Friday, October 30, 2015
Many companies are reorganizing
to cope with new competitive realities, but few CEOs have approached the
process of organizational redesign systematically and methodically. Fred Wu of GE Consult shares his thoughts.
Q1. Companies across the economy
have been decentralizing, downsizing, and flattening. What makes a successful
company's reorganization different from what other companies are doing?
A company’s reorganization often might turn
out a tricky undertaking with pitfalls on the way. Whether one is able to
navigate its enterprise’s reorganizational process successfully depends on a
number of factors.
What some managers, in my opinion, overlook while embarking
on it is that they perceive reorganization as a simple structural reshuffle on
an organization chart. But that is a superficial understanding of its main objectives
which is not merely improvement of financial metrics and outcomes but a
holistic process of enhancing decision making system on all levels, employees’
performance and collaboration between departments and divisions.
For instance,
a flat organization structure may not have effective decision making process if
authority is too MD-centred. Whether you like it or not, it’s a complex process
which involves all stakeholders and requires continuous monitoring and
adjustments along with effective resource utilization.
In summary, a successful
company is the one that has proper reorganization structure based on internal
and external assessment made through in-depth consideration of scare resource:
employee, cash, products, making the company energy-efficient.
Q2: What can happen in a business
that makes fundamental changes so necessary?
Such changes are crucial for any company
that aims to unlock better performance by shaking up the entire system.
Bringing fundamental structural changes can help you speed up product
development and decrease costs as it smoothens the decision making process and
enhance tasks execution.
And this is what GE CONSULT does by dragging companies
out of a pit of bankruptcy by accelerating their turnover based on available
resources and reorganized structure efficiently. But one must keep in mind that
it can also destroy the company’s existing value whereof restoration would take
a huge amount of time or even lead to another reorganization. So be smart.
Q3: How has technology helped in
creating more effective business systems?
A well functioning information technology
system opens up opportunities to handle and boost the company’s efficiency without
which it would have vanished from the market. First of all, it facilitates the
enterprise to enhance rapport with all stakeholders of the company including
employees, investors, business partners etc.
It is crucial in
establishment of a great image of the company. Secondly, it facilitates
monitoring of the overall workflow, smoothens the decision making process and
keeps an effective and collaborative interaction between employees, suppliers
and partners – a self-sustained eco-system – which certainly contributes in
fostering your business.
It can also increase customers’ satisfaction providing
adequate information of a product line and maintaining a continuous interactive
link between customers and customer relation management. Not to mention, it can
significantly reduce the operational cost of the company as the tasks execution
and monitoring becomes much convenient. This is just a quick glance at the IT
potentials in boosting the company’s effectiveness.
Q4: What is your advice for startup
entrepreneurs?
Developing a comprehensive concept with a
clear vision of what they are going to do is of primary importance before they
embark on their future enterprises. Therefore, it is a main point of their
program to design a product and service range based on that concept.
How can it
be achieved? Of course, through a well written business plan which would
eventually shape their entrepreneurial activities and show them a right direction
at a right resource allocation.
What’s more, developing a comprehensive and
cohesive concept of your business will also help to find the right investors as
conveying your ideas and passion will be much easier.
Q5: When opening a business,
what's the first thing the owner should do, in terms of business structure and
organization?
It is crucial for every startup
entrepreneur to provide a clear vision on how decision making process and role
authorities must work within their enterprises. Therefore, what they actually
need to do is to clearly define responsibilities of each position in the
company, establish a transparent workflow and a suitable structure which would
be based on the available resources of people, products and budget (cash).
An effective handling of those internal and
external resources will bring the sufficient energy for the startup by which the
company will be able to save up a tremendous amount of money. Therefore, keeping
the architecture lightweight with roles and responsibilities being clarified and
resources effectively employed is what must be achieved from the very start.
Otherwise, the overall process might slow down to the level which would adversely
affect not only the company’s competitive edge but the business momentum which
is of the primary importance.
Join Fred Wu at the Nurture Growth Conference on November 19th in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia as he shares how important it is to build systems and structure in a business.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Image: nobelthoughts.com
To sell your company or product to prospective investors, employees or customers, you need to be able to make a brief and concise pitch, an investor presentation deck and push your founder story.
