Never miss the first Opportunity

A Young man wished to marry the farmer's beautiful daughter. He went to the farmer to ask his permission.

The farmer looked him over and said, "Son, go stand out in that field. I'm going to release three bulls, one at a time. If you can catch the tail of any one of the three bulls, you can marry my daughter."

The young man stood in the pasture awaiting the first bull. The barn door opened and out ran the biggest, meanest-looking bull he had ever seen. He decided that one of the next bulls had to be a better choice than this one, so he ran over to the side and let the bull pass through the pasture out the back gate. The barn door opened again.

Unbelievable!

He had never seen anything so big and fierce in his life. It stood pawing the round, grunting, slinging slobber as it eyed him. Whatever the next bull was like, it had to be a better choice than this one. He ran to the fence and let the bull pass through the pasture, out the back gate.

The door opened a third time. A smile came across his face. This was the weakest, scrawniest little bull he had ever seen. This one was his bull. As the bull came running by, he positioned himself just right and jumped at just the exact moment.

He grabbed... but the bull had no tail!
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Life is full of opportunities. Some will be easy to take advantage of, some will be difficult. But once we let them pass (often in hopes of something better), those opportunities may never again be available. So always grab the first opportunity!

Employment through Entrepreneurship

The dual track of job search and entrepreneurship. You can enhance your job search by taking steps toward starting your own company in your area of expertise. Entrepreneurship can provide you with new insights, new business contacts, enhanced credentials, and maybe even your own company.

Get Plumber Training And be a Businees Owner

A plumber installs and repairs water pipe systems as well as waste disposal and drainage for residential and commercial properties. Plumbers, among the highest-paid construction workers, do a lot more than just fix blocked sinks or toilets in residential homes . Plumbing involves all types of water systems, including waste disposal, drainage, and gas systems in all types of buildings . Plumbers also install related appliances like water heaters and fixtures such as showers or sinks. In new buildings, plumbers must be able to follow detailed blueprints in order to install new pipes, and in some cases plumbing workers get involved in the actual design process.

New Employment Rules

SICKDAYS
We will no longer accept a doctor's certificate as proof of sickness. If you are able to get to the doctor, you are able to come into work.

SURGERY
Operations are now banned. As long as you are an employee here, you need all your organs. You should not consider having anything removed. We hired you intact. To have something removed constitutes a breach of employment.

HOLIDAYS
Each employee will receive 104 holidays per year. They are called Saturday and Sunday.

BEREAVEMENT LEAVE
This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends or relatives. Every effort should be made to have non-employees to attend to the arrangements. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled for the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch-hour and subsequently leave one hour early, provided your share of the work is done.

ABSENT FOR YOUR OWN DEATH
This will be accepted as an excuse. However, we require at least two weeks notice to allow time for you to train your own replacement.

TOILET USE
Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilets. In the future, we will follow the practice of going in alphabetical order. For instance: All employees whose names begin with 'A' will go from 8.00 to 8.20, employees whose names begin with 'B' will go from 8.20 to 8.40 and so on. If you are unable to go at your allotted time, it will be necessary to wait until the next day when your turn comes again. In extreme emergencies employees may swap their time with a co-worker. Both workers' supervisors must approve this exchange in writing.
In addition, there is now a strict 3-minute time limit in the toilets. At the end of 3 minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper will retract, and the door will open.

LUNCH BREAK
Skinny people get an hour for lunch as they need to eat more so they can look healthy, normal size people get 30 minutes for lunch to maintain their average figure. Fat people get 5 minutes for lunch because that's all the time needed to drink a Slimfast and take a diet pill.

DRESS CODE
It is advised that you must come to work dressed according to your salary. If we see you wearing designer clothing we will assume that you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a pay rise.

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternations or input should be directed elsewhere.


Have a nice day


The Management

Confidence, Trust and Hope

CONFIDENCE


Once, all village people decided to pray for rain.

On the day of prayer all people gathered and only one boy

came with an Umbrella,

that's Confidence


TRUST


Trust should be like the feeling of a one year old baby

when you throw him in the air,

he laughs.......because he knows you will catch him;

that's Trust


HOPE


Every night we go to bed,

we have no assurance to get up alive in the next morning

but still you have plans for the coming day ;

that's Hope

***
HAVE CONFIDENCE, TRUST & NEVER LOSE HOPE

Multilevel marketing (MLM) is a SCAM

MLM is an acronym for Multi-Level Marketing, sometimes called Network Marketing.

As the name suggests, multiple levels of people are marketing a product to consumers. A sales representative (also referred to as a distributor, member, affiliate, partner or associate) gets customers and recruits and trains another sales rep to get customers. If you’ve ever heard a traditional company announce, “Refer a friend and you’ll receive a discount on your next purchase,” this is multi-level marketing. Health clubs, real estate, telecommunications, insurances and countless other industries use this technique. All these businesses are simply trying to get current customers to advertise and market their product or service to potential customers.

