A tribute to Mrs Lee Kuan Yew...a pillar of strength and encouragement

Hi friends,

This week, we pay tribute to an extraordinary lady who has been a source of strength to Singapore's MM and PM....and the nation...

See YouTube attached.

Now is the Time to consider exit for business owners....

Hi friends,

Asia continues to provide an attractive investment environment for the rest of the world as the developed market continue to struggle amid the nascent global recovery. Business owners who are considering an exit strategy for their businesses should give this a good and serious thought. Such opportunity do not always exits, not to mentioned that part of any successful exit for a business is the Timing.

Any existing business will have to exit one day and businesses exit for a variety of reasons. It could be due to either one or a combination of these reasons; retirement, succession, diversity of assets, capital for growth and association with a larger firm.

At the same time there are also a number of reasons why Asia has been looked upon to be so attractive. Due to its historical growth and development, Asia today has reduces it dependence on US and Europe for trade. Although there is still a fair share of trade with these two trade partners, the growing domestic market in Asia and intra-Asia and its growing purchasing power has made Asia a key growth area. In addition the valuation in Asia has become more attractive. Risk level inclusive of corporate governance and transparency is also improving especially after the Asian financial crisis. Many countries have made improvement efforts to strengthen their economy. However having say this, it does mean that there is no risk in investing in Asia. Obviously there are still risk but the favourable compelling factors may still worth the deal sourcing in Asia. From a private equity perspective Asia as a whole is still under-served relative to its counterparts in US and Europe. Hence private equity are all scouting around for good deals.

To evaluate an exit for any business, there are indeed many important factors to consider but one that is not often addressed or discussed by owners is Timing. There are 3 key major points to take note in regards to timing:the general economic environment, the outlook for your company's product or services and the prospect and performance of your company. The ideal time for the sale of a company is when all the 3 factors are on the rise. It may be rare situation where all these 3 factors are reaching its peak. But nonetheless it is always important to keep this option in your business radar screen. With the many private equity firms looking for good deals, business owners should do their homework and capitalize (seize the day!)the opportunity that is before them now.

Looking out:

1) Successful business owners who are considering an exit from their business through a trade sale.

2) Start-up company in Interactive Advertising looking for funding and business guidance.

3) I have a friend who is an experience HR manager looking out for career opportunity. If you know of any opportunity out there, appreciate that you let me know.

Regards,
KH

Leadership...so crucial in retaining your best people

Hi friends,

As Singapore ride on the upside of the economic cycle, companies also begin to think about how they can retain their most valuable asset - human capital to stay competitive. With the many publication that came along, there was one quotation that I find very interesting and most appropriate about retaining human capital. It says that "people join companies because of the company name, but people leave because of leadership".

I feel that this is one point that small and medium enterprise (SME) can properly leverage upon to create a competitive advantage for themselves. There is almost always this notion that SME finds it very competitive to find and retain talents in their organization. After a hard search for valuable talents and spending much time to train them, many of these talents do not stay. They will reach out to find greener pasture which they believe will be in the bigger MNC. Of course there are some who do not even consider working for a SME, to begin with. So to many SME it is just difficult to retain, but then think about what this quote says:

When nothing is sure, everything is possible.
~Margaret Drabble

In this writing I will not go down the path of what are the advantages and disadvantages of working for a SME vs. MNC. However I would like to share my thoughts that SME can seriously consider how they can sharpen their leadership traits as a means to retain talent. Some SME may not be clear about what Leadership do and what is it all about. Well, in brief:

The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.
~Henry Kissinger

Developing clear leadership traits and bringing your team on board is one of the key success factor. Business owners in SME should exploit the richness of their experiences and foresight, and find a way to communicate it. There are many general theories out there about Leadership but frankly there is no exact right or wrong way in getting it real good. It just have to start from a clear mind and adjust it along the way as one finds appropriate. The golden rule is to make sure your team understand and believe in it. Hence it is not something that SME need to spend a lot of money on leadership or staff retention programs. You will be surprised that it may not be as difficult as you think, if you put your heart to it as this quote suggest:

People are more easily led than driven.
~David Harold Fink

Hence to all the SME out there, you can have a competitive edge to retain your talent for it is not always only the organization matters.....leadership matters more..

Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.
~John Maxwell



Looking out:

Interactive marketing start-up looking for 1st or 2nd round of investment.


Take care,
KH

Taking street food to the next stage of entrepreneurship

Hi friends,

Living in Asia gives us a great a opportunity to enjoy and savour a diverse range of food, from the more high end restaurant dining to the rich street food variety. We are indeed privilege to be able to enjoy it. Recently there was an article regarding the need to preserve this street food heritage, less we loose its authenticity as time goes by. The call was that this culinary skill should be taught in catering schools to promote the interest of developing a career or business opportunity for it.

I find the article most interesting and can definitely associate with its thoughts very well. I wanted to share that indeed there is a great opportunity in this area of street food especially from an entrepreneurial perspective. I came from a background where my mother is a street hawker. Along the many years that she has been in it (she retires a few years ago) I have also been involved in the various aspect of the business. That kind of exposure gave me good experiences and skill sets in the street food business and its opportunities. In this business indeed there is a lot of hard work and long hours but the entrepreneurial skills that one can learn from it is invaluable. Some thought that such business is a very simple one. That is not really the case. If you have been into it, you will find that there are many aspects of the business planning that one need to carry out, among others from the need to plan for fresh ingredients, timely supply, understanding customer's flow and preferences, developing good customer's relationship, financial and cash flow planning, risk management, branding your stall etc. In fact the greatest of them is the intellectual property (e.g. your sauces and ingredients) that you have developed. How do you preserve your IP and pass it on? It is no different from any other business except perhaps for its scope and scale. There is great entrepreneurial opportunity in this food business. It also does not always have to be of a lower class. There are quite a number of street food today which due to the entrepreneur's creativity and innovation has allow them to price it at a much higher price. And if the food and services is done properly I believe the customers do not mind paying for the premium to enjoy their favourite food. Though such business may involve much work and longer working hours but the margins is also good. I spent approximately 10 years (in and out) in my mother's hawker business. I know every aspect of it and I am proud that I had this opportunity to learn and experience it. By the way, where do I come from? I come from Ipoh, Malaysia, a place famous for many of it street food. What kind of hawker food that my mother was involved in? Wanton mien (noodles). As I used to tell others, give me a day notice and I can set up a stall and ready to roar!!

I visited Penang recently and was fascinated with its vibrant street food. I took a picture of it. See picture above.


Looking out:

1. Signal engineer who can assist in a new technology venture initiative.

Catch-up the next time.
KH

Start-ups is exciting but remember to think long term

Hi friends,

According to the CNNMoney.com, Singapore was ranked (among top 20) the best country for start-ups in 2009 (and 2008). For all that the country is doing to spark and assist start-ups, it is surely a great acknowledgement that it comes up at the top of the rung. As for aspiring entrepreneurs this is also a good news to start their dream enterprise. Most aspiring entrepreneurs will spend much time to plan for their businesses. But not that many spend enough time to associate their new established enterprise with their personal well being and how they should optimise these two aspects.

From a business perspective, many know that there is the Business Life Cycle but not many are aware that as an individual entrepreneur, there is also this aspect called Personal Life Cycle. These two aspects are not independent but in fact very much related and corresponding to each other. Generally in both life cycles, there are the four phases of Start-up, Growth, Expansion and Decline. In each of these stages, the characteristics of the owner flow with the characteristic of his business. For example at the Start-up stage where from a business perspective, among others it requires lots of stamina and financial resources, correspondingly at that time at the personal stage, the entrepreneur also requires high energy, personal motivation, financial support. Similarly at the Expansion/Decline stage, the business has probably reached its peak and hence ready for further expansion or sale, the entrepreneur at that time would probably be thinking of retirement or choose to enjoy the fruit of his success.

What all this mean is that the entrepreneur should plan from Day One, what is required for each stage of his business and what does that mean to him from a Personal Life Cycle perspective. Each stage is different and requires different planning to achieve and sustain it. For example how should he plan so that as he grows and enjoys his fruit of labor, he also plan for his next step of the cycle? Should he consider for Business Continuity Planning, offshore planning for his wealth accumulation, succession planning, business growth strategy etc?

