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http://www.thecharlottepost.com, 6C diarlotte ^ost THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2006 BUSINESS Creative ' budgeting Most of could easily spend every penny we make and more. Saving doesn’t mean mak ing radical changes in your lifestyle. Just becoming more con scious of where you’re spending your money over a three-month period. Start taking notes about where your money is going, or consider using your debit card to help you keep track- You’ll be amazed at Ihe waste patterns you spot, and recognizing them is the key to changing. Before you start investing your new savings, make sure you have an adequate emer gency fund- Most experts recommend that you set aside three to six months worth of living expenses in a money market accoimt or CDs that will be easily acces sible in an emergency Then be creative about ways you can save; view it as a challenge and you may find you’re having fun along the way Here are a few rela tively painless ways to tight en your belt a notch or two: • Raise your insurance deductibles (and drop the towing on your auto insur ance - it costs more in increased premiums over time than you’ll pay to the tow truck operator!. With what you’ll save in premi- \mis, you’ll usually cover any cash outlay you might have to make. • Don’t over-withhold on your taxes. As nice as it is to get a refund, the government is using your money interest- free while you could have been investing it. If you got a refund last year, adjust your withholding to eliminate it and allocate the extra to your IRA or 40 Kk). Just be sure not to under-withhold, or you could be liable for penalties and interest. • Use your 401(k) to save money by cutting taxes and acciunuiating assets tax deferred. For example, if you’re in the 28% tax brack et, one dollar out of every four dollars you put into a pre-tax retirement account is paid for by reduced taxes - not reduced take-home pay Also be sure to take full advantage of your employ er’s match by investing enoix^ to qualify for that important benefit. • Avoid late fees on credit cards or video rentals. It’s just money down the drain. • Avoid ATM surcharges. Use yoiar debit card, plan ahead to use your own bank’s ATM or get cash back when you grocery shop, • Shop aroimd for the low est long-distance telephone carrier - or better yet - use e- mail when you can, • Comparison shop among airlines. Watch for sales and utilize e-saver online spe cials. If possible, be flexible about yow departure/arrival cities - 30 miles or less between cities can some times save you himdreds of dollars in fares. • Pay your bills online or use auto-withdrawal to save on the cost of postage. These are just a few money-saving strategies, and you’re sure to come up with many more. Thlk to your fiiends about ways they budget without truly deny ing themselves. Vashti Hurt is a financial advi sor with Wachovia Securities in Charlotte. Phone:{704)27-2770 or (866) 411-0899. Tap into business mindset Understand that the first order of any entrepreneur is to make and leverage money In order to build the right infi-astructure, you must think strategically - that’s having a busi ness mindset. Before you make any decisions in business think about the outcome on aH levels: 1. Having a business mindset is knowing that the purpose of business, is to make money Sometimes your hobby is just a hobby Ether you’re going to have a hobby that makes you a little extra money or you’re going to have a business that requires a higher level of development in order to acquire a higher level of income. 2. Having a business mindset means thinking for yotirself vs. letting other peo ple think for you. Don’t allow the experts to control yom destiny or yovir dreams, let them help you get there. T^e some time to think, document, research your own idea • before asking for help — if you do — you will be better equipped to ask for exactly what you want. 3. Having a bi^iness mindset means being more strategic about your business activity Don’t just go to any networking event or take on any job; know what results you want before you invest in business activity For example, do you know how much it reaUy costs you to attend a training session or a net working event - money, family time, babysitter, gas, etc? In order to recoup your investment your reasons for investing in the training must be things other than meeting people and “I just want to learn something.” Why? That’s a given when you go to networking (meet people) or training (learn something).- 4, Having a business mindset is knowing that we need to connect with our business es and that connection is., .profitability How do you connect with your profitability? By knowing your profit margin, cash flow, com petitive advantage, sales goals, and your key profit indicators. 5. Having a business mindset is under standing strategy and implementing it into - your business practices. These days we tend to focus on the day-to-day mundane tasks and deadlines, solving short-term problems, and implementing marketing tactics that aren’t a good fit for our businesses. ” 6. Having a business mindset is bdng open to multiple streams of income and multiple busi nesses. I met a lady at a conference a while back, and I wfil never forget what she told me - ‘1 have one business that’s my passion that makes me a good income and I run it. I have another business that generates substantial profit for me and I have someone else to run it.” The point: you don’t have to put all your eggs in one basket. 7. Having a business mindset is understanding your emotional ties to your business. Understanding the emotional ties to your busi ness will allow you to break throu^ your person al barriers that prevent you finm doing what you say you’re going to do and also doing what you want to do. The point: Every business decision you make today affects your business today tomorrow, and in the future - so become a good strategist. A good strategist looks at aU facets of their business today in context of where they are trying to go. A good strategist reacts to problems positively instead of negatively A good strategist also wel comes change and turns it into an opportunity A good strategist can react quickly with the imex- pected. A good strategist has a business mindset. Small business consultant and coach Sherese Duncan is president and CEO of Efficio, Inc. 