Category: Business

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Books Business Life Lessons Money Mindset Personal Finance

Searching for the book Ready, Fire, Aim – Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat and learning how to sell

A couple of days ago, I read from a blog about a book titled “Ready, Fire, Aim – Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat".  The book is about growing your business, whether it is from startup to a profitable stage, or from an stagnating business to skyrocketing success.  I got excited about it since I wanted to start my own business.  So immediately after work, I went to the local bookstore to look for the book.  I scoured the whole business section, but since it is only a small book shop with a few titles in it, I was more trying my luck than really searching.  After running out of luck, I went to my favorite bookstore at a nearby mall, hoping that with their bigger collection of books, I’d be able to find what I was searching for.  To my surprise, I did find the title in their database, but unfortunately, the only copy they have has already been reserved for someone else.  Oh well, there goes my chance of getting the book on my second try.

I was really very eager to read the book, and I wanted to do everything I can to get a copy of it as soon as possible.  Once I got home, I searched the internet for other bookstores.  Luckily, I found one which carried the title I was looking for.  The only catch – it was already middle of the night.  So I had to wait for the next morning to try and buy the book.  Well, I can wait.

The next day, I hurriedly finished my work and got off early to go to this bookstore, which was around half an hour commute via train.  It was a hectic and long ride given the rush hour traffic of commuters.  Once I got to the bookstore, I immediately went to the business section.  At first I tried to manually look for the book and flipped through the each title one by one, but after around 10 minutes of hopelessly checking the titles, I gave up.  I then tried to look for an information counter or a computer kiosk where I can search for the book. Luckily, I found the kiosk a few shelves from where I was.  I typed in the author’s name to search and voila, there it was, the book was located under business section 16-B-02.   I went back hurriedly to the business section and found what I was looking for.  To my surprise, the book was hard bound.  No wonder the price is a bit hefty.  I didn’t mind, as I was happy to get the book.

I went home and immediately devoured the first few pages.  I’m still reading it but I’m extremely excited on some of the ideas I learned so far.  I now know that the the first thing I need to do if I want to become a business owner, is learn how to sell.  My main goal is to sell. Sell. Sell. Sell.  It’s a scary thought for me knowing that I’m quite shy and have very little experience selling anything in my life.  It’s a big challenge for me, but I know how important it is, and I really want to learn how to sell.

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Business Life Updates

Happy Valentine’s Day

It’s hearts day today.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

For the past few days I’ve been thinking of ways how to celebrate the day with my beloved wife.  She’s been busy the past couple of weeks because of her work, sometimes even spending some weekends at the office.  I want her to just spend some time to rest a little while and take some time off.  So, instead of going somewhere, we planned to just stay at home and celebrating with something a little bit personal. 

It’s a bit tricky to pull up a surprise for something you spend almost 24 hours everyday with.  I wanted to surprise her before she wakes up. And so, I got up early this morning to buy some flowers for my beautiful and loving wife.  It was still dawn.  I walked the dimly lit walkway down to the train station.  The flower shop is about 7 stations away.  It’s about 30 to 40 minutes trip back and forth so I figured I still had quite a few minutes before my wife wakes up. 

Just before sunrise, I arrived at our sweet home.  I sneaked into our love nest quietly.  But as soon as I stepped inside, my wife woke up.  My wife being a very observant lady that she is, caught me holding the bouquet of dozen roses, trying very hard to hide it.  I just smiled, kissed my wife and greeted her a happy valentine’s day.  Yes, she was surprised.  Not in the way I imagined, but I’ll take it anytime.  As long as my wife is happy, I am happy. 

valentineflowers

What a way to get the heart’s day started.  How about you?  How did you celebrate valentine’s day?

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Business Life Lessons

The next revolution of transportation technology – high-tech bikes, flying cars and intelligent machines

I just watched Discovery Science on TV.  The episode featured the next revolution of transportation technology.

In Europe they have this high-tech bikes equipped with built-in GPS.  These bikes can never get lost.  Anyone can ride the bike, go somewhere then leave the bike at the station nearest to their destination.   The bike is free of charge for the first 30 minutes.  Longer than that and there’s this smart card they use to pay for the bike rental.  This lessens the dependency on cars.  It lessens traffic.  It solves the problem of parking.  It’s environment friendly.  It’s seamless.  It’s even good for the body.

In the future, they even envision these bikes to be able to generate energy out of the pedaling action of its users.  The energy generated by each bicycle will then be collected once they are parked in the station.  Each bike might give out only a fraction of energy.  But when thousands of bikers each contribute, the total energy becomes massive and could be a viable source of energy.  Perhaps, in the future when this technology becomes sustainable, and more of these energy creating ideas become mainstream, the world will no longer need to depend so much on oil.

