| Australian Billionaire To Build Titanic II Posted: 30 Apr 2012 11:42 AM PDT 
Cleveland.com: An Australian billionaire said Monday he’ll build a high-tech replica of the Titanic at a Chinese shipyard and its maiden voyage in late 2016 will be from England to New York, just like its namesake planned. Weeks after the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the original Titanic, Clive Palmer announced Monday he has signed a memorandum of understanding with state-owned Chinese company CSC Jinling Shipyard to build the Titanic II. “It will be every bit as luxurious as the original Titanic, but … will have state-of-the-art 21st-century technology and the latest navigation and safety systems,” Palmer said in a statement. He called the project “a tribute to the spirit of the men and women who worked on the original Titanic.” 
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| Dinner Etiquette Classes for Children Posted: 30 Apr 2012 11:11 AM PDT 
Do your children embarrass you when you take them out to a fancy dinner? The Kensington Hotel in London is now offering etiquette classes for children aged five to 10 “the gamut of table manners – correct posture; how to hold a knife and fork properly; the importance of ‘please’ and ‘thank you’; conversation dos and don’ts – over sandwiches, cakes and tea, it sounded like the answer to my prayers.” The hotel created the classes after surveying 2,000 parents and discovering that 48 per cent were embarrassed by their children’s table manners, and that 19 per cent have had to leave a restaurant due to their kids’ bad behavior. Worrying about how their offspring will behave in restaurants is apparently the biggest cause of stress for 28 per cent of parents. I’m sure that these stresses are true on both sides of the Atlantic. Someone should get on this opportunity here, immediately! 
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| Secret to Success: Free Ice Water Posted: 30 Apr 2012 10:55 AM PDT 
Wall Drug was the quintessential struggling small businesses in a dieing small town in 1936, when it stepped back and examined its intrinsic resources and realized that its key to success was free ice water: One hot Sunday in July, though, a great change swept us up. It started quietly, in the deadening heat of an early afternoon, when Dorothy said to me, “You don’t need me here, Ted. I’m going to put Billy and the baby down for a nap and maybe take one myself.” I minded the empty store. I swatted flies with a rolled-up newspaper. I stood in the door, and no matter where I looked, there was no shade, because the sun was so high and fierce. An hour later Dorothy came back. “Too hot to sleep?” I asked. “No, it wasn’t the heat that kept me awake,” Dorothy said. “It was all the cars going by on Route 16A. The jalopies just about shook the house to pieces.” “That’s too bad,” I said. “No, because you know what, Ted? I think I finally saw how we can get all those travelers to come to our store.” “And how’s that?” I asked.
“Well, now what is it that those travelers really want after driving across that hot prairie? They’re thirsty. They want water. Ice cold water! Now we’ve got plenty of ice and water. Why don’t we put up signs on the highway telling people to come here for free ice water? Listen, I even made up a few lines for the sign: “Get a soda … Get a root beer … turn next corner … Just as near … To Highway 16 & 14… Free Ice Water… Wall Drug.” It wasn’t Wordsworth, but I was willing to give it a try. During the next few days a high school boy and I put together some signs. We modeled them after the old Burma Shave highway signs. Each phrase of Dorothy’s little poem went on a 12 by 36 inch board. We’d space the boards out so the people could read them as they drove. The next weekend the boy and I went out to the highway and put up our signs for free ice water. I must admit that I felt somewhat silly doing it, but by the time I got back to the store, people had already begun showing up for their ice water. Dorothy was running all around to keep up. I pitched in alongside her. “Five glasses of ice water, please,” a father called out. “May I have a glass for Grandma?” a boy asked. “She’s in the car.” We ran through our supply of cracked ice. I began chiseling more off the block. “Say, good sir,” one traveler said in a Scottish brogue, “we’re going all the way to Yellowstone Park. Would you mind filling this jug with your water?” “Hey this free ice water is a great idea,” said a salesman, sidling up onto a stool. “How about selling me an ice cream cone?” Step back, and find your free ice water! 
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| Today in Entrepreneurial History: April 30 Posted: 30 Apr 2012 06:47 AM PDT 
A video of Porky’s Hair Hunt is below.
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| What Is Your Business Website Missing? Posted: 29 Apr 2012 11:30 PM PDT 
Not sure if your website is complete? Here are some features you may want to add: Put your location, phone number and hours near the top on every page of your website. Why at the top? So mobile and smartphone users can find it with less scrolling and zooming. Include the name of your town and state. If I found you by searching, I may not know what town you’re in! I throw in a photo of my store building so customers can recognize it when they are driving to find it.
How does your website compare to this list of things shared by Small Business Survival? Photo by Sean MacEntee 
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| The History Of The Twisted Pretzel Posted: 29 Apr 2012 11:30 PM PDT 
Soft or hard, have you ever wondered where the idea for a twisted pretzel was first born? Here is a little background on the first soft pretzel: The most widespread story is that the first pretzels were invented by a monk in 610 A.D. During the season of Lent in northern Italy, the monk is said to have been baking unleavened bread, when he thought of a way to reward children for memorizing prayers. He twisted the dough, so it resembled arms crossed in prayer and named his creation "pretiola," which means "little reward" in Latin. Other sources say that something similar occurred, but in a monastery in southern France. There are also theories that the pretzel originated in Germany by a desperate baker, who would only be acquitted from a jail sentence if he could make a small cake, through which the sun could shine three times. It is said that he created the "bretzel," which was adapted in English as the "pretzel."
Photo by snowpea&bokchoi 
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| Gelatissimo: From Small Family Biz To International Franchise Posted: 29 Apr 2012 10:30 PM PDT 
Dynamic Business: The passion for making quality gelato has been ingrained in the guys since they worked for their father's gelato bar in Crows Nest in the early nineties. "The family learnt how to make gelato from cousins of ours from the south of Italy. Southern Italy is very well known for sweets and desserts, especially Calabria and Sicily. They're very quality conscious of ingredients and making sure the finished product tastes incredibly good," Domenico explains. "When dad started this gelato bar it was all about making sure people get quality product." After their father sold the bar, the new owners decided that they'd like to continue ordering their gelato, and a wholesale gelato business was born as new customers came on board. "I was working part-time as a waiter in a restaurant at Leichhardt and they knew that I made gelato during the day so they said 'let's try some'", Domenico recalls. "I used to pack ice into the back of the car, make gelato and take it to the restaurant. I started to get to know a lot of people in Norton Street and I started to supply to people. Opening their first Gelatissimo store in 2002 was a huge step for the brothers, who had been working for their father since they were young. Now Gelatissimo is a successful chain, with 24 stores across Australia and more than 15 stores overseas. In order to cope with this expansion, the joint CEOs decided to franchise the concept.
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