Plunge in with vision...

Before you become an entrepreneur to execute your business idea, consider how you can fit into the market
Are you decisive? Do you have a strong desire to succeed? Are you ambitious? Are you very hardworking? Do you have strong motivation to move yourself forward every day? Do you want to make a difference in your life and leave a legacy?
If you have answered yes to the above, you may want to consider becoming an entrepreneur. Of course, you must have a vision or dream of what you want to achieve and make it a reality.
Before you quit your job to become your own boss, you need to find your own market space. The following points can help you in your process.
Decide on your goals
What are the goals for your business? You need to set realistic goals, not goals that are beyond your reach. What do you want the results to be? How many hours do you want to work? How many employees do you want to have? What do you want in your employees? How much sales do you want to make? What will be the acceptable profit margin?
The idea is to get a clear vision, or a big picture, for the business. Once you decide how it will look like when it is established, you will know what needs to be done to get you going.
Conduct market research
Spend some time to determine how much you will be able to charge for your product or service, and what kind of volume you will be able to sell within a time period. Think about the amount of effort you are willing to put in in a day so you can get a rough idea of the amount you can make.
Once you have these estimates, you can then decide if the money you can make or the time you need to put in are worth the effort. There are some people who spend many years working in a business that is just not capable of becoming what they had initially hoped for, and they end up becoming a slave to their business.
Many entrepreneurs think that success is all about developing a great product or service, but it also means being able to market and sell it well.
Before you spend a lot of time and money developing or perfecting your product, try to make a prototype or develop a clear and concise description of what it will be like, and do some market research. Determine who your prospective customers will be and take the opportunity to talk to them. Ask them as many questions as you can. Find out the price they are willing to pay. Consider this feedback and modify your product design accordingly, if necessary.
Next, try to look at other market players that are selling similar products or services. Find out what they charge, how they market and sell their products or services, and what their competitive advantage is. Find out what they are doing as well as why and how customers respond to their product.
Once you think you have a clear understanding of what the market really wants, you can then move ahead with your product or develop your service.
Starting the business
When you begin your business, work from home for a while if possible or rent the minimum amount of space and equipment necessary. It is very important to keep your overhead costs as low as possible, at least till things start to take off.
You need to resist the temptation to rent a nice office and fill it with nice furniture, carpet and equipment. Though impressive, it will be a large outlay for an entrepreneur who is just starting out.
From the start, it is critical that you communicate a consistent message to all potential customers. Start with the following:
Business cards: Get plenty and hand them out at every opportunity.
Website: This is to showcase your company’s range of products or services and to provide a downloadable brochure as well as useful information such as e-newsletters.
Marketing: Create a memorable theme that will stick in the minds of the customers.
Networking: Attend business and social activities to get your company’s name out in the industry.
Starting a new business is challenging and at times confusing. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the huge number of tasks you face every day.
Ask yourself: “What can I do to increase sales and market my product or service better today?” If you are thinking about this constantly, the other details will eventually fall into place.

2004 coming to a close...but still not much improvement...

yeah tt's right... yr 2004 is coming to a close but i'll still no different as compare to last yr. Still working for people although lately been quite rough ride trying to find myself a new challenge in life hoping that i would be able to enjoy every single moment of my life more meaningfully and satisfactorily but all in vain. In Anthony Robbins - Awaken the GIANT Within, i read through this book before. In it, mostly all postive and motivational quotes from famous people which is meant to giv us a "push" in our current state of life so that we could "pull" something dramatically and quickly to "change" the way we live our life. Many claims that they have read the book and it turns out to be very effective and useful especially the kind of impact it provides to throttle our life. But as for me, after reading it for the 2nd times, i still feel the same although do have some positive feeling while reading it but all these went off the moment i stopped reading it. Why? It's the book isn't good enough or i'm just too weak to be trained as a great positive thinker and executor? Am i lack of the capability to further excel or i'm just holding myself back because of the risks involved? What kind of risks are we talking here? Risks of being killed...No i don't think so... i tink it's more like personal risk... scared to fail, lack of self-motivation, self-confident, self-disciplined, and the lists will go on n on... neverending same goes for this! What am i trying to achieve all these years? What am i looking for? What's the catch? What's the hunt? Couldn't believe after so many years of hard and solid self-disciplined and motivational training i imposed on myself, and here i'm now writing abt all these which i should have mastered them long time ago. What's wrong wt me? Am i'm going crazy? Afraid not, i'm just being and feeling too insecured in this world, need to find a quick, positive and effective solutions else all my years of hardwork will goes down the drain... wouldn't want that to happen... how i wish i could be given another chance?... oh god... confused and frustrated life!