Some obvious things to avoid,

• Join up fee, with bonuses for recruiting members. What kind of job actually costs you money? You’re better off betting on a horse race, because in a horse race, someone has to win. Your odds of even making minimum wage in an MLM are slim to none — and you could even lose money.
• Low commission but promise that bonuses and return of commissions from recruited members. Some MLM’s don’t make much money from actual product sales to end users — many “sales” come from distributors selling to themselves and their families. Some rather thrive by selling expensive sales kits and lots of inventory to their own distributors.
• Any one who says MLM works. You’ll also sometimes hear oxymorons claim that they made, say, $20,000 from a certain MLM company. Note that they’re not saying that they made the money from actual sales. Their income likely came from motivational speaking fees and how-to kits that they themselves assembled and sold to other would-be zombies. Or, more nefariously, the company paid them $20,000 as a promotional fee so they could say it.

Finally, read this, the most successful MLM scheme is Amway. It has millions of distributors worldwide with sales in the billions. At the turn of the century, the average Amway distributor earned about $700 a year in sales, but spent about $1,000 a year on Amway products (Ha Ha Ha what an irony). Distributors also have other expenses related to the business, e.g., telephone, gas, motivational meetings, and publicity material (Amway.com; Klebniov 1991).

Dear John

Dear John,

I have been working on an idea I had for a website application. My end goal is to sell the idea to an established company in the industry, either in its current form or after I've developed the idea as a complete website. At this point, I have determined the features I want for the application, outlined a business model, and created some rough wire frames.

The questions are: Should I first try to sell the idea to an established company? or Should I first have a team design and develop the site and manage it as a personal business?

Thank you in advance for your feedback!

Sincerely,
Janet

Dear Janet,

I find it unlikely any company would buy (or at least pay much) for an idea. Ideas are free. A more customary approach would be to find investors for the business plan (which is itself very very difficult) and then sell to a company. Don't worry too much of technical integration at this point as code can be re-written and you don't even know what hypothetical technical architecture of a hypothetical acquirer looks like.

Best,
John

Web Designing

An expert said, there is one very common and huge mistake for entrepreneurs is to hire a web company. Without the inside knowledge of that space a web company inevitably will sell you what you might not need or require. Or even charge you for tools and service that are available for free. A thousand times better strategy it to hire an expert consultant who will then act on your behalf and will purchase only the services you need. This way you make sure that the expert speaks the web business lingo and acts with your interest in mind. For a person who must dedicate himself to the core of his business to waste time on graphics and web sites is a disastrous move.

Business Suicides

You ask for the business from customers or the prospects for the business.
You are not a peddler. You are not a beggar. You are a problem solver, solution provider, advisor, consultant, expert and educator. Does your lawyer get on his hand and knees for your business? Does your doctor? No. And you neither should you. This isn’t a matter of ego or pride. It’s about being a sales professional. When you ask for the business, you:

• Appear desperate and lose professionalism.
• Rely on a stunt as opposed to creating a compelling sales performance. When you instill trust in yourself, you don’t have to ask for the business; your customers and prospects ask for you. So don’t ask for the business. Make the offer so attractive the business asks for you.

Reminding yourself of your prospects’ patterns before you walk in the room is critical. Replay the movie of your last meeting in your mind before you enter the room. Doing this provides you with strong and reliable signals and patterns for how to conduct yourself this go-round--this new opportunity.

You rely on referral sources
Building a network of referral sources and having them recommend you to their friends and family, these are always good things. But relying on them is a big mistake. That’s because you pass control of your own destiny on to others, who may or may not act on your behalf. There’s too much at stake for you to risk the “may not.” Far better to go out everyday with a goal to educate, influence, and build trust. Then the dollars will come.

Improving Business Cash Flow

No matter how much you sell, if you don't collect the money, you're going to go out of business. You could be wrong to simply focus on total sales dollars; you also need to focus on the cash collection of those sales. Here are tips for improving your business cash flow:

1. Require a down payment on projects so that your customers fund the project, not you.
2. Set your terms to be payment in full upon completion. Don't extend out 30 or 60 days after you've completed your work. You don't get to use your hard-earned cash until payment is received from your clients, so get it as soon as you can.
3. Negotiate terms with your vendors for 30 days or more so you have an opportunity to complete the work, bill your customers and receive payments prior to paying your vendor.
4. Have a collection process in place, and follow through. When your customers delay payments, they're using your cash. You need to ensure that you're being diligent in collecting from your customers.
5. Set up a line of credit at your bank that you can use in case of emergency. Often, lenders rates will be less than the late fees your vendors will charge. This line of credit will help you cover a lapse in cash flow for short periods of time.
6. Minimize the amount of draws you take personally from your business. Each dollar you take from your company reduces the amount of cash flow you'll have available for the business to grow.

