Has Your Business Plateaued? 4 Reasons Bringing In A New Mind Can Help

Business News

Few things can become more discouraging for a budding entrepreneur than to feel like your business has plateaued. Whether sales have stagnated, customers are no longer as satisfied as they once were or you are lacking that sense of fulfillment from when you first started out, it’s perfectly normal for a business to plateau.

But that doesn’t mean it’s healthy — or that you should be okay with letting your business stay that way. Fortunately, as with so many other aspects of business, the right collaboration could be just what you need to push through this often frustrating stage. Welcoming a new mind into the mix can be a powerful solution for getting back into a growth stage.

1. Get A New Perspective
It can be difficult to truly understand the scope of the issues you’re dealing with when you are too close to the problem. Whether the underlying dilemma lies with one of your operational processes, your marketing and sales efforts or even your unique value proposition, it can be hard to pinpoint the issue yourself.

Outside perspectives can be critical in helping you evaluate your current operations from a new angle, uncovering issues or challenges that you might not have identified on your own. As a report from Maryville University notes, getting different perspectives can be crucial to escaping personal (and professional) echo chambers:

“While encountering perspectives that challenge one’s beliefs and way of seeing things can create discomfort, these experiences are critical to personal growth. An absence of such experiences can impede people’s ability to develop and learn. Bearing these sometimes uncomfortable moments can lead to curiosity and the maturation of one’s intellect. Not only that, the discoveries made when we engage with new and different perspectives can be exciting, inspiring, and enlightening.”

2. Outsource Your Work
On a more day-to-day level, bringing in new minds is often an important collaboration for smaller businesses, simply because they don’t have the necessary bandwidth to continue growing. This is especially true of solopreneurs.

A recent case study from PMU Launch, a beauty education company founded by Kyle Koschel and Renato Fabri, illustrates this concept well. Carina Moore, founder of Brows By Carina, had seen her B2B business’ revenue plateau at $1,200 per month for seven straight months. While initial efforts focused on strategic advertising and improving her sales calls played a key role in growing her revenue to $13,000 per month, that rapid growth created a secondary plateau, because she didn’t have the capacity to take on more work.

The next step was to begin working with other professionals as part of her team — an appointment-setter who would take care of inbound leads and appointments and an operations manager who would run the business’s day-to-day operations. By essentially outsourcing these tasks to other individuals, Carina was able to further increase her revenue to $29,000 per month, simply because she had more time to focus on strategic growth initiatives.
Outsourcing works.
3. Improve The Quality Of Your Work
Bringing in a new mind to help with your work — whether you are completely outsourcing a task to them or enlisting their help on a specific project — doesn’t just save time. It can also dramatically improve the quality of your work.
Research from Stanford University has found that working together actually helps “fuel intrinsic motivation,” with those who work in a collaborative setting being 50% more effective at completing tasks. Collaboration can also help make individual workers more engaged, which increases the overall quality of the work they perform.
Bringing in a new mind can further boost these benefits of collaboration because their unique perspective can help your team challenge existing processes and discover better solutions. A new collaborator’s industry insights or specific skill set can improve the quality of your products or services, while also helping you and your team learn from them to improve your own capabilities.
4. Increase Creativity And Innovation
Bringing in a new mind to help your plateaued business can be an incredibly powerful way to increase creativity and innovation. Diverse backgrounds and experiences are often what is needed to develop a solution that gets your business out of its current situation.
History is filled with examples of complete outsiders who helped spark creative breakthroughs in industries where they wouldn’t seem like a good fit. As Oguz A. Acar writes for California Management Review:
“While consulting an anthropologist for a molecular biology problem might seem far-fetched, many major breakthroughs in biology have actually originated from unexpected sources including anthropologists. This is often attributed to fresh perspectives of outsiders that might be novel for the problem domain. A case in point outside the field of biology is the Auto-Tune technology. Described as ‘the invention that changed music forever’, it was developed by a complete outsider to the music industry, a petroleum engineer named Harold Hildebrand.”
Creative ideas that you might never have considered can help push your business in new directions that get it past the plateau.
New Minds, New Growth
With the right collaborative partners, just about any business can work its way past a plateau and put itself back on track for achieving its most meaningful goals.
By focusing on collaborations that improve your productivity and work quality, while also bringing in new perspectives to help you uncover issues and develop creative solutions, you can unlock the full potential of new minds in your business.

