Adelante Newsletter - February 2009

RIBBON CUTTINGS & GRAND OPENINGS

Mind, Body, & Spirit - A grand opening ribbon cutting and mixer was held for Yoga Center Harlingen on January 9, 2009. The Hispanic Chamber Embajadores conducted the ribbon cutting ceremony along with owner, Deborah Hinojosa, family and friends. An After 5 Mixer was also held after the ribbon cutting with food, refreshments, and tours of the center. Yoga Center Harlingen offers a variety of Yoga classes from beginners to advanced. They also offer children's classes for ages 5 to 12 years of age. Yoga Center Harlingen is located at the El Mercado Shopping Center at 712 N. 77 Sunshine Strip, Ste. 36. Stop by and visit with Deborah or call (956) 428-YOGA.

Tax Time! - A grand opening & ribbon cutting celebration was held for Liberty Income Tax on January 15, 2009. The Hispanic Chamber Embajadores conducted the ribbon cutting ceremony along with owners David A. Perez and Kal Bhakta. Special guests were Harlingen Mayor Chris Boswell and Commissioner Tom Hushen. Guests enjoyed food, refreshments, margaritas and door prizes. Liberty Income Tax is located at 810 N. 13th St in Harlingen across from Sun Valley Mall. For more information call David Perez ant (956) 365-4TAX.

10 TIPS FOR A SMOOTH TRANSITION AFTER PURCHASING A BUSINESS

When you buy a business, a smooth transition should be one of your top priorities. After all, you will have plenty of work to do already. It is also important for retaining customers and staff. Below are ten tips for making a smooth transition.

1. Have the previous owner stay on after the sale. The owner can serve as an advisor or consultant for a pre-determined period of time. This can add some much-needed stability during the transition period.
2. Start with Minor changes. Customers may react unfavorably to sweeping changes. Therefore, at the beginning, less is more. Make minor changes and pay attention to your customers' initial reactions.
3. Meet your employees. if you are buying a small business, take the time to sit down with the people who work for the company and are now under your guidance.
4. Boost employee morale. Pay close attention to the morale of the current employees. It's inevitable that some employees will be worried about the security of their jobs. Do whatever you can to maintain and even boost employee morale.
5. Ask lots of questions and take notes. Let the previous owner and the staff teach you how to run the business. You can implement new procedures, but before doing so, make sure you know how things are currently done. Only then can you make informed decisions on changing business procedures.
6. Maintain current record-keeping procedures. It's important to keep the paper trail in place. Do your best to ensure that employee records, purchasing policies, invoices, payroll, taxes, and all other paperwork remail on schedule through the transition.
7. Review customer service policies. Customers are used to having issues handled in a certain manner. Review the policies and maintain them for the first few months. After the transition is complete, amend them as necessary.
8. Meet the vendors. If the business is large and there are many vendors, you may not be able to meet each and every one. However,, interview the seller about each vendor and try to make contact with all of them.
9. Familiarize yourself with your new technology. While meeting the people behind the business and learning the procedures is important, you must also learn as much as you can about the technology that supports the business. You need to familiarize yourself with software programs and learn about their shortcomings. Learn what has gone wrong and how the technical staff (or individual) has handled such problems.
10. Do something nice for your customers. You don't have to do this right away, but once you are comfortable running the business, offer some type of special offer, have a promotional giveaway, or do something special for your customers. This will help create goodwill with your customer base.

The most important factor in making the transition is that the business continues to operate without significant interruption. You want your regular customers to feel comfortable patronizing the business. Since most people are resistant to change, try not to surprise people with sweeping changes unless the business is struggling and desperately needs new customers. Source: El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce E-Newsletter

LIVE GREYHOUND RACING AT VALLEY RACE PARK

Performance Times:

Wednesdays - Matinee Noon

Thursdays - Evening 7 pm

Fridays - Evening 7 pm

Saturdays - Evening 6 pm

Sundays - Twilight 4 pm

No live racing Super Bowl Sunday, February 1st

Live racing runs through April 5, 2009

THESE WEB SITES MAKE IT EASY TO GO GREEN

Concern about environmental green issues continues to increase even while credit, jobs and cash tighten with the slump in the U.S. economy. However, there are a number of ways to alleviate some of the pain in your pocket book while being environmentally friendly. Here are 3 web sites dedicated to helping you find green products for the home, office and automobile.

Greencar.com

Wouldn't it be great if you could just plug in a search for reviews on cars that already have gone through rigorous tests to achieve the green stamp? Well now you can. Just open your web browser and punch in greencar.com and all the hassle of finding a fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly car has been done for you.

Greencar.com reviews current vehicles, or those to be available soon, which utilize eco-friendly technologies. The site provides options for automotive products, links for purchasing new and used cars, and a tab called Voices that offers expert advise and discussions by prominent individuals in the green industry.

Greenhome.com

Admist the hundreds, even thousands, of household products on the market today, which ones are green and healthy? The rise in purportedly 'green' supplies makes those choices even harder. Yet, when it comes down to it one shoud be conscious of the dangers that many products, such as cleaning agents, pose for both human and environmental health. One easy way to obtain information without reading the labels on every single cleaning supply product is to familiarize yourself with greenhome.com. They do the research for you and recommend less toxic alternate agents that still pack a cleaning punch. Greenhome.com offers a search toolbar that allows browsing by categories of products ranging from adhesives to women's persoanl care and everything in between. One thing these products have in common is a regard for health and Mother Nature.

Sustainablebusiness.com

When it comes to Corporate America, the green market has taken off like a NASA rocket. Many businesses have seen beneficial results from adopting green solutions, whether it's basic like changing light bulbs and recycling or the more drastic approach of giving the building a makeover. Sustainablebusiness.com provides daily green news updates, investor opportunities, and a green job search service, as well as a resource dictionary outlining useful web sites, databases, and other green tech resources that can guide businesses down the green road.

These green web sites are examples of many that amplify and strengthen awareness of the growing green economy. They can serve as tools in gathering accessible, useful information for green consumers, investors, entrepreneurs, and citizens in general. All three demonstrate how proper education about the industry's products and innovations can not only help the environment, they can save you and your company money. Source: HISPANICBUSINESS.COM