Failure to plan and consider each stage of the progression can cause one to be caught off guard against the unexpected. However having continuous planning creates flexibility that will be beneficial to each and every stage of the business and personal life cycle.


Looking out:

1.A franchise manager who has proven track record in F&B business.

2.A Search Engine Optimization expertise for a growing online business.


Happy planning,

KH

Most neglected capital asset..... called Reputation

As the world continue to ride on the economic uncertainty, Asia has continue to spearhead healthy growth in this region. A brief encounter at the M&A (mergers & acquisitions for those who are unfamiliar) scene shows that Asia M&A which has grown from a small, financing focused product just about five years ago to a significant part of the financial growth story. Asia M&A activity now comprises of about one third of global volume - up from just 7% in 2006. In all these M&A activity, amidst all the analyses, legal and regulatory compliance details, lies a very important expectation which is the expectation that the parties to the M&A deal will live up to what was agreed and committed. Here lies the greatest test of all.....will the other party live up to its commitment? Although one hope that all things plan well will goes well but sometimes things just don't goes that the way it should. There is a famous quote that says;

"A warrior accepts that we can never know what will happen to us next. We can try to control the uncontrollable by looking for security and predictability, always hoping to be comfortable and safe. But the truth is that we can never avoid uncertainty. This not-knowing is part of the adventure. It is also what makes us afraid."

However despite the fact that uncertainty will be there, parties to the deal should learn to build on their reputation capital. It is the basic principles of integrity and fairness with which firms can build an enduring reputation for his enterprise. Companies that embraces it finds competitive advantage in the corporate, social and environmental circle. It is a value creation that puts the company a step beyond and differentiate it from the others. Companies in a deal should endeavour to plan and work out what has been agreed. It is sometimes easy to take things lighter after the deal is inked but failure to deliver has a price to it and it is also one which is very difficult to reverse. However always need to be reminded as another wise saying goes:

"If you must choose between a good reputation and great wealth, choose a good reputation. - King Solomon.


Looking out:

1) I have a friend who invested in a TaeKwanDo school. Do check it out if you or your friends are interested. Here is the link. www.kyungheetaekwondo.net


Look forward to our next sharing,
KH

Start-ups, a needed path for a growth economy

Hi friends,

The US is experiencing turbulence in its economy. So much has happened and its challenges ahead is by no means an easy feat. The US will need to revitalised and put laser focus into what it can do to lift its economy out from these challenges. There have been several advocates in the news that the US need to fire-up its entrepreneurial spirit to lift its economy out from the uncertainty ahead. This requires a change in the people's mind set and the willingness from the nation and the government to plunge into this effort.

Entrepreneurial efforts to spur many start-ups is always an effective way to lift an economy or to bring the economy to the next level. Start-ups initiatives also brings in a multiplier effects that can benefits many levels of the economy, from jobs creation to increasing the standard of living of a society. It brings in economic and social benefits that every country who wants to be among the most competitive nation desire to achieve. Obviously as in any new adventure there will be certain risk associate with it. There is where we need to be educated to be a learned risk-taker in venturing into a new space. There can be no upside without risk. However new start-ups is a very important source of innovation. Great innovation not only brings in many fold of returns but also has the ability to spun further ideas to continuously propel an economy ahead. Singapore is no exception to this initiative. A lot of funding programmes and assistance has been developed to assist start-ups especially in the knowledge-based space. This is a great effort to ensure Singapore continue to stay ahead. Entrepreneur wannabe should seize this opportunity to read the market and venture into the next Big thing! It is good to be knowledge-loaded but it is even better to learn how to commercialized those knowledge. One learn and gain so much in an entrepreneurial venture. The need to fire-up the entrepreneurial economy does not only confine to the US but many other economies in the world as well. Many more start-ups is needed...

By the way do you know which is the best country for start-ups? .....check it out from the link at the right hand side of this blog page.

Looking out:

1. Any 3 man-team who inspire to start-up a venture in the technology space. Funding and mentorship available.

2. Internet marketing expert who wish to co-partner in a new venture. Opportunity abound!


Until the next update, bye
KH