Tips for Starting a Business

Do you dream about starting a business but don't know where to begin? Does the idea of being your own boss and creating a company that provides great products and services excite you? Yet all you do is dream, unable to move ahead. You're not alone. Below are five step-by-step strategies that can help you launch the business of your dreams.

1. Commit to one business.
You must commit to one business. Throughout the years, I've met people who have the passion to become entrepreneurs, but they keep spinning in circles, never committing to one business. Look at it this way: Once you succeed at building your first company, you can always start another one.

Don't choose a business unless you are passionate about it. This is not about the latest fad or fashion. It's about making a commitment to something that will absorb large amounts of your time--and possibly a lot of money. So choose wisely. If you want to start an online business, then commit to it. If you want to open a retail store, go for it. If you want to be a contractor, move ahead. But don't hang yourself up by wanting to do all three things at once. Make a choice and commit.

2. Research that business.
Today it's easier than ever to learn about any business in the world. For the fastest results, look online. Google the type of business you want to start.

Find out about professional organizations in the field. Read blogs and bulletin boards written by people doing similar things. Learn about sources of help. Read industry articles and buy the magazines or books that can teach you more. Participate in web seminars.

You also need to reach out to businesspeople and others who may be able to help you. You can do this through networking at local events, seminars, business groups and online through social networks. Make sure you understand the business that you want to start. The more you know about it, the greater your chance for success.

3. Have a plan.
Don't worry about a formal business plan, at first, unless you want to raise money through venture capital or obtain a commercial loan from a bank or other source. Most people start businesses with their own funds or a personal loan.

What you actually need is a three- to four-page business plan that serves as your personal guide to navigating the road ahead. Here's what goes into a business blueprint:

* What the business does (your products or services)
* Who it serves (your potential customers)
* Your competitors and why you're different
* How the business will run on a day-to-day basis.
* A list responsibilities as the business owner.
* An estimate of what it will cost to run the business for the first year.
* An estimate of how you will cover these first-year expenses, either through sales or from some other source.

Once you create a written picture of how the business will function, you'll be able to move ahead to the next step.

4. Start from small
One of the biggest myths about starting a business is thinking that you can start big. You can if you have lots of experience and have been there before.

5. Surround yourself with positive people.
Many times you'll question yourself, wondering whether you're doing the right thing. That's why it's essential to surround yourself with positive people. Negative people encourage self-doubt. They drain your time and energy, and undermine your ambitions.

Negative people come in many guises, from those who don't want you to get ahead to the ones who see the downside of every situation. They are everywhere. Some may even be family and friends. Try not to share your business dreams with them. Instead, share your ideas with people who are supportive. Positive people will help you build your business. Seek them out for counsel and advice.

Starting a business may seem like a daunting task. But if you are passionate and committed to making it work, then following these steps will help make the journey easier, less complex and much more fun.

How to attract businesses to purchase banner ads on your sites?

You should think of the advertiser as your customer, and your website as your product. You need to package information about your website in a way that appeals to an advertiser. Particularly, you need to quantify your audience--visitors, page views, loyalty, demographics.

If you've got a good audience within a clear niche, you could simply approach potential advertisers that you think are relevant to your audience. Most banner advertising is based on CPM (cost per thousand impressions)--the value ranges depending on how desirable your audience is.

If you don't have a lot of visitors, or a particular niche--and even if you do--then advertising networks (like Google Adsense) are a great, and simple way to get going.

The network takes care of finding advertisers, charging them and paying you. Of course, they make a profit while doing so--some of the advertising revenue goes to the network. Affiliate networks (like Commission Junction) will let you choose which advertisers you show, and you'll earn money when your site visitors complete a purchase after clicking on your ads.

How do online businesses make money?

It depends on which type of online business you're talking about.

Some businesses sell products or services and some make their money through advertising revenue or Pay Per Event (PPE) services like Google AdSense.

And, still some online businesses make their money through membership fees.

How to start an online business?

Step 1: Research

Learn about your market, other existing networks and how you can create a better service.

Step 2: Revenue Model

How are you going to make money out of your site? Give some thought to this. Are you going to sell it, sell ad space, charge for a premium membership or sell products/services to your members?

Step 3: Create the Website

It will take you a few months so get started as soon as possible.

Step 4: Start Preparing Your Marketing Campaign

Start building your lists, Facebook contacts, Twitter followers. Start participating in forums, blogs and discussion boards. Contact list owners and give them a reason to promote your new network. Don't forget about your off-line marketing plan. Think about 1) Who is your target market? and 2) Where can you find them? (magazines, websites, radio stations, etc.)

Step 5: Launch Your Marketing Campaign

Launch all your campaigns at once. Your community has to grow extremely fast at the beginning. Encourage people to invite their friends to participate.

95 percent of the success depends on your ability to grow the network quickly at the beginning. If you get the snowball rolling down the hill, it will get bigger and bigger. The initial push is your main challenge now.

The Secret to Team Unity

A leader can build unity by fighting the five enemies that tear it apart: poor communication, gossip, unresolved disagreements, lack of shared purpose, and sanctioned incompetence.

