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CURING CONCRETEFOR A STRONG PRODUCT, KEEP FRESH CONCRETE MOIST AND WARM FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLEBY DAVID CARNSMost Construction Projects Call For Concrete In Some Form, Whether As Footings, Walls, Or Flatwork. As A Frequently Used Material, Concrete Is Also A Common Source Of Problems. Foulups Can Occur At Any Stage, From Batching, Mixing, And Transporting To Placement, Finishing, Or Even Curing, The Final Step. Concrete That Has Been Handled Correctly All Along Can Still Be Ruined If It's Not Properly Cured.Warm And Wet: Keys To CuringCuring Means Taking Steps To Keep The Concrete Under The Right Temperature And Moisture Conditions During The First Few Days Of Hardening After Placement. Proper Curing Is Vital Because The Concrete Will Eventually Be Much Harder And Stronger If It Is Cured Correctly.Hydration. The Hardening Of Concrete Is Not A Drying Process, But Rather The Result Of A Chemical Reaction Between The Finely Ground Portland Cement Particles And The Water In The Mix. This Reaction Is Known As Hydration. Like Most Chemical Reactions, Hydration Is Greatly Influenced By Temperature. The Basic Idea Behind Proper Curing Is To Allow This Reaction To Continue As Long As Practical By Maintaining A Suitable Curing Temperature, Usually 50°F To 90°F, And By Keeping The Concrete Wet. If The Temperature Of The Concrete Drops Below 50°F, Hydration Begins To Slow, And If The Water In The Mix Freezes, The Concrete Will Be Ruined. Also, If Too Much Water Escapes From The Concrete, Hydration Will Stop Altogether. The Longer Favorable Conditions Are Maintained, The Longer The Concrete Will Cure, Resulting In A Better Product.Benefits Of Good CuringAlthough It May Require Some Extra Effort On The Average Residential Job Site, Maintaining Proper Curing Conditions Will Result In Superior Concrete. Properly Cured Concrete Has Several Desirable Qualities:It is stronger in compression (see"Moist-Curing for MaximumStrength," next page).It resists abrasion much better. This is important for concrete floors and pavements. o It is more durable; in particular, it is better able to withstand repeated freezing and thawing over the years.It is less permeable. This makes abig difference in concrete walls designed to keep out moisture, such as basements.A note of caution. Keep in mind that proper curing will not compensate for poor quality concrete. Concrete that is poured too wet will be weak regardless of how it is cured. Not all of the water that is added to the concrete mix is necessary for the hydration process. In fact, the amount of water required to completely hydrate the cement is only about one half to two thirds of what is usually added at the batch plant or on the job site. The rest is added strictly to make the mix more workable. Adding too much water, however, might save work during placement, but it will also result in very weak, porous concrete, even with proper curing.How and When to CureHydration begins as soon as the cement particles come in contact with the mix water. Curing begins immediately after placement, or in the case of flatwork, immediately after the final finishing is done. You should move quickly to create suitable curing conditions. Even when the temperature is within the 50°F to 90°F range, you need to prevent evap- oration from the concrete by sealing it or keeping it wet. If hot, dry, or windy weather is likely to cause excessive evaporation, or if cold temperatures threaten to freeze the concrete, the need to control temperature and moisture becomes even greater. For milder weather, here are some techniques that work well on residential job sites:Slabs and flatwork. You can keep a slab wet with a continuous water spray, such as a lawn sprinkler. This provides the moisture necessary for the slab surface to properly cure, and cools the slab to slow evaporation during hot weather. However, you have to keep an eye on things, which isn't always practical. I remember one time when a homeowner came home and helpfully turned off the sprinkler, thinking that the contractor had forgotten about it. The slab dried out and curing stopped.You can dam the edges of a slab with dirt or plastic and pond the surface with water. This works fine in theory, but it has the same drawback as the water spray: You have to keep watch.You can also cover a slab with polyethylene sheets. Use clear poly, 4 mil or heavier. Do not use black poly, especially in hot weather. The idea is to keep the moisture contained in the concrete from evaporating. If the plastic has even small holes or tears, or if a tight seal is not maintained around the edge of the slab, moisture will escape and curing will stop. Tape the plastic to any protruding rebar or plumbing, lap and weight any seams, and weight all the edges. This method is practical and inexpensive, and works well when the poly is completely sealed.There is one drawback: Where the plastic makes contact with the concrete, it can discolor the slab surface. If appearance is important, consider one of the other methods. Curing compound.You can apply a curing compound. These commercially available compounds provide a thin sealing film that accomplishes the same thing as a plastic sheet, holding moisture in the concrete. These compounds may be either clear or pigmented; with