Idaho, Texas rank as friendliest business states

(May 8, 2012) -- Today Thumbtack.com, in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation, released new data showing that Idaho, Texas, Oklahoma and Utah all earned A-plus ratings for their friendliness toward small businesses.  In contrast, small business owners gave California, Hawaii, Vermont, and Rhode Island an ‘F,’ while New York narrowly avoided this lowest category with a 'D' grade. 

How much money does your service department make?

(May 7, 2012) -- If your techs are extremely efficient, comparing work order time with collect time, but have a large discrepancy with premise time to work order time, then you are losing time to interval, breaks and other items you may want to start to measure. Analyze where your technicians’ time is being spent and focus on making that time productive.  A 1 percent increase in productivity for four technicians at $100 per hour will increase your annual revenue by $8,000.

Sobel explores why buyers spend more

(May 7, 2012) -- "Often when purchasing stereo/electronics, computers, cell phones, lawn mowers and even groceries, we elect to spend more to get more," said Sobel. "Getting more is also not just limited to quantity or quality. "This is how we are trained as consumers. This video gives powerful word tracks that help your client put the purchasing experience in the right order to ensure the highest level of satisfaction."

Gulf Coast RVs showroom now open in Dubai

(May 7, 2012) -- Gulf Coast RVs, the Middle East’s first specialist retailer of luxury RVs, officially opened its doors at an exclusive VIP event on Saturday evening. The showroom, located on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, offers a premium range of motorhomes, travel trailers and caravans, reports Trade Arabia.

Top 10 things RVers need to know about ticks

(May 7, 2012) -- Tick-transmitted infections are more common these days than in past decades. With explosive increases in deer populations, extending even into semi-urban areas in the eastern and western United States, the trend is for increasing abundance and geographic spread of deer ticks and Lone Star ticks. Scientists are finding an ever-increasing list of disease-causing microbes transmitted by these ticks.