business

Salary Slaves: Are you one?

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Well, to explain: I don’t want to work for money per hour, I think loretta said “wage slave. Right now, I part own my own business, but I’m too busy working at it as a teacher, that I don’t have time to create more opportunities. This is not what I had in mind as a business.

Also, I had to pass up some opportunities because I didn’t have the time or money to invest in expanding my own opportunities. So then I began to think of how to raise capital without working at a job, ie. having remuneration based on how many hours you work or a boss’ (unfortunately, some of the posters fell into the bear trap and tried to answer by saying getting a job or working more not my point, guys! but then I should have had more context.)
Do you want to have it to invest in something else œreal estate, stocks, mutual funds?

Yes, I do. I want to invest in expanding my business. Developing new business(es), perhaps real estate, too. I just don’t see much future for the stock market right now. I’d only invest there as a place of last resort, i.e. can’t find better chances.

>>>As mentioned in other posts, it would certainly be possible to save a million NT$ by living frugally over the course of a few years. If you have two incomes and no kids then this could probably be done in a year.

I agree that can be done, but sorry not my point, but thanks.

I like some of the other ideas, posted as well. Keep at it.

Kenneth

JoelMaxwell: The Fall and Rise of Success?

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I recently found this incredible story of how a regular guy got $556,000 (archived only) in debt. I was intrigued that this was so easy for him to do. The original blog is now missing, and the story is now unavailable at JoelMaxwell.com

It intrigues me that our societies now treat debt so lightly and make it so easy to get for personal use, for business use, for investment use, and FOR SPECULATION. I do sympathize with a number of the problems he had as they are very easy for eager business owners to fall prey to: overexuberance in the first months, unexpected expense, unforeseen cash flow issues, high leverage of debt, but mostly lack of a Plan B, if things didn’t work out. In fact, having a Plan C and a Plan D to fall back on is always a good idea so that if you can’t get your Plan B, then there are still other options that don’t include borrowing even more money.

Our business nearly got put out by the unexpected advent of SARS, and we didn’t have much time to prepare for it, as we were forced to close for 2 weeks. We were fortunate: no debt, malleable costs, and a willingness to sacrifice. But it could have been much worse than it was. Guess what, we haven’t learned yet either.We’re only now planning to set up emergency funds, and create a wall of financial security for the business… It’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of learning for me, I’m not particularly savvy at this kind of things, so the learning comes at some cost to myself. But it must be done.

I do admire Joel’s resilience to bounce back in a desperate situation. And so I am supporting him with positive thought waves and wishing him well.

Kenneth

Business Management

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I have a very stubborn friend that reckons his biz idea - lets call it X - is a sure thing

he has little biz sense but is super keen, he has done no research on investment amount, demographics, market size, pricing etc etc. he simply thinks its a good idea

I have three or four things to say about this guy:

1. Of course, one of the problems in Taiwan is that people opening business most often don’t make adequate provisions for poor cash flow in the first 3-6 monthsj of their business plan. They often run out of cash after that period, and go out of business, even when they have a great product. I’ve seen many good business go to the wall in surprisingly short order.

2. Having said that, planning things can in some cases kill enthusiasm. We westerners tend to overplan for things to the point that the idea just dies from the weight of planning. A little spontaneity can really help get a business going. So I wouldn’t completely knock him without knowing such sketchy details as you have provided. Perhaps he’s prepared to roll with the punches, and see how things go.

3. Perhaps he isn’t worried about making a mistake or mistakes. Often, the fear of mistakes prevents entrepreneurial activity, and the planning covers the fear by claiming it is impossible. The best entrepreneurs plan, do, make mistakes and learn from the whole process, even if they decide their business didn’t work the first time.

4. So in some ways, I admire entrepreneurs who keep trying because making mistakes is a sign that one is willing to learn. But one has to be willing to learn something from each mistake, otherwise you are just banging your head against a brick wall, no?