There’s also a hydrogen-powered bike, which looks like a scooter more than a regular bicycle.  It can accommodate two people at a time, which is great.  It looks very easy to use, and no balancing required.  Even kids can use it.  It is also nature-friendly as it combines hydrogen with oxygen to generate electricity and disposes off its very safe by-product which is water.  Its slick design, ease of use, and “green” technology is a powerful combination that solves peoples problems.

According to the show, the future will also allow everyone to fly their own cars.  That will definitely solve the problem of traffic.  The two-dimensional problem of roads can then be solved by the three-dimensional solution of flying.  In the future, they expect anyone, even those with totally no background in air flight technology, will be able to drive these flying cars.  Boeing is developing these virtual three-dimensional lanes similar to roads but hanging on the sky.  The intelligence built into the flying cars will be able to detect and prevent any collision as well as dangers brought about by the weather.  To solve the same problem, some scientists are also studying how swarm of insects and/or bats efficiently maneuver themselves without ever colliding with each other.  They simulated these insects using mini flying robots which look more like helicopters with built-in cameras and transmitters than insects.  The data coming from the camera feed are transmitted to the computers and the artificial intelligence kicks in so that each of these mini-helicopters could communicate with each other.  For example, in the advent of a pending collision, one of them could tell the other that it is trying to go to the right. The other then receives this message, processes it and decides to go to the left to prevent collision.

While watching these marvelous and futuristic inventions, I could not help but reflect how far will technology take us.  At what price will humanity need to pay for these great inventions?  Can the bike of the future make us more human?  Can the ability to fly make us reach out more to each other?  Can artificial intelligence bring more meaning to our empty souls?  Perhaps only time will tell.

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Business

How potato chips are made?

Just this morning, my wife and I were watching a TV show about how potato chips are made (or cooked).  Did you know that potatoes actually have sugar content?  And it is 80% water?  According to the show, the sugar content, when heated gives the potato the crispness that we all so love.  And the water?  It all goes up as steam when the potato chips are deep fried in sunflower oil. 

The potato comes out of the farm, delivered to the plant, where it is first washed through several layers of scrubbing.  It’s amazing to see that there’s actually a way to clean up a potato without the touch of a human hand.  Once the potato is washed, it is ready to be cut into thin slices.  And guess what?  another machine does it’s magic.  A rotating blade chops off the potato in several directions.  I cannot imagine having to manually slice hundreds and thousands of potatoes with just a knife on my hand.  Once the potatoes are sliced, they are then fed into a very hot sunflower oil for deep frying.  In about 5 minutes, the chips are cooked.  They are then set through a series of vibration to segregate the good potato chips from those that are overcooked.  A video scans the whole batch and blows the bad potato out of the conveyor.  Once, the good potatoes are selected, it is ready for the flavoring. The flavoring is added via a rotating cylindrical drum similar to the way cements are mixed when building roads. Once the chips are flavored, they are ready to be packed into bags and boxes.

At the end of it all, what amazed me was how such an assembly machine gathers these muddy potatoes, washes them, chops them into thin slices, deep fried, then flavored, all with very minimal human intervention needed.  It seems like magic.

As a child I have always been fascinated with automated assembly lines like these.  To me, when something gets created, genius is unleashed.  I wonder how would it feel like to design such an amazing line of machinery.  Could it be better than the taste of a delicious and crispy bag of potato chips?

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Business Credit Card Life Lessons Money Mindset Personal Finance

3 tips on how to track cash expenses effectively

For the past couple of months, I’ve been trying to track my expenses.  But my problem is, I haven’t found a nice way to track cash.  Yes, I use cash.  In this part of the world, cash is still king. 

I remember when I was assigned to the US for a 6-month stint.  While in the US, I rarely used cash.  I can count on my fingers how many times I had to reach out for my wallet and spend cash.  In most cases, I used my corporate credit card.  On other times, I used my ATM debit card.  Of course, when I buy online, I can only use paypal, or my credit card.  Once a month, I would receive my statement from both my savings account and my credit card.  If I want to check the transaction real-time, I can just login online and check my credit card and bank statements through their internet banking services.  Instantly, I would know where my money went.  Sweet.

But when I got back, I had to use cash again.  The problem in most of South East Asia is that people rarely use a credit card.  Unless I am buying a washing machine, or any other home appliance, I don’t want to use my credit card.  Besides, most stores have either a minimum order to accept your credit card, or they charge the same item for a little more when you pay using your credit card instead of cash.  So, cash it is!

