Motivation - Why it's important for businesses.

It's easy to start a business, but it's not as easy to keep at it, and keep working to add revenue to it. For every businesses, there would be a time where the owner would have a certain breaking point - it's up to them to let the business break or make the business a huge success. Being so ambitious, I have learnt from previous experience that one important factor for a business' success is motivation.

What is motivation?

In simple terms (my terms), motivation is the drive to do something. Whenever you think about that 'something', you just want to do it get it over with and by getting it over with, you're doing it the best you can. 

Why motivation?

Why not? Without motivation, we'll give up easily. Like a student studying for their exams - if there was no exams, would we bother to study? I think most of us would rather eat popcorns and watch movies - at least, that's until we lose our motivation in that. 

Take for example, my experience in  Young Enterprise. For those who doesn't know, Young Enterprise is a business that students run at school as an 'enrichment lesson'. I was initially the IT Director - little did I realise I was going to change into a Sales' Director instead. All because of some Christmas Cards.

You see, because we were new in the business world, we didn't know what to sell and since Christmas was approaching, we decided to carry out a competition for students to design Christmas cards (Christmas cards? For college students?). After we chose the best design, we produced 150 of it - and guess what? That was when most of the team members said "It's not going to sell". Needless to say, I was annoyed. I mean seriously? They could've said that BEFORE we produced the thing?

Since they didn't think it was going to sell, they didn't make that much effort into it. So, I end up going around the school during my free time to sell. My friend thought it was pretty unfair since I work my guts out while most of the others sit down and complain. I say most because some others still did sell about 20-50. I sold all of the 100 left. Happy? Completely! It was undeniably difficult - keeping a smile on my face even when I felt mistreated and trying to sell seemed hopeless. But, thank God - I managed to keep that smile and sell. When the team realised we were out of stock, they were pretty much surprised, and they gave me a round of applause (yes, just that). After that, we moved to other projects, to sell other stuff. And that was when I was changed to being the Sales' Director.

So get yourself motivated

The whole point of my story was - if you're not motivated - motivate yourself. Because, if I never did, those cards won't have been sold and we never would have made a profit, and we would never have moved to other projects since we would always say "there's no point, it's never going to sell". Agree with me? I know you do. Here are some books which you may find useful in boosting your own or others' motivation.

    

Bagpacks VS Sling bags

I know what you're thinking - what does this have anything to do with my 'business to be'? Now, any right minded person would say NOTHING! Unique minded person however would agree with me when I say "Of course it has something to do with my business to be - it suggests the best ways in which I can carry my stuff, business stuff"

Bagpacks - the good, the bad, the ugly


I personally liked using backpacks since I was young, and that's solely because my parents have always bought me backpacks instead of sling bags, and so, I grew up getting myself used to them.

There's not much wrong with using a backpack to me - except the pain it gives to both of my shoulders. That was when I decided to change to using a sling bag. Only problem was - apparently, only BOYS can wear sling bags - girls wear handbags. If you're a girl wearing a sling bag, you're a 'gangster'. What the .....? Seriously? How immature.

Sling bags - the beauty

So, I've given you the downside of using a sling bag (if you're a girl). But then again, who cares about what some idiotic boys think? We never asked for their opinions, have we?

My one and main reason for sling bags - the pain is reduced! I know, the pain goes to only one shoulder and sometimes can increase in magnitude since only one shoulder is carrying the pressure at one time. However, from my view, when one shoulder feels the pain, we can always change to the other - reducing continuous pain we'd feel on both shoulders if we were to use backpacks.

PS: When riding your bicycle, I admit backpacks would be a safer and better option since it won't impact the balance that much.

iPhone 4 : White VS Black

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not in any way trying to be racist or anything of that kind. To me, you can be orange or pink - as long as you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you.

