Optimism, Opportunity Unite Women Owned Businesses at Dell India 2012 Event - Businessweek

New study points to India as fertile business environment for female entrepreneurs

Tweet this: India-based women entrepreneurs expect 90 percent business growth in next 5 years according to new Dell study #DWEN http://dell.to/LgoEDm

NEW DELHI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May. 31, 2012-- According to a new study commissioned by Dell, the ideal country to be in if you’re a woman starting a business in 2012 could well be India, the location of its upcoming Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) event taking place in New Delhi, June 17-19, 2012.

At the event, Dell will be releasing the results of its Women’s Global Entrepreneurship Study, examining indicators of business confidence among women entrepreneurs in different countries, along with their motivations, financing options and sources of support.

Early results show tremendous optimism on the part of women entrepreneurs in India. When asked about expectations for business growth, women entrepreneurs in India anticipate an average of 90 percent growth over the next five years. When you consider that India has a projected GDP growth rate of 8.2 percent in 2011-2012, according to the Indian Economic Outlook Report, women entrepreneurs in India have good reason to be feeling bullish.

Previous DWEN events in Shanghai (2010) and Rio de Janeiro (2011) brought together female global entrepreneurs to share best practices, build business opportunities and celebrate female influence in the global economy. Together, DWEN members and Dell chose India for this exclusive event because of its role as one of the largest emerging markets, as well as its influence on the world of technology.

Host Moira Forbes, publisher of Forbes Woman, will lead the two-day event around the theme “Innovation through Collaboration.” The agenda is structured as an exchange of ideas between female founders, CEOs, innovative leaders, business icons, experts and thought leaders who run businesses in top markets. With speakers representing Canada, the United States, Brazil, China, Japan, Australia, India, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network will address topics such as doing business in India, social entrepreneurship and strategic giving, sustainability, customer engagement, social media strategy, going global, and more. Speakers include:

Susan Feldman, Co-founder and Chief Merchandising Officer, One Kings Lane Carley Roney, Co-founder and Editor in Chief, XO Group, Inc. Lola Ogunnaike, Today Show Contributor Martina Sandrock, General Manager, Iglo GmbH Jane Silber, CEO, Canonical Carolyn S. Miles, President and CEO, Save the Children Shoba Purushothaman, Founder, Training Ventures Ltd. & Founder, The NewsMarket Aishwarya and Amruda Nair of The Leela Group Kay Koplovitz, Chairman & CEO, Koplovitz & Co., Chairman, Springboard Enterprises Frédérique Clavel, President, Fédération Pionnières Tara Hunt, CEO and Co-founder, Buyosphere Sarah Prevette, Founder, Sprouter and BetaKit Danae Ringelmann, Co-founder, IndieGoGo Ameera Shah, Managing Director and CEO, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd. Lakshmi Pratury, Host and Curator, The INK Conference Michele Caminos, Managing Vice President, Gartner Terri McCullough, Executive Director, Tory Burch Foundation

“Women are playing increasingly important roles in leadership and we’re seeing some of the most exciting global growth coming from female-led companies,” said Forbes. “I recently traveled to Asia for the inaugural Forbes Forum: Asia’s Power Business Women and saw first-hand how the region’s female business leaders and entrepreneurs are changing the face of business and India is at the forefront of this phenomenon.”

Dell Women’s Global Entrepreneurship Study, Key Findings:

The agenda for the event will be supported by data uncovered as part of the Dell Women’s Global Entrepreneurship Study, which highlights positive growth trends for female entrepreneurs in India including:

Business is Booming: 71 percent of female entrepreneurs in India say their business is very successful, and eight in 10 female entrepreneurs in India say they are hiring. Opportunity for Technology: 74 percent of female entrepreneurs in India say their technology needs are getting more complex. Don’t Quit Your Day Job: 90 percent of female entrepreneurs in India started their business while maintaining their day job. Positive Social Impact is Important: 85 percent of female entrepreneurs in India believe it is very important that their business has a positive social impact.

“Dell recognizes how critical entrepreneurs are to global economic recovery and job creation and our commitment to their growth goes well beyond the products and solutions we sell,” Karen Quintos, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Dell Inc. “The Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network celebrates the unique perspective and approach that women bring to business—and reinforces the role of technology in enabling these women to reach new markets, expand their companies and provide value to their customers.”

Women leaders are invited to join in the conversation and share who and what inspires and motivates them as entrepreneurs and leaders via the Women Powering Business Network group on LinkedIn.

DWEN is supported by Endeavor, Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneurial Winning Women and the Kauffman Foundation. Content about the event can be found on Twitter via @DellBizWomen and by following #dwen.

About Dell

As the visionary outcome of a true entrepreneur, Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) is committed to help power the success of entrepreneurs by developing technology solutions that help their businesses increase productivity and grow. Through the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network, Dell supports and nurtures the community of female entrepreneurs by helping provide access to knowledge, networks, and capital. Learn more at www.dell.com/women.

Dell is a trademark of Dell Inc. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50293984&lang=en

Source: Dell Inc.

Dell Inc.
Kara Krautter, 512-724-0928
Kara_Krautter@Dell.com
or
WPP Team Dell
Jillian Fisher, 415-336-8641
Jillian.Fisher@WPPTeamDell.com

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In China, Expats Find Job Opportunities Are Scant - Businessweek

Joe Phillips seemed like an ideal candidate to make it in China. Half-Chinese, with a bachelor’s degree in East Asian studies, business experience, $20,000 in savings, and an affable disposition, he set off for Beijing with a friend from Seattle in the fall of 2010 to start a company that would bring microbrews from the Pacific Northwest to the largest beer market in the world. “The land of milk and honey was calling,” he says.

A year later, the milk had curdled. The cost of getting a foreign-owned business approved in China turned out to be much higher than he’d expected. He ran into bureaucracy at every step, from obscure customs forms to opaque transport regulations. And after expressing initial enthusiasm, bar and restaurant owners stopped returning his calls. “It fizzled out,” says Phillips, who returned to the U.S. broke. “Any entrepreneur that thinks they’re just going to go to China and start a small business—that’s crazy.”