WHO IS IN CHARGE?

The organs of the body were having a meeting, trying to decide who was in charge.

Each organ took a turn to speak up:

Brain : I should be in charge because I run all body functions.

Blood: I should be in charge because I circulate oxygen for the brain.

Stomach: I should be in charge because I process food to the brain.

Legs: I should be in charge because I take the brain where it wants to go.

Eyes: I should be in charge because I let the brain see where it's going.

Asshole: I should be in charge because I get rid of your waste.

All the other parts laughed so hard and this made the asshole very mad.

To prove his point, the asshole immediately slammed tightly closed and stayed that way for 6 days, refusing to rid the body of any waste whatsoever.

Day 1 - Brain got a terrible headache and cried out for relief.

Day 2 - Stomach got bloated and began to ache terribly.

Day 3 - Legs got cramps and became unstable.

Day 4 - Eyes became watery and vision became blurred.

Day 5 - Blood became toxic and poisoned the body.

Day 6 -The other organs agreed to let the asshole be in charge.

Moral of the story: No matter who you are, or how important you think you are, you will find that it is always the ASSHOLE that is in charge.

P.S. So, dun forward to your boss!

Creating a new theory is not like destroying an old barn and erecting a skyscraper in its place. It is rather like climbing a mountain, gaining new and wider views, and discovering unexpected connections between our starting point and its rich environment.

-Albert Einstein-

Why love is blind

A LONG time ago, before the world was created and humans could set foot on it, virtues and vices floated around, not quite knowing what to do. One day, all of them were gathered together, and feeling more bored than ever.

Suddenly, Ingenious came up with an idea: “Let’s play hide-and-seek!” Everyone liked the idea and immediately, Madness shouted: “I want to count, I want to count!”

Since nobody was crazy enough to want to seek Madness, all the others agreed. Madness leaned against a tree and started counting, “One, two, three ...”

As Madness counted, the vices and virtues ran off to look for places in which to hide.

Tenderness hung itself on the horn of the moon, while Treason hid in a pile of garbage.

Fondness curled up between the clouds and Passion went to the centre of the earth.

Lie said that it would hide under a stone, but hid at the bottom of the lake instead, whilst Avarice entered a sack that he ended up breaking.

Madness continued to shout out: “... 79, 80, 81...” By then, all the vices and virtues were well hidden, except for Love. Fickle as Love is, he could not decide where to hide. And this should not surprise us, because we all know how difficult it is to hide Love.

Madness counted, “... 95, 96, 97 ...”

Just when he got to 100, Love jumped into a rose bush. Madness turned around and shouted: “I’m coming, I’m coming!”

Laziness was the first to be found, because he did not have the energy to hide. Then Madness spotted Tenderness in the horn of the moon, Lie at the bottom of the lake, and Passion at the centre of the earth.

One by one, Madness found them all, except for Love. He was getting desperate. Envious of Love, Envy whispered to Madness, “He is in the rose bush.”

Madness grabbed a wooden pitch fork and stabbed wildly at the bush. He jabbed and stabbed until a heartbreaking cry made him stop.

Love appeared from the bush, with both hands covering his face. Blood oozed from his eyes and trickled down his fingers. Madness had stabbed out Love’s eyes with his pitch fork.

“What have I done? What have I done?” Madness screamed. “I have blinded you! How can I repair the damage?”

