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.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
Tile Size and Slipperiness
For those who are observant, they would notice that the tile size used in the bathroom are normally much smaller than the other parts of the house. Besides the surface of the tile, the size of the tile also affects the slipperiness of the surface. Smaller the tiles, the more tiles are required to lay in an area. This increases the number of line gaps within the area. The more lines the more friction it can provide for the feet or shoes. As such, the surface become less slippery. Do note that you would still need rough surface tiles for wet areas.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
All about Tiles
Recently, we have been working on a house project. The dimension of the house is around 4000 square feet. The owner wanted both floor tiles and wall tiles for the property. Wall tiles are only limited to both bathroom and wet kitchen.
During the exploration phase of the project, we learned that the owner is very cost sensitive and insisted on homogeneous tile. What homogeneous tile means the outer layer of the tile is the same color as the inside of the tile. When you chip a homogeneous tile, the damage should not be too obvious. Another term for homogeneous tile is called full bodied tile.
With the current tile making technology, for a normal housing project the decision whether to use a homogeneous tile should not be a main consideration anymore. In the olden days, the tiles used are what we called ceramic tiles. These tiles are easily chip and damaged, thus leaving an ugly uneven color on the tile surface. Thus, many would choose homogeneous tile to avoid such an eye sore. Modern ceramic tiles are a lot tougher and should withstand a lot more knocking before chipping. Any tiles would survive a simple furniture move and day to day living. The choice of homogeneous tile is limited and significantly more expensive. The color of such tile is only limited to light or earth color. Dark surface tiles are only colored on the surface.
Another type of tile that has gain popularity is the porcelain tile. Porcelain tile has a higher density than ceramic tile. It is a lot tougher and able to absorb a lot more knocking than ceramic tiles. In fact, a lot of modern buildings that has heavy foot traffic are using porcelain tiles. Depending on the usage, this type of tile comes in different surface. Rough surface for wet areas to prevent slip. While polish smooth surface for the living room. The price of tiles between surface of the same series is also different. Therefore, any buyers should check with the supplier carefully.
The recommended gap between floor tiles is 3mm. Leaving a good gap between tiles is to prevent it from popping up. Tiles are sensitive to temperature changes. When is cold, the tile shrinks. When is hot, the tile expands. As the tile expands and the gap is too narrow, the tile has no where to go but pops up. While laying tiles, the workers would use separaters of certain size to determine the gap between tiles.
This is what I have learned working from tiles. I am sure there are a lot more that I need to learn. In my next write up, I will talk about managing cost of tiles.
During the exploration phase of the project, we learned that the owner is very cost sensitive and insisted on homogeneous tile. What homogeneous tile means the outer layer of the tile is the same color as the inside of the tile. When you chip a homogeneous tile, the damage should not be too obvious. Another term for homogeneous tile is called full bodied tile.
With the current tile making technology, for a normal housing project the decision whether to use a homogeneous tile should not be a main consideration anymore. In the olden days, the tiles used are what we called ceramic tiles. These tiles are easily chip and damaged, thus leaving an ugly uneven color on the tile surface. Thus, many would choose homogeneous tile to avoid such an eye sore. Modern ceramic tiles are a lot tougher and should withstand a lot more knocking before chipping. Any tiles would survive a simple furniture move and day to day living. The choice of homogeneous tile is limited and significantly more expensive. The color of such tile is only limited to light or earth color. Dark surface tiles are only colored on the surface.
Another type of tile that has gain popularity is the porcelain tile. Porcelain tile has a higher density than ceramic tile. It is a lot tougher and able to absorb a lot more knocking than ceramic tiles. In fact, a lot of modern buildings that has heavy foot traffic are using porcelain tiles. Depending on the usage, this type of tile comes in different surface. Rough surface for wet areas to prevent slip. While polish smooth surface for the living room. The price of tiles between surface of the same series is also different. Therefore, any buyers should check with the supplier carefully.
The recommended gap between floor tiles is 3mm. Leaving a good gap between tiles is to prevent it from popping up. Tiles are sensitive to temperature changes. When is cold, the tile shrinks. When is hot, the tile expands. As the tile expands and the gap is too narrow, the tile has no where to go but pops up. While laying tiles, the workers would use separaters of certain size to determine the gap between tiles.
This is what I have learned working from tiles. I am sure there are a lot more that I need to learn. In my next write up, I will talk about managing cost of tiles.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Watch Your Suppliers
Recently, my business suffered from a string of complains with one of our cabinets. Through a series of investigation and conversation, we learned that the complains tend to focus on the same company that supplies the cabinet.
We selected this supplier was based upon its willingness to experiment and learn. Our investigation shows that they are only able to do small scale project. As the project scope increases, their resources are stretched to the point where they are not able to maintain consistency with the product qualities.
Being the contractor, we could have taken the easy way out by cutting off this supplier. Rather we have decided to continue working with this supplier with smaller scale project and probably other products. Before taking any drastic actions, we have to ask ourselves why we pick this supplier from the first place. If the supplier are able to hold on to the value where we first selected them, we believe in second chance. Moreover, we all make mistakes. If both of us can learn from it, it only strengthen our working relationship and improve we can offer to our customers.