IF you’re a founder and CEO of a startup, you have to master how to sell your product and story in a compelling way. If convincing others is simply not your strong suite, that’s fine.
Consider getting a co-founder that can fulfill that role.
A founding CEO should ideally be able to sell the company and its product vision, not only to potential co-founders, but also to prospective employees, investors and customers. Many early-stage investments are first made based on the strength of the team and traction, rather than just the product or idea itself.
You need to create a compelling elevator pitch, an investor presentation deck and highlight your founder story.
An elevator pitch is meant to be a persuasive summary used to quickly define a company or product’s value proposition. The name “elevator pitch” implies that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the span of an elevator ride (30 seconds to two minutes), in the event of an accidental meeting with a potential investor in an elevator.
A successful pitch will result in an exchange of business cards, and the investor wanting to hear more.
The problem with most elevator pitches I’ve heard is that it’s too complicated or doesn’t clearly articulate the solution to the problem the company is trying to solve. If you cannot distil your product down to a one-liner, then your product is probably not focused enough and too complicated.
Go back to the drawing board and really focus on what that one core value proposition is that will differentiate and make you a market leader in the industry.
A simple formula to creating a good elevator pitch goes like this: “My company (company name), which is (unique value proposition/what it does) is building a (product) to solve (problem), addressing the (market need).
Feel free to tweak the formula, but all the basic elements should be there.
Once you get this 30-second one-liner, you can expand into your 2-minute pitch by adding the traction that you have so far, or the credibility of your team.
The pitch should almost always end with a “call to action” or an “ask” like this: “I’m looking to raise US$500,000 for my startup and already have US$250,000 committed from angel investors. We’re still looking to raise the remaining funds from value-added investors.
“If this is something you’re interested in, perhaps we can exchange business cards and have coffee next week?”
Beyond the elevator pitch, most entrepreneurs also have a presentation deck to pitch a potential investor when they meet. Here are the important elements that should be in a good presentation deck:
Cover: Startup logo, startup Name, founders names, tagline (if any)
Page 1: Problem statement (Why is this problem important to the world?)
Page 2: Founder story (Why this problem is important to you, the founder? Why are you passionate about solving it?)
Page 3: Proposed solution (Is this solution a “painkiller” or a “vitamin”?)
Page 4: Product Screenshots (Show how it works. Visuals speak a thousand words)
Page 5: Why Now? (Why it’s the right time for your product to succeed)
Page 6: Unique proposition (Why yours is better than existing solutions? Who are your competitors?)
Page 7: Initial target market and eventual market size (You can start with the addressable local market, but need to show the larger Asean market opportunity for this to be interesting to investors)
Page 8: Unit economics & business model (Show that the maths business makes sense. Do you understand the costs and profit margins of your business at scale, even if the economics early on will be different?)
Page 9: User acquisition & distribution (The different channels you’re going to use to acquire your customers and the costs for each. Are they scalable and sustainable?)
Page 10: Traction Over Time (Growth chart since your product launch)
Page 11: Validation Factors (Testimonials or proof of concept from early customers)
Page 12: Team (Credibility and background of your team. Why you’re the right team to execute on this vision?)
Page 13: Existing investors or advisors (If any)
Page 14: Call to action or ask (How much are you raising? How much has been committed? What are you using the funds for?)
Page 15: Conclusion (End with a bang!)
Entrepreneurs can play with a variation of this and rework the order of the slides. However, make sure pages 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 are there, which are often missing from most decks I see.
They are absolutely crucial to show that you really understand your business.
Another part that is often neglected is the founder story. It’s so important for investors to hear why a founder started the company, how it started and how the co-founders got together. The story is important because everybody wants to know why you’ve given up a stable corporate job for something so risky and where that passion came from.
If you find your story a bit shallow, then you really should question why you’re building this product and whether you’re in it for the long haul.
The best entrepreneurs tend to be those who have figured out their “founder-product-fit” (as opposed to “product-market-fit”). So make sure you can tell a good story as to why you care so much about the problem you’re working.