1. Poor communication is when the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. Most companies use “mushroom communication”—leave them in the dark and feed them manure—as a growth strategy. That won’t work. Winning organizations must have a culture of communication. Without it, team members are detached and insecure.
2. Gossip is discussing anything with anyone who can’t solve the problem. Gossip is degrading and destructive. People need a place to express themselves, but it should be to someone in a position to do something about it. In our company, negatives go up and positives go down—period. We’ve made gossip a fireable offense, and we’re crystal clear about that in the hiring process and in staff meetings. The team loves it!
3. Unresolved disagreements destroy unity. Sometimes the leader doesn’t even know they exist—that’s poor communication. Other times the leader avoids confrontation—that’s denial. Either way, the team loses. With hundreds of people working together, some will inevitably lock horns and bump into each other. A leader should act quickly and decisively when that happens by pulling the splinter out, cleansing the wound, and allowing some time to heal. Sometimes it’s messy, but the alternative is to act like nothing has happened and later wonder what went wrong.
4. Lack of a shared purpose is caused by the leader not restating the goal, vision and mission early enough or often enough. At our company, new team members memorize the mission statement and our leaders constantly review it with the team. Everything we do is measured by that mission statement. And, since our company has a unified purpose, every team member knows exactly how he or she fits into the grand scheme.
5. Sanctioned incompetence is when someone has a destructive attitude and no one addresses it. That demoralizes everyone. Team members will eventually become de-motivated when they see a leader who will not take action when someone on the team cannot, or will not, do their job.

A leader will go to battle early and often with these five enemies of unity. There is going to be a lot of drama in any workplace, but leaders must invest the time and energy to deal with issues instead of blindly writing paychecks and hoping for the best.

Don’t be scared to address these problems in your workplace whenever and wherever they appear. That’s called leading. It’s not easy. It’s not pretty. And it’s not going to be your best day in the office. But, it could just be your best day as a leader.

Common Mistakes

J. W. Marriott said that if a person wanted to start a business, he should find the best business in that industry and go to work for them. Once he had learned everything that he could, he should then start his own. What Marriott was suggesting was that a person should have a great knowledge about the industry he was about to enter.

The following are the most common mistakes that people make when starting a business:

• Inadequate front end planning (no business plan, feasibility study, or cash flow projections). You need sufficient capital for both the start up and the backup.
• Thinking that you can achieve instant success without spending the time and having the long commitment.
• Failure to research the market. Know the market and your competition before you start.
• Underestimating the competition. Whether they're big or small, understand that your competition sees you as another company trying to take money out of their pockets.
• Trying to do everything alone. Work with a banker, accountant and a lawyer.
• Hiring inexperienced people to save money particularly in the area of marketing and sales.
• • Inadequate records, financial knowledge and not watching cash flow. Just because you're making a profit doesn't mean you can pay all the bills.
• The false idea that the world will come to you. Your product is not going to sell itself. Never underestimate the power of advertising.
• Assuming that all you need is just a good idea. You need fortitude, financial and moral backing, as well as timing, organization and a bit of luck to be successful.

Small business dominates the nation and certainly is the driving force of the economy in the country. Entrepreneurs take on the challenge of business ownership and independence. Don't get caught saying to yourself, "If I had only known."

Lawn Care Business

A friend of mine asked me, "You said there are plenty of old people where you live,"
then he told me, "Buy a lawn mower or grass cutter and start cutting lawns and doing yard work. A lot of old people means lots of customers because they are no longer able to do their yard work themselves."

He addedd, "I make more money doing yard work than I did at any job I ever had."

Mmmmm what an idea.

Earned $31 Billion

Pua's mighty 'Pen'

S. INDRAMALAR speaks to the creator of the now indispensable Pen Drive

Fact file
Name: Pua Khein Seng
Age: 31
Hometown: Sekinchan, Selangor
Education: SJKC Yeok Kuan, Sekinchan; Pin Hwa Independent school, Klang; Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
Occupation: Engineer/ president of Phison Electonics Corp
Current base: Taipei , TaiwanYears abroad: 12

WHEN he set off for Taiwan in 1993, Pua Khein Seng's only aim was to complete his degree in Electrical Control Engineering at the renowned Chiao Tung University and return home to work in Malaysia .

Never did he envision himself heading a multi-million dollar Taiwanese company that developed the world's first USB flash removable disk, which they called Pen Drive .
Pua Khein Seng went to Taiwan to get his engineering degree but ended up staying on, starting his own company and inventing the pen drive.

"I went to Taiwan to pursue my undergraduate degree. I chose Taiwan only because it was too expensive to study either in the United States or Singapore . "However, I did well in my undergraduate programme and was offered a place to do my masters," explained Pua, who was back in Kuala Lumpur recently for a holiday.

After completing his Masters in July 1999, Pua worked for about six months in a local company before deciding to set up his own venture company with four fellow engineers who had studied with him at Chiao Tung.