Love answered: “You cannot repair my eyes. But if you really want to do something for me, you can be my guide.”

And so it came about that from that day on, Love is blind and is always accompanied by Madness.

skills required for further success...

CHALLENGE
Quick to rise to a challenge. The harder the challenge the more you push yourself. You show determination by your directness and willingness to 'say what you think'. Challenging and outspoken.

DRIVE
You are a natural self-starter. You enjoy hard work and can work for long periods without tiring. You are happiest when productively engaged. Days when you feel you have achieved little are bad days. You are constantly striving to achieve more. You can be quite competitive.

PROACTIVE
You are attracted to work on new things. You tend to be lively and energetic. You want to make things happen and get things done. You are impatient with the status quo. You are likely to act first and ask/think later. You enjoy being in the middle of activity.

DEVELOPMENTAL
You are naturally attracted to talented people. You enjoy exposure to the best and the decision makers. You see the benefits of continuous learning for both yourself and others around you. You actively encourage and help others to develop. You recognise both your own and others' strengths.

PERFORMANCE ORIENTATION
You prefer to focus upon things that have measurable outcomes. You like to have clear targets against which you can be measured, and you will strive to achieve these targets. You enjoy numbers and scores that relate to performance and want to be held accountable for these.

Effective Networking

Talking abt networking most of us will usually shun away whenever they heard the word "networking" coz to them making network wt ppl means gettin themselves into some sort of trouble either involving in helping others to achieve their objective or become a victim of some direct sales or marketing. Therefore it's time for me to share with you an article from JobsDB.com titled "Effective Networking":

The word “Networking” is one that strikes terror not only into the hearts of jobseekers but also entrepreneurs. It conjures up images of wandering round a function room trying to offload your business card to as many people as you can. We usually hate the idea of networking because we think it makes us look pushy, false or just plain desperate. However, networking when done properly is one of the most important elements of any effective job search strategy. Consider the facts that almost 80% of jobs are never advertised, and around 60% of executive vacancies are filled through networking. It is a job-search strategy that works.

Some rules for effective Networking
* Share and share alike - Think of networking as being about gathering and sharing ideas – see yourself as a knowledge resource: the more people you meet, the more information you will have that you can pass around. Make yourself a useful contact to other people. Be prepared to share your information and contacts in return.

* Who do you network with? - Start with people that you know. Not only is it less daunting, but it is time effective to build on your existing network rather than try to create a completely new one from scratch. If you think you do not know anybody? What about getting help from the people you currently work with or have worked with. Think about the people you socialize with and their girlfriends/partners/parents/friends. If everyone you know in turn knows just another 10 people, it is not hard to see how you potentially have access to hundreds even thousands of people.

* Do not ask for a job - The most important thing to remember is that networking is NOT about asking people for a job. It is about asking people for information, advice or assistance. It is as much about asking what you can do for them as what they can do for you.

* Identify New Avenues to Pursue - Do try to expand your network to include people whom you would not ordinarily come into contact with, perhaps from professions, cultures or backgrounds very different from your own. This is a great way of broadening your horizons and helping yourself to think creatively and more imaginatively about your career options.

* Be clear on what you want to achieve - Remember, you are NOT asking your contacts for a job. You might want to ask them for ideas about career opportunities you have not thought of, more information about options that you are already considering, or advice on your CV. Do remember also, to ask every contact if they can in turn put you in touch with two or more further contacts and in this way, you can grow your network.

* Do research beforehand - Make sure you know as much as possible about the person you are meeting with, and how they may be able to help you. Keep your discussion focused, and not just a pleasant but ineffectual chat. People will be further impressed if you are well-prepared. If you are not, they may feel you are wasting their time as well as your own.

* Meet your contacts face-to-face – It is much easier to strike up a rapport. It is usually much more memorable to them, and they will probably give you far more information than they would have done in a telephone call or an email. But only ask for 15 minutes of their time as most people are too busy to give up a 1-hour slot. Chances are that if they agree to 15 minutes, you will get the best part of half-an-hour.

