Be Your Own Boss Episode 3
Posted on 01. Sep, 2009 by Sujimy in Be Your Own Boss Web Show, The Media Entrepreneur
Thank you all for tuning in Be Your Own Boss (BYOB) web show. This is episode 3. It is so crucial to be asking questions during the entire process of building your business. And it is even more important to ask the RIGHT questions to the RIGHT people.
We all have been there: not sure where to go, what to do or stuck with a problem. Sometimes, all it needs is to redirect that same problem by asking the right people. Sharing will lower the pressure points. Asking the RIGHT people will increase the chances of it being solved.
Go ask.
suryani
01. Sep, 2009
Abg sujimy
thanks for the tips. Saya nie mmg ada wawasan utk berniaga, dimana saya ingin menjual self made card, alter art htpp://artypalace.blogspot.com cuma tak tau macam mana na mula. Cuma skg saya baru mulai berniaga online.
suryani
Sujimy
01. Sep, 2009
Hi Suryani, perhaps you can grow the online business first. You must speak to people like Fadzuli, Shahib, Shafudin, Hazman, Hazrul or Nur Saheed. They are all in my profile or you can search them in FB. They can really help you to grow your online business. Good luck Suryani!
shahib
01. Sep, 2009
Salam bro sujimy,
Pertamanya terima kasih kerana mention sangat hargai. Walauapapon mungkin saya ingin bertanya dan mungkin juga merupakan cadangan ide-ide untuk episode2 akan datang.. skrg ni saya tertanye2 bagaimana kita ingin tahu yang product2 yang kita nak create ni sellable itu satu
kedua ini mungkin bro sujimy ariff ah product development.. macam bootstrap way ah.. no big funding so cane nak survive.. mungkin bole share pengalaman sikit2
terima kasih
Waty
01. Sep, 2009
Hi Sujimy, great sharing there.
Watching all 3 episodes of BYOB fired me up.
A brief intro on myself. I am my own boss, running an online food business. I hv niche my business to juz cookies & tea time treats.
1) U were mentioning abt berani untuk meminjam duit. I really want to move my business out of my home. So, wats the procedure of meminjam duit to kick off this business of mine. My idea is to hv a mini cafe around the heartland area.
2) A cousin of mine wish to join venture with me in opening the cafe. She told me, not to worry abt the money as she will be pumping in the cash. I dun like the idea of having a relative as a business partner. Moreover, saya akan rasa terhutang budi & juga, jika suatu hari nanti, business itu berjaya, I wont get to feel the full satisfaction as it wasn’t from my own titik peluh. What’s yr advise?
Fadzuli
02. Sep, 2009
Salams,
Thanks for the mention!
Sujimy
02. Sep, 2009
Salam Shahib: really great questions! A great sellable product needs a whole lot of exposure and a good distribution network. An example: a good movie will not sell well with bad distribution network, or worst none. A bad movie will get sold with good distribution network. So depending on your product, you need to ride or find a credible network to get it sold… you have to be willing to forgo your profit margin, but beauty is, it get sold. But how do you know it is sellable in the first place? You wont know until it is out there, push the product out. If it is in your store, it is a liability. I hv seen what you created, it CAN be monetized. I dont mind taking this offline and investigate your line of products with you.
Your 2nd question is what I went through one time. Developing product with minimal funding (or even no funding). It was ok but it can be frustrating bcos only YOU know how big the potential is. But here’s the good news, there’s always someone out there who can and would fund a good project. Need to start looking for them while you bootstrap your idea. Yang ni nak kena network outside your circuit. Mingle more.
Hi Waty: Thanks for visiting my blog. Yes you must be berani to loan but dont be too quick to loan until you know why you doing it. I like your idea. But test test and test your idea in a low-operating cost environment first. For example, share a retail space with someone to get your cafe up. At least you wont be tight to big rental.. rental is a killer in retail. I know this because I have been stung before. But if you have done your research and have a great location to do it, do up a profitability paper and show it to the bank. If they like your idea, they most likely will give you the loan.
With rgds to your 2nd question, it looks like you are not ready to have ANY kind of partner – regardless whether they are relative or not. Getting a partner really macam jodoh. Its long term. If you are not ready, dont do it. If you feel very comfortable working on your idea alone, I reckon you must give yourself that space. But dont be “alone” in pursuing your idea. Find people who can really help you in your niche. This is really important because, pitfalls are everywhere and there are others who have overcome it. I wish you well.
Fadzuli: You welcome.
