You’re thinking: ‘another black out, it’ll be back on in a few minutes.’

But what if this was to happen all the time, regularly, and for long periods of time each time?

Well that’s exactly what’s most probably going to happen soon, in most countries over the next 10 years, due to a reduction of the world’s resources.

And one of the major energy consumers responsible for this predicted shortage is air conditioning. Especially in very hot countries. It contributes to extreme peak energy demands on the hottest days of the year, and the energy infrastructure struggles to handle this. In some countries, like South Africa, the solution is to cut off electricity supply to many consumers, lacking the ability to provide so much energy.

Thankfully, Enigin PLC have a solution that could save us from this scenario, and at the same time, give us the opportunity to save a lot of money on energy bills! Enigin aims to help businesses around the world to reduce their energy consumption and therefore their energy costs.

For air conditioning, Enigin has a winning solution! It’s called ACES - Air Conditioning Energy Saver. And it can generate up to 30% savings, sometimes more!

In an air-conditioning unit, 10-20% of the total energy is consumed by the fan, and the rest by the compressor. So, by making sure the compressor is more energy efficient, money can be saved and energy consumption reduced!

Enigin PLC’s ACES system, which only takes about a quarter of an hour to install, is designed to detect when the appliance is on over-drive: when it is working harder than it should, basically. And if this occurs, it will simply put the unit on ’saver-mode’, to avoid wasting energy, which means only the fans will continue to blow cold air into the room, but the compressor will be off until the stored energy (cool air) is used up. It
will switch it back on again when that happens.

That way, the desired temperature will be achieved, but without the inefficiency. So this system provides significant energy savings without affecting the quality of the cooling performance.
The best part is that using Enigin PLC’s ACES means saving energy and money, allowing a return of investment in under 2 years.

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Less than a decade, which isn’t much at all, considering how much greenhouse gasses are being pumped into the air from all corners of the planet! This is why energy efficiency, which Enigin provide worldwide, is crucial and is experiencing such high demand.

So how can we achieve this? Well in my mind there are only so many ways, one of which is saving energy. Because energy consumption creates carbon emissions, as we all know. And this in turn contributes to global warming.

Products like the ones Enigin supply are a cost-effective solution for businesses, which can be combined with other green behaviors that everyone can adopt. For instance, recycling, opting for carbon reduced vehicles (or for bicycles or walking!) whenever possible, being sparing with water, or using only biodegradable items where applicable.

Unless we manage to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere in the next 10 years, our only option to try and fight global warming will be to resort to geo-engineering methods. And these include futuristic concepts such as the use of artificial trees that would soak up some of the CO2 in the air, giant mirrors launched into space to deflect sunlight, creating clouds by spraying seawater into the air,  or storing carbon dioxide underground.

Pollution from cars and factories would need to be reduced by 5%/year in order to avoid global temperature rise of more than 2 degrees. Unfortunately, the current situation shows that levels of greenhouse gases increase by 3% every year! This means that massive investment is needed in order to curb climate change, through the implementation of environmentally friendly technology - renewable energy, electric cars, nuclear power, etc..

That’s why companies like Enigin are so valuable - they provide a real opportunity for action by offering technology that will change energy consumption and the impact of business activity on the environment. Excess energy consumption is eradicated with the use of Enigin products, where it used to be wasted via various appliances such as lighting or air conditioning for example.

If businesses across the globe adopt Enigin energy efficiency systems, they also enhance their profits because they are reducing their energy bills at the same time, on a continual basis, and from day 1. So it’s easy to see how beneficial it is to switch to energy efficient technology.

Sadly, a temperature rise of more than 2C would result in the disappearance of many small island states, floods in South East Asia and desertification of many parts of Africa, according to earlier studies.

It’s really important that people all over the world realise how critical the situation is and how urgent it is to take action. Why would anyone neglect to bring their contribution to reducing pollution when it has been proven to save us money, through energy efficient installations? It’s in everyone’s best interest and time is running out!

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There are many answers, which will vary dependent on the individual who is asked the question - here are a few suggestions by some very experienced sales professionals - here are the final four with the previous four in the last post.