the pigmented product, you can tell where you've sprayed. They are relatively inexpensive - a gallon sells for about $8 and covers 200 to 300 hundred square feet. A garden sprayer works well for applying the compounds. Usually two coats are recommended, the second at right angles to the first, to ensure complete coverage. Keep in mind that all surfaces should be coated, including slab edges.Although curing compounds will eventually wear off, some will prevent adhesion of paint, carpet, vinyl cements, or future concrete. Consult your supplier if this is a consideration. Curing compounds are widely used on both residential and commercial jobs, with good reason. They are easy to apply, inexpensive and effective, and they require little or no attention once applied. Best of all, you can use the slab as soon as it has cured enough that it won't be easily damaged.Formed concrete. The best way to cure formed concrete walls is to leave the forms in place as long as practical - a minimum of three days is best. The formwork holds in moisture and, in cold weather, heat. In hot weather, keep the forms hosed down to control temperature and reduce moisture evaporation from the concrete. Any exposed concrete, such as the top of a concrete wall, should be covered with plastic or sprayed with curing compound. If the forms are stripped earlier than three days, the concrete should be either covered with plastic for several days or sprayed with curing compound. There are some obvious practical considerations here. The idea is to allow the concrete to cure for a reasonable length of time, yet not delay the rest of the job.How Long to Cure? The answer to this question is the longer the better. Concrete will continue to hydrate and gain strength almost indefinitely as long as moisture is present and a suitable temperature is maintained. Try drilling or jackhammering 30-year-old concrete and you'll see what I mean. If concrete is cured in cool temperatures (32°F to 50°F), strength gain will be slow but the concrete will eventually reach a high strength as long as moisture is continuously present. However, concrete should not be allowed to get hotter than 90°F or to dry out during the curing period. If the concrete dries out too early in the hydration process (within the first three days), long-term strength will be compromised even if moist conditions return. If your intention is to produce the highest quality concrete, keep freshly poured concrete moist at 50°F to 90°F for seven days for Types I or II portland cement ("regular" concrete) or for three days if Type III cement (highearly, or rapid-hardening) or accelerators are used.As a practical matter, though, most concrete subs strip their wall forms after a few days, and few builders take the trouble to continue the curing process beyond that point. This is usually not a problem since, after curing for a few days behind the forms, 8- inch-thick concrete walls are plenty strong to carry residential loads (though you have to be careful about backfilling too soon). For slabs, though, with their increased surface area, you should pay more attention to curing, especially since conspicuous surface defects may be unacceptable.Hot Weather CuringThe biggest problem in hot weather is excessive moisture loss from the concrete surface (see "Bad Weather Curing," facing page). This can be serious for thin concrete members, such as slabs, that have a large surface exposed to the weather. Surface evaporation is affected by a combination of four factors: concrete temperature, air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. Placing concrete in hot weather is complicated by the fact that the hydration reaction generates heat, adding to the problem of excessive evaporation.Crazing. If you pour a slab on a hot, windy day without proper precautions, several defects can result. One defect, known as crazing, causes fine surface cracks in a chicken wire pattern that are especially visible if the slab is dampened. Crazing results from too much surface evaporation during the initial curing period. It is a cosmetic problem, not a structural problem. Applying a curing compound or sealing the slab with plastic helps to prevent crazing; this should be done as quickly as possible after the slab is finished.Plastic shrinkage cracks. A more serious problem, plastic shrinkage cracks, can happen when moisture evaporates from the slab while the concrete is still "plastic" - that is, wet and workable. This typically happens on a windy day, leaving short, parallel cracks (6 inches to 3 feet long) at right angles to the wind. Plastic shrinkage cracks can allow water to enter an outdoor slab, where it may freeze, causing further deterioration.Under extremely hot, dry, and windy conditions, you may not be able to prevent crazing and plastic shrinkage cracks; it's best to pour early in the day or wait until conditions improve. You can also use set retarders to slow hydration, and some batch plants may offer ice as a replacement for part of the mix water.Lower strength. Furthermore, excessive evaporation will lower the final strength of the slab, since hydration may not resume once moisture is again present. A slab that is not sealed with plastic or a curing compound must be kept continuously wet throughout the initial curing period if it is to achieve full strength.Cold