Rudi
02. Sep, 2009
Salam Bro Sujimy: is it hard to change ur profession from an employee to a boss/employer…
what inspired you to be your own boss?
Hazman Aziz
02. Sep, 2009
First & foremost , thanks to Sujimy for recommending my name and recognizing my expertise.
Hi guys, I am actually not an entrepreneur, but I am an business librarian with one of the university and serving the top business school in Asia. I have work with a number of entrepreneurs locally, in South East Asia regions and also in Australia (with physical meet ups & discussions) as well as also entrepreneurs (which I never meet in persons, but just via correspond through technology.
A couple of them make it to the top, like the founder of WordPress and also Facebook And others, did not make it. To be frankly, there are two type of people when comes to ebusiness management. I called it “the fast and easy makers” and “the sustain and hardship makers”.
To create an online business, it is easy. You can create it over night. You don’t even need to go to business school to learn that. But, to sustain and remain at the long tail, that is a hardship. For those, you are planning to go into ebusiness serious, do read about Michael Porter’s theory (5 forces).
Let’s me share a little bit, how do I climb up the academic library. I took my career like a business entity actually, and factoring it the 5 forces , which Porter defined. If you hold & aware of this as your pillar of ebusiness management, insya-allah, you are able to anticipate the challenge coming.
Maybe, one of the days, if I have time, I share with you guys on a couple of theory, how the big boys in the online business industry plays. I also work very closely with Gartner and Forrester. And I do provide consultantion and feedbacks if my time permits.
Do google or read up on things like
1) Porter’s 5 forces
2) Business IT Strategic Alignment
3) Value Chain
4) Knowledge Management
5) Business intelligence too
Before, move into my academic career, these are the few topics that I read heavily, just to put myself on par with the Professors . And, I am still learning their art of knowledge acquisition.
shahib
03. Sep, 2009
Wah hazman good stuff.. Bro sujimy i think u are ready to develop some forum for you community related to e-biz / e-entreprenure
Btw Hazman is this the one Micheal 5 Porters 5 force?
http://www.themanager.org/pdf/p5f.pdf
Hazman Aziz
03. Sep, 2009
Yups, this model is only taught in Business School and MBA programmes. Understanding this, differentiate where you are a movers or shakers.
Another one, try reading up about Venkatraman’s theory for Strategic Alignment Aligning Business IT The Strategic Alignment model and also Technology Acceptance Model by Davis.
Once you understand all these theories, you are ready to storm and completed with the big boys in the online information industry.
F.Dzaki
04. Sep, 2009
Masya-allah…setiap episode terkandung ilmu yang bermanfaat…nak lagi..nak lagi…
Sujimy
05. Sep, 2009
Rudi. Salam and thanks for visiting. It was not hard for me to change from employee to employer. Because, I had this dream of being my own boss even before I joined the workforce. So when I worked for the Media giant in Singapore, it was more for gaining business insights, research and networking. In my book, I mentioned that best time to start business is when you are working for someone else. Comb and research the field before you plunge.
Hazman: I am both proud and amazed by your knowledge. My mind is racing and ideas to do a TV show about the people you encounter is brewing. I hope to find time to crystallize the idea.
Shahib: hey why not have a forum. Alamak this one you guys should do it man and I will jump in!!
Dzaki: Thanks for visiting! InsyaAllah more coming……
F.Dzaki
05. Sep, 2009
Salam…ive created already a forum…created “e-biz / e-entreprenure” section @ http://buttersnapz.com > Voice IT – Forum…would like to invite all there..insya-allah (fadzuli) VADIP participants will use it also for seeking advice and sharing.
Hazman Aziz
08. Sep, 2009
I agree that it is hard to find “time to crystallize an idea” and morph it into a value and sustainable entity. But, if we were to study the traits of a mover and shakers or even a scholar (which currently I am doing my studies on a couple music scholar, like Beethoven, Schubert, Hayden and Sinatra), they all have a very common attribute.
And if, I were to match them with Zuckerberg, Obama, Buffet, Karim and even our own Islamic scholar, Prophet Muhammad, Kaldun, and Lang … they never put time as a main factor of an obstacle.
Opportunities will comes with the right time and location -> that is what we always quote. And not, The right time and location will comes with opportunities, right?
There are things that we have to ponder and also measured the perceived of information flow around us. But mostly importantly of all, it is the art of iklas and jujur along the principle that we believe in. If we fail to see this point, that is where the entire equation is unstable and the whole model (be it business or even ownself), starting to break apart.
Sanif
04. Jan, 2010
Great stuff Sujimy!