Track each transaction.

I tried to track my expenses monthly through my bank statements.  But I can only see deposits, withdrawals and the occasional online internet banking transactions.  It doesn’t give me any idea how I spent the cash I withdrew the other day. Now, I’m trying to track each cash transaction I make.  How? By keeping the official receipt.  Keeping the receipt of each of my cash transactions helps me know where I am spending my money.  In my case, most of my receipts come from the office cafeteria, the local grocery or my favorite bookstore.  That’s when I realized, if I wanted to cut back on my expenses, I could probably eat my lunch in the cafeteria less often.  Perhaps, keep it to only 3 times a week instead of everyday.  In addition, I could buy a book only after I’ve completely read the last one.  Or maybe, I can buy only a few items in the grocery store, not a whole-month supply.

Write it. Picture it.

I thought of carrying a small notebook with me everyday so I can take note of each cash transaction on the spot.  But when I realized I would need to carry it with me down the office cafeteria where my officemates also are also having lunch, I hesitated.  Perhaps, I’ll just keep the receipts for now.  In the end, however, I still need to consolidate all these receipts and come up with some kind of a report.  For now, I’m using an excel spreadsheet.  I just list down the date in the receipt, the amount and a brief description.  Then I try to generate a pie chart out of this data.  In excel, this is pretty straightforward.  Just select the list of transactions, then click the Chart Wizard at the top menu.  This pie chart gives me a summary of my expenses. I can take a quick look and easily picture out where the bulk of my expenses are going.

Keep it.

The reason I wanted to track my expenses is because I didn’t know where my money is going.   If I don’t know where is it going, I wouldn’t know where to cut back.  After I found out which transactions are eating my budget, I started to cut back a little bit on them and saved a little cash.  I haven’t figured out what to do with the extra money. For now, I am just keeping it at the bank.  To my pleasant surprise, I’ve seen my savings grow month after month.  It’s one of the most liberating thing I’ve felt in some time.

It’s just 3 simple tips but it helped me gain back a little control over my money, even if only to save a few extra bucks.  How about you?  How are you tracking your cash expenses?

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Business Life Lessons Personal Finance

3 tips on starting a business and why I am still clueless

Over the last couple of months I’ve been contemplating to go into business.  The thing is, I have no idea what business to be in.  Or how I plan to do that.  I don’t even have any background in business.  I’ve been raised from a family of hard workers, working for the government, working for other people, working for money.  I am not even particularly good in selling stuffs.  I’d end up giving everything for free. =)

Or maybe these are just bunch of excuses.

They say, do what you love and the money will follow.

I like to read books.

I like Rich Dad, Poor Dad written by Robert Kiyosaki.  It’s liberating to know that there is indeed a way.  There is hope.  There is freedom.  Freedom to do the things I love to do, without worrying about where to get the money to pay for my daily expenses.  Maybe someday I’d have a taste of that freedom.

I also like iWoz by Steve Wozniak, the creator of Apple Computer.  I love the book mainly because I can relate to what Steve was saying about designing and maximizing the use of computer chips, the adrenaline flowing when you find out a neat way to do something better, perhaps with fewer chips.  I do love solving problems.

In reading books, I particularly like to know how other successful people think.  How they managed to solve their problems.  How they added value to this world.  Perhaps, I too can add value to the lives of other people.  If I help them achieve their goals and solve their problems, maybe then, I’d have the strength to solve mine.

I also love watching TV series in DVDs.  I don’t want to wait another week to know what happened to the story.  I like having to devour the whole season of 20+ episodes all at once.  When “Heroes” came out, I was pretty impressed with the story line and the thrill of discovery, finally finding out who they really are.  At about the same time, I came across “Prison Break”, a story about a structural engineer, gifted with extraordinary problem solving skills who did everything he could to help his brother break out of prison.  When the two shows started, I liked “Heroes” better.  But after a few seasons, the story of “Prison Break” seemed to be more interesting.  In “Prison Break”, everything is a puzzle, and the better you figure it out, the better chances you have of staying alive.  Prison break also has this obsession of killing characters and then resurrecting them after some time. Remember Sarah?

Anyway, I still don’t know how to make money from these two things I like to do.  On the contrary, it seems to be going the other way as they also get heavier on the wallet as time goes by.

They say, do something that you’re good at.

Well, I am good at solving problems.  I love programming, and seem to be doing pretty ok with it as my day time job can cover daily expenses and I’m able to set aside a little money every month.  The thing is, most of my working life, I have programmed using mainframe languages like COBOL.  I know a bit of C and assembly language but the last time I used them was way back in College.