Last but not least, it takes a ton of practice to get comfortable pitching and presenting. You have to always put yourself out there and solicit feedback.
You can usually tell if you’re engaging your audience or whether they seem disinterested, so keep tweaking and changing your pitch until it’s compelling enough and until you gain more confidence.
And don’t forget that humility is important for personal improvement and growth.
Source: Cheryl Yeoh, The Star SMEBiz
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
How do highly productive people manage to get everything done? There's no one way, of course, but there are lots of incredibly useful things you can learn from people who've spent tons of time thinking about how to get the most out of their day.
We surveyed 11 top professionals—Google global marketing VP Lorraine Twohill, star designer Joy Cho, Airbnb executive Belinda Johnson, and many others—about their approach to maximizing their always-limited time. To see what we learned, click through the slides above.
Oprah Winfrey, CEO of Oprah Winfrey Network
We recently spent a couple of days learning about Oprah Winfrey's empire, her huge number of projects, and how she handles everything.
STRATEGY TO BEAT PROCRASTINATION
"I procrastinate with confrontational things and uncomfortable conversations. I’ll give myself a deadline. And then I’ll change that deadline when that deadline shows up [laughs]. ‘Okay, by 3, I’m going to make that call.’ Four o’clock comes around—‘Okay okay, by 5 today. Oh, everybody’s left New York! Can’t make that call!’ So now I sit and ask myself, ‘What’s the worst that’s going to happen here, and why do I fear the confrontation?’ "
Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles
Since taking office in 2013, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti has tackled tough issues such as water conservation, raising the minimum wage, and homelessness. His next order of business? "Being a builder," says the onetime international affairs professor and human rights advocate. "Building a great city, building an economy, building an infrastructure, and, ultimately, building people’s trust in government." He’s also a delegator, a traveler, and a master napper.
BIGGEST PRODUCTIVITY ISSUE
"Being reactive. That’s part of my job description: There is always going to be a fire, a shooting, a crisis, but you can’t let the urgent overcome the important."
Lorraine Twohill, Senior VP of Global Marketing, Google
"Google is a very fast-paced place," says Lorraine Twohill, the company's senior VP of global marketing. "It’s never gotten boring, but you also have to be super organized." A 12-year Google veteran, Twohill is intimately familiar with the company’s productivity tools. But she’s also fond of a more natural sort of Google resource.
APPROACH TO PRIORITIZING
"Every morning, I look through all my emails and star the ones that I want to have cleared by the end of the day. I have made peace with myself that I may not get back to all the rest. You get older and wiser and realize you can’t do it all. You can’t evenbegin to do it all. You have to be realistic."
Belinda Johnson, Chief Business Affairs and Legal Officer, Airbnb
For the past four years, Airbnb's chief business affairs and legal officer, Belinda Johnson, has been responsible for Airbnb’s regulatory efforts, a tough, sometimes controversial position as the company has grown. Now she’s been promoted to an even bigger role, helping to steer Airbnb’s overall strategy and adding a host of new responsibilities, including public policy, communications, social initiatives, and philanthropy. In other words, her already epic to-do list just got a whole lot longer.
KEY TOOL
"Apple Notes. I use it all day long. As I’m going through my email, I’m either taking care of things in the moment or making [an entry] in Apple Notes that I need to deal with it later. At the end of the day, I go through all my notes and make sure I’ve addressed everything."
Aziz Ansari, Comedian
Nobody would accuse Aziz Ansari of slacking off. He is cowriting and starring in the semiautobiographical new Netflix sitcom Master of None, which will be available on November 6, and he’s also the coauthor of the best-selling sociological studyModern Romance. Plus, he’s been touring as a stand-up alongside Amy Schumer in the Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival. But his life isn’t all work. "I paint a picture of myself as this crazy workaholic, but I do think it’s important to have a well-rounded day," Ansari says. "I like to eat, drink good wine, and smoke amazing weed."
PRODUCTIVITY MYTH
"While we were writing [Master of None], we would work until 6 or 7 p.m., and then we’d be done. There are other writers’ rooms where people spend nights in the office. I can’t imagine you’re doing your best work then. You’ve got to be a person and do other stuff, or you’re not going to be inspired to write."