"We were confident that we had the know-how and ability to start our own business, which is focused on USB technology. The company is called Phison because there are five of us - two Malaysians and three Taiwanese engineers," said Pua, 31, who hails from Sekinchan, Selangor.
Phison Electronics Corporation was set up in November 2000 and within six months the young entrepreneurs came up with their first invention - a USB storage device called Pen Drive .

"We were the first company in the world to develop the USB Drive SoC (System On Chip) and we were very confident that the market for USB will be huge. At the time, no one b elie ved in us so we had to do everything ourselves - from developing the technology, the chips to the product itself.

"We were only 27 at the time and inexperienced. But we were confident that we could design good systems and chips but we didn't know anything about selling. So, we sought partners or traders who could help sell our products for us," Pua added.

Through smart partnerships and shrewd strategies, Phison soon made its way into European, American and Japanese markets. One quick move was securing Japanese tech giant Toshiba as Phison's largest shareholder and customer.

"We launched Pen Drive in June 2001 and by August the same year, we broke even! From September 2001, we were reaping monthly profits from our invention and there has been no turning back since."

Having established himself in Taiwan , Pua is in the midst of setting up Phison's branch in Malaysia , due to begin operations this February. "I am starting a branch in Malaysia because this is my country. I would like to do contribute to its development.

"We have about 100 engineers at Phison in Taiwan , 20 of whom are Malaysians. Though they studied in Taiwan , I had to re-train all the engineers I hire because, like most fresh graduates (in this field), they are not industry-ready upon graduation.

"Unfortunately, some of the Malaysian engineers want to return home after a couple of years because they are homesick, about to start a family and so on. Some prefer to work in Singapore , as it is closer to home. Instead of losing them to competitors, I decided to set up an office in Malaysia where they can still work for me," said Pua.

Another problem faced by returning computer engineers from Taiwan , Pua added, was the lack of job opportunities for hardware engineers in Malaysia . "There is no environment or support for design engineers here in Malaysia . One of my Malaysian engineers from Phison returned home and ended up as a teacher in a Chinese school! I was shocked and thought, 'After all that training and re-training, he is going to just teach?' I told him to hold on till I open up the Phison branch in Malaysia ."

Though he has been in Taiwan for the past 12 years and married to a Taiwanese, Pua is not sure how much longer he will remain there. "I have really no idea where I will be in 20 years. Maybe Taiwan , maybe Malaysia , maybe somewhere else ... it all depends on my business. The industry is moving so fast that I cannot predict what or where I will be," he said.

For the moment though, Taiwan is home for Pua, his wife and two children even though he misses the Malaysian way of life. "I come home once a year for Chinese New Year and will usually stay for about two weeks. There are several things I really miss about Malaysia . One is the food! For the past 12 years I have been c ravi ng for Malaysian food ... I miss laksa, curry noodles, chee cheong fun and all the other delicious dishes we have here. "I also miss the lifestyle and quality of life here. When I come back, I am always amazed to see people hanging out and relaxing at mamak shops at night. In Taiwan , most people would still be at work at that time of the night!

"Before I got married, I used to work for 15 to 17 hours a day, everyday. Now that I have children, my wife has forbidden me to stay so late. Now, I go to work at 9am and come home by 11pm. These hours are quite normal for the Taiwanese."

Habits of Unsuccessful Entrepreneurs

Here are some points to note for unsuccessful entrepreneurs

High Risk Taking
Surprisingly, good entrepreneurs are not extreme risk takers. They are attracted to situations where success is determined by skill and hard work rather than by chance. Think of starting a business as going on a roller coaster ride. The ups, downs, twists, and turns usually come in a rapid sequence; starting a business is no different. The entrepreneur is not afraid to take on a project that might fail, but s/he also works to minimize the risk.

Poor Planning
The idea of starting a business is very exciting, and many fledgling entrepreneurs rush through the process. Entrepreneurs need to spend countless hours studying information about market, marketing, finance, management, and other areas before they can open for business.

Overestimating
There is nothing wrong with optimism, but expecting sky high profits during the first month of operation is very dangerous. Wise business owners keep their sales projections reasonable and know their limitations.

Impatience
Unsuccessful entrepreneurs become discouraged if they don’t show a profit after the first month. Smart business owners appreciate the amount of time a business needs to grow.

Ethics in Business

Ethical business practices have always been crucial to building sustainable relationships with staff, customers and suppliers. Thus, in the past decade we have seen a huge upsurge in consumer, regulator & society demands for ethical practices, products and services.

The University of Nottingham has put online a student guide to the "Ethical Matrix" approach to making those often tricky ethics decisions. Their model is based on a food production [farming] example, but incorporates the recurrent ethical issues of...

** Fairness [justice]
** Freedom of Choice
** Mutual Well-being

This guide is freely available at this link.

