(Source: http://www.popsci.com/sites/popsci.com/files/styles/medium_1x_/public/images/2015/03/sm-g925f_014_r-front-dynamic_black_sapphire.jpg?itok=waQPEzKy)

Nowadays, there are so many new phones being released on the market that it’s becoming hard to keep up. Another option that has also come about recently is the idea to buy a used smartphone. Apple and Samsung are always trying to stay one step ahead of each other, and are always releasing new products to keep each other on their toes. If someone were to decide to upgrade their phone, the process overall isn’t that had at all.

Depending on what phone you’re going into and what phone you have right now, the process could be really simple. If you’re going from an iPhone to another iPhone, you can take care of backing up your current phone and copying over the data all through iTunes, which is really easy. If your phone is backed up through iCloud, this process is even easier as most of your stuff can get copied over without even needing to use a computer. Android to another Android is also easy, as most of the data can go into the same spots on both phones since the software is pretty much the same.

The process gets a little more complicated if you’re switching between the two operating systems. This could mean that there are things that you won’t be able to transfer between the two phones, such as text messages. It may also mean that you’re stuck copying over your contacts by hand. With Apple’s iOS 9, they have added a new feature which makes it easier to switch from Android to iPhone. All you have to do is download the Move to iOS app on your Android phone before you switch to iPhone, and most things from your Android phone will get backed up to the cloud, which will be ready for you when you’re setting up your new iPhone.

Now that you’ve finally switched into your new phone, you’ve got this perfectly good old phone that may just end up sitting in a drawer for the rest of its life. The best thing to do would be to prepare it for resale. There are services out there that allow your to sell your phone once you’re done with it (if you want to sell your iPhone, do it fast as they hold their value the best), or you can sell it yourself on Craigslist or Kijiji. However it’s done, it’s a good idea not to just leave the old phone laying around in your house. The better shape it’s in, the more you’ll be able to get for it, which means that having that case on your phone for all those years may have actually been worthwhile.

Before you sell your phone, it’s important that you remove all of the data on your phone and have transferred your SIM card over from the old phone to your new phone. This makes sure that your personal info is protected and nobody will be able to access it if they try to.

The new smartphone market is not expected to slow down, but with the ease of being able to switch phones, along with easily being able to sell your old one, this isn’t that bad of a problem.

Beyond the Rack, a Canadian company founded in 2009, has experienced great success in a few years
(Source: http://www.strategyeyedigitalmedia.com/article/2012/10/24/beyond_the_rack_lands_usd101m_for_flash_sales/) 

Beyond the Rack is a Canadian company that offers limited-time sales on designer apparel. They have been so successful with their operations that they’ve been named the fastest growing e-tailer in North America for 2011, having revenues grow from $6 million in 2009 to $100 million by their third year.

One reason behind their success may be because of their business model, which doesn’t require that they have a lot of inventory on hand. Their supply chain is set up in a way that makes this possible. They don’t purchase from their suppliers until a customer places the order on their website. This business model is great because they don’t have to spend a lot of cash on inventory and allowing them to spend on other areas, such as marketing. However, having a supply chain like this requires careful thinking as one thing going wrong would be detrimental for the entire operation. Although it may take a significant amount of work to initially set up contacts with suppliers and figure out the logistics, the long-term payoff potential is huge, as the company has seen.

Link to article here.

The ever so popular Twinkies may soon become a hot commodity
(Source: http://www.fearnet.com/news/news-article/and-you-thought-twinkies-would-be-around-forever) 

Hostess, the maker of the astronomically popular Twinkies, has announced that they’re going out of business. Their workers going on strike put them in a position that may make it impossible for them to recover, which is why they decided to do so.

They may also have been in a tough position because of a large number of substitute products that are available on the market nowadays. However, the brand recognition that Hostess has with some of its products is huge, which makes it somewhat hard to see how the company was more fragile than it seemed. Could the company have prevented something like this from happening, or was it inevitable? The article stated that retailers stop stocking their products when supplies are inadequate, which may mean the company was unprepared for a situation like this because they didn’t have many days’ worth of inventory on hand.

Many of us grew up having eaten countless Twinkies and other delectable snacks, and a world without them is hard to imagine. I, personally, sometimes get a craving for a Twinkie once in a while and would hate to see them disappear.

Link to article here.

Ten Tree Apparel is just one of a number of social enterprises in the world
(Source: http://johnfowlesthetree.com/?p=7) 

After reading Logan Parker‘s blog post about Ten Tree Apparel, it got me thinking about what the world would be like if more social enterprises like this existed. There seems to be a wide spectrum of entrepreneurs that exist in society, ranging from those who will do anything and everything possible to make and keep as much money as possible, and those who seek to achieve change with their wealth. What some people may not get is that it is possible to be a social entrepreneur and make a difference in society, while bringing in profit as well. The ideas of Ten Tree Apparel and Toms are brilliant. They both contribute to some of the world’s major problems, along with raising awareness to these problems.

Do entrepreneurs have the power to make a difference? Of course they do. A number of the world’s billionaires are philanthropists, using their wealth to make society better off. There’s power in numbers, and if more people were to use the power of business to contribute to fixing some of the problems in society, the world would be a much better place.

Without the supply chain, it would pretty much be impossible for businesses to do business
(Source: http://omiusajpic.org/issues/investing/supply-chain/)

I read a blog post about how to prevent major disruptions from happening in supply chains, which got me thinking about just how important the supply chain is for a business. The supply chain is there to keep track of where everything is coming from and making sure everything is where it needs to be at the right times. Part of creating a good supply chain is making sure that everything always flows smoothly throughout it, so being able to prevent disasters should also be integrated, if possible.

