Ryan Ho's Entrepreneurship Blog

The question that always comes people’s mind is how do they rate the suitable amount to hire employees, talents, without appearing to be a over thrifty.

The question has being in my mind for many years ever since i learned the importance of money from working at the age of fifteen.

It is only just recently that I finally got to know the answer to my question.

Businesses always pays the lowest price whenever possible, yet it must be above competitive market rate in order to hire the most qualified talent.

I had the privilege of working in a big company yet with a small team and flexible team. Being able to work in the same office, knowing the other departments and get to know the chief executive officer (CEO) and hear the details, planning and the direction that the company is heading, it gives employees a clear cut answer to why they are getting more pay and not the employees.

This might come to many as common sense, but when it is only those who help the company to grow the business, increase revenue gets paid the most.

The rates in terms of wages are pegged against a few factors.

1. Academic qualification. In the absence of which, real results matters and only those individuals who can produce results commands the highest price tag.

2. Experience. It is this that not money can’t buy. In the process of interview, if the company does not have rooms for the headhunted talent to flex their muscles and skills, no matter how much can’t buy talents if they are not given the room to grow and deliver the expected results required of them, should their skills be challenged, nor questioned, than they will soon automatically take their leave.

3. Network. It is this that is most important, as businesses are built, created by people, and only the best connected person with vast positive networks on industry leaders that helps businesses bridge across the untapped boundaries of the unknown. That is how markets are being opened, by opening a new market with insider.

4. Profit sharing. This is what makes the difference between a employee versus a talent. Employees are paid a fix rate for a certain number of hours of physical non-revenue generative work, so even if they under perform, they still get paid, thus business will only .

Talents have additional income like profit sharing to put them on the same importance as one of the few very important people in the company. Only by allowing them a percentage of profit sharing, are they rewarded for performance in leading the business upwards and bring in more revenue.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Direct Selling is the business strategy used by companies all over the world to market and sell products directly to the end customers.

It is both an effective and efficient business model for the business operators as well as the customers. For starters and majority of the people, it may seems that direct selling is just all about selling, selling and more selling.

But over my years in going in-depth into the business industry, meeting many different distributors, business leaders from different companies, it over 90% of the people whom I have met all are focus on the sales aspects, inclusive of even the a couple business owners of the industry.

Actually there are more to it than it meets the eye. The very reason why many successful business owners, authors, motivational speakers talk about network marketing is simply because they understand the benefits inside out, from a business perspective, which I know all too well, cause that’s the perspective I’m coming from to, as it helped me learn the ropes to the industry, the rules, ethics, customer service, technical troubleshooting of difficult clients, overcoming skeptic prospects, reverse brain-washed prospects, winning them over, business growth and expansion, marketing, advertising and promotion campaigns, events management, running, are all the many different skills that I have learned over the years.

On becoming a direct selling expert, learning the same information, skills, knowledge, yet why i managed to learn far more than other people? Perhaps you might say it’s luck, but I’ll say I had a very different goal that is to learn the secrets and strategies of the trade and not to make any money which is what majority of the clients had in their mind.

With the difference in thinking, it affects the way we process learning, absorption of knowledge, how we analyze the results and perspective, thus the outcome is different.

The reasons for success in the trade is actually pretty simple, exact duplication, in other words, copying 100% just like what franchise business models do in any country. But there’s a catch, that most companies are even in the unknown, inclusive of top level international companies, they are duplicating the wrong sets of skills, information to the clients who turn distributors, thus as much as it is a trillion dollar industry, many of which still have difficult pushing it even the billion dollar company let alone hit the trillion.

The industry is fill with anything and everything but honesty, loyalty, integrity, humility, ethics, moral values conducive working environment . That is why there are so many companies (competitors) growing on a yearly basis, sales distributors keep on switching around, hoping to find the best company and prospects from themselves.

Just like doing any business, even in trading, all trades requires the same set of basic skills, that is selling, but what other businesses cannot offer to their employees in preparation is for the real business operations, running the daily routine, growing the profits while keeping cost low, thinking of ways to find new clients, all these are the skills that can be learned from direct selling, yet, not many actually even realize the importance of on-job-training in learning the ropes of the business.

