Do the Numbers before getting the LOAN

Most newbie SMEs in Brunei are being mislead with the SME financing facility offered by financial institution. Most bankers or the government servant paid facilitator will encourage you to take the SME loan to either startup or expand or diversify your business. But don’t blame them, because they are being paid for that purpose!

A word of advice here is…DO NOT TAKE SME LOAN if your cash-flow indicate it takes you more than 6 month to get the cash back or generate cash inflow. Because it will silently drain and eventually kill your business progress or operation. Simply because the bank will chase you for the monthly payment a month after you get the loan, no matter how is your business doing. More than 3 month of non-payment, a warning letter will be in your mail box and the longer this things happen will end you being dragged to the court by the bank.

Use only the SME loan or financing for a quick cash or quick turnover business, where you can see the cash coming in at least within a month. SME loan is not good for most business startup especially in the manufacturing or that involves industry like agriculture. It only good for if you are thinking of buying someone else existing business with good customer base or good stream of incoming cash flow.

If you are in the import and retail business, simply use the ‘Letter of Credit’ or normally known as ‘LC’ bank facility. But again you must make some contingency for unsold items, as LC normally has a credit term of 3 month, where by the third month the bank will demand FULL payment.

So before you apply for the SME loan or financing, first do a good calculation on how fast the cash will come back to your account. If it takes longer than 3 or 6 month, refrain from signing the loan application. If not you will only building bad debts instead of good debts.

Entrepreneurs Not for Everybody

Most people think being entrepreneurs can make you rich in a short time as opposed to being employed by someone or somebody. Most people think they too can become entrepreneurs as they wish. Most people think being an entrepreneurs is far too risky, because an entrepreneur don’t have the luxury or benefits of the public working force, such as gratuity, TAP, easy loan eligibility, housing benefits and others.

I must admit, being an entrepreneur is a hard work and no single task is easy or as simple as ABC. No business plan you write on paper will straight away follow your desire. As an entrepreneur, I must always seeks new knowledge everyday regardless about entrepreneurship, financial strategies & planning, investment, looking for opportunities, analyzing market situation and trends and all sort of things. As an entrepreneurs, one must be creative, flexible, innovative, pro-active, have the stamina to go it alone, never easily give up and much more. Discipline is as well very important.

Recently, I meet an old friend who’s still working at one of the international bank in Brunei. He asked me about my business which I quickly replied back to him as bumpy with occasional hard landing. He look very disappointed at me and asked me to give my quest for running and owing a business. He continued it’s not good for me and my family struggling financially. He advice me to come back to the old job as bank officer. I just nodded my head as physical agreement, but deep in my heart I am very disappointed with him as he don’t have the guts of facing failure. He’s the risk-aversion type of person and of my type being risk-taker.

Over the years of his career as bank employee, he never made it (as to this stage) even becoming a bank supervisor. He is not the kind of person that is proactive but rather as a reactive. And this is not the kind of attitude if you are looking to be an entrepreneur. You will certainly failed if you do so. It’s better to be employed by somebody.

I enjoy creating things and building business around me. I can’t work for so long for somebody of being an employer. Because I am a risk-taker and proactive looking for business opportunities, creating and building one. I also love building a business for someone who’s willing to invest but I like to work with smart investor not the kind of poor investor. Poor investor in my own terms means, a person who have the money but don’t have the intelligence or understanding what he/she wanted the money for or doing. Poor investor only interested in making the big money and ignoring the risk associated with it. I always stay away from the poor investor. Poor investor mostly exist in our community and it is very rare to find smart investor.

If you enjoy working for somebody as an employer, then suddenly you wish to shift your pattern to become an entrepreneur, make sure you assessed your self. Don’t ever thing like this:

Entrepreneur = More Money

If your mentality is like that, then you might only be a day dreamer without action or stamina. A potential entrepreneur must have the stamina to do it alone for a long way, may several years before success, and you must be willing to take the risk and accept defeat. Never give up.

Raising Tilapia?

From my previous post, some of you may asked why I choose to grow tilapia instead of other high value fish for the fish cage farm. Well, I am not going to grow the mass abundant tilapia found in our local water ways or from the local hatchery. I only grow the best performing tilapia that can grow faster than the local version. It is a Hybrid Tilapia that can grow well over 1 kg in just 10 months.