* Follow-up - Follow up all the leads you receive, even if they do not look too promising in the first instance. You can never tell how useful someone might be until you speak to them. Nor who they in turn might be able to put you in touch with. Furthermore, if someone has gone to the trouble of giving you a lead or a contact, it is simply rude not to follow up with it. Make sure also, that you write or at least email to thank the person who has given some of their time to you.

* Set yourself some targets – Do not set yourself a target that is unachievable, and do not confuse quantity with quality. Make sure you give yourself time to prepare properly before you chat with someone, and follow up properly afterwards. For example, aim to contact roughly 3 new people every week.

* Keep good records of all contacts - Keep notes about whom and what you talked about by putting in place a good record-keeping system right from the start. Do not think that you will be able to remember all this information.

* Be patient - Finally, remember that networking is a long-term strategy, not a short-term fix. Do not get frustrated if the first person you talk to does not offer you a job on the spot. Put more time and effort into building up, and nurturing your network and it will pay dividends throughout your career.

the POWER of WHY... for example...

Ultimately, it is your brand story that helps you answer that most fundamental of

all questions, “Why?"

Why do you decide to make one decision and not another? Why do your customers need

you? Why is it that you're better able to meet their needs than anyone else? Why

does your logo look this way? Why do your press releases read the way they do? And

most important to marketers and managers alike: why would someone make that critical

decision to use your products and services over those of anyone else?

lately....

hi... been MIA for sometime now... now sitting in front of my laptop trying to figure out what should i write to keep my blog updated while having a slight headache... :S well, basically not doing much for the past wks/mths... work, work, work and more work... while on the weekend-> rest, rest, rest and more rest... yeah, did hang out wt frens, lots of movie updates, some catch-up and lots of tv for sure... ehehehehe... tt's wat i call resting... LOL! nothing much as wat i just said.... wat else could someone like me do on the weekend? wat do most ppl do? mamak, clubbing, lepaking, eating, movies.... i guess i'm just like the rest but after reflecting on wat i've did or achieved each week i feel i'm under achieving or under utilizing myself where i could have done more or do something which will bring myself forward rather than wasting time and money.... why do ppl alwiz feel tt way? izzit because he feel tt he himself is not doin well enough and he need to work harder on the weekend so tt he could be the same or ahead of his peer or he just wan to make himself feel better by letting himself down once in a while to avoid guilt... guess most ppl do tt just for the sake of feeling better afterward and after a while they will just repeat it over and over again and feel the same... it's like a cycle by itself... it needs to complete itself by having both the positive and the negative thoughts else it wont be in harmony.... same like our food cycle... okok, guess i'm drifting away too much fr my main purpose here... supposed to do some updates but i'm talkin on some things which doesn't make sense to others at all... tt's wat most of my fren say.... i'm indeed a crapy person... am i one? errrr.... up to u to judge.... but frankly spkg, yeah i'm indeed a crapy person but at times i could be serious it all depend on the situation but most of the time i try to be serious but maybe it's because of my nature and my surroundings which influence me to act as such... okok, i'm just kidding nia... nothing personal but just tryin to do "some updates" here...ahem...ahem....ahem... gtg, ciaoz!

Quote of the hour: "My passions were all gathered together like fingers that made a fist. Drive is considered aggression today; I knew it then as purpose." - Bette Davis

Which Color are YOU???

is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love.

combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.

is the color of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.

is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark green is also commonly associated with money.

is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.

combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. Purple is associated with royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition. It conveys wealth and extravagance. Purple is associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and magic.

is associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity. It is considered to be the color of perfection.

is associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery.

ever tot wat's blogging....

Blogging Is...