As it says in the article, if it’s possible to predict a natural disaster, it should be possible to predict where in the supply chain there could be a disruption. Companies that rely on inputs that come from sources that were expected to be hit by Hurricane Sandy could’ve planned ahead and arranged for their inputs to come from another source and be virtually unaffected by the disaster. By focusing on problems that could come up, companies could save a huge amount of money, along with generating revenue that wouldn’t have been possible with poor supply chain disaster prevention.

It’s going to be a tough uphill battle for Research in Motion 
(Source: http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/10/30/blackberry-failure-premature/) 

After reading about Gordon Woo‘s blog post about RIM releasing their BlackBerry 10 operating system along with new phones, I thought about if it was even possible for the company to bounce back from where it currently stands. Their upcoming releases may be too little, too late for the company.

Most companies that still use BlackBerries use it because of its high security and the way they can customize their employees’ phones through the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). If this is going to be incompatible with BlackBerry 10, there’s no doubt that any companies that still use BlackBerries will make the switch to another type of phone for their company, such as iPhones or Androids. It’s also really easy to sell your phone once you’re done with it so that it’s not just sitting around and doing nothing.

The smartphone industry is very competitive, and technological innovation is necessary if a company wants to survive. If a company doesn’t have the resources to quickly keep up with the competition, they’re going to go down the drain, and this is exactly what is presently happened to Research in Motion. It would take a miracle for them to regain significant market share with their new line of phones and operating system.

Signs inside a Zellers store, liquidating its merchandise as Target takes over
(Source: http://smartcanucks.ca/death-of-the-department-store/)

With the entry of new competitors from different countries into the department store market in Canada, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the country’s current department stores to continue growing. As Hudson’s Bay Co. announces the launching of their IPO in Canada, more competitors are coming in to take a share of its profits, including Target and Nordstrom, which could make raising as much money in their IPO as possible more difficult. Both Target and Nordstrom are expected to make their Canadian debuts in the next couple of years.

Hudson’s Bay Co. is doing what it can to overcome the difficulties that this new competition is going to bring. One thing they plan on doing is implementing a strategy that focuses on bringing bigger fashion brands into the store, such as Michael Kors and Topshop, creating points of difference. If the company wants to continue doing business and increase profitability in Canada, it’ll have to use its strong brand, along with the marketing advantage of being truly Canadian, to convince people that they are the better choice. Otherwise, they risk giving up a significant amount of their market share to the new entrants.

Research in Motion’s stock movement over the past year. The stock bottomed out at $6.18 on September 24 and closed at $8.06 on October 5.
Source: Google Finance

After going from being king of the smartphone market to reporting losses quarter after quarter, Research in Motion (RIM) seems to be preparing for a difficult comeback. The company recently reported a loss that wasn’t as bad as expected by analysts. People are interested to see what this flailing company can do with the launch of a new operating system for their BlackBerry smartphones, called BlackBerry 10. It’s also expected to release a new wave of devices along with the operating system. However, with the recent release of sleek new smartphones from competing companies, such as the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S III, RIM will have to come out with a spectacular device to stay alive in this increasingly competitive business.

Although a comeback from the company is rather unlikely, it’d be interesting to see if it can release a BlackBerry that can take away significant market share from Apple or Samsung (past performance would say probably not). It all depends on the release of their release of BlackBerry 10 and the devices that come with it. This may be their final chance to fight for survival or they risk going out of business.

Link to article:

http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/27/technology/rim-earnings/index.html

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Source: http://static.progressivemediagroup.com/uploads/imagelibrary/X-20121004145237687.jpg 

It’s widely known that Facebook’s initial public offering in the stock market wasn’t spectacular. The stock price has dropped a significant amount, from $38 to closing at $20.91 on October 5, 2012. Its lack of success in the stock market doesn’t mean that its social networking platform hasn’t experienced success. Facebook recently reached the major milestone of having one billion users registered. This is a huge deal for CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who describes it as “by far the thing [he is] most proud of in [his] life.” However, the big question still remains: how will Facebook make more money off of its 1 billion users?

The question of how the company expects to extract revenue from its customers is what has driven the price of their stock down. The increasing move from desktop to mobile makes it harder to sell advertising space on the social networking site. If Facebook continues to do things without looking at the future and how they can get money out of their users, its stock will definitely continue its fall. The company’s going to have to make some strategical decisions if it wants to see its stock price make it back to its IPO price.

Link to article:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/10/04/facebook-billion-users.html

Burger King and McDonald’s signs in Russia
Sources: http://newsblaze.com/story/2010012114351300002.bw/topstory.html and http://www.thingsihateaboutbackpacking.com/?p=109

After opening its first fast food restaurant in Russia in 2010, Burger King has been working very hard at increasing their presence there. As of June 2012, there were 57 Burger King restaurants open in Russia, with more plans to open more. This may be a part of its fierce attempt to take away market share from its main competitor, McDonalds, who has been in Russia for over 20 years and has 314 restaurants open (as of May 2012).

However, Burger King isn’t the only company interested in increasing the number of restaurants it has in areas other than North America. McDonald’s has also shown interest in adding more restaurants to other countries around the world. Both McDonald’s and Burger King struck deals with franchise operators this year, which will accelerate their growth in Russia, along with signalling the fact that they’re very interested at increasing their worldwide presence. Both of these companies trying to increase worldwide presence is partly due to the fact that the market for fast food in the United States is quite saturated. It’ll be interesting to see what the fast food market around the world looks like in 5 years with these two major companies, along with others, ramping up expansion worldwide.

Links:

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100121/157640260.html

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/burger-king-strikes-deal-expand-russia

http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=7531cb47-5569-4160-8929-0beb8e41d47b