Weather CuringPlacing concrete in cold weather gives rise to two concerns: Strength gain is slowed because hydration slows, and the water in exposed concrete may freeze. Job specs often require concrete to attain a specified strength before use or form removal; in that case, slow strength gain may slow the job's progress. On the other hand, if moisture in curing concrete is allowed to freeze, the result can be weak, poor quality concrete or spalling (flaking) of the slab surface. The more freezing cycles the wet concrete endures, the worse the problem. Freezing becomes less of a concern after the first few days, tion process continues to reduce the moisture in the concrete.Heat of hydration. Often the "heat of hydration" will help speed coldweather curing. Insulating blankets, straw-covered plastic, insulated forms, and windbreaks will all help retain this internal heat, speeding strength gain and preventing freezing. Accelerators or Type III cement can also be added to the mix at the batch plant to speed curing. This won't cause more heat to be released overall, but it does result in more heat being released during the first few days when maintaining concrete temperature is most critical. you use an accelerator, try to avoid the calcium-chloride type; the chloride tends to corrode reinforcing steel.Enclosures. Heat can also be added to the concrete by building temporary enclosures of polyethylene or canvas and using a kerosene or propane "salamander" heater. Combustion heaters should be vented outside the enclosure, however, because carbon dioxide in the exhaust will react with and soften the concrete surface. Also, in colder regions, ready-mix suppliers are often set up to heat either the mix water or the aggregate, or both, as is the case here in central Washington.Common sense. Protecting concrete in cold weather becomes a function of the air temperature and common sense. If, for example, you pour a slab when it's 40°F outside and weather forecast calls for temperatures to drop to the mid-twenties night, covering the slab with an insulating blanket for the first night should keep the concrete warm enough until the next day, when blanket can be removed as it warms up. If it's already below freezing when you pour, and the forecast calls lower temperatures to come, keep concrete covered or heated for least several days. The major concern is to prevent the moisture in the concrete from freezing during the initial curing period.Although concrete gains strength more slowly at lower temperatures, the strength of concrete cured at will eventually reach that of concrete cured at 70°F. Even if the concrete temperature drops to the mid teens, the hydration process will continue a very slow rate.David Carns, P.E., teaches engineering at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Wash.

In descending order of importance, if Space management, Workforce quality, Parenting methodologies + Education system do not get overhauled, S’pore’s economic success is bound to rapidly deteriorate.(Edit: I have the solutions for the problems below)Whatever I put in italics are the current challenges. For your googling benefit.This is a long one. Brace yourself.Unlike what the population whitepaper (2013) suggested, our rapidly aging population is NOT the most endangering to our economic sustainability. While it portends a shrinking domestic workforce and customer base, with less workers to support the industries and less customers to sell to, they are not highly relevant to the future economy. Additionally to resolve this through artificial population injection via foreign migrants, may not only NOT alleviate the burden on the younger generations who have to support a larger population of older, less able S’poreans, but exacerbate the issues that will undermine S’pore’s economic success.First of all, a shrinking workforce is not a problem in the future economy. The world is moving away from the industrial era where a small number of decision makers rule conglomerates, assigning jobs with specific scope of work to the masses, much like the workers of a machine line. In recent years, a large number of corporations traditionally thought to be resistant to negative economic impacts have closed shop or downsized through massive retrenchment exercises worldwide, and S’pore is following suit. The way is opening up to a future of numerous smaller-sized, technologically supported companies with a short to medium term life span, with a lean structure comprised of mentally agile and multi-skilled employees whose work roles are less clearly defined. Often skilled, even highly skilled independent workers will be contracted on a project basis.The problem with S’poreans is that their skills are of little relevance to the future’s knowledge-based workforce. If S’poreans do not transform to accommodate future requirements, then the problem of talent shortfall will persist to disrupt businesses’ sustainability. Therefore it is the quality of the workforce that matters, not so much the size.Even with the reasoning that a larger population size will increase the chance of locating quality, if at 5.9 m population mark, just 1.0 m shy of 6.9 m, 96% of employers still state that they face skills shortage, what is the probability of rectifying this problem with an additional 1.0 m population figure? The obvious