In every company, they stand an equal chance of success as well as failure. Yet majority of the clients turn distributors belittle the opportunity presented to them to learn the trade of the business. But it is not a simple route, in fact it is a road less traveled, as one cannot learn all even a handful of the skills I mentioned above in a single company, thus that warrants a different strategies and methods to accelerate and speed up the learning process while keeping the cost to the minimal.

Success is the mother of all failures. It is a age old wisdom quote. I managed to eliminate all skeptics due to the multiple failures that i had gain as experience as well as learning from other people’s failures (who they themselves didn’t reflect on) plus getting feedback from the clients, and always learning from customers. The very reason why businesses exist is to sell clients what they want, and not what business owners want to sell.

Popularity: 1% [?]

School is said to be the place whereby majority of the people get to learn knowledge and pick up new skills vital required for independence when a person reaches a certain age.

School is not only a place but just one of the many sources whereby knowledge are being passed down and practiced. Only those who really knows the importance and cherish what was imparted to them will have a taste of success in small amounts when they are still learning.

Knowledge need not be taught only in schools, but also in private courses, from a group of company, like-minded peers, friends and colleges.

School is like a specialized place whereby an individual decides which course, and future is suited for him or her before starting education in the school.

Majority of the students who graduate from any school both locally and globally end up working as employees instead of being an employer if not an entrepreneur is because of a few reasons when they made foolish decisions when choosing the school that they want to learn from.

Stupid reasons are as follows:

1. Following your common group of friends to study in the same school.
2. Wanting to have more chances to meet and hook up with either a fellow student or senior in a particular course (following their idol).
3. Selecting a course based on the prospects (guaranteed immediate income upon graduation)
4. Not knowing what to choose, just obey parents orders, get into any school, as long as can upgrade qualification will do
5. Not to be left behind, refusing to retain due to poor results, want to be on the same pace with your peers.

Those are the few reasons that i can think of, if not heard from other people’s conversation (people who spoke loudly on public transport) and in news reports.

That is why most people failed in the long term, and which is why there is such a term as job-hopping, and career switch when students become adults and they realize their mistakes of poor decision making and for having wasted precious time during youth for making poor if not wrong decisions.

Only to regret and relearn by signing up with private courses after work to catch up, and not repeat the same mistakes again.

It goes to show that a wrong first step (decision) will lead to many wrong steps following which. In short, one wrong leads to more wrong.

On the contrary, look at all the bright, top results students, why and how did they manage to score top grade?

Time after time, proven tested, and never wrong, the replies are the same. Those top scorers have a clear goal, course, and future that they want to pursue, thus they work damn hard to get to where they are when results are released, such is a clear reflection of even working society, where 99 percent of the people either studying or working and even parenting kids don’t have a clear idea on why they are doing this and that for what reasons and if they are doing it just to be normal (herding behavior – which is normal of not wanting to be left out) versus those 1 percent of the top students who know exactly where, when, how, and what is required for them to secure the slot for the course that they want.

With a clear goal, knowing the entry qualifications, and fighting their efforts to get in, that’s what schools are actually built for, to impart knowledge to those who really want it, and not for people who just go through the process without asking what is it that they really want and if the future of graduating with that certification of a specific field is what they like.

A parent’s wrong decision, pushing a children to study in schools just for face, ego and pride to bring up the family status at their own children’s expense of bright prospects, by forcing them to study stuffs that they don’t like.

There’s too much of a nasty consequences already out there, but there is however one extreme positive result from this if the child learns to fully utilize what they have learn and put it to good use. That brilliant example will be Jay Chou, who was actually forced by his mom to study all the different music instruments against his will. But luckily, he managed to find a good mentor – Jacky Wu who gave him a excellent opportunity to showcase his talents, and showed him the ropes to the music industry.

To sum up, you can learn anything you want, even if it is being forced upon you. You can succeed as long as you know how to utilize the knowledge to your benefits, and finding a mentor who will show you the ropes coupled with his excellent strong knowledge of music contributing to his success, which is why he named one of his early albums after his mother.

Why people fail even after education is due to the fact they don’t know how to use their knowledge to their advance. Being intelligent isn’t enough, you will have to be street-smart.

Popularity: 1% [?]

There is a common saying: “Money makes the world goes round.”