1. Actively Listening. Sales pros miss important cues and information by talking too much themselves and their products. It’s much more important to shut up and let the customer talk. Yes, you should guide the conversation, but then listen and digest properly we learn so much about what the customer really wants, so that you can position your offering appropriately.
2. Presenting Meaningful Solutions. Most salespeople claim that this is the skill they are best at. In fact, we as managers tend to hire people who have “the gift of gab.” In reality, quality is far more important than quantity when it comes to making presentations. When salespeople zero in on presenting only specific solutions to previously agreed-upon needs, they rarely fail.
3. Gaining Commitments. If you really think about it, the only reason to employ salespeople is to gain customer commitment. Yet, when asked, most salespeople admit that this is their weakest skill. Research suggests that almost two thirds of salespeople fail to ask for commitment on sales calls. Any effective sales training program must have a solid solution for this problem.
4. Managing Your Emotions. The way sales pro explain to themselves the causes of their successes and failures is vitally important. Developing a style that sees adversity as temporary and isolated builds the mental toughness, emotional resilience and patience to bounce back from setbacks and be proactive when the time is right.

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There are many answers, which will vary dependent on the individual who is asked the question - here are a few suggestions by some very experienced sales professionals - four now and another four in the next post.

1. Building the Buyer-Seller Relationship. Salespeople need to develop a better understanding of the buying process that customers actually follow-the real decisions they make, and when they are made. Then salespeople need to match their sales process with the customer’s buying process. When this is done, salespeople begin to walk arm-in-arm with the customer as they arrive at the best possible solution.
2. Planning the Sales Call. Most companies today lack a well-defined sales process. Very few have documented the sales practices that lead to strong commitments from customers. As a consequence, salespeople don’t plan sales calls properly. For instance, every call should end in some kind of commitment from the customer-an agreement to do something that will move the process forward.
3. Asking the Right Questions. Most salespeople do not ask the right types of questions, even if they prepare questions prior to the sales call, which most don’t. The impact of poor questioning skills is enormous. It leads to resistance in the form of stalls and objections, bad presentations that offer improper solutions, failure to differentiate from the competition-and missed sales opportunities.
4. Business Acumen. If you’re going to help your customer become more successful you need to know how businesses work in general, how your customer’s industry works, how your customer addresses their target market and how your firms offerings can help them better serve their own customers. Without business skills, you’ll never have the credibility needed to sell

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During the training emphasis is placed on producing a business plan - “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” is very much the theme.

Hence i though it may be useful for you to read this article from advice4businesses.co.uk about producing a business plan:

Five Crucial Components of a Business Plan By Cavyl Stewart

The format of a Business Plan is something that has been developed and refined over the years and is something that should not be changed. Like a good recipe, a business plan needs to include certain ingredients to make it work.

When you create a business plan, don’t attempt to recreate its format. Those reviewing this type of document have expectations you must meet. If they do not see those crucial decision-making components, they’ll see no reason to proceed with their review of your business plan, no matter how great your business idea.

Executive Summary Section

Every business plan must begin with an Executive Summary section. A well-written Executive Summary is critical to the success of the rest of the document. Here is where you need to capture the attention of your audience so that they will be compelled to read on. Remember, it’s a summary, so each and every word must be carefully selected and presented.

Use the Executive Summary section of your business plan to accurately describe the nature of your business venture including the need that you plan to fill. Show the reasons why people need your product or service. Show this by including a brief analysis of the characteristics of your potential market.

Describe the organization of your business including your management team. Also, briefly describe your sales and marketing plan or approach. Finally include the numbers that those reviewing your business plan want to see - the amount of capital you seek, the carefully calculated sales projections and your plan to repay the loan.

If you’ve captured your audience so far they’ll read on. Otherwise, they’ll close the document and add your business plan to the heap of other rejected ideas.

Devote the balance of your business plan to providing details of the items outlined in the Executive Summary.

The Business Section

Be sure to include the legal name, physical address and detailed description of the nature of your business. It?s important to keep the description easy to read using common terminology. Never assume that those reading your business plan have the same level of technical knowledge that you do. Describe how you plan to better serve your market than your competition is currently doing.

Market Analysis Section

An analysis of the market shows that you have done your homework. This section is basically a summary of your Marketing Plan. It needs to show the demand for your product or service, the proposed market, trends within the industry, a description of your pricing plan and packaging and a description of your company policies.