solution is that S’poreans right here right now have to be the ones to provide the quality seeked. Yet S’poreans ability to transform is also handicapped by the below factors.A shrinking customer base is also not a substantial threat to our economy because the domestic market has never been a major income source. S’pore made its mark through the import/export trade. What counts is our foreign clientele base… although the prognosis is not favourable and it has to do with Cost of Space.Multiple sectors and industries relying on foreign customers have been affected by slowing global demand. Even the only consistently performing one may be hitting a plateau. The tourism sector might have broke records for visitor arrivals and income in 2017, but emerging tourism market segments lauded for their high potential have fizzled out. When hotel rates are 3rd most expensive in Asia Pacific and costly medical services considered, medical tourists flock to regional competitors like Msia and Thailand. (Even S’poreans are going elsewhere). Businesses are also finding it too costly for associates to travel to S’pore, thus threatening the BTMICE segment that accounts for ¼ of our tourism receipts. In 2017, S’pore went up a notch to be the 3rd most expensive place for business travellers in Asia Pacific.The problem with the high cost of space is not isolated. Office rent in the CBD has risen to be more expensive than that of Miami in Florida. Businesses grapple with falling profits and rising overheads. Naturally businesses reduce pay packages as cost-cut measures. Luxurious pay packages for expats a thing of the past. Most on localised paychecks. This affects workforce quality. Foreign manpower expertise shortfall in many industries.With reduced pay, foreign professionals feel the financial strain of living here. S’pore is in the 5th year running as the most expensive city for expats.The Global Schoolhouse project is a dismay when elite foreign institutions took off with some citing high operating costs including that of rent, aggravated by lukewarm student enrolments. S’pore topped the charts for the most expensive place for foreign students, and rent is no doubt a high price for a student to pay.A study in NUS found considerable number of S’poreans bearing the brunt of unaffordable housing as ⅓ of their monthly income goes toward servicing mortgage loans. Income raises lagging behind property price increases is cause for more worry. The burden of meeting housing payments keep S’poreans in fear of losing their jobs, and an unhealthy situation has arised. The need for employers’ approval prevents challenging of the status quo. Long work hours are kept to even when much of it is spent on pointless activities. Longest work week of 44 hours globally. This is one reason for diminished motivation at work. Low workforce productivity. Suggestions for change can lead to longer work hours. Best to just keep to existing standards. SMEs lack innovation, are change resistant. Work is so stressful. Increase in Major Depressive Disorder for the middle-aged and suicides for 20 - 29 years age range. Quality of the workforce affected.Potential entrepreneurs typically fall within the range of marriageable age, face dilemma of self-employment impeding their qualifying for home ownership. Prudent family members including wife-to-be stand in favor of not rocking the boat, strongly influencing one’s final decision. Lack of entrepreneurial instincts.Parents transfer the stress of keeping their rice bowl intact by urging children to study even harder to gain competitive advantage, starting them at younger age, for longer hours. Increase in childhood mental health issues and teenage suicides. Parents are then apprehensive about having more kids who will not only add to expenses but face the similar challenges they went through. Besides there isn’t even time to have sex. Low fertility rate. There isn’t time for spouse as well. Divorce rates increase. Might as well not get married. Less couples tie the knot.As a result of paying the accrued interest on CPF utilised to pay for housing, and not being able to earn CPF interest on the sum used, retirement amount is significantly reduced. Half the population of 65 - 69 years are in the workforce putting in long hours with no minimum wage… so it couldn’t be that they enjoy working. Moreover life span might have increased but so have the number of years spent in ill health. Increase in aged mental health issues and suicides.The entire life trajectory of a S’porean doesn’t sound enticing.While there are other contributing factors to the above mentioned, they all present one underlying theme - the affordability of space (property/land). Can you see how determining it is of our economic and social well being?Now what then determines the cost of space? The cost of space is fundamentally an issue of availability. Less land/property available equates to higher prices charged. Contrary to popular thought, people are not the country’s only natural resource. Without this piece of land, S’pore as a country wouldn’t even exist. Albeit of an extremely small area of 720 km2, that only makes it more precious. When 13,700 people are placed in every square kilometre [*calculated based on developable areas as per the whitepaper], space utility had better be damn well managed.How is Space managed