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Business Insights

Patient Scrubs: A Prescription for Dignity
I Love Small Business
Category: Business Insights
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It’s Day 2 of Small Business Week and we are celebrating by sharing the story of a small business owner each day. Meet Nancy Hart, breast cancer survivor, author and founder of Patient Scrubs in Tennessee. Nancy has been giving patients back their dignity for nearly 10 years through her innovative hospital clothing.

It all started in 2003 when her husband, a retired Florida highway patrolman and sheriff’s deputy, went into surgery. She quickly realized that the hospital clothing provided to her husband didn’t allow for decency, so she hand-stitched an outfit that provided decency and allowed hospital staff easy access to provide the care for her husband.

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Recipe for Small Business Shipping Success
Small business shipping
Category: Business Insights
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When I was little, I liked to pretend I was a television chef with all the tiny bowls of measured ingredients, laid perfectly in reach, ready for me to quickly whip up some culinary perfection. It didn’t take me long to realize I couldn’t do much of anything “quickly.” Television magic conspired to make recipes look easier than the reality.

So, while there’s no cake in the oven awaiting its dramatic reveal, there is real merit to mise en place: everything you need is right at hand. So when action is required, you can hit the ground running.

That’s the thought behind our new Small Business Resource Center — except all those tiny bowls prepped by a swarm of assistants are now helpful videos, demos and frequently-used tools prepped by UPS (your swarm of assistants).

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Living a Stylish Dream
I Love Small Business
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It’s Day 1 of Small Business Week and we are celebrating by sharing the story of a small business owner each day! Meet Siri, an inspiring young entrepreneur from the San Francisco Bay Area.

At 23 years old, Siri Casper couldn’t imagine working as hard as she could for someone else’s dream. If Siri was going to give 100% of her time, energy and passion, it was going to be for a legacy she would create.

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Recognizing Small Businesses: The UPS Store Celebrates Small Business Week
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Category: Business Insights
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With Small Business Week just around the corner, The UPS Store is gearing up for a busy week to celebrate small business owners. A few highlights of next week’s activities:

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A Father’s Life Lessons Taught through Small Business Ownership
Gary Williams Jr
Category: Business Insights
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Father’s Day … a time to reflect and appreciate each and every dad out there for their efforts of being a father and, in my case, a boss.

The UPS Store is truly a family business for me. My parents have dedicated the last 32 years of their lives to The UPS Store franchise, beginning back in 1981, the same year I was born. Much of my weekends growing up as a kid were spent in the car with my dad looking at new potential UPS Store locations. And anyone that has been in a family business can relate to many of the topics of the day being discussed at the dinner table.

Along the way, just like any family, we have certainly had our ups and downs. But on this day, I think it’s important to share some of the many life lessons my father has taught me along the way.

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What Online Shoppers Really Want
UPS delivery
Category: Business Insights
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For me, retail therapy comes in many forms. I love trying on shoes but I also love shopping online – and so do 85 million other people (it was 75 million just last year).

UPS worked with comScore on the second edition of a unique customer experience study that shows online shoppers want more choices and convenience from their favorite retailers. They also want to use their smartphones and tablets to be able to shop anywhere at any time.

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Happy One Year anniversary to the Halifax Centre!
Halifax anniversary
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In 2012, we celebrated eight groundbreaking accomplishments.  UPS Canada opened eight logistics centres across the Atlantic Canada region.  Now our brown package cars have become a familiar presence and share the roads with our fellow east coasters.  Thank you for welcoming us to your neighbourhood!

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Measuring Global Growth and Trade
Kurt Kuehn on CNBC
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UPS Chief Financial Officer Kurt Kuehn was featured on CNBC’s Squawk Box earlier this week as part of the CNBC Global CFO Council series.

In the segment, Kurt and Robert Shanks, Ford Motor Company executive vice president & CFO, provided their perspective on the outlook on business and the economy.

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Small Business Profile: Wike Bicycle Trailers Goes from a Basement to Across the Globe
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I enjoy riding my bike every chance I get.  It’s a great form of exercise; it also helps keep the roads less congested and sets a positive, active example for my children. They’ve even started tagging along on their bikes when I go for a run!

Wike Bicycle Trailers is looking to make our world healthier and more sustainable. With an end goal of getting more people cycling rather than driving, Wike introduces people to new uses for bicycles – from using their trailers to transport pets, groceries and equipment to helping disabled triathletes compete.

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A Mother Creates her Business to help her Son and the Autism Community
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Category: Business Insights
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When Denise Meissner’s son was diagnosed with Autism, she quickly became educated on the use of Visual Cues – single-image pictures that help those with language and communication challenges perform everyday tasks. Since people with Autism think in pictures, visual cues help them follow a schedule, manage behavior, tolerate new activities, and communicate with others. Denise’s son’s behavior and language skills improved dramatically with the use of visual cues, but the cues were often time-consuming to make and cumbersome to transport and manage. Denise wanted to share this communication method with other parents to experience the success her child had with visual cues. She realized that she needed to create visual cues that would be portable, fashionable and fun to use.

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