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Dress For Success
You have heard the phrase, “Dress for Success.” This is very important in your job search. First impressions can make or break an interview, so presenting a Tailored Image is a good first step to Promoting Success in your job search. Employers can tell horror stories about people who show up on their doorstep looking for work with: torn jeans, t-shirts with offensive sayings, dirty fingernails, uncombed hair, curlers in their hair, and poor attitudes. While you have the right to dress the way you want on your own time, it is important that you dress the way an employer wants if you expect to be considered for a job. (This may also mean removing studs or getting a hair cut.) When you are dropping off resumes, dress a

ongly encourage that you do it yourself. I know that my co-founder, Weichang often start such businesses without taking part in such competitions. If he can do it while he was sick (with cancer at one point of time), so can those people who are healthy and wants to start their own enterprises.

Systems don’t work:

This is one that I heard from a fellow judge. If you are planning to integrate services from three different portals or build a product based o

Ten Customer Service Secrets to Win Back Customers
Recently I was facilitating an Outstanding Customer Service program and broke for lunch. Knowing that the restaurants in the area left much to desire as far as service I gave the students an extra fifteen minutes for lunch.Sure enough a group of four students came rushing into the classroom with their lunches in hand. They apologized and quickly explained that they received poor service at a restaurant (This restaurant is part of a national chain. Hint: The restaurant's name references a day in the week. I can’t give you the complete answer). They explained that after the waiter initially took their order, they waited 45 minutes before their food finally arrived. During the wait, no one came to check on them.<

As the deadline for the 8th Start-Up@Singapore business plan competition is looming near, it will be good to offer some tips for our readers on the first round of the competition. As a former participant, organizer of the Cambridge business plan competition and also a judge/educator now, I have developed the science and art in writing business plans for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to take part in this type of competitions in my own capacity. Some of these thoughts came about by my actual engagement with the investors. By no means is my advice meant to be the be-all and end-all standard for the judges, but most people could use it as a guideline in writing their summaries for the competition.

What kind of entries go into my rubbish bin?

It’s always intuitive to tell people what cannot work in such competitions. The same advice can be applied to the kinds of the companies which I am interested as an angel investor. I have heard pitches and will not bother to reply to pitches with “me-too” ideas. Here are the features in those entries which often end up in my trash can:

Something which you can do it yourself without going into this competition:

If you write an executive summary about starting an internet cafe, a restaurant, a consultancy, a chicken rice stall or etc, it is 100% without fail that your entry will not make it to the next stage. If you want to start a service startup using existing business models, forget it too. If you feel angry and disappointed with such decisions and your philosophy is that of entrepreneurship can mean the starting of small businesses, my reason to your gripe will be, “This is not the kind of entry that the business plan competition is looking out for. Since you do not understand what the market wants, why are you taking part in this competition?” In short, these businesses can be started by yourself, and I will strongly encourage that you do it yourself. I know that my co-founder, Weichang often start such businesses without taking part in such competitions. If he can do it while he was sick (with cancer at one point of time), so can those people who are healthy and wants to start their own enterprises.

Systems don’t work:

This is one that I heard from a fellow judge. If you are planning to integrate services from three different portals or build a product based on

No One Answers The Phone But The Sales Department
I am writing this column prompted by a recent column in USA Today concerning the difficulty in getting to a live person when experiencing service troubles. The writer gave examples of some national companies that were difficult, if not impossible, to get to if one needed to speak with a live person for help.I laughed as I read the article knowing full well that here in the Mid-South, land of hospitality and assistance, this was not the case. I knew that my local providers put emphasis on customer service and support. Ease of solutions was the southern way, I thought.I also knew that, utilizing my own technical wisdom and knowledge, I would never purchase a product or service from a company that made it difficult to speak

out by my actual engagement with the investors. By no means is my advice meant to be the be-all and end-all standard for the judges, but most people could use it as a guideline in writing their summaries for the competition.

What kind of entries go into my rubbish bin?

