Wednesday, November 12, 2008

NeighbourFOOD inc.

sometimes it's good to be persistent... sometimes it's good to be adventurous.

started a cybershop on cafepress awhile ago. design aside, i reckon that the US$ price tag actually stop some Asian buyers to buy.

now, there's a revolutionary change. a new shop has been set up, closer to home at

click me!
watch this space. more to come ;)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Once upon a time...

在1997年那年, "同在屋檐下朋友会"诞生了.

还记得吗? 朋友会之所以诞生的缘故是什么?

当时,毕业在即, 总会对那段将青春挥泼的淋漓尽致的日子感到不舍.

无奈的是,人,总得长大,总得向前看,向前走.

所以我们也义无反顾地朝向梦想前进. 但,我们想有些属于我们特有的回忆,一些对青春的羁绊.

一个小圈子.

一个, 属于我们的原点.

有时,人忙起来,总会有一些迷失. 在这个时候, 我想, 最好的办法,就是回到最初的原点.
去寻找当初的感动, 最初的自己.

若干年后,我们也将实体的朋友会(当初我们可是有朋友会会员通讯簿的)移架到网上.

一直以来,我们都是在msn group上混. 聊聊近况或胡扯一番.

后来的后来, 大家也渐渐忙起来了,在msn group上打混的日子也少了.

还记得吗?纵然 我们少了上网聚聚, 可是也会定期地活跃起来(虽然也只是一下下而已)

那就是在msn group要将不活跃的group关掉的那时候.当时,我们会不期然地再上一上去,re- activate他. 好让我们的朋友会得以延续下去.

如此这般,我们也反反复复地弄了好多回.

直到…




这么办?还延续或不?

Monday, November 10, 2008

signing off...

November 10, 9.48am

Got a bloomberg chat message from one of my closest chat buddy during work time.

he told me, he got axed.

he's signing off, once again, from bloomberg (without a job = without bloomberg access, unless you can afford to pay for the terminal service yourself...)

looking through my speed dial book, alot of my mates are "unavailable" most of the time.

Today, i am adding another guy on that list.

Probably the most severe financial crisis of the century, i must agree. the worst is, this is not the end yet (or anywhere near it...)

signing off... gosh... this space is getting lonelier and lonelier as days gone by...

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

business venture

since primary school days, "business man" has always been my top choice of career.

during my high school days it has "evolved" from "business man" to a more canggih word "entrepreneur".

from a dreamer, to a student, to an analyst to a banker, the desire to run my own business has never really subside.

in fact, it has gone bigger and larger.

a couple of years ago, it would be great if i can start an online business, but i am glad i didn't because, the very reason of not starting it at the first place was the "sustainability" issue.

doing an online business is just like writing a blog:

"You gotta give your customer (reader) a darn good reason to keep coming back"

it was a good idea as it involves almost zero* cost (*terms and conditions apply) maintaining it and pretty much, with a well-known brand name, sales revenue will almost equate 80-90% of the net profit.

with that sort of profit margin, it enables you to control cost more efficiently and increase your flexibility for capex and advertising, which are key for survival.

but again, in the internet world, customers are more demanding. instead of one, they want you to give them multiple reasons to keep coming back.

firstly, a nice and smooth layout of the webpage, aka the Interface. no one would like to surf a lousy website using only html programming (for xxx website, maybe... but i doubt so too...)

secondly, an attraction or a Reason. for instance, cheap goods? nice graphics? informative? entertaining? and for whatever reason it is, it has to be on a marginal and comparative basis.

it must be cheaper than other website, it must be nicer, less bias and more entertaining. if not, there will be a huge question about the sustainability of the website. That's because the Opportunity cost for an online customer to "switch" is very low, about the usage of million nano micro joule of energy to click away from your website.

Both Obama and McCain have 11months to campaign, while your website only has 1 sec to sell.

thirdly, professionalism. your website must give the impression that the website is not an empty shell nor a hoax. it must be real or appear to be real. the act to instil confidence in viewers' mindset could be one of the most difficult thing to do. But good word-of-mouth can help.

what else. oh ya, low barrier-of-entry equates to High Competition. so, in order to sustain, you must have a solid fundamental.
it's hard to survive in this business world if your e-business relies solely on "internet activities".

The sustainability of an online business can be enhanced if 1) internet is just a mean of marketing tool and 2) the underlying "goods" or "services" which you are selling has a secondary market other than virtual world. ;)

my two cents worth... so time to brainstorm for what to sell now!