Ryan Ho's Entrepreneurship Blog

Savings are the conservation of money, to save and conserve for a clause, example for a rainy rain.

Saving is a good habit but not necessarily a positive habit. Starting as young as kids, parents were taught to pass and impart the knowledge and importance of savings to their kids but not investment. Thus everyone across the globe knows the importance of savings but not investment.

The poor will impart the good habit of savings for a rainy day idea to their kids and they will save every single penny in their whole life without any changes to the knowledge that was imparted to the kids.

The wealthy will impart investment habit to their kids in different learning examples, coming up with games, learning lessons to increase their knowledge of doubling their start up capital to generate more income.

If there’s no external new knowledge being passed to the kids who are growing up in a savings mindset family, the future of the kids’ family will suffer, more unhappiness will follow, something which I realized long ago but it only stuck and was imprinted in my mind only today thus this blog entry.

As a kid, it’s good to save, so when they grow up, they have a starting pool of piggy bank to for investment into a business, but parents often just stop their financial education to their kids once they see that their kids are doing well, stopping halfway, without telling them the core idea and importance of savings.

Savings from young is to start accumulating a bucket of gold, than when the time is ripe, with sufficient funds, than their first bucket of gold should be used for investment purpose and must learn the steps to investment.

Parents failed to impart the knowledge of investment to their child solely because they neither lack the knowledge nor know-how to go about investment, thus in the adulthood stage, when poor mindset people start working, the problem of having a mindset savings snowballs into a bigger problem, creating lots of unhappiness and life living in misery.

Young kids can save, as they have not much items or gadgets which they need to buy, if proper discipline is being used and proper knowledge of financial management has being passed down to their kids.

Saving money as a teenager than starts to become a problem, with lots of temptations, peer pressure, and the fear of being bullied, left out/behind in a fashion savvy or technology updated group of peers. Teenagers will than experience more difficultly in saving any money.

Adulthood and beyond are the worse section and experience which a person will experience if he/she were to continue saving money and not learning the how-to to invest. Having seen different parents, family members, relatives (even those who are living a landed property) are saving as much as possible, making them look more like a cheapskate and not a thrifty person.

Cheapskate is one who will collect, take back small little free items from restaurants, hotels, air-planes when they either dine out if not are on a holiday vacation. Not willing to part with small money will not lead to big money which is needed in investment. The worse and unhealthy example of being a cheapskate is to wash those microwavable Tupperware after use to repeat use them. I’m concern about using them over again since it’s plastic and it chemicals will more or less leave some scent and taste with the food, plus health reasons.

Adults who are near if not already classified in the seniors age above fifty years old have even worse saving habits which are the cause of family unhappiness too, picking up redundant habits which only make matters worse than better thus elder folks are either unable to live happily with their children and grandchildren.

When grandparents’ saving ideology worsen and degrades into scrimping and squeezing every single possible cent out from any offer etc, now that is a saving behavior and mindset gone completely wrong and children can’t accept nor understand the changes thus they just move out.

Ugly saving ideas and behaviors such as plastic bags, starting form the aunties group all the way to grandmothers, whatever they do, wet market, super market, dinning in or out, plastic bags are the sure take item and they take lots of it. Taking back empty boxes, paper cardboards, newspapers etc, all back home to safe-keep in case there’s a need one day for the box which still can be used to store things.

When they pick up the items, to them it’s saving money, but without proper arrangement, it transform into a house full of junk items and the grandparents or aunties are super reluctant to throw away the items which are junk in our eyes. Those items can be recycled in recycling centers and even for profit but elders are ignorant, they don’t know, so to help get rid of their ‘junk’, we need to sort and tidy it, than sell it away, money pass to them so they will keep quiet.

Next time if somebody teaches you to save money, look and observe what saving practice do they use themselves?  If it is savings to scrimping, don’t even follow. If it is savings to investment than you stick to that person and learn it well.

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Foresight is the foreseeing into the future. With the relevant knowledge, linking up what events, society trends, lifestyle is heading towards in the form of trend and to look forward more by just a few years ahead of business rivals and competitors to gain the competitive advantage of manufacturing, producing gadgets which will whoa customers, cool geeky, sleek, information technology enthusiast will want to get their hands on.

Foresight need not decades of planning, it just requires two-three steps ahead of business competitors. Look at Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs one who revolutionalized the new era of computers, notebooks, and other electronic gadgets for maximum portability.

No longer is it a necessity to have a CPU (central processing unit), monitor and keyboard plus a mouse to make a complete set of operational computer. Now all it needs is a tablet, with touch-screen keyboard, monitor, CPU and even mouse all integrated into one single product which is an excellent idea for maximum portability, convenience for the consumers.

Giving what the customers wants, convenience, portable, cost efficient and productive and multiple functions for convenience and easy storage is exactly what information technology is all about.