Joy Cho, Designer
Joy Cho, the Los Angeles–based designer, author, and founder of the lifestyle site Oh Joy!, has big goals: "To make life happier and prettier and more meaningful," she says. One of Pinterest’s most influential users (she has more than 13 million followers), Cho is known for creating cheery, brightly hued patterns that have graced Hygge & West wallpaper, Nod children’s bedding, specially designed Band-Aids, and even a Microsoft mouse. Next spring, she will introduce her second line of products for Target, which is sure to increase her following—and her workload.
BIGGEST PRODUCTIVITY ISSUE
"When you hear that ding, you have this compulsion to check [your phone]. I already work too much. There’s nothing wrong with reading a magazine or a book or even staring into space."
Ken Washington, VP of Research and Advanced Engineering, Ford
Ken Washington is Ford’s explorer. A former Lockheed Martin rocket scientist with a doctorate in nuclear engineering, the company's VP of research and advanced engineering is leading its effort to experiment, working on autonomous cars, vehicle-subscription services, and even a smart bicycle that syncs to an iPhone. His mandate: "To advance the technology, and to innovate new capabilities and technologies that make our cars great, fun to drive, green, safe, and smart."
KEY TOOLS
"Email is huge for me. It’s really important to have an email-management strategy. I color-code emails that are from key contacts and strategic partners, so when they come to me I see them in the massive digital pile. I’ve been developing and honing this system for the past 10 years. The second tool I use is paper. There’s no substitute for it. You don’t need a Wi-Fi hot spot to get it to work. It never runs out of batteries. I start each week with a list of the things I want to accomplish and a list of key actions."
Alex Blumberg, Cofounder and CEO, Gimlet Media
As the head of a prominent podcasting company with a small staff and three high-profile shows, Gimlet Media CEO Alex Blumberg is absurdly busy, and it’s essential for him to find ways to be productive. But not too productive. "The process of trying to launch something is fraught with inefficiency," he says. "We want to be able to kill stories that don’t work. We want to be able to produce a pilot that won’t air because it’s not as good as we thought it was going to be. We’re trying to become cautious friends with inefficiency."
Still, with hot podcasts Reply All, Mystery Show, and StartUp in various stages of production and a host of other shows in development, Blumberg works as adeptly as he can without compromising the creative process.
GREAT ADVICE
"I learned a lot working at This American Life. My tendency was, ‘Okay, let me think about it.’ [This American Life host Ira Glass] would kick things off his list in the moment. If it could happen right then, he would do it. It wasn’t like he ever sat me down and said, ‘Listen, young Alex, this is my secret to productivity.’ But it seeped into me."
Marcus Samuelsson, Chef
Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson’s days have been unusually full over the past year, even by his globe-traversing standards. In April, he opened Streetbird Rotisserie near his Harlem flagship, Red Rooster, and he spearheaded the Harlem EatUp! festival, held in May. There were also new restaurants in Bermuda and Sweden, along with a cookbook and a memoir aimed at kids, called Make It Messy—which is a good description of his hectic itinerary.
EMAIL PET PEEVE
"I hate [writing] long emails. You’re sitting there thinking, Is my tone right? Because there can be 50 ways of misinterpreting that email. Texting is better: ‘Let’s talk.’ Then you follow up with a conversation."
Julie Larson-Green, Chief Experience Officer, Microsoft
Procrastination as a productivity tool? As Microsoft's chief experience officer, Julie Larson-Green’s job is to help people work smarter. But when it comes to her own day, she has a somewhat counterintuitive approach. A 22-year Microsoft veteran, Larson-Green is responsible for the overarching experience of getting stuff done with Office and other tools on PCs, phones, wearables, and tablets. "We want to help you manage your scarce resource of time," she says.
STRATEGY TO BEAT PROCRASTINATION
"I’m a huge procrastinator and a fairly lazy person. Being lazy makes me more efficient, because I try to find ways that I can do the best work in the most minimal amount of time. I also know that I need pressure to perform, and procrastination is one of the levers for creating that pressure."
