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Amsterdam is the capital city of the Netherlands. It is known throughout the world as one of the greatest small cities in the world. It lies on the banks of two rivers, the Amstel and IJ, and from its canals to the world famous museums and historical sights, Amsterdam has long been considered as one of the most romantic and wonderful cities in the whole continent of Europe.

Established in the later 12^th century as a small fishing village on the banks of the Amstel River, Amsterdam has one of the largest historic city centers in Europe. One of the focal point of interest in this city is the Golden Age of Netherlands that dates largely from the 17^th century. It was noted that at this time, a row of concentric, semi-circular canals were built around the older city center, but this establishment still defines the city’s layout and appearance today. Amsterdam now has fine houses and mansions that are situated along the canals. Most of these houses and mansions are lived in, while others are now offices and public buildings.

The City Government

Amsterdam, as all Dutch municipalities, is governed by a mayor, his wethouders (aldermen), and the municipal council. Nevertheless, the city is subdivided into fifteen stadsdelen (boroughs), which is a system implemented in the 1980s to improve local governance. The establishment of this system is what sets Amsterdam unique from other Dutch municipalities. The stadsdelen are said to be responsible for a number of activities that previously had been governed and managed by the central city. Fourteen of these have their respective council, which is chosen by a popular election. Westerpoort, the fifteenth, covers the harbour of the city and has very few inhabitants. It is also governed by the central municipal council.

The Language

When it comes to language, many of the people in Amsterdam are proud of the fact that just about everyone speaks English. Although many also speak German and French, it is worth noting that in this capital city of Netherlands, it is a tradition that if you are English speaking, then speak English, unless you speak Dutch too because you are more likely to offend than do anyone a favor by trying out your French or German.

There is a common misconception in the language of Amsterdam; one of those is that Dutch is very close to German. The truth is, they are not mutually intelligible: Dutch people have to learn German at school, and in general they speak better English than German. However, Dutch and German are similar in the same sort of way that French and Italian are similar.

The Weather

In Amsterdam, the typical weather ranges from a little around freezing in the depths of winter to typically pleasant sunny days of 20 to 25 degrees Celsius in the summer. There is also a little snow during the winter season. Furthermore, the spring and autumn are pleasant in Amsterdam; however these seasons can be wet, with 100+ mm of rain per month.

Safety and Health

Amsterdam is a safe city, thus there is nothing really to fear from walking in any part of the city. It has been noted that even in the red-light district around the Oude Kerk, tourists are always spotted wandering around. However, as in any large cities in other parts of the world, you should beware of pick pockets. And, don’t try to photograph the women in the red-light district for that would be risky. In terms of water, the water from taps is perfectly drinkable.

Internet allows us the consumers to shop smartly. In just a few minutes we can virtually visit some shops and compare prices for the products we want to buy.

Internet purchases are easy because most shops use user friendly shopping cart technologies and convenient – the products are delivered right in our houses. In plus there are hudredsof hot offers to choose from.

Also we can use discount coupons to get the products cheaply. For example if you are a fan of Home Shopping Network you may want to find some hsn coupons and use them to lower the prices.

One of the easiest ways of gathering a lot of useful information about your competitors is by developing a series of survey questions and sending these questionnaires out to each of
them. Later on, you might want to compile the answers to these questionnaires into some form of directory or report on this type of business.

  It’s also advisable to contact the trade associations and publications serving your proposed type of business. For information on trade associations and specific trade
publications, visit your public library, and after explaining what you want ask for the librarian’s help.

  The chapter on management should be an elaboration on the people operating the business. Those people that actually run the business, their job, titles, duties, responsibilities and
background resume’s. It’s important that you "paint" a strong picture of your top management people because the people coming to work for you or investing in your business, will be "investing in these people" as much as your product ideas. Individual tenacity, mature judgement under fire, and innovative problem-solving have "won over" more people than all the AAA
Credit Ratings and astronomical sales figures put together.

People becoming involved with any new venture want to know that the person in charge–the guy running the business knows what he’s doing, will not lose his cool when problems arise, and has what it takes to make money for all of them After showing the "muscle" of this person, go on to outline the other key positions within your business; who the persons are you’ve selected to handle those jobs and the sources as well as availability of any help you might need.

If you’ve been in business of any kind scale, the next chapter is a picture of your financial status–a review of your operating costs and income from the business to date. Generally, this is a
listing of your profit & loss statements for the six months, plus copies of your business income tax records for each of the previous three years the business has been an entity.

  The chapter on the explanation of your plans for the future growth of your business is just that–an explanation of how you plan to keep your business growing–a detailed guide of what
you’re going to do, and how you’re going to increase your profits. These plans should show your goals for the coming year, two years, and three years. By breaking your objectives down into
annual milestones, your plan will be accepted as more realistic and be more understandable as a part of your ultimate success.