The market? Well it’s everywhere around Brunei or even the world. As most aquaculturist will be aware of, Sugarbun fast food outlet are craving for it. Other than that, you can easily market it for local consumption at most supermarket. And if you have well over 800 gram Tilapia, you may enter the world market for fish fillet. Just make sure you have the capacity to supply for the hungry world market.

All of the tilapia I will be growing in Pelumpong will be for local market to sustained the imbalance import and demand requirements. The local requirements will be of less than 350 grammer, so the grow-out period will be less than 4 months from initial stocking of 20 gram. I projected, the company will be able to supply not less than 500 kg per month year round. How much will the company earn? Well, I don’t think it will complicated for all of you to calculate. Just shop around in the market and find out the selling price…and you do the maths.

Our Company New Project

Recently, our company just taken delivery of the newly designed floating fish cages for the Year 2008 project. The project is to develop and operate a floating fish cage at the Pelumpong Spit with over 100 cages.

Unlike traditional and most common floating fish cages found in Brunei waters, we choose to be different and forward thinking. We selected and imported the ETER Model C floating aquaculture frame. It is made from HDPE which can last well over 15 years, rot maintenance free and it is highly buoyant and UV resistant. This will ensure both our operating and maintenance cost at a manageable level.

The traditional wooden frame will need maintenance or replacement every 2 years and can be very costly on the long-run as based on my own experience operating and managing floating fish farm both in Pelumpong and Pulau Keingaran.

A total of 7 ocean going containers arrive in September and November of 2007 respectively for the delivery of our new floating fish cage frames, with a total investment worth well over B$400,000. We would like to thank BIBD and the Fisheries Department that has helped our company to do so.

It is expected by February of 2008, we will began our first operation with initial stocking of Asian Seabass (Ikan Selungsong) and Hybrid Tilapia for the local market. Then it will follow with Grouper (Ikan Kerapu) sometime in March or April (subject to seasonal fingerlings availability) for the export market.

Another project in the aquaculture is also well underway for the setting up of Seabass hatchery, in which I have been selected to lead the project for another company.

I believe with my experience both in the freshwater and marine fish farming, in hatchery and grow-out phase, will be able to move the project ahead and to make Brunei one of the leading aquaculture players in Borneo after Sabah. I will also use my experience in exporting Mouse Grouper (well over 2,500 kg) to Hong Kong (2005) to market the grouper for the lucrative Chinese export market.

No Paper No Dealing

From my past failure experience i would like to share my business sour experience for the new and the established businesses. Never do or deal a business without written and signed paper on hand exhibiting the terms & condition of the business dealing. Never put any body words as trust and legally bonded to the business.

Have everything written on paper as clearly as possible, including failure to deliver and pay for the products or services offered. If you don’t have this simple ingredients, NEVER ever do the business! It will kill you softly. Even if it involves someone you have been dealing for so long with very good tight relationship. In the business world and in business money does not appreciate words of trust.

If you just going to start-up a business, do the business planning carefully and if possible ask for some written agreement (sort of LOI or MOU) with either your supplier or buyer or better still from both parties. After you have those in place, then you can proceed with the business. Don’t try to gamble that everything will be going your way as you wish on the business plan. It only good on paper and will only look so ugly in reality.

So have everything on paper with clear terms & condition and each party roles. Only then you can part your money and do the business well.

Emotion & Ego Is Blind = Disaster

I have friends of all walks and sometimes do the same course of business. What I will share with you will be a lesson for all of us, including me. In any business we undertake, as far as possible please do not mixed it with emotion and ego. Because this 2 attitudes have no eyes and will take you blindly into unknown or known territories that will spell disaster.

One of my trading friend in the forex trading business have the 2 attitudes, which until today never made him a good forex trader. He keep losing on most trades. Whenever he make money on a particular day(s), he will certainly loss it the same week.