Something which you can do it yourself without going into this competition:

Systems don’t work:

This is one that I heard from a fellow judge. If you are planning to integrate services from three different portals or build a product based o

8 Low Cost Ways To Advertise, Promote and Market Your Business
We all are looking for ways to market our businesses cost effectively. I have come up with 8 ways to do just that all low cost to free. In fact most of these methods can be done from the comfort of your own home.That's right you don't even have to leave home. What could be better, your clients are coming to you and you don't even realize it. Okay lets get started, each of these methods I'm sure you have either heard about or are already doing most if not all. They are not new, nor are they some sort of secret.1. If you work outside of the home as many of us do as well as running a home business, you can post your business cards or flyers on your company bulletin board where company news is displayed. You should check with y

d pitches and will not bother to reply to pitches with “me-too” ideas. Here are the features in those entries which often end up in my trash can:

Something which you can do it yourself without going into this competition:

Systems don’t work:

This is one that I heard from a fellow judge. If you are planning to integrate services from three different portals or build a product based o

Costliest Copywriting Mistake #2: Assuming Your Prospect Has Prior Knowledge
Always assume your prospect knows nothing about you, your business, your products, your services. Because invariably they don't. Even if they did, with everything else cramming their brain, they need to be reminded and reassured you are who they think you are. (That's why one of the world's most recognizable trademarks, Coca Cola, is usually preceded by the word "Drink." There's always some yokel out there who doesn't know what to do with it.)Given that, it's appalling how many ads, websites, email blasts, brochures, and sales letters mistakingly assume the reader has prior knowledge and understanding of what's being sold. So they start smack in the middle of things, or use bewildering insider jargon, virtually assuring the loss o

up using existing business models, forget it too. If you feel angry and disappointed with such decisions and your philosophy is that of entrepreneurship can mean the starting of small businesses, my reason to your gripe will be, “This is not the kind of entry that the business plan competition is looking out for. Since you do not understand what the market wants, why are you taking part in this competition?” In short, these businesses can be started by yourself, and I will strongly encourage that you do it yourself. I know that my co-founder, Weichang often start such businesses without taking part in such competitions. If he can do it while he was sick (with cancer at one point of time), so can those people who are healthy and wants to start their own enterprises.

Systems don’t work:

This is one that I heard from a fellow judge. If you are planning to integrate services from three different portals or build a product based o

Real Estate Ways to Make Money - Six Specific Reasons Why I Chose to be a Property Scout
Like lot of people, you’ve evaluated a wide variety of ways different people and companies promise you ‘ways to make money’. It doesn’t matter whether it is on or off the Internet.Personally, I have investigated a few. No, I take that back, I’ve researched dozens of them.What do you think the common thread is?Most of these opportunities are just pure rubbish. The only ones who make money are those selling these so called ‘ways to make money’ opportunities. Most of these try to sell you the world, but then only leave you feeling scammed.This situation has tarnished the reputation of the ‘work at home’ and ‘work from home’ industry . It has made it difficult for honest companies with real ‘make money’ oppor

Systems don’t work:

This is one that I heard from a fellow judge. If you are planning to integrate services from three different portals or build a product based on three existing patents into something that can be done by anyone, it is also out. It’s very simple to give an example on this kind of business plan. Remember the dot com bubble, when people talked about integrating web services to create online stores to sell bicycles. If that is not enough, this is what an inventor told me, “I want to create a new music player made out of a component from this company and that company.” My immediate response to him, “Do you realize that you have just infringed twenty patents from twenty MNCs?”

If your idea is still science fiction…

If you want to build a transporter (in Star Trek) or a pair of shoes that can allow you to fly, that’s also out. We want something that is innovated concurrently as our markets are moving. The business plan competition or an investment does not fund ideas, but something concrete of a product which can become a hit. The only places where such pipe dreams get funded are in your imagination.

The REAL Thing we are looking for

There are three important traits we want to see in a good executive summary. Trust me, I do google search on some good ideas to see whether it is a “me-too” type. So, if you think that the judges just read and do no due diligence, you are going to get a cultural shock. I call this three important traits: Innovative, Sustainable and Scalable:

Innovative:

I have always told some students of mine to be involved in technology rather than be business people. Yes, the process is hard for a technologist but making an invention that transforms an idea to a commercializable product is something that offers a boost to anyone who takes part in this type of business plan competition. Most student competitors leverage on an inventor’s work to build their business plan. We seek innovation in the business plan competition and hence you can se

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We have all heard horrendous stories of how over regulation crushes small business people who compete with the big dogs in various markets. It seems as if the government regulators are merely there to crush the little guy sometimes so that the big boys with lobbyist budgets can get the government to intervene via some Congressmen, Councilman, Senator, Corrupt Judge or County Supervisor.

A career in the Culinary Arts is an excellent choice for a person who already has a previous interest in cooking.

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