The Apprentice star and director on Trump’s criticism to film

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

The Apprentice is in cinemas now, and we catch up with star Maria Bakalova and director Ali Abbasi about the former president’s criticism of the film, the challenges they faced in getting it made, and the significance of releasing it so close to the US election.The film follows Trump’s relationship with cutthroat attorney Roy Cohn as Trump tries to make a name for himself in 1970s New York, but has sparked backlash from the former president, who has called it a “politically disgusting hatchet job”.Get the latest film and TV news and reviews with Binge Watch on Independent TV.

Vietnam among top 20 countries for global travelers

Travel

Over 575,000 readers of the New York-based magazine participated in the survey, sharing insights on various travel experiences, including cities, islands, hotels, resorts, cruise ships, spas, and airlines.
Vietnam is rated as a culturally diverse destination. The Southeast Asian nation scored 89 out of 100 points, ranking 15th in the list.

According to Conde Nast Traveler, Vietnam’s charming rusticity means it is high on the list of gap-year adventurers each year.

An increasing number of international tourists are choosing to explore the “hidden gems” of the S-shaped country, to experience traditional cultural identities, and its diverse natural landscapes.

The country welcomed 12.7 million international tourists in the first nine months of 2024, representing a year-on-year surge of 43%. Last year, Vietnam served 12.6 million foreign travelers.

This figure increases each year, as travelers choose to explore the country’s secrets and experience the towns and cultures, which mass tourism has yet to encroach on.

The country has also won an array of prestigious awards at the 31st World Travel Awards (WTA) 2024, including the “Asia’s Leading Destination” for the sixth time.

Condé Nast Traveler said Vietnam is no longer just a noteworthy destination, it is now a must-visit country.

Japan was ranked the best country in the world for the second consecutive year, followed by Portugal and Turkey. Italy and Spain rounded out the top five, with New Zealand, Iceland, and Greece completing the top 10.

Source: VNA

Real Madrid Coach Ancelotti Addresses Mbappe Case: ‘I Don’t Have A Travel Agency For Players’ Trips’

Travel

Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti addressed Kylian Mbappe’s recent visit to Stockholm and stated, “I don’t have a travel agency to organise the player’s trips” at a prematch press conference on Friday.

Mbappe traveled to the Swedish capital over the international break, with local authorities confirming that a prosecutor is looking into a report of a suspected rape there without anyone in connection to the case being named.

The France star called reports about the accusation “fake news” on X, formerly known as Twitter, amid his lawyer saying the striker is “astonished” to see his name being linked to a rape inquiry by the media.

Ahead of Madrid’s match against Celta Vigo at the Bernabeu on Saturday, Ancelotti was asked what he thought about Mbappe’s expedition and whether the player had told him he was leaving Spain.

“The rest days were scheduled for him and then everyone chooses what they want to do,” Ancelotti said. “I went to London for two days and I haven’t asked anyone’s permission. I also don’t have a travel agency to organise the players’ trips.”
After he nursed a muscle injury last month, Mbappe is now “close to 100%” according to Ancelotti, who added that “it’s a pleasure to watch him train”.
“He’s taken advantage of the break to improve his condition,” Ancelotti revealed. “He’s very well, happy, and looking forward to returning tomorrow and being important for the team. These 15 days have helped him a lot, because he is a different player to what he was before the break.”

Probed on whether Mbappe is “affected” by the inquiry, Ancelotti said: “I talk to the players every day. I can comment on what I said before, which at this point is speculation. I don’t see him affected at all, [and instead] with a lot of enthusiasm to contribute to the team.

Ancelotti stressed that he has only worked with Mbappe on a “physical” level.
“On a tactical level, his position does not change from how he has played in recent games. He can vary his position on the left wing with Vinicius, but we have been focused on physical work. This break has been good for him and I see him very well,” Ancelotti reiterated.

Away at Celta then, Mbappe looks set to continue as a central number 9 with Vinicius to his left and most probably Rodrygo to his right.