I have reminded him and continually teach him the best way of doing trades. In any trades, no matters it is forex, stocks, commodities, energy, precious metals or the similar financial instruments we must do it systematically. Sometime we have to create the system to suit our own personal trading style or type and the risk exposure we willing to take. A good trader is not about making the millions. A good trader is all about not to loss the trade.

Whenever I keep reminding him of this, he always make ways of his emotion and ego to trade. Today I observe his analytical trading approach. Last Monday I remind him to take the trade by following the market trend and never trade against the market. But today to my surprise he continually move against the market and enter the market by his emotion to catch the wave. In trading with limited equity strength, never try to catch the big wave. It is better to follow the wave. Catching the big wave can be fatal, with the unexpected current it will drown you. This is emotion of GREED and to get RICH quick.

Eventually he almost drown losing most of his profit the past week. Then he call me and blame the trading platform provider of being lousy and unfriendly. I try to remind him about the trading system I mention to him a few days ago, but he insist his analysis is correct and his trading style not the same as me. This is EGO.

As you can see, emotion and ego will never make you a successful trader nor a business person. Emotion and ego never have eyes nor does it learn the feeling of pain and guilt. Emotion and ego will secluded you from hearing any opinion. However, it can bring a person closer to blink of a disaster. It will make a hero to be a loser!

TREE: One of the most precious investment

A few months ago, I come across one investment article which I research the whole world about the best investment vehicle. One of the professional investor urged potential sophisticated investors to look at tree as one of the best investment.

First I laugh and wonder why on earth we want to invest in trees. It’s just trees and we in Brunei have a lot of untouched trees, except for Rambutan trees, Mango trees and the like. And it took time to grow a tree.

Well, after I read further and continue my search about trees then I understand the high investment values of tree. In today’s rapidly growing population and economies, people need to expand and occupied land that was once before populated by the animal kingdoms. Hence, we need to cut down a lot of trees. We need trees as one of the world eco-system and we need trees to provide shelters. Most wood furniture derived from trees.

If you have a deep pocket you can start a company, look for vast vacant land and start planting trees as many as possible. Have a good estate programs to manage the business or you can possibly start outdoor leisure activities as part of the business development. It took considerable amount of time frames to realize the investment return for this sort of business. Maybe 10 or more years before you can cut down the trees and start selling it to the saw mill factory or furniture factory.

Alternatively, you can (for the average or small investor) buy a share in a company that do the similar business. When you choose this path, don’t expect for immediate income like sell the shares when the share prices increase in value. This is a long-term investment and look for only dividends.

Make your own research over the web, look for good stock brokers that will help you enter the stock exchange and make your way for good investment. Most of the companies engage in the tree business are listed in the NYSE.

Drought On Rainy Season

In the past (if you following my blog), I have entered into several negotiation and business deals which should provide good cash flow for my company. It’s all very nice put on paper and sweet to talk about.

But in reality it’s on the opposite of the good side. None of the dealing went as planned. None of the projected income can be realised. Some are due to long approval from relevant authorities with lengthy red tapes or processes. Some are due to over optimistic expectation from my business associate. Over this long process and with my overdue bank payments, two of my three bankers are running out of patience. They have step into legal process against me and demand for payment.

All this problems in turn and slowly create a bad name for me. Banks start to blacklist my name and my company name. Some businesses start talking about my integrity, and to make it even worst some people start spreading news about me of bad business practice. Even worst that people are my friends, which all of them in the past helped them during their difficult times.

Basically I am cashless at the moment with unrealised cash flow in the forex market. I can’t withdraw the cash in my forex account as it still not meet my target and the equity margin will not be stronger enough to sustain any unexpected market volatility.

My current situation can be easily describe in this simple phrase…. If I move forward I will crash to a wall, if I move back I will fall from a cliff and into a dead valley. I go to a tunnel but I can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. If I stay in a room I’m suffocating for air, and if I go outside the room I will be suffocating inhaling the toxic air.

Long Overdues: The No.1 Business Killer

When I walked and talked the talk among the business people in Brunei, they always highlight the biggest obstacle for Brunei business continued growth and survival. The obstacle and the main killer is the long overdue payment.

Besides long overdue payment, I recognised under capitalize, improper management and over estimate during market research are also the business killer in Brunei.