To many, they may not agree to what we are doing now. Especially in a business environment where perceived to be no loyalties and honor. As for now, we are not willing to cut him lose, unless not yet.
We want to:
The quality of work/ services that you can provide to your customer has a direct correlation with the supplier's quality. Therefore, hang on to your suppliers and treat them with care.
We selected this supplier was based upon its willingness to experiment and learn. Our investigation shows that they are only able to do small scale project. As the project scope increases, their resources are stretched to the point where they are not able to maintain consistency with the product qualities.
Being the contractor, we could have taken the easy way out by cutting off this supplier. Rather we have decided to continue working with this supplier with smaller scale project and probably other products. Before taking any drastic actions, we have to ask ourselves why we pick this supplier from the first place. If the supplier are able to hold on to the value where we first selected them, we believe in second chance. Moreover, we all make mistakes. If both of us can learn from it, it only strengthen our working relationship and improve we can offer to our customers.
To many, they may not agree to what we are doing now. Especially in a business environment where perceived to be no loyalties and honor. As for now, we are not willing to cut him lose, unless not yet.
We want to:
- Grow together with the supplier. Come up with the best product that we can offer, at the most reasonable price.
- Leverage from the supplier's expertise and network.
- Built a portfolio of good suppliers where we are able to quickly gather resources and take action should any good opportunity arises.
The quality of work/ services that you can provide to your customer has a direct correlation with the supplier's quality. Therefore, hang on to your suppliers and treat them with care.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Entrepreneurship is Enterpreneurshit.
I started this blog is to keep track and share my experience in starting up my company. The journey has not been easy. The blog entry below by Mark Suster says it all well. It is an old entry but says it well.
Yes. Entrepreneurship is Enterpreneurshit.
Yes. Entrepreneurship is Enterpreneurshit.
Monday, August 12, 2013
A Failed Cafe and Cost Management
Over the weekend, I received a sad news. A cousin of mine who opened a cafe in December 2012 has decided to close down the business. He said the business is running out of cash and it is not doing that well. Since Mark Suster talks about failure, I too would like to chip in my 2 cents worth of opinion about it.
I visited cousin's cafe two weeks after its grand opening. My first visit was on a Saturday night and I was surprised to see the place was barely 20% occupied. I followed up with a few more visits and the situation remains the same. The location of the cafe is all right. It has ample of parking but in a location where I will not call it as popular. At night, there are hardly any traffic around the area. There is a famous food joint opposite the cafe. The location is really not that dead. Nonetheless, I still feel the place has the potential.
The operation hours is from 7 am until 3 am daily. Cousin was very tight lip about the operation cost. The following calculation are based on my observation. Each shift, he has around seven staffs and approximately five kitchen staffs. Assuming that he has two shifts with the same number of staffs. Each staffs draw approximately 800 MYR (246 USD) a month, he would need a net profit of 19,200 MYR a month to pay his employees!
The above is only the cost of his employees. The size of the menu is also rather large, especially for a new cafe. The cafe offer close to a hundred types of drinks and dishes. I can imagine the amount of money has gone into food wastage. As I write this blog, I wonder how many dishes that are ordered less than 10 times.
In all honestly, the cafe has a lot of potential. I learned that its lunch business was doing fine. They could have reduce the operation hours and focus on lunch services. No doubt they could be forgoing business opportunities in the evening and night. The very least they can slash their employee and food cost by half. Probably they might be able to keep their head above water for another few more months.
Next is to rework the menu. The menu size can be cut down by half. Focus on the 20/80 rule. Chances are they will have 20% of their menu is taking up 80% of their orders. The business should then focus on that 20% and make it better.
Finally, it is to promote the business. I believe the business owners did some promotion. I shall refrain from commenting as I do not know what they have done. For myself, I would encourage my patrons to check into Foursquare or Facebook. Any form of check in, the customers will get 10% from the bills. In addition, I would partner with any car clubs to visit the cafe. There are ample of parking space around the business, car clubs members will not have any issues finding parking. For car club members, I too would throw in 10% off on drinks. As you can see, I try to refrain from going into expensive advertisement blitz. I am certain advertisement would work, rather I would choose to exhaust all my lost cost options before bringing out the big guns.
I do not know whether my strategy would work, but that's how I wold manage the cafe business. In any business, managing cost and cash flow is important. If the owner let any of it gets out of control, chances of failure increases exponentially. Still I hope cousin and his business partners can learn from this incident. A business can fail, but this does not mean they are a failure.
I visited cousin's cafe two weeks after its grand opening. My first visit was on a Saturday night and I was surprised to see the place was barely 20% occupied. I followed up with a few more visits and the situation remains the same. The location of the cafe is all right. It has ample of parking but in a location where I will not call it as popular. At night, there are hardly any traffic around the area. There is a famous food joint opposite the cafe. The location is really not that dead. Nonetheless, I still feel the place has the potential.