in S’pore?While there is no doubt that land use is meticulously planned and policies are implemented for the benefit of S’poreans, there are adverse outcomes in areas approached with a reductionist mindset.Example 1.In 2007 - 2011 foreign direct investments led to 50% surge in property prices. Having gone way over the range of affordability for serious home buyers, property cooling measures to curb buyers’ eligibility were introduced in 2011, with the anticipation that falling demand would drive prices down. The interest in the private housing market fizzled out and prices began the descent from 2013 - 2017 dipping by (approx) 12% to its lowest.Then end 2017, prices started to go back up. Same goes for 1st half of 2018. Prices are likely to rise 8 - 10% for the year of 2018.Turns out the cooling measures did not effect a drop in prices for a significant period.Oh well… no big deal, you think. Actually it is a huge deal.An event that interrupts the top of the supply chain of a sector can cause a ripple effect throughout its ecosystem, subsequently impacting related sectors and industries, then rippling out to the rest. And the property sector has one of the most extensive economic ecosystem. In 2017, 1 in 5 persons or 18.8% in the workforce is directly involved in real estate and construction. Other jobs directly affected include valuers, conveyance lawyers, mortgage bankers, facility managers, architects, engineers and various service providers. Residential property is a major asset class worth $833.5 billion. Mortgages make up about 30% of local banking portfolio. Home ownership is at over 90% of all households with a portion who depend on rental as an income source.When source of income for these people are cut off, other sectors in turn get affected as consumer spending shrinks. With considerable number of people experiencing such, there will be a large enough impact on the economy. While the effects of cooling measures cannot be considered the only contributor to the economic slowdown, it has its reasonable share.The Property sector is the bedrock of the Singapore economy. What came down was much more than the prices of property.This matters.Example 2.As a result of the cooling measures where property transactions hit record lows, continual yearly supply of newly completed homes added to the bulk of unsold and unoccupied units, totaling 32,000+ at its peak in 2017, recording a 10 year high vacancy rate of 8.9%. This is a lot of unused space. The only method to address this is to impose hefty fines on property developers (with foreign directors and almost all of them do) for not selling the units by a certain time frame. To avoid the penalty, some developers buy over those units under a subsidiary.But this is meaningless towards fulfilling the goal of reducing property prices. Nor does it address the vacant and wasted spaces.Example 3.Considering that a large number of new homes have been unoccupied for years, although the vacancy rate has fallen to 8.4% (2018), recent release of government land sales and the redevelopment of en-bloc sites will add another 20,000 units from 20 new residential projects, flooding the market in the near future.Build, then leave empty, then build more… On land scarce, congested Singapore.Example 4.For almost a decade, S’pore’s huge population had the public hospitals plagued with bed shortages even as more and more new facilities were progressively added on to meet the demand. At end 2016 there were 13,931 beds. By 2022, 4 facilities will offer 4,250 beds. By 2030, another facility will be ready. By 2032, 8 new polyclinics will be completed to reduce the load for hospitals. Yet, based on the 6.9 M population, the ratio of hospital bed to 1,000 people only slightly increases from 2.2 (Year 2010) to 2.8 (Year 2030) (approx).So how? Build more?Apart from technology to facilitate timely discharge... to community hospitals and nursing homes (still occupying space), and patients’ homes (sounds good), there other methods of addressing the overcrowding such as preventive care. But the methods are hardly preventive at all. Perhaps time to address the root causes of illnesses? Anyway this is altogether another topic.Public hospitals also faced a backlash from S’poreans for accepting medical tourists when beds are in shortfall. They have had to tone down operations, thus compromising on the knowledge to be acquired from a larger variety of diseases that foreigners can provide. This affects the transitioning to a knowledge based economy.Example 5.The tourism sector may be high performing but hotels functioning at high occupancy is a threat to the tourism business. High demand means high prices and this has already affected certain tourism segments as mentioned above. In 2018, Colliers stated that hotels in S’pore are full almost all the time during peak periods, and especially during Mon to Thurs, and Sat nights. Hotel demand has constantly outstripped hotel room stock since 2011.In 2015, there were 398 hotels and 60,908 rooms. By end 2017, there were 420 hotels with a total of 67,084 rooms. Another 3,372 rooms were in the pipeline. There is a mention of a need to build more.Going forward, how viable is the ‘build more’ approach? Bed capacity is as low and hotel rooms are as filled while remaining land has decreased and cost of space driven up? What