I have a confession, I am not exactly a fan of any Marvel Comics. Nonetheless, I enjoyed their movies and the way they set up their movies. In today's blog entry, I do not want to talk about Iron Man or any other major super heroes but a character that started off with a minor role but eventually given top billing with his very own TV series. The person that I would like to discuss is Agent Phil Coulson.
Agent Phil Coulson is played by an actor Clark Gregg. According to IMDB, he is a veteran of both TV shows and movies. What fascinates me is that how could a character who had less than five minutes of screen time in Iron Man when on to have his own very TV series. In short, this actor has won over the hearts of fans and leadership of Marvels.
I do not know Mr Clark Gregg in person, but I would like to hazard guess about his success. Despite having a minor role in Iron Man, Mr Clark has worked hard to play the role of Agent Carlson. He went on to appear in multiple Marvel movies and short films. Most of his screen time is relatively short, but he is portray as Agent Phil Coulson has made an impact and has won fan's support. Fans wants to see more of Agent Coulson and the inner workings of SHIELD. Thus, giving birth to the TV series -- Agents of SHIELD. In life many people and including myself complaining that they are not given any big opportunity. The thoughts is always -- "I can do more, I deserve better". There is nothing wrong with having such thoughts. Rather the question that we have to ask ourselves is -- "Have I played my role as best as I can play?". If we cannot even play a small role well, how could we expect others to give us a chance to play a bigger role? Just when we thought that no one is watching, please think again. No matter how small is our action and role, someone is watching and judging. Mr Clark Gregg is a good example -- short screen time with huge impact.
There is really no such thing as a small role in life. Each role has a part in life's puzzle. Play your role well and do your best. You will never how your hard work will be rewarded. Please let Mr Clark Gregg be your inspiration.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Do You Know Your Business Partner?
Before you answer the question, re-read the title of the blog again. Your quality of your business is only as good as your supplier. I have already mentioned this in my previous writeup.The quality of your business partner is also important. Some readers might roll their eyes and say this is a no brainer. Yes! It is a no brainer, but the risk of business partner messing up is very real.
Few days ago, I got a call from client whom we worked on a restaurant project. The client asked me to help him to secure a supply of cooking gas for his restaurant. In Malaysia, cooking gas comes in giant canisters. It seems that he could not count on his chef to have the cooking gas delivered to the restaurant! This client was traveling as such he was not able to monitor the delivery.
What I did was straight forward, I called the chef making sure he is in the restaurant to take the delivery, call the supplier to arrange the delivery. I do not make any money out from this incident but there are some lessons can be learned.
The client should have been able to make delivery arrangements with the supplier before he travels. Cooking gas is the lifeline for any restaurant. It is also the single point of failure to the business should the restaurant runs out of cooking gas. Incident such as this is good for my business to built up the relationship with the client and supplier, but it is not healthy for the client when the business lifeline is out of their control.
I find it hard to accept the fact that chef is not capable in reaching out to the supplier. As a chef he should have ultimate control over the kitchen. The chef's conviction towards the restaurant is now being questioned. There is just no excuse for the chef on not following up on important issues such as ensuring the supplier of cooking gas. With a business partner who is not motivated, other business partner has to work harder to fill the deficit. In the long run, the business partnership will ultimately tear itself apart.
Starting a business and sharing the same dream is very easy. The willingness is to wake up from the dream and make things into reality is difficult. Choose your business partners carefully. If it not working out, shut it down.
Few days ago, I got a call from client whom we worked on a restaurant project. The client asked me to help him to secure a supply of cooking gas for his restaurant. In Malaysia, cooking gas comes in giant canisters. It seems that he could not count on his chef to have the cooking gas delivered to the restaurant! This client was traveling as such he was not able to monitor the delivery.
What I did was straight forward, I called the chef making sure he is in the restaurant to take the delivery, call the supplier to arrange the delivery. I do not make any money out from this incident but there are some lessons can be learned.
The client should have been able to make delivery arrangements with the supplier before he travels. Cooking gas is the lifeline for any restaurant. It is also the single point of failure to the business should the restaurant runs out of cooking gas. Incident such as this is good for my business to built up the relationship with the client and supplier, but it is not healthy for the client when the business lifeline is out of their control.
I find it hard to accept the fact that chef is not capable in reaching out to the supplier. As a chef he should have ultimate control over the kitchen. The chef's conviction towards the restaurant is now being questioned. There is just no excuse for the chef on not following up on important issues such as ensuring the supplier of cooking gas. With a business partner who is not motivated, other business partner has to work harder to fill the deficit. In the long run, the business partnership will ultimately tear itself apart.
Starting a business and sharing the same dream is very easy. The willingness is to wake up from the dream and make things into reality is difficult. Choose your business partners carefully. If it not working out, shut it down.
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