Mohit Tater's Blog, page 698

Why You Should Meet Face To Face Whenever Possible

Credit: Stephen D

The convenience and efficiency of virtual meetings makes them a tempting option for fledgling entrepreneurs and seasoned business professionals alike. You can save money and time while solving problems without having to leave the comfort of your office. Especially early on in a company’s life, cutting costs is a smart way to get an edge. But in the long run, will virtual meetings really save you the time and money they’re supposed to?

Drew Martin, CEO of MeCam, was having disagreements with his company’s manufacturer in Taiwan. For months they were having trouble ironing out issues of design and cost. Finally they were able to meet face to face in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics show. According to Martin, “What had set us back about three or four months we got done in about four hours.”

What becomes apparent after hearing Martin’s story is that in a situation like this, too much is being asked of a virtual meeting. It’s important to recognize the humanity of the other party when it comes to solving problems. Here are some reasons why meeting face to face won’t be going out of style anytime soon.

Conference Calls

High on the list of meeting offenders is the conference call. The person or persons on the other end of your call could be giving in to a host of different distractions. Here’s a short list of things they could be doing in addition to listening to you:

-Writing sad musings on a pad of paper.

-Watching someone attempt to parallel park for the fourth time on the street outside.

-Pressing the mute button in order to talk to someone else about the podcast “Serial.”

Joking aside, the major consequence of being just a voice on the other end of a line is losing out on all nonverbal communication. Not just hearing but seeing how individuals react to an idea will help you get a clear sense of how that idea really sits with them, literally and figuratively. Are they leaned back in their chair, maybe slouching a little? Then you’re not on the same page. Are they leaning toward you and making great eye contact? Now you’re cooking with gas. It’s in their face and body language that you’ll see what’s what.

Video Chat

Lower down on that list of meeting offenders is video chat. Platforms such as Skype and Google Talk offer a convenient way to meet face-to-face, providing all parties with the benefit of making eye contact, a vital element of non-verbal communication. An ideal amount shows genuine interest, honesty, respect, and integrity. An individual avoiding eye contact is communicating insincerity, apathy, dishonesty, and uneasiness.

Video chat can facilitate the real-time exchange of documents, presentations, graphics, and other forms of media. This allows for a quick dissemination of data and the ability to immediately collaborate on the next best course of action. Additionally, the free price point of many of these platforms is too good to pass up, especially for a fledgling company. The Achilles heel of the video call is the technical difficulty issue. A dropped call, poor connection, or audio and visual that don’t match up can cause frustration and halt momentum.

In a study published by Forbes, 58% of executives surveyed admitted that they “surf the web, check their email, read unrelated materials, and handle other ancillary work during digital meetings.” Even though you might be able to look them in their virtual faces, you still have to compete with their surroundings. These distractions are an unfortunate reality in the realm of virtual meetings.

Why meet in person?

Even with its advantages of convenience, the virtual meeting still pales in comparison to good ol’ fashioned in-person meetings when it comes to developing productive business relationships. It’s the preferred method of meeting for app developers, which bears noting considering you’ll probably be considering an app for your business soon enough.

When companies experience economic hardships, often the travel budget is the first to be gutted. The advantages that come from virtual meetings are tangible ones: They save time, money, and they provide location flexibility. However, when it comes to the human element of business, meetings in person will continue to be the best bet. In the same Forbes study, executives were asked which style of meeting is most conducive to fostering a number of “business actions/attributes/outcomes effectively.” Out of the 15 items, 12 of them showed favorable results for in-person meetings. The only two items that did not give in-person meetings at least a plurality were data presentation and information dissemination. Even then, the numbers were close.

Credit: Simon Blackley

While having eye contact during video chats puts them head and shoulders (heh) above standard phone calls, there are physical aspects to real live meetings that encourage the healthiest of communication. Particularly, the handshake.

