A person was telling me how he just signed up for this in-store credit card and how he got such an awesome deal. Basically, anyone who signed up got this free small portable radio player of some sort that was the size of a cell phone it seemed. To him he basically got like $30 for free.

The funny thing was I passed by a store not too long after and was surprised that I saw that exact same player for sale. Wouldn’t you know it, the price was $1 and there was a stack of them. And no, I didn’t end up telling him that.

You always have to think too as if the guy is willing to throw in all these little items for free just how much are they really worth? Buying a cell phone is a great example as many times dealers say they throw in all these phone holders and extra goodies that are worth over $50 yet you can probably find them in places like dollar stores as well.

Seminars and workshops are the most prolific examples too I’d say as companies often clamor that just for attending you get these high valued items for free. Similarly, they are probably only worth few dollars in the market.

For blog updates subscribe to our RSS feed.

A person was telling me about a radio show she was listening to today. One of the topic apparently dealt with a police officer who was a regular visitor to a particular Starbucks and he would always receive free coffee. One day there was a management change and the store decided to not give the person free coffee anymore.

As a result, the police officer apparently told the manager not to expect him and his team to come right away if they call for help. This then generated a conversation between us about whether or not one thinks that was a bad business decision as it probably costs the company barely anything anyways as an extra guarantee you will be on the person’s good side when you need their services to make sure they will do a good job.

I was inclined to think that this wasn’t even a business issue as opposed to an ethics one. This type of issue is actually very common the more I thought about it. Example, for various services if people don’t feel that you tipped them to their standards then next time they will simply give a below standard effort. Doesn’t really make too much sense when you think about. I can see not wanting to work/perform above what is expected though as that would be in-line with what the other person is offering.

For blog updates subscribe to our RSS feed.

I was reading an article today about that recent power outage in downtown and how small businesses in the area have lost tens of thousands of dollars as a result of it. A lot of business owners are seeking for some type of compensation as a result of this and it appears that it is going to be a no go.

While in many ways I can see why it would seem like the right thing to do, at the same time I think this incident is a little too on the unexpected disaster side to warrant it in a demanding way. For example, there is a difference in my view if some guy accidentally spilled his drink over the controls which caused a shutdown as I would believe things like that you should be compensated for.

Sometimes you just have to learn to adapt on your own without always expecting others to be obligated in pulling you out of a financial predicament.

For blog updates subscribe to our RSS feed.

I received a phone call today from a gentlemen that wanted to have a slideshow created for his wedding and unfortunately he has not had much luck in doing so. He expressed to me that everyone either only did it if you agreed to buy these very expensive wedding packages or that it was too complicated for the people he asked.

The funny thing too was that I personally don’t specialize in wedding slideshows per say, but I know from a technical point of view it is the same thing from other things that I have done that require a similar skill set. As a result, the person mentioned that he really wanted to hire me to do it for him.

Should make you think too where if you are trying to maximize your potential in terms of acquiring business that you don’t necessarily need to limit yourself to a specific category. While staying in a particular niche can be good in its own right, the options are there to branch out if you desire to expand your offerings.

For blog updates subscribe to our RSS feed.

I guess all the locals that live here are quite aware of the massive power outage in Downtown Vancouver. For those who are unaware, yesterday morning there was an underground fire/explosion that caused a power outage to a large part of the downtown area. I captured a screenshot from the BC Hydro site which shows how large of an area this affected.

Till this moment, the power is still out. It was interesting to see how businesses responded to this incident. While most people were just sent home by their employers since there is no power, some people actually gave their staff glow sticks to continue working.

I was talking to some people that I knew too and it was kind of neat how due to the nature of their business they were able to still run everything with only their Blackberry as to their customers there was no effect.

From the news reports I saw traffic was a nightmare as the lights were out and people did not have a clue on how to conduct a four way stop procedure. I’m kind of surprised at how long this is taking too as either the damages are that extreme or we simply aren’t very prepared for happenings like this.

For blog updates subscribe to our RSS feed.