about the large number of houses left vacant?S’pore is now the 4th most expensive city in Asia to construct a building. Note ‘city’ and not ‘country’. This means construction costs are more expensive here than many other bustling Asian cities. Costs are then transferred to the end users and the cycle repeats itself, where the high cost of space impacts the decisions of the people which negatively impacts the economy.Workforce quality is influenced by the cost of space as a result of Space Management as I’ve brought up earlier on, and also the Education System. If edu continues to be rigid, linear and tightly guided, the future workforce will not be suitable for the new economy.The education system needs to stop telling people what to think. Let people think for themselves.S’pore is full of textbook specialists - specialists whose know-how is narrowly constrained by the edu system. These specialists will not entertain other schools of thought. They are so enamoured by their elite education, not realising that contemplating opposing ideas can provide wisdom that one lacks. This is Stockholm Syndrome where the victim assumes the kidnapper has saved him from the ills of the world and does not want to believe otherwise.If one’s world is just the fish tank, then the resources one has to draw on solving a problem is limited to the fish tank. True specialisation is trans-disciplinary and objective. For a fair assessment, one must inquire into as many areas as possible, constantly testing one’s convictions. If an oncologist is to treat cancer patients, he must understand the entire scope of how cancer came about and ascertain if chemotherapy is the best solution. If not, he is just a salesman selling chemotherapy spa, which is a highly lucrative job I’ve noticed.The complex economic and social challenges today are caused by reductionist thinking, only considering one aspect, giving little credence to all other related areas.S’porean parents are themselves stressed out by the Cost of Space, and the competitiveness as a result, thus pushing their children to excel. However to do so and within the outdated edu system, is counterproductive. Not only do the children not acquire the right set of skills for the workforce of the future, they are driven to madness. This severely impacts their ability to navigate life.In any case the form of parental care has largely shifted away from the form of care children really needs.Experts aren’t kidding when they state the 1st 8 years of a child’s life is the most crucial. Any disruption in the nurturing process nature has intended have lifelong consequences. Infants need their mothers more than the 1st 3 -4 months of life. Babies are overwhelmed enough in this new world, and is only going to be more confused in the childcare with a ton of other equally confused babies. A domestic helper who is only here temporarily causes emotional destabilisation to the child who has never known separation. Grandparents are good only if the parents themselves have flourished in their care.Desperate for parental love and presence yet unable to adequately communicate, the formative years are disrupted, preventing the build up of a strong foundation that will grant them the confidence to weather storms in their later years. Depression and suicide rates of the young are on the rise in S’pore. A wake up call?What’s the point of an entire nation of emotionally-stunted, mentally unstable and unhappy people? Would you entrust them with acting in the best interests of the economy and the society? Economic success is not just an economic issue. A well-supported social structure is a crucial ingredient for economic sustainability.Now as you can see, resolving the problem of rapidly aging society by increasing the population figure will not only NOT promise to get quality migrants with adequate skills and capabilities, but will definitely add on to the congestion in S’pore and the competition that is driving parents astray. Additionally in the future where the number of jobs will continue to downsize, where there is no need for workforce quantity but quality, more people on this island will increase the burden on the future younger generations, contrary to what the whitepaper suggested.For S’pore not to lose its economic success, these are the points to address. In ascending order of importance: Parental care and the Education system prepares the children for the future. Workforce quality is imminent. Space management is long overdue!And no, I do NOT think it is solely the government to make the changes above. Even if they do make the changes, they can’t do them all at once, and the people need to change the way they view things as well before progress can happen. You see, the government has given a strong support system to facilitate workforce upgrade, but the speed of change is slow because the people are not fully cooperating with the changes due to a ‘stuck’ mentality. They still focus on the negatives of everything in S’pore… A Mindset Change of the people will be a great complement to improvements in social and economic policies, and speed up progress.If only they knew.*Disclaimer, when I refer to S’poreans or People, I do not mean all S’poreans and people of S’pore. I meant majority.EDIT: The following are solutions for these problems,good space management strategies to help lower costs for all the affected parties which solves a lot of problems;Revive Medical tourism, sustain BTMICE segment and Education hub.Facilitate foreign professionals relocation.better ways to locate matching workforce skills and capabilities;supporting parents in caregiving;reducing congestionI am looking for potential business partners for Points 1 to 4. If you are a serious party, please contact me/pm me for simple, creative and well-thought-out solutions, and be ready to open up about your intentions, background and other questions I may have.