The handshake has been a documented staple of human social interaction since medieval times. Knights would shake hands as proof that neither was carrying a weapon, hidden or otherwise. While the purpose of the handshake has become broader since then, it is still a gesture of goodwill and an effective way to establish yourself as a trustworthy associate. There are neurobiological agents at work during a handshake. The neurochemical oxytocin (a.k.a. “the cuddle chemical”), is released during physical contact. It creates a feeling of comfort, mutual respect, and trust between individuals. When meeting with a potential employee, employer, business associate, or new client, these feelings are essential to facilitating a candid conversation. It’s vital to start a business relationship on a trusting foot. Meeting in person will help cultivate this.

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the set of skills used to understand and manage emotions effectively. Having strong EI has become a trait valued highly by employers, higher in some cases than IQ. Seeing how well an individual interprets your body language is a good indication of their level of EI. Conversely, you’ll be able to see how well their body language gels with what they are expressing to you. While the concept of Emotional Intelligence is relatively new, two studies published in 1990 popularized the theory, its importance in a workplace environment cannot be understated. One place you should always insist on meeting in person if possible is the hiring process because the best way to judge a candidate’s emotional intelligence is in person. The potential cost of a bad hire outweighs whatever travel cost may accrue from paying to fly a candidate in for an interview.

To expect a company to host all of their meetings in person is irrational. But knowing that virtual meetings are to be used as sparingly as possible will help improve business relationships, morale, and employee satisfaction. As of yet, there is no digital equivalent for the handshake. So get out there, connect with people face to face, and facilitate the mutual exchange of oxytocin.

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The Risks of Owning a Business: Four Steps to Protecting Your Company

Starting a new business can be a very exciting venture for anyone. However, with every business type there are risks involved that should be properly prepared for. As the owner of any business, it is important to do whatever you can to minimize the potential risks in an effort to keep the business operating effectively. Sure, you hope that you can appeal to all of your clients or customers and never have to deal with lawsuits. The reality of it is that anything can happen, and the best line of defense is to be prepared.

If you’re not sure of where to begin, you’ll find these four bits of advice beneficial.

1.  Separate Yourself From the Business

According to an article in Fox Business, one of the most common mistakes that new business owners make is failing to properly incorporate their business. Naturally, entrepreneurs will classify themselves as sole proprietors. However, what most entrepreneurs don’t understand is that should the company get sued, the owner’s personal assets are considered for compensation.

To prevent this from happening to you or at the very least, to minimize the potential risk to the owner’s assets would be to consider incorporating your business. This in turn separates the company’s finances from the owner’s.

2.  Understand the Law as it Pertains to Your Business

There are a plethora of rules and regulations that the local and federal government put into place for businesses to follow. From tax laws to employee laws, making sure that you’re fully aware of these laws and abiding by them is of the utmost importance. Because most new business owners are unaware of every law as it pertains to their industry, it may be ideal to consider hiring an attorney. Interviewing attorneys at the start of your business is the best way to be proactive.

Attorneys are knowledgeable in business law and will ensure that your organization stays in compliance with all rules and regulations as they come about. Attorneys can review all contracts to ensure that you’ve accurately protected your company, and ensure that all legal paperwork is in order. Having an attorney is also beneficial in that they can also represent your company in the event of a lawsuit.

3.  Insure Your Business

There are business insurance policies available for just about any type of risk your business could be up against. Whether business insurance is mandatory for your industry or not, it is certainly worth the consideration and investment. Reviewing the potential business risks and evaluating the various types of policies can help you make the best decision. Below are some of the more common types of insurance to consider:

·  General liability insurance – General liability insurance is typically purchased as a means for covering any legal issues that result from claims of negligence. Such policies can protect your organization against payouts that result from property damage, physical injuries, damages to property, medical compensation, settlements, and the overall costs of legal fees. This is the most basic form of business insurance. To get the best value, seek out a general liability insurance quote from various providers and then compare rates.

·  Product liability insurance – If you’re in a business that distributes, manufactures, wholesales, or retails a product of any kind you are legally liable for that product’s safety. Having product liability insurance, however will protect your company from any financial loss that resulted from the product being defective or causing physical harm to a client or customer.

