Industry Use of the Word "Carwash" Versus "Car Wash" Considered

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There seems to be a bit of a discrepancy in the car washing sector as to where the carwashes the term “carwash” or “car wash” is most appropriate, that is to say is it all one-word or is it two-words. Okay so, since, I’ve been in the industry myself for nearly 30-years prior to retirement, I’d like to discuss this with you for a moment, and give you my take on this controversy.

Interestingly enough, the term “Carwash” has been used since the industry started, but many people use “car wash” online, and when they talk, so over the years, it seems to be either/or both. Unfortunately, using “car wash” also confuses those who are adamant about proper English, because it confuses the noun with the action to wash a car.

Nevertheless, I can say this, I was instrumental in my career of modifying the English Language to use the term “car wash” as a verb and as a noun, and looking back, I rather like it that way. Now then, during most of my career I was on the mobile side of the industry.

No one in the mobile car washing industry uses the word “carwash” to describe their businesses, and most everyone in the traditional location based carwashes uses “carwash” to describe their operations. That’s why I used the term way I did, although I bet you could find a half a dozen English Majors or professors in any given school who wouldn’t agree with my take on this or the realities of a changing and evolving industry.

So, that’s why I think I might disagree with English Teachers, I’ve changed the term over the years, and I like my way better, besides if you search the word online the search engines seem to pull up businesses, and doesn’t seem to pull up very many car washing “action” type websites. The world has changed, so it’s time that all the editors, English Teachers, and public get used to it, and change or get run over by the onslaught of actual users of the language, and look out now, because here comes China with more English speaking folks as a second language than the number of people in the US. India is next, so we are all going to have to deal with that.

When reading about this word in Wikipedia, it immediately announces that both uses of the word are common, and seems to indicate either are perfectly acceptable. I tend to agree with that, and would submit to you that when discussing mobile businesses, you always should use two-words to describe it, and when talking about a fixed site location, you should generally or mostly use the one-worded version, which most in the industry would agree. Indeed, I hope this clears things up for you, please consider all this and think on it.

The Basic Parts of a Sheet Music Stand

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Music stands come in several varieties and styles, and can be made from many different materials. But with few exceptions, they all share the same basic parts. From lower to upper these consist of the “base”, the “shaft”, and the “tray”.

The Base

The base of a sheet music stand will most often have three legs and be of either a tri-pod or standard, fixed-base design. A tri-pod base attaches the tops of the legs to the shaft part way up from the floor, with three bottom contact points on the ground. These types of legs are almost always foldable or collapsible. Virtually all folding and portable sheet music stands are designed this way. A stand with a standard base will also often have three contact points on the ground, but the other end of the legs will usually be steel-welded to the bottom of the shaft. This will give the stand more stability, but will sacrifice the ability of the stand to easily fold down into a smaller space for more convenient carrying. Most stands found in schools are of this type.

The Shaft

The middle part of the music stand, which connects the base with the tray, is the shaft. If the stand is height- adjustable, then most likely the shaft will have two tubes, one inside the other. These tubes will telescope and then lock at the desired height. If a stand has a standard base, then it is highly likely that the shaft will be of a “one piece” design. That is, the outer tube will be a single piece and will not collapse to any shorter than the minimum playing height. If a stand has a tri-pod base, then it may have a one, two, or three-piece shaft (or more). Multiple-piece shafts will either telescope down to a very small size for ease of transport, or the pieces will separate and thus take up much less room side by side. Naturally, the single piece shaft is considered the strongest, however, folding and portable music stand shafts have become much stronger in the last few years.

The Tray

The part of a sheet music stand which actually holds the music is commonly called the tray or the “desk”. The tray consists mainly of two parts. The vertical backing is called the “bookplate”, and is usually either a single, solid piece, or is constructed from several interconnecting bars that have spaces between them (as with folding stands). The horizontal support (which keeps the sheet music from falling to the floor) is called the “shelf” or the “lip”. The average depth of a shelf is about two inches, but this can vary depending on the intended use of the stand. If a musician intends to read music from books, for example, then a stand with a deeper shelf would be needed. The shelf usually comes as either a single, attached piece, or is in two parts which fold together at the middle. The entire tray (bookplate plus shelf) may or may not be adjustable for tilt angle, and varies in size and strength.

