Investments - Questions to Ask - 3 Dimensions

Know yourself:
 {Have stamina? Whine if lose $50? Financial Health State, Objective – buy house etc, Commitments, Risk Appetite vs. Can actually take }  What are my financial needs ? => Financial Need Analysis – 6 mths review
•    How much should i save?
•    How much risk can i take / should i?
•    How long should i stay invested?

Know the Products:
{Missed Opportunities}
[Risk Level – Volatility, Liquidity, Counter party]
[Investment Horizon or Tenor] -> 3-5 years
[Complexity]
•    What investments are available?
•    How safe are these investments?
•    Will i be able to get cash back when i need it?
•    How long does it take for the investment to return me the cash?

Know the Strategies:
{Lower return if don’t know}
•    How much do i invest in each type of investments?
•    How can i protect my investment?
•    Do i invest long-term or adjust consistently in the short-term?
•    How often should i review my investment?
•    When should i take profit and cut my losses?
•    How do i take advantage of economic growth of other countries?
•    Should i invest in the local markets only or global markets?

In General:
Don’t suffer as a result of investment!
The stock market is there to fool you overcome with knowledge
Don’t be greedy and be taken by promoters
Don’t rush!

Great things always begin from our inside.

this story is shared by my friend ....

One day all the employees reached the office and they saw a big advice on
the door on which it was written:
"Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company
passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been
prepared in the gym".

In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their
colleagues, but after a while they started getting curious to know who was
that man who hindered the growth of his colleagues and the company itself.
The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to
control the crowd within the room.
The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up.
Everyone thought: "Who is this guy who was hindering my progress? Well, at
least he died!". One by one the thrilled employees got closer to the
coffin, and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless.
They stood nearby the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had
touched the deepest part of their soul.

There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could
see himself. There was also a sign next to the mirror that said:
"There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your growth: IT
IS YOU. You are the only person who can revolutionize your life. You are
the only person who can influence your happiness, your realization and your
success. You are the only person who can help yourself. Your life does not
change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents
change, when your partner changes, when your company changes. Your life
changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you
realize that you are the only one responsible for your life.

"The most important relationship you can have, is the one you have with
yourself" Examine yourself, watch yourself. Don't be afraid of
difficulties, impossibilities and losses: be a winner, build yourself and
your reality. The world is like a mirror: it gives back to anyone the
reflection of the thoughts in which one has strongly believed. The world
and your reality ar! e like mirrors laying in a coffin, which show to any
individual the death of his divine capability to imagine and create his
happiness and his success. It's the way you face life that makes the
difference!

 If an egg is broken from outside force .. life ends.
If an egg is broken from inside force, life begins. Great things always
begin from our inside.

-- thanks buddy for sharing ...

-- reading this remind me of the following verses:
Romans 12:1-2
John 16: 7-20  

When you Gadgets fall into the wrong hands ...

The following was shared by a Geek friend of mine.

*GPS*
 A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew
 had their car broken into while they were at a football game. Their car
 was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and
 specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included
 a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been
 prominently mounted on the dashboard.

 When the victims got home, they found that their house had been
 ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen.

 The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They
 then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain
 entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football
 game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they
 knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It would appear that
 they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.

• Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your home
• address in it. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you
• can still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know
• where you live if your GPS were stolen..

 *Mobile Phones*
 I never thought of this........ .

 This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names
 on her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which
 contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet... Etc....was stolen.

 20 minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone
 telling him what had happened, hubby says 'I* received your text asking*
 *about our Pin number and I've replied a little while ago*.'

 When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all
 the money was already withdrawn. *The thief had actually used the stolen*
 *cell phone to text 'hubby' in the contact list and got hold of the pin*
 *number. Wit hin 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank
account.

 *Moral of the lesson:*
 Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in
 your contact list.

Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad,
 Mom, etc....

 And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked
 through texts, Confirm by calling back.

Also, when you're being text by friends or family to meet them
 somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from
 them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet
 'family and friends' who text you.

 -- thanks buddy for the info

Business common sense ...

Common Sense Rules- What you really need to know about business
By Deborah Meaden, 2009, Published by Random House Business Books
http://www.deborahmeaden.com/

1.    What makes an entrepreneur?
The aspiring entrepreneur
–    seek out opportunity and seize it, spent time wisely (just get on the task vs. compare), nothing is impossible, enjoy yourself
–    similar mindset => ask questions, anticipate challenge, deal with inevitable setbacks & disappointment, never stop learning from own success and failures
–    It’s not where you come from, it’s where you are heading?
–    Passion, focus an insatiable desire to succeed
–    Quick minded and bright – think on your feet & work under pressure – crisis, business leader can’t say ‘I need to retire to the corner for 1-2 hrs’, got to kicked into action immediately – ‘what to do’, ‘how do I fix this?’
–    Confidence attracts – can be sense and Self-belief
–    Commitment = takes lots of time and energy { family, close friends} , also dun give 110% cannot sustain, go 80% and 20% keep for crisis
–    Loss Averse – hating to lose
–    take calculated risk (during cool-head moments) – do not gamble, ‘You will be able to follow your dream, just not today’
–    Be realistic
–    When one door close the other opens