As its economy grew over the last couple of decades, China developed a reputation as a place where foreigners could launch a business or career, perhaps even faster than at home. A few have. As 24-year-old American expat Jonathan Levine wrote in an optimistic New York Times Op-Ed earlier this year, “China wants you. Job prospects are abundant.” Stuck doing public relations in Connecticut after graduation, Levine blasted out his résumé to schools around the world and landed a plum gig teaching American culture and English at Tsinghua University in Beijing, known as China’s MIT. Such stories confirm the narrative many Americans are telling themselves despite reports of a Chinese slowdown: Our ship is leaking while China’s is steaming ahead. And so parents enroll their kindergartners in Mandarin, study-abroad programs flourish, and nimble young graduates like Levine seek their fortune in China.

As in any gold rush, few strike gold. “There’s this perception that China is a land of opportunity where any foreigner can succeed, which is not really true,” says Michael Thorneman, partner and head of China operations for Bain & Co., which advises numerous multinationals on hiring decisions. “They don’t necessarily want us here,” says Mathew Alderson, a Beijing-based lawyer for international law firm Harris & Moure. “America is a nation built on migrants, but China can’t say the same.”

If you’re a recent graduate but don’t want to teach English, well-paying jobs that’ll advance you professionally don’t abound. And in lucrative sectors such as banking, private equity, and management consulting, it’s becoming harder for an American to find good work.

For the lucky few who do, the bureaucratic roadblocks can be comical: The Chinese government has recently imposed a 50 percent “social benefits tax” on all foreigners, though it hasn’t clarified how the tax should be paid. One foreigner went to the Beijing tax office to pay, only to be met with bemusement from the officers on duty. (He refused to be named for fear of offending the government and having it negatively affect his business.) Getting the proper visa can be a tortuous process, and Beijing police have recently launched a crackdown on foreigners working illegally, requiring expats to carry passports, visas, and resident permits at all times or risk deportation.

Given the choice between a Westerner with decent Mandarin and an educated, English-speaking local applicant, companies will favor the Chinese. “We almost only recruit PRC nationals or Chinese speakers,” says Thorneman. Those candidates—bright Harvard- and Wharton-educated returnees—are multiplying. In 1995 fewer than 24,000 Chinese students went abroad for education, according to EIC Group China, a provider of educational services. By 2010 that number had risen to 285,000. Not only are Chinese-born prospects more abundant and better suited to the environment, they’re also cheaper. Hiring a foreigner from a developed country to work in China costs 50 percent to 200 percent more than a local hire, according to a 2011 study by human resources consulting firm Aon Hewitt (AON).

Multinationals still need foreigners, Thorneman says, but the available jobs are mostly mid- to senior-level. Even the top ones are becoming more local, with only 6 percent of multinational executive positions in Asia going to candidates from outside Asia, according to the Wall Street Journal. As for Chinese companies, plenty seek English speakers to interact with clients overseas or Caucasian faces to parade before investors. But foreigners in Chinese organizations might encounter resistance. When working at a top Chinese private equity firm, where he helped raise almost $2 billion in capital, Mattan Lurie had a prospective investment target ask to be introduced to his Chinese colleagues. “My reaction was, Screw you, why do you need to deal with someone who’s the same race as you?” says Lurie. “But that’s the way it is.”

China’s famously ceremonial business culture presents another set of challenges, from knowing where to sit at a banquet to maintaining control after the 18th glass of baijiu, a liquor distilled from sorghum that goes down like lighter fluid and is a key ritual in many deals. In Mr. China: A Memoir, Tim Clissold describes touring China with investor Jack Perkowski. After days of stress, greasy banquet food, and stabbing hangovers, Clissold eventually suffered a heart attack. Dinner often gives way to karaoke. Alistair Nicholas, president of AC Capital Strategic Consulting and author of Off the Record, a blog about doing business in China, argues that foreigners shouldn’t feel obligated to get tanked and belt out Bon Jovi: “[I]t is precisely when you ignore your own culture and principles that you risk losing face or risk your Chinese partners thinking you are so weak you can easily be taken advantage of.”

Succeeding in China often means getting ripped off. Rovio Entertainment, the creator of Angry Birds, ended up negotiating with the makers of pirated plush toys, giving them in-game ad space in exchange for licensing fees. Pilfering isn’t limited to the tech sector, either. Last year, Kro’s Nest, a Beijing pizzeria known for its American-style pies, rolled out a 28-inch pizza called the Monster. “In the last couple months,” says Martin Handley, the chain’s vice president of operations, “I have seen six or eight other places offering the 28-inch pizza.”

The key for any newcomer is to offer a unique skill. For Perkowski, the Pittsburgh-born investor who famously left Wall Street for China in the 1990s, that skill was raising ungodly amounts of cash, to the tune of $400 million. “I was able to do what I did because capital was short,” he says. Nowadays, with capital flowing into China from American and Chinese investors alike, a newcomer’s edge will more likely be technical, like knowing how to engineer a semiconductor or design a building.

Mandarin can count as a skill, but the bar is high. After studying the language for four years in college, a bright American will still talk like a precocious eight-year-old, whereas Chinese students start learning English as eight-year-olds. There are 5,000 times as many Chinese primary and secondary school students studying English as American students learning Mandarin, according to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. One possible reason: The time it takes to achieve Mandarin fluency could be spent learning a profession—law, say, or molecular robotics—that would serve as a better pretext for living in China than knowing the language.

Even if you have a marketable skill and speak perfect Mandarin, nothing is guaranteed. Lurie first moved to China in 2003 to study Mandarin, returned in 2005 after getting his MBA at the University of California at Los Angeles, and signed up with a top China private equity firm. In 2008 he was asked to leave and was replaced with a native Chinese. It was a matter of supply and demand, he says: “There was a time people had to be convinced to invest in China. Now people are lining up to give them money. So my value decreased.”

