Tag: business

Routine Problems.

“Oh my God. Why? It was clearly written in the Invoice that I needed blue color, and now when the shipment has reached, you are saying that you have sent us black color? Are you serious right now?”, Chris yelled on his phone, talking to the supplier always made him frustrated and exhausted because of the number of excuses each one told for the mistakes, after a deep breath he continued calmly, “Please take your shipment back and send us the corrected items, I cant use this. Or please refund us the payment or we will have to work out something legal.” He cut the call after saying those words.

He knew fully well that it will take at least a good 15 – 20 days to resolve this crisis, that too if the supplier provides the correct color in a new shipment. What should I do, he thought knowing fully well that things might turn ugly initially when the upper management receives this information, But still what could I do? I sent the correct color sample, mentioned correct color in the Invoice and yet they made this blunder. Why is it going like this?

His phone started ringing again, it was the supplier again. Just looking at that name made it more frustrating for Chris, he cut the call and kept his phone upside down, not answering the messages or the calls. Of course, they would now be asking to give them another chance. Why should I? This is drastic, how can someone make such a mistake? Chris thought and remembered the value of the invoice again, but that is not all, the monetary loss is there of course, however, this is such a huge loss in time as well. Even if the supplier agrees to make a new shipment, it will probably take another couple of months to get dispatched and an extra month to get here.

The phone was ringing again but Chris didn’t pick it up knowing fully well who the caller might be. He tried to divert his attention by calling different people, asking about their work status. He didn’t feel like checking his email and got up to go for a jog.

An hour passed by, and Chris returned from the jog exhausted. Perhaps I pushed myself a little too much today.

He checked his emails and found an email from the supplier from about after half an hour after his phone conversation, marked at high priority. It must be probably for the balance payment. Why would I pay him when the goods aren’t even what I expected them to be, he took a deep breath and opened the message.

He could not believe it. The supplier had written that he made a mistake while stating the facts during their phone conversation earlier. Apparently black color was sent to another customer who had ordered black, and to Chris and his firm, they had sent the approved color only, that is blue. The supplier apologized again in the last line and ended the mail.

Chris was astonished. He was very happy, but still, how could the supplier have made such a mistake of telling the wrong information. He was so frustrated all day, but he finally took a deep breath and closed the email. He texted the supplier, “Got your mail. Thanks for the clarification” and went to sleep.

-Siddarth

The sights to freedom – 2

“Shine bright. Live brighter, even if the sky is clouded.”

It has been a tough day for Seko. He didn’t get up on time, didn’t follow the schedule and later on in the day he was so de-motivated that he just went to sleep. This was Day #1 and he acted like a kid who didn’t have a goal.

He didn’t do any exercise, or review his stock holdings or read news. At least he did try to manage what business he has at present, by really, was this enough?

The next day after he woke up, he checked the time and then cried in his mind for the lack of motivation and thoughts of failure lurking in his mind. What is the right path? Is there one?

“It will be okay. I will follow everything slowly and get where I want to. It takes time, it will not happen in an instant”, he said to himself while looking at the bathroom mirror. He touched the mirror with his palm, as if trying to console his own self, “It will be okay. I will get better. I need to also realize what all did I do today, and how it affected anyone. I do hope I changed someone’s life for the better today.”

I am not giving up that easily. I will explore, learn, do more and become the best.

 

Book Review: HBR On Strategic Marketing

This is an eye opener to the techniques of marketing. Whether you are a Sales person, a marketer, a manager, an executive or a business owner, this book can give you an insight on how to manage the Sales, generate better leads, how to integrate marketing with sales, asking the right question, marketing digitally and much more.

The way each problem is explained carefully and systematically with real life stories/experiments in the case studies, makes the topic itself much easier to comprehend.

In a chapter encouraging people to think about the best metric for brand perfect ability among the people, the main question that comes to mind is that, “How many people are willing to advice your brand to others?”

This book is not meant for beginner, but for people who are somewhat familiar with the marketing world and its jargon.

At the same time, HBR encompasses many of the bright minds, and getting an opportunity to read the case studies, that are rarely released by colleges, is a good opportunity to revitalize your curious mind, and learn more!

Rich Dad Poor Dad

#RichDadPoorDad #RobertKiyosaki #writer #book #review #job #hardwork #marketing #business #invest

Robert Kiyosaki is an amazing author, and little can be said why his books are best-“selling”. The way he explains different situations, and beliefs with personal experiences is intriguing and enlightening. He believes that an individual can go only so far with talent/hard work, and can only propel their career through better marketing of themselves – which in today’s world is true.

Consider this – There are at least 7 billion people on this planet. And there are less than a million professions, right? In fact, major professions such as Writer/Author/Actor/Athlete/etc. are less than hundreds, and it is even harder to earn a name in these. Imagine, millions of people trying for the same! So you need to be different. But how? Here comes your marketing techniques.

Another motto in the book is for people to realize about financial planning and stop going bankrupt or otherwise when unexpected situations might occur during a lifetime.