2.     What makes a great idea?
Turning great ideas into great business

–    Brilliant ideas are good, but brilliant business propositions are what count
–    Give your product an edge and then tell everyone about it
–    Don’t get hung up on confidentiality and patents
–    Where there’s a plan there’s a way – have enough info, the right info
–    Business founder who do not pay themselves will waste precious energy getting agitated over how they are going to look after their family and pay bills.
–    Business plan an indicator how business is doing and heading – action points – monthly report
3.    What makes people invest?
Tracking down the investment you need
–    Consider the business reason for going in with friends and family
–    Only purse an investment that is right for you
–    Pitches don’t need to be perfect, just credible
–    Never say ‘ I am the idea person, not a number person’, it’s just not enough to be asking for someone else’s money while you are making such claims
–    Entrepreneur only really have to remember a few figures – turnover, profit& cash flow
–    Difficult to value business – formula too simplistic, look for market evidence
–    Every day is a new challenge

4.    How do you turn your great idea into a great business?
The all-important start-up phase
–    Business valuation should be realistic
–    Accept responsibility
o    Start-up phase of business venture is rather like having a baby – dependent
o    Founder need to stay ahead else it suffer
o    How will the business stand on its own feet? Besides getting started – they think short-term and about what happen in 5 years and not the journey in between
o    Upon Securing an investment - don’t relax completely – success is not assured and achieved by careful application. Hard work does not stop upon securing funds and certainly not once first product has been built.
–    The devil is in the details – somebody has to worry about the little things to stop them turning into big things
o    System & process --- till delivery
o    Soft launch vs Big Bang – bad publicity
–    Get the business covered
–    Don’t get hung up on name or status
–    Always be honest with an investor
o    If something not right, pick up the phone, set out what is wrong and let’s find a way to fix it. Don’t just fire off a series of email and delay for a few hours
o    Communicate rather than correspond
o    Protect the business by communicating effectively from the start

5.    What about buying a business or running a franchise?
Alternative ways to start your own business – or turn someone else’s around
–    Get the facts fast and keep the pace up – time does kill deals => make your mind and execute
o    Start-up fail undercapitalize – misjudge how much $ they actually need or unable to raise adequate $
–    What’s in for you ? Don’t go into business for the wrong reasons. Passion for cooking is not good enough to be a restaurant owner – its complicated involve dealing with peple, supplier, negotiation and more
–    When you buy other business you need to know
o     where you can make the change
o    How long will it take and how much to see profits
–    Identify the strengths – and build on them
o    Be willing to hear from your stuff- ideas, especially new owners – six months to prove themselves
–    Give the key people a reason to stay
–    If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it (passive). A new business should constantly look to move things forward and check out things around the corner. Surely the appropriate strategy is to keep ahead of events. A company cannot simply wait for things to happen to the business and react when it is very often too late to do anything about it

6.    Running the show
Leading the way
–    Know when to spend time on and when to spend it
o    Every business have key indicators = dashboard
o    80% of the time drive the indicators, the rest day-to-day running of the business
o    Discuss the same point endlessly and going around circles can cost a business $
o    “Unforgiveable” to waste half an hour of everyone’s time to bring that person up to date – not prepared, ask them to leave, there was little point in them being there after all
o    Meeting should be discipline – why are you there ? timing
–    Cash will not just flow – it needs to be managed
o    Have an idea if you are trading profitably – info to tweak margins, wage & pricing
–    Set realistic goals, expect the unexpected, disaster planning &  recovery plan
–    don’t be over optimistic
–    Never forget your goals -  why you go into business the first place.
–    Resist greenwashing – Go green and with quality solution and service
–    Being ethical is not an indulgence
–    Be proactive not Reactive. Company should be ahead of the game by judging the market and forecasting what will be important to its customers in future, and it should also take the temperature of what is making them tick right now. Consumer will always surprise – business got to responds quickly and effectively not standing still and ignoring the zeitgeist that is the real crime in business

7.    Building your team
Managing a talented team
–    Nobody works best alone
–    Remember to listen – e.g. employee’s idea
o    Staff think underpaid – taken advantage
o    Staff think overpaid – worry will be found out and eliminated
o    Targets based on performance – future of the business
–    Adopt a zero tolerance approach to bullying – create a happy working environment – make staff feel special at same ensure customer not neglected
–    Give space for people to make mistake. As long you win more you are on the right track
–    When tough time comes you must meet them head-on
–    Tackle employment changes fast
–    Surround yourself with people smarted than you. Company leaders are not looking for a bunch of really clever people who can outwit them at every turn. They are looking for people who have particular strengths in a specific area. By all means, find people with talent who are smarter than you in their particular areas, but stay one step ahead by being smarter overall