It is especially real these days with Singapore being featured again as one of the top twenty highest proportion of millionaires, claiming again the number one spot for highest density of millionaires in the country.

Like what I have written on a page on Money, by 2017, 40% of the Singapore residences will be millionaires according to a wealth manager’s forecast. The report by Bloomberg above proofed to be true, and is supporting claim to the forecast.

Imagine for every five households that you visit in the year 2017 and after, every two out of the five household residences will be a millionaire. The signs are spelled out already so clearly straight in our face now with support of evidence.

So what is left for us to do now at this junction, to fast forward our wealth is to first learn the skills that a millionaire should know, how they invest in assets, reduce their liabilities and decision making process.

If you want to be successful, you should do exactly that, if you have not found a way yet, nor do you know of a way, allow me to help you, if you can trust me, contracts and legal documents to protect yourself, your investment is fine by me, as long as you are willing to invest in the knowledge that I have on hand and the tools that I know, that can help you become a millionaire.

For just a minimal of the lowest 5 digit investment ($10,000) of Singapore currency, profits are than divided 50/50 evenly for those who are willing to have blind faith.. Addressing to anybody across the globe who may have read or come across this blog by luck, referral or link. I just need one person regardless of where you are, just send me a note, and I’ll get back to you.

For those who are still undecided, refusing to accept all the facts that is parked right in front of you, be prepared to ask the same questions six years later in year 2017, when more and more of your friends, people around you become millionaires, and you are still there thinking, what is the difference between him and me?

The answer to that very question is plain straight forward: The Rich INVEST, The Poor SAVE.
So what happens if you know neither on how to invest nor save? You should park your money with the right person or investors.

It is easier to spot a potential candidate who already knows what to do, and how to handle wealth, than  follow the right person with your investment to grow it. Than to wait for the person to become a millionaire already then requesting to park your investments with them. By then, it is too late. If you have no idea what I’m talking, refer to the video on The World Greatest Money Maker: Warren Buffet from the 40th seconds to 50th seconds of the video, a initial investment of $10,000 snowballed and compiled into $50 Million dollars according to what are reported in the video.

I’m not saying that I’m as great as him, but at least perhaps there is a percentage that the $10,ooo will compile into at least a Million. That’s the price and opportunity for early bird investments who trust people who accepted to risk of zero returns as the worse case scenario.

If you want to cling onto a Millionaire when he/she is already accomplished, be prepared to be rejected, for new millionaires are only by than interested in helping people who has helped them in the past, so that said, its as good as not asking them. Your best options, is to make a good bet or discussion with the person whom you want to invest in, make sure he knows where and how to invest and grow the money before you entrust your investments with that person.

You better believe it, for I personally is have known and have seen how millionaires work, keeping secrets only to themselves and their trusted business partners. Those millionaires inclusive of my rich relatives, my mentor(s), whom I don’t hardly speak to, except for the yearly Chinese New Year greetings.

Find your own way to become millionaire fast, I’ve seen it myself on how one of my mentor became a millionaire himself, when he told us the month he hit his millionaire status and the difference in treatment before and after. Even relatives treatment over the years since I was young, a time when they are not as accomplished as they are now shows clear difference in treatment towards non-millionaires.

Millionaires worked extremely hard for their own network, and keep secrets to people who have helped and trusted them only.

If you aren’t sure how to become a millionaire, you should start finding your own millionaire mentor and seek guidance, follow exactly what they tell you to do. If you’re the lazy type, but is cash rich, pass the money over to me, I’ll help you with the investment part to grow your returns.

With that, I hope anybody who have read this blog post, can start focusing in the right direction to draw and follow your millionaire status soon.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Platform is the place whereby a person, group or businesses stands on and decides if they want to take the next step forward into their area of specialties.

Just like the high heels picture above, it is meant o give a lady a higher point of view, increase and help the lady look much taller, while highlighting the slender beautiful legs. High heels with well toned legs looks best when they are walking, or seated down for a pose during a photo-shoot. Platform is like high heels, giving the person a clearer picture of what an individual or group’s capabilities and showcasing it the the others if done the right way.

It is not like a stage, where performers perform and showcase their talents nor skills but rather a place, just a spot similarly to a cross junction whereby the person if not the leader of the group or business owner decides which road to take and than move forward deeper into their niche/market.

