Business Model Chatter

 I took a business class while attending Louisiana Tech at night (while in the Air Force).  It was an interesting class because the professor (masters degree and all) had gone out five years prior with an idea....then failed miserably in 18 months.  He went through a learning process...writing up his own paper (30 pages) of where he went wrong in the process of building a business model.

He was brutally honest in the class....what he had been taught in the late 1960s for his degree...was great on paper, but in apply all that crap to reality, it was mostly worthless information.  It was stuff that college couldn't teach.

We spent 2.5 hours that night covering the singular topic, and I will admit....I had a lot of wise professors with Louisiana Tech...but this guy impressed me.

I left that night fairly well consumed on the topic of business models.  You have to have a written model in planning a business, and have an understanding of local/state taxes.  It impressed upon me....you have to account for sales taxes, property taxes, and the social security taxes of your employees.  You also have to plan out the cost of monthly operations with salary, and to be successful....you need plus-numbers.  

Meaning of plus-numbers?  You have to start out expecting dismal numbers for the first six months, and eventually see a trend developing where there is profit.  If at the first year concluding....this has yet to happen, you need to prepare for an end-process.

I sat this week looking at the California pursuit of $20-an-hour for restaurant workers.  Whatever business model they had for 2023....it's dissolved entirely now.

A burger operation now concerned?  If you had a burger-men dinner for $12 to $14 in 2023....under the new model.....you probably are selling the same menu for $16 to $18 now.  Figure the upswing on costs with taxation?  There's probably another 50-cents made for the state and local community.  

But here's the full impact....other folks (non-restaurant workers) now want the $20-an-hour deal.  Politicians?  Now in trouble.

People outside of California?  Well....they will want the $20-an-hour deal as well.  So at some point, you will see some Louisiana gas station, or some Alabama pancake 'house' doubling up their prices because their employees won't work for $15-an-hour anymore.....they want that California deal ($20).

Imagine driving up to bar where you used stop on Thursday nights after work....spending a couple of bucks on beer, and buying a $12 plate of food....but now....by the time you wrap up the beer, food and chatter with the buddies....you've spent $30. 

What I see coming?  I think a whole bunch of people are going to cut back on their budget, and just say 'no'.....they can't spend freely anymore.

That's the new reality.  And your business models?  Well....they will dissolve away. 

NPR Chatter

 

There was a fair amount of chatter yesterday across Twitter...over NPR.

The trend?  Well....'clicks' upon NPR-related stories are way down....probably by 60-percent.  

A key-player within NPR also admitted that a fair number of the employees are now far-left in political beliefs.

Fixable?  No.....you can't release or fire the group without a massive court episode.

From the 1980s through most of the 1990s....I listened to 30 min a day (mostly when jogging) on average of NPR.  Around 2004, I gave up on the network....considering more or less a propaganda organization.

My fix?  I'd go to the states and public stations that the US government finances (not NPR itself).....and just do a 50-percent cut on their money.  Then I'd tell them....each year....it'll be another 50-percent cut.  At that point, the listening audience within 3 years will be so dismal....that NPR will just dissolve itself.

Three Things You Eventually Figure Out

 1.  As grocery stores in metro areas of the US are experiencing serious theft problems...perhaps seeing $100,000 a day go out the door....they have to reassign a pricing scheme to make up for losses.  

So you have stores saying product X that was $7.99....throughout the US....is now $8.99.

The store in rural Tennessee without much theft?  Well....they simply you pass you to the $8.99 pricing, to help the poor store in SF with it's losses.

So you are paying for inflation, and for SF crime....even thought you've never been to SF.

2.  As much as wrestling is 'faked-up'.....it's now dawned upon 75-percent of the nation....that politics is equal to wrestling, and just as 'fake-up'.  When you see these interviews.....'Bulldog' and 'Rico' about to get rough on the announcer, and you then watch Senator 'Bulldog' and House member 'Rico'.....it's the same thing.

3.  A 75-year old guy who graduated ONLY from high school....would be considered at college-level today....because he's more 'gifted' and intelligent than the high school kid finishing school today.  So you pause over this, and why?

My View of the WNBA

 The first game I watched of WNBA (women's basketball) was around 2012 (12 years ago).  It was crappy play....both teams had one decent player each....the camera guys were careful not to show the stands.  I would imagine at best....maybe 5,000 folks in the arena.

Over the past year, I've watched probably six games of the Iowa women's team.  They were sharp....prepared, and the games were thrilling to view.

Based on perception....I think at least four of the national teams are more than capable of playing WNBA teams and most nights....beating them by ten points minimum.

The problem with the WNBA?  They just have never improved.  Each team  markets themselves with one pure star and the rest are just average players.

Attendance average?  5,000 to 8,000 per night.  You figure $30 per ticket (for the lesser seats)....so with 7,000 folks....you might have $210,000 made off tickets, and another $250,000 off drinks, food, and parking.  So a half-million per night.  

You go and pay the arena for heat, security.....then you pay for coaches, travel, hotels, and ref's...there's no doubt on my view.....the NBA has to be funneling a quarter-million each month for each team....to keep them surviving.

Five Things To Happen By 2030

 1.  The NCAA girl's basketball program will falter as trans-ladies arrive and demand entry.  

2.  The WNBA (women NBA program) will dissolve because trans-women arrive and demand to be on teams, with the LGTBQ-plus folks highly upset about this, and creating a massive dividend with lesbians throughout the US.

3.  Both the Air Force and Army will fail miserably in recruitment and attempt to get Congress to 'draft' people.  This will become a huge issue, with more than 75-percent of the public against it.

4.  The owners of Star Wars....shuts down production for a period of ten years....because of so many failed movies.

5.  Republicans start to bring up that so many blacks lack IDs....that they can't do banking business across the nation.  The news media will be forced to admit this is a bunch of BS.  

Clock Story

 

I paused over this story in the AM today.

Analogue clocks in schools are being eliminated...because kids can't read 'time'.

I pondered....what happened.

After I joined the Air Force, I sorta got into the 24-hour time business....so when you said 16:44....I knew immediately it was 4:44 PM. I even knew the 16:44 L (local time) versus 16:44 GMT (meaning hours ahead).

It wasn't rocket-science.

I stepped into a watch display area last year, and it's interesting how the bulk of watches (probably 60-percent) are still analog in terms of nature.

But if you look around at the 16-to-20 year old kids (male/female)....no one much is wearing a watch.  If you asked for the time....they'd pull out the smart-phone and cite the digital time displayed.

This happening in one single generation?  That's the odd thing.  

The Most Entertaining 5 Minutes of My Life

 About six years ago....I went to NY City....six days.

Around day 3, I walked into a Starbucks (near the Hotel Roosevelt).  Six ladies ran it.  

It hit me in the line (before I'd ordered) that all six had ear, nose, and lip piercings....to the extreme.  Tattoos?  Yeah....all  over their arms and necks.  From my imagination....I'm just guessing I asked.....each had at least 20-odd 'other' piercings/tattoos....in places I couldn't observe.

I order my coffee and stood there waiting.

I really wanted to take my camera out, and take pictures....but the risk factor of getting beat-up was too much.

You don't see this kind of thing in Alabama, or for that matter...in Germany.  In the 1970s....they could have hired out to traveling circus shows and charged folks $3 for a 3-minute viewing.