Most businesses that engage on government projects will mostly often go to the business graveyard. The main reason will mostly due to long overdue payments that extends more than 90 days. However, I also found out that some businesses that do not engage with government project were also affected with long overdue payments. Some are attributed to competitors strategic and tactical marketing planning to regain market share.

To top it all, to manage the No.1 business killer (a murderer exempted from trial) is to have a good credit and money management. You can’t blame 100% on government late payments or your clients late payments. What I learned from my painstakingly (hard lesson) in the business world, is to limit your credit line exposure. You may limit credit sales of not more than 30%-40% of the company cash reserves or cash flows.

When I was still at the bank, the management will allow not more than 20% of all its credit portfolios to fall into bad debts or non-performing financing/loans. So why not we all practice what the big guys are doing.

In this way we can limit the late payment risk that will surely affect our business cash flow. Another way, if you planned to start-up a business or planning to offer credit line to your clients (new or existing) is to allocate a certain percentage of funds or capital for credit exposure risk and to have a legal papers in hand. In case of long default (providing the amount of credit default per client is sufficient to cover legal cost) we can bring the matter to the court for settlement.

So, in setting up a credit line or setting up a business plan, please do include your credit planning and risk exposure in place and asked the lawyer to do the job of collecting long overdue payments for your business. Do it professionally.

Over-Populated Chicken

 

 

The poultry business in Brunei is very competitive and getting expensive over time. The cost of production over the past years are increasing, and the number of producer in Brunei is also on the rise.

 

The short culture period of this business have entice some entrepreneurs to venture into the business, along with its profit potential.

 

But competition among producers in recent times is quite high and can be very challenging for both the established and new comers. More often we hear, new comers with less liquidity are closing down due to this aggressive competition and price wars.

 

Few years ago the price of chicken fry cost less than 90 cents, and the cost of chicken feeds was well below $30 range. Retail price can be as high as $4.00 a kilo, with live chicken at the farm gate price can be as high as $3.00 a kilo.

 

Now the cost has gone up and the retail price taking a reverse flow to as low as $3.50 a kilo with farm gate price of live chicken to as low as $2.50 a kilo. Cost of getting chicken fry now getting up as high as 95 cents and now there’s rumors that it will go up to as high as $1.05 each. While cost of feeding chicken can now cost as high as $35 per bag of 50kg.

 

Fierce competition among producers in Brunei to win the limited market share, has drived the reverse price, some can even offer as low as $3.20 per kilo on the retail outlet, just to get the share of the market.

 

This negative trend has asked some new and small producer to shut down their operation. Apart from cost, the number of mortality during culture period and pre-harvest has also added the costly trend of chicken poultry farming.

In Brunei there’s no regulators to monitor the price of the chicken, hence the price fluctuates quite volatile in order to win the market share.

Too Easy Too Good

A couple of weeks ago, my business friend approach me with great confidence and excitement of a business offer back in his home country of East Malaysia. Mr. Ron just about to have taste in the business world. He just resigned from his glamorous jobs working with the royals.

He is a very eager man and very ambitious, just like me when I’m still new to the business. Like a hungry tiger, just want to take any opportunity at first sight. Ok to cut logn story short, Mr Ron told me about a big project in this home country.

The project was to supply computers and do some installation for the commissioning of the computers to state wide school of over 900 schools. The project will worth around RM 60 million. Do you think that is not a good big deal to be true?

I immediately ask him with hesitation, how on earth he can easily get this project and how confident he can accomplished the project in 2 years? First, Mr Ron have no previous experience in the computer field or related to it. Second, he has no big capital fund to kick start the project. It’s just like a wonders he can easily get the project. Then he simply replied to me “I have good connection with the federal guys back in KL, he’s willing to give me the project as long as I can do it. No problem bro, this things is easy. I know what I’m doing.”

Then I asked him in more details of the project, including asking him about the award letter.  Mr Ron can’t give me an assuring answer about the project where he always says to me “if I’m not mistaken” about the project. Then he says “I have to go back to KL to meet the federal guy to discuss on how to get the award letter”.

