The 10 Riskiest Businesses To Start

While some two-thirds of small firms make it past the two-year mark, just 44% can hack it for four years, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And by "hack it," we're just talking survival rates here: Plenty of those "survivors" are choking down ramen noodles to keep the lights on.

If those odds don't scare you off, consider too that some industries may be inherently tougher to crack than others. Your friends might think that you rival Mario Batali in the kitchen, or that you can go sole for sole with the likes of Kenneth Cole. But the sober truth is that it takes more than talent to run a restaurant, a clothing boutique and a host of other ventures. Sadly, some of the most enticing industries are also the riskiest.

Good data on business failures are hard to find. At first blush, BLS figures suggest that failure rates are consistent across industries. Yet those industry groupings are very broad, capturing the entire universe of small companies in just 10 general buckets. For example, restaurants are lumped into the larger "leisure and hospitality" bucket, including more stable outfits like hotels. Some economists chalk up failure rates to other factors, such as location, the experience level of management teams and whether companies are able to nab venture funding.

Lets have a quick look at the top 10 riskiest businesses to start.

1. Transportation
2. Apparel Stores
3. Restaurants & Bars
4. Communications
5. Travel Agency & Tour Operators
6. Food Stores
7. Personal Services
8. Auto Repair
9. Trucking
10. Money Service Businesses
    

You can find the complete list...here

(Source: Forbes.com)

Top 10 energy saving measures

They say you have to speculate to accumulate and, by following these top 10 energy saving measures below, you're guaranteed a great return on your investment, both financially and environmentally.

The energy saving measures below could help you shave up alot of money off your annual energy bill and enable you to reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by two tonnes. Here's how you do it.

1. Don't leave appliances on standby
2. Install at least 3 Energy Saving Recommended bulbs.
3. Only boil as much water as you need
4. Insulate your loft
5. Install cavity wall insulation
6. Upgrade your boiler
7. Buy Energy Saving Recommended appliances
8. Turn your thermostat down by 1^oC
9. Wash your laundry at 30^oC
10. Don't use the car for short journeys

You can find complete list...here

(Source: est.org.uk)

Top 10 Myths about Business Innovation

If you are worrying about innovation, take heart. Only successful companies do. By contrast, unsuccessful companies either aren't around to do any worrying or are consumed with more pressing concerns, like meeting payroll or paying their bills. At the other end of the spectrum, venture-backed start-ups have lots of worries, but innovating isn't one of them - they actually worry more about not innovating, as in let's not waste our scarce resources reinventing wheels that others have already developed.

But you are not a start-up. You have some success, some momentum, and therefore some inertia, and it is the inertia that has you worried. By design inertia resists change. This is a good thing, as long as you are headed in a direction you want to go. But when the market changes, inertia acts against your future interests. Now you are right to be worried.

So you raise the topic of innovation in hopes of getting some insight. With that in mind, let us go through the Top 10 Myths about Business Innovation:

10. We don't innovate around here any more.
9. Product life cycles are getting shorter and shorter.
8. We need a Chief Innovation Officer.
7. We need to be more like Google.
6. R&D investment is a good indicator of innovation commitment.
5. Great innovators are usually egotistical mavericks.
4. innovation is inherently disruptive.
3. It is good to innovate.
2. Innovation is hard.
1. When innovation dies, it's because the antibodies kill it.

You can find the complete article...here

(Source: Sandhill.com)

Top 10 US killer tornadoes

The United States gets about 1000 recorded tornadoes every year. Today, only a few are killers, but that has not always been so. About 200 US tornadoes have killed 18 or more people. Of those, about 150 occurred in the 70 year period between 1879 and 1949. There have been about 45 tornadoes since 1950 that have killed 18 or more people. In the 1950s, there were 18 tornadoes that killed 18 or more people. In the 1960s, there were 12 tornadoes that killed 18 or more people. In the 1970s,there were 11 tornadoes that killed 18 or more people. And in the 1980s, there were only 2 tornadoes that killed more than 18 people. In spite of an ever-burgeoning population, death figures continue to go down as improved forecasting, detection, communications, and public awareness increase.

You can find the top 10 US killer tornadoes here...