That is used when a person or a group decides on what is their goal and finding the right direction, the shortest possible route to reach their destination as soon as possible with the least amount of time. In order to do so, the person making the decision, must first have a clear idea of his or their group’s common vision. It just gives a user/person who is standing on a platform a clearer picture who he/she/they have on hand at their disposal before moving onto the next step.

Vision is like the future, to work towards a better brighter future of prospects, they must know what their core strengths and weaknesses are and choose the suitable route which allows individuals as well as team members to collectively display their strengths and with each others’ help compliment team members’ weakness as a group or organization for better results, performance and efficiency.

To have a clear vision, each individual must have already identified their own expertise so put the discussion and lay it out on the table to see how one another can help each other achieve success together on multiple areas with collaboration.

In short, every single individual must know what they will be doing, how they can contribute and be part of the formulation of success as a journey to create growing performance and results for themselves as well as for the business entity. Having said that, it is therefore paramount status that everybody knows their own identity.

If you don’t know it, start asking and find out what is your real identity and how you can tap on your skills experience and bring value to the others. That way you will clearly know how to get from rags to riches. Always be clear or what you are doing.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Risk is something that not many will want to take. But without it, success cannot be attained.

Just like the picture above, while a sniper trainee is learning the ropes to being a sniper.

In a actual operation, a sniper himself/herself is at risk of being discovered by enemies if enemy noticed the scope’s reflective lens from long distances.

While the long range shooting increases the possibility of safety from enemies, but it also put the sniper at risk of not being able to leave safety as the weapon is bulky, maximal ammunition load of only 10 rounds. So part of the training is not to be discovered while preparing to eliminate enemy.

This is a situation of killing or be killed, which also happens everyday in business and in everyday life.

In business, it’s all about calculated risk, and greatly minimizing the risk of failure, making strategic moves to increase market share and financial muscle to growing the business.

In everyday life and at work, we are putting ourselves at risk too, but majority choose to ignore the real risk that each and everyone is facing. The risk of retrenchment, which happens without any notification, no guarantee whatsoever.

While employment may seems like a smart choice, to me personally, it’s more like walking on a thin thread of line in the air.

Just one step of wrong move, and employees will face risk of getting fired, with no other sources of recurring or passive income, leaving many retrenched individuals jobless, bleak future, family arguments, and many other factors.

But while the odds are against us, majority of the masses still choose to be ordinary. By going with employment and staying in the rats race.

With entrepreneurship, while the risk of financial burden may seem huge, but once everything has settle, the risk is kept low, and nobody can fire you unless you decide to quit/sell the business to somebody else.

The best part about risk is that those intelligent risk takers all attained success in live, financially, spiritually and multiple aspects. It is only by giving up some elements of security, than only do we have more rooms for take in other benefits that comes with such risk.

A common example of risk taker is a stock trader, making calculated moves with proper analysis based on market reactions, business information, economy directions, growth trends etc. Likewise, property developers, investors all share the same thinking.

Embracing risk is the sure way to succeed, but do so with caution, lots of practice, training, and most importantly, get a coach, who can share his/her experience with you to eliminate if not greatly minimize the obstacles that you will face in your quest to success.

Take control of our own life, start your own business, but only if you know what you are doing, if you don’t, you’ll be killed. So stick with what you are at best and gradually widen your skills and expertize.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Survival is the best bet against anything in the world.

Having watched documentary of the week: Surviving Disaster – Avalanche, it gave me new insights and reminder to on survival and the basic guidelines and principles to live. Linking it up with what I myself experienced on my progress in Entrepreneurship, it gave me a actual blueprint on surviving the hardships of entrepreneurship.

I’ll just summarized what i’ve just learned and convert it to make it business-proof.

In an ski trip with an injured ski-mate with a open bone fracture, and with a handful of team mates, with night approaching, the best bet is to set up a snow cave to spend the night waiting for day light before attempting to find help.

Check for any injuries, in this case, it’s a open bone fracture, cover the open wound with clean cloth to prevent infection, without pressing on the bone, put it on top of it, break the ski stick in the correct length and tie the leg tight against the sticks to prevent anymore movement. Lay person on a ski board, move injured head downwards with leg on top. So in event of hitting an object, wound will not incur any additional damage, with head protected by helmet. With sun setting, it’s time to build a snow cave for the night.