He then insist to me to arrange a meeting with one of my friend who are more specialized in the computer field. Zaky and his company has done tremendous good job in programming computer softwares in various discipline. The latest being working with one of the local private clinics that has good links with Gleneagles Medical Centre. Zaky create a smart cards for the clinic’s clients to facilitate access to their medical records/history.

Mr Ron and me then finally meet Zaky to discuss the project Mr Ron about to venture. Zaky asked him a lot of pin point question, and he looks fool failed to answer the question directly. Zaky is a professional person and he just entertained my poor friend Mr Ron with some interest to understand Mr Ron character and attitude.

Then just about last Saturday 30th June, I call Mr Ron about the documents and award letter he promised to give it to me and hand-over to Zaky. As to my expectation, he can’t get the project because the federal guys need to see Mr Ron’s company must have at least shows a liquid cash/asset in his company’s account of not less than RM 2.5 million in order to be consider.

I briefly laugh about it and give him a little novice advise to him. I told him to look back and picture himself. I asked him about a scenario of a post as a government minister vacant. It’s a high paying job. I asked him will he applied for that post, and if so, will it make sense for him to take that post and will the government ever consider his application without any experience and background?

Alternative Business

It has been quite that long time I never post anything to this blog. Simply because I was too busy with my other business that will earn me a good living. I put there WILL, only after I fully study and understand what I am doing.

The business I mean here is quite volatile but will earn you good return if you fully understand the market and what you are doing. For me it is the alternative business than the business I have pursue before. You might ask, what business I am in to? It is many have heard before and many have misuse and misrepresent it….FOREX. Or Foreign Currency Exchange trading.

Why I go to do this sort of business? Some of you might say it a very RISKY kind of investment. But for me any business posses and attract risk. Some of you might say, you can’t really predict what and where the market will go? Well for me in the business world, can you really predict what and where the business in Brunei will go? Some of you may say it’s a very volatile market in forex? Well for me, do you really think business in Brunei not that volatile when everybody in the business want some bit market share of the limited market size in Brunei?

For me everything is risky and if you are in the business right now, you can’t avoid risk. But you may minimize risk by managing the risk. Managing the risk for me is to understand the risk. In order to understand the risk, we need to study the risk and how the risk can affect our business. Then identify how we can overcome the risk and if all possible minimize the risk to the lowest possible margin.

Risk management and understanding the risk in the forex market is one of the formula to be successful in the forex trading business. Then come how you manage the money or so called Money Management. Without good proper money management you can easily blow your forex trading account in less than a week or even in a couple of day.

One forex trading expert ever mentioned to me, anybody and everybody can make money in forex, but not everybody can manage how not to lose money in forex trading. More than often over 90% of amateur individual forex trader failed due to lack of money management and lack good understanding of the risk involved in the forex trading.

This is true and I my self have experience it before. The first week of my forex trading I made handsome profit of over 230%. Day after day, I increase my trading volume hoping to chunk out the big profit without understanding the risk of increasing my trading volume. The bigger you trade, the bigger the risk…. and this is what I have ignored.

On the 9th day of my trading, the market reverse due to market breaking news. Mr Allen Greenspan, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve appear in a news conference of the future of the US Money Supply. He made a controversial speech in saying there will be no longer cheap money. Once he says that, all the US Treasury Bonds rate immediately increase, Tokyo market shares tumbling down followed by the Asian market. Then it spreads worldwide like an epidemic. It also create a chain reaction in the forex market, where the US Dollar immediately gains its strength against all other major currencies.

At that time I was buying huge amount of British Pound Sterling against the US Dollar. Hoping to chunk another good profits for the day after a good week of trading. I was unaware of the Allen Greenspan speech where some professional forex trader stay out of the market and waiting what he may be saying. In less than one minute of his speech where he mention the phrase ‘No longer cheap money’ the forex market start what I called trend reversal. GBP or the Pound Sterling, immediately loose strength and take a sharp dive. This sharp dive took all my week long profit into huge losses, simply because I have traded more than previous day trading volume.

Due to my panic emotion, I immediately execute another trading hoping to recover my losses. Well do you think my immediate action recover my losses? Not at all. I execute wrongly as I was selling the GBP. I forget in less than 1 hour the Bank of England chariman, Mr Maverin King will announce about future interest rate hike decision for the GBP. After about 2 and half hours after that, the market change its direction where I only accumulate another losses.

