Simple & effective… that’s Tischen!

Have you heard about Tischen? I guess not. It was only yesterday that I stumbled upon this very interesting website called Tischen on Twitter. The unique name was intriguing enough for me to spend some time on the website. The website is nothing but a pain-relief for the New Yorkers! No seriously!  Tischen (pronounced Tish-In) is a free online service that lets you find helpers and services where you need them, when you need them.

You may ask, how is it different than any other service in the category? or how is different than Yellow Pages? In a way Tischen is similar to many web services in the category. The only difference is that Tischen is much more simpler, smarter, effective and transparent!  Let’s see how:

By no means I intend to compare Yellow Pages with Tischen, I just want to use Yellow Pages as an example to explain the simplicity of the service offered by Tischen. Search results on this site are very transparent  & directly share information about the service provider, rates and availability! This is the part I love about this service. I had an opportunity to get in touch with the founder of Tischen.com – Saman Rahmanian, I understand that he started this service with a very noble cause of getting rid of unemployment & save the economy. I am sure it’s a wonderful thing to do! Here’s what he had to say about his brand new offering…

I started Tischen because I was frustrated that there was no easy way on the web to find good contractors easily and more importantly to see whether the person would be available at any given time. Many helper & service sites act like black boxes. You have to submit your project description and then you may or may not hear from some bidders that you haven’t chosen yourself. Tischen takes a different approach. First of all, it is calendar based. So for example when you enter “plumber in manhattan”, those plumbers in Manhattan that are available at that very moment appear first. You can click on the helpers’ profiles to find out more about them. And if you like what you see, you can send a simple job request which notifies the helper about the job.

A service provider's profile with the availabililty information.

So no more 'black box' moments. You know when you will get served!

Get started with Tischen in three easy steps!

I love the simplicity and transparency of this very helpful service. I am no way near to an astrologer, but can surely see Tischen being very successful in the coming future! I really complement Saman Rahmanian for coming up with his noble idea & wish him all the luck!

Note: Tischen is currently running in public Beta in New York. Also, Compete.com tells me that in just over a month this site has attracted 2714 unique visitors!

Consumer Confidence stumbles in June.

After a back-to-back increase in ‘Consumer Confidence Index’ since last two months, Consumer Confidence stumbled in June. On June 30,  a study conducted by The Conference Board  reported that “The Consumer Confidence Index, which had improved considerably in May, retreated in June. The Index now stands at 49.3, down from 54.8 in May.” The Present Situation Index also declined from 29.7 in May to 24.8 in June.

Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center says “The decline in the Present Situation Index, caused by a less favorable assessment of business conditions and employment. Looking ahead, Expectations continue to suggest less negative conditions in the months ahead, as opposed to strong growth.”

It was also reported by the board that :Consumers’ appraisal of present-day conditions was less favorable in June. Those claiming business conditions are “good” decreased to 8.0 percent from 8.8 percent, while those saying conditions are “bad” increased to 45.6 percent from 44.5 percent. Those stating jobs are “hard to get” increased to 44.8 percent from 43.9 percent. Those saying jobs are “plentiful” decreased to 4.5 percent from 5.8 percent.”

The pessimism continues with the Consumers’ short-term outlook also dropping in June. Consumers anticipating an improvement in business conditions over the next six months decreased to 21.2 percent from 22.5 percent, while those expecting conditions will worsen increased to 20.2 percent from 18.0 percent in May.

Good Thinking: Hyundai breeds creativity in adversity

Adversity breeds Creativity - We are at our creative best in adverse situations.

In adverse situations we are under pressure to change something in our lives that is not working. We are forced to look at ways in which we can overcome adversity. Adversity puts a strong demand on us to innovate for survival. It forces us to be different than what we have been being. Some of the most successful people and businesses that the world has seen have grown out of adversity.

Everyone by now is well aware of the adverse situations auto makers are in… To come out of this adversity, Hyundai recently launched “Hyundai Assurance Program”

The car-maker allows you to return you vehicle & allows you to walk away from your loan or lease without having to worry about any damage to your credit history. Assurance program only applies to customers stricken by misfortune outside of their control, such as losing their job, becoming disabled or losing their drivers license for medical reasons.

Customers must also have made at least two payments on the car already. In addition, Hyundai will only refund the depreciation on the returned car up to $7,500 and the program is complementary for the first 12 months of leasing or financing.

Hyundai said, the program is aimed at consumers too nervous to spring for a new car in the difficult economy. The slump in consumer confidence has been one of the biggest factors behind the collapse in new vehicle sales in 2008. In a prepared statement, ccting president & chief executive of Hyundai North America said that “We understand consumers’ hesitance to commit to large purchases in today’s economic environment,” “Today we’re extending … peace of mind to cover consumers’ employment status and personal finances.”

In this uncertain time, Hyundai’s Assurance Program seems to be very assuring for the uncertain buyers…

Mood Stats: World vs United States

unfortunately it looks like respondents from U.S. are more sad than the world

WHAT’S YOUR MOOD TODAY?

source: worldmood.info

FORECAST: (Online) sales in holiday season.

Two weeks ago I was discussing amount of holiday sales this year. I did not have the answer & we changed the topic. But thanks to eMarketer, here I am with the holiday sales forecast for the year. This year total online holiday sales  will be near to $32.1 billion, with a growth rate of 10.1% over 2007. This suggests a sharp decline in growth rate since last year & in fact lowest growth rate since 2003. Keeping the economic condition in mind, I am sure this did not come to you as a surprise.

As we can see, economic turmoil is clearly affecting e-commerce sales this season. To tacking this economic downturn, customers will use variety of strategies to buy holiday gifts & make optimal utilization of their money. They will turn to deals & discounts on internet, find bargains.

Shoppers will shift a larger share of their purchases from stores to the Internet to save gas money and avail themselves of retailers’ free shipping offers. Says Jeffrey Grau, Senior Analyst at eMarketer.

This phenomenon will lead to higher spending on internet.The spending is expected to shift from stores to online stores, according to a recent survey conducted by the e-tailing group. This year 49% of holiday gift spending among US Internet users will occur online, compared with 44% in stores—making this the first time the Web has surpassed the store as the preferred channel for Internet users to purchase holiday gifts.

Bill Clinton for Obama 08 at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond VA.

(post updated with a video)

Bill Clinton tells Richmond (VA) that “OBAMA UNDERSTANDS”

Former President Bill Clinton was in Richmond to campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. He was at Virginia Commonwealth University – my university!

Former President Bill Clinton addressing people at Virginia Commonwealth University in RIchmond, VA.

Clinton told 5000 Obama supporters that “Obama Understands, Obama understands economy, he understands health care, Obama understands health care, Obama understands Energy & OBAMA UNDERSTANDS WHAT IS RIGHT FOR AMERICA.”

The former president spoke at VCU, where he said “Obama has spoken to several young economists to UNDERSTAND the right thing for America, Obama has asked his (Clinton’s) advisers to tell him “the right thing” to do to pull the nation out of its economic crisis, Obama even spoke to “Warren Buffet” half a dozen times to UNDERSTAND the right thing for America .