Brainstorming and trying to come out with a feasible business idea which may work, has always been the topic with my friends and colleagues in our gatherings before I quit to start my own business. We sometimes overheard such conversations among the cafe and fast food chains, everyone is doing almost the same thing. Most of the time, we go back to our own employee world after spending good bonding hours together. It is not easy to hit upon a feasible idea. If it is a partnership among a group of friends then chances of feasibility are much lower. To me feasible means that it can worked out successfully and breakeven in 3 to 5 years time. I'm too serious about it in such discussions, sometimes friends don't like it, as I put down ideas that may not work for myself. It is also a very personal issue as what is feasible for someone may not be the same for another. All the while when I first started out to work, I have already have in mind to start my own business. I find such chit-chats a little too much talk without action, thus I made a daring move to quit my good paying job and start up myself.

According to the Straitstimes' article, chances of success in starting a new business outside own industry are very low! This is true, and it is also the same reason why I continued doing IT Related stuffs even though I know how bad the goings inside are. There are perks along the way, and what I have built up in profile and reputation are within this same industry.

If it is something outside own industry, it should at least have a good personality match, according to the same article. It does not meant that if one loves food, food industry will be good. It goes the same way, for flowers, shoes, fashion, travel, or bubble tea etc...  I have seen friends gone into shoe businesses which he may not have a good match of personality. It still works out well because there are enthuaistic partners taking a major ownership, and he could just be a sleeping partner or investor. To him it is a financial investment and he is in the financial industry. I looked at myself (who is major in IT for many years) when I started out, there are a few areas of personality match, but it takes a lot more to venture into those (non-core), unless there is something really coming. Otherwise, the start out on my own, itself, is already enough for me to handle. 

Spot potential new trends! It cannot be something that has already been done, or not so common yet, but going to. There is some sort of predicting and risk involved. Businesses like the YaKun Kopi Roti Eggs, Breadtalk Pork Floss Bread, Sweettalk Bubble Tea, Mr Bean Soya Milk, and Starbucks Cafe have reached the point of diminishing desire. If we hear any of this during those chit-chat about business ideas, it is a little bit too late! It is a good business because the product cost  many times lesser without the manefestation it is hiding behind. It use to be something we never heard of or believe it would work back then. Sometimes such trends are induced and created by the business creator. It must be something that one sees it coming, but could not get the rest of the world to understand. It must also be something the one is deeply rooted into, and is the few who would have the skills and capability to handle whatever that is coming. The irony is that to get the whole world to understand it, one has to start the business and make it happen! Most of us thought that to come out with The Idea, we would naturally become successful! That is bullshit! Mr Sim (CEO, Creative) once said: "An idea is only worth $2! We need to develop it further, then it would be worth $10. We need to continuously developing it to gradually increase it's value! It's the operation efforts that matters and not the idea!" 

A mistake that most new entrepreneurs usually made was highlighted in the article: "They keep their ideas to themselves because they are afraid that others may steal them." I have always been getting this reminder from my friends and family when I first started out, warning me of the dangers that people out there would like to steal ideas and make it theirs. It's not a competition of who has the better the idea, but who can make an idea works better! Ideas are not like crude oil, where there may be a limit in the whole world. Ideas should have a continuous stream of supply from a creative person. If this idea has been taken by another person, just think of another. It is easy to think of an idea, but it is difficult to make it come true. If someone can take your idea and make it come true, you should thank that person! 

"Share your plan with others so that they give you feedback. Use people as sounding boards" is recommended in the article instead. There was a period of time where I went around meeting some friends to "bounce off" some of my business plans and ideas that I'm really going into. There are mixed feelings of whether people may take your idea and use it for their own gains, or will they take you seriously. It paid off, some gave me very sincere responses, it shed me some light in the direction I'm going. Hence, I changed some business plans here and there. It is still not very clear at that time. The best way is to really do it and suffer the consequences, that is the most genuine feedback, but it is costly. So I tried various kinds of temporary engagments on and off from a case-by-case basis. At the same time, I signed up teaching part-time in a local polytechnic to keep myself in-touch with the industry. Participation is definitely better than, listening, observing, and keeping up with the news and trends.