·  Professional liability insurance – If your business provides services of any kind, you may want to consider professional liability insurance also referred to as errors and omissions insurance. Such coverage protects your business from errors, negligence in services and malpractice claims.

·  Commercial property insurance – much like homeowner’s insurance, commercial property insurance provides financial coverage in the event that the property is lost or damaged as a result of events such as fire, natural disasters, or vandalism. This does not only cover the physical commercial building, but it also covers anything that may include loss income and interruption in business, and office appliances.

4.  Protect Company & Client Information

As more businesses operate with the use of computers and the internet, the potential risks have increased. Ensuring that you have all the elements in place to protect private and confidential information is beneficial to prevent lawsuits. At the very least, you should have up to date antivirus and security software on all business computers and mobile devices.

In the event that something should go wrong with your network or data, having backup files to refer to is extremely important. Working with an IT support agency is ideal to determining the best methods for backing up your files. It may also be beneficial to store important files offsite (physical files) this way should a fire or natural disaster occur, and your files become damaged, you still have a backup for use.

The bottom line is that business owners have a huge responsibility. Protecting your company against the potential risks of lawsuits should be a top priority. By separating yourself from the business, having a full understanding of the laws as they pertain to your industry, investing in the appropriate insurances, and protecting company and client information, you are one step closer to safeguarding the very thing you’ve worked so hard to accomplish – your business. Don’t wait until something goes wrong to put these protections in place, begin investing in the safety of your business now.

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How to Rock Your Business Blog & Kiss Writer’s Block Goodbye

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Books say writer’s block can be cured by taking a break from writing. But, if time does not cause a broken car to start, how can you expect it to change your inability to write?

Time will not erase writers block. However, you can discover and eliminate the root cause of your problems. It sounds crazy. However, 90% of writing problems are caused when these 4 basic writing steps are completed out of order or misunderstood.

Step One: Determine your target audience.

Think about it. It is hard to give a speech to 200 random people, but much easier to speak with one person. When you are speaking with one person, it is easy because you can tailor the conversation. The same thing applies to writing. Write as if you are speaking to one of your ideal customers and your writer’s block will vanish.

Step Two: Create an outline.

It is easy to get off topic. But, you can prevent this by creating a guide to keep your writing on course. Think of your outline as the GPS keeping your pilot from wasting valuable time. Business blog writers skip this step because they are in a hurry. However, if you skip this step, you will end up starting over a billion times because your writing will have no clear direction. Direct your writing and your writer’s block will become a thing of the pasts.

Step Three: Write.

Your blog articles are not essays. They are conversations on a computer screen. If you are having trouble making your articles conversational, there are a few exercises you can do to loosen up.

Set a 5-minute timer and write fast as you can without worrying about spelling. This will keep you from editing during the writing process.


Cuss, add lewd jokes, and make your writing offensive as possible. Once you remove the foul language, your writing will sound less Shakespearean and more like an everyday conversation. (This technique is great if your sentences are complex or hard to understand).


Use a voice recorder to speak about your writing topic. You can transcribe your conversation the old fashion way or use dragonfly. (This is great for writers who are intimidated by the process).

Writers do a bad job of completing step 3 because they are either afraid of writing garbage or afraid of offending others. If you are afraid of failing, you will start editing your work before it is written, and this will ruin your creativity. If you are afraid of offending others, your message will become difficult to understand. Use the exercises above to alleviate the common writer’s block causes associated with this step.

Step Four: Edit your writing

This is your chance to shave paragraphs down to their bare necessities, remove unnecessary words, and fix grammatical mistakes. Since editing is the most important step to writing, you should spend the most time on this. Writer’s block is not caused by editing. However, it is caused when writers edit before they have finished writing.

To conclude, if you find the root causes of your writer’s block, you can eliminate the problem and create a wonderful business blog. Please, share your writer’s block experiences in the comments below!