What advice would Lurie give recent college grads considering a move to China for work? “Don’t,” he says. “Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t.”

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Google Void Seen as Opportunity for China Mobile App Store: Tech - Businessweek

Google Inc. (GOOG) (GOOG)’s Android operating system runs two-thirds of the smartphones sold in China yet the company’s online app store, Google Play, isn’t open for business there because of censorship concerns. That’s creating an opportunity for China Mobile Ltd. (941)

The world’s biggest phone company by subscribers opened its Mobile Market store for Android apps in 2009, and it now has 158 million registered users. Customers have downloaded more than 630 million apps, making Mobile Market the world’s largest carrier-operated app store, said Jack Kent of IHS Screen Digest.

The success of Mobile Market comes at a welcome juncture for the wireless giant, fueling revenue growth as its core business matures. China Mobile competes with Apple Inc. (AAPL) (AAPL)’s App Store in a nation where Analysys International said mobile applications and services are set to jump 80 percent to 220 billion yuan ($35 billion) this year as cheaper smartphones make surfing the Web more affordable.

“Without having to compete with the official Google store, China Mobile has an opportunity that operators in other countries don’t have,” said Kent, a London-based analyst. “China Mobile’s relationship with subscribers leaves it well- placed to take advantage.”

The carrier’s data services business, including Mobile Market, jumped 15 percent last year to 139.3 billion yuan, compared with an 8.8 percent growth in total sales.

China Mobile shares fell 0.8 percent to HK$81.90 in Hong Kong trading today, trimming the gains this year to 7.9 percent.

Shipments of smartphones in China are projected to jump 52 percent this year to 137 million units, overtaking the U.S. for the first time as the world’s biggest market, according to a March estimate from market researcher IDC.

Phones running Android accounted for 68 percent of sales in the fourth quarter, while Apple’s iPhone made up 5.7 percent, according to Beijing-based Analysys International. Apple’s online store generated about $2.9 billion in global app sales last year, compared with about $618 million for Google, Kent estimated.

“The reason we care about this business is that it can help drive or promote our other businesses,” China Mobile’s Chief Executive Officer Li Yue said in a May 16 interview. “If a developer makes a very good app, then it will help boost traffic on our network and help our growth that way.”

All Web content in China is censored, and that control extends to online stores selling apps, games and e-books. Both Mobile Market and Apple’s Chinese-language store, which takes payment in local currency, abide by government censorship restrictions and don’t offer apps to access the blocked websites of Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and YouTube Inc.

Google said in January 2010 it was no longer willing to self-censor content for Chinese services, so it shuttered its local search page and redirected users to a Hong Kong site. Taj Meadows, a Tokyo-based spokesman for Google, declined to comment on why Google Play was unavailable in China. The store has more than 450,000 apps and games, the company said in March.

China Mobile’s store has 68,663 apps, compared with 560,957 for Apple, said Sun Peilin, a researcher at Analysys International. Mobile Market’s offerings include Instagram Inc.’s photo-sharing and editing software, and Rovio Entertainment Oy’s Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Space.

China Mobile’s sales from applications and information services grew 12 percent to 48.4 billion yuan last year, accounting for 9.2 percent of total sales and overtaking text messages as the company’s biggest source of data revenue.

That total includes 22 billion yuan from mobile music, 1.5 billion yuan from mobile e-mail services, 627 million yuan from e-books and 571 million yuan from mobile videos, according to the company’s annual report.

Mobile Market has become the world’s largest Chinese- language application software platform, Li said.

Sales from the Mobile Market last year were about 23 million yuan, though the traffic generated by app downloads among China Mobile’s 667.2 million mobile-phone subscribers is more important to the carrier, Li said.

China Mobile is forecast to post its third straight year of sales growth after reporting revenue gains of at least 10 percent from the time of its 1997 Hong Kong listing through 2009. Sales growth may slow to 7 percent this year, according to the average of 31 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

China Mobile isn’t the only local company looking to fill the Google gap for Android apps. Analysys International tracks 13 major app stores in China, including from carriers China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. (762) and China Telecom Corp. (728), and device makers including Lenovo Group Ltd. (992)

“We see a lot of competition in the app store space in China,” said Lisa Soh, a Hong Kong-based analyst with Macquarie Group Ltd. “The competition in app platforms is likely to mean it will be more difficult to monetize.”

One thing that may help China Mobile generate sales is that it offers the highest percentage of paid apps versus free apps among all stores in China, Sun said. Mobile Market charges for 91 percent of its apps, while China Unicom charges for 77 percent and Apple’s for 48 percent.

Many games in China Mobile’s shop are offered in local currency prices that range from the equivalent of 50 cents to $1.50.

“A couple of years ago, everyone began to realize how huge Apple’s App store was becoming and wanted into that market,” said Neil Juggins, a Hong Kong-based analyst at JI Asia Research Ltd.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Edmond Lococo in Beijing at elococo@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net

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This American Lie: Turning Crisis into Opportunity - Businessweek

Earlier this month, the public radio program “This American Life” made headlines when it retracted an episode of its hour-long show. In doing so, it revealed how a healthy dose of transparency can transform crisis into opportunity.

jplcreative.com. Added by Susan Cort on March 28, 2012

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Cathay's Slosar Sees Growth Opportunity in Asia - Businessweek

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (293) Chief Executive Officer John Slosar talks about the company's financial results and business outlook.

Cathay, Asia’s biggest international airline, yesterday was the biggest decliner in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index after predicting a "challenging" year and suffering a 63 percent drop in second-half profit. Slosar speaks with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)

Running time 06:20

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Twitter Startup Seppuku Gives Way to a Less-Ironic Actual Business: Tech - Businessweek

Ted Tobiason, Deutsche Bank AG (DBK)’s head of equity capital markets for the technology industry, is doing something that would get most investment bankers fired: tweeting about work.

Tobiason is the only investment banker authorized by the German firm to have a business-related account on Twitter Inc.’s website, Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its March 5 issue. While he’s no Ashton Kutcher, who has 9.6 million followers, Tobiason has attracted more than 100, including executives at Silicon Valley startups. His first tweet, in January, predicted that there would be more than 40 initial public offerings by technology companies this year.