From computers to notebooks to palm-top, MP3, MP4, PSP to 3G phones to iPhones. All those are just a natural progression of product cycle life. Innovation and foresight is so important that you can’t do without it. So observe what’s happening around you and who knows you will have a billion dollar idea which you can capitalize on when the time is ripe, with all the right ingredients, soil, elements, environment, farmer, water, right and timing.

Be at the right place at the right time and you will be the next winner. Opportunities are everywhere and anywhere, it solely depends on how you capitalize on your ideas for profit and how it benefits the people around you and the community.

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Skill is a art, a knowledge that an individual excels in as being the master of the knowledge with the ability to apply a skill that he/she picked up and apply it to any business, environment or even in daily lives and activities. Skill is a expertise in a certain knowledge with the ability to apply it anywhere, everywhere, wherever and whatever the situation is regardless where, who, what, and how an individual is in.

Knowledge is just know-how. Knowing how to solve certain problems with steps and procedures to go about it, knowledge by itself is useless without the flexibility to remodel it and apply it into different forms and variations.

Everyone can pick up knowledge but not everyone can pick up a skill which requires time, effort, commitment, determination and passion to master and try perfection the knowledge into a skill they can use and apply in whatever circumstances.

Examples:

Look at a professor teaching in a university. What is he doing? He’s teaching students and passing them the knowledge which he got from his teachers and professors when he was still a student and the cycle repeats. A professor can only teach academically in exchange for an income to meet day’s needs.

A professor isn’t skilled to use and apply whatever knowledge he/she has to monetize it and profit from the knowledge which he/she the professor has and an abundance of it actually.   No matter how much money he/she earns, the professor is and will only be confined to his area of knowledge without any chances of venturing into other areas which he has no knowledge of.

A professor is a smart individual without any skills nor is the professor able to guide us their students how to profit and make real money. Do you want to continue pursuing academic education and stay in the rat race getting yourself only deeper and deeper into the banks’ favorite list of debtors making them rich and causing yourself to be debt-ridden and suffer more as your study?

An entrepreneur might not be as academically smart like a professor but an entrepreneur is definitely smarter in application processes and knowing how to maximize the skills into perfection to create a business, profit from it which is why entrepreneurs will always be more respected than bosses who just take over the company from their rich parents.

Entrepreneurs are skilled in whatever they choose to be in and are experts in whichever and whatever they do, able to apply the skill to any businesses even if it’s not what he is good at, but with a specific skill set that he/she has perfected, it’s like a blue-print, a skeleton key that can open any doors regardless of what types of locks are being used to safeguard a home.

The next time you pay money for education, make sure you’re picking up a skill, and not just learning new knowledge.

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Chinese New Year is round the corner, and every Chinese are busy packing, throwing away unwanted furniture and other items, buying new household items and furniture to refurbish their home giving it a new look.

This is a habit and a culture to do so which everybody feels great of to have new items around their home giving the home a new life etc, but as we change our environment, have we ever tried changing and accepting new ideas, knowledge and different thinking to embrace change and upgrade ourselves or are we stuck in the same old place.

If we are stuck, how to get out, no matter what we do in a stuck position, no matter what we do to ourselves outside will never be able to change what’s happening inside our brain which translate to how much we earn, how we educate ourselves, our kids (for people who have kids) and even talking to our parents etc.

Grandfather, grandmother are picking up skills in community centers learning internet and technology years back already, they are willing to accept and add new knowledge and thinking into their brain, are you doing so? If you are against the idea, being left out, and stay happy being out-dated, that’s the end of everything, because people discuss and talk about how to enjoy themselves, catch what movies, how to make more money, what to wear, where to find unique fashion clothes, good discounts etc.

If you’re not progressing, than all the best, even a New Year can’t save you but if you are committed to making gradual changes to your personal life, thinking, you will find new happiness. Those who slog hard for the company are always putting on a black face helping companies to profit, but they aren’t helping themselves to profit and gain extra sources of wealth, and how receptive or unwilling they are to make changes, than that’s the life that they have to accept.

If you have yet to decide what your New Year resolution is, think of a proper one. If you aspire to be wealthy like a millionaire than find your ways to work with them, if you don’t know the contacts, works with me, I’ll connect you to them since they are my mentors.

Quoting from what I learn from my seniors last time:

“In a group of ten people including you, if you are hanging around with nine millionaires, even if you’re a beggar, it also will not affect your odds of success because you are making friends with millionaires and surrounded by them, you will one day be a millionaire like the nine other millionaires.

However if you are hanging in with nine other beggars, even if you have a millionaire mindset, strategies and concrete step by step methods to help you get there, but hanging around with nine beggars will only squander your wealth away in no time buying, paying and spending in indulging yourself and your friends. “

In short: If you want to be a millionaire, hang around and make friends with millionaires, not beggars who will not spur you on to be successful, instead they will drag you down to suffer with them.