'a small business education and consulting firm in Charlotte. For more infortnation, go to www.efficioNz or e-mail asksh- erese@efficio hiz. CAROLINAS HEALTHCARE SYSTEM Carolinas Healthcare System, which operates and manages hospitals throughout the Charlotte region, wants to add a 50-bed facility in Mint Hill. Extra care in Mint Hill CHS petitions state to build a 50-bed facility By Herbert L. White herb.white@thechar/ottepost.com Carolinas HealihCare System wants to add a hospital in Mint Hfil. The non-profit corporation has filed a certificate of need application with the N.C. Department of Facility Services, to build the $70-milhon Carolinas Medical Center-Mint HiU. The facility requires state approval. “Mint Hill is a vibrant community poised for significant growth,” said Dennis Phillips, CHS’s senior vice president for operations. “CHS has been providing healthcare to this community for a long time, and we have spent more than a year assem bling land inside the town limits on which to build this new hospital, as well as physician ofi&ces. We’re very excited about the prospects of con tinuing to be an integral part of this community’s future.” The proposed hospital would be near the intersection of Highway 51 and TFuelight Church Road. CMC- Mint HiU be located adjacent to a 60,000-sqiiare foot medical office building. The facility would include: • 38 acute care medical surgical beds including six Labor-Delivery- Recovery-Post partum maternity bei^ • 12-bed emergency department • 10 observation beds • Radiology, including a 64-slice CT sceinner, radiography, fluo roscopy ultrasound, nuclear medi cine, stress testing, portable x-ray and other complementary services • Two exterior pads capable of MRI, PET scanner, and mobile diag nostic heart catheterization • Three operating rooms, one OR dedicated to labor and delivery and one endoscopy suit • Laboratory services • Nursery • Pharmacy • Respiratory therapy • Newborn nursery No new or additional beds are in the state health plan, so the Mint Hill facility would move 50 beds and the endoscopy suite from CMC- Mercy Operating rooms wUl move jfrom Carolinas Surgical Center on Randolph Road. “We’re primed and ready to begin a higher level of medical service to Mint Hfil,” PhUlips said, “CXir inter est in this community is weU known. Carolinas Medical Center-Mint HUl wlQ bring the caring of our providers and the service of Carolinas Medical Center even closer to and more con venient for the people of this com- rnTmity” Survey: Expect hiring boom By Herbert L. White hefb.wti/te@thechartotteposf.com Charlotte area businesses are expected to be in the mar ket for more workers in the fourth quarter, according to a study From October to Dec^nber, 35 percent of Charlotte compa nies expect to hire more employees, while 2 percent expect to reduce payrolls, according to the Manpower Employm^t Outlook Survey Charlotte’s anticpated increase was the fourth-highest in North Carolina, trailing High Point (47 percent). Rocky Moimt (43) and Greensboro (40). Sixty-three percent of Charlotte companies expect to maintain current staff levels. “Charlotte-area employers have softer hiring intentions than in the third quarter when 43 percent of the companies intehdewed intended to add staff and 3 percent planned to reduce headcoimt,” said Manpower spokeswoman Jessica Juba. ‘Employers have more positive hiring intentions than they did a year ago when 38 percent of companies sur veyed thought employment increases were likely and 15 percent intended to cut back.” Job prospects appear best in construction, non-durable goods manufacturing, trans- poitation, pubhc administra tion and wholesaleAetail. Nationally, employers ejqDect to close the year with steady hiring, according to the survey Of the 14,000 U.S. employers surveyed, 28 percent expect to add to their payrolls during the fourth quarter, compared to 8 percent who expect reductions. Fifty-eight percent expect no change. For 52 years, entrepreneur a fixture for food and hospitality By Ken Koontz SPEC/AL TO THE POST If you search traditional hsts of suc cessful black-owned businesses in Charlotte, Rudean’s is probably not on any of them. Yet, Rudean Harris, the restaurant’s owner, is considered by many a black business icon whose legacy spans 52 years of service. On Oct. 8, Harris’fiiends, family, col leagues, business associates and com munity leaders are going to pay trib ute at the Ramses Tfemple on Beatties Ford Road. Harris, commonly known as Miss Rudean or Rudean, was the second oldest of six children, and the oldest girl. She was 8 years old when her mother died and she committed her self to helping her father raise her sib lings. ‘When my grandmother died, mama became the ‘httle woman’ of the house doing all the cooking, cleaning and helping the others with their school- work,” saj^ Hams’daughter, Nichdle, who is organizing the tribute. “She was also the disciplinarian while granddaddy was out working the farm.” Harris had, just finished Tfeamer Hi^ School at age 16 when she start ed her entrepreneurial legacy With the help of mentors including now- retired Charlotte policeman William “BiU.” Covington, she began selling hot dogs, hamburgers and sodas at the same location where she is currently located at 2228 Beatties Ford Road. It was called West CTiarlotte Drive-In. * Harris would ultimately change the name and relocate to at least five other locations over the years before returning to the original West Charlotte Drive-In site in the 1990s, Wherever Rudean’s was located, it quickly became a popular social hot spot for a predominantly black clien- tde. Ida Johnson has been with Harris longest — 15 years as a cook, cashier, manager, and close personal friend. “I know Rudean has a special soft spot in her caring for people,” Johnson said. “She has been throu^ some of the problems they face and she truly understands them. She listens or whatever she can do and her client base loves her dearly” Jeannette Robinson was Harris’ first landlord and she is again at the cur rent location. “She has been very businesslike and very cooperative,” saj^ Robinson, “She has rented fiY)m me many years and there has nevm* been any difference or faeblem with her.” 0#0(
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Sept. 21, 2006, edition 1
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