“I want venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to know that our bankers love technology, that we are evangelists and not mercenaries,” said Tobiason, 43, who is based in San Francisco. “Tweeting is a way to show that we are part of the game and that we understand the changes in technology and we are using them.”

With his @TedTobiasonDB account, he’s trying to reach more potential clients after Deutsche Bank climbed to second place behind Morgan Stanley last year in Bloomberg’s global ranking of underwriters for technology IPOs, from the fourth spot in 2010. He is a rare bird on Wall Street. Investment banks tend to use social media for marketing and recruiting purposes only.

Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Barclays Plc (BARC), and Bank of America Corp. (BAC), the banks Facebook Inc. (FB) chose to underwrite its $5 billion IPO, ban investment bankers from using Facebook, Twitter and other social media on their work computers. One reason: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires banks to monitor and archive employee communications, and doing so on third-party platforms such as Twitter and Facebook is much harder than on corporate e- mail programs.

Banks sometimes permit financial advisers to have business accounts, and investment bankers can have personal social-media accounts. Those advising technology companies have found ways to use clients’ products to build professional relationships without violating their firms’ policies. Michael Grimes, global co-head of technology investment banking at Morgan Stanley (MS), plays Zynga Inc.’s “CityVille” and “Empires & Allies” games on Facebook with company founder Mark Pincus. Zynga chose Morgan Stanley to lead its IPO last year.

Deutsche Bank started using Twitter in 2008 to promote a golf tournament it sponsored in Boston. Tobiason raised the idea of having a professional account in the fall of 2011 and eventually won approval from the communications and legal and compliance departments.

“He happened to be at the right place at the right time,” said John Tracey, head of the bank’s brand communications for the Americas. The bank expects to say yes to other executives who have asked for permission to tweet, he said.

Tobiason’s tweeting is not off-the-cuff: He can’t write about share offerings Deutsche Bank underwrites, he must clear his tweets through the firm’s communications department and the bank has software that records his posts.

“For Deutsche Bank, it is a great PR and marketing opportunity,” said Joe Ciarallo, vice president of communications at Buddy Media Inc., a New York firm that develops social-media advertising software. The bank should let Tobiason tweet on his own, without prescreening, he said, which slows down his posts and keeps him from being part of the Twitter “conversation.” For companies, Ciarallo said, making full use of Twitter is “all about training and trusting employees.”

Tobiason’s sporadic tweets -- fewer than 40 so far -- focus on the IPO market, commenting on whether the latest offerings are pricing above or below what’s expected. On Feb. 17, when Brightcove Inc., the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based provider of cloud-based services, rose 30 percent on its first day of trading, he wrote “Congrats Brightcove #IPO.”

He also maintains a personal account with fewer followers and only four tweets to date, compared with 38 for his work account. That barrier between personal and professional will eventually go away, and financial services firms will come to fully embrace social media, said Jules Maltz, a general partner at Institutional Venture Partners, a Menlo Park, California- based venture capital fund and a Twitter investor.

“Tobiason is an expert on tech IPOs and the fact that he embraced Twitter to share his notes with the market shows that Deutsche Bank is forward-thinking,” said Maltz, who follows him on Twitter.

That’s exactly the message the firm wants to send after its technology team capitalized on relationships it started in 2008 and 2009, when business in the U.S. was slow and China’s growth presented better opportunities, said Emmanuel Desousa, Deutsche Bank’s global head of Internet and new media banking, based in San Francisco.

Four of the fifteen technology IPOs Deutsche Bank helped manage in 2011 were Internet Chinese companies, such as Tudou Holdings Ltd. and Renren Inc., according to the bank. Deutsche Bank was among advisers of Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd., China’s biggest e-commerce company, in its $2.3 billion offer to take its Alibaba.com unit private, the biggest announced technology deal so far this year.

“Our social media and e-commerce clients are changing the way the world communicates,” said Desousa. “We have to change the way we communicate to stay relevant as Internet and tech bankers.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Serena Saitto in New York at ssaitto@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Eric Gelman at egelman3@bloomberg.net

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FTTN to Scout New Targets at Investment Banking Conference - Businessweek

BRADENTON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 21, 2012-- The executive leadership of First Titan Corp. (OTCBB: FTTN) will seek out lucrative new business opportunities at the National Investment Banking Association (NIBA) Conference this week in New Orleans.

The conference will provide a forum for emerging companies seeking financing or exposure to present their story to venture capitalists, early-stage investors and industry leaders. The organization’s 121st conference, it is planned to be a comprehensive showcase of cutting-edge, innovative entrepreneurs and businesses from across the country, including up-and-comers in the energy sector.

First Titan is in search of potentially lucrative new partnerships, joint venture candidates and possible acquisitions that will increase the company’s developing foothold in the energy industry. The NIBA Conference will offer a prime opportunity for the company to network with rising stars in need of assistance in funding, marketing and distributing their projects.

The conference runs Thursday through Friday at the Le Pavillon hotel.

For more information on FTTN’s energy exploration initiative, please visit www.firsttitanenergy.com/investors.

First Titan is working to develop new energy solutions to compete in a booming global industry alongside Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) and Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA).

About First Titan Corp.

First Titan Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiary, First Titan Energy, LLC, is committed to the exploration and development of oil and natural gas resources around the globe. The company continually seeks to partner with energy developers that are pursuing innovative new methods of oil and gas extraction, including the development of new technologies, cleaner methods and unconventional resources.

For more information about First Titan Energy, please visit www.firsttitanenergy.com. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/firsttitancorp.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements that include the words “believes,” “expects,” “anticipate” or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, description of anyone’s past success, either financial or strategic, is no guarantee of future success. This news release speaks as of the date first set forth above and the company assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for events occurring after the date hereof.

