Timed Life

A Generous Day

2007-07-13T22:16:00.000+08:00

Location: Room
Mood: Ok ...

Just back from consulting session for my client. What I went through with do confirm my believes that most SMEs tend to adopt "fighting the fire" and "do as you go along" kind of management. As much as I wanted to ask the questions that I have prepared, the initial answers they gave to me is enough to tell me they will either have no answers for them or never thought of it. Can't really blame them or anything ... this is a common situation for most Asian businesses that is why most of them although can continue to earn money and profit, but they will forever remain just a low tier or middle class business. A very very small percentage of them will be able to graduate to become leading brands that are competitive globally.

However, this client of mine has the right first ingredient - the humility to learn and do what's right and the understanding the brand building will take time. I salute them for that and this is the client my firm will want to work with and not the loud arseholes that proclaims that they know so much about branding but can't even tell you what their brand identity is.

Again...my salute to this client of mine and collected my first payment today from them. Oh ya another few things about being selective of clients are:

1. They pay you on time and never sucker your payment. All my clients today pay me either way ahead of time or on time.
2. When you work with them there is always the feeling of delight, mutual respect and learning from each other. It feels more like helping a fren than servicing a sucker.
3. Most of them will continue to use you again when there is a need and from here it bodes well for long term business.

End.

Relationship

2007-07-13T21:56:00.000+08:00

Location: Room
Mood: Ok...

I could here my landlord complaining and speaking loudly over the phone again. It has been two days she did that...I think must be her husband problem again. Sadly she has just been married in less that 6 months but of the last 3 months she has not been living with her husband after some loud arguments over ..whatever. Sometimes the unfortunate events in life do took place but in many cases I have observed of friends and strangers this kind of marriage breakdown is not unheard of. Usually it stems from the feeling of insecurity in particular when a person reach a certain age, there is "force" that pushes them to get married although early part of the relationship has already signs that things won't go well. Marriage should be no pressure and should take as much time as it needed to find the suitable partner and patience is I feel paramount in a relationship. I never had any kind of relationship for almost 20 years until I met Hui 3 years back and next year we are going to get married ... so she is my first love and only love in my life ... but she is the right choice.

To fall in love later in life is much better, because going through your 20s allow you to see and experience many things in different perspectives that a single track mind when you are a teenager or early 20s. When you fall in love in 30s, beauty or physical appearances tend to be priority 3 and below because other long term quality of a relationship such as communication and maturity becomes paramount. The relationship is also based on something that is much more long lasting - how can we begin a family - and not so much on how can we have fun.

Although I dont mean to say you cannot find the right one in your teenage or 20s but I think the probability is much less. I have seen many instances where relationships breaks down after they are in love for 8 years, 10 years. They started very early but end up with some one else as a wife or husband.

The other thing about having a relationship when you are older is that the person will be more stable financially and also career wise the person would have already had a direction in mind. This does significantly lessen the burden and pressure one feels about these both when one is in the 20s.

All being said ... I love Hui and she loves me ... although my looks sucks like shit and she looks very good ... I am a lucky man.

End.

Some Lessons on Business

2007-07-12T16:31:00.000+08:00

Location: Starbucks, Bangsar Village 2
Mood: Feel nice and contented.

This morning had a meeting with one of my client to close my project. Really nice clients of mine and the meeting went well. I can see my client's frustration also as he quipped to me, "initially my business has no proper system and process, now that I have proper system, the poor quality of my human resource is unable to implement and follow through as well"

Its so true, any well manage company needs to have 3 things - revenue generation, proper business processess and great set of people.

Just concluded my second meeting also with another returning client and his advisor. Had a good chat and was working out the mechanics of work to be done on the next project. The advisor was saying examples of the stock market and he said you can have all the technical analysis you want but at the end what drives it is the psychology of the the market. (Mind you he is a certified PhD from UK and experience VC). I couldn't agree more because this what makes brands successful - what motivates people to come and buy - fear and profit is the psychology of the stock market.

The discussion also points to something that I have long agreed - accessibility of brands. The advisor was sharing his insight when he was doing his Masters. He said his research concentrated on the beverage industry and he was interviewing people from Pepsi and Coke and others. He shared that people from Pepsi and others starts rapping about positioning, strategies etc when he asked what is the important thing to make them successful.

However the Coke person just told him they only bother about one thing - "any person that goes anywhere who wanted a coke can get one at where he is even if its in the jungle; if there is a retail outlets there".

I totally agree. Its not so much about brand awareness here but about making brands really really available and accessible.