Are you the person everybody calls once they have a pc problem? Have you ever thought of obtaining procured fixing near-fatal errors and turning your computer superior skill into a business? per a recent report, sales of pc services are expected to exceed $47 billion this year within the U.S. alone, with computer repair leading the method."Almost all little businesses and residential offices use computers and rely upon them to be operating properly," says Chip Reaves, CEO of pc Troubleshooters, a franchise network of pc professionals. "They do not have the talents, the time or the need to try to their own pc service, repair, and upgrades, which puts the U.S. right within the middle of 1 of the fastest-growing industries within the world."But if your sole business expertise is marketing your mom's friend her 1st pc, however, does one get started? Besides turning out with a business name, obtaining a business license and getting general liability business insurance (which ranges from $300 to $1500 annually and is getable through your native town hall), there are the variety of belongings you have to be compelled to do to induce started on the correct foot. Here are ten tips which will assist you with the successful launch and run your new endeavor.1. Recognize your street (and hourly) worth. Within the early '90s, running a computer repair business focused around marketing components and merchandise, with service on the aspect. Today, it's regarding marketing hours. "You're creating cash by marketing management services [of computers, networks, and servers]," says Reaves. "It accustomed be that you just created your cash once a pandemic required improvement up or components poor. Currently, we're serving to our customers forestall issues before they begin by victimization management technology."To determine what it slow is price, investigate what your native competition is charging. Whereas the national average is $100 per hour for the pc service request, its abundant higher inbound regions--$160 AN hour in Manhattan, for example. Once you should order new components, like modems or motherboards, for a job, you will need to form the acquisition price yours and your client's time, particularly if he/she has pre-paid you. Thus bear in mind to think about shipping, handling, and insurance prices, additionally as AN "opportunity" price for ordering components from lower-priced national vendors vs. an area provider.2. Verify United Nations agency your ideal client is. If you are looking to sell and repair computers among your local people and stay a one-woman operation, residential purchasers might suit you best. They’re usually a lot of awareness of advertising and selling than small-business homeowners are, per Reaves. Plus, residential work is a smaller amount tightened and also the market is big, though the competition is fierce--think Best Buy's "Geek Squad" gate City's support services, each of that creates house calls to perform installations and upgrades and to troubleshoot. Another drawback to residential customers is that your purchasers can tend to be a lot of budget-conscious than if you target the business owner.If you choose to focus on the non-residential market, assume little. "Inching is a method to travel," says Reaves. "Look at your existing contacts. Maybe you recognize the principal at a college, a banker or the owner of a true estate firm. These of us might lead you into a locality of specialization since the software package systems tend to be similar."3. notice that monetary stability does not happen night long. It's robust to juggle on a daily basis job with an aspect gig, particularly if you are honing in on small-business purchasers. however, if you are not running your business full time, you run the chance of losing purchasers, particularly if you are targeting the business market. "If you are not around to field school support calls from 9 to 5, they're going to quickly acquire the phone book and locomotive to succeeding guy," says Reaves.You'll need to create up a monetary cushion--six to 9 months pay is advisable--for once you ultimately do flip in your dismissal and become totally freelance. "People create higher selections once they don't seem to be upset regarding their cash running out," Reaves says. "And whereas it's arduous to relinquish the protection web of a check and downgrade your fashion, you have got to achieve the purpose wherever you treat it sort of a business rather than a hobby."4. Recognize your strengths and weaknesses. If your background is strictly technical and you are not terribly business savvy, rent accounting or accounting consultants to handle the make-work and keep you at your most efficient thus you'll steadily increase your billable hours. You’ll conjointly invest in