Financing Section

The Financing section must show that you are as committed to your business venture as you expect those reading your business plan to be. Show the amount of personal funds you are contributing and their source. Also include the amount of capital you need and your plan to repay this debt. Include all pertinent financial worksheets in this section: annual income projections, a break-even worksheet, projected cash flow statements and a balance sheet.

Management Section

Outline your organizational structure and management team here. Include the legal structure of your business whether it is a partnership, corporation or limited liability corporation. Include resumes and biographies of key players on your management team. Show staffing projection data for the next few years.

By now you’re probably thinking that you don’t need Business Plan just yet. Well you do, and there is business plan building software that can help you through this immense project. These software packages are easy to use and affordable. Use one today and produce a professional-quality Business Plan - including all critical components - tomorrow!

advice4businesses.co.uk have other useful advice if you are starting up a business.

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When Enigin Distributors start out in their own energy saving business they have dreams of becoming business leaders and Enigin are happy to help them to achieve this goal - but they also learn that there is more important things on life than just work and business.

Top performing entrepreneurs and business gurus add to their fame and fortune through publicity, books and speaking tours, amongst other strategies, but they rarely tell all.

They all talk about the need for vision, how to handle all sorts of people, how to face challenges and seeming disasters plus loads of other valuable stuff that are the ingredients and cliches of the corporate speaking circuit.

To reach top though sacrifices are required and the choice as to whether to make those sacrifices is left to each individual - a middle ground will suffice for most and shouldn’t be knocked. There is more to happiness than a great balance sheet.

Why is such a great sacrifice needed, consider some of the points you often do not hear business guru admit to:

Sleeping on planes and dealing with jet lag. In most, if not all large organisation, a business leader will spend a large amount of time on planes. The routine is simple: one glass of champagne and one melatonin pill forty minutes before take off, and sleep all the way. Business class is not for fancy meals and watching movies: it is for work or sleep.

Working in vehicles. If you need to be able to work in taxis and cars, or you will waste more time than you can afford. Staring out of the window mindlessly is not good.

Dieting. Business leaders are surrounded by biscuits and other high sugar/calorie foods, plus the lunches, dinners and breakfasts. You need to start to love fruit, or start exercising. If not you will die early as an obese alcoholic.

Ruthless time management: queues let leaders catch up with emails and phone calls; ditch or delegate everything you can; fix appointments around your diary, not around other people’s. A friend of mine spent a brief time waiting for a train with the business leader of a well known chain of pubs in the UK. He was amazed when this entrepreneur picked up a lot of legal documents and deeds and threw them in the trash - all he wanted were the profit and loss figures, he stated he had no time for the rest. You may not need ot go that far, but the guys business has gone from strength to strength since that time.

Work the politics. Find the right assignments, right support and right mentors. Set yours and others expectations well. Negotiate budgets hard. Wake up to the reality of corporate life.

Be  ambitious, for your business and yourself. Stretch yourself and your team to achieve more than ever; keep on learning and growing. Don’t accept excuses, don’t be a victim: take responsibility.

Learn to speak well. To small groups, to individuals and to large groups. Most people find this very hard, visiting the dentist is preferable for some and often listening to such people can result in the same sentiment. Learn to speak in public, it is a skill anyone can develop - I have seen people who said they would never able to utter a word before an audience became very able public speakers who can hold the attention of thousands or just a few. So get on a course or become self taught in public speaking.

Put these qualities together you will become a driven individual which will not make you popular - it is your choice keep your humanity and all that means or become a business leader. What do you want out of life? Success or happiness, are the two separate? Usually they are in the business world and those who get to the top postpone their humanity and often do not get the breaks to ever achieve that true happiness - but their business life is a success.

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Enigin always advise on taking low or no costs actions initially to save energy and costs.

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — As we reach the end of a rather wet and miserable British summer, it’s time to start preparing for the winter months and even colder weather. As soon as temperatures start to plunge, we inevitably look to our central heating systems to keep us warm and comfortable.

Yet with pipes, radiators and boilers lying dormant for months, there’s a chance that your system won’t be running at 100% efficiency or may fail to work at all. Protect yourself from the cold and unnecessarily high heating bills this winter by taking a few simple steps ahead of the annual central heating switch-on.

