Invest and Think

Sundays are my gems for total R&R. When I can afford to flip through the papers leisurely, accompanied by good coffee. Today lagi better, with the faint breeze and cool weather. I sipped the intoxication slowly and enjoyed the mini steam bath. Spent Sat night watching The Descent with the boys. Was so fucking freaked out, I nearly gave up watching halfway. The show's about 6 women on an underground cave trip that went horribly wrong. All because...

1) The leader told a big fat lie. Was supposed to be some caves frequented by hikers. But the actual cave they went to, well, no one's been there before (or so they thought). She had good intentions though. But HELLO... putting 6 lives at stake cos you wanna mend a friendship between 2 women, by naming some stupid cave after her?? The maths just don't tally.

2) Too much boozing and smoking (I suspect weed) the night before a hiking trip doesn't bode well. C'mon.. who'd be in the right frame of mind to do a final check (pun intended) before the hike?

3) No registration with the local authorities about their trip. Climbing/hiking 101: Hikers and climbers are supposed to inform the authorities about the hike and the estimated duration they'd take. So they can send search parties, DUH. They should also leave obvious (duh) markings like a red flag to indicate their last position before the hike/climb.

4) Dark loomy corners, damp slippery mud-laced walls and enclosures, tight compact tunnels that fit a 100-pound woman and nothing more, panning the place via the viewcam's night mode cos your torchlight's flat.. The setting's enough to send claustrophobics (me), hydrophobics (me), and xenophobics (yes, me again) crashing through the nearest exit door (which I almost did). So imagine what happens when you put 6 women each with different fears, trapped in a totally unfamiliar place, with cannibalistic cave creatures (that look like Voldemort's long-lost uncles/nephews) as hungry neighbours...... Urgh, just recallling the show makes me shudder.

Whoa, luckily that time in NZ's Waitomo Caves none of this shit happened!! It was dark and damp and muddy too (put out 5 fingers and you see nothin'). We had those helmets with a bulb (like those used by rubber tappers) and mine malfunctioned. Worst was I lost my rubber boot during one of the waterfall dives (there's THREE to navigate inside the caves), scraped my palm against a wall stalactite, and at the end of it, scaled 8 flights of wooden planks (bloody makeshift stairs) on freezenumb limbs just to get outta the cave. I swear I hadn't cursed so much in my whole life... Had lived out my greatest nightmare, maybe that's why Descent scared the shit outta me.

Anyway the papers. I'd skim thru the first few pages, and slowed down towards Invest and Think sections. Worldly news too depressing for me at this moment. Wahlau, already so depressed still read about who-bombed-who or the number of kids dying of starvation..... Can kee siao one leh.

*Flip flip*
"The more he makes, the more he saves" caught my eye.
Wah.. so smart. 24 years old and a successful entrepreneur. Holds a psychology degree from Hartford Institute and runs 6 businesses out of his family's mansion in Serangoon North, generating more than $20,000 a month.
'24', 'Hartford', '6', 'Serangoon North', and 'more than 20,000 a month' screamed at me.
Cynicism says, "Haiya, must be family rich.. can tap on network and money from dad or mum."

Mr Chen's quest to start his own company began in 2002 while giving not-for-profit Chinese language classes at the Tan Clan Association in Chinatown, where his father was a director.

"Ha.. see? DIRECTOR of a clan association. Clans are congregations of businessmen and such,"

Apparently he earns his keep by giving Chinese tuition classes.

'After a year at the Tan association, Mr Chen's clientele grew so fast he had to move his classes to the unused first floor of his 3-storey family home. He then set up a company, Chinese Star Scholastic, and diversified into other businesses - maths tuition and extra-curricular classes such as abacus and painting, a day-care centre, a hostel for overseas students and talent firm Superstar Kids.'

Hmm quite smart. Knows how to diversify.. But STILL, must be his parents helped him out.
When asked how much it took to set up his tuition centre at his home, he said,

'I started this school when I was 22 with no help from my parents and without any savings.
Basically I put an ad in The Straits Times using a credit card my parents had given me, and the following weekend people came to register. So I used those registration fees to pay off the credit card bill.
Then I paid my parents $1,000 a month to use part of the house. There were many repairs I had to do.. It cost more than $10,000. I was very lucky that people allowed me to pay in instalments; they probably saw that I was very young and gave me a chance.'