8.    Building your brand
Focusing on your brand
–    Marketing on its own means nothing – without the product its nothing – main target market
–    Build an effective online presence – buy the product, founder’ history customer don’t really bother
–    Put yourself there
–    All publicity is not good publicity
o    That what customer what’s to know about the product not how product was in invented
o    Timing is critical, ad for low-income families late in the month no use.
–    Lunch is for wimps – putting people around a dinner table will always produce interesting results – used to social settings – common ground among diners. On contrary put them in a meeting room and that you are going to discuss next year budget – guard will be up, they will be watching what they

9.    Building your sales
Maximizing sales
–    Good salesman must understand consumer needs not themselves – sell fish
–    Nothing sell itself – consumers must believe in the product
–    Working hard all day is not enough to make a *successful* business. Doing everything themselves, from the bookkeeping to designing their own websites, does not mean everything is going to work out fine. It won’t. You have to be intelligent about the things you put effort into and sales should be one of the top priorities
–    Value is the main consideration in pricing
?    Business has more customers than it can handle physically – under pricing => unable to adequately serve all its customers
?    Establish quickly what the market will take
?    Should listen and adjust to the market
?    Offer both low-cost and premium version of the product
?    Establish brand then sub brands
–    Get out there and Sell
–    Sell them something they want and they will come back more
–    Customer complaints are an opportunity, don’t let complaint escalate, proper logging
–    Keep existing customers happy – a bird in the hand, well-worth to spend money on keeping hard-earned customers happy
–    Make sure your website delivers – beware of copycats
–    You can’t turn around a tanker with a speedboat charge => communicate to the organization quickly and get an instant reaction -> extra factor, should structure the communication lines to able to reach to all

10.    What if I fail?
When times are tough
–    Take the initiatives
o    Wake up to the fact
o    Having to do the unpleasant – reduce spending
–    Communicate with your bank before trouble begins
–    Get advise fast – not end up find a shoulder to cry on for comfort
–    Know when to quit
o    Spot the signs – smoke detector goes do something fast
o    If it’s a good business and it has failed to introduce enough though there is a market for the product, or they have not changed or seen a change in the market, or they have failed to introduced enough products. There is no point struggling on believing that something from outside will ‘rescue’ the venture
–    Take full responsibility and then move on
–    Any can go wrong will go wrong
–    Learn from your mistakes

11.    When is it time to sell up?
Selling up and moving on
–    Plan for the future
–    Watch the market
–    Always keep your price in mind
–    Work out your cut-off point and stick it
–    Finally move on
–    Don’t lose sight of why you started the business – and why you are selling it
–    Look after number one is selfish and short-sighted. A company founder should look after everyone who is involved in their business and on the outside. Then the business will look after them. Put your interest early ahead of business and its requirements particularly early days business can fail. It’s a symbiotic relationship. A person who makes sure that a business gets what it need will more than likely end up getting what they need out of it

12.    Fundamental Questions to ask before you jump on board ....

1.    Do I have the right personality?
2.     Will I be able to deal with knock-backs?
3.    Can I be honest all the time ?
4.    Am I prepared to take risk ?
5.    Is my vision string enough that I will be able to see it through even when the going get toughs?
6.    Have I done enough research and do I know my market?
7.    Am I prepared to plan carefully?
8.    Can I adapt to changing circumstances?
9.    Am I self-reliant ?
10.    Do I know when to delegate ?
11.    Am I able to communicate my ideas and message?
12.    Am I prepared to sell, sell, sell?
13.    Am I focusing on the right things?
14.    Do I know where I am going?

Worse Than A Job Loss

Notes compiled after reading:
Worse Than A Job Loss by John Ong
Publisher: Singapore Professionals' & Executives' Co-operative (SPEC)
ISBN / ISSN: 9810511248
Softcover - 209 x 147 mm, 172 Pages - Price $12-14

The following are key points i picked up, you might want to get the book to try out the exercises provided ....

---

Remember the 'F' word ??

"F" size lifebuoy to deal with adversity .....

Family
Friends
Faith
Fortitude
------------

• Forgiving
• Fitness (Mental,Physical)
• Focused Actions
• Fun
• Flexibility

---

• Enjoy the sunshine while you prepare for the unexpected.
• Be courageous and not reckless
• Never take the find weather for granted - note the external & internal environment
• Men are not disturbed by things, but their views and judgments of those things. - Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Philosopher
• Job is not everything, Health is - Tuesday with Morrie by Mitch.
• Don't curse the darkness when you can light a candle - a Chinese proverb
• If you wait to do everything until you are sure it's right, you will probably never do much of anything - Win Borden
• You should Open up and who should be first?
• Recognize emotions via the eyes
• When the flower blooms, the bees come uninvited - Ramakrishna
• What lies behind you and what lies before you pale in significance when compared to what lies within you - Ralph Waldo Emerson
  

The mouth trap

Notes compiled after reading:
The Mouth Trap by Gary Seigel
http://www.themouthtrap.com/

[1] our thoughts -> feeling -> behavior.
Get some burning coals into a pit.
Can you walk across burn free ?