Steve Aoki, DJ, Producer
Lying horizontal is a luxury for Steve Aoki. The Grammy-nominated DJ and producer has a relentless global schedule that finds him spinning records in places like Shanghai and Oslo, along with ongoing residencies in Ibiza and Las Vegas. He also puts out albums, including the recent Neon Future Odyssey (which collects his previous Neon Future I and II releases), and runs the record label and clothing brand Dim Mak. Fueled by catnaps and meditation, Aoki has managed to grow his empire while staying connected to his fans.
COPING TACTIC
"Meditation is a key component in my daily cycle now. I went through a major physical change in my life in June when I had vocal-cord surgery. I used that time to reset and think about a different set of rules to be more efficient and productive."
Secrets of the Most Productive People
Ultra-busy professionals offer the best ways to break through all the clutter.
Source: FastCompany
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Monday, October 26, 2015
Image:thethrottle.com
The rich folks in the world think and act differently than everyone else. The thing is, a lot of the wealthiest people not only had to earn their wealth, but now they also have to add to it and maintain it. If you ever wanted to know how they achieved that sort of financial success, you have to start with what the rich know about money.
Here are seven things that the world’s richest people know about money.
1. Money equals freedom.
Kevin O'Leary, the successful Canadian businessman and investor on Shark Tank, once said that "Money equals freedom.” That’s something that the rich realize. While money can’t buy freedom, having enough money to not only meet your basic needs, like food or shelter, it gives you the freedom to choose what you want to do, when you want to do it.
Tired of your boss or job? You'll have the freedom to quit, if you want, which makes any job more palatable. Want to plan a vacation to Hawaii? No problem, you are personally choosing your hours and how early or late you will work. Want to launch a new business venture? You have the means and networking contacts to pursue this dream. What happens when you get sick? You can afford the best doctors and medical care.
2. Look for investments every day.
The rich are always thinking about the future, which is why they are constantly on the lookout for new investment opportunities in everyday life. Whether it’s their teenager informing them about the latest social media platform or finding a new food item in the grocery store, the rich how to spot ways to increase their wealth, no matter where they are. They always listen, even if they don’t like what they are hearing about an investment.
3. Stay away from complex investments.
The rich know to stay away from complex investments like hedge funds and mortgage-backed securities. Why? Because these types of investments present a number of problems that include not having any control about the risks involved. The rich stay aware of getting hit with expensive fees, and these type of investments are usually sold to investors who don’t understand them. If the rich don't understand the investment, they don't buy it.
4. Not spending is the same as making money.
This doesn’t mean that you always have to cut back or become a penny pincher. It means that if you make sacrifices in one area, you can use that money for an investment. For example, if you’re flying from New York to Chicago and a first class plane ticket costs more than $3,000, do you think that you could take a seat in business class because it’s $1,000 less? In a way, you may have just earned $1,000, which could be used for acquiring assets that bring in additional funds. Money working by itself is money you don't have to earn again.
5. Invest in appreciating assets.
The rich keep their wealth by not wasting all of their funds on items like clothing and vehicles. Instead, they wisely invest in appreciating assets. Tatiana Morales defines appreciating assets on CBS as “Assets that have the potential to increase in value and/or produce income.” This include liquid assets like cash, investments like stocks and bonds, and property.
6. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
The wealthy never put all of their money into one or two stocks. As Investopedia clearly states, “it is foolish to invest all your money in one investment.” That’s why it’s important to have a diversified portfolio that includes a variety of investments, stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Your portfolio could also include business investments, real estate and collectibles.
Remember, diversification isn’t just investing in different companies. It’s investing in different types of companies. For example, you wouldn’t invest your money in four different fast food companies. You would invest in one fast food company and the rest in companies in the oil, retail or tech industries. If something fails, you are still protected with your other investments.
7. Net worth isn’t self-worth.
The rich are well aware that money can’t buy you love, respect, friends or happiness. They realize that their self-worth can’t be measured by their financial success. As author Ken Solin points out in the Huffington Post, who do you think has more self-worth? The isolated man with a billion dollars in his bank account or the man who listens to his wife, spends quality time with his children, has authentic friendships and is a volunteer?