Avoid "Pay Only Shipping" Scam

A person wrote, he thought he knew better, but when he saw a company recommended by major network TV stations and search engines, he thought the deal must be legitimate. He paid $3.99 to pay the shipping cost for the free product the company offer. That $3.99 gave the company his credit card number. Later he found out the free product would cost him over $49 a month if he did nothing. So, he immediately canceled his subscription to their product.

Three weeks later, he found out they sold his personal information, along with his credit card number, to another company that signed him up (without his permission) to, not one, but two subscriptions to their online product and service. Since he didn't know about this and couldn't cancel it, they charged his card. He now is in the middle of trying to get charges refunded, etc.

He did only one thing right. He gave the original company a new email address that no one else had. So when he found out the second company had the new email address, he knew immediately where they got it from.

His advice is stay to away from anything that looks too good to be true!

Why do people envy entrepreneurs?

Here are some notes from what others say:

1. While normal, boring corporate men and women are forced to be in at 9 a.m. and out by 5 p.m., hard-driving entrepreneurs can get in as early as they want—and stay as late as they like. They don't have to wait for the cleaning staff to open up in the morning. They've got the keys!
2. The entrepreneur is respected for a level of dedication that might, in other settings, appear excessive. Bob may be scraping down a day-old doughnut at midnight, but if he's an entrepreneur, nobody's going to say, "Boy, what a wonk Bob is for letting his life decay to the point that he can't allow himself a decent dinner." The lucky entrepreneur has the freedom to work 80 or 90 hours a week, and nobody's going to think less of him.
3. Busy entrepreneurs don't get depressed by the monotony of 5 percent salary increases. Their lives are far more adventurous! Yes, while the rest of us are making do with tedious, regular wage increases with no significant upside potential, they can dream about going from, say, $5,000 today to $1 million in the blink of an eye! In fact, with economic growth in the future almost a sure thing, a double-digit salary increase for the lucky entrepreneur is practically guaranteed.
4. The hungry entrepreneur isn't forced to endure those interminable business lunches, eating rich food and drinking outlandish beverages, while business acquaintances massage one another's already plump egos. A sandwich at your desk? Delicious!
5. Speaking of meals, entrepreneurs don't have to suffer through the tedious task of filling out expense-account forms upon returning from lunches and dinners. Their private funds are their expense accounts, a convenient arrangement that eliminates whole levels of paper work.
6. Entrepreneurs don't have to waste a lot of office space on such frivolities as big, fussy executive bathrooms. In fact, every place they go immediately becomes the executive bathroom—just because they're in it!
7. Organizational types who carry beepers, portable faxes and cellular phones everywhere like strolling gypsies are widely viewed as weenies so terrified of failure they need to be in touch with their superiors every single minute. Not so for the crafty, high-tech entrepreneur. Just watch him set up his entire office in your outer office, while he waits for his unscheduled appointment with you. He's on the ball!
8. Entrepreneurs can concentrate on what's on their plate at the moment, and not get diverted by a lot of incoming calls. No frivolous bleats from importunate vendors, inquisitive headhunters or obnoxious customers ringing up out of the blue. They can work in peace for hours on end.
9. Most of us don't have the time to stay in touch with former business friends as much as we would like. But entrepreneurs suffer no such deprivation. They stay in constant touch with the folks they once knew on the inside.
10. Once or twice a year, corporate drones have to pack up informal clothing and haul themselves off to some remote location—like Bermuda or Marco Island or Hilton Head—and indulge in days of eating and drinking and retreating. Thrifty, practical entrepreneurs are never forced to indulge in that kind of foolishness. If they want to get together with employees for a little no-agenda interfacing, they can invite them over to the house for a nice, festive barbecue. Nobody has to fight over the tennis courts, the burgers are delicious, and when people start bobbing for apples, things go nuts. And there's no chance that anybody from sales, marketing or even public relations will drink too much and make an inappropriate remark to someone of the opposite sex—not when everybody has to drive home in a couple of hours without smacking into a tree or something.
11. The organization person has precious little time to spend with the family, doing things that really count. The happy entrepreneur can literally mint quality time, bringing his or her brood together on a toasty evening to help build value wife and husband stuffing envelopes with promotional fliers, while the kids are having the time of the lives learning to type and input spreadsheet data. On a sunny Saturday, when most young people are out wasting time at malls and pizza joints, the entrepreneur's offspring are learning project-management skills. What more precious asset can a parent bequeath?
12. Entrepreneurs are able to develop a visceral feeling for the value of each and every dollar that passes down the pipe to the bottom line, a quality that is most valuable in the 90's. Every time they write a check, no matter how small, every time they buy something, no matter how insignificant, it means more to them personally than any purchase—no matter how large a corporate vice president will ever approve.
13. The entrepreneur never has to deal with petty, incomprehensible changes in the company's health and retirement benefits not to mention tons of other dumb, bureaucratic stuff. Come to think of it, it's a rare entrepreneur who even thinks about a retirement package at all. No, there's too much going on right now for the entrepreneur to worry about such bogus and non business like concepts as "the future."
14. The entrepreneur rarely has to worry about downsizing, about laying off loyal people who have been with the company for years and years. There are no such people! <
15. In big institutions, you never get to do anything for yourself. There's always somebody in the way who insists on performing some crucial function. Entrepreneurs, free, from layer upon layer of inefficient support staff, are blissfully free to answer their own phones, make their own reservations, butter their own muffins, and fill out their own magazine renewals.
16. In short, entrepreneurs are the masters of their own fate. If it runs, they made it walk first. If it ain't broke, they don't have to fix it. Talk about a feeling of mastery normal people can only dream of! Go ahead! Talk about it! Then do it!