Sheet Music Stand Differences

These are the basic parts of the vast majority of music stands you will encounter. Most of the exceptions will be in favor of artistic design and come from stands that are very beautiful, but sometimes not easily portable. Some examples include music stands with solid (legless) bases, duel-shafted stands, and jazz or “big band” style cardboard stands. And given that there are a myriad of sheet music stand designs, having a grasp of the basic workings of one of the most important pieces of equipment a musician will use is helpful for two reasons. Growing your general musical knowledge is always important; and becoming familiar with these specific terms will make you better able to compare different stands for your own musical needs.

Entrepreneurship – Who Is An Entrepreneur?

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I came to realize that entrepreneurship has been there for so many years and that there are many people who cannot define correctly who an entrepreneur is. This is because there is a disagreement of whether entrepreneurs are born or made. By the way, are entrepreneurs born or made? I’m afraid if we start this discussion we might not come to a conclusion.

Why is it that there is no universal agreement whether entrepreneurs are born or made? First, entrepreneurs are born because there are some people who have come up with new business ideas that are currently recognized as successful businesses but these people were never educated on how to become entrepreneurs. On the other hand entrepreneurs are made because there are some successful entrepreneurs who have studied entrepreneurship courses (diploma and degree programs) offered by colleges and universities.

Is it true that people have not succeeded in defining who a true entrepreneur is?

My own personal experience was that for ten years we ran a research center in entrepreneurial history; for ten years we tried to define the entrepreneur. We never succeeded. Each of us had some notion of it-what he thought was, for his purposes, a useful definition. And I don’t think you’re going to get farther than that-By Arthur Cole.

According to what I studied in high school under the subject of business, an entrepreneur is “a person who sets up successful businesses and business deals.” But this definition does not bring out a clear definition because not everyone who sets up a business and is running it successful is an entrepreneur. There is more of who a true entrepreneur is other than setting up a business and running it successfully.

Economics and business people don’t seem also to agree on who is a true entrepreneur. From economist point of view, “The entrepreneur is one who is willing to bear the risk of a new venture if there is a significant chance for profit. Others emphasize the entrepreneur’s role as an innovator who markets his innovation. Still other economists say that entrepreneurs develop new goods or processes that the market demands and are not currently being supplied.”

Entrepreneurship concept first came into existence in the 1700s. Since then it has evolved to what it is now today. Despite the failure of defining who a true entrepreneur is, we can all agree that entrepreneurs play a major role in enhancing the lives of people in many different ways. They come up with new ideas which have led them to create business organizations.

These organizations apart from creating job opportunities directly or indirectly they also serve people in various ways. Entrepreneurs are viewed as people who either create new products or improve the existing products so as to solve problems facing people.

Trait Approach

We can describe who a true entrepreneur is by using the trait approach. Under this approach, the common traits successful entrepreneurs possess describes if a person is a true entrepreneur. The traits are:

1.) Taking Risks: They take risks after they have discovered viable business opportunities. They already know that business ideas which have got high risks are the ones which yield high profits. Generally speaking, successful entrepreneurs have taken risks to be where they’re now.

2.) Passion: Whatever the business idea they come up with, they have passion for it. Passion keeps successful entrepreneurs going by being focused.

3.) Hardworking: Successful entrepreneurs have a common trait of working hard. They work hard in seeing that all the tasks of the business are completed on time and efficiently.

4.) Optimistic: Optimism is the trait that successful entrepreneurs have in common. They believe that in the future their ideas will be successful businesses. They have no room for doubting their business ideas.

5.) Good Leadership: They have the trait of good leadership. Successful entrepreneurs know how to motivate their employees so that they give their best in attaining success. They create policies and goals for their businesses. They oversee that these policies are followed and the goals are accomplished on time.

6.) Determined and Persistent: Successful entrepreneurs are determined and persistent in making their new business ideas successful. They don’t give up after experiencing some failures in executing some tasks but they’re persistent and determined because they’re motivated by success and not money. For them, money is only a reward they get.

7.) Flexible: Entrepreneurs who have succeeded respond to market needs swiftly. Whenever there are changes in market needs they respond to them swiftly so as not to lose their customers. They search for opportunities to exploit when a change occurs. Successful entrepreneurs have a common trait of adjusting their entrepreneurship ventures to fluctuating economic conditions. “The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity-By Peter Drucker.”

8.) Creativity: They research and come up with creative new business ideas. Successful entrepreneurs continuously innovate new ways of satisfying customers.

9.) Organization Ability: Successful entrepreneurs are well organized. They organize factors of production such as labor, land and capital in running their entrepreneurship ventures.

With all the above information, I urge you not to fail to appreciate what a true entrepreneur is still working on. This is because a true entrepreneur never gives up no matter the failures he experiences in executing some tasks. He is optimistic that one day his business idea will be a successful business.