Source: First Titan Corporation

First Titan Corporation

Robert Federowicz, 941-753-4889

President and CEO

info@firsttitancorp.com

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U.S. Air Force May Buy 18,000 Apple IPad 2s for Flight Crews - Businessweek

February 14, 2012, 6:01 AM EST By Brendan McGarry

(Updates with comments from RIM spokeswoman in 16th paragraph.)

Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Air Force may buy as many as 18,000 iPad 2s in what would be one of the military’s biggest orders of computer tablets, accelerating Apple Inc.’s inroads into the federal government.

The service’s Air Mobility Command plans to issue a request for proposals to buy between 63 and 18,000 iPad 2s or similar devices to lighten the load of flight crews, according to a notice posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website.

The goal is to replace the bag of manuals and navigation charts weighing as much as 40 pounds that are carried by pilots and navigators, said Captain Kathleen Ferrero, a spokeswoman for the command.

“The airline industry is way ahead of us on this,” she said in a telephone interview. “Most, if not all of the major airliners are already switching to tablets.”

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, has been eating away at Waterloo, Ontario-based Research In Motion Ltd.’s market share in the federal government market.

The Department of Veterans Affairs last year announced a plan to let its employees use iPhones and iPads to conduct official work on the agency’s network. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this week said it would supply employees with iPhones, the latest government organization to drop RIM’s BlackBerry.

RIM Market Share

Other military branches have also begun buying phones and tablets running Apple’s iOS and Mountain View, California-based Google Inc.’s Android operating systems.

The Army has purchased about 1,300 various mobile devices as part of a pilot program called Connecting Soldiers to Digital Applications, according to Mike McCarthy, who helps oversee the service’s program. About 50 Android-based tablets will accompany troops deploying to Afghanistan this summer, McCarthy said.

RIM’s share of the global smartphone market slid to 8.2 percent in the fourth quarter from 14 percent a year earlier, while Apple’s share rose to 24 percent from 16 percent in the same period, according to research firm IDC of Framingham, Massachusetts.

RIM’s BlackBerry may be joined by other mobile devices with certification to access the Pentagon’s sensitive and classified networks.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is part of the Commerce Department and develops security standards for the U.S. government, is reviewing an application from Apple to validate encryption on the iPhone and iPad, according to Evelyn Brown, an agency spokeswoman.

Other Tablets

Government mobile devices that hold, process or transmit encrypted information must employ hardware and software that meet federal standards, she said. When the agency may decide on Apple’s application is unknown, she said.

Ferrero, the Air Force command spokeswoman, said she expects the request to be released in the next week or two and open to any number of tablets, not just those made by Apple.

Some of the products may include the BlackBerry PlayBook made by RIM, Xoom made by Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., Galaxy Tab made by Samsung Electronics Co. and the Nook made by Barnes & Noble Inc.

A spokesman for Apple didn’t return a call and e-mail requesting comment before business hours in California.

RIM has more than 1 million government customers in North America who rely on the “unmatched” security of the BlackBerry platform, Marisa Conway, a company spokeswoman, said in an e- mail. “The BlackBerry PlayBook remains the only tablet certified for use by U.S. government agencies.”

Air Mobility Command, based at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, provides transport and refueling services to the U.S. military around the world using C-5, C-17 and C-130 cargo planes and KC-10 and KC-135 tankers.

--With assistance from Hugo Miller in Toronto. Editors: Stephanie Stoughton, Joe Winski

To contact the reporter on this story: Brendan McGarry in Washington at bmcgarry2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Stoughton at sstoughton@bloomberg.net

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IBM Debuts New Analytics Appliance to Help Retailers Transform Big Data Into Business Opportunities - Businessweek

ARMONK, N.Y., Jan. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a new analytics appliance that analyzes up to petabytes of big data including consumer sales data and online shopping trends to help retailers gain actionable insight on buying patterns.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO)

The new appliance helps retailers deliver Smarter Commerce by using analytics to better understand buying patterns across multiple channels, and build stronger, more profitable customer relationships. Clients can now run complex, real-time analytics in a matter of seconds to improve the customer experience, shift marketing campaigns on the fly and boost sales.

In today's digitally transformed marketplace, consumers are increasingly empowered with information on products and services and ways to make competitive purchases, creating a hyper competitive marketplace for retailers. According to IBM, 70 percent of a customer's first interaction with a product or service takes place online, placing more importance on the digital consumer experience.

Through its Smarter Commerce initiative, IBM is defining and leading a new market that it estimates will grow to a $20 billion opportunity in software alone this year, driven by the demands of rapidly shifting customer buying patterns in the era of mobile and social networks. The new appliance is a part of IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative as it can help retailers deepen relationships with consumers and create a sense of brand intimacy.

Retailers need to understand their customers from browsing through purchase and across all channels in order to be more competitive. Tapping into analytics is the key to converting petabytes of customer data into actionable insight, revealing their needs and wants, and driving smarter decision-making across a retailer's organization.

The new IBM Netezza Customer Intelligence Appliance addresses these issues by providing retailers with big data analytics that allows them to analyze all customer interactions within their brand. A combined offering from IBM and business partner Aginity, and Cognos software, retailers can gain a single view of the customer spanning all channels and sales touch points including mobile, online and in store shopping. This means retailers can gain insights on the fly, better predict and target products and promotions, as well as improve store design and pricing.

Bass Pro Shops® adopted IBM's new appliance to gain insight on their customers' needs and provide better products and shopping experiences across all their channels, consisting of retail stores, boat dealerships, internet and catalog sales, wholesale, and hospitality, including restaurants and world class destination resorts.

"IBM analytics allowed us to quickly get information across our multiple channels and lines of business in one place to deliver meaningful analytics that drive top line and bottom line results," said Leslie Weber, Chief Information Officer at Bass Pro Shops®. "We can now create and deliver more targeted promotions, circulars and catalogs to create a better customer shopping experience."

Using the new appliance, retail clients can now also expand their predictive analytics capabilities with SPSS Predictive Analytics and IBM's Global Business Services, allowing them to go deeper in customer segmentation and business analytics.