Source: Entrepreneur.com
Friday, October 23, 2015
In the past few years, the business focus on entrepreneurship and start ups has increased. What exactly does it take to be an entrepreneur? Vincent Chew from Eduvo sheds some light.
1. The entrepreneurs who start their businesses in Malaysia seem to be getting younger and younger with a lot of them getting into e-commerce businesses. In 2011, Nielsen & PayPal was forecasting online commerce market size in Malaysia to be RM5.76 billion in year 2015, both products and services (travel, ticketing etc) included.
What other industries do you think have room for growth? Do you have advice for entrepreneurs who suddenly find themselves in saturated markets eg F&B outlets?
A business exists because there are customers. Without customers, you don't really have a business. So, as long as you are very clear about your customers (ie your target market, including their needs & wants) and you're continuously listening to them to create and deliver better solutions (offering) and better value, there's always room for growth in any industries or businesses that you're in. Of course having said that, to create breakthroughs and not merely satisfying your target market's current needs/wants, you have to look ahead, figure out and create a solution that can make the life of your target market even better without them realizing it now. When you do that, you become the leader of your market.
However, the challenge for most (startup) entrepreneurs is that, rather than figuring out what problems/issues/challenges/pains they are trying to solve for their target market and make their lives even better, they try to "push" their current idea(s) ie their products or services across to their target market. So to begin with, here are a few questions for you to consider:
- Who is your target market? Why?
- What are their demographics and psychographics?
- What are their buying behaviours?
- What are their main problems/pains/challenges/issues faced?
- How are your ideas/solutions (products/services) helping to make the lives of your target market better?
- What benefits do they get from your solutions?
2. It is very unique that Eduvo Academy chooses to teach practical real life experiences to students. How did this business start and where do you see the academy going in the next 10 years?
Founded by myself and my business partner, Keith Ngai, Eduvo started off as a professional human capital and business development firm and is the only Malaysian firm focused on Accelerated Action Lifelong Learning based leadership, management and entrepreneurship learning and development. Eduvo, which stems from the words, "Education Revolution & Evolution" has taken this initiative to assist in enhancing the quality of human capital development for individual learners, SMEs, and corporate organisations by providing a mode of education and learning which is holistic, flexible, innovative and far-sighted. We focus on delivering our 3H philosophy - Hope Humanity and Happinesse. And the "e" in our Happinesse is not a spelling error. It is done on purpose as we believe that true happiness has to be in harmony and align with the "ecology" of the environment and the people that we are in contact with.
As we move forward, we envision a world where everyone should have a fair chance of getting a more holistic education especially for those who are not academically inclined. It saddens us to know and see that a lot of students who are "neglected" simply because they cannot fit in the traditional academic-based education system. Many young people who struggle academically are often left with bleak prospects for their future. Year after year, thousands of students leave school (either they graduate or mostly dropout) carrying nothing but empty hopes and uncertainty.
With these issues in mind, the inspiration behind Eduvo Academy was born. Both my partner and I shared the same passion towards the young people, and hence were eager to see transformation in these lives. We believed that our efforts mattered as nobody should be left out – everyone deserved a hope for the future. And we realised that there is a big gap in the market place when it comes to employment, between those who are academically inclined and those who aren't. With the mission to provide every individual with an equal opportunity to be achievers, we embarked on the next journey in our lives to start a school that nurtures people from all walks of life – Eduvo Academy, the School of Accelerated Action Learning.
Eduvo Academy’s main focus is placed not solely on transferring knowledge (30%) and skills (70%), but also the learners’ application and experience in the real world. In contrast with the conventional classroom learning, Eduvo Academy centres on Accelerated Action Learning, ie. real life work issues, challenges and experiences which makes learning more relevant, practical, enjoyable, successful and satisfying. Coupled with specialised techniques focused on personal growth and development, we aspire for every student to walk out of our doors with renewed and rewarding horizons in sight.
Now that we have catered for the working adults and young adults, we are targeting to move down the life cycle to cater for the young children - an Eduvo Kindergarten perhaps?... And that's a longer term mission and vision.
3. One of the programmes offered by Eduvo Academy is about Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management. How different is your offering compared to other business schools?