Hui today have not been chatting with me much because we are both busy. She has to entertain the visits by the 2 HQ persons in her office. But had called her briefly today and she is in a better mood - recovering I think from episodes in the office in the last 2 days.

Tomorrow I will be heading to Ipoh, its going to be another tiring day but glad will be collecting another cheque.

End.

Another Cheque

2007-07-11T17:34:00.000+08:00

Location: Office
Mood: Cool and a bit jovial.

I just emailed out the last batch of documents to signify the completion of my work for one of my client - smart and nice-people business owners but unfortunately employed not very smart managers with big egos... will be meeting them tomorrow and also to collect my last payment from them.

Hui not feeling good today at work. She is pissed again at her staff and was pissed yesterday bcs the her boss (codename: panda bear) just decided to increase one other staff salary after just working one week in the company. She is very pissed at that bcs she came in 2 months back and nearly everyday working like hell and pulling long hours to get the system in order but never get the due recognition. This is what I call "dont know how to be human" or "bea hiao chor lang" in hokkien. If the boss is smart he would not have done that bcs 1st its against company policy and clearly not the type of person that manages a company on the basis of teamwork/teamspirit but on the divide and rule management style - technically this is what I call an arsehole for a boss.

I told her to see things in bigger light and remind her of her objective... that at the end panda is just there to serve her end goal of getting an employment here instead...but will be expecting a long long chat from hui tonite about the drama today.

End.

A New Leaf

2007-07-10T19:55:00.000+08:00

Location: Times Square, 10th Floor
Time: 8pm
Mood: Reflective n A Little Insecure

This is my first post not that I really want to post it or become a blogger for that matter. So I hope I can set my blog to be a private rather than a public one. I figure since I am a person that don't speak much, maybe to record down my thoughts and feelings as I grow older will be a way my children can learn more about his dad. The same too applies for my other family members who sees me as a source for strength less I cannot falter in their presence.

The last few months and weeks has been not good because it has been 4 years I open my business and I have yet to see much results from it. The same applies to my life as well. But I gather not all is lost, in a way life do improved compared to my really down years 7 years back where I totally loss my self esteem. As one gets older we do seem to get more lonely, I no longer share mc time with my dear dear sisters because one has a family n the other is going to begin one soon. Thank god as Christians say that I still go back to my home town every two weeks to just spend time with everyone... this is my fourth year also I'm doing this. Frens have not been many in my life, even then most of them are merely acquintances that comes and eventually will go...dont really have anyone close but I am glad that I am with Hui now. She is the person I converse with everyday...

This evening is quite a good evening, because today is sort of a little awakening and also the end of the part of my life called - struggling in the dark. In the last 10 years since I began working nt mc have not been achieved and constantly I feel a dread in my heart because I wanted so much to be an achiever and to do something meaningful. Today is the beginning because I realise the reason why things have been so empty all this while.

I grew up in a difficult environment, no blames to my parents in fact I am so very grateful to them. Being able to sit here and just pen my thoughts and not out there on the streets still working my butt out for a few bucks is all due to my wonderful parents. All these years in my life, I was thought one thing - cope with the shit in life, take what comes and deal with it. And this is how I have make the little progress that I made today. Perhaps this is how my own parents was coping with their own tremendous challenges then raising 3 kids and having to put though so much hardship...literally they would not have this luxury to stop and think. I would gather that if they were to stop then it's about going to sleep and take a good nite rest to prepare for the next day....like the Buddha says... no amount of things you can do to your parents that will ever repay what they have sacrificed or done for you...I trully believe that and right now I am trying to give them the best that I can afford and time.

I got to shift to Starbucks because this place here has no power point to keep the juice rolling to my notebook.

Mood: Feel good and relax (with all the jazz in the pipe in music now).

PLAN - the four letter word that will define my next phase of life - that is why I titled this post A New Leaf - the very thing I don't or rather failed to do in the last 10 years because I was so trying hard to cope and struggle and hope things will be well.

Its like the ISO system - PLAN - DO - CHECK - repeat....this is what I am going to do but I am not going to make it complicated as in writting a business plan. Keep It Simple will be the motto and take it with small steps at a time that builds up to bigger things over time.

This is really now more like a note back to myself ....

1. 5 Year Achievement Goal - where I want to be or own when I am 40.
2. Annual goals for myself, my spritual self, my family and my business.
3. Quartely Hows - What I will do each quarter to achieve that goal.
4. Monthly Checks - What is the progress like at the end of each month.

No more time spend on nonsense, arseholes and doing nothing feeling sober....

End.