How to Rock Your Business Blog & Kiss Writers Block Goodbye

Credit: jjpacres

Books say writers’ block can be cured by taking a break from writing. But, if time does not cause a broken car to start, how can you expect it to change your inability to write?

Time will not erase writers block. However, you can discover and eliminate the root cause of your problems. It sounds crazy. However, 90% of writing problems are caused when these 4 basic writing steps are completed out of order or misunderstood.

Step One: Determine your target audience.

Think about it. It is hard to give a speech to 200 random people, but much easier to speak with one person. When you are speaking with one person, it is easy because you can tailor the conversation. The same thing applies to writing. Write as if you are speaking to one of your ideal customers and your writers’ block will vanish.

Step Two: Create an outline.

It is easy to get off topic. But, you can prevent this by creating a guide to keep your writing on course. Think of your outline as the GPS keeping your pilot from wasting valuable time. Business blog writers skip this step because they are in a hurry. However, if you skip this step, you will end up starting over a billion times because your writing will have no clear direction. Direct your writing and your writer’s block will become a thing of the pasts.

Step Three: Write.

Your blog articles are not essays. They are conversations on a computer screen. If you are having trouble making your articles conversational, there are a few exercises you can do to loosen up.

Set a 5-minute timer and write fast as you can without worrying about spelling. This will keep you from editing during the writing process.


Cuss, add lewd jokes, and make your writing offensive as possible. Once you remove the foul language, your writing will sound less Shakespearean and more like an everyday conversation. (This technique is great if your sentences are complex or hard to understand).


Use a voice recorder to speak about your writing topic. You can transcribe your conversation the old fashion way or use dragonfly. (This is great for writers who are intimidated by the process).

Writers do a bad job of completing step 3 because they are either afraid of writing garbage or afraid of offending others. If you are afraid of failing, you will start editing your work before it is written, and this will ruin your creativity. If you are afraid of offending others, your message will become difficult to understand. Use the exercises above to alleviate the common writers’ block causes associated with this step.

Step Four: Edit your writing

This is your chance to shave paragraphs down to their bare necessities, remove unnecessary words, and fix grammatical mistakes. Since editing is the most important step to writing, you should spend the most time on this. Writers block is not caused by editing. However, it is caused when writers edit before they have finished writing.

To conclude, if you find the root causes of your writers block, you can eliminate the problem and create a wonderful business blog. Please, share your writers block experiences in the comments below!

Subscription Sharing: The New Face of Software Piracy?

Have you ever “borrowed” a friend’s password to access an online service or application — perhaps to watch a popular television show that you don’t have access to? Or maybe you only needed to edit a few photos, so you didn’t want to shell out for the full version of a photo editing application?

While sharing passwords and subscriptions, whether to the local newspaper or an expensive computer application, might seem like it isn’t a very big deal, it’s actually breaking the law. That’s right: In some cases, if you are caught sharing a subscription, you could be charged with a crime and face fines or even jail time. That’s because, in a sense, what you are doing is (technically) a form of software piracy.

Subscription Sharing and Software Piracy

According to a recent survey by the Business Software Alliance, more than 40 percent of the 15,000 people surveyed admitted to sharing their login credentials for paid cloud services with other people in their organizations — and 56 percent of the respondents in that same survey admitted that the practice “isn’t right.” However, many people claim that they share credentials as a cost-saving measure; after all, it’s less expensive to purchase one license for several people to share than it is to purchase access for everyone. Users argue that since most applications allow simultaneous logins from multiple devices, it shouldn’t matter to developers who the actual user logging in is.

In a sense, the BSA agrees. The president of the BSA, upon the release of the survey results, noted that sharing login credentials to paid services doesn’t technically constitute piracy per se, but it does potentially represent a violation of the terms of service governing the use of the application and lead to license abuse. However, others have criticized the BSA’s stance, noting that login credential sharing is in fact a clear violation of service agreements, even if the application allows for multiple simultaneous logins. It’s also a violation of the law.

