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Show DAILY Sunday, September 9, 2007 clean it up and give it away for concert from 10 years ago. And if your donation includes things like toys, it might Continued from C12 be a good idea to call in adLikewise, Soles4Souls will ask what charity is benefiting gladly take your gently-usevance, Mitchell says, because from the sale of your things, shoes, and BabyBuggy in New there are so many safety issues and what percentage of the to consider. York is a great place to land I Get your tax write-of- f. proceeds actually gets passed baby gear and clothes that you no longer need. "There's basioa Then follow up with that Take note: The rules have reorganization to double-chec- k cally a place for everything," cently changed, and in order to the facts. If it's legit, the thrift says Mitchell "It's a shame to claim a charitable deduction on throw anything out." shop should have no problem your taxes, the goods you donated must have been in "good I Follow the guidelines. Big providing you with the details of the benefiting charity, along charities will often post their used condition or better," acwith a contact phone number donation rules on the Web, so cording to the IRS. Use your and any other information you you can access them easily be- best judgment, and be sure to want. add up the value of your donafore you drop off your goods. I Look for niche organizaAs a general rule, though, tion, because the charity wont tions. The Salvation Army and make sure the clothes you're do it for you. "Fair market Goodwill are both great charivalue is how much the item, in giving away are clean, and current condition, would sell ties, but remember that there's that there aren't any missing a group out there for virtually buttons, broken zippers or for in a thrift store," explains Weiner. A program like Turbo stains. every donatioa If you have You could actually cost the a prom dress that you know Tax's ItsDeductible might be helpfuL Remember to always you'll never wear again, it charity money if they have might be better appreciated by to spend a lot of time sorting get that 501(3)(c) number and a group like the Glass Slipper through donations to get rid of a receipt once the goods have Project in Chicago, which will your old socks or that ripped changed hands. Chatzky free to a girl who cant afford to buy one. HERALD C11 How much is a billion? d School Figueredo counts his former MIT classmates among the advisers he still learns from. Your local chamber of commerce might be able to help you find a mentor, or a trade association. And don't forget about SCORE, the organization of retired executives who give free advice, in person or online, to small businesses. You can find a SCORE adviser through its Web site, www.score.org. Some business owners need to go back to school not to learn a new skill or subject, but to keep up with changes, often Continued from C12 find a list online at www.sba. govaboutsbasbaprograms sbdcsbdclocatorindex.html. Some of the courses are free, while others are quite low-coalthough keep in mind that your tuition, no matter where you go to learn, is most likely deductible when it comes time to compile your income tax st return There are also ways of learning. Finding a mentor who's willing to help you learn as you run your company might also fill your needs. in technology. Brenda Sullivan, owner Farmers and customers post thank-youHe said the work requires business savvy and creative Continued from C12 thinking to control costs and optimize sales, and Wenk is expand the business in a new direction." thinking about ways to expand. "If I wanted to make a Wenk, 23, became the sev-- , enth generation to work Three small fortune and retire at Springs Fruit Farm after gradu- 55, 1 wouldn't have gone into agriculture. But I look at these ating from Penn State last fall beautiful rolling hills and think, with a degree in agroecology, the science of sustainable farm- this is my office," he said. e Such enthusiasm runs counplot ing. He added a ter to the notion of farming for tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash and melons that he as a dying vocation of dreary; thankless work. brings to Philadelphia farmers markets. "People always say, 'Oh, Wenk created a MySpace farming is a hard life,"' said Dawn Buzby of A.T. Buzby page for the farm, where fruit and veg weather conditions are posted Farm, a s. half-acr- 55-ac- of BLS Communications, a San Diego-base- d public relations business, is in the midst of obtaining a certificate in digital design. She's been doing design for years, and handled some projects for her clients, but "the last couple of years, the technology has just grown by leaps and bounds. ... I have started to feel like the technology was getting away from me." It will take a year and a half to complete the certificate at the University of California, San Diego, but already, Sullivan said, "when I work with graphic designers, I feel so much more confident." ' etable farm in Woodstown, N.J. "Sure there are hard parts