The snow cave allows all ski members a safety cover from the elements, shelter from the wind (which speed up heat lost), allows members to stay together to have the warm air in the cave stay there while the cold air drops to the entrance.

Once the cave is built, immediately move the injured team mate inside, as motionless individual stand greater chance of hypothermia. Lay the injured person on the, while other ski members take turns to take care of each other. Giving the injured as much food as possible to encourage more heat generated, but don’t let injured drink alcohol which speeds up hypothermia. One person in-charge of the injured, another in-charge of keeping the entrance partial open for air to come in, the other one to check for every team member’s health status (preventing death sleep in the cold), and rotate duties every hour.

Next day comes, day-break, leave behind the slowest team mate to take care of the injured in the snow cave while the rest seek help.Member staying behind uses urine and ski board to mark a clear X (cross) sign on the top of the mountain while the rest find help (instead of all waiting to die).

In the process, downwards, they faced an avalanche, 2 team mates trapped in it. Using avalanche survival kit to track (20 yards effective radius) members trapped under the snow and dig them out of it before they die of suffocation and hypothermia. Moving in a zig-zag direction to cover the whole distance of the avalanche path.

Upon finding trapped member, dig up, and wait for help, use binoculars to reflect light to the helicopter, and create a landing zone (L.Z) preferrably on a flat surface. Wait for the search and rescue dogs to search for team mate who’s survival kit was not placed with him, and instead a bag further putting oneself in danger.

Than inform the rescue team about the injured at the top of the mountain.

Now for the entrepreneur conversion. The food is the important fuel that allows members to live, in business wise, minimal food to fill our stomach.

Put aside emotions, which is vital for wealth creation, follow and obey leaders who can grow money, not reduce it.

Follow all basic ethics and the laws to observe discipline, so you will not have your efforts gone down the drain one day when you’re caught for any crime.

The snow cave refers to a shelter over our head as a protection.

Team members: Select only a handful who will not put you at more risk. Example: spilling your business secrets/strategies, waste your resources, burn bridges of trust, creditability and reputation critical for success.

Search and rescue team refers to new sources of income when your financial reserves are depleting fast. Seeking help is not a sign of failure, it is to live to die another day.

Proper medical, survival knowledge with experienced leader: Vital in a process, to tell exactly what’s happening, what will happen and how to minimize risk of failure and look out for safety.

PS: In ski, dangers are bears, elements of cold, but in business, it’s the eagles and vultures, seasoned players who gradually/openly steal your strategies, food, business partners, networks and turn them against you!

So weigh your own skills set, financial reserves, networks, expertise, knowledge and flexibility to adapt to new changes, such as temporary going back to employment to first solve the fundamental money issue before you resume your entrepreneurship.

Last but not the least, be damn aware of your own surroundings, keep your strategies and wealth generation sources to yourself. In the absence of team mates, depend on yourself and your own resources.

Never ever give in to opposition of your family and love ones (that’s logical) knowing they will want to be in the rats race suffering together for a short-term most risky employment without any job security.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Earlier in my previous blog entry, I wrote about my initial plans to launch a product on the 27th Jan 2011.

Now it has a high possibility of being delayed, I can say that it’s a blessing in disguise, just thought of a better phrase to increase the attraction of using better words to glue more eyeballs to the cover page of the book with a sudden flash of copy writing skills which I am learning on my own as I was reading Straits Time and learning how Newspapers actually use this skill to boost sales.

The same skill which they did to boost a Sold Out effect for Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. Today is the 3rd day whereby they are using newspapers to publish this book. I finally learn the 1 strategy used by them.

As I look back and cross-reference to how I managed to remain and capture attention of most forum users with my attention grabbing subject, it all glued together and solve the very question which i had all these years.

Proper use of language will make wonders if applied on correctly. Putting emotions into a words and sparking some elements of controversy is what I found out to the one of the few secrets of copy writing.

Just when I got the feeling that my book will be delayed yesterday. new hopes surfaced when I saw a spectacular view of sun rays shinning from the ground upwards into the sky like what spotlights do in events. Which I captured it down with a camera, telling me that hope is just round the corner. I’ll post the picture in future after I watermark it.