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) considers unauthorized access of protected information from a computer to be a crime, and that particular clause has been used in the prosecution of several high-profile hackers. According to CFAA, even if someone is using another person’s login credentials with permission, because such an act violates most terms of service contracts, that access is unauthorized and therefore illegal.

Even so, it doesn’t seem to be stopping most people, and many major companies that offer content and services via the cloud aren’t overly concerned about login sharing in general. In fact, some argue that using the cloud will actually reduce software piracy, since it’s virtually impossible to make and sell illegal copies of software that runs in the cloud. Still, the BSA has raised some concern about “gray clouds,” in which an individual or organization establishes a private cloud to run certain applications and sells access illegally, constituting a form of piracy. However, gray clouds are exceedingly rare, given the relative scarcity of private clouds.

Preventing License Abuse and Login Piracy

Because there is some legitimate concern about the issue of login sharing and piracy, some developers have begun taking steps toward curbing the problem. The most obvious solution would appear to be limiting simultaneous logins; if only one person can log in at a time, the chances of excessive credential sharing go down significantly. Many companies are reluctant to do this, though, since customers expect to be able to access cloud-based applications from multiple devices, and restricting access could lead to lost market share.

Instead, developers are turning to other forms of technology to curb subscription sharing. Some have turned to encryption solutions, which only allow the software to run on devices where the encryption key (either hardware or software based) is present. Two-factor authentication is also becoming a popular solution for restricting multiple users. Continuous monitoring of usage patterns, log in attempts, and IP addresses also help developers identify license abuse and take steps toward ensuring they receive compensation for their products.

With more applications moving away from physical products and into the cloud, the issue of subscription sharing — particularly the legal and ethical implications of sharing credentials — will most likely move to the forefront in the battle against software piracy. In the meantime, businesses are advised to review the terms of service of any cloud-based services, and respond appropriately to any credential-sharing violations.

What Do You Need to Start Your Own Business?

Credit: Rain Rabbit

People start new businesses for a plethora of reasons – they see a gap in the market, they have a skill they want to share, or they spend their days inside a grey cubicle daydreaming and looking up articles like this one (hi guys!). The reasons for starting your own business can be romantic, or practical, or born from a need, but they all have the same needs. Here are some things you should consider before starting your own business:

How will you get paid?

One of the main reasons that people avoid taking the plunge into a rewarding career of self-employment is that they’re scared it’s financially risky. Sure your cubicle is grey, and Silvia from accounting keeps stealing your tuna sandwiches, but the money is stable and the hours are regular. Starting your own business, especially in the initial stages, can require long hours and you may have to run at a loss for some time. Sure you need to answer the question of how you can afford start up capital, but you also need to answer if you can eat. Run the numbers to see if you need to keep that cubicle job for a bit longer, maybe you could even investigate moving down to part time.

How thick is my skin?

If you’re starting a business you are your number one critic and cheerleader. It’s an interesting dynamic, but one that you have to maintain. You’ll have to deal with external criticisms and pick yourself up time and time again. Can you be your own cheerleader? Can you create a stable support network? And put simply, do you have (or can you grow) a thick skin to deal with the challenges awaiting you?

Can I defend my idea?

One of the greatest exercises when you need to make an argument is to let someone read your idea, and then ask them to tear it apart. Get them to be brutal! If you can’t defend your idea to your friend or loved one, how can you expect to defend it to the masses? The worst case scenario is that you find holes in your business idea and you head back to the drawing board to plug them, best case scenario is that you have questions thrown at you that you hadn’t yet considered.

Do I have a business goal and a business plan?

Imagine hopping off the plane and getting into a cab. The driver turns around and asks “where would you like to go?” If you respond with “well I’m thinking somewhere sunny, where I can make money, and I like the colour red” you’re going to spend a silly amount of time and money being driven around the city. It’s the same with your business – you need to have a really clear idea of where you want your business to go (your business goals), and how you’re going to get there (your business plan).