software package merchandise to handle body tasks. a couple of the highest software package sellers, which may assist you to manage individuals, comes and processes a lot of expeditiously, embody automobile Task, Connect Wise and Results.5. Market your business a day. Whereas you do not get to walk around sporting a signboard once you are out on the road, the phone on your table is not getting to ring till individuals recognize you exist. And you cannot rest on your past successes either. Whether or not you select unsolicited mail, pamphlet drops, teleselling or internet selling, you would like to return up with a selling combine that works for you. For example, advertising in your local people coupon book might influence be a waste of cash, whereas networking at business trade organizations and chamber of commerce conferences might pay off massive."I simply place in 5 to ten hours per week of promotion," says Jason dramatist, owner of pc Troubleshooters of Mamaroneck, New York. "This doesn't suggest simply sitting at a table, punching out press releases. You have to induce your face out there, go door to door if you have got to, to let individuals recognize you exist. If you are bashful--not comfy golf stroke yourself out there or handling rejection--you may notice this business is not for you."6. Keep your skills current. Techies will simply fall under the lure of the basic cognitive process they'll acquire new skills on the fly or once quickly reading a manual. However, if you fail to partake in continuing education and coaching, your knowledge domain might become obsolete. "It's the character of the business," dramatist says. "You got to notice time to envision what is new." create time to go to such websites as CNET and ZDNet to update yourself on new software package applications and to search out regarding technology webinars being offered.7. Reach out if you would like help. "Coming from a 100-person IT department during a massive setting wherever you have got colleagues to assist you and collaborate with, it may be pretty discouraging and uninflected if you are doing run into downside difficulty} or problem whereas out on your own," says dramatist. Fortuitously, there is nice sociability within the school community. There are fantastic internet sites out there wherever you'll bounce a matter of AN "expert" and acquire a response among a couple of hours (Microsoft's consultants Exchange charges $99 each year for this service). Learn what you'll and can't move and fire facilitate once you want it.8. Customize your space. Adjusting from A workplace cubicle to main office surroundings takes a commitment to the organization. You will need a clean, dedicated space (not the table that the family computer rests on) with space for a repair bench space for your tools and simply accessible storage shelves and bins. The realm does not have to be too massive to begin out with, however, it ought to be ready to accommodate a minimum of 2 tower PCs and monitors. An instantaneous entrance to the realm is good, particularly if you expect drop-offs or are using interns or different school individuals to figure with you. A regenerate garage could be a favorite space of tons of techies.9. Do not check in the rental line simply nevertheless. If your final business goal is to open up a computer service center, notice that this sort of venture takes a lot of coming up with and management than you will expect. Service centers should operate regular business hours, thus spare staffing is important. Capital needs also are considerably on top of for a work-from-home business, thus a comprehensive business arrange is important. inure the worst-case state of affairs, to that extent as income is bothered and ensure you have got enough cash or access thereto, like through a line of credit, to hold you thru the lean times.Before committing to a drawn-out, pricey shop front lease, you would possibly {opt to prefer tarlike better to value a lot of highly to favor to choose to} set a more realistic goal of computer repair technicians among a year and gap up area wherever customers will drop off their computers up against the road. "The additional expense of overhead may be dangerous and backfire unless you have already got a gentle people," says Jim Greenfield, owner of pc Troubleshooters' big apple Midtown South franchise location.10. Hire smart. Your 1st rent goes to form the most impressive of your company together with your customers, thus make certain to screen candidates on quite simply their school skills and certifications. Your 1st worker ought to be driven and well-versed in each technical experience and social skills. Before hiring anyone, get 3 relevant, work-related references and written consent that you just might perform a background check before hiring. "If you are uncomfortable conducting AN interview on your own, raise a follower or mentor with a lot of expertise to hitch you within the method," advises Greenfield.The first step within the hiring method is to induce AN EIN (Employer Identification Number) by filing type SS-4 with the bureau. This nine-digit variety is for you to use on tax forms specifically wherever it's asked for by name--it's not a substitute for your social insurance variety. You’ll get AN EIN in real time by applying to the bureau over the phone at 888-437-0579