IBM Netezza appliances are optimized systems based on IBM BladeCenter technology that can analyze petabytes of data significantly faster than competing options, and at a much lower total cost of ownership. Unlike competing appliances, Netezza can be up and running in minutes instead of days or weeks.

About Bass Pro Shops®

Bass Pro Shops® operates 58 retail stores in 26 states and Canada, and is visited by over 110 million people annually. The original store in Springfield, Missouri, at over 400,000 square feet and growing, is the world's largest outdoor recreational products store. Bass Pro Shops® also conducts an international catalog and internet retailing operation. Its Wholesale division, American Rod & Gun®, sells recreational products to over 7,000 independently owned retail stores worldwide. Outdoor World® Incentives also sells Bass Pro Shops® gift cards through over 132,000 retail outlets across America and Canada. The Bass Pro Shops® restaurant group operates 28 locations. The company's Tracker® Marine Group (www.trackerboats.com) is America's largest boat manufacturer. It manufactures and sells Tracker®, Nitro®, Sun Tracker®, Tahoe®, Grizzly® and Make® boats through Bass Pro Shops® retail stores and over 400 dealers worldwide. The Resort Group (www.bigcedar.com) includes Big Cedar® Lodge and other resort properties including restaurants and golf courses.

For more information regarding Bass Pro Shops® store locations, products or special events, please visit www.basspro.com. To request a free catalog, please call 1-800-BASS PRO. You may follow us on Face book at http://www.facebook.com/bassproshops.

About Aginity

Aginity combines deep experience in big data and big math to build and deploy customer analytic solutions, creating intimacy at scale. For more information, visit http://www.aginity.com.

About IBM

For information about the IBM Netezza products, please visit: www.thinking.netezza.com, http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/netezza/

In North America alone, 14 of the 20 largest retailers work with IBM to transform key business operations and deliver Smarter Commerce to their customers. For more information, visit IBM Smarter Commerce at: www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smarter_commerce/overview/index.html.

For more information on IBM Business Analytics and Information Management, please visit the online press room: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/index.wss.

IBM YouTube Analytics Channels: http://www.youtube.com/user/ibmbusinessanalytics.

Contact:
Payal Patel Cudia
IBM
781-640-6764
ppcudia@us.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM

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IBM Debuts New Analytics Appliance to Help Retailers Transform Big Data Into Business Opportunities - Businessweek

ARMONK, N.Y., Jan. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a new analytics appliance that analyzes up to petabytes of big data including consumer sales data and online shopping trends to help retailers gain actionable insight on buying patterns.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO)

The new appliance helps retailers deliver Smarter Commerce by using analytics to better understand buying patterns across multiple channels, and build stronger, more profitable customer relationships. Clients can now run complex, real-time analytics in a matter of seconds to improve the customer experience, shift marketing campaigns on the fly and boost sales.

In today's digitally transformed marketplace, consumers are increasingly empowered with information on products and services and ways to make competitive purchases, creating a hyper competitive marketplace for retailers. According to IBM, 70 percent of a customer's first interaction with a product or service takes place online, placing more importance on the digital consumer experience.

Through its Smarter Commerce initiative, IBM is defining and leading a new market that it estimates will grow to a $20 billion opportunity in software alone this year, driven by the demands of rapidly shifting customer buying patterns in the era of mobile and social networks. The new appliance is a part of IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative as it can help retailers deepen relationships with consumers and create a sense of brand intimacy.

Retailers need to understand their customers from browsing through purchase and across all channels in order to be more competitive. Tapping into analytics is the key to converting petabytes of customer data into actionable insight, revealing their needs and wants, and driving smarter decision-making across a retailer's organization.

The new IBM Netezza Customer Intelligence Appliance addresses these issues by providing retailers with big data analytics that allows them to analyze all customer interactions within their brand. A combined offering from IBM and business partner Aginity, and Cognos software, retailers can gain a single view of the customer spanning all channels and sales touch points including mobile, online and in store shopping. This means retailers can gain insights on the fly, better predict and target products and promotions, as well as improve store design and pricing.

Bass Pro Shops® adopted IBM's new appliance to gain insight on their customers' needs and provide better products and shopping experiences across all their channels, consisting of retail stores, boat dealerships, internet and catalog sales, wholesale, and hospitality, including restaurants and world class destination resorts.

"IBM analytics allowed us to quickly get information across our multiple channels and lines of business in one place to deliver meaningful analytics that drive top line and bottom line results," said Leslie Weber, Chief Information Officer at Bass Pro Shops®. "We can now create and deliver more targeted promotions, circulars and catalogs to create a better customer shopping experience."

Using the new appliance, retail clients can now also expand their predictive analytics capabilities with SPSS Predictive Analytics and IBM's Global Business Services, allowing them to go deeper in customer segmentation and business analytics.

IBM Netezza appliances are optimized systems based on IBM BladeCenter technology that can analyze petabytes of data significantly faster than competing options, and at a much lower total cost of ownership. Unlike competing appliances, Netezza can be up and running in minutes instead of days or weeks.

About Bass Pro Shops®

Bass Pro Shops® operates 58 retail stores in 26 states and Canada, and is visited by over 110 million people annually. The original store in Springfield, Missouri, at over 400,000 square feet and growing, is the world's largest outdoor recreational products store. Bass Pro Shops® also conducts an international catalog and internet retailing operation. Its Wholesale division, American Rod & Gun®, sells recreational products to over 7,000 independently owned retail stores worldwide. Outdoor World® Incentives also sells Bass Pro Shops® gift cards through over 132,000 retail outlets across America and Canada. The Bass Pro Shops® restaurant group operates 28 locations. The company's Tracker® Marine Group (www.trackerboats.com) is America's largest boat manufacturer. It manufactures and sells Tracker®, Nitro®, Sun Tracker®, Tahoe®, Grizzly® and Make® boats through Bass Pro Shops® retail stores and over 400 dealers worldwide. The Resort Group (www.bigcedar.com) includes Big Cedar® Lodge and other resort properties including restaurants and golf courses.