Watch Putin’s Full Speech at BRICS Business Forum

Business News

Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed participants of the BRICS Business Forum ahead of the 2024 BRICS Summit in Kazan, due to open early next week.Here are Putin’s main statements at the forum:Companies from BRICS countries are successfully developing mutual cooperation, implementing key projects in various sectors, such as industry, energy, transport, infrastructure, agriculture, and digital economy.The current forum brings together businessmen from all BRICS member states.It’s emblematic that the BRICS Summit in Kazan is preceded by the group’s Business Forum.One should emphasize the importance of close economic partnership between BRICS countries to advance trade and investment to deepen mutual cooperation, which brings tangible results. It helps in practice to improve the prosperity and living standards of rank-and-file citizens of BRICS nations.Companies from BRICS countries dominate many key global markets related to energy, metals, and food.Relevant development platforms are emerging within BRICS, among them communication channels, financial systems, payment instruments, and, of course, mechanisms for sustainable long-term investment. In other words, the economic growth of BRICS members will depend less and less on external influence and interference.One of the key issues of strengthening business partnership within BRICS is to enhance transportation connectivity and to create new mechanisms for businesses freight routes and corridors.In the Business Council, we have established a separate subgroup on logistics, and I would like to thank members of the Business Council and the businessmen for supporting the concept of a permanent logistics platform.We are implementing a large-scale plan to develop the Northern Sea Route, building up our icebreaker fleet, including nuclear-powered vessels. We are constructing new fuel terminals as well as navigation safety centers and other coastal infrastructure.We are closely cooperating with our BRICS partners in the field of innovation, digital economy, and artificial intelligence technology.Russia is open for mutually beneficial business cooperation. Our joint efforts should be mainly focused on the development and strengthening of our own platforms that add to economic growth. I am talking about technological solutions, financial and investment mechanisms, as well as broader logistics, and so on. I am confident that the implementation of BRICS’ potential, based in particular on its huge population and vast resources, will bring utmost benefit to our countries, businesses, and all of our citizens.

Unlocking the Aurora: The Science Behind Nature’s Spectacular Light Show

Science and Health

Auroras are produced by solar winds and the Earth’s magnetosphere, with colors indicating energy levels of atmospheric particles. The Sun’s activity cycle plays a crucial role in the intensity and frequency of these lights.
Earth’s auroras result from solar winds interacting with the magnetosphere, creating light displays in vivid colors based on particle energy, with an 11-year solar cycle influencing their frequency.
For thousands of years, people have been captivated by the stunning light displays that dance across the night sky. Today, we know these lights as the auroras: the aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere and the aurora australis in the southern hemisphere.
We now understand that auroras are created when charged particles from Earth’s magnetosphere and the solar wind collide with particles in the upper atmosphere. These collisions excite the atmospheric particles, which then release light as they return to their normal, unexcited state.
Aurora from space.
The color of the aurora depends on how much energy the atmospheric particles absorbed during the collision. Each color represents a specific amount of energy being released.
Auroras are influenced by the Sun’s activity, which follows an 11-year cycle. We just reached the solar maximum for Solar Cycle 25, which will likely lead to more frequent and intense auroral displays.
[embedded content]Fox Fires, a short film inspired by the Finnish folk tale of the aurora borealis.
Connections to the Sun
Such displays have long been documented by people throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
In the 17th century, scientific explanations for what caused the aurora began to surface. Possible explanations included air from Earth’s atmosphere rising out of Earth’s shadow to become sunlit (Galileo in 1619) and light reflections from high-altitude ice crystals (Rene Descartes and others).
In 1716, English astronomer Edmund Halley was the first to suggest a possible connection with Earth’s magnetic field. In 1731, a French philosopher named Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan noted a coincidence between the number of sunspots and aurora. He proposed that the aurora was connected with the Sun’s atmosphere.
It was here that the connection between activity on the Sun was linked with auroras here on Earth, giving rise to the areas of science now called “heliophysics” and “space weather.”
Earth’s magnetic field as a particle trap
The most common source of aurora is particles traveling within Earth’s magnetosphere, the region of space occupied by Earth’s natural magnetic field.
Images of Earth’s magnetosphere typically show how the magnetic field “bubble” protects Earth from space radiation and repels most disturbances in the solar wind. However, what is not normally highlighted is the fact that Earth’s magnetic field contains its own population of electrically charged particles (or “plasma”).
[embedded content]Model representation of Earth’s magnetic field interacting with the solar wind.
The magnetosphere is composed of charged particles that have escaped from Earth’s upper atmosphere and charged particles that have entered from the solar wind. Both types of particles are trapped in Earth’s magnetic field.
The motions of electrically charged particles are controlled by electric and magnetic fields. Charged particles gyrate around magnetic field lines, so when viewed at large scales magnetic field lines act as “pipelines” for charged particles in a plasma.
The Earth’s magnetic field is similar to a standard “dipole” magnetic field, with field lines bunching together near the poles. This bunching up of field lines actually alters the particle trajectories, effectively turning them around to go back the way they came, in a process called “magnetic mirroring.”
[embedded content]‘Magnetic mirroring’ makes charged particles bounce back and forth between the poles.
Earth’s magnetosphere in a turbulent solar wind
During quiet and stable conditions, most particles in the magnetosphere stay trapped, happily bouncing between the south and north magnetic poles out in space. However, if a disturbance in the solar wind (such as a coronal mass ejection) gives the magnetosphere a “whack,” it becomes disturbed.
The trapped particles are accelerated and the magnetic field “pipelines” suddenly change. Particles that were happily bouncing between north and south now have their bouncing location moved to lower altitudes, where Earth’s atmosphere becomes more dense.
As a result, the charged particles are now likely to collide with atmospheric particles as they reach the polar regions. This is called “particle precipitation.” Then, when each collision occurs, energy is transferred to the atmospheric particles, exciting them. Once they relax, they emit the light that forms the beautiful aurora we see.

