Soap Operas Essays - Television, Fiction, Social Realism, Soap Opera

Soap Operas What forms of pleasure can be found in viewing the continuous serial on TV? The continuous serial is more commonly known as the soap opera, and is peculiar in that each episode cannot be watched and understood on its own; the viewer must watch the episodes before and after to understand what is happening. According to Brown the soap opera has 8 typical characteristics (see appendix 1). Television is becoming an increasingly important part of society. We have more televisions in our homes, and on those televisions there are more soap operas for the viewing public e.g. EastEnders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Neighbours, Home and Away, Brookside, London Bridge, and HollyOaks. Individuals undoubtedly get a lot of pleasure from them, and although the soap opera is viewed as entertainment, there should be a cautious approach to this view, because television is an influential part of our society. In this essay I will look at the pleasures and the consequences. Escapism is one form of pleasure. The soap provides an outlet for an individual to escape the responsibilities of their own life. As soon as the familiar theme music begins the viewer is transported to another world, although Mike Clark poses the question (page 19) ?What sort of escape is it that constantly refers to the very issues that may be troubling the viewer?'. Another pleasure of soap operas ?is the continuity of the characters and settings' (Clark, page 19). The familiar settings give a sense of a stability and order to the viewer. Most people know the Rovers Return in Coronation Street or the Old Vic in EastEnders. The individual feels at home with a soap and its characters, of which there can be up to 40; all are old friends to the regular viewer. For the most part they do not set out to shock. Because the characters are ordinary and believable, Mike Clark states that the actors must be the same in their lives outside television. He tells us that: ?When Peter Adamson, who played Len Fairclough, was charged with sexually molesting a child and subsequently ?killed off' from the program, his crime was not that, precisely (he was acquitted), but rather one of deviating from the unexceptional norms of Coronation Street and of the viewers at home. Seeing someone who had been publicly associated with such an offence, and thinking ?I wonder what really happened', would be disruptive of the kind of low-key realism attempted by the program, therefore out he had to go.' I'm not sure that this argument would hold true today. His book was published in 1987 and since then I think the public has become more tolerant, and apart from that, Coronation Street has become more controversial in its storyline; these days generally any publicity is good for a soap. This leads to another pleasure derived from the soap opera. The private lives of the actors, reported in the press and on the television, provide an infinite source of pleasure for the viewing public. In the Evening Standard (Tuesday 3rd March 1998) there were three separate articles about three different actors from EastEnders: Barbara Windsor, Paul Bradley, and Patsy Palmer. However, such public interest can create a problem for the actors, in the form of admirers and stalkers and the public still perceiving them as their on screen character. Empathy with the characters can reduce the viewers' own problems as they realise that other people also suffer; another good reason to watch a soap. Bianca's abortion storyline, in EastEnders, may have helped people in similar situations think about the relevant issues before making their own decision. Regular soap opera viewers who have followed a particular soap for years, according to Clark ?acquire an expertise and a fund of archival knowledge, which enable them to experience the programs more fully, and more enjoyably'. So, they understand the personalities, strengths and weaknesses of the characters in the soap, and will often know exactly how a particular character would act in a particular situation. For them, this makes soaps more pleasurable. The romantic interest in the soap holds many viewers. Who will fall in love? Who will have an affair? Who will get married? At the time of writing, in Coronation Street the