Following this explanation, you’ll need to itemize the projected cost and income figures of your three year plan. I’ll take a lot of research, an undoubtedly a good deal of erasing,
but it’s very important that you list these figures based upon thorough investigation. You may have to adjust some of your plans downward, but once you’ve got these two chapters on paper, your whole business plan will fall into line and begin to make sense. You’ll have a precise "map" of where you’re headed, how much it’s going to cost, when you can expect to start making money, and how much.

  Now that you know where you’re going, how much it’s going to cost and how long it’s going to be before you begin to recoup your investment, you’re ready to talk about how and where you’re going to get the money to finance your journey.

In these days, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet with just one source of income.  Thus, more and more people are investigating the possibilities of starting their own
extra-income business.  Most of these part-time endeavors are started and operated from the comfort and privacy of the home.

Most of these people are making the extra money they need.  Some have wisely and carefully built these extra income efforts into full-time, very profitable businesses.  Others are just keeping
busy, having fun, and enjoying life as never before.  The important thing is that they are doing something other than waiting for the government to give them a handout; they are
improving their lot in life, and you can do it, too!

The fields of mail order selling, multi-level marketing, and in-home party sales have never been more popular.  If any of these kinds of extra income producing ideas appeal to you, then
you owe it to yourself to check them out.  But these aren’t the only fields of endeavor you can start and operate from home, with little or no investment, and learn as you go.

If you type, you can start a home-based typing service;  if you have a truck or have access to a trailer, you can start a clean-up/hauling service.  Simply collecting old newspapers from
your neighbors can get you started in the paper recycling business.  More than a few enterprising housewifes have found success and fortune by starting home and/or apartment cleaning
services.  If you have a yard full of flowers, you can make good extra money by supplying fresh cut flowers to restaurants and offices in your area on a regular basis.  You might turn a
ceramics hobby into a lucrative personalized coffee mug business.  What I’m saying is that in reality, there’s literally no end to the ways you can start and operate a profitable extra
income business from your home.

The first thing you must do, however, is some basic market research.  Find out for yourself, first-hand, just how many people there are in your area who are interested in your
proposed product or service, and would be "willing to stand in line and pay money for it".  This is known as defining your market and pinpointing your customers.  If  after checking
around, talking about your idea with a whole lot of people over a period of one to three months, you get the idea that these people would be paying customers, your next effort should be
directed toward the "detailing" of your business plan.  The more precise and detailed your plan – covering all the bases relating to how you’ll do everything that needs to be done – the easier
it’s going to be for you to attain success.  Such a plan should show you start-up investment needs, your advertising plan, your production costs and procedure, your sales program, and how your time will be allocated.  Too often, enthusiastic and ambitious entrepreneur jump in on an extra income project and suddenly find that the costs are beyond their abilities, and the time
requirements more than they can meet.  It pays to lay it all out on paper before you get involved, and the clearer you can "see" everything before you start, the better your chances for success.

Now, assuming you’ve got your market targeted, you know who your customers are going to be and how you’re going to reach them with your product or service.  And you have all your costs as well as time requirements itemized.  The next step is to set your plan in motion and start making money.

Here is the most important "secret" of all, relating to starting and building a profitable home-based business, so read very carefully.  Regardless of what kind of business you start, you
must have the capital and the available time to sustain your business through the first six months of operation. 

Specifically, you must not count on receiving or spending any money coming in from your business on yourself or for your bills during those first six months.  All the income from your
business during those first six months should be reinvested in your business in order for it to grow and reach your planned first year potential.

Once you’ve passed that first six months milestone, you can set up a small monthly salary for yourself, and begin enjoying the fruits of your labor.  But the first six months of operation for
any business are critical, so do not plan to use any of the money you business generates for yourself during that period.

If you’ve got your business plan properly organized, and have implemented the plan, you should at the end of your first year be able to begin thinking about hiring other people to alleviate
some of your workload.  Remember this:  Starting a successful business is not a means towards either a job for yourself or a way to keep busy.  It should be regarded as the beginning of an
enterprise that will grow and prosper, with you as the top dog. Eventually, you’ll have other people doing all the work for you, even running the entire operation, while you vacation in the
Bahamas or Hawaii and collect or receive regular income from your initial efforts.

Today I  have stumbled upon a new idea for a post. When I was watching TV I have found almost 10 news regarding alcoholism.

I must admit I do like to drink. I am not a heavy drinker usual I drink 1-2 gasless of wine or 1-2 bottles of beer. Stopping when I had enough is not a problem, so it is hard to understand why people need alcoholism treatment centers.

I am a curious person so I have read some articles. For some people alcohol becomes an addiction. They try not to drink but they fail. For then the need for a drink is hi. Some manage to get rid of the habit by themselves while others need specialized people to help them.