Small Mistakes Big Impact

I know someone who works in a shipyard. He is one of the most detailed project manager that I have ever met. In every meeting, he would say, there should be no leakages. He would pour through every single aspects of the project. This project manager delivers successful project but everyone was groaning behind his back due to his thoroughness.  I never fully grasp his idea and beliefs in project management.

Nonetheless, I have learn his lesson through the hard way. Recently, I managed a tax project for a China business. I have gathered the necessary resources, gotten all the approvals signed well ahead of time, and everyone knows the vision of success.

Of all the preparation, there was a tiny component that one of my resources did not look into. Due to that careless, the project came to a halt and I have to seek approval for additional 50% funding to get it working again. The analysis shows that it was really not my fault but as the project manager everything stops at my level. I should be fully accountable to the failure of this project.

It is an important lesson for me. I cannot make any further assumptions and could have handled better by going through the project's critical path. A small leak would no doubt sink a big ship. Yes! There should be no leakages.

Planning, Adjusting and Mistakes

Last Saturday I visited a cousin's newly opened cafe. It was one week old. He told me that he is not getting the crowd or the desired revenue. Curious, so I decided to pay him a visit.

I asked for the shop's actual address. He said he is not sure and asked me to check out the Facebook page. Instead of registering as a local business, the cafe was registered as an individual. The address was not even there, good news was there is a location map. Maybe a map would be clearer? Wrong! The map contains two marks, one mark for his house, the other for his shop. I have to guess which was which. The page only has a picture of the cafe and did not show what was offered on the menu.

It is obvious that him and the partners did a poor job in planning. In any business, the first impression matters a lot. Even though the cafe is only one week old, I wonder how many customers had turned away.

At the cafe, I wanted to know the cafe's maximum capacity. He was not sure either. In any food retail outlet, the owner has to know how much each customer must spent and how many turnarounds per table in order to make a profit. On average, there should be at least three turnarounds in one business session.

As I spend more time with him, the more issues I noticed. Besides just poor planning, he has thrown himself into the deep end by dealing with customers and adjusting the operation issues. It would have been better to if he had a dry run with family and friends instead of enraging the wrath of the customers. In my opinion, he has 7 more weeks to get his act right. All the issues and mistakes are costing the business money. The business would have run out of money if the mistakes still remains.

I am a strong believer in making mistakes and taking risk. However, going into anything without proper planning is pure suicide. Thus far, he has adjusted his Facebook page. Hopefully he can sort out his operation kinks soon.

Food That We Wasted

I grew up in a modest family. My family are not exactly rich, both of my parents worked hard to put food on the table. One important lesson that I always remembered was never to waste food.

I held on to this beleive since I was a kid, and I have made sure my children knows it too. According to CNN, 1.3 billions tons of food has been wasted every year. This piece of news just made my blood boil. In 2010, there are 925 million hungry people. Imagine, how many people that wasted food can be fed?

Christmas is a few days away. I encourage whoever is reading this blog to make a point to eat what can be finished and waste no food. Think about the people who are less fortunate. It is a season of reflection and gratitude.

Have a wonderful celebration.

An Hour with Jim Collins

I am a fan of Jim Collins. My first book was Good to Great. Now I am reading Great by Choice. If you want to spent the next hour learning something. Check out the four videos below.

 

  

A Thought About Employee Empowerment

Over the weekend, I took my family to visit a newly opened theme park. One of the rides that we were waiting had a problem and has to be shut down. At that point of time, we have already waited for at least 40 minutes in the line.

I started to notice problems when other park visitors are walking against the line leaving the ride area. The family have to hear the news about the breakdown of the ride through other park visitors. At that time, no announcement was made nor any park attendants were to be seen. By the time, an announcement was made. The announcement was made over the blaring Christmas music where I can hardly make out what was being said.

At the moment of that crisis, the theme park does not have any leadership at the local level to take charge of the situation. In any business and organization, empowering employee to take charge in an usual situation is very important. Imagine, if the situation is not a breakdown but a small fire. It would have caused a stampede. In a production line, if there is any problem employees are expected to resolve the problem while making reports or suggestions to the local leadership.