An Insight to Small Business Professor Ramos Blog

An Insight to Small Business Small businesses are corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships that have less employees along with revenue because they are not the same size as a â€Å"regular† corporation that operates on a larger scale. Small businesses offer services such as convenient stores, small grocery stores, restaurants, bakeries, hairdressers, tradespeople such as carpenters and electricians, photographers, and some small-scale manufacturing such as toy manufacturing, being a smart phone accessory maker, or a plastic container manufacturer. Most small businesses are sole-proprietor operations meaning they provide low income for doing things like selling prepared hot food on the street. Small businesses can range from fifteen employees to no more than five thousand. According to Jason Nazar’s contributed statistics in Forbes, there are almost 28 million small businesses in the United States, with approximately 543,000 of these new businesses starting up each month. United States small businesses employee nearly 60 million people, which is nearly 40 percent of the private workforce, and they have generated over 65 percent of new jobs since 1995. Firms with fewer than one hundred employees actually hold a wide variety of the over all small business employment (see Figure 1 for the ratio between firm size to employment).   https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/March_April_2016_FINAL_508_compliant.pdf Aside from the small businesses that maintain full-time or part-time employees, there are businesses that employ nobody other than the owner themselves. A nonemployer business is one that has no paid employees, annual business receipts of $1,000 or more and must pay federal income taxes. Most nonemployers are self-employed individuals operating very small unincorporated businesses, depending on the owners source of capital (money). Nazar states that around 75 percent of all United States businesses are nonemployer businesses and that around 80 percent of these non-employee businesses reported less than $50,000 in receipts which is considered low income even though over 22 million are self-employed and can take in all revenue made. These statistics show that it can be extremely challenging to invest into your own small business venture, but sometimes the ambition does prove to pay off in the long run. Even though starting up your own small business may require a lot out of you physically and mentally, the financial cost of starting up is not as large as Americans make it out to be. The annual cost of starting up a small business can be as low as $3,000, however most home-based franchises cost $2,000 to $5,000 to start. If you’re someone who is interested in a career focused on web design or computer programming then you can even start your small business online, which can be most beneficial for networking connections through social media or running a website. According to eMarketer, an online digital marketer, there was a 24.8 percent increase in the annual Online Small Businesses, the global worldwide sales reached $2.304 trillion and online businesses accounted for 58.9 percent of those sales (Pilon). As online business continues to be a larger factor of the retail market around the world, getting your business ideas online can be a convenient way to network with people a round you and if you’re lucky all that you really need to get your business started is that first good connection. Online businesses are growing at double digit rates and you need to be able to capture the public’s attention and expose your latest online business ideas to encourage growth within your own business. If you have started a small business then I’m sure you have struggled with some sort of lack in cash flow which is a very common difficulty that business owners experience. In 2014,   220,000 establishments (small businesses) started in the United States and 205,000 exited the United States due to not having enough revenue (Nazar). Every business has its own financing needs; experts have some tips to help you figure out how much cash you will actually need to start your own small business. Entrepreneur Drew Gerber, who started a technology company, a publicity firm and a financial planning company, estimates that an entrepreneur will need six months’ worth of fixed costs just to start their own small business. Gerber instructs, â€Å"Have a plan to cover your expenses in the first month, Identify your customers before you open the door so you can have a way to start covering those expenses†. One of the main reasons most small businesses fail is that they simply run out of cash. Writing a business plan without basing your forecasts on reality often leads to an unfortunate, and often unnecessary, business failure. Without the benefit of experience or actual historical financials, it’s easy to overestimate a new company’s revenue and underestimate costs (McCahon). Twenty percent of small businesses fail in their first year, thirty percent of small businesses fail in their second year and fifty percent of small businesses fail after five years. Finally, thirty percent of all small businesses fail in their tenth year in business (Georgia McIntyre). There are many reasons why small businesses fail but a few things that tend to do harm are: Capital access (access to money), cash flow, lack of demand, and poor management. One of the major problems with small businesses is capital, as of 2015, seventy-three percent of small business owners weren’t able to access enough capital for their business ( https://www.fundera.com/blog/what-percentage-of-small-businesses-fail). This means that even if the money existed in a business account, a business owner cannot access it when needed for business operations, making it extremely challenging to run your business efficiently. California governmental agencies, small business organizations and state legislators come together every year to recognize that owning and starting your business is hard work. This annual event honors a few of the millions of small business that serve as â€Å"the economic engine of California†. Small businesses are engrained in California’s communities and economy contributing to 75 percent of California’s gross state product and over half of the states private sector jobs. â€Å"California Small Business Day† also allows business owners from across the state to connect with other business owners in an effort to learn from or gain insight from fellow entrepreneurs. According to a small-town and successful business owner, John Hackney, â€Å"This business can either make or break you, you have to be willing to sacrifice everything you have in order to start your own business.† He claims that the initial starting phase of your business will be one of the hardest periods of growth that you have to overcome through the entire process. Hackney also advises that if you plan your costs, don’t underestimate the expenses, and never forget that they can rise as the business grows, it’s easy to overlook costs when you’re thinking about the big picture, but you should always be very precise and thorough when planning for your fixed expenses. He also strongly believes that when your employees are appreciated and treated with respect, then you are sure to succeed in maintaining a loyal, hardworking staff. Ideals like these reveal why small businesses are so important and even endearing. We can come to the conclusion that even though starting your own business may seem to be one of the hardest things, it can also be equally as rewarding and beneficial.    California Small Business Association, â€Å"California Small Business Day 2018†, Business Wire (English). 06/19/2018, Article Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=bwhAN=bizwire.c85292394site=ehost-live Richard Schwinn: PhD, Research Economist, â€Å"2016 State Small Business Profiles Released with Fresh Design†, The Small Business Advocate: Office of Advocacy, Vol. 35, No. 3, March- April 2016 Retrieved from https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/March_April_2016_FINAL_508_compliant.pdf Jason Nazar, â€Å"16 Surprising Statistics About Small Businesses†, Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, Sep 9, 2013 Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonnazar/2013/09/09/16-surprising-statistics-about-small-businesses/#269ebc195ec8 â€Å"Small Business†, page issues Retrieved from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_business Georgia McIntyre, â€Å"What is the Small Business Failure Rate?†, What Percentage of Small Businesses Fail? (And Other Need-to-Know Stats), August 29, 2018 Retrieved from   https://www.fundera.com/blog/what-percentage-of-small-businesses-fail Sammi Caramela, Startup Costs: How Much Cash Will You Need? April 12, 2018 https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5-small-business-start-up-costs-options.html Cynthia McCahon, Founder and CEO of Business Plan Software, â€Å"One of the Many Reasons Small Businesses Fail is because They Simply Run Out of Cash.†, April 12 2018 https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5-small-business-start-up-costs-options.html Drew Gerber, Entrepreneur, April 12 2018 https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5-small-business-start-up-costs-options.html John Hackney. Business owner, The Lakefront Taproom. (August 2018). Personal reference. (909)336-8443 United States census, Nonemployer Statistics, â€Å"Nonemployer Definitions†, https://www.census.gov/epcd/nonemployer/view/define.html Annie Pilon, Small Business Trends, â€Å"50 Online Business Ideas†, July 5 2018, https://smallbiztrends.com/2016/11/online-business-ideas.html