Business does come with it’s own pain, i.e. at least for the first 3 – 5 years of starting a business, you have to put in tremendous efforts for it to succeed. This is not the case with jobs. People might come to realize that a job is boring/unfit for them, and thus job-hop often, which might keep their lives interesting. This way, people are able to acquire newer skills, more connections and are able to adapt more easily to different work environments. I think that I was learn a lot from his book, and is one reason I have become more interested in business.

People should try to invest more in start-ups, real estates and others, where there is a higher risk but a higher reward at the same time. These investment, if done after careful analysis, yields much better results than just investing in mutual funds or trading stocks. At the same time, you learn about new ideas/places/etc.

I really enjoyed the book! Hope I get a chance to read another of his work sometime later!

Employer/Employee

#job #work #success #hope #employer #employee #business #employment #grow

When you are being employed by someone, it is like you are handing the baton/torch to that person. The baton/torch symbolizes that you trust the employer to lead you to a new level, and make you work hard enough to let your inner creator out. Many employees understand this but lack compassion towards the employer, and many employers understand this but lack compassion towards the employee. So how to correct this? There should be more discussions/product arguments between the employer and employee while keeping the conversation professional.

– Siddarth

Indian defense companies to work with foreign companies

#India #military #politics #money #business #defense #MakeInIndia

On Wednesday, India approved a policy to boost local defense manufacturing by effectively picking industry champions that would want to tie up with key foreign defense companies to manufacture submarines, fighter jets, helicopters and armored vehicles in the country.

India is looking forward to spend about $250 billion in the next 10 years on it’s military, and the major priority for it is to boost local manufacturing to create more jobs and more affordable defense products.

Under the “Strategic Partnership” model, the government will shortlist and then pick Indian companies to join forces with foreign firms. The winners will be guaranteed billions of dollars of orders to incentivize them to manufacture.

Currently, the Indian defence manufacturing is dominated by state-run firms which are criticized for poor performance. Private firms such as Larsen & Turbo, Mahindra Group, Tata Group, Reliance Group and Adani Group, are working hard for the defense tenders too.

Read the full article here

This is an amazing opportunity for foreign firms to collaborate with Indian firms. And India trying to rise up in military power is a major decision, considering it often finds itself in conflict with it’s neighboring countries.

Branded products

#business #thoughts #brands #unbranded #products #requirements #customers

Being in business, I wonder why do some customers ask for branded products with certificates even though the price for such products are twice the price of unbranded products with same certificates.

Is it because of the quality of service the branded company provides even after the purchase of their products. Or the product is actually somewhat different? I don’t think the product is different, considering that both the products carry the same certificates from the same testing laboratory.

So what is it then? Maybe the charisma/charm of wearing a branded product? Or maybe it’s assurance that the product is from a reliable supplier. But the same certificates and tests can be implemented here as well.

Trump’s Tax Proposal, is it right?

#Trump #President #WhiteHouse #Taxes #US #corporations #business

According to the a new proposal by the White House, the tax rate for corporations and pass-through business will be reduced to 15 percent. This could be a major windfall for the Trump Organization. As previously noted, Trump has refused to release his tax returns, hence making it impossible to know how much his businesses could save.

Besides this, President Trump also wants to repeal the ‘Alternative Minimum Tax’, a parallel system that kicks in when taxpayers request many itemized deductions and rejects specific deductions, including for assorted real estate write-downs that Trump tapped in past years. This is the tax that raised Trump’s taxes from $7 million to $38 million according to the leaked 2005 tax return of Trump.

Also, dropping the tax rate from 39.6 percent to 15 percent will cost government budgets around $1.5 trillion in a decade, i.e. more than a $150 billion in a single year.

Read the full article here

Wow. He is certainly a good businessman, and that’s why too-business minded people can’t run a government, where they have to care for everyone.

Family. Business. Studies. Work. – 1

#Family #Business #Studies #Work #Story

There were no words to describe, how happy he was. He had got accepted to such a prestigious college, he who hadn’t ever lived outside his home without his family was going to travel to the other side of the world and study and live.

His parents agreed to it, though they were a bit hesitant about it. It was time he left.

His father went to the college to drop him and stayed with him for a day to make sure he had everything he needed. The next day his dad left, and he promised to himself that he will work very hard since his parents were spending so much money to send him to college.

People nowadays, earn by themselves and then spend themselves. Parents hardly spend on their children anymore. Man, I am so lucky.

He went to the first class. It was awkward. It was so different than studying in his own country. He had to choose his classes by himself and make his own schedule, unlike in the colleges at his home country. It was more free, and more co-operative. Or so it seemed. But it was also a fact that many people end up trying to take different courses, and ultimately messing up their own schedule. He didn’t want to do that.

No, just follow the schedule that is advised by the department. Yes.

Initially he liked his major, and so the first semester went by. He returned home during the winter vacations, that were just for 20 days. He didn’t feel any change while coming back home, in fact he thought he was missing college more. Or maybe he was missing that life with more freedom. But in the end, it was all normal.

His father told him that he shouldn’t look for a job, in fact he doesn’t need a job after college. He should just join the family business.