Tasty Burrito at Bubbakoo's

My wife and I recently walked the boardwalk at Ling Branch (New Jersey) and had a great time. I was famished after we finished, but wasn't in the mood for anything on the boardwalk (I really wanted a burrito). On the way back, on Route 36 in West Long Branch, my wife noticed a place that offered burritos (took a picture of the sign out front).

We stopped inside and noticed a couple of things right away (1) it was really clean (2) the people who worked there were really cool (3) there was a fun atmosphere inside. I ordered a barbeque chicken burrito with the works:

As I tried to capture with my photo of the burrito, it was really tasty...loved it and inhaled this large burrito in less than 10 minutes. My wife had a rice bowl that she thought was delicious..."well-seasoned and aromatic....it was delicious." There are 6 locations; I would recommend Bubbakoo's (http://www.bubbakoosburritos.com/) to anyone seeking an alternative to Chipotle.

Piperi Mediterranean Grill: Delicious Food for a Great Price

I recently visited Boston, MA with my wife. We had just finished a Duck Tour, and since she enjoys walking, we started to walk towards Boston Common from the Museum of Science. Along the way, my wife became very hungry (I had a big breakfast and so was not hungry), so we started to look for a place to eat. We stumbled upon Piperi Mediterranean Grill (http://piperi.com/). Piperi is located on One Beacon Street near Tremont Street.

Picture of the sign for Piperi from right outside the restaurant

The restaurant was just opening for the day, and we were greeted very warmly by the owner Tim Oliveri. My wife was starved, so she ordered a salad while I chatted a bit with Tim and his colleagues. It winds up 

this was the first location for Piperi, but I doubt it will be the only location because the food was absolutely delicious for a great price. I didn't have the chance to take a picture of the salad my wife got before she started devouring it, but here is a picture of her salad shortly after she started:

Delicious salad with lots of healthy and tasty ingredients

The salad had hummus, Greek olives, grilled chicken, tomatoes, feta cheese, and more. She could not finish the salad since the serving size was very healthy, so I finished it several hours later. Even after sitting for several hours, this was literally one of the tastiest salads I have ever eaten.

   I urge you to visit Piperi. The salad was tasty, healthy, and affordable, and the owner (Tim) and his colleagues made us feel very welcome and at home in their restaurant. Piperi can be found on Google maps by clicking the following URL: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=piperi+mediterranean+grill&ll=42.358718,-71.06015&spn=0.009625,0.019805&fb=1&gl=us&hq=piperi+mediterranean+grill&cid=0,0,10715069004210327462&t=m&z=16&iwloc=A

Good starter book for prospective small business owners

I love the Dummies series of books. When I first started forming my businesses, I read and absorbed a lot from Small Business Kit for Dummies (http://www.amazon.com/Small-Business-Kit-For-Dummies/dp/0764559842%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAIAA4MWUJXHBYFRNQ%26tag%3DSquid692641-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0764559842)

Try it out.....if you're about to start a business I bet it can help you too.

Minimize your administrative work with liability insurance (this post is not legal advice :) )

Many small business owners have lots of great ideas that would work for completely different market segments. As a sole proprietor, one might be tempted to enhance liability protection by not only forming a limited liability company (LLC), but forming multiple LLCs, each of which caters to the different market segments. The rationale here could be something like the following: "I can focus more specifically on each customer base with separate businesses, for example by providing a separate customer website for each business. I can also protect my assets better this way, because if I am sued, the limit of my liability should be restricted to this one business, while the other LLCs would survive. Forming a single member LLC is not very expensive, and neither are annual reports, so this should be a great strategy". Now, while this strategy does have its merits, the administrative hassle may be too much of a burden to bear. For example, good practice would be to write an operating agreement for each business and open a separate bank account for each business. All activities should be tracked with documentation, again, separately for each business. In addition, you will have to file a separate annual report for each business, and keep profit and loss statements for each to report to the IRS. Furthermore, deductions must be strictly tracked for each separate business. Is this beginning to sound like a headache yet?
A better strategy to protect your assets and minimize hassle may be to keep all of these ideas within one business and simply purchase liability insurance. Liability insurance is not expensive (about $400 to $500 per year), which is around the same amount in fees you would pay to register 2 or 3 new businesses with a state (depends on the state). If you have multiple ideas for separate segments of the population, you might be better off having a website developed for each major idea instead of forming a separate LLC for each major idea!