I have made my New Year Resolution, and did just that to work with my mentor, have your made the right decision yet?

Lets see if next year will be a better year for you and I in a much wealthier situation than this year. Huat Ar!!

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Risking is a part of our daily lives. While many didn’t put much emphasis on it, it has actually being with each and every one of us since the day our life started in our mom’s womb.

Growing up in the mom’s womb, we run the risk of miscarriage at any point until birth. Growing up as an infant, running the risk of infections and learning new knowledge while growing up, kids are at risk of picking up negative influences leading their kids astray with bad influences from peers.

As students, having the risk of not able to attain satisfactory results to be admitted to desired educational institution having the risk of being looked down by nasty neighbors who will than gossip and make small issues evolve and worsen things.

Upon completion of studies, graduates are at the risk of unemployment, much made worse if they are competing in China, not much of competition for Singaporeans. Yet another risk surfaces due to low birth rate annually, the influx of foreign talents to replace the low birth rate.

Foreign talents, highly educated professionals are good for the society, but what about the average educated foreigners – they taking up the unwanted jobs which Singaporeans avoid and now even replacing Bangladesh workers. Foreign workers are here to stay and our jobs at risk despite government aid to Singaporeans. Hardworking foreign workers, getting less pay, working harder than Singaporeans, will increase the competitiveness but bring down the morale of Singaporeans making the situation like dog versus dog, the strongest survives only.

As adults, we run the risk of unemployment especially for those season workers not producing either results or willing to upgrade themselves.

Even in daily life, eating is risky; someone may be talking while eating, and get choke on a fishball (touch-wood). External factors also put us at risk, natural disasters such as earthquake tremors from Jakarta affecting some parts of Singapore. Flooding thanks to heavy downpour of and partially due to small canals unable to cope with rising waters, which takes place almost annually without fail else once every two years.

Floods caused businesses in low-lying area to wipe out their stocks such as flowers etc, while at apartment flats; it will cause damages to the car owners who park their cars at the basements as reported in both the news and newspapers.

Even walking, cycling, travelling in public/private transport also carry risk. Referring to most recent taxi incident, a taxi driver accidentally stepped on the accelerator and crash into Seven-Eleven Convenience store to avoid crashing into the crowd at the shopping centre for safety reasons yet claiming another victim standing near the convenience store.

Life is all about risk; it’s just a matter of perspective and education required for risk management which separates the rich and the poor. Most of the time, risk among the poor can’t be controlled because they are usually caused by external factors listed above, so why are the rich willing to take more rich from the view point of the poor? That’s because rich and affluent people have related knowledge to make calculated risk thus converting it to near zero risk unlike the poor risking their lives everyday jay-walking without much control of what’s going to happen to them.

Would you like to be a ignorant risk taker following the steps of the poor or would you like to follow and learn the ropes of the rich making informed decisions to greatly minimize their chances of risk. You decide, if it’s the former, stay away from my website, if it’s the latter, help spread this blog entry (by using the share button below) around and start making smart decisions while learning how to gradually reduce your risk.

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Simplicity is a word which means the ease of doing things be it activity, event or work. Though it is a simple word, but majority of the people who are working, doing business fail to realize the importance of integrating this single word into the neither the business proposal nor business presentation.

What makes this so elusive is that while majority of the people namely the poor and the middle class people often tends to complicate simple things and events into make-believed difficult task making success seems to high up in on the tip of the mountain filled with nothing but dangers and risk.

A simple word with simple intention is needed to fully utilize the potential of this word in clinching business deals, investments and recruitment of potential business partners, employees. Simple word needs to work with another word, transparency which I’ve mention at least two to three times in my previous blog entries but it seems to be taken for granted.

When simplicity merges with transparency than only will there be higher percentage of closing deals, investments and recruitment in the event whereby clear messages have being passed around without having hidden agenda popping out in between presentations.

It looks simple but it’s difficult to attain simplicity in business due to the lack of understanding but with practice, it is achievable with effort and getting feedback from end users or customers.

Success is so simple that one will wonder why this person who’s not speaking well can do so much better than me in terms of making money. The answer is obvious, they took action immediately and fine-tune while those smarter people will just cast nothing else but doubts and suspicion which is why the rich get richer, and vice versa.

Success comes from solving a problem, it’s as simple as that, and that’s how business started. Nothing complicating about business, it’s just simple mathematics involved with plus, minus multiplication and division only with basic accounting knowledge. All other knowledge can be learning on job training. It all starts with application.

So the next time you have a problem, think of a solution which caters to the masses/majority of the market and sell the idea/solution and make a simple profit from it. It’s as simple as that.

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