For more information regarding Bass Pro Shops® store locations, products or special events, please visit www.basspro.com. To request a free catalog, please call 1-800-BASS PRO. You may follow us on Face book at http://www.facebook.com/bassproshops.

About Aginity

Aginity combines deep experience in big data and big math to build and deploy customer analytic solutions, creating intimacy at scale. For more information, visit http://www.aginity.com.

About IBM

For information about the IBM Netezza products, please visit: www.thinking.netezza.com, http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/netezza/

In North America alone, 14 of the 20 largest retailers work with IBM to transform key business operations and deliver Smarter Commerce to their customers. For more information, visit IBM Smarter Commerce at: www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smarter_commerce/overview/index.html.

For more information on IBM Business Analytics and Information Management, please visit the online press room: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/index.wss.

IBM YouTube Analytics Channels: http://www.youtube.com/user/ibmbusinessanalytics.

Contact:
Payal Patel Cudia
IBM
781-640-6764
ppcudia@us.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM

View the original article here

The History Of Kodak - Business Opportunities Weblog - Businessweek

He was a high school dropout who teachers described as “not especially gifted”, but in founding Kodak, George Eastman went on to make photography accessible to all and become one of the world’s most generous philanthropists.

business-opportunities.biz. Added by Dane Carlson on January 23, 2012

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The History Of Kodak - Business Opportunities Weblog - Businessweek

He was a high school dropout who teachers described as “not especially gifted”, but in founding Kodak, George Eastman went on to make photography accessible to all and become one of the world’s most generous philanthropists.

business-opportunities.biz. Added by Dane Carlson on January 23, 2012

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North Korea, New Land of Opportunity? - Businessweek

Lu Guanqiu Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

By Dexter Roberts

As chairman of Wanxiang Group, a Chinese auto parts and mining conglomerate, Lu Guanqiu knows the headaches of doing business in diverse environments. He controls dozens of factories in the U.S. that serve the troubled auto industry and mines in Indonesia, remote western China, and North Korea. “North Korea is like China was 30-plus years ago,” the onetime farmer says in a chilly reception room at Wanxiang’s headquarters in Hangzhou, 100 miles southwest of Shanghai. “Through our contact, we are certain they will become more open and more liberated.”

Despite its guiding doctrine of Juche, or self-reliance, and its reputation as a rogue nuclear state and the last bastion of personality-cult totalitarianism, North Korea is attracting foreign companies with an appetite for risk and a tolerance for government meddling. Chinese, South Korean, and about 30 European companies have invested in copper and gold mines, factories producing medications and blue jeans, and even Internet service. (Americans and Canadians are largely barred from doing business there.)

In Pyongyang, Egypt’s Orascom Telecom is building a 3G mobile-phone network and DHL delivers packages. Two Hong Kong-listed companies operate casinos for tourists (locals aren’t allowed in). France’s Lafarge owns 30 percent of a cement plant that employs 3,000 workers. German-backed outsourcer Nosotek offers North Korean programming help to Western companies developing cell-phone games. A Swedish group markets Noko Jeans, made in the North.

Total accumulated foreign investment in North Korea reached $1.475 billion in 2010, up from $1.437 billion the previous year, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Some $6.5 billion more is in the works as Chinese infrastructure companies plan new ports, highways, and power plants, according to the Samsung Economic Research Institute, a think tank in Seoul.

With mineral reserves valued at more than $6 trillion, according to South Korean state-owned mining company Korea Resources, the North has become a magnet for Chinese enterprises. Of the 138 Chinese companies registered as doing business in North Korea in 2010, 41 percent extract coal, iron, zinc, nickel, gold, and other minerals, according to the U.S. Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University. China’s investment in the North’s mineral sector since 2004 has reached $500 million, the Samsung Institute estimates. China accounted for 57 percent, or $3.5 billion, of the North’s foreign trade in 2010, up from 53 percent the previous year, according to South Korea’s statistical office. “The Chinese are storming in there and taking all the opportunities,” says Roger Barrett, managing director of Korea Business Consultants, a Beijing company that advises foreign investors in North Korea.

With the death of Dear Leader Kim Jong-Il in December and the elevation of his son, Kim Jong-Un, things could open up further. “One way or another, it is crucial for North Korea to renew its economy,” says Lee Jong-Woon, a researcher at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy in Seoul. “We expect the new government to carry on attracting foreign capital.”

Those who invest will face countless hassles. North Korea’s roads are narrow and potholed. The country’s railroads and ports are a shambles, and its power grid struggles to keep the lights on. “Leadership decisions can supersede legal agreements,” says Scott Snyder, a Korea fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, in an e-mail. A 2009 investment guide from China’s Commerce Ministry warned that “recent Chinese enterprises investing in North Korea have major problems” and have been forced into an “unfavorable situation.”

In 2007, Wanxiang acquired a Chinese company that owned 51 percent of North Korea’s Hyesan Youth Copper Mine, an inactive facility two miles from the border with China. Two years later, after Wanxiang had revived the mine, the North Korean partner suddenly said it planned to take back full ownership with no compensation. Lu, who has close ties to Beijing’s central government and last year accompanied Chinese President Hu Jintao on a visit to the White House, contacted Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. After Wen raised the issue with Kim Jong-Il, Wanxiang was allowed to stay. “Our cultural backgrounds and mindsets are very different,” Lu says.

For some small South Korean companies, location trumps the political and infrastructure concerns. More than 100 enterprises from the South now run light manufacturing plants in the Gaeseong Industrial Park, a special economic zone just north of the border, where production started during a thaw in North-South relations in 2005. “I save time and logistics costs compared with running a business in Vietnam or Indonesia,” says Ok Sung Seok, president of Nine Mode, which has a men’s shirt factory at Gaeseong.

While production slowed after Kim’s death, Ok says things are back to normal and that the hassles are outweighed by the low cost of labor. He estimates that his workers are about 60 percent as productive as South Koreans, but he pays them just $160 per month. That’s one-fifth the minimum wage in the South and a quarter the salaries in a factory he operated in Qingdao, China. “The poorer productivity comes from politics, not from laziness or a lack of skill,” Ok says. Government officials “put a priority on political events rather than spending more time for production.”

