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Showing posts from November, 2012

What happens if bookkeepers run your biz?

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This week I did get a mail from my car insurance. There was a letter that due to some market conditions, they had to increase the price. I can understand that. So, then I did check the price increase and I couldn’t believe it, as the increase was 56%!! My thought was that this had to be a mistake, so, I did call the insurance. The customer service lady was already glad that I didn’t shout at her, clearly I was not the only one picking up the phone! She had to check this with another department and said she would call me back. She did call me back and sais that indeed there was a mistake, the price increase should have been 50% as that was the maximum increase allowed according to their T&C’s. Again I was flabbergasted, because I have been driving without any damages for at least 22 years! I did tell her that now I was forced to check out other offers in the market and she said that she could understand this. End of call! I did check out several options

There are always opportunities for innovation

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These days, if you follow the news, it is a lot of doom and gloom. Hurricane Sandy, earthquakes, Syrian war, rising numbers of unemployment etc. It is easy to be influenced by this kind of news. Therefor I do recommend spending a minimal amount of time following this negative news. And then you can use the ‘extra’ time to discover inspiring news. There are many blogs, videos, and podcasts, articles that emphasize positive and innovative news. These circumstances provide a good breeding ground for new innovations. Please bear in mind that most innovations start at the edge and not at the center of most activities. It is hard to be innovative if you follow the pack. For example, I just listened to an interview with someone from Aurora pens and he said that the focus on standardization (in his case pc’s tablets, phones) gives him the opportunity to specialize in a niche area (nice writing instruments). He even mentioned a research that some schools in Italy are ha