I am also good in automation.  At work, I always try to find ways to make my tasks (and life) a little bit easier.  I’ve never been good at routine tasks like doing documentation…For a programmer, it’s one of the unglamorous but necessary “evils” of the job.  I try to automate these things so that the computer can do it for me.  Then, I’d have more time to focus on more important and interesting things at work. =)

While we’re in the subject of automation, I remember having a great time back in college playing around with robots.  Me and my classmates created this autonomous line-following mobile robot for an inter-school contest .  It’s actually just an RC (remote controlled) toy car, with the remote replaced by a microcontroller chip to act as “brain” and teach it how to follow the line.  I had the most amazing time building that robot and writing the software to be written into the chip.  As I watch the RC car turned mobile robot glide through the track and sweetly following each and every curve, I could not help myself smile and marvel at this brilliant masterpiece.  It’s a labor of love.  And to top it off, we actually won first place and got to receive a small cash award! =)

Maybe someday I’d figure out how to apply this experience to solve other people’s problems.

They say, find a niche and stick to it.

Over the past couple of months I’ve tried to write various topics in my blog.  I tried to think up of a particular niche.  I love playing basketball, so I write about basketball.  I also like playing badminton and watch the great players display tremendous grace and flexibility executing those unbelievable shots at dizzying speed.  So I write about badminton.  I also tried playing tennis, and watched Federer and Nadal slug it out.  My breath stops when both Federer and Nadal display their best tennis and the rally is so long it seem to have no end.  And so I write about them.

I also like to travel and take some pictures. So I post some of that too.  I also love to eat.  So guess what?  I take some pictures of my favorite delicacies and write about them too!

I still don’t know what niche my blog posts are supposed to be in.  Maybe someday I’d figure out which niche I really want to be in, but for now, I’ll just post whatever it is on my mind, whether it is sports, books, DVDs, or just about anything in life.

I’ll leave time to tell whether these are things I could do business in.

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Business

Craving for chicken adobo and pork barbecue

The thing I miss most while being away from the Philippines is the delicious, though not always healthy, delicacies.  As I was browsing through my Christmas photos, I saw these two yummy pictures of pork barbecue and chicken adobo.

Pork Barbecue

Last Christmas, my dad prepared the pork barbecue with his own special recipe.  I don’t really know how he does it.  But my dad has always been the best cook in our family.  Every dish he prepares is simply the best I’ve ever tasted.

Chicken Adobo

One of the more popular Filipino dishes is the chicken adobo.  Every town seem to have its own version of this delicacy.  Some like it hot.  Some don’t.  Some like to have a bit more sauce, while others like it dry.  As for me, I like how my dad cooks it.  It’s tasty.  It’s juicy.  It’s delicious.

Although I can certainly try to cook these dishes on my own, it’s never the same having your family around with you, sharing stories, laughter, and delicious food.

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Business Life Updates

Trip to Ilocos – welcoming arches, amazing bridges, and refreshing sceneries

About two years ago, me and my fiancee (now my wife) went to my hometown – Ilocos.  Instead of taking the usual bus trip at night, we decided to drive the whole stretch of Manila to Ilocos during the day.  We wanted to explore and do some sight-seeing while taking the long trip to Ilocos.

We departed from Manila around 5am in the morning to get away from traffic.  Since it was still early, we were able to reach Tarlac City at around 7am.  Just in time for breakfast.  As we were feeling a bit adventurous, we decided to park on the side of the national highway and eat our breakfast behind the refreshing view of corn fields and sunrise.

Here’s a picture of the sunrise while we were having breakfast on the side of the road.

 

 

Look how near we are from the road.  I could feel the trembling when a big truck passes us by.  It was an adventure and it was certainly fun. =)

 

 

The trip was long but certainly full of unusual and very interesting sights along the way.  Here’s a picture of a small shanty anchored atop of a tree-less mountain.   I can’t imagine having to climb the mountain everyday just to get to your house.

To prevent boredom, we took some pictures from each town while driving.  It’s amazing to know that each town actually has it’s own arch to welcome visiting guests.  Here are a few of the arches we were able to capture.

La Union

I was told that the province of La Union is actually a “union” of lands taken from surrounding 3 provinces: Ilocos, Abra and Pangasinan.  La Union is considered one of the top surfing destinations in the country with its beaches’ powerful waves.

Vigan, Ilocos Sur

Upon reaching Vigan City, visitors are welcomed by a modern steel arched bridge connecting the city from nearby Narvacan town.   The 300-meter length bridge is breath-taking as it is supported by the scenic view from the mountains on both sides and adorned by the peaceful river down below.