The operation hours is from 7 am until 3 am daily. Cousin was very tight lip about the operation cost. The following calculation are based on my observation. Each shift, he has around seven staffs and approximately five kitchen staffs. Assuming that he has two shifts with the same number of staffs. Each staffs draw approximately 800 MYR (246 USD) a month, he would need a net profit of 19,200 MYR a month to pay his employees!
The above is only the cost of his employees. The size of the menu is also rather large, especially for a new cafe. The cafe offer close to a hundred types of drinks and dishes. I can imagine the amount of money has gone into food wastage. As I write this blog, I wonder how many dishes that are ordered less than 10 times.
In all honestly, the cafe has a lot of potential. I learned that its lunch business was doing fine. They could have reduce the operation hours and focus on lunch services. No doubt they could be forgoing business opportunities in the evening and night. The very least they can slash their employee and food cost by half. Probably they might be able to keep their head above water for another few more months.
Next is to rework the menu. The menu size can be cut down by half. Focus on the 20/80 rule. Chances are they will have 20% of their menu is taking up 80% of their orders. The business should then focus on that 20% and make it better.
Finally, it is to promote the business. I believe the business owners did some promotion. I shall refrain from commenting as I do not know what they have done. For myself, I would encourage my patrons to check into Foursquare or Facebook. Any form of check in, the customers will get 10% from the bills. In addition, I would partner with any car clubs to visit the cafe. There are ample of parking space around the business, car clubs members will not have any issues finding parking. For car club members, I too would throw in 10% off on drinks. As you can see, I try to refrain from going into expensive advertisement blitz. I am certain advertisement would work, rather I would choose to exhaust all my lost cost options before bringing out the big guns.
I do not know whether my strategy would work, but that's how I wold manage the cafe business. In any business, managing cost and cash flow is important. If the owner let any of it gets out of control, chances of failure increases exponentially. Still I hope cousin and his business partners can learn from this incident. A business can fail, but this does not mean they are a failure.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
There Is Always Need To Learn
I have only started working since I graduated in the year 2000. My background is accounting and finance with a post grad in computer science. After nearly ten years in the IT industry, I got involve in the hospitality and residential building industry.
At the beginning, I came into the business as the bean counter and IT guy. As the business expands, I have to start dabble in the business side of things, especially in project management. Since I am already a project manager in my full time job, it is not a problem. The biggest challenge is understanding the hospitality and building industry.
When I first started, I could not differentiate between materials nor its usage. My business partners has been patient with me and work allocation never really demanded me to have any industrial knowledge. Nonetheless, I have never like to fall behind or needing people to tip toe around me.
Whenever I have the chance, I would grab a copy of the materials pamphlets given by our suppliers. I made sure I read whatever I can from it. The vendor's sales person are a perfect source of information. Being their customers, they are more than willing to share their knowledge and opinion. There is really no such thing as asking a stupid question. As far as these sales person are concerned, not all their customers are familiar with the industry. As such, they are used to strange and out-of-this-world type of questions. I even asked for samples and test out whatever vendor has claimed to be working. Through testing, I was able to provide feedback and understand the products better.
Spending time with the vendor actually helps two things. One is my understanding and also building up relationships. I was able to make my order more accurately and getting better deals from them. Of course, being a good paymaster helps a lot as well.
As a matter of fact, I actually find myself studying a lot harder than during my school days. In school I was not really sure how it will impact my life. In business, your knowledge determines the success of your deal and each decision's effectiveness.
Regardless which industry you are in, it is never too late to start learning. To be successful in your industry, all you need is to know 10% more than your competitor.
At the beginning, I came into the business as the bean counter and IT guy. As the business expands, I have to start dabble in the business side of things, especially in project management. Since I am already a project manager in my full time job, it is not a problem. The biggest challenge is understanding the hospitality and building industry.
When I first started, I could not differentiate between materials nor its usage. My business partners has been patient with me and work allocation never really demanded me to have any industrial knowledge. Nonetheless, I have never like to fall behind or needing people to tip toe around me.
Whenever I have the chance, I would grab a copy of the materials pamphlets given by our suppliers. I made sure I read whatever I can from it. The vendor's sales person are a perfect source of information. Being their customers, they are more than willing to share their knowledge and opinion. There is really no such thing as asking a stupid question. As far as these sales person are concerned, not all their customers are familiar with the industry. As such, they are used to strange and out-of-this-world type of questions. I even asked for samples and test out whatever vendor has claimed to be working. Through testing, I was able to provide feedback and understand the products better.
Spending time with the vendor actually helps two things. One is my understanding and also building up relationships. I was able to make my order more accurately and getting better deals from them. Of course, being a good paymaster helps a lot as well.
As a matter of fact, I actually find myself studying a lot harder than during my school days. In school I was not really sure how it will impact my life. In business, your knowledge determines the success of your deal and each decision's effectiveness.
Regardless which industry you are in, it is never too late to start learning. To be successful in your industry, all you need is to know 10% more than your competitor.
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