The Business Conundrum

What's in an idea? An idea is the conception of an opinion based on a predicate or hypothesis.

As the old adage goes   "All you need is a good idea!"

The logic leads us to question the validity of the hypothesis of the resulting idea.

On the rare occasion that we may be thoroughly convinced with an idea, the pertinent question to next ask is, " Then how now?"

This is when there is a segregation of the men from the boys, sand from the water and awesome from the great. 

Taking an idea to fruition involves defining your proposition, refining the idea, lobbying support  from stake holders, planning an execution strategy, making friends, knowing your enemies, being out of your comfort zone, working on things only you may appreciate, facing up with naysayers, accepting that your idea may actually suck..

My point really is, JUST DO IT and keep it real.

An idea is devoid of action. An idea is a mere proposition without tangible output;  action is needed to gain momentum to reach the holy grail called success.

From my foodie perspective, thinking about how satisfying  a bowl of Laksa should be only results in salivation and a cursed craving;  a tease of your sensorial faculties. Getting down to cooking it requires resolve, action and finesse to enjoy the rich aroma from the coconut based broth infused with dried shrimp, onion, laksa leaves and the bloody flavour of cockles. 

Once we perfect that bowl of Laksa, personal satisfaction comes from conquering the process, developing finesse and the taste and aroma saturate into a sensorial orgasm. Be warned that personal satisfaction and mark of perfection does not represent opinion of general masses.  

Will your Laksa be a hit in the market?

Price it too low, you lose money, if there isn't enough laksa leaves, you cannot sell laksa, if coconut milk happens to be like pork is to muslims, you have a problem. What if they do not like the taste of Laksa?

Point is. If you like to make Laksa, Just do It. If you can't live on mere satisfaction, make sure its profitable. And even if it is, you got to adapt like water to glass to ensure that you can fit into an ever changing environment.

Are you willing to pay the price?

What's the Big Idea?

What lie's in an idea?

An idea may arise from one's observation in a gap or opportunity or it could just be wanting to work on one's passion and interest.

Having a vision and idea is mostly the fun part. Dreaming is free and I do recommend everyone to fantasize.

After which, reality sets in and the question is "What's Next?"

An idea is an idea, a dream is a dream. Realizing one's dream can only happen when one enacts on the idea.

This brings me back to my previous post which I ended on the note " Are you willing to pay the price?"

A simple expression of the price one has to pay is as follow:

Applied and Implied Value of success 

less

All tangible and intangible costs 

equals

Personal Entity Value 

All well and simple it seems.

The devil lies in the details.

We need to ask ourselves the favourite 4W 1H model.

Who What When Why How

After answering a whole slew of questions which would take you from conceptualization to execution, you would get a better idea of all cost involved as well as potential gains that you can get.

At this point, if you think that its worth your time, you will embark on developing the idea. If you are unconvinced, you usually will not and I urge you not to.

Only 5% to 10% of businesses succeed. Reality is harsh and uncompromising.

The path of entrepreneurship is one that needs a lot of passion and belief in it. The odds of success are low if you are unconvinced as the chief proponent.

One must pay the price of personal time, money, standing up to naysayers, opportunity costs as well as unfathomable challenges which can arise in any like or form.

Are you willing to pay the price?

Entrepreneurship

Moving on from a post that is possibly a decade too late, I would like to address the topic close to my heart, entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship is the very act of creating a formal structure with the premise of creating value through the allocation of resources with economic reward being the outcome of success.

Creating a business has been something which has captivated me for a long time. I enjoy conceptualizing new ideas, find solutions to problems and my biggest bug bear is redundant processes. Simply put, inefficiencies.

Whilst driving, it is imperative that I drive by the shortest possible route to avoid the jam. Whilst on my stint at Barclays Capital, shortcut keys on excel were my best friend in ensuring that I reduced the time lost moving my hand between the keyboard and mouse. If each shortcut saves at least 5 seconds ( the time which one moves from the keyboard to the mouse, then finding the right function), 100 actions result in saving of around 8 minutes a day and about 2083 minutes in a work year. That's about almost 1.5 days over the work year!

Don't get me wrong. I am not a speed freak! I am someone that is able to enjoy my carefully cooked scrambled eggs which is the result of the right technique of stirring, heat control and optimal proportion of salt, cream and cheese. I will slow cook my beef overnight just to ensure the meat is succulent with the right texture and maximum taste.

Cooking is something close to my heart; hence my analogies will revolve around it.

Like the best recipes, entrepreneurship needs the right mix of ingredients; temperament, foresight, skill sets, tenacity and luck.

Even with the right mix, the "value" that we create is  left circumspect to popular opinion which may not always be directly correlated to the "best" idea or one which has the best outcome.

Most importantly, the biggest question is still "Are you willing to pay the price?"

Hello World!

This is my inaugural attempt to write a blog. It is laughable that the world has moved on from html, coldfusion, xml to what's not and here I am; attempting to post a blog.

From my understanding from friends in computing, hello world is one of the first steps that one make as a programmer.. Not that I am.. but I think it is an appropriate association.

HELLO WORLD!