About 30 minutes from the bridge is the main plaza of Vigan City.  Here lies the junction, welcoming visitors with its lovely arch.
Vigan is one of the most popular destinations in Ilocos region mainly due to its historic Spanish villas along Crisologo street.  Vigan is also famous for its mouth-watering delicacies like Vigan Longganisa, Royal Bibingka, Empanada, and many more.

Ilocos Norte

After almost 10 hours of travel, we finally reached the province of Ilocos Norte.  Here’s a picture of the province’s welcome arch supported by bricks.  Ilocos Norte is known for its tobacco, garlic, and especially for its most famous citizen, the late president Ferdinand Marcos.

Laoag City is the capital of Ilocos Norte.  You can learn more of the tourist attractions in Laoag City by reading my previous post “Laoag City Philippines – Sunshine city of the north.

Further along north is the tip of the Luzon island, the beautiful town of Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.  The town is popular for its untouched natural resources like Saud Beach, Maira-ira Beach also known as “Blue Lagoon”, and some waterfalls along the way to Cagayan province.

There’s also a breath-taking view of the “Patapat” viaduct.  This is a very long stretch of majestic beauty: the green mountain view on one side and the refreshing mist of the wild sea from the other.

So many towns and cities.  So many arches and bridges.  So many beautiful places to see.  Take a trip to Ilocos.  Explore the refreshing sceneries of northern Philippines.

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Business Life Updates

Laoag Philippines – Sunshine City of the North

Last December, me and my wife spent our Christmas vacation in the northern part of the Philippines.  As I grew up in the north and am a true born Ilocano, I had special memories to reminisce as we visited the sunshine city of Laoag, Ilocos Norte.

Scenic view from the Gilbert Bridge

laoagriver

“Laoag” is the Ilocano term for “light” or “sunshine”.  It was a shiny day as we were welcomed by the scenic view from the Gilbert Bridge.  The bridge is the first  one to greet visitors of Laoag city and the last thing that will say goodbye when they leave.  I took this picture from the bus while travelling on the bridge.  As a kid, I have spent many times riding the bus going through and out of Laoag and it’s always a special feeling when I take a step into this beautiful city.  I have very fond memories here.  I spent some of my most cherished personal victories like when me and my high school classmates won the provincial statistics quiz.   Or the time when I took and passed the UPCAT (UP College Entrance Examination).  Now, I am adding more beautiful memories as I tour the city with my wife.

Sinking Bell Tower

laoagtower

At the end of the Gilbert Bridge lies one of Laoag’s most popular tourist spot – the Sinking Bell Tower.  Yes, it is still sinking.  Well, at least that’s what some of the people are saying.  The “sinking” of the tower is mainly due to its sandy foundation.

Calesa

laoagcalesa

While waiting beside the Sinking Bell Tower, I caught a glimpse of this very peculiar transportation in Laoag City – the “Calesa”.  The “Calesa” is a very eco-friendly horse-driven means of transportation within the city.  I remember when I was still in grade school, my family and I rode the “Calesa”.  The “kutsero” (a local term to refer to Calesa driver) was very nice and offered me to sit beside him in front and let me try to drive the Calesa by myself.  It was one of the most exciting things I’ve done as a child!

There were many things I still wanted to go to and visit in Laoag but we needed to get back home to Batac (nearby town) to prepare for Christmas celebration.

How about you? Have you been to the sunshine city of Laoag?

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Business Life Updates

Tagaytay, Philippines – Sonya's Garden Anniversary Lunch

Last December, my wife and I along with my in-laws went to Tagaytay, Philippines to have our anniversary lunch at Sonya’s Garden.  Tagaytay is a 2-hour drive south from Manila, the Philippines’ capital.  It’s a windy place similar to Baguio (the summer capital of the Philippines) with its scenic hills and slopes.

In Tagaytay, there’s a very popular place they call "Sonya’s Garden".  It’s a favorite place for weddings and other special events.  Their specialty is serving home-grown salads like the one below.

Although I am not a big fan of salads, the experience at Sonya’s is certainly a delight. I even had a great time drinking their bottomless tea.

After lunch, we went around the garden and took some pictures of lovely flowers.

There’s also and old wooden bench with wheels on the side.

Sonya’s Garden is wonderful place to relax, have some fresh salads, appreciate the natural beauty that is within us. Although it doesn’t come cheap, I am glad my wife and I spent a few moments to enjoy the food and take a walk along the garden paths and appreciate the beautiful flowers, reflecting the wonderful experiences we had the past year.  Maybe I’ll come here again next year.