Book a service

It’s important to service your boiler and all gas appliances at least once a year to ensure they’re working correctly and not leaking any poisonous carbon monoxide gas. Unfortunately many homeowners wait until their systems fail to book a service and are left in the cold as they struggle to find an available engineer during the busy winter period. With the high costs of last minute repairs, it’s also no surprise to discover that Brits ended up paying GBP 450 million on boiler repairs alone in 2010.

A simple way to protect yourself from unexpected repair bills is to purchase boiler cover. Most comprehensive policies should include an annual central heating service, during which the engineer should also be any test for any carbon monoxide leakage.

Bleed radiators

One of the quickest ways to improve the efficiency of your central heating system is to bleed your radiators. If your radiators are cool, or cold at the top and warm at the bottom, you need to release trapped air to let hot water flow easily.

All radiators should come with a small tool called a bleed tool, which can be used to open the small valve to the side of the radiator. Open the valve just a small amount to release any trapped air whilst not allowing the water to flow out; keep a towel to hand in case any water does escape. Check your manual to see if you have a sealed central heating system, in which case you’ll also need to reduce the overall pressure of the entire system then top up afterwards from the main cold water feed.

Take your heating under control

With gas prices expected to remain high, it’s vital to keep your energy use as low as possible during the winter months. Fine-tuning your central heating is an easy way to keep your individual rooms at a comfortable temperature without wasting any energy and could save you an average of 15% on your heating bill.

Check your thermostat is between 18 degrees C and 21 degrees C, lowering it on warmer days; running your central heating system at just 1 degrees C lower could save you around GBP 40 over a year. Use a programmer to control when the heating and hot water are activated, planning around your own schedule to ensure you’re only using energy when actually needed. Thermostatic radiator valves are also an intelligent way to save energy. They monitor the air temperature around them to regulate the flow of hot water entering the radiator and maintain a constant temperature in the room.

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Although Enigin plc help many companies save energy and costs, this advice is for residential consumers, albeit some good points for all and world wide from the Alliance to Save Energy.

Average expenditures for consumers of heating oil may be the highest ever – with a 10% annual increase in oil prices costing consumers another $193 this winter. And hikes in propane and natural gas prices are expected to increase home heating bills, too – all at a time when many American households are still struggling to make ends meet.

“With the cost of most heating fuels on the rise this winter, we encourage consumers to adopt energy-efficiency technologies and practices in their homes to keep their heating bills as low as possible without sacrificing comfort,” commented Alliance President Kateri Callahan.

The Alliance suggests the following winter (and year-round) home energy tips:

• Plug up leaks to the outside. Seal air leaks with sealant, caulking and weather stripping; and install appropriate insulation for your climate to increase your comfort, make your home quieter and cleaner and reduce your heating (and summer cooling) costs up to 20%.

• Properly maintain your HVAC system. Just as a tune-up for your car can improve your gas mileage, a semi-annual or yearly tune-up of your heating and cooling system can improve efficiency and comfort.  The federal government’s ENERGY STAR website can help you find a qualified contractor.  (www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=heat_cool.pr_contractors_10tips)

• Let a programmable thermostat “remember for you” to lower the heat while your home is empty and/or overnight to reduce heating costs by up to 10% – and allow you to come home and wake up to a toasty, comfortable house.

• Keep furnace filters clean. Check your filter every month, especially during heavy use months (winter and summer), and change it if it looks dirty.  At a minimum, change the filter every three months. A dirty filter will slow down air flow and make the system work harder to keep you warm. A clean filter not only helps lower energy use and costs, it also helps avoid expensive maintenance and/or early system failure by preventing dust and dirt from building up in the system.

• Consider installing ENERGY STAR-qualified heating and cooling equipment. If you have to replace your HVAC equipment, consider a unit that has earned the ENERGY STAR label, the symbol of energy efficiency.

• Seal your heating and cooling ducts. In a typical house with a forced air system, about 20% of the air that moves through the duct system is lost due to leaks, holes and poorly connected ducts.  Sealing and insulating ducts increases efficiency, lowers home energy bills and can often pay for itself in energy savings. Also, a well-designed and sealed duct system may make it possible to downsize to a smaller, less costly heating and cooling system that will provide better dehumidification. Insulate ducts in unheated areas such as attics, crawlspaces and garages with duct insulation that carries an R-value of 6 or higher.