The management should be able to nurture employees to show initiative and willing to take charge. One of the main root cause of the unwillingness is the fear of failure and getting into trouble. Problems are not like wine, it does not get any better through time. Employees are expected to take charge and solve the problem as soon as possible. Whether the initiative is success or not, employees should be given the credit for trying.

As organizations are getting flatter and less hierarchy. It is important for employees to have a sense of belonging and understand the amount of influence they have towards the company. Gone are the days of lets wait for instruction. If it is the right thing to do, employee should go ahead and do it.

A Thought: American Airline's CEO THomas W Horton

Recently I came across a Time magazine article titled as The Worst Job in America. It is a three pages article on how Tom Horton the current CEO of American Airlines trying to save the company.

If you think you got a difficult job, Horton has it worst. This airline has lost 10 billion dollars in the last 10 years and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November of 2011.

American hasn't hire a flight attendant in 12 years. It has too many of them because too few of them worked a full schedule. yet all claimed full benefit..

Many CEOs would have resigned and leaved for greener pastures. Not Horton who joined the company in 1985. He wants to tough it out and bring the airline soaring back into the skies again.

I don't really know whether Horton would actually succeed in breathing life into the company. Nonetheless, I admire his resilience towards in making the company successful again. No doubt he would be going to bed thinking about his organization's problem; waking up each morning muster enough courage to get back to work. He will not be doing all these unless he knows he is going to be successful.

Nobody wants to bet on a losing horse. Yet, I was truly inspired by his actions. He chooses to take the difficult path. Many times, I would complain both about my job and my business. Nothing that I faced is as complex and uncertain as American's problem. Horton action has breath a new life into my perspective towards surroundings.  Things are just not as dire as I have thought so.

I know only Thomas W. Horton through a magazine article. It is actually enough for me wanting to work or spent time with this individual. He may not have succeeded in turning around the company yet, but I hope many of those who are struggling can learn something from him. I for sure I know I did.

Make Your Fans Feel Special

On the 21st November 2012, TGIF Malaysia celebrated its 50th anniversary. All the restaurant chain that falls under the company umbrella are offering 50% discount off the menu price.

The beauty stroke about this promotion was that it was only advertized on their facebook fan page and their corporate site. In fact, restaurants did not even put up any form of banner or printed materials regarding the promotion. Some might think that why not promote the occasion through main stream media? This no doubt would attract more customers.

What the company did was that they have made the fans who followed TGIF feel special and exclusive. This only cements customer loyalty and attracts more followers so that they will not miss out for any future events. Furthermore, good deals such as this one would no doubt travel far through word and mouth.

I visited TGIF at 6pm and I was told that I have to wait for 10 minutes for a table. Yes! The night was that busy. By 7 pm, the waiting line has swelled to at least 30 people. I dare to say, that night was a roaring success for TGIF with minimal marketing expenditure.

A Thought on The Apprentice Asia

Just found out that there is a casting call for The Apprentice Asia. This is a reality show where candidates would get together in an office environment to achieve weekly tasks. Each week someone would be fired from the show. The last person standing will get to win an opportunity to work for the show's CEO organization for one year. For the Asia version, the CEO is none other than Tony Fernandes the owner of AirAsia, Tune Hotels and Caterham F1 team.

I started watching the American version where Donald Trump was the show's CEO.  I was a huge fan and would never miss a single episode. I followed the show for at least four seasons. Many times, I would try to find inspirations from the show and tried to put myself into the situation to see how I would respond.

As I gain more life's experience. I realized that this is really just a show and I should not take it too seriously. In fact, some of the behavior demonstrated on the show seems questionable and short sighted.

Each of the task last for about a week, the results will be judged and someone will have to leave the show. As such, to win each tasks contestants are just there to think short term and get quick results. A good business leader should have a vision and a long term goals. Sadly these qualities are not assessed.