Hard lesson learned for me. Know what you are doing, manage your risk and manage the money properly to limit the risk exposure. Today, I am not saying I am totally mastered the game. I am getting better each day as I learned along and honestly to say I am still learning the forex market.

It is true though, what one of the program I watched at CNBC says, forex trading is not about making money, it’s all about how not to lose money.

Environment Counts Your Success

The headline of this blog really counts. It is so meaningful and powerful in the broder broader terms. The environment I would like to say here, not just the geo-physics. It includes people around you. They will influence your success or failure.

During my good time of great success in the investment business, many people around me envy on my success. I can buy many things that I wish. You can travel where you want to go, where you want to eat, what stuffs you want to buy…and so on. One of my ex-bank friend even told me, “If you want that thing, you sure will get it as per your wish”. He said that when I wish to buy a BMW at a QAF showroom. In fact a few weeks after my visit to the BMW showroom, I drove the new BMW.

During my successful business carrer, people around me support what ever I wish to do. They respect me, and they love to be by my side. Because I will buy them breakfast, lunch or a high tea. When I need help, people will easily response without hesitation. People listen to me, and it makes me feel appreciated. When I feel aprreciated by them, I appreciate them and sometime listen to their problem. When other people need help, I offer them help without hesitation.

But, now during my bad dried financial times, people will look down on you and will try at their best to avoid you. I can feel it and it started a few years ago. My cashflow was running low in less than $10,000. I have to support my family, and as the head of the family I need my own transport for my family. In 2005, I sold all my BMWs. A couple of months I have to drive someone else car. Then it’s time for me to buy a new cheap car that I think will not burden me.

I look around for the right car and seek financial application from various banks around Brunei. I finally got it from HSBC and guess what….I bought a Renault Megane sedan car. I thought I make the wise decision. But the next thing you knew when I drove that car, people start criticized me…heavily. People don’t like my decision buying the car, and everytime I attend a function people would say I bought an ugly, unreliable and worthless car. People bombarded with thousand of critics, with some people say out to me in front of the crow, I am buying a car that has no value when resale and I don’t think like a businessman.

I was instantly puzzled on why people criticized my decision of buying the car for my family, where in fact I don’t ask any money out of their pocket to buy it. Then when my business started to slowdown, some people even labeled me as ” don’t know how to talk the talk in business”. They referred me in such a way when I tried to apply a school bus tender where I failed the tender. For me I have tried my best competing with thousand of companies gambling for the tender, and I was not destined to have it.

When your business are down with not much cashflow coming in, and occasionally you failed to pay some of your obligation, people start to watch you. They watch you closely and when the time is hard enough they will try to put some big stone on you to make it more difficult, suffer and they will laugh at you. They will easily labeled you as loser!

For me it’s a test of life and it’s part of the business cycle. But 90% of us who works for either the public sector or the private sector who earned a monthly salary, they won’t understand the people like us the business people. Our income is not fixed every month. When we short of cash, they blamed on your management skill.

What I would like to conclude here, if your environment filled by negative people your success rate can become so slim. But when your environment filled with positive and supportive people, your chances of success after failure will be high. If you being surrounded by negative people, try to stand out and find the right environment. As a business people, don’t take too much advice from people who never taste the good and bad of running a full time business. Their advice will just kill your stamina, motivation and determination.

Blinded Worm

Hiatus! I know it has been quite some time I did not updated my blog. Been away to bait another fish 😉 . Another new month emerged. Lately, I’m very busy studying new business venture that I think, need a good economic understanding and common sense.

As promised, I will blog about some of my business failures. In this edition (esehmen), I will share my business failure in the agricultural farm. It was in 2004, when I was being lured by one of my ex-bank collegue about a good business venture in the farming business. Specifically vegetable farming.

He got one piece of land about 5 acre in size, given by the Brunei Agricultural Department. It was not properly developed or run for some years, as he didn’t have enough time. He asked me, with certain business proposal to run the farm. Which I blindly agree as I was tempted by the good fortune it can generate from low investment and seemingly easy operation. Frankly speaking, I have zero knowledge in farming let alone doing house garden at home. I was being blinded by the $$$$$ it may generate.