An easy way to work this is from the top down, so outline some clear, measurable goals and then work out the the business plan to achieve those goals. If this exercise results in a business plan that is unachievable or even too easy, you may need to tweak your goals.

How will people find me?

Customers are your number one concern when starting a business. If you don’t have a customers, you don’t have a business. If would-be customers can’t find you, they never even get the chance to become customers. While there are innovative ways to market to and reach your audience, a website and phone number are essential for any business – especially a new one! There are a range of website hosts ranging from affordable to tailored, and for toll free numbers visit Zintel.

How to Succeed When You’re Starting a New Business

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When you’re thinking about starting a new business it can be hard sometimes not to get totally carried away with the whole thing. It’s a very exciting time in your life if you’re thinking about taking the plunge and starting to work for yourself, but before you get too carried away with imagining your success and you huge customer and fan base, it’s important to think about a few things that might just make the whole journey that tiny little bit easier to navigate when it all comes down to it.

Make sure you know why you’re starting your business up in the first place. Taking the step to become a small business owner is a pretty big step in and of itself, and it’s certainly not going to be something that everyone is going to want to do. It takes a certain kind of person to work those sort of hours and to take on that kind of possible stress – and it’s never usually going to be a walk in the park. That’s why when you think about starting a new business you need to consider why exactly you are taking this endeavour on, and what you stand to gain.Of course, there are huge advantages over working for someone else: you can control your own destiny, the harder you work the luckier you get – you can earn more than you would as an employee in the same position and you have the freedom to run the business exactly as you choose to. That said, you also need to know that there are some seriously long hours that you’re going to be putting into the business, and you’ll need to be prepared emotionally, physically and mentally for the possible challenges that are going to lie ahead.


Know who your customers are going to be. If you go into the business knowing what your product is but aren’t sure who is going to be buying it, then how are you going to know who to market your product towards? Too much ambiguity about who the product is for will mean that your prospective buyers may become confused and not understand your brand. Do you know who your ideal customer is? Do you know what they want and why they want it? If you’re clear about who you’re selling to then you will be able to learn as much as possible about them and then sell to them!


Know who your competition is and target the gaps in the market. If you know how to target the gaps in the market you’ll be able to choose what benefits of your product you push the hardest. The best way to make some serious money is to look at what your competition is offering, and then target whatever it is that your competitors aren’t offering at the time. You need to work out how to be different.


Work out how much of the actual grunt work you’re going to want to do yourself, and then figure out how much you want to outsource. Amcom offer IT managed services which can be a great option for people who have a lot of different things that they need to do every day. It can be an option for some people who need to manage their time in the best possible way.

Check out part two of this two-part series on how you can be well prepared for anything that the business world may throw at you, and make sure that you follow along carefully to make sure you don’t miss anything!

Business Blinds on a Budget: How Your Company Doesn’t Have To Spend the Earth

Once upon a time, most companies had very similar sets of blinds donning their windows. Back then, the choices were limited and this meant that all the windows in the world were treated consistently – if nothing else.

However, the industry has taken giant leaps over the last few years. We’re now presented with everything from blinds which can be controlled by a motorized system, right the way to ones which block out UV rays but still allow natural light to flow into a room. Such inventions are bordering on the ingenious, but at the same time it goes without saying that they can dent your budget. For small businesses in particular, these options just aren’t affordable during the start-up period.

Fortunately, the blinds industry has also developed umpteen budget options. These aren’t the “cheap looking” products that were once taking up shelf space though, these are products which might not boast all of the advantages of some of the more advanced solutions but can still benefit your office space immensely.

We’ll start with those companies that want to please potential clients or customers; whether they are a web design firm, an architect’s office or anything else which sees lots of different people enter the vicinity. These people need to be impressed, not just by your work – but also your surroundings. Seeing cheap furnishings, poor-looking window treatments and everything else just doesn’t create a positive impression and before you have entered negotiations into your project, their mind is probably made up.