[2] Avoid being consumed by people negative words...

[3] Event + Response = Outcome (what do you want ?)

[4] Know your audience

(i) Treat people the way thay want to be treated
Direct => Straight to core message , (+) instant decision , (-) drop verbal bomb without thinking
Indirect => Probe and research before making conclusion , (+) patience & attention to details (-) hold emotions & explode

Both direct and indirect personnel are vital in an organisation

(ii)
Open => extroverts - gain energy by interacting with others => words come out easily
Closed => introvert - gain energy from their own brains and inside themselves => value private space

............<self-contained>............
...........[A]Thinker | [D] Director....
indirect-.......................Direct..
...........[C]Relator | [B]Socializer...

............<.....Open.....>............

[A] Detail-Oriented Thinkers (close/indirect)
=================================
- Account for tiny details - *just the facts*
- value facts
- perfectionist - over analyse
- silence can be stifling
- greatest fear is making mistake

[B] Visionaries or Socializers (open/direct)
==============================
- *have fun,lively entertaining*
- love to meet people
- dress for occasion
- how's it going?
- approach them with energy & enthusiasm
- compliment and never embrass them in front of others
- don't cut them off although they bury you with words



[C] Consensus-Driven Relators (Open/indirect)
==================================
- *Great listeners, arbitrators*
- fair,loyal and cooperative
- "water cooler"
- "No problem", although knowing there is a problem
- Oversensiive and can't make direct decision
e.g. lunch ? anywhere is fine.
- read things into situation - be sincere and upfront
- Be expressive,casual,informal


[D] Director (close/direct)
=================================
- *run the show take responsibility seriously*
- work at fast pace
- cannot tolerate laziness
- desire straight forward approach
- competitive,chanllengig, demanding, controlling

People Attirbutes
==================
Dominance => seek control - 'i want it this way'
Socialbility => people skills - too high (customer service) irrate, too low (read doc,figures - accountant) quiet
Compliance => follow rules
Relaxation/Patience => able to handle repeated task, (high)-Account for detail (low)-Driven

Scipts
========
1. What do you want? (want) What's in the way? (Obtacle) Resolutiom
2. Describe Behaveiour, Tell Correction , Ask for commitment - attitude
3. What happened ? The feelings , The identity e.g as women
4. Find out the problem, agree problem exist, negotiate the solution,follow up,recognise and show appreciation

Impression Counts
=====================
1.Smile
2.Open
3.Front Lean
4.Touch - left hand, elbow
5.Eye Contact
6.Nod
7.Arm & Hand Movement - little gesticulation
8.Leg Movement


Humor
============
- can increse or decrease productivty
- place humor in right place
- deal in the open


Create engaging email that get a response not a reaction
========================================
- too short email "can't do it",
- aoid trigger phases => obviously,in the first place,need,should,can't
Tips:
1. Check out company's email policy
2. Create owbn e-mail policy
3. Plan & organise before typing
4. Create easy-to-find core message, reader should not be hunting
5. Include essential detail, Too much detail - attachment
6. Ensure proper grammar
7. Proofread
8. Customize meesgae for reader
9. Bads news deliver quickly
10. Don't waste reader's time - put subject in subject line
11. QTIP - Quit taking it personally - take full responsibility for your writing and get it right.

Got to watch what i say ....

Make your own candles.

Stumble on this book - Title creating candles by Luisa Sacchi.


Am fascinated by the following candles design:

1. *Wineglass Candle* , with a rose within using *transparent gel wax* , wax wicks Can vary with any rose colours.

Variant: mug + leaf, jar filled with plastic fruits

2. *Stone Candle*, candle laid below, wire mesh, stone deco laid on top, some scent

3. Using wax sheet to cut out design and attach to candle, sticking fragment to candle e.g. seashell, ropes

4. Powder wax for Scented Sand Cocktail candle

5. Bead around a vase with a candle stuck in between

6. Bamboo, Straws place around the box, pour white wax into box

7. Floating Candle, ensure wick don't get wet, other items likes flower can float along in the bowl

8. Using orange, red pepper etc to be the candle container

9. Use of liquid wax for design, gel wax, paraffin wax to create foam effect , (ice-cream candle, beer candle)

I should make one candle for fun, getting the wax seems tricky =)

Timing never stops ticking got to keep moving

I am reminded that

• seconds,
• minutes,
• hours,
• days,
• weeks,
• months,
• years

are passing by so soon.

Lost time is never found again and no amount of riches
can get it back. A childhood gone is gone, a youth gone is gone ,
a season gone is gone.

I hope i do not waste any more time
to do what is to be done ............