Case Study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 11

Case Study - Assignment Example From the increasing sales that are being made from mobile commerce, it is quite evident that in the coming years a large percentage of all sales that occur in a particular country will be online. This is due to advancements that are being made in the technological world from smart phones to computers and even tablets. In future people all over the world will seem to be so busy working such that time for shopping is limited hence they will be obliged to do over the internet. As computer knowledge increase from generation to generation, there will be more conversance with these electronic devices and this will also raise the percentage rate of increase of mobile commerce. Through online buying, one can select a wide range of goods and services from foodstuffs to banking services hence saving time of having to move from place to place. Companies that involve mobile commerce such as OLX continue to build their routes because it is evident that the future of business is dependent on onlin e shopping due to studies done by Ipos indicating that the percentage of online shopping continues to increase over the years (Chen & Lee 33). The Edward Jones is a big company situated in the USA and it offers financial help to its customers through advising them on how to invest their money in the best way. It has been established strongly for many years because of managing properly the techniques they use to handle their customers. Although the company management interacts with its clients over the internet and other social media, it cannot do its business activities online. This is because it has branches all over Canada and USA hence they can easily be physically reached. It is also a risky business to do money transactions to people that are met over the internet hence the obligation for face to face encounter (Chen & Lee 37). However the use of internet makes their messages reach a wide range of potential customers who may be looking for their