E-business

After reading this article, I was surprised and yet amazed on how much work is associated with online business. An e-business which is also known as an electronic or internet business is a type of business where they process orders, handle customer service, and cooperate with other business partners online.

Like most things in life, e-business has it's pros and cons too.

Some of the PROS are that:
- starting an e-business has a low start up cost (does not require renting a store, equipment expense, maintenance, etc ).
- no employees needed meaning no wages expense
- you can easily access the business at home
- it'll be running 24/7 with no need to close it down
- will save you expenses for commute and transportation

Some of the CONS are that:
- there are hidden costs such as security, testing order process, updating anti-virus,  remaining informed about scams/frauds
- time consuming (customer service, coordinating returns, processing refunds, answering questions/concerns, arranging special requests)
- need to be involved in many non-revenue generating activities (updating website, product reviews, forums, bulletin boards, social networking)
- you’re not able to build direct customer relation by physically being in contact with them. Less social activities.

Minimum Wage Increase

On May,1,2011 the minimum wage increase from $8/hour to $8.75 was placed in effect. Now this is ofcourse an outstanding news for employees, however not so much for the employers. The $0.75 raise will make a significant difference to the employees as they'll be getting rewarded by a rate of an extra 75c in their paycheck. This will most probably imrpove the quality of their work as well as they'll be more motivated to work longer hours with that little bit of extra pay. Initially, employers may not look at this as an advantage for themselves, but ultimately, the raise will also be beneficial to them since employees will be more pumped up and rewarded by the raise, resulting in a greater, quality performance.
The minimum wage raise is an excellent start and I hope to see it increase in the near future , providing the lower income families with an aid to their struggles.

19 year old Enterpreneur

A 19 year old young adult, Brian Wong is a highly successful entrepreneur that has introduced a most unique website ever to the market named Kiip which offers an advertise based reward for mobile gaming. Kiip  rewards players for their achievements with something materialistic to make their game experience and joy more worthwhile. It's an excellent way of advertising products along with giving dedicated players real awards for virtual accomplishments. Kiip has certainly set off a milestone in the gaming era, and has given mobile gaming a whole new face of advancement.

Reflection: In my view, Brian Wong is certainly one of the legendary role models in the world of entrepreneurs. At such a young age, to attain such great success is truly fascinating. His venture is the most unique one yet and to come up with a website that offers real-world prizes for accomplishments on mobile games is an exceptional way to reward one's dedication in a game. Personally, I'm the person to play a game only up to a certain level and then give up because I start to realize there's no point. However, after the introduction of kiip, players like me will be more motivated to compete and achieve a higher level of accomplishment. This is truly a most unique and brilliant venture!

The reason for young entrepreneurs to attain a higher success in technology related industries is because in our era, technology is given the most value and recognition. On a regular day basis, people depend on technology for most their needs, and for an entrepreneur to recognize that as an oppurtunity, is an excellent start. Technology is developing at an incredible fast rate as people begin getting exposed to it at a fairly young age. Therefore, starting a business in the field of technology is proven to be extrememly beneficial for most young entrepreneurs. Bill Gates is one of our perfect living examples!

Xerox Coporation

What Went Wrong?

Xerox Corporation has been a well known corporation for over 50 years that introduced many innovative technological ideas giving our era a whole new face of technological advancement. However, due to various issues, they weren't able to attain the success they deserved. The major problem was the team of officers who could not work cooperatively. For instance, Barry Romeril (chief financial officer), Paul Allaire (chairman), Dolan (president of Xerox's global sales) and Anne Mulcahy (Dolan's sister and another member of the executive group) were all working together against Rick Thoman, the chief executive officer. Thoman came up with several great plans such as restructuring Xerox's global sales division to better compete with the Japanese firms and concentrating on developing a strong relationship with customers rather than service a wide market. Unfortunately, most of the plans were rejected by disagreeing members. Alongside this struggle, the company was facing a weak stock market, lawsuits and a decreased value. Furthermore, many sale representatives commenced quitting to join other firms because they had no clear sense of what goal the company was aiming for and stability was more guaranteed with other companies. Overall, the poor communication and conflicts between the personal relationships of the corporate leaders resulted in the ultimate downfall of Xerox Corporation.

Venture Project

Okay, well for my upcoming venture project, I'm thinking to introduce to the school a delicious Indian appetizer; Samosas! As for now, I'm thinking to purchase up to 10dozens of samosas everyday from a popular restaurant situated on Fraser street, Bhaiya Sweets and Restaurant. The reason the idea of selling samosas erupted in my mind was because firstly, they are absolutely delicious and popular among every cultural background and secondly they'll be  very economical in terms of our purchase budget. Selling samosas during break and lunch time will be both a delight for the students(the consumers) and an excellent way to earn profit for our team!

A fall back option would be selling special kinds of ice cream cones, maybe even homemade type! My team and I could work on inventing some delicious new flavoured ice creams and then introducing them to the Trojan market. I realize that Trojan market already carries ice cream but the type I would come up with would be different from all the other types of ice creams in the Trojan market. My ice creams would also be very economical ; maybe 75c a cone. Students would be my biggest target market and I think with my pricing and the flavour of my ice creams, I will be sure to attract lots of em! ;)

The Business Case for Sustainability

The Business Case for Sustainability is a documentary that reinforces the idea of  maintaining economic success and achieving commercial advantage by building reputation and gaining the trust of people that work with or live around the company. In other words, it means satisfying customers’ demands, at the same time also managing the expectations of other people, such as employees, suppliers and the surrounding community. Sustainability can bring direct benefits to a business and secure its long-term competitiveness. Companies such as L'Oreal and Amazon.com Inc are recognized as one of the top 100 most sustainable companies. These companies gain the advantage of excellent reputation in the business market along with gaining increased loyalty of their customers. By embracing the long-term strategic and competitive advantages of sustainability, businesses of all sizes find that they can have a significant impact, and at the same time meet and exceed their business objectives.

The Corporation

   “The Corporation” is a film which compares corporate behavior to psychopathic behavior. Watching this movie, I was hit by the devastating reality of what actually goes on behind the scenes in a well-established corporation. The corporations, in their myopic pursuit of profit, have lost sight of society, people and the environment. They tend to run roughshod over everything and everybody that gets in their way. This film clearly shows examples of corporate behavior that fits the profile, from polluting the environment, child labour, sweatshops, corruption of governments, use of media domination to spin news in ways favorable to corporate interests, and the production of products which kill people. This documentary truly reveals the real face of large corporations.