Persist !

Complicated - Bon Jovi

Have listen to this song since young .... yeah since the album 'Have a nice day' was release in August 30, 2005
Whenever i get myself into a complicated complex situation this song expresses my feeling and thoughts...
Bon Jovi Rocks !
Find this album relevant even after so many years ....
The Song complicated in the Have a nice day' album:
Take a look around, this is what I see
Is there anybody else that feels like me?
You swear, you swear
You bleed, you bleed
What you get aint what you see
All this town in black looks white to me
[Chorus]
I'm complicated
I get frustrated
Right or wrong, love or hate it
I'm complicated
Can't sudate it
I heard that song, but i won't play it
It's alright
It's okay
You wouldn't want me any other way
I keep on praying, cause I aint changing
I'm complicated
Complicated, Yeah
I'm smart enough to know what I don't know
A fool enough to stay when I should go
You work, you work
You cry, you cry
You watch your whole life pass you by
Sometimes you gotta close your eyes to see
[Chorus]
Is there anybody out there
Just like everybody out there
Just want somebody out there just like me
[Chorus]
Is there anybody out there
Just like everybody out there
Just want somebody out there just like me [x2]


Its ok, its alright, as i watch my whole life pass by i lean more on the Lord

How to handle vulgarities hurl at you !

What is it ?
It can be a 'f' word, cursing certain body parts, insulting your mother, a slang.

By the way how did all this originated ....
source :http://www.thefreedictionary.com/vulgar
The word probably had a neutral meaning and developed into a negative meanings over time. The ancestor of vulgar, the Latin word vulgris (from vulgus, "the common people"), meant "of or belonging to the common people, everyday," as well as "belonging to or associated with the lower orders." Vulgris also meant "ordinary," "common (of vocabulary, for example)," and "shared by all." An extension of this meaning was "sexually promiscuous," a sense that could have led to the English sense of "indecent."

and how come it get pass on?
the passing on of vulgarities probably would be like , 'you call me names' i will do that back to you and apply that elsewhere and the cycle repeats

Why say #$%% ?
Unless such words are used some people don't get the sense of urgency.
e.g Can you f***ing get the cup!
e.g.You are f***ing late, move fast!

Or when some thing good or bad happens.
e.g. Its so f***ing good!
e.g. What the f***? i loss
e.g. ****!, i forgot my card.

To get attention, sound cool.

What it shows?
It reflect badly on the speaker.
Gives a poor image of the speaker depending on how tolerant the listener perceives the expression.
Ultimately it shows that the speaker is a poor communicator, who let his or her emotion lose .
By resorting to a demeaning tactics to enforcing "authority" is obviously not
going to do any good.

Yada yada so how?
The speaker has angered you with his or her rich spicy words. Your blood is boiling. There is thunder flashing and you are ready to rebut. Your volcano is going to explode ...

*Pause*

The speaker will probably continue with his or verbal diarrhea until he or she run out of breath. Some would go on rattling #$%%

* Breathe in *

Respond calmly: Sir or Madam *you are very impolite*

If the speaker continue squirting more verbal diarrhea. repeat the same statement Sir or Madam you are very impolite.

Simple and clear. If that knock some sense into the speaker good else respond

* "I'm sorry, I don't have the time to entertain you with this ...." *

and move on, no need to raise your pressure unnecessary.


To enhance your respond list you can try the following words besides impolite:

Sir or Madam

• you are very rude
• you are very crude
• your words are distasteful
• your words are unpleasant
  

It is recommended you stick to one line for a situation vs. using a variety of lines
as it may appear you are challenging the speaker.

That's not you want, you want to build goodwill.

IA briefing take away ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> Testimonial ... -> Letter of Commendation
>> * USP - unqiue selling proposition *
>> Fresh however season ...
>> Ethics, Integrity, attitude ... character ...
>> Deliever under pressure ...
>> Clarity in career goals ...
>> Street smart - real world - complex - different dynamic
>> Say and do the right thing ...


Assessment
~~~~~~~~~~~~
1.Log book -- wk 10,20
2.Oral Interview -- wk 10,20
Work in org -> Org Sup
Final Report -> Tutor
Presentation -> Intro, Reflective Recommendation & Conclusion

>> Read better report ....

1. Have a good project plan
2. Time-line
3. What's the deliverable, expectation, target
4. Learning objective ??
5. Note program / project can change ..... Be prepared
6. Watch out for safety


Don't
~~~~~~~~~~~~
No Join report

The Knack

The following are bottom lines from ‘The Knack’ as seen above. I recommend this book to you. (Published 2008)


Notes Compiled Raj 2 July 2009, for personnel reference =)

How to succeed in Business (Chapter 1)
1. Don’t let emotions lead you into hasty decisions that will make it more difficult for you to achieve your real goals.
2. Make sure you understand what cash flow is and figure in advance where it’s going to come from.
3. Control the sales mentality and balance it with a business mentality and before it’s too late.
4. Learn to anticipate and recognize the changes in your business by developing a good feel for the numbers.

