambling encompasses a wide variety of activities. Most illegal bets on sporting events are placed with bookies. Internet gambling and office pools are also popular methods. In addition, there are some "sporting" events, illegal in themselves, that are popularly associated with gambling—for example, cockfighting and dog fighting.

Today medicine has developed greatly. However, there are still incurable diseases. And throughout history, mankind has constantly faced with numerous epidemics that ravaged the population. Here is a top of the most dangerous diseases of all time.

7. Typhus (430 BC? - Present) has killed 3 million people between 1918 to 1922. Also most of Napoleon's soldiers, who was in the campaign in Russia died of typhus.

Disease name comes from the Greek "Typhi" meaning lazy or dizzy, describing the condition of those affected with typhus. It was first mentioned in 1083 at a convent near Salerno, Italy. During the Second World War was discovered a vaccine against typhus.

Throughout history disease has caused numerous outbreaks. Thus, in the second year of the Peloponnesian War (430 BC), the city-state of Athens was hit by a terrible epidemic, known as the "Plague of Athens". Typhus epidemic spread in Europe between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.

FPI today responds to new figures released by the European Commission showing customs seizures of illegal and counterfeit goods at the EU's external borders in 2008.

The figures highlight that CD piracy is still a problem even in developed markets. While online piracy often claims a higher profile, the report shows that vast numbers of counterfeit CDs are still being imported into Europe from China. The clandestine manufacture, international distribution and sale of counterfeit CDs remains a huge problem for copyright holders.

FPI today responds to new figures released by the European Commission showing customs seizures of illegal and counterfeit goods at the EU's external borders in 2008.

The figures highlight that CD piracy is still a problem even in developed markets. While online piracy often claims a higher profile, the report shows that vast numbers of counterfeit CDs are still being imported into Europe from China. The clandestine manufacture, international distribution and sale of counterfeit CDs remains a huge problem for copyright holders.

Record companies invest around 20 per cent of their revenues in discovering and nurturing new acts, so such international piracy means there is less money available to give new artists the break they so desperately need. That is why we applaud the work being done by law enforcement agencies to try and stem the flood of illegal imports into Europe.

Italian police seized a group of swindlers five thousand fake paintings to be sold to private collections, reports agency Associated Press.

According to ANSA, in a criminal gang involved 70-year-old art of Piacenza, a collector and artist. In 2006 they organized an exhibition in Piacenza Italian futurist Botha Osvaldo (Osvaldo Bot). Organizers of the exhibition claimed that many of the artworks presented were not previously shown publicly.

Some time ago the police turned art critic Maurizio Skudero (Maurizio Scudiero), who stated that the sale appeared suspiciously large number of works Botha. Many paintings were sold in the United States.

Retailers in the Royal Borough are being warned to be on their guard when stocking their shelves with tobacco and alcohol after recent shop inspections uncovered an increase in counterfeit and illegal alcohol and tobacco on sale in a number of premises.

Trading Standards and Licensing officers removed bottles from 11 of the 15 premises inspected including 30 bottles of fake champagne such as counterfeit Bollinger being sold for up to £49.99 and other bottles of cheap alcohol falsely labelled as champagne and being sold for £35.99. In addition 70 bottles of fake Jacobs Creek wine were also found.

This economy has created both winners and losers. The quickest road to bankruptcy is to sit on your hands, do nothing, and wait for the economy to improve. No matter what industry you work in a "business as usual" mindset will sink your ship. You have to be innovative, stand out, and market your products and services in a new way.

Now more than ever you have to focus, improve, and possibly even change what you do to attain, retain and maintain customers. Consider the following ten-steps to make your business recession proof.

Strategy 1. Think big and audit your time. No matter the size of your business, place a mental image in your mind as if you are the largest and most successful person in your industry.

Two men are looking at a spiffy car in a shopping mall parking lot. One of them bends over to carefully check it. He lifts the hood, scans the engine, surveys the body, then eases into the driver’s seat and holds the steering wheel. The other man steps to the side and reassures him the car is a gem.

But it’s far from a typical scene where two auto buffs are simply admiring a car.

The man inspecting the vehicle will soon buy it from the other smiling individual in the kind of deal that will cost taxpayers several hundred dollars and jeopardize the safety of motorists, passengers and even pedestrians.

It’s not the mysterious seller’s first sale in the last month. He has unloaded three other models that came from an auction of wrecked vehicles.

FPI today responds to new figures released by the European Commission showing customs seizures of illegal and counterfeit goods at the EU's external borders in 2008.

The figures highlight that CD piracy is still a problem even in developed markets. While online piracy often claims a higher profile, the report shows that vast numbers of counterfeit CDs are still being imported into Europe from China. The clandestine manufacture, international distribution and sale of counterfeit CDs remains a huge problem for copyright holders.

Record companies invest around 20 per cent of their revenues in discovering and nurturing new acts, so such international piracy means there is less money available to give new artists the break they so desperately need. That is why we applaud the work being done by law enforcement agencies to try and stem the flood of illegal imports into Europe.