• Save on the cost of heating hot water. Keep the temperature at 120 degrees, and insulate the hot water storage tank according to manufacturer’s directions, without covering the thermostat. For detailed information, see the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Savers consumer booklet at http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/.

• Open curtains and other window treatments on your west- and south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home, and close them at night.

• Go “window shopping” at www.efficientwindows.org to discover how high-performance ENERGY STAR-labeled windows can cut heating costs by as much as 30% compared to single-pane windows, while increasing indoor comfort and lessening fading of home furnishings.

• Also look for the ENERGY STAR label when replacing or buying appliances, electronics, lighting and many other types of products to save up to 30% in related electricity bills. See www.energystar.gov for more information.

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It is vital to understand why we have to take action. So here is an overview about energy saving and why it has become so important worldwide.

What are these Carbon Emissions you read about?

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a gas emitted into the atmosphere from many sources but the area that causes concern is the CO2 emitted as a result of burning fossil fuels.

Through photosynthesis plants and organic matter removes the CO2 from the atmosphere and the carbon helps to make sugars, which may either be consumed in respiration or used as the raw material to produce other organic compounds needed for plant growth and development, the Oxygen part of the CO2 is returned to the atmosphere. When the plants are burnt, either as plants or as fossil fuels, the CO2 is released back into the atmosphere.

Particularly since the onset of the industrial revolution there has been an ever growing imbalance between the CO2 the plants and organic matter of the earth can deal with and the amount still within the atmosphere. But, because industry and our lifestyle now depend on fossil fuels the balance has tipped causing an excessive amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

What is Climate Change?

With an increasing amount of CO2 in the atmosphere plus other greenhouse gases (water vapor,  methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone) the heat from the sun cannot is absorbed by the gases. That is why it is called the ‘Greenhouse Effect’, as the heat is trapped within the atmosphere.

This affect is natural and needed and natural making the planet around 20º Celsius warmer than it would otherwise be hence providing us a comfortable climate. This effect is now a problem becasue over the last 100 years or more the concentration of CO2 has risen by about 30%.

If the situation continues to warm up the planet at the current rate sea levels will rise, we will experience extremes in weather such as flooding, drought, snow storms and catastrophic natural disasters.

What can be done?

The world needs to pull together to reduce harmful emissions, the major contributor to the warming effect. Even though the Copenhagen summit in December 2010 finished short of its aims we are seeing many nations realising that energy efficiency is one of the most cost effective ways of reducing carbon emissions..

What can WE do?

We can all have a major have an impact on reducing carbon emissions by taking some basic steps.
Are their benefits now?
There are benefits now as you will save money from once you start to save energy onwards.

Initial Action.

Discover how much carbon you are emitting on a yearly basis. You can do this by visiting the many different websites, if you do a search you will find the resources online that you need - try this link: Energy Saving Trust carbon calculator.

Once you have calculated the annual output then begin to start cutting back.

The average western European household emits over 6 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere every year.
There are simple steps to take to reduce your carbon footprint, and you will also save money.

With the price of oil, gas and electricity continually on the up, many people struggle to afford to heat their homes adequately.

More energy efficient steps will be posted soon.

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Proper energy management will keep all systems running efficiently. An energy audit of electrical heating and cooling includes checking insulation, draft stopping, windows and doors, as well as the overall envelope of the home.

This assessment will determine the efficiency of the heating and cooling system and how to conserve energy. Corrections in the systems will save homeowners time and money.

Air conditioners are 50 percent more efficient today than ever before. Office managers and homeowners can cut up to half or more of their electricity bill when installing a high efficiency air conditioner.

Planned maintenance is important to keep air conditioners and heating systems operating at peak efficiency, systems must be maintained to keep energy costs lower.

Heating systems should be checked in the autumn just before winter and full use of heating begins, and in early spring air conditioning systems should likewise be checked.

At Enigin we provide commerce, industry and the public sector with leading edge solutions that enable energy saving to be not just a flash in the pan but a continuing process with automatic and intelligent controls for many systems and appliances.

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