Cynic bit her tongue.

'I draw only $800 a month. If I had more money, I'd rather give it to my teachers. It doesn't make sense if I compete with my teachers on salary. It'd be very ungenerous of me. They earn $1000 to $2000 a month depending on hours worked.'

Ok ah, ok. You win, young man!
Hmmm... wonder if he's taken?

*Flip flip*
At Think section now. The Lunch Interview's my personal fave. Each week high flyers and bigwigs are interviewed over good makan where they share nuggets of their success. This week's about Vikas Goel, who set up the billion-dollar eSys Technologies (annual revenue $3.4 billion in under 5 years) and who singlehandedly doubled Seagate's market share in India when he was their IT distributor.

His appetite for risk drove him to secure the make-or-break loan for starting up eSys - pledging his future family inheritance to a bank for a 3.5USD million loan. Hmm.. Good example to follow for those with family inheritances awaiting. (Disclaimer: owner of this blog has yet been certified nor train by any bank/financial institution.)

Vikas declares he's a go-getter. And it's all about recognising opportunity.
Now why does that remind me of a certain someone?
"It's about being a survivor, not being afraid to live anywhere in the world and knowing you'll find your way through somehow." Ahh... something I've got to learn if I wanna make it big n retire early.

'I just walked into the CEO's office and gave a presentation and he said okay,' recalls Mr Goel. 'This guy is known as a maverick in the banking community...He said I just sounded convincing.'

Hmmm... Confidence is key, people!!! To be able to sell is a form of art, something I'm still learning to perfect.

'They made me pledge whatever I owned anywhere and whatever I could potentially own, including anything I would have got from my family, my share of the inheritance.'

'I pledged everything I had, including my future.'

'The gamble has certainly paid off: In its first year of operation as a distributor of computer parts, eSys whipped up revenues of US$108 million. By the next year, turnover had soared to US$240 million from the company's expansion into 12 countries.

Today, eSys employs almost 800 people in 31 countries.

My jaws dropped. Amazing... Now if only I could get inside his brain and pick it..... AMAZING.
For the record, Goel was borne wealthy, had a string of degrees and certs and never short of career options. But he wanted to step outta his dad's shadow. He's living proof that persistance, hardwork, reliability and honesty does land you in good stead. In times of trouble, some lent him 300k and 1mio (all USD, mind u) without him asking.

I could do with some of that money... OW! (scalded myself on the coffee).

You know, reading about these big guns are really fuel for me. In the midst of jaw-dropping as I gaped at their achievements, I took it upon myself to draw a few good lessons from their experience. I'm not so much a quote person; I need to read about real-life successes and only those that truly impresses me, I'd take their quotes to heart so to speak. Like in Goel's case, who started eSys in 2000 when the IT sector was in a worldwide recession. He felt it was the perfect time to start a new business in the very same industry.

'As a real entrepreneur, you should be able to do more than just find available opportunities, because if there's an obvious opportunity everybody will see it, and the established players will take it before you do,' he says.

And the words that did it for me:
'You have to spot the threats that offer you an opportunity.
So basically, when everybody was walking out of IT distribution, I saw it as an opportunity to go in.'

Badly hit by the recession, computer-parts suppliers were then more open to working with smaller outfits like eSys. And what Goel had to offer was efficiency. Beat out the big boys by having a reputation for having low costs. Ingenious.

Backtrack a bit..
Few days ago over lunch at Tang's Island Cafe, I voiced out to Reub about the concerns I've for the company, and what I find is hampering our healthy growth - we expanded too fast for our own good. Insufficient support to internal operations already, how else to look after our overseas subsidiaries? As a result, staff morale goes down, which results in inefficiencies, unproductivity and shaky belief in the company's future.

So when I read Goel's recipe to success, I knew I was right about the problems.
'For every operation, we start small. We opened offices around the world one country at a time, with the same centralised back office which could support each operation. Then we would build up each office, make it profitable, and add people there.' I'd understand more from Mas during tomorrow's meeting..

The last bit of the interview reminded me of Reub so much, I laughed when I read how Goel described his schedule,

A bachelor, he works from 10am to 4am overseeing operations across various timezones, which leaves him with very little time to do much else. (He's 35, by the way.)

'Even my parents have to make an appointment to see me,' he says, with a sheepish laugh.