Our programme is an outcome based learning programme. There's the knowledge part ie what learners will know and there's the skills part ie what learners can perform at the end. As mentioned earlier that our focus is on real life application and experience. So, learners are measured based on the outcomes that they are expected to deliver, and not just theory.
Our modules are very customised to teach real life applications. For example, one of the measurable outcomes is to register a company. How do we make sure they know the process of registering a company? Well, we will bring the learners to SSM, have them figure out what type of company they would want to register (whether a sole prop, partnership or sdn bhd - but usually we encourage either a sole prop or partnership to begin with), have them think about and write down the top 3 names for their new venture, fill out the form, pay up and get their company registration cert, while having us to impart the knowledge along the process. Done! By doing so, unlike any classroom based education, the learners now know exactly where to register a company, how to register a company, they learn through real life experience the differences among the type of entities available, the price for registering the different types of entities, and how a company registration certificate looks like.
This is just one of the many outcomes that a learner can expect to perform from the programme. There are many other real life applications in areas including sales and marketing, small business management, finance and accounting, operations, to name a few. There are also mini projects that the learners need to complete to ensure they know how to apply the knowledge that they have learnt.
And on top of that, besides having experienced industry practitioners as trainers for the different subjects, learners will also get a mentor and a coach to guide and support them in their real life projects, dealing with real customers, suppliers and team mates. So, learners not only learn entrepreneurial and business knowledge and skills but building up their character as well - including building up their self-confidence, self-esteem, leadership and team work, to name a few. One of our proudest success story is transforming a so-called "spoiled brat" to now a purposefully ambitious young man who is focusing on lifelong action learning and very determined to start his next business venture.
4. As an entrepreneur yourself, if you could time travel back to day one of your startup and have 15min with your former self to communicate any lessons you've acquired with the intention of saving yourself mistakes and heart ache, what would you tell yourself?
Oh... This is interesting. If this question is posted to me a few months back, I would probably have an unstructured way of telling my former self the things to do more of, do less of and things to avoid during my startup. But now that I have fine tuned my Game of Entrepreneurship framework, I'll just pass The Game of Entrepreneurship framework to "me". There are 4 levels in the Game of Entrepreneurship. One of the area is How to Win the Game, and in it I've defined the focus areas and how to play the Game to win in each of the Levels and move up the levels accordingly.
5. How did Eduvo Academy get funded or what creative strategies did you use to execute on minimal cash flow?
So far, Eduvo Academy is self funded. I would say that the top two main strategies we used to execute on a minimal cash flow basis when we started were (1) leveraging and (2) business model innovation. On leveraging. We firstly leverage on our own core competencies and our philosophy ie in our expertise to design, develop & deliver good programmes and ensuring our students are happy during their time with us. Also, using our expertise in human capital development to develop our own staff so that they can perform better to bring in more sales. Secondly, we leverage on our partners' and associates' brand image to provide us with a better platform to build our credibility in the marketplace.
As entrepreneurs, we have to also be flexible enough to be able to change when things or outcomes don't turn out to match our expectations. This is where we have to be innovative and creative with our business model. Again, our basis for business model innovation still goes back to truly defining who our target market really is, the segments, and the niche and then creating and delivering better value to them and make their lives even better.
As with other entrepreneurs or businesses, we too faced with challenging times with funding. However, I think we were lucky enough to quickly realize our shortfall and depleting cash flows that we had a full meeting day, in fact 2 days to be exact, to brainstorm, design and develop a few new renewal strategies. But this is another story for another time.
6. You will be speaking about the Game of Entrepreneurship at the Nurture Growth Conference. Can you give us a sneak peak about what attendees can expect to learn?
To a startup entrepreneur and individuals who are thinking to get onto the path to entrepreneurship and business: If you want to learn the proven 5I's to Entrepreneurial Success, the 4 Levels in the Game of Entrepreneurship and a tested and proven way on how to play to win Level 1 (the Startup stage) of The Game of Entrepreneurship, then this session is a must for you! Period.
Join Vincent Chew at the Nurture Growth Conference on November 19th in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia as he discusses how you can win at the Game of Entrepreneurship Make sure you get your tickets HERE.
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