the weather, the hours but doesn't every job have hard parts? Overall, it's a very satisfying, very rewarding career." Buzby, who with her husband has been farming for 20 years, welcomes the fresh crop of people entering the farming field including her son, a recent college about So what about the 95 percent of businesses that don't hit the big time? Are they less billion-doll- Stories deals are in the n daily. Carl used to regale us with the mysteries of the "billions and biilions" of stars in the universe. The population of China is more than 1.32 billion, or h about of the world's Sa-ga- successful? Dont automatically as- one-fift- populatioa A billion is a big number, no matter what you're talking about. Most of us cant begin to comprehend just how much a billion is, but a friend sent me some statistics to put it into perspective. (Alexander B. Trowbridge, Jr., former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, presented similar statistics a number of years ago; these have been updated.) I A billion seconds ago it was 1975 (1,000,000,000 seconds about 31.7 years). I A billion minutes ago it was 100 A.D. (1,000,000,000 minutes 1902.5 years). I A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age (1,000,000,000 hours about 114,155 years). A billion days ago nobody walked on the Earth at least on two' feet (1,000,000,000 days 2,739,726 years). Why is it important to think in terms of billions and trillions, when most of us would be happy to see a million dollars? It's the world we live in, and in all likelihood, those colossal numbers will only get bigger. Not only do large companies employ huge numbers of workers, they determine how we live, and in many cases, tell us what we need. But they still have to respond to customers' demands in order to stay profitable. Telecommunications companies, computer giants, x stores, autoajrlines, insurance makers, companies and even Tiger Woods and Martha Stewart are billion-dollindustries. How much is $1 billion worth of cheesecake? Ask the Cheesecake big-bo- ar graduate who returned to farm e and also works the farmers markets. "The new blood entering farming is a great trend that has really energized longtime farmers," she said. "There's a lot of enthusiasm out there." Harvey Mackay Positive Struggles Factory, which topped a billion in sales a year or so ago. No, there are not a billion Starbucks locations, but they make money like there are. And three different dollar-stor- e chains are in the top 100 retailers, all with sales in the billion-dolla- r range. That's a lot of $ litems. But my personal favorite of the stories has to be YouTube, founded in February 2005 as a medium to allow people to upload and share video clips (some serious, some downright outrageous). In October 2006, Google acquired YouTube for a whopping $1.65 billion in stock. Just for the record, YouTube delivers 100 million video views every day (that's 1 billion every 10 days), with 65,000 new videos uploaded daily. In fact, about 5 percent of U.S. companies (about 450) that went public since 1980 have reached $1 billion in sales. How did these companies do it? According to Fortune Small Business, they followed one of three paths: mega-succe- ss I Created an entirely new market for their products and services (like Microsoft). Redefined an existing sume bigger is better. If small business is the backbone of America, big business is the muscle. We need both Not every business is cut out for enormous growth, and not every manager or employee thrives in the World of a Lot of Zeroes. What is most important, in my view, is that every business, regardless of size, treats each customer as though they are one in a billion. Treats them like their only customer ... and their most important customer. Addresses their needs and listens to their concerns. Maintains high standards of quality and service. Looks at the customer as a single person and not just another demographic. Then, and only then, will success follow. Customers, after all, will be a major determining factor in the growth of any company. If a company wants to reach the $ 1 billion sales mark, it had better spend a lot of time finding ways to keep people happy. If a company wants to reach the $100,000 mark, it also had better spend a lot of time finding ways to keep people happy. Mackay's Moral: The biggest companies in the country have billions of reasons to keep their customers satisfied. I Harvey Mackay is the author of The New York Times' No. 1 bestseller "Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive. " He can be reached through his Web site, www. harveymackay.com, by harveymackay. com or by writing him at MackayMitchell Envelope Co, 2100 Elm St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. market (Starbucks). I Underpriced the competition (Staples and Home Depot). full-tim- (HMF to I I 1 I Vrt-TJ- VJ 1 i iii .f UUU IN Website for News and Information in Central Utah. tm QOSOO00 odO 0OD mm smsm m mm sm flCDSuttSE) GBSE6 1S?v SHSD AUTC3DAHNr I FINE FUBN1TUBE FOB LESS ( i - mfity SMS) j - .... |