1)A form of unedited, authentic self-expression


2)An instant publishing tool


3)An online journal with freshly updated content


4)Amateur journalism


5)Something that will revolutionize the Web (think RSS feeds)


6)A way to create community with your voters, er... readers (think 2,200 comments posted to the Dean for America blog in one day)


7)An alternative to mainstream media (think InstaPundit by Glenn Reynolds and TalkingPointsMemo by Joshua Micah Marshall)


8)A tool to teach students how to write


9)A new way to communicate with customers (think Ray Ozzie, CEO of Groove Networks)


10)A new form of knowledge management inside big companies


11)A way for a bunch of navel-gazers to communicate with one another


12)Something to keep you occupied when you’re unemployed (more people than care to admit fit into this category… have you noticed?)


13)A way to think and write in short paragraphs instead of a long essay (which no one has time to read anyway)


14)Your email to everyone, as A-list blogger Doc Searls puts it (i.e., a way to stay in touch with family and friends)


15)A silly word that’s fun to say (“Gotta go blog now….”)


16)A way of writing with a distinct voice and personality (think Halley Suitt)


17)Something to talk about at cocktail parties (“I blogged Seth Godin and he blogged me back...”)


18)A URL to add to your resume (as in TokyoTim, my 23-year-old son, who’s working as an English teacher in Japan for a year)


19)Something else to do with your mobile phone... think audio blogging and moblogging


20)Something you don’t want your mother to read: what my mother says about blogging

Quote of the DAY: "Wisdom is know what to do next; virtue is doing it." - David Starr Jordan

dEsIrEd SKILLs...

Analysis: The ability to integrate disparate quantitative, qualitative and anecdotal data about market dynamics into an integrated framework of both the current marketplace and reasonable forecasted scenarios for future developments of that marketplace.

Learning: The ability and willingness to learn rapidly to see and appropriately react to real shifts in the changing marketplace—not false signals. In a parallel way, the ability to learn and appropriately apply new marketing best practices. In both situations, an ability to understand and critically assess the situation at hand and to apply only those that are of important consequences vs. over reaction is required.

Communication: The ability to develop an engaging and easily understood translation of that marketplace to each business function through their own unique perspective of thinking about the market. Think about the communication challenge in a company to be the same as describing a house where everyone is looking in a different window. While it is the same house, each person sees it differently. The ability to effectively translate for each function greatly improves the strength of understanding and acceptance by all stakeholders.

Leadership: The ability to build trust and credibility with leadership across all other business functions that allows this market view to be accepted and therefore reflected in all of their decisions/plans. Given that this almost always include some level of ambiguity, a high level of trust and credibility is necessary to get others to follow through the ambiguous gaps. In the absence of this trust, internal debates can often bog down or diffuse actions to the point where nothing happens.

tips of the DAY...

Your age is not an issue if you are confident, competent, diplomatic, and willing to put yourself out there. You may have to put issues of ego aside if you find a company you want to work for—they may want you at a lower level. As long as you can grow and it’s in a good environment this may be a good deal.

The Curse of Choice...

As the Merovingian says in the movie Matrix Reloaded, “Choice is an illusion, created between those with power, and those without... Our only hope, our only peace is to understand it, to understand the ‘why.’ ‘Why’ [Read the ‘Power of Why’] is what separates us from them, you from me. ‘Why’ is the only real social power, without it you are powerless.”

yum.. yum... yum... MOONCAKES!!!

yeah, it's lunch time now... couldn't stop myself from thinking of those tasty mooncakes which i desperately seeking to satisfy my tastebud... had meehoon and yam kuey... not as satsifying as those mooncakes i've been feasting on myself for the past 2wks. my mooncake stock is almost finished and it's time for me to replenish them once again before next wk 28th which will be the offical date for the "Mooncake Festival"! i love all the choices of mooncakes as long as they r good in quality and worth the money. wow, couldn't believe it initially tt mooncakes r actually so damn expensive esp when u r payin ard rm15-20 for such a small size which i could easily wallop the whole piece in 2-3 bites. ehehehehehe.... nway, as i've mentioned, good and quality mooncakes deserved tt kind of price tag but if they r too pricey, i tink a bowl of "segambut" laksa either at taipan or pj area will definitely satisfy me much more.... ehehehehehehe.... ;)

something interesting to share..."Boss or Leader"

The Boss drives his workers: The Leader coaches them.

