Home cooking businesses are probably the oldest and first type of businesses that ever existed!

I’ve seen so many home cooking & baking businesses around me thrive and becoming very successful!

If running your own home cooking business is something you want to do, go for it!

You don’t need to be a certified cook! You don’t need to know everything about opening and running a company. A lot is learned by simply doing!

You also have enough material to start! You are already cooking and eating every day! Start with what you have and grow as you are getting more customers. You absolutely do not need any capital to start with! What you have in your kitchen today is enough!

Packaging is very easy to find online and nutritional labels are very easy to make as well:

Create & Generate Nutrition Labels | Nutritional Label Creator Software | Recipe Costing | Inventory Management | ReciPal

The best way to get your name out there is to sell to family & friends first!

I also love Local Markets! Most of them are amazing with a great community! The best way to turn your hobby into a part-time or even full-time job, is to consider starting with your local farmer’s markets. This is a great way to test the waters, listen to customer feedback and learn more about what products sell the best!

Most markets have a website where you can apply. Otherwise, attend the market and ask to speak to a market manager. Most vendors require you to sell your own handmade products.

The majority of farmers’ markets will not charge any application fees. In general, you should only have to pay for your rental spot! 

It’s Game Time!

The board game industry has seen a major shift in recent years. More and more creative individuals have gotten on board with independent game designing and self-publishing.

There are more games to choose from than ever before, yet, consumers still want even more. It’s possible that you can make money designing and selling board games.

Having playtesters is going to be a must! You could have your friends and family test your game (and you should get feedback from as many people as possible) however, it’s probably a good idea to pay some playtesters to find problems with your game and give you their thoughts.

Once your game is ready for production you can sell your design to a production company, or you could produce it yourself. You’ll probably make more money self-producing your game! If you’re hoping to achieve success as a game designer, take your time to test at least 3 game ideas.

Marketing is going to be key! Many board games fail because they aren’t marketed well. There are a lot of marketing strategies out there, but you don’t need something over the top. A website where you can showcase your games should be able to do the job. You can also consider starting a YouTube channel where you could give overviews of your game, host playthroughs, or even give behind the scenes insights into the design of the game. This could also help you make money to support your games through advertiser revenue.

Adjusting to a new lifestyle is not easy for everyone. The anxiety and stress of relocating or sometimes just moving places within the same country can affect your mental health and overall your well-being.

I have been moving places since the age of 2! Sometimes it is about starting over and sometimes it is simply about progressing in your life!

Adapting to a new lifestyle will highly depend on your intention of moving abroad and your overall preparation for it!

Finding a balance between your work and lifestyle is going to be crucial! One of the things I love the most about opening my company and moving to the US is the beautiful time I now have for myself!

Give yourself sufficient time to adjust. Adapting to living overseas should be a gradual process. Don’t push yourself too much when you are in the process of adjusting to a new environment.

Join various social groups to build a strong network. Volunteering is one of my favorite activities!

It is commonly known that exercise can be helpful for your mental health both at home and abroad. Keep your health a priority and make sure to associate yourself with people that think the same way when it comes to staying active!

Don’t expect to settle down immediately when you live overseas – it will take time, so enjoy the process.

Whether you’re trying to gain access to international markets, have a product or service that is more appealing to a foreign market than domestic customers or simply want to take advantage of a new business-friendly environment, there are many reasons for starting a business overseas.

Go where you can easily make money! Capitalist countries are always going to be the best!

Capitalism is an economic system where private entities own the factors of production. The four factors are entrepreneurship, capital goods, natural resources, and labor.

Monetarist economist, Milton Friedman, suggested that democracy can exist only in a capitalistic society.

The United States is mostly capitalist and the U.S. Constitution protects the free market however, it doesn't rank among the 10 countries with the freest markets, according to the Index of Economic Freedom: https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking

Here are the top 10 most capitalist countries:

Businesses play a vital role in any country’s economy. Small to medium-sized businesses alone employ nearly half the working population and account for around 20% of a country’s GDP on average.

After a conflict, war or natural disaster surviving businesses may benefit from massive external aids, or the disappearance of competition, however, they will suffer profound consequences.

There are several reasons why smaller companies with less than 10 employees are able to bounce back more quickly.

Private clubs are always going to be relevant and will always exist!

A club is an association of people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities. There are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth. 

Historically, clubs have always existed in all countries. Organizations of the sort have existed for many years, as evidenced by Ancient Greek clubs and associations (collegia) in Ancient Rome. 

It is uncertain whether the use of the word "club" originated in its meaning of a knot of people, or from the fact that the members "clubbed" together to pay the expenses of their gatherings.