Business Culture

A business culture can be loosely defined as the atmosphere that permeates a business. Business culture is a business’ ‘feel’ or how it is sensed. Since we cannot accurately define business culture many owners and managers think it is all hot air. Think again. Just because we cannot define something precisely does not mean it does not exist. (As an example think of the word peace.)

Yet business culture is becoming more recognized as a real business concept. Think of businesses that you know. Do these businesses have a ‘feel’ about them? Is this ‘feel’ positive or negative? There is something to business culture. The following are some observations about business culture:

1. If you do not know how your business culture is perceived, ask your employees.
   
2. If you do not believe your employees ask your customers.
3. Look at your people throughout the day. Are they smiling?
   
4. Good employees do not want to work in a bad business culture. Minimal employees do not care. If the culture is bad enough even good employees won’t care.
   
5. Employees take pride in working in a business with a good ‘feel.’ It makes them feel welcome and a part of the business. A good ‘feel’ motivates employees to a higher level of commitment.
6. If you have difficulty hiring good people think about your ‘draw’ potential. It may be your business culture is unappealing.
   
7. Management has the responsibility for developing a good business culture. Management is often responsible for developing and keeping a bad business culture.
8. A good business culture promotes high productivity. High productivity is very difficult in a bad business culture. Employees feel that in a bad business culture no one cares so why should they?
   
9. A bad business culture develops a bad reputation. For obvious reasons most businesses would prefer to not have a bad reputation. Bad business culture is often more visible to outsiders. Insiders have often adjusted to the status quo.
10. Vendors, associates and other non-customers can also spread the word about bad business cultures.
11. Customers see bad culture. Clearly. The employee frowns, the bad attitudes, the grumpiness, the stress and strain, neglect of phones, bad manners, etc. If given a choice they will chose to go elsewhere.

Just because we cannot define or measure business culture does not mean it does not exist. We humans are cultural beings and we do not normally live in isolation. Most humans have a sense of intuition that feeds perception. Perception often becomes reality.

Owners and managers that ignore the cultural aspect of business are making their jobs much more difficult.

Causes of Business Failure

The purpose look at the weak spots is examine the points where you and I are likely to fail to be forewarned is to be forearmed. Learn from the mistakes of others - there is no need for you to make any of your own!

Always break big problems into smaller ones and then take care of each small problem first - never take on the whole problem at once. Never be afraid to ask the help of your colleagues or staff - your in this together.

We will see some of the common causes of planning failure: no plan at all, halfway commitment, overdone, over-engineered, overly complex, ambitious, rigid, or precise plans.

1. No plan simply means either no awareness of or just no consideration of the planning process. It may also mean the lack of a key component of the plan.
2. Only partial commitment to the plan. Plans are created investing time, money and other resources if what follows is poor commitment the plan however perfect is bound to fail.
3. The over-engineering or overly complex program is possibly the most costly error of all. Most managers have the habit of moving from one extreme to the other: either no planning is done or too much is done. Here a large dollar investment is made most often too large. The plan becomes so complex that no one understands the plan. The program gets hopelessly grid locked. It becomes too big too expensive and more trouble than its worth. Not much happens but a lot of money is spent. Managers become disillusioned the n angry and soon look for someone to blame.
4. Often a mistaken belief creeps in, that a highly developed mechanical method is somehow so brilliant that it will operate all by itself.
5. Overly ambitious, unrealistic goals often suffer the tragedy of excessive expectations no matter what good results come out of the planning process these are never enough
6. Plans that are too rigid almost always fail. Plans should be short, simple, understandable, and practical. They should allow for management to speed up or slow down. Use the plan simply as a tool be prepared to change it whenever the situation demands.
7. Another frequent error is expecting all parts of the program to work out exactly as anticipated. They seldom do. Few wars, business ventures, poker games come out exactly as planned. Accept this and work for the best plan that you can achieve with available information.

Steps for part time business or 2nd income

1. Select a hobby

   Select a hobby you'd like to convert into a profitable business or a passion that you'd like to learn more about. That doesn't mean you won't have bad days if you're doing work you love. Everyone has days when they want to throw up their hands even though they love what they do. But if you don't love it and are just doing it for money, it won't last long.

