Minimum Wage

1. As of Sunday, May 1st, the minimum wage of BC has risen from $8/hr to $8.75/hr. In November, it will raise again, to $9.50/hr and in the following year, to $10.25/hr. In my opinion, I am really happy that the minimum wage is higher due to the fact that this will allow employees in British Columbia to increase their wages, and also this increase aborts the infamous training wage. On the other hand, this may cause inflation in prices. Even though an individual gets an increase wage, the prices are gonna increase as well. If wages go up, prices of everything else will go up as well, and will just be back to the stage of where it was before minimum wages were raised.

E-Business

1. What is e-business?
An e-business is an electronic business. It involves the use of the computer for all activities and parts of a business. An e-business allows for the owner to communicate to it's customers with ease through the computer.

Pros & Cons
The pros of running an e-business include lower start up costs, the ability to run it at home, and the quick access to respond to customers. With people having internet access on their phones, it is very easy to check any emails from customers whenever, and wherever, whereas running a "real business" would be harder to come in contact with them through closed hours.

Although running an e-business may seem easier, there are several cons that occur with it. Although there are low start up costs, e-business owners must constantly be testing order processes and computer anti-virus protection, update blog posts, and traffic their site. Also, it would be smart to always be aware of scams, frauds and of their company's privacy. It is also harder to build customer loyalty as there is no face-to-face interaction. Another thing that people look past in e-businesses is the coordination of returns, refunds, answering questions and special requests.

19 Year Old Entrepreneur

Brian Wong is a 19 year-old graduate from UBC and he has recently started his second company startup. "Kiip" offers real rewards for people who reach milestones in games on mobile devices. When players reach certain milestones, it’s a "buzz kill" because the reward is just a banner ad. Kiip aims to fill the void by handing out rewards, with the value tied to the caliber of the achievement. Rewards range from gift certificates for flowers, to vitamin water, to a Sony tablet. The rewards are only available to players in the United States for now, but Canada will soon follow.

The success of young entrepreneurs is rapidly increasing in technology based industries due to the fact that this industry is developing at such a fast rate, and the younger generation is more comfortable with this era. Another reason is that younger people are being exposed to this technology faster and faster.

What went wrong at Xerox?

There were a number of things that went wrong at the retail powerhouse Xerox. It could have been the lack of management, poor working conditions, or the personal relationships within. It all started when Steven Jobs left the Xerox research centre to co-found the current powerhouse Apple. But, that was not the only place where it started. Xerox lost its leadership position for photocopiers to Canon. After many tries to reconstruct the company, many sales representatives quit and joined other firms, and had taken valuable product knowledge along. Despite Xerox's success, they seemed to struggle in human resources in bringing technologies into the global market. To add to Xerox's downfall, they were facing a downgrade of bonds to the Brazilian economy by failing to hedge against currency rates. Rick Thoman, who was brought in, was made the CEO. He wanted to restructure Xerox's global sales division, but Dolan, the president of Xerox disagreed. Therefore, Xerox's downfall included personal conflicts, negative relationships, and the lack of human resources.

Business Venture Ideas

A "venture" is an idea that you come up with that you could offer to make society better.

1) Candy Shop
- One of my favourite things to eat is candy. I love everything from chocolate to sour 5 cent candies. Therefore, one of my venture ideas would be to open a candy store in DT. Everyone loves candy, and opening a store on the campus would be a great idea. But, on the downside, there would be some high start up costs, and looking for a place to open this store would be difficult. Also, there is the Canada Food Health Guidline, which may stop this project, due to the high calories of the products. On the upside, this store would be offered to students and teachers of DT. Products would range from chocolate, and caramel to skittles, and starburst, to sour peaches and watermelon slices.

2) Sporting Good Store
- Many people at this school are athletic, and play on school teams. My second venture idea would to open a sporting good store within the walls of DT. Things like basketballs, soccer balls, cleats, jerseys, hockey sticks, and helmets would be sold at this store. Once again, the problem of high start-up costs, and locations would be difficult. And purchasing these goods would be extremely high, and prices would probably be the same as "Sport Chek," with some exceptions. There would be a promotion every other week promoting the sales of jerseys, hockey sticks, etc. For example, one week it may be a "buy one, get one free" week. And this store would be for everyone within DT.

After viewing the documentary "The Corporation," I was shocked at the fact that many powerhouse corporations do not have sympathy for their workers, for example, Nike. The Nike company offers their sweatshop workers, low wage and high hours of tough, exhausting work. A shirt that costs $49.99, is about .20 to make. For many corporations, money and overall wealth is a main thing, but in order to attain that, many workers are treated with disrespect. These workers are compensated very low for work that has long hours. Some of these workers are depended on to support families that have 8-9 people, and with wages like that, it's impossible. In conclusion, "The Corporation" was really a jaw-dropper which stated that most corporations can stay guilt-free, as to workers rights, and overall factory work.