Without much further ado, I handed over $10k to him and another $5k I used it as a working capital for the day-to-day running of the business. I employed an Indonesian worker, provided him vegetables seeds, pesticides, fertilizer supplies and a power generator to run it for me. You may wonder why I blindly gave away $10k to my friend. Well during the time I took over the farm, it was fully congested with tall grass and several high trees. And the water canal was blocked. So I asked my friend’s favour to do the cleaning and clearing for me. In another word, an extra pay to do the cleaning service.

It took one and a half month for the clearing job to finish. Soon after that, the farming began aggresively, with some help from the Agriculture Department. In my projection (in theory) most of the vegetables I farmed will ready for harvest in 40-60 days. Then I should have good income to pay for my worker and other operational expenses. I waited anxiuously for it. During this time, I’m visiting the farm every morning as part of my business monitoring schedule and to tackle any problems at its earliest moment.

In about 10 days before harvest, I suspected some growth deteoriations on the chilli segment, then a few days later it affected the cucumbers. Then I did all my checklist of what went wrong. My worker recommended me to buy one brand of strong pesticides and insecticides. Which I did, but to no help at all. And you guess what happen next…. bad harvest. Only the kangkongs were saleable at this time.

I then seek advice from the Agriculture Department and provide them with the vegetable samples. They then pointed out of disease that won’t be detected with naked eye at its early stage. They recommed me to take precautionary steps on the next crop cycle. Which I did….but it didn’t work.

Things never change alot after the next 6 month. Adding to the situation I found out my worker give exccesive pesticides and insecticides which will be harmful and irresponsible for the consumer. Exccesive use of it had cost me as well. Only cheap veggie such as kangkong were saleable but it cannot cover my expenses as for every 3kg of kangkong will only sell $1.00. Soon my cash for this project drained out as every month it will cost not less than $500 to run the farm.

On the 8th month, I decided to abandon the farm as I feel it won’t work for me and I was not passionate enough to explore the business further. I have more passion on fish and forex.

To conclude, never being blinded on low investment outlay for great income if you not passionate on the business you are doing or venture. Do a thorough study on the market and pitfalls of it from the experience people.

 Lesson learned.

Business Cycle

It is part of our life for every success or achievement and failure to happen. I am no exception for this life cycle nor does business. Most people will never discuss or talk about their failures in business. May be it’s a kind of taboo or a myth to talk over about it. Most business people will only talk about their glamorous success or just success.

Honestly speaking, I will write more in this blog in the coming article about my true encounter of failure. For me failure is the greatest lessons learn to be a successful entrepreneur. No body will be so successful today in their business without knowing the pitfalls or learn from their failure.

One good lesson here is from Dato Timothy Ong, one of our great entrepreneurs. He is a good reader on most books and magazines especially in the business field. One day he found Asia Inc, owned by one of the Thai business people and it was offered for sale during the Asian economic crisis. As a businessman, Dato Timothy thought it’s a good deal and opportunity to grab it as it fits his interest and he knew most of his friends in the business community like reading.

He bought the company, run the company and markets his company product. He thought marketing a business magazine was not that tough as most of his colleague will read it once in a while in a month, and it does not cost a fortune to buy or subscribe one.

Marketing part failed and he has no idea what went wrong. The content was good, the presentation was good. Then after sometime he turns to somebody he could trust and soon realized the failure. Marketing for a magazine will be successful if it were to be handled by a party or person or organizations that focus in the field of advertising. Not just a publishing company. Then after, Asia Inc is famous and selling good as we know today. It was being well received in most part of Asia including the European, North America and the Australian.

The lesson above told us to never narrow our field of study but thought us to broaden our study in the business field. It also told us to use professional service if we want to be successful and not to ever do it alone. Working together in a team will bear good result.

However, in my point of view apart from the above lesson, cash flow is the king for success combined with business intelligence. Never underestimate the power of cash flow, never underestimate your competitor, never over estimate the market and be ready of the unthinkable, such as act of Mother Nature.