The article also recommends that Business plans should be constantly renewed to keep up and adapt to changes. It is rather true these days because the economy has became so advanced that drastic changes can be observed in less than a lifetime. A few years back, you can take a long time to come out with a business plan and you can make the necessary changes after the business is running. Nowadays, you cannot take too long to come out with a business plan and you have to make changes in the plan even before execution! My own business plans are still changing. Although I'm already out of employment, I still tell people that I have not really "started" my business yet. Yes! I may have registered a business name and has started "being my own boss" for a few years already, but this is not what I visualised my business to be! Sometimes when I shared my vision with my family and close friends, they would say: "Don't bullshit! See what you are doing now! When would you be successful? Why can't you be like everybody, get a job...". But I've not given up and is still working towards that vision and dream.

Majority of us are employees and few are entrepreneurs. There are much more acceptable knowledge from the employee's view bouncing around than the ugly and realistic unacceptable perspective from entrepreneurs being spread around. Everytime, I came across such articles that tries to explain to the employees about entrepreneurs what the employees want to hear, I felt sorry for those majority that are going to be misled by this fad.

In the above-attached article fromt he straitstimes recruit page, it mentioned about being Focused and Self-sufficient in the 'Pitfalls' section. These are very realistic issues faced by entrepreneurs! Many employees may not have truthfully understood what it means by "staying focused". Employee has a definite job scope, wheras for an entrepreneur there may be several job roles at different times or even at the same time. Employee are told what to do, and Entreprenuers have to decide what to be done and have to do it themselves. Employees get paid at the end of the month even if they don't do well, wheras Entreprenuer usually faced a life and death issue for whatever they decide or do; and they may not get paid at all.

A wrong perception of Entrepreneurship which I kept hearing from employees:

"Do what one likes to do, and have more free time".

What an Entrepreneur is doing:

"Spend all time, Do what everyone hates to do, Introduce change to benefit more, earn more, and be successful".

Once you understand the Entrepreneurs are doing "something that everyone hates to do", you will realise why there is a need for Diversion when working on it. The worst scenario could be depression, otherwise if may just affect the progress as you cannot perform at your peak. Like a sportsman needs to be in one's comfort zone to perform. It is important because as an Entrepreneur one is gambling on all their time! Others may misinterpret this as "have more free time". Family members and friends of entrepreneur may feel that it is a Distraction. Of course there are also distractions around, which entrepreneurs have to be weary about, having the full control of time in own hands does not mean one is capable of managing it well. Especially, as a junior employee who depends on others to manage the schedules and deadlines.

Loneliness, is another test that entrepreneurs have to take. There may not be colleagues and like-minded partners that can be by your side when you work. It's not about doing your own work and nobody bothers you, that is efficiency. It is when you need another opinion, or someone to "chop" the seat when you go lunch, someone to listen to your grouses, someone to agree with you because both are on the same boat, and many more intangible reasons. It's not about finding someone who can answer difficult questions and solve difficult problems, where most employees find it safer in a big company where there are many talents around. Instead of going tea breaks and gossiping in the grapevines, Entrepreneurs are encouraged to do Networking to cure loneliness at the same time increase the chance of success. It really depends if killing boredom is your Diversion, and Networking is not your Distraction. You may find friends or even foes in networking, but it is a neccessity in business world. There are politics in the corporate world and not to mention the business world too. As an employee, you still get paid at the end of the month or move on to another ship, but for an Entrepreneur it is life and death issue, unless you quit business! I disagree that Networking can cure lonelinesss, but it does equipt an Entrepreneur with another necessary tool for the job.

The TCM chain goes electronic for better all-round service, as ALFRED SIEW finds out
Article on Straitstimes Digital Life 4 Dec 2007

It is not an easy task to profit from such a project, from the point of view of a software application developer. That is the reason why big players in SI System Integration are not keen with such customers. The reason being the Long Tail after the project commissioning. It is the choice of Eu Yan Sang and half the reason could be due to the cost. I'm not sure of the track record of Philip Tang and Sons in SI projects, but I have knew of several local startups serious in SI projects could not last very long doing the same specialisation. Some of these startups are fresh graduates from NUS who have not entered the working industry yet. The feedback from these cohort are usually that they are not expecting a Long Tail in SI Projects. If they had known about this Long Tail, they would not have chosen SI as the trade. Academics and Products Pre-Sales painted a very rosy picture about SI projects. In conclusion, Long Tail is a must in SI projects and software developers must be able to swallow it completely unless the customer undersands about such issues. Usually companies who had tried and tested would appreciate it. But that does not necessary meant that companies are willing to pay for it. Some may think that it is to make it pretty, but the fact is just to prevent it from turning urgly.