Contestant would get fired each week. We tend to see a lot more on-screen argument and bickering as everyone are fighting for their position in the show. As the show progress, we tend to see a lot more poison hurled between contestants. In a real office environment, no matter how bad is the personality clash, each person have to perform and work together to achieve common goals for long period of time. I doubt such on-screen behavior is acceptable in any office. At least, I would not hire such individuals to work in my team.

This show promotes zero tolerance for failure. Individuals are not given the second chance to bounce back. Many of us needs mistakes to grow. The Newsweek magazine dedicate a section celebrity or businessman's favorite mistakes. I just hope candidates and viewers would see beyond the show that mistakes is indeed acceptable. Playing it too safe is no fun in both life and business. Please take some risks and make some mistakes! This is part of life!

Will I still watch the show? I think I will but I will not make an effort to chase after it. I am just curious about the show's production quality, candidates quality as well as seeing Tony Fernandes in action. Of course, I would also like to proof myself wrong about the show. For now, instead busy watching other people building their success, I should be spending time building my own.

Call or Meet Face to Face

With the popularity of social media, we are a lot more connected than ten years ago. Many business and professionals have relied on social media and the internet to connect with friends and clients. I confess that I am a Facebook addict where I have to check my accounts at least once a day.

Relying on Facebook and Linkedin, I thought I am well connected and I have made sure I stayed in touch with my fellow friends and potential clients. Oh, was I wrong. I have neglected the ever importance of phone calls and face to face meetings.

I have a friend of 12 years and we would exchange e-mails and update each other through Facebook. Over the weekend, we have finally caught up for a quick dinner. Despite the e-mails and Facebook updates, I noticed that I really do not know much about this person. During the dinner, he shared his aspirations and ideas. It was only dawn to us that we may be able to strike something up and work on some opportunities. Without the dinner, nothing would have happened.

Many of us have fallen to the false sense of security that we are well connected and networked through social media. In a way, these tools has allowed us to stay in touch. To make our network works, we would still need to spent effort on it.

Here is what I am going to do, and maybe you too can draw some ideas from it.

1. Go through your friend list, look for the ones whom you have not talked to for more than three months. 
2. Compile those names into a list. 
3. Dedicate five minutes a day, by calling someone on that list. You just need to call one person a day.

What can you discuss? Anything! Be bold and direct, just tell the person that you called to catch up and see how are things going for them.  Remember, the call is not to make a sales pitch or asking for favors but genuinely wanting to connect with the person.

If you can keep it up for two weeks, you would have gained fourteen more friends! Besides just calling, other forms of communication may work too. Just use your imagination.

Return the Call!

Many times, I have heard people telling me their business is bad, not achieving the desire sales target, not getting invited for events etc. The complains of misery and missed opportunities seems go on and on.

Sometimes, these people can only fault themselves for all their miseries. Two weeks ago, I wrote an e-mail to make an inquiry for a product. Waited for two days. No reply. I call the shop, the shop person promised me that their sales person will call me back in two days time. That call was six days ago and no one has called me. Now, I have decided not to buy the item that I wanted anymore.

Whether is in business, in a office or a social circle, if you bother to return a miss call or make a call back, I am sure there are a lot of opportunities that can you explore. Furthermore, you are also sending a message to the other party that you are a reliable and responsible person.

Whenever I receive e-mails, I would open it and decide what I can do with it. If I can respond within five minutes, I would reply immediately. If it takes longer time to respond, I either put it away for later or reply back and promise the person when they can expect a full reply from me.

If I receive a miss calls on my mobile phone, I will either call back immediately if possible. Otherwise, I would schedule a later time to call. The mobile apps that I used is called Astrid, it reminds me when I need to return a call.

Returning a call or replying an e-mail will not take you too much time, but opportunity could be on the other side of the line or e-mail.

Lance Armstrong: A Lesson

On 22nd October, Lance Armstrong has been stripped for his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life. I personally find his story inspiring especially his fight against cancer. With his doping scandal, will it change my opinion towards him? Probably not. As I will always see him as a cancer fighter. 