The Right Stuff (Chapter 2)
1. Those who perseveres win. Be resilient and welcome failure. That’s how you become a better businessperson.
2. You learn by refusing to make excuses and looking deep inside yourself for the reasons things have gone wrong.
3. Focus (what kind of customer & focus on building the base) and discipline are more important than identifying opportunities, but they have to be balanced with flexibility
4. The solutions are seldom right in front of you. You need to learn how to spot them out of the corner of your eye.

Why Start-up Fail (Chapter 3)
1. It’s good to have a lot of competitors because education a market is a very expensive proposition.
– agree, with my team mate started a mobile location based services start-up, take a while for people to comprehend what we are doing, no standards to follow and so forth
2. If you are a first time entrepreneur, It’s generally better to start a business than to buy one
3. The first business plan should be simple and you should write it for yourself, not for potential investors.
4. Your time is more valuable than money and you should be careful not waste it.
- I fully agree with this point, money can always be earn, time nope, don’t want to waste my youth

Where the Money Is (Chapter 4)
1. Before you ask people for money, make sure you know how much they like to invest and what they are looking for.
2. Start early to build a relationship with a commercial banker and use an asset-based lender only If you can’t get the money you need from a commercial bank
3. Bankers are businesspeople too. Treat them the way you would like your customers to treat you.
4. Your receivables are loans to your customers. Make sure your portfolio is in good shape.

Magic Numbers (Chapter 5)
1. Whenever you launch a new business, keep track of your monthly sales and gross margin by hand until you have a good feel for them. --- will require discipline
2. Find the key numbers that tells you how your business is doing real time, before you get the sales report.
3. More sales usually mean less cash flow. Figure out your future cash needs while you still have time to address them.
4. Understand your earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and use a multiple of that not sales as the measure of your business’s value.

The Art of the Deal (Chapter6)
1. Listening is the most important part of any negotiation. Make sure your hear what is really being said.
2. Go in with no preconceptions, and always assume that the other side is smarter than you. -Agree
3. Develop the habit of questioning what you see on the surface and dig to find out what ‘really going on. - Agree
4. In an adversarial negotiation, the best deal is one that leaves both sides a little unhappy.

It Begin with a Sale (Chapter7)
1. The secret of successful selling lies in losing your fear of asking. You don’t ask, you don’t get
2. You probably won’t discover your company’s niche until after you have launched the business.
3. No niche lasts forever. You may have to discover new ones as you go along
4. Your reputation is your most valuable business asset, and your competitors play a critical role in shaping it.
5. What business are you really in ?

Good Sales, Bad Sales and the Ones That Get Away (Chapter8)
1. You are better off with a base of many small customers than with few large ones
2. Showing is more effective than telling when it comes to signing up new customers. Let them experience what you have to offer
3. Listening is a lost art. You can gain a competition advantage just by listening carefully to what your prospects and customers are saying.
4. It is almost always a bad idea to reduce your prices just to fill unused capacity. You will just undermine the more profitable part of your business. (Watch out for hidden expenses)

Customer for Keeps (Chapter 9)
1. Customer retention is the key to growth, and you retain customers by building strong relationship with them.
2. One way to build strong relationship with customers is to help them become smarter buyers by teaching them your business.
3. Make a point of treating old customers like new prospects. Otherwise, it’s easy to start taking them for granted.
4. You will lose contract with your customers as your company grows unless you build customer face-time into your schedule.

How to Lose Customers (Chapter 10)
1. Customers don’t like feeling that they are supporting your lavish lifestyle. Don’ give them reason reasons to think they are
2. Make a habit of a having a small piece increases on a regular basis so that you aren’t forced to have a big increase later on. This reminds me of the regular price hike in transport fee in the lion city.
3. Your company is probably your most valuable personal assert. Don’t undermine its value by letting your margin erode
4. Beware of the rules you make. They may inadvertently force your employees to provide poor service to customers.

The Decision to Grow (Chapter 11)
1. Business is a mean to an end. Does a life plan before you make your business plan. --- This is an eye opener to me!
2. When trying to move to the next level sales, don’t assume you know all the factors that led to your initial success.
3. Growing a business is a matter of choice. Before deciding to grow, make sure you know why you are doing it
4. Biggest is not always better. Small companies have some advantage that large companies can’t match

Becoming the Boss (Chapter 12)
1. As close as you may be to your employees, neither you nor they should forget that it’s a business relationship and needs to be treated as such
2. If you, like most entrepreneurs, prefer selling to managing, remember that you can hire other people to do management. You don’t have to do it yourself.
3. The way to deal with employee theft is to improve your system, not stop trusting people.
4. When the time comes for you to step aside and turn day-to-day operations over to your managers, get someone you trust to help you with the transition, and find other ways that you can contribute to the business.