Than today, i got just that, new hopes of additional money with product creation. Instead of re-writing the whole book, chapters, I’ll will writing a 2nd book and market both books together since it compliments each other.

As for the details, maybe next time when my books are ready for launch and adds more value to the product than when left marketed alone.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Loan is the act of lending, a grant of temporary use of something. It is often associated with financial related as a type of debt, a financial assistance between the lender and borrower.

There is a agreement between the lender and borrower, usually money loaned out with interest charge attached. Banks and Loan-sharks charge interests but what differentiates them is that the former is legal whereas the latter is illegal.

People often seek temporary loans to meet needs before pay-days without interest as it is between trusted friends and family. This is a simple transaction that seems harmless, but should it become a habit, it will reflect a worrisome trend, poor money management which is what majority of the people have.

Using this month’s income to pay for last months bills and expenses billed to them inclusive of their daily general expenses such as food and transportation expenses. The banks being the smart business owners, than introduce credit cards to allow majority of people to by pass this problem of not having sufficient money to spend.

While this credit card solves a temporary solution to the problem, it in fact creates a much bigger problem that is snowballing up in damage and image if not managed wisely.

That problem in particular is the interest incurred during the use of credit cards for overdue loans which has since converted into debts adding to the woes of employees who are the majority without sufficient money cash-flow also known as cash liquidity in accounting terms.

Loan is a double-edge sword, when used correctly, it will help individuals, businesses increase their wealth, cash-flow liquidity, and thus more money earned. But if used wrongly, it will speed up the problems and have it erupted like a volcano with magma flowing up from the source… Magma in this case refers to the snowballing debts compiled and made worse by interests.

The start of the volcano in the making is the lack of proper financial knowledge. What caused the magma to shoot up is the temptation of shopping, advertisements and the urge to keep up with trend and be sociable thus money is spent.

To learn proper financial management skills, it starts from young and in fact, there is no need for professional financial management, all of it boils down to proper understanding and the contribution of experience for people across the globe.

Learning professional financial knowledge management is a skill for use and application in big companies with deep pocket, thus it is like a crash course to educate and impart a complete rookie who knows nothing about financial management to somebody who knows all the crucial and critical pointers as advised by lecturers and professors during the learning.

Either way, the most important route to success is to start off with the proper basics of sound financial management skills.

Are you in a having nasty problems with your money? Simply do a simple chart which calculates your input and output of how your money are spent and you will get a better understanding of where you money is wasted on before coming up with your own plan to better managed your own money.

Money management is important but do not forget it is a double edge sword. Handle with care.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Black is result of the lack of light. In the absence of light, it is complete darkness in pitch black.

There are many words associated with black or darkness. Negativity, underground groups such as gangsters, mafias, criminals along with other natural habitat creatures such as bats, underground, caves and explorers often risk death trying to venture into the unknown.

Darkness is not considered to be anything negative but rather it is just another kind of living habitat which is not suitable for most of the living organisms.

Only the creatures with the strongest will power will survive and evolve to change themselves and learn the ropes of survival in complete darkness, in this case a cave.

Having just watched “Planet Earth” from channel U, while it seems dark and creepy looking at the caves from the outside where there’s light, pitch black never fails to give off a sense of misery which attracts dare devils to test out their guts.

Thanks to modern technology and the documentary shows, it is possible to understand and be mesmerized by the allure of the hidden beauty in complete darkness under within the cave.

As the common sayings goes: The most beautiful is often the most lethal and deadly which is true in nature, cave exploration has got its high risk and is filled with nothing but danger, especially if you decide to explore under water.

It is when you live and learn the rules of survival in the darkness, depending on your senses for food and your life that makes it much easier for you to survive out in the wild when there’s light.

Survival is a testament of certain success, regardless of whatever situation and environment, even if it is pitch dark, one must learn and navigate through the routes and find the way out.

The creatures living in darkness and daylight both have their own ways of survival, but man on the other hand can survive both in light and in complete darkness thanks to technology and learning some crucial survival skills.

While we are mesmerized by the beauty of nature we also must respect nature. Likewise, to live, succeed and win, we need to learn the rules of survival in a highly competitive society just like how cave creates evolve through thousands of generations to lose their eyes and be born blind.

Popularity: 1% [?]