What I want to talk about here is the new White iPhone 4 and the not-so-new Black iPhone 4. Truthfully, I don't have an iPhone 4 but my sister does! Unfair? You bet! Or maybe not - she has a job and a business. And what do I have? EXAMS! Tragic? I know, RIGHT?

OK. Since, I never had a job, I've never had an iPhone 4. But, that doesn't mean I can't compare, right? When I'm right, I'm right. (ahem)

Let's talk about iPhone 4 Black. Sure, it was introduced BEFORE White  but that doesn't make it any better. If you think it does, list 10 reasons why, please. I would really like to know why. I personally prefer iPhone 4 White simply because it's my favourite colour. It's clean, it's simple - how can I NOT like it? It fits with any colour. You can wear a white jeans along with any random colour you like and it won't give anyone an eyesore - except if you choose a pairing colour which is naturally so bright it can act as an ambulance, yeah - then, that'd really be your own fault, won't it?

I'm sure some people would disagree and some might get furious over this post. I repeat - THIS IS NOT A RACIST POST! This entry is solely to compare the same type of phone with different colours - if you want to get mad at anyone - go scream at Apple, not me.

Keeping business costs low : Suppliers

In the business world, the level of our costs can be our sales generator or loss contributor. Sure, to make sales, we make sure our products are of good quality and worthy of the market's attention. But, there is no point of getting market attention if the market does not want to pay - and of course, no one would want to pay for goods on unreasonable prices. So, to make sure our goods are affordable for the wide market, we need to make sure our costs are low. Selling goods cheap would not be wise if our costs were high. Hence, before we decide to sell, let's try and find ways to keep our costs as low as possible. Supplier wise, I have some tips to share - shared by my dad and my sister who shares a perfume business.

Compare suppliers

It may seem time consuming but believe me - it's worth it! Suppliers come in many shapes and sizes - what you'd want is one that's best in quality AND price, regardless of their size. You can get a cheap supplier to give a low-quality good. Would that be a good idea, though? NO! There's no point getting a cheap product if it's just going to make your customers hate you, which is why it's important to look for quality AND low price. Only then will it be a bargain to you and your customers.

For example, let's compare Amazon to, I don't know, some random person selling iPhone 4's. Which one 

would you prefer?

Anonymous seller
Price: $550.00

 

Imagine if you saw these two ads. Which one would you want to pick? Surely, the Anonymous seller seems to offer a better deal? Think again - although their price varies by quite a lot, the anonymous' is not specific. Amazon's states clearly 'Apple iPhone 4 Black Smartphone 32GB..'. If you don't believe me, click on it and you'll see. Anonymous on the other hand, does not even have a link! I guess that's what you get when it's entirely made up. My point is, looking for the best offer is essential, but making sure the offer is not 'too good to be true' is also important. Otherwise, you might find your money wasted on some cheap garbage.

Stay updated with suppliers' promotional sales

When you've got your list of suppliers, make sure you keep yourself updated with what they offer. Some suppliers like promoting stuff at random times that, if you miss it - you're in a big loss. I have learnt this from my sister's business and my dad's advice. So, whatever you do - do it with style (random word) and keep on updating yourself with your current costs and ways to improve it.

PS: When you're comparing your suppliers, don't worry too much about comparing millions of suppliers. Five or ten would be enough. Oops, make that three to six. You won't want to spend more time searching than you do selling now, do you?

Update 31/05/11: When comparing the goods by suppliers, look at its consumer reviews - thanks to Shahrin for this. 

Businesswoman - that's me!

Businesswoman, businesswoman.

I want to be a businesswoman.

It's difficult, I agree.

But no success comes for free.

The stress and anxiety?

That's merely the fee.

It won't be easy, as I'll see.

But that's the sweetness of it, you'll see.

Without the stress and anxiety,

How boring it'll be?

So yes - I want to be a businesswoman!

Hard or easy - it'll be just right for me!

So, don't worry.

I'll be fine, trust me!

Because hey,

I'm a businesswoman - that's me!