The 110% Percent

I am a racing F1 fan. I do not have a specific team that I support but many times I would watch out for certain drivers, especially from the mid field teams and the bottom teams. In those teams, I see passion in some of these drivers. They may be driving a car which is not as good as the front runners but they tend to get certain recognition. Why? They are able to push the car beyond its design capabilities and able to finish the race! Many times these kind of drivers, would go and do great things such as the two times world champion -- Fernando Alonso.

The same principles should applies to life, especially in business. All of us wish that our tools is the latest and greatest in helping to get the task at hand done. In reality, not many of us has the privilege to have the best tools. This does not mean we cannot get the work done! With some creativity and passion, I am certain we can get many things done.

This PC that I am using now is four years old. It may not be the latest model nor has the latest graphic engine. Nonetheless, it has help me to create my websites, host my pictures and even to write this blog. Instead of keep upgrading the hardware to chase after the latest technology trend, I try to stay with proven technology. The very least, I have saved on technology cost over the last four years.

No doubt, faster machines and more user friendly OS has been released in the last few years. But I must think about the money spend and the benefit that I can extract from it. In this case, whatever that I am doing now is more than suffice than to upgrade my machines.

I am not asking you to get stingy and not upgrade. Rather, by pushing your existing equipment for that 10% more, it means you get more bang for your investment and run your operations as efficient as possible. Just being efficient, you would be ahead of your competitor in terms of price and quality.

Before you spent money on upgrades. Think about efficiency and cost savings. If you can push your existing equipments further, maybe you should hold back your investment a little longer. After all, the cost of technology will only come down. Good luck with that 10%.

Monetise: A UK Story

The Financial Times ran an inspiring story of UK company called Monetise. A nine years old company with a market capitalization of 250 million pounds which has yet to break even.

All its profit were invested back into the business for further expansions. This is a characteristic that is not commonly found in many business. Many business owners would be more worried about the bottom line than the company's future growth. Another company that was mentioned who sacrifice short term profit for long term expansion is Amazon. Amazon has shown great success being one of the biggest online retailer while Monetise has a strong foothold in both the UK and US market.

To be successful in business, the owner must have faith in the business. Busy making money and busy cashing out from the business is an entirely different thing. Ask yourself, how much are you willing to re-invest your business's profit?

My Traffic

I have been running the better-dining site for more than a year. I beleive, I have close to fifty pages. The last 1.5 years, unless I am busy or out of town, I would be updating the site whenever I can. So far, the traffic has been underwhelming. The only consolation price is that the traffic has been slowly increasing.

The moral of the story is to never give up and enjoy what you are doing. Good luck!!

The DropBox Story

I am a huge fan of DropBox.I have been using it for a few months. The great thing about this application is that I get to carry my files everywhere I go. Furthermore, I can sync the files with any computer or mobile devices that I own. Best of all, the first 2 GB is free!!

Whoever is already using DropBox should check its story in Forbes. For those who does not see a need for DropBox, in my opinion it is still worth while reading. Basically, the founder of a DropBox founded this company because of a problem. So, do not be afraid of problems. The solution may make you a fortune in the future.

RIP Steve Jobs

My condolence to Steve Job's family and friends. He is one of my inspiration to start a business and this blog. He has thought me not to give up and don't settle. Thank you, Steve.

http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/

TED: 8 secrets of success

This is a short video from TED on the 8 Secrets of Success. If you only have three minutes to improve yourself. Then, you should click on the video below and spent that three minutes.



Here are the 8 Secrets.

• Persists
• Serve
• Passion
• Work
• Focus
• Do Good
• Push
• Ideas

Doing What is Not Comfortable

Doing something new or something that are not familiar is not exactly comfortable or exciting. This is why we do not usually try a lot of new things. However, without trying anything new we may not achieve new breakthrough.

Since I have started this blog and the online business -- Better Dining. I have done many first. I have learned about Search Engine Optimization, product photography, Adsense, HTML, CSS and affiliation program. Today, I have added one more first, which is videography.

Never in my life, I have thought of creating my very own video. The barrier is really more about my own assumption that it is difficult and expensive equipments. After making my first video, I was party right and wrong. Making video is difficult but not necessary need expensive equipment. The video capture is from a Samsung Galaxy mobile phone and the video editing software is called OpenShot Video Editor on a four years old Linux machine! By making my own first video, I know I have one more blunt tool to help me with my journey in business.

Does all these actually bring value or revenue to my business? After all, this blog is really about building business. The answer is NO. I have not made any money nor have any great success. What I have gained are experience and knowledge. Success does not come overnight, but a continuous effort of action. All I have done are just accumulated effort that one day I can be successful.



We tend to get excited about the latest gadget, movies or and music. Why don't you expand that excitement into something more, like a new skill or experience? Who knows, you may actually like it. Go and try something new.