I personally condone his action in doping. However, is he solely to be blamed for his action? I do not think so. We now live in an environment of hero worship. We all look up to someone who is an underdog and beat all odds to achieve fame and glory. We always look for someone can win and inspire us. In the current world of sports, achievements means a lot of money and rewards. As such, the temptation to cheat is as great as ever. Some may not necessary cheat but interpret the rules to their favor.

The same applies to the world of business. The reward of a successful product or increase sales is always an initiative to take short cuts or illegal activities. In business, these stakes are a lot higher. A good example is the melamine tainted baby food in China.

Whether as a sportsperson, a businessperson or an employee, possessing the quality of integrity is most important. Lance Armstrong may have gotten away for many years before he got caught for doping, now he faces a lifetime of shame. Many of us may feel that life is un-fair especially on people who got away cheating or doing things that is outright illegal. The temptation to get even is always strong. I feel that too.

To me, the way that I keep myself in check is by asking myself the following question.

"Whatever that I am going to do now, will I have the courage to explain it to my kids?"

If I answer "yes", I know that what I am doing is right. If I answer "no", chances are it is something that is not correct.

There could be other ways, but I want my kids to grow up right. I may not be able to predict the future but I know that living with integrity is timeless quality. My kids will always be my moral compass.

E-mail Management

Everyday I would receive close to 50 to 80 e-mails a day. Maintaining these e-mails has been a nightmare. At any one time, my Inbox can have more than a hundred e-mails.

There are times where I would open one e-mail stare it for a few minutes and close it. Moments later, I would open it again and do the same thing. No doubt is only a few minutes but all these wasted time would actually add up.

Since I got started with David Allen's GTD, my e-mails has started to become slightly more manageable. For me the best suggestion was the two minutes rule. The rule is, open the e-mail and read through it. If you can complete what is required from the e-mail done in two minutes, get it done and archive the e-mail. If it takes more than two minutes, file it and review it later.

From my own usage instead of two minutes,  I would extend the time to five minutes. The rest would follow the same principle.

If e-mail action items requires many five minutes, I would start a mini project and break down the work down to small chunks. Firstly, the work does not seem so daunting but also manageable.

What is your secret in managing e-mails?

Feeling Stress? Trying Yoga and Meditation

Lets face it, I have a full time job, family with two kids and a start-up to run. The stress is forever making me weary. During my waking hours, I spent most of my time working or managing the family. The stress can be so overwhelming that there are times where I just wanted to run away from all. I supposed this is the price of ambition.

Through the years, I have found certain ways to wind down or to switch off. Sometimes it works, while sometimes it did not. I am not an expert in stress management but what I have experienced is very similar to what has been described in an article from the Wall Street Journal. One of my main way to relax is to attend a weekly yoga lesson. In that short sixty minutes, I would experience all sorts of discomfort which includes cramp and pain. It was wonderful time to listen and watch the body. I have no time to think about other things else but to be within the moment. We have spent most of our existence on going somewhere, through yoga I learn to be being here. Once a week lesson may not sound a lot, but if you can mix your days with one or two pose into your daily routine, it will make a lot of difference.

One of my secret to mix yoga or workout into my daily routine is with an mobile application called Workout Trainer. You can find it on the Google Play. There are all sorts of workouts and programs that comes with detailed instructions. The workout caters for various intensity requirements. It even has workout that focus on certain parts of the body. For those who always complain about time constraint, there are even workout that can be as quick as two minutes. My favorite workout is the 5 minutes abs and arm workout. In 5 minutes, trying doing 100 pushups and 100 crunches. It is a good stress reliever.

I learned to meditate in 1995 through a Buddhist group in Australia. However, I never really got into it until 2012. To me, you really do not need find a quiet place  to meditate. If you are stuck in a traffic, waiting for the elevator. Just focus within yourself and observe your breathing. All you need is to feel and observe how your body breath in the air and exhale the air. Within that short moments, you should feel a lot easier. 

There you have it. This is how I unwind. There are times where none of my approach would work. When that happens, you can either built up a to do list, and go through it. The motion of crossing out accomplished items gives you a feel good moment. Do it enough, you would see that things are not as bad as it seems.