Becoming the Boss (Chapter 13)
1. Your company’s culture can be your most powerful tool for finding and keeping great employees. Don’t miss the opportunities to shape it that arise every day.
2. The one thing you can’t delegate is the responsibility for making sure the company has a single culture, not several competing ones
3. Expenses have a natural tendency to creep up over time. If you want to control them, you need to get everyone involved in the effort.
4. Look for opportunities to send the message to employees that you really care about them, and that you want to them to care about keeping costs done (the pen)

Selling is a Team Sport (Chapter 14)
1. Salespeople are your representatives in the marketplace. Make sure you choose salespeople who will represent you well.
2. Beware of hotspots and would be entrepreneurs and don’t hire salespeople from within your industry.
3. Sales commission cause divisions in a company and get in the way of building a team. Don’t pay on commission unless you have to, and switch to salary plus bonus as soon as you can.
4. All your employees have an impact on sales, at least indirectly. With the right training, you can teach them how to have a direct impact.

Help! I Need Somebody (Chapter 15)
1. Sometimes you get so close to the problem that you lose other perspective.
2. You usually need help from someone who is not emotionally involved and who knows the right question to ask.
3. When you are struggling with a problem, get an outside perspective to make sure you are identified the real one and come up with a solution that’s going to address it.
4. Accountants are good for explaining what has happened in the past, but don’t go to them for business advice. Talk to an experience business owner instead.
5. Your Lawyer’s job is to tell you the potential legal consequences of a decision or a course of action – not to give you business advice.
6. Yes, your small companies can afford to hire world-class executives as long as you are willing to create a situation in which they can make money and have fun.

When the Student Is Ready, the Teacher Appears (Chapter 16)
1. There are great business lessons to be learned wherever you go, but you have to remember to look for them.
2. Solving a problem is a two-step process. First you should stop the bleeding, and then you need to address the underlying cause.
3. Preparation is a crucial competitive edge. Don’t assume you know what’s in a contract – even an old contract – unless you have gone back and reread it.
4. The harder someone pushes you to make a quick decision, the more insistent you should be about taking your time.

Keeping Up with Stones (Chapter 17)
1. Be prepared to carry new salespeople for up to a year before getting the kind of production that will justify what it cost to hire them
2. If you want salespeople to make good sales, teach them how your business makes money
3. Watch your numbers carefully and when they change – find out why. There’s always a reason
4. Enthusiasm is lifeblood of a business. Be generous with it.

what's next?

Turning point in life seeking direction …..
What’s my calling??
Time stops for now no one, it will tick and tick and before you know your time is up.
What is the next milestone??
Take a bold step.
Move it.
Go!

Rest!

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28–30).


A yoke is a device borne across the shoulders, e.g. for harnessing two draft animals together, or to assist in carrying heavy loads.

The verse is shared by a friend, heard it before many time , its now only that i am appreciating the meaning of yoke. 'Your yoke is easy' i recall. Now i get it =). The sharing is timely as i am pressed by assign due dates, exams and other commitments ......


After a good lesson on the steps needed to get the oxen into the yoke, Duke and Doc are ready to go to work. You can imagine, when animals this large are yoked together, they must work in unison, or chaos and injury will occur. These animals are highly trained starting as 3 week old calves.
Extract from: duke and doc (a fammar's blog)


-----> 'Take my yoke upon you'. >> Am i am willing to carry the yoke ??
Follow the lord's direction/plan ....-----> 'Learn from me'. >> Am i willing to learn ??
Like the ox we may not budge yet ---------> 'I am gentle'


Jesus tells us his burden is light not because it is easy but because he is on the other side of the yoke, helping us to serve with his strength. Ask Jesus to free you, his servant, from burdens he does not want you to carry. Praying the Names of Jesus by Ann Spangler

This sharing reminds me of the following verses:

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14)

"Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together". (Deuteronomy 22:10)

Based on my experience:
Just like canoeing both people on the canoe must paddle in the same direction, equal speed.
If one go too fast or paddle in the opposite direction the canoe goes aimless.

Got to be in sync with the lord and carry the yoke .... ready and willing to learn. Rest will come =)

Capture Argc to String Object

A simple mundane task yet it took me an hour to get it done. ={}
....
if( argv[1]!=NULL ) {
string videoFileStr = argv[1];
videoFileStr = videoFileStr.substr ( 0,videoFileStr.find_last_of("."));
videoFileStr += ".jpg";
cout << videoFileStr;
}
....

The culprit is c's printf is unable to print c++ 's string object content.
Arg!

Side effect of mixing c++ & C.
Got to move on......

Einstein's Riddle

an email puzzle i receive ....

Einstein wrote the following riddle when he was a young boy.
He said that 98% of the world could not solve it.
But several NIEHS scientists were able to solve it, and
they said it's not all that hard if you pay attention and are very patient.