Unfortunately, natural materials cost the earth to pin up around your windows. Covering your openings with umpteen sets of wood blinds might appear to be the definition of sophistication, but it will also smash your budget out of the window (pardon the pun).

It’s in these cases where faux materials are coming to the rescue. Wood is the main material of choice here and if you do opt for the synthetic version, you really are losing out on few of the main advantages that the “real thing” contains. Some people might be able to spot the difference if they look closely, but on the whole, faux wood blinds perform even better than real wood, and look almost identical.

It’s not just going to be appearances where your business can benefit on a budget though. Let’s not forget that even your cheapest set of vertical blinds can be operated to allow varied amounts of light through; in a bid to control both the natural light and the temperature in the room. These blinds can be picked up for next to nothing and while they aren’t quite as beneficial as some of the newer technologies that have entered the picture over recent years, they are still much more effective than curtains or having no window treatment at all.

To reiterate; blinds don’t have to cost a small fortune – even for commercial enterprises. A lot of the hype at the moment might be based on the “new styles”, but don’t forget that a lot of the older and simpler products still perform the basic tasks that can save your business money, and allow it to thrive in stylish surroundings.

The New Normal in Networking Technology

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Recent technological innovations have changed the face of computing. Users routinely access software, servers, their desktops, and data in the cloud. Software-defined networking solutions are changing the networking side of the equation. IT administrators are increasingly turning to software-defined networking (SDN) to configure their networks, increase agility, improve performance, and reduce costs.

According to Aryaka, SDN is often described as “network architecture with roots in the data center where Layer 2 technologies dominate.” However, addressing the datacenter alone only solves one part of the problem. With global networks, in order to realize the full benefits of SDN, programmability must extend across the WAN.

This thought is backed up by an article featured on IT World Canada, Prepare for the Reinvented Network. SDN essentially separates the data and control layers and removes them from the router. Various network functions such as intrusion detection and network address translation are removed from appliances and handled using software. However, because most business processes are not limited to the datacenter and must transverse the WAN, the WAN has the potential to become a weak link.

Thus, software-defined networking needs to extend beyond the datacenter and address the larger issues associated with global networks. This new normal in networking technology is starting to get noticed by CEO’s and entrepreneurs alike. They are continuing to invest in their network infrastructure to ensure optimal performance of their SDN to improve their networks. SDN and cloud-computing issues are similar to those previously solved by content delivery networks (CDNs) in the past.

For example, CDNs cache content around the world so that content can be delivered more efficiently to users. These local caches reduce global network traffic across expensive wide area networks and improve performance. A truly global network is optimized for WAN performance. Users connect to the closest Point of Presence (POP) using a standard IPSEC VPN device and gain immediate access to a fully optimized WAN.

Networking is currently being reinvented with many IT administrators adopting software-defined networking solutions. While improvements in the datacenter are crucial, the entire WAN as a whole should not be overlooked. Global networks by vendors such as Aryaka take SDN concepts and applies them to the WAN, solving the problem with WANs becoming the weakest link in software-defined networking.

Works Cited:

IT World Canada, “Prepare for the ‘reinvented’ network,” – http://www.itworldcanada.com/article/prepare-for-the-reinvented-network/100994


Aryaka, “Why SDN concepts need to extend into the WAN,” – http://www.aryaka.com/why-sdn-concepts-need-to-extend-into-the-wan/

Entrepreneur Profile: Eyeglass Repair USA

Credit: Mal Booth

The histories of the modern world’s most successful businesses are rich with examples of companies who shifted their business model into different offerings to respond to changing market forces. A company that debuted on the NASDAQ with a billion dollar IPO in 2011 famously employed a massively successful business pivot in 2008 when changing their focus from consumer activism to commerce, and their name from “The Point” to “Groupon”. Although most business pivots are much smaller in scope, they still have the potential to generate significant new revenue streams and take the company down a path not envisioned during its infancy.