Joining a club enriches your life! Being part of a club/society will help you gain knowledge, communication, and group development among other things! You will feel the change in yourself.

It's the best way to meet people. Being an active member of a club solves a big issue of finding people and networking. The benefit of being a member of a community allows you to learn something along with bonding with people and have fun.

It's one of the best ways to travel! Literally and figuratively! From cultural galas to volunteer trip, you never know what experiences are waiting for you on the other side of the road. The more you participate, the more experience you will gain. Being part of a community provides you with that.

How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie

1. A person’s name is the sweetest and most important sound in any language

Remember names and pictures! People's name is the most important thing in the world. Learn how to spell it and pronounce it! Always call people by their full name. Why do we build donor walls for nonprofit? Why do we mention names on memorial walls? The power of being acknowledged and recognized! By using someone's name, they will give you total attention. By using a person’s name, you are telling them how important they are to you. It makes them more engaged in the conversation, and also makes you more invested in that person. People are often really proud of their names! Using a person’s name is a bridge to making an impact in their life.

2. Become genuinely interested in other people

“A man without a smiling face, must not open a shop!” Don't talk, listen to others and focus on them! Ask them questions. Praise a lot! Exclusive focus on the other person. Listen carefully. Encourage others to talk about themselves and talk in terms of the other person’s interests. Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely!

3. Talk about your own mistakes first

Remember your own shortcomings and mistakes before criticizing another person. Make allowances for the person's age and experience level; you can't expect beginners to perform at the same level as experts. When you must criticize someone, admitting your own mistakes humbly can help the person feel more comfortable and less judged. It shows you are human, too, and make mistakes like anyone else. Offer honest praise as well: "Humility and praise ... rightfully used ... will work veritable miracles in human relations."

All humans are inherently biased. It’s part of how our brains are wired. We naturally make snap decisions about people based on things like past experiences, cultural backgrounds, or things we’ve seen on TV or in the news.

Even those of us who pride ourselves on being open-minded fall prey to unconscious bias. Having a bias doesn’t make you a bad person, and not every bias is negative or hurtful. It’s not recognizing biases that can lead to bad decisions at work, in life, and in relationships in general.

Although people have both explicit and implicit biases, the implicit ones are the most concerning because they are the ones we don’t recognize we have.

Not getting a promotion and not being chosen to be captain of a sports team at school are very similar situations. Indeed, much hasn’t changed since childhood. Certain thoughts or perception of ourselves don't automatically disappear in adulthood. Being aware of them is the best way to solve these challenges.

Taking responsibility for your life will change things a lot! The most important aspect of taking responsibility for your life is to acknowledge that your life is your responsibility. You are in charge. No matter how hard you try to blame others for the events of your life, each event is the result of choices you made and are making, that includes your attitude and what you choose to keep in your mind as true because of past experiences! 

Avoid blaming others. It’s frustrating when progress stalls or stops. It happens to the best of us. No one is immune. But always focus on being successful, helping others, and loving yourself based on your values!

Aloha & Happy Friday!

On our episode today, we are going to talk about successful aging in the time of COVID-19!

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a great challenge for older people both in terms of the severity of the disease and the negative consequences of social distancing. Why combine positive aging and gardening? Because it's time to get our hands dirty again!

Gardening promotes psychosocial and physical functioning and therefore enhances the quality of life. Gardening participation provides important occupation and activity engagement. Gardening groups offer a context for social interaction and collaboration, which may be particularly important for socially isolated older adults.

Gardening involves planning, planting, watering, and nurturing outdoor ornamental plants, shrubs or fruit plants in a garden, or in pots or containers, but also passive engagement such as wandering through gardens, relaxing in or viewing gardens, and active engagement, such as cultivating plants, mowing lawns, weeding and raking.

Having positive attitudes towards aging creates resilience to health. Having positive self-perceptions of your own aging is an indicator of your well-being. Possessing a positive attitude toward aging will tremendously help your mental health and social engagement!

Agriculture & climate change can be confusing topics to navigate. From scientific jargon to policy to news articles, it can feel like you need a PhD just to understand everything.

To start, everyone relies on agriculture. A farm is not a forest! Understanding food production and distribution will help you position yourself better in political and social conversations that are inevitable.

Learning more about agriculture will definitely improve your opinion of agricultural work! It will help you better communicate with your customers and bring more awareness on topics that are often misunderstood.

Your customers, and people, in general have many assumptions about what you should do or say to fit in. Communicating clearly your beliefs and your social impact will play a major role in your credibility and customer loyalty!

Loyalty has, over the past decade, become a crucial construct in marketing, and particularly in the burgeoning field of customer relationship management. Your focus should be in making your customers to return.