Business Ethics

OK... so it takes a lot to manage and run a small business. I know this first hand as I am a small business owner and I truly do understand the challenges involved. What I don't understand is how some companies could give a rats ass about their clients/customers. What ever happened to doing business with integrity?

It blows my mind to hear so many people blaming the government for our current economic state. While some bad decisions on the part of our leaders do play a part in the state of the economy, I think that many of our problems are caused by the way business is conducted in general. Too many businesses focus too much on growing their business and the bottom line and do not spend enough time focusing on the clients/customers they already have.

Over the past 6 years, I have hired a number of contractors and vendors for both business and personal services. Only about 20% of the companies I've hired actually did a great job all the way around. I think that before business owners start pointing fingers at our government, they should take a good look at how they operate. It amazes me how many businesses exist today that really only care about their bank accounts.

Karizmata @ Rhino's East Last Night

We had a blast last night and the crowd was awesome! Our next time @ Rhinos East will be on Valentine's Day which falls on a Saturday. If you haven't had a chance to check out my band yet, you should try to make this next show. Rhinos East recently put in a bigger dance floor. They also bought new gear for the stage. They have a fog machine and an all new state of the art lighting system that kicks ass.

If you haven't heard Karizmata yet, you can take a listen to a few tracks on my home page, or you can check us out @ www.karizmata.com or www.myspace.com/karizmata. Our fans say we're a cross between Nickleback, Theory of a Deadman, and Sevendust. Basically, our music has a heavy groove to it and is very melodic and interesting. The songs have a technical edge to them, while still managing to appeal to a wide audience.

Vapor Guys - Electronic Cigarettes

Vapor Guys is my newest online venture. The bassist in my band, Kurt, stumbled upon a kiosk in one of the local malls that sold electronic cigarettes. He had been trying to quit for the past year or so and when he saw the electronic cigarette, he decided to research them online. He ordered his first and immediately loved the product. He could satisfy his addiction to nicotine without inhaling the added chemicals and tar from burning conventional cigarettes.

He asked me if I would be interested in going into business together and after doing research of my own, I decided it would be a great opportunity. I've been putting a lot of hours into the design of the Vapor Guys site and I am just now starting to dive into the internet marketing aspects of this business. We have a lot of work ahead of us. If you are a smoker that is looking for a fantastic alternative to smoking conventional cigarettes, you should check out Vapor Guys.