Today we are speaking with Margarette Elie, owner of Elie Design, a jewelry store in Yelm, Washington. Elie Design has been in business since 1989, offering high-end designer jewelry and watches. In 2002, they began offering eyeglass repair as part of their service offerings, and today are one of the largest nationwide providers of mail-in eyeglass repair services. You can visit the home of her successful “pivot” online at www.eyeglassrepairusa.com .

Margarette was kind enough to shed some light on the pivot her business took, including some of the roadblocks she faced and overcame, as well as her plans to continue growth.

The Elie Design jewelry store has been open since 1989, but the eyeglasses repair portion of your business was just established in 2002. What led to your store making the “pivot” into glasses repair?

In 2002, we acquired a laser welding machine for the store. With the amount of jewelry repair and design work we do, having this type of high-end machinery was important. The laser welder operates at low temperatures by concentrating a focused beam on a singular point, which prevents heating of the surrounding alloys. This is extremely important when working with most precious metals as traditional torch-welding leads to oxidation which causes the metal to become brittle and weak.

At that time, we already were doing a small number of eyeglasses repairs for existing clients. Especially when working with frames built from materials such as titanium, a laser welder is really the only way to repair a broken hinge or frame. We quickly saw the opportunity in the market to begin offering eyeglasses repair as a major service offering.

When you began repairing eyeglasses, was it only a service for local customers? At what point did you recognize the opportunity for targeting “mail-in” eyeglass repair through the internet and expanding your reach nationally?

Initially, we put a little more emphasis on targeting customers in the Greater Puget Sound area near our store, offering a “repair while you wait” service that we highlighted on our first website. However, from the outset, we’ve primarily viewed this service as one with a nationwide customer base we’re looking to target.

When was the website developed?

I believe we first launched our original glasses repair website in 2002 or 2003, using the domain Laser-Fix.com. That site is still active today, but largely unmaintained. The site went through a number of evolutions between then and now, then in 2013 we re-launched our online platform at www.eyeglassrepairusa.com. The current site is designed to be a bit more consumer-friendly, and features an integrating shopping cart online for immediate payment processing.

What have been the biggest challenges for you as the Eyeglass Repair business model has grown to one that is much larger in scope and targeting a bigger market?

For us, scaling up the volume of repairs has been absolutely no issue with respect to fulfilling the actual repair work. The difficulties for us have mainly been growing pains associated with all of the processing work that comes along with an increasing volume of orders. Handling the invoicing, order processing and tracking, and shipping/logistics requires a lot of work.

Launching the new site was a big step as it has enabled us to offering payment processing online. Until then, customers send in a printed authorization form with their glasses, at which point we would manually key in all the credit card information into our terminal at the store. Enabling online payments is more secure on our HTTPS connection and also saves us a lot of time.

The other big change we’ve made was enlisted the services of a company called ShipStation that specializes in eCommerce fulfillment. Through their platform, our logistics have become much more streamlined, and we are also now saving money through discounted rates with the U.S. Postal Service.

Any strange or especially unique repair requests you have received from customers?

Occasionally, we’ll receive some really exotic frames from our customers. We once received a pair of custom frames made by Cazal that were fully covered with Rhinestones. As part of the repair, over 500 individual stones had to be replaced. Thankfully, being a jewelry designer and repair company, this was a request we were uniquely qualified to accommodate. Being able to offer a high level of craftsmanship is really important in glasses repair, as the consumer who is most interested in repairing (vs. replacing) a set of broken frames usually owns fairly expensive designer frames.

Where do you see Eyeglass Repair USA going in the next 5 years?

Our immediate priority is modifying our existing website to be fully responsive for mobile and tablet devices. Recent analytics data shows that nearly 50% of the visitors to our site are now using phones or tablets. Being able to fully accommodate mobile users is critical to our future growth and expansion.

More long-term, we are looking to further solidify our positioning as the industry leader in mail-in glasses repair. With our experience in both glasses and high-end jewelry repair, we feel that we are uniquely qualified to fulfill eyeglass repair requests with the highest attention to detail and overall quality in the marketplace.

Thanks for your time today Margarette!