National Motor Club of America: Great Travel Services at a Great Price

   I have recently had the pleasure of learning about National Motor Club of America Inc. (NMC) from Mr. Anthony Barfield, a sales representative of the company. On his recommendation that his company's services are both of the highest quality and very affordable, I browsed through his company's website (http://nmc.com/repnumber/55025). Needless to say, I was impressed.
   The list of services offered by NMC span both travel safety information services and financial security products. From emergency roadside assistance to trip planning, vehicle rental discounts, and even a healthcare savings plan, it seems that any frequent driver would benefit greatly from this service. At a price of only $20 a month for a slew of services (see website for the full list), it's easy to see why a frequent driver would choose NMC for not only quality and variety of services, but peace of mind when making roadtrips! 

Try these open source programs instead of paying for software

Here are some open source software packages you might want to try before paying hefty sums for commercial software.

1. Accounting - GnuCash (http://www.gnucash.org)
2. Accounting - TurboCash (http://www.turbocash.net/)
3. Enterprise Resource Planning - Compiere (http://www.compiere.com/products/download/index.php)
4. Enterprise Resource Planning - SQL Ledger (http://www.sql-ledger.com/)
5. Open Office - http://www.openoffice.org/index4-passthru.html?utm_expid=57643286-7&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
6. Other Accounting Software - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_accounting_software#Free_and_open_source_software
7. Website Design Editor - KompoZer (http://www.kompozer.net/)

Technorati Claim Code

EHSR7NFZ4ECE



OK...checking to see if I can verify this!

AEI Learning Center: A Small Business Offering Great Tutoring Deals

I have recently become aware of the Advanced Education Institute (AEI), a small learning center at 186 Boundary Road in Marlboro NJ. They offer students preparatory courses for the SAT and other standardized exams and also work with tutors to provide students with individualized tutoring. Their pricing is excellent and so are their instructors. If your student is looking to prepare for a standardized test like the SAT, you will get great value here. To contact them, call 732-845-4786.

Great art gallery and excellent customer service at Evalyn Dunn Gallery

I recently went to Evalyn Dunn Gallery (549 South Avenue West, Westfield, NJ) to get some custom framing done on a painting. I had never been there before, but as soon as I stepped in the gallery I was made to feel like I was working with professionals. The owners were very attentive and answered all of my questions. The price they gave me for the frame was very reasonable in my opinion, and they even promised to finish my frame earlier to meet the date I needed it by. I was very impressed by the service and the gallery, where they have lots of great art for sale. Check out there website at http://evalyndunnsgallery.com/.

Great pizza at one of my favorite NJ pizzerias

During the Super Bowl, I stopped by the Krispy Pizza at 2323 County Road 516 in Old Bridge, NJ. I was really in the mood for some pizza during the Super Bowl, and as usual, Krispy Pizza delivered. They have an excellent vodka sauce and sicilian pizza, and I also really enjoy their Tuscany pizza. My mom usually has the pepper and eggs sub which they do realy well (she wasn't there that day), and since the owners are really great guys, they even asked me how my parents were doing and told me to say hi to them. You can check out their main website at http://www.krispypizza.com. I have only been to the Old Bridge location but I have never been disappointed. Since I love pizza, they are, without a doubt, one of my favorite NJ businesses.

Excellent Website for Small Business Tips

Check out http://www.businessknowhow.com/. Included on this site are some really excellent ideas on how to start and market a business, especially if you are not drowning in capital. They even include some tips on how to make a little extra money for your business.

Some Great Tips for Small/Micro Businesses

I just finished reading some of the content at http://www.whatbizopp.com/. They have some good tips for small business owners. Go to the bottom of the home page and click on 'Business Opportunities'. The content is well written by Mr. Mark Hempshell.....some great tips are included here!

www.mbaprojectsearch.com is a Great website for working with talented MBAs

I recently started an online educational services company, VTC E-ducational Solutions (http://www.virtualtutorcenter.com) and have been looking for a couple of months now (on various media) for talented marketing consultants without having to pay thousands of dollars. I was recommended to MBAProjectSearch.com and posted (for free) a description of what I was looking for. Within a couple of weeks, I have been introduced to two talented business students who seem like they have a lot of potential to help my business grow, I would recommend using this site; it was easy to use and helpful for my purposes (see http://www.mbaprojectsearch.com).