Owners: Ruth & John Dannenbrink
1104 S. Central Ave, Safford AZ Website   

When John and Ruth Dannenbrink purchased the Olney House in January of 2011 and started the Cottage Bed & Breakfast, they didn't waste a minute getting right to business. "We had guests already booked" said Ruth. While unpacking and settling their family of 8 into the main house, John went to work renovating and updating the two cottages behind the house, where bed & breakfast visitors stay. He also renovated another building next to one of the cottages to become a commercial kitchen where Ruth started preparing items for their "made-to-order" bakery.  Ruth shared, "I had worked in bakeries before and always enjoyed making homemade pastries. It didn't feel like work. It was enjoyable!" Cottage Bakery quickly became well known for their cheesecakes, cinnamon rolls and custom orders. It wasn't long before John's next project became converting one of the cottages into a storefront for the bakery. In October of 2012, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held by the Graham County Chamber and the Cottage Bakery became an official favorite stop for locals and tourists alike.

 

While one of the cottages still serves overnight guests, the brick sidewalk flanked by a garden and sitting area takes visitors down to the second building housing the county's latest best-kept secret. Inside customers find a rack of homemade breads, biscotti, granola and cookies and a large refrigerated glass case holding pecan rolls, cheesecakes, tarts, croissants, scones, cinnamon rolls and many other scrumptious treats. Though residence can find some of these items at our local grocery stores, Ruth explains the difference in her products. "I get up at 3 a.m. and start making everything from scratch. There is no frozen dough, no pre-made croissants, pastries or canned fillings. If you come at 7 a.m. it has just come out of the oven. Visitors can enjoy any treat knowing they are eating real food free of preservatives and artificial ingredients."

 

 

By now, it's entirely likely that your New Years Resolutions are as cold and lifeless as a puppy on Pluto.

 

You're not alone. Some 88% of resolutions are destined not to make it anywhere near success, even if you start out with the best of intentions on January 1st. It's simple to make resolutions year after year; tempting even. You want things to change, you want something better, and the start of a brand new year seems like the perfect time to start and stop all of that "stuff".

 

But New Years Resolutions are systemically flawed, and it's hardly surprising they end up broken and discarded like an old sofa when you consider that they're normally one of these 3 things:

• Something you think you should probably stop doing, because it might be "bad"
• Something you think you should probably start doing, because it's generally perceived as "good"
• Something that's fuelled by guilt or shame, whether it's something you've done or not done

I don't know about you, but none of those 3 things seems like a good reason to do anything to me.

 

Go about a decision with any one of these drivers and you've failed before you've even started.

Making your decisions based on what popular opinion says you should do or because that's what your peers are doing seems crazy, right? But you still do it....

 

Is your business using technology to its fullest? j2 Global just released its predictions for the top tech trends that will affect small and midsized businesses in 2013.

Here are three predictions, plus my take on the challenges involved in implementing each.

 

1. Mobilization will make small businesses more productive. In 2011, according to Canalys, the number of smartphones sold surpassed the number of PCs sold for the first time ever. While small businesses are already using smartphones and tablets for email and Web browsing, in 2013 j2 Global predicts businesses will begin truly leveraging smartphones and tablets to enhance productivity by:

• Using mobile business systems such as CRM to input and access sales information on the go, wherever they are.

• Using mobile collaboration tools, such as conference calling and Web conferencing, that were previously limited to the office to respond more quickly and strategically to immediate business needs.  

• Using a wider variety of mobile work-related apps, including mobile faxing and communication apps for making VoIP calls.

Challenge: It's easy to see the benefits of mobilization for almost any kind of small business, from a construction crew staying in touch with the office to restaurant servers taking orders on tablets. However, if (like many small businesses) you let employees bring their own devices to save money, you could be exposing your company to risks that will cost much more than you save. Make sure you set policies and procedures to protect your networks, your data and your customers' data on mobile devices....

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