Give it a try:

There are 5 houses in 5 different colours in a row.
In each house lives a person with a different nationality.
The 5 owners drink a certain type of beverage, smoke a certain brand of cigar, and keep a certain pet. No owners have the same pet, smoke de same brand of cigar, or drink the same beverage. Other facts/clues:

1. The Brit lives in the red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house is on the immediate left of the white house.
5. The green house's owner drinks coffee.
6. The owner who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The owner living in the centre house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The owner who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The owner who keeps the horse lives next to the one who smokes Dunhill.
12. The owner who smokes Bluemasters drinks Beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The owner who smokes Blends lives next to the one who drinks water.

The Question Is: WHO OWNS THE FISH?

-----------------------------------

My solutions:

nationality(Brit,Swede,Dane,German,Norwegian)

smoke(Dunhil,Pall Mall,Prince,Blends,Bluemaster)

col {red,green,white,blue.yellow} 16. H1 = Norwegian (9) not Red (1) not Green(4) not white (4) hence left -> yellow -> Dunhil(7) 17. H2 = Blue (9,14) -> Horse(11,16) 18. H3 = Milk (8) 19. H3 != Green (18,5) 20. H4=Green,H5=White (16,17,19,4) H4->Coffee (5) 21 H3=red,Brit

Day 2: Sun Tech Day 2009.

I went for the client track & Open Solaris track. Very briefly the outline as follows:.

[1] The day kicks off with a key note speech on cloud computing – a new paradigm

• The cloud is made of ‘layers’:

• Iaas – Infrasture,--> handle multiple environment
• PaaS - Platform, --->not just a isolated IDE, encourage team collaboration
• SaaS –Software...
• Introduction of Project Kenai.

• When there is no developer there is no cloud.
• Zemby is able to collate and represent votes from two separate social networks.

[2] Java J2ME: What’s next? => LWUIT

• J2me is open source now.
• Challenges: Fragmentation at device-level, standards implementation
• Upcoming : Light weight user interface tool kit

[3] Open Storage ---- storage as commodity vs being locked by a vendor.
[4] JavaScript coding in Netbeans 6.5
[5]Develop and deploy securely.

Have one more day to go ...University day.

Lots of catching up to do for my studies ....

sun tech day singapore 2009 - Day 1

I was at the sun tech day 2009. 20 Jan 2009
Very fruitful day indeed, being introduced to various
upcoming technologies, trend and tools for developers.

I spent most of time at Enterprise track. Very briefly i picked up the following:

• GlassFish, heard about it, today i get to see how it works. Features like call-flow monitoring for developers -- which container is more time spent?
  

• The concept of Comet ---- instead of typical client ---request---> server. We have for client <---events----server.
• Why GlassFish ? You get enterprise features at open source!

• I get an idea what's DTrace is all about briefly through the track. DTrace is only available on Solaris. In the process of debugging we go through the stages of :
• hypothesis->instrumentation->data gathering->analysis->....cycle repeats.
• DTrace eliminate the instrumentation stage. With as many as 50,000 probes.
• Got to appreciate the D Dynamic Language

• Java FX, sounds like Flash MX, get to lots of rich interactive media.i am keen to find out how i can use it for mobile phone.
  

• I am amazed by zembly. Widgets, Service and Application.The key chain, clone feature are useful. Somehow found widgets and application to be similar.
• Connecting the World with REST => Representational State Transfer. Tenets.

1. Give everything an ID - URI
2. User standard HTTP methods, so that it is cacheable
3. Links things together.
   

• MySQL: Database for Web 2.0 --- I learn alot about storage engine. And the 'EXPLAIN' syntax which is very useful to observe what's happening.
• Groovy and Grails --- have not use it, got a feel of it.
  

• Won a Wii in the referal lucky draw, awesome i can do some development work with Wii =)

How does a human brain look?

When you go to most market in this season you will see plants blooming with flowers sold everywhere. I will pop by at various plants stalls to check out the various colorful models line up to dazzle your eyes. I stumble upon on this pink flower which looks like a human brain! I have no ideas what it is call, maybe I should name it the brainy plant.

Kardiomou

2 weeks in school ...

In my professional communication lesson, i learn a new word - Kardio/mou
its a Greek word.

• Kardio ---- means heart ---that's where you get the word cardio
• mou --- my

It means my sweet heart, darling and so on .....

Research Writing In Brief

Met my FYP supervisor,who gave a quick brief:

• What is your contribution?
• What are you adding to the body of knowledge? (Problem or a particular field)
• 1-2 two few, 3-4 just rite
• The intensity can vary for each contribution.
• Are the contribution novel?
• How is it significant and have an impact on the people?
• Claim of Bee having 5 strips is of no value to people.
• Why is the contribution necessary? Motivation
• Justify it is new --- why? Comprehensive survey
• Literature Review --- Related work --- Limitation.... Not solve hence i should solve it.
• Too many knowledge know what to focus on.