Good luck. And feel free to share your experience. 

The 23 million USD Hotel Deal

Last week, someone told me a deal where someone is selling his three stars hotel for 72 million Malaysian Ringgit (Approximately 23 million US dollars). The hotel is located in downtown prime area. It has around 150 rooms. Getting at least 80% occupancy is definitely not a problem.

Unfortunately, the deal does not many any sense. Assuming that the hotel is paid in cash without loan and the occupancy rate is 100% throughout the year. An average room rates of 200 Malaysian Ringgit (65 US dollars) a night. The annual sales would be around 12 million Malaysian Ringgit (4 million US dollars).

If the cost of operation takes about 30% of the sales. That is a profit of 8.4 million Malaysian Ringgit (2.8 million US dollars). The buyer would still need 8.4 years to break even.

That is a very big if, as such deals normally involve certain amount of loans and hotels are normally required to be refurbished every three to four years. As such, the value of the property has far exceeded the value of the business.

My gut feeling tells me that the current owner was never keen in developing the hotel business. Rather they are using the property as a form of investment and sell the property when the price is right.

In my future blog entry, I will try to explain how to evaluate a project.

Holding Your Ground and Looking for Customers

My business has been up since April 2014. Until today, we made multiple bids for hotel projects and have also received some import/ export queries. So far, our success rate is zero.

If I tell you that I am not nervous and desperate, I would be lying to you. Every month, the cash burning rate is around 1000 MYR/ 300 USD. The longer time I have no business, the bigger hole that myself and other business partners would be in.

For those who aspires owning a business and wanted to quit the current job. It is vital to plan ahead.

1. Keep your job until your side business starts to make money.
2. Save up! Forget about the movies, or eating out. Before you spent the next dollar, think whether it can contribute to your business funds or savings.
3. Calculate your personal monthly expenditure and the business's. From the calculation, you would know how much your business needs to make in order to sustain yourself and itself. 
4. Be careful of cost! I am lucky that my business partner own the property, thus we do not have pay the rental now. Due to our small operations, the services that we use are either the cheapest or free. For example, we are only using Google Drive's free 5GB storage for our work. 
5. Plan to call or bid for business on a regular basis. There are not many hotel projects out there in the market. The partners make sure to have weekly discussions on who and where to look for customers.

The above five points are just my personal experience. The business journey ahead remains uncertain and precarious. This is what being a business person is all about. For the person who is thinking of starting or struggling with the business, I hope this blog inspires you and tell you that you are not alone.

Good luck in getting the first customer. 

Blogging Again

Have not blogged for ages. No, I did not stop because my business folded. Rather, a new chapter is now open for my business.

Since April, I have setup another company that deals with hotel supplies and consultation. It is called Stark & Bare. The journey of setting it up has not been easy, as this is essentially a three person company. Each of one us has our own unique responsibility.

As for my role, I have to work on the accounting system, web page, and legal matters. The other business partners would be doing sales and marketing.

There has not been any business yet. The most important item is now about getting sales, but making sure we have the necessary system and process in place. In the coming blogs, I will share more about how my business is being setup and lessons learned.

Stay tuned! It is good to be back!

It is Your Problem

I have met many friends who aspire to become a business person. Many have tried and failed. While some did not even started. One of the biggest difference between running your own business and working are the magnitude of the problems that you would face.

If you are running your own business, the survival of the organization is your problem. This may ranges from employee engagement to the cleanliness of the toilet. In work, you only need to worry about issues that revolve around your area of job.

Therefore, besides only having passion. Are you willing to handle whatever issues that are thrown at you, regardless of its sizes and magnitude? In your own business, there is no such thing as a small problem. If is not resolve, it will come back and may get bigger. Even if you have a team to support your business, you would still need to direct resources and have the right vision to solve the problem.

If you are already in business. Ask yourself, what are the problems that business is facing? How can you solve it? You better start to think about it now, as it will not go away and you will have to solve it. It is your problem. You have to own it.