The first of many timelapses from Thusday night – in this video you can see the aurora appears immediately after sunset, a sign that activity was strong! The colors from this G4 “severe” geomagnetic storm were unreal. I swear I saw the entire rainbow that night in the aurora.… pic.twitter.com/rPA6fFGl9s
— Vincent Ledvina (@Vincent_Ledvina) March 27, 2023

Curtains, colors, and cameras
The amazing displays of aurora dancing across the sky are the result of the complex interactions between the solar wind and the magnetosphere.
Aurora appearing, disappearing, brightening, and forming structures like curtains, swirls, picket fences and traveling waves are all visual representations of the invisible, ever-changing dynamics in Earth’s magnetosphere as it interacts with the solar wind.

2023-03-23-24 10pm to 5AM2mn of magnificent night of my 7 hours of shooting. @AlbertaAurora@TweetAurora @spaceyliz @TamithaSkov @weathernetwork @CalgaryRASC @rasc @StormHour @MurphTWN pic.twitter.com/9C1Zbu09OE
— Siv Heang (@hoodoos84) March 26, 2023

As these videos show, aurora comes in all sorts of colors.
The most common are the greens and reds, which are both emitted by oxygen in the upper atmosphere. Green auroras correspond to altitudes close to 100 km, whereas the red auroras are higher up, above 200 km.
Blue colors are emitted by nitrogen – which can also emit some reds. A range of pinks, purples, and even white light are also possible due to a mixture of these emissions.
The aurora is more brilliant in photographs because camera sensors are more sensitive than the human eye. Specifically, our eyes are less sensitive to color at night. However, if the aurora is bright enough it can be quite a sight for the naked eye.
[embedded content]Catching aurora in the southern hemisphere.
Where and when?
Even under quiet space weather conditions, aurora can be very prominent at high latitudes, such as in Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and Antarctica. When a space weather disturbance takes place, auroras can migrate to much lower latitudes to become visible across the continental United States, central Europe, and even southern and mainland Australia.

Wild pigs snorting all around me, coyotes in the distance, storms to my east, sprites to my south, and this to my north. One of my favorite nights ever in Oklahoma. March 23rd 2023 . #okwx pic.twitter.com/uIQ4IcGtmw
— Paul M Smith (@PaulMSmithphoto) March 26, 2023

The severity of the space weather event typically controls the range of locations where the aurora is visible. The strongest events are the most rare.
So, if you’re interested in hunting auroras, keep an eye on your local space weather forecasts (US, Australia, UK, South Africa, and Europe). There are also numerous space weather experts on social media and even aurora-hunting citizen science projects (such as Aurorasaurus) that you can contribute towards!
[embedded content]A rare sighting of the aurora australis from central Australia, with Uluru in the foreground.
Get outside and witness one of nature’s true natural beauties – aurora, Earth’s gateway to the heavens.
Written by:

Brett Carter, Associate Professor, RMIT University
Elizabeth A. MacDonald, Space Physicist, NASA

Adapted from an article originally published in The Conversation.

Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James cameo in Jim Irsay film at Heartland

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

INDIANAPOLIS — The world premier of one of the movies at the Heartland Film Festival this week included a few faces familiar to the city of Indianapolis from an entirely different arena.The movie is “Off The Record,” the directorial debut of stuntwoman Kirsten Foe, a film about a musician, Rainey Qualley, looking for her big break who falls into a romance that calls to mind “A Star Is Born,” except that her male counterpart, played by Ryan Hansen, is a predatory figure both romantically and professionally.Colts owner Jim Irsay is the executive producer of “Off The Record.”“His love and support for this project was endless,” Foe said. “This never would have happened without him.”Foe, a stuntwoman with more than 30 credits to her name, wrote the movie, wanted to direct it herself and brought it to Irsay to get it made.Irsay provided the backing Foe needed, and along the way, helped deliver a trio of actors who remain legendary figures in Indianapolis: Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Irsay himself in cameo roles.Manning plays a commercial director, offering notes to Qualley’s character, Astor Grey, in a scene of comic relief.The former quarterback is obviously no stranger to the camera.“Peyton came in perfectly prepared, absolutely killed it,” Foe said. “He did make me nervous because he was running on set, and I was imagining ‘SportsCenter’ being like ‘Peyton Manning broke his leg today on a Hollywood film set,’ but yeah, he was fantastic. He did clean us out of fruit snacks; turns out he has a huge thing for fruit snacks.”James made an appearance at a record label after a meeting for Grey; Irsay appears as a man fishing off a dock, joking that he’s hit it rich and suddenly has enough money to buy a football team.Irsay could not be there on Thursday night.He attended the NFL’s league meetings in Atlanta earlier this week, and after coming back to Indianapolis, Irsay wanted to rest in preparation for Colts tight end Dallas Clark’s induction into the Ring of Honor during Sunday’s game against the Dolphins.But Irsay was there in spirit, sending a pre-recorded message of gratitude and belief in Foe, who wants to make a career transition from stuntwoman to working behind the camera, and found a business partner in Irsay.“I’d love to be here tonight, but I’m just taking care of myself, knowing that there’s a big weekend in store,” Irsay said. “I’m so excited about ‘Off the Record.’”

Lenovo announces comprehensive new hybrid AI portfolio at Tech World event

Technology

Last October 15, global technology leader Lenovo unveiled the next phase of its Smarter AI for All vision at the company’s annual global innovation event, Tech World, held in Bellevue, Washington. Lenovo showcased a comprehensive portfolio of AI solutions, services, and devices that deliver transformation and tangible return on investment to industries, enterprises, and individuals around the world, as well as announcing key new technologies.

Building on last year’s momentum, Lenovo further embraced hybrid AI as the way forward: a seamless, secure integration of private and public clouds, individual and enterprise solutions. New technologies announced include the launch of Hybrid AI Advantage for enterprises; the latest ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10 Aura Edition AI laptop, Lenovo AI Now local AI agent, and Lenovo Learning Zone software platform; next-gen Lenovo Neptune liquid cooling for servers for more sustainable AI; and proofs of concept that harness AI for social impact.- Advertisement –

Programme ramped up to create ‘Special Agents’ for tourism and hospitality in DC

Travel

Destination DC (DDC), the official destination marketing organisation for Washington, DC, in the US, has announced it is expanding its training platform designed to equip travel agents, tour operators and local hospitality workers with the essential knowledge and tools to effectively promote and sell the US capital as a premier travel destination.The Washington, DC Special Agent Academy offers destination training that combines core city information with in-depth insights into DC’s vibrant neighbourhoods, festivals and unique landmarks.By completing designated missions, participants will become certified ‘Special Agents’, gaining access to exclusive discounts, the opportunity to win prizes and access to valuable support from Destination DC’s Tourism, Sports and Visitor Experience team.
The Washington, DC Special Agent Academy modules are currently complete in the English language and will be presented in seven additional languages over the next few months to support DDC’s efforts to grow international visitation and increase awareness of the nation’s capital for a global audience.
“We know there’s Only One Washington, DC, and we want to share that message with consumers and hospitality professionals,” said Elliott L. Ferguson, II, president and CEO of Destination DC. “The training tools will help us enhance the knowledge, image and perception of Washington, DC as we focus on growing DC’s global visitor market share and set our city apart.”
The programme is available on a new Learning Management System (LMS) platform called LearnUpon.
As part of the initial offering, participants can access the first three core modules:

“The knowledge gained through the Special Agent Academy will not only enhance the skills of those in the travel and hospitality sectors but also enrich the overall visitor experience in Washington, DC,” added Ferguson. “Our city is filled with extraordinary arts, culture, culinary delights and accommodations, and we’re excited to share them with the world.”
For more information about the Washington, DC Special Agent Academy and to sign up for the programme, please visit washington.org.