The bottom line: Despite hassles and bureaucratic meddling, cumulative foreign investment in North Korea jumped to nearly $1.5 billion in 2010.

With Seonjin Cha and Rose Kim

Roberts is Bloomberg Businessweek's Asia News Editor and China bureau chief.

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RBCC Enters New World of Opportunity - Businessweek

NOKOMIS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 2012-- Rainbow Coral Corp. (OTCBB:RBCC) positioned itself at the cutting edge of biotechnology innovation today by joining forces with BioHouston, Inc., one of the nation’s preeminent drivers of life sciences research and commercialization.

Home to the world’s largest medical complex, Houston, Texas, is the fastest-growing biotechnology hotspot in the U.S. BioHouston is an academic and business collaborative that brings together innovation heavyweights like Baylor College of Medicine and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center with powerful investors such as Baker Botts and JP Morgan Chase to develop and commercialize the very latest biotech products and ideas.

Membership in BioHouston opens new doors for RBCC to become major players in the global biotechnology industry. Rainbow Coral gains access to some of the brightest minds and deepest pockets involved in the research, development and marketing of new life sciences breakthroughs.

By joining BioHouston, RBCC solidifies its position as a rising star in biotech commercialization. It’s a major step in the company’s aggressive global growth strategy. RBCC anticipates a new level of participation in shaping the future of healthcare around the world.

Through its biotech division, Rainbow BioSciences, RBCC is working to develop new medical and research technology innovations to compete alongside companies such as Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC), Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB), Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) and Elan Corp. (NYSE: ELN).

For more information on Rainbow BioSciences’ biotechnology initiative, please visit www.rainbowbiosciences.com/investors.

About Rainbow BioSciences

Rainbow BioSciences, LLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rainbow Coral Corp. (OTCBB: RBCC). The company continually seeks out new partnerships with biotechnology developers to deliver profitable new medical technologies and innovations. For more information on our growth-oriented business initiatives, please visit our website at [www.RainbowBioSciences.com]. For investment information and performance data on the company, please visit www.RainbowBioSciences.com/investors.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements that include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipate" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, description of anyone's past success, either financial or strategic, is no guarantee of future success. This news release speaks as of the date first set forth above and the company assumes no responsibility to update the information included herein for events occurring after the date hereof.

Source: Rainbow Coral Corp.

Rainbow Coral Corp.

Patrick Brown, 813-367-9511

President and CEO

info@rainbowcoral.com

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Keeping Business Owners Afloat in Greece - Businessweek

By Karen E. Klein

I am a business consultant for small and medium Greek businesses, which are really suffering an amazing crisis. I would like to continue my business coaching, but I need some advice for my clients as to what they can do in this environment. What can I advise in these cases? —C.S., Athens

On first glance—and probably second and third—you would appear to be in a bleak position. How does a coach advise small business owners who are likely facing the worst economic crisis of their lives?

Considering the reality of crippling government debt and austerity measures, it’s unlikely that your clients will benefit from any kind of economic stimulus plan, tax incentives, or bailouts, says Philip Moorcroft, chief executive of MGPS.com, a Toronto management consulting company. You can combine that with what are likely to be ongoing bank failures, layoffs, and reduced consumer spending for the foreseeable future.

What to do? You could fold up your tent and wallow in the bad news. Or you could realize that this moment is exactly when your small business clients need you the most—and see it as an opportunity to truly prove your worth as a consultant. “If you accept the sense that Greece is doomed, that would be like your clients having depression and going to a depressed psychiatrist. The goal of a business adviser is to find opportunities that others don’t see,” says Mark Stevens, chief executive officer of MSCO.com, a marketing and business-management company based in Rye Brook, N.Y.

Start with a bold, honest assessment of your clients’ financial situations. Help them come up with a worst-case scenario for their businesses and a realistic plan they could use to survive it. Even if they never have to use those plans, they will come out of the crisis stronger for having developed them, Stevens says.

You don’t want to give them false hope, but it’s O.K. to remind them that even if the worst happens, life will go on and business activity will not cease entirely. “We think back on our own Great Depression and as bad as that was, not every American was unemployed and suffering. Some people were still buying shoes and going on vacations,” Stevens says.

The goal for most of your clients will be weathering this storm and being smart and strong enough to seize opportunities as their competitors flounder, Moorcroft says. Your goal should be to walk alongside them and help them get set to ramp up quickly as they emerge from the tunnel, as most—though not all—inevitably will.

Most small companies get through tough periods by cutting costs. That does not have to mean layoffs, although it might. Go through your clients’ balance sheets line-by-line, Moorcroft recommends, and help them identify overlooked places they can cut back. “Get rid of nice-to-have-but-unnecessary goods and services. Reduce your usage of necessary items as much as possible and switch to cheaper alternatives where you can,” he says.

Many businesses operating in flush times let indirect costs such as overhead get out of hand. These areas are easiest to trim because quality is less essential in areas that are not directly tied to a company’s products and sales. This means your small business clients should look to renegotiate with suppliers, contractors, and landlords. If they must, they should level with these people and let them know that they will either have to terminate their contracts or get a better price. “This is risky because a weak customer could make a supplier nervous,” Moorcroft says. Still, relationships that survive a period like this often become stronger as accommodations cement loyalty that can last for decades, he says.

Don’t forget to work with your clients to position them for a rebounding economy, whenever that happens. If they don’t have marketing plans, now is the time to create them—even if they can’t be funded this year or next. At some point, they will become useful, says Stevens. “True excellence in business management is to get a bigger piece of a shrinking pie. I hate when clients come to me and say: ‘My problems are recession-driven.’ You can’t govern your business by macroeconomics or the state of the euro,” he says. “Even lousy businesses do well in flourishing times. Really great businesses do well in lousy times, too.”

Karen E. Klein is a Los Angeles-based writer who covers entrepreneurship and small-business issues.

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