2. Do your homework

   Research, research, research. Read books and talk to people who have worked in the industry you're considering. If you want to open an eBay store, talk to people who have successful eBay stores. Talk to people who have started similar businesses, read about the industry, and do some research.

3. Do some financial analysis

   Get a sense of how much income you can make in the first year or two, and what kind of financial investment and return you'll need to make. Start your business debt free with an emergency fund in place. It's easier if you can start part-time and get the kinks worked out while you still have other income. If you're going to quit your job and walk out, you definitely need substantial savings. You have to think about how long it will take from starting your business to the time money will start rolling in and plan accordingly. Never use credit cards for a business loan or to float you through hard times. It's a good way to cause your business to fail. Saving up for purchases is key—pay with cash. Make sure your business can pay its own way. Don't go out and purchase a bunch of new equipment and supplies in hopes that the business will succeed. Start off small.
   

4. Prepare a business plan

   Prepare a plan to determine how much money you will need to make before you can quit your job, and how long it will take you to reach that goal.

5. Be honest

   Be careful not to inappropriately use your employer's time and resources for your own business.

6. Don't show or tell

   Avoid telling your boss and friends before you are ready.

7. Take care of your current job seriously
   

   Keep your standards of performance up to protect your primary source of income.

8. Take care of your family

   Take an occasional break from your work and devote yourself fully to your spouse and family.

9. Set up a budget
   

   Budget money to help take care of your kids and housework, if you won't be available.

Take Care of Your Health

Most people work hard and willing to spare their health trying to achieve wealth. Then they retire and spend their wealth trying to get back their health. They can not really enjoy their wealth. Some may not even to become rich. Their poor health has prevented them to work.

Dinimishing Marginal Return

In economics terms, there is diminishing marginal return. This is related to the law of diminishing returns: each additional hour of effort, each extra worker is adding less output to the final result. By the end, you are spending lots of time on the minor details. You may not even need that extra worker!

80-20 Rule

Why Is This Useful?

Originally, the 80-20 rules referred to the observation that 80% of Italy’s wealth belonged to only 20% of the population. The 80-20 rule helps you realize that the majority of results come from a minority of inputs. Knowing this, if…

• 20% of workers contribute 80% of results: Focus on rewarding these employees.
  
• 20% of bugs contribute 80% of crashes: Focus on fixing these bugs first.
  
• 20% of customers contribute 80% of revenue: Focus on satisfying these customers.

The examples go on. The point is to realize that you can often focus your effort on the 20% that makes a difference, instead of the 80% that doesn’t add much.

Opportunity Identification

Some points on idea identification and attractiveness

• Repeat business, not one-time sell.
• Prefer rental or leasing business.
• Built-in sense of urgency.
• Health or financial loss from lack of action on customers’ part is ideal. I prefer automatic shipping, for example having a book-of-the-month, so that customer needs to:
• Business instead of a practice. Not built on a person’s talent, but on an organization’s.
• Regional or national potential, rather than local.
• The less labor intensive, the better; however, labor is better than capital expenditures.
• Already a market – other companies doing it.
• Demographics or lifestyle changes creating the need, and thus, the market.
• Emotionally appealing to the customer – there’s got to be sizzle.
• The numbers need to work so there is real money to be made.
• The more unregulated, the better.
• Odds of success are stacked in your favor, not against you.
• A proven team, not an untried idea. A great team is more important than a good idea.
• Success is not built on one client, one product, or customer.
• Payment at time of service or before, to eliminate large accounts receivable, accounts receivable aging, collection problems, or costs of bad debt.

"Buy 1 and Get second one for 50% less" or "Buy 2 and Get 1 free"?

What is the deal?

This is a plan to entice customers to buy 2 of a product, when all they really needed were 1. But what about the company's profit margin?

Suppose shampoos sell for $2.00 but cost $0.80, with $1.20 profit for the company. You can buy one shampoo, giving the company $1.20. Or, you can buy 2 shampoos, and get one free. That cost the company 3 x $0.80, = $2.40. But you paid $4.00, so the company makes $1.60 in total profit. That's more than the first case.

Yes, in the 2nd case, the company is only making $1.60/3 = $0.53 per shampoo. In the first case, they make $1.20 per shampoo. But in terms of total profit, the 2-for-1 deal is better. If I give you the chance to get 100% profit on a dollar, or 10% profit on a100 dollar, what do you choose? Definitely on 10% profit on a 100 dollar because you make $10 as opposed to only $1 on 100% profit on a dollar. Total profit ends up at the bottom line.

This is similar to buying in bulk. When you buy in bulk, the company gets less profit per item. But, the total profit is certainly higher. In addition, there is a certain fixed cost to create a unit. The marginal costs of additional products may be minimal, so the company can afford the low profit per unit, because the cost-per-unit is small as well.

They say that when you buy bottled water, you are really paying for the plastic (since the water costs only a few cents). Thus, the cost of the extra water in a large bottle really isn't important.