The Boss depends on Authority: The Leader on Goodwill.

The Boss says “I”; The Leader says “We.”

The Boss rules by Fear; The Leader inspires by Enthusiasm.

The Boss says “Get here on time;” The Leader gets there ahead of time.

The Boss fixes blame for the breakdown; The Leader fixes the breakdown.

The Boss Knows how it’s done; The Leader Shows how it’s done.

The Boss makes work drudgery; the leader makes it Fun.

The Boss says “GO;” the Leader says, “Let’s Go together.”

The Real Leader never Bosses: She sells instead of tells. She knows that people need to want to do things and—where possible—be included in decisions.

—Unknown author

bad luck OR good luck...

haven't been blogging lately... wasn't tt busy but lazy i guess... furthermore, there wasn't much to talk abt till recently. just 2 days ago, i had an accident which resulted in a flat tyre near taipan area. couldn't proceed further and have no choice but to change it immediately. that day was the worst kind of sunday i would have imagined... changing my flat tyre under the hot sun and was my 1st time doing it. good thing was i able to stay calm and didn't get too panicked with the situation but i did called gav just to drop by and help me out. the whole process went off smoothly although i sweat relentlessly under that noon sun. peak time! ehehehehe... at the end of it, i found tt changing tyre wasn't as difficult as i thought. as a matter of fact, it's pretty easy as long as you stay calm and have everything by ur side, it shouldn't cause much of hassle. then, supposed to meet up wt the geng after my morning appt but i cancelled it coz was just too tired. the moment i reached home, i head straight to my bed and sleep for the whole afternoon. didn't want to think of anything else but too get my rest and try to forget abt my bad day! after i woke up, i realized how bad i treated my new car with scratches on its back bumper, right rear passenger door, and little tiny scratches all over the body if pay a close attention to them. and now a flat tyre to add-on to all the existing ordeal... oh car...oh car.. i'm really sorry for not treating you well... it's just past 8 mths and my car alredi looks like a 2-yr old car. sigh, all these was due to my impatient and some bad lucks i had for the past 8 mths. wouldn't wan to say much but will put more effort to treat my car better and try to fix all the existing prob ASAP so tt it could be back as new ;)

Defining your GOALS...

Defining your goals is not an easy task especially when there are so many things in your life that needs your attention. Here's one way of doing it RIGHT!

How to do it...

Make sure that the goals/objectives you set are "SMART" - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound

->Specific: Relate to a single desired result. Do not have several objectives incorporated into one. Make sure you fully understand them.

->Measurable: Specify how you will measure if you have achieved your goal.

->Achievable: Objectives must be achievable with the resources available to you and within your capabilities.

->Relevant: In this case you must assess that the objective is relevant to your overall career or life plan.

->Time Bound: Objectives need actions to be achieved by a specified date. They should also be undertaken at the right time, i.e. When completion of the objective is possible.

Rank how important the goal is to you and then...

Rank how easy it is to achieve the goal...

Finally, take ACTION on the GOAL! Have a nice day and a great weekend ahead! ;)

“Plan a career within a life – not a life within a career”

Your career is like a journey. When you look over your shoulder you can see where you have been. However, where you are going may be less clear or well defined! Your future’s in front of you, and your success and happiness will be strongly influenced by the quality of the career decisions you make.

Making the right decision is never easy. However, if you understand who you are and what you want, you have a greater chance of fulfilment – a better chance of achieving the goals that are important to you.

life @ cyberjaya... SIGH!!!

yeah have been transfered to cyberjaya since mon. life hasn't been the same since then esp the travelling hours... can u believe it... 55km from my hse all the way to my new workplace @ CJ!!! tt's too much liao... couldn't do much abt it but to stay cool and calm while i'm gg all out to do my hunting once again... ehehehehe... hopefully not @ CJ again else i can't take it anymore! oh god... pls help me... *sad,disappointed and desperate*