Opportunities

It seems that one opportunity with the OC takeover is dead in the water.  Having said that, OC seems to still be quite keen on us moving forward and are reducing the rent offering.  It is still high, but a lot different to what they initially offered us.  The key issue is that the current tenant is now not that keen to move out, so I still think the deal will not work out.  But who knows, let's see what they can do.

One thing with opportunities when I have my own business is that any opportunity is potential and needs some thought.  I guess the next few years will be trying to develop, maintain and improve the validity of multiple income streams.  At the moment, there is GAP and Rewind, and we are trying out a new Rewind event to see if it will work.  This means that each opportunity has its cycle of developing (usually quite intensive), maintain (when operationally stable) and then improve (with refreshes of the offering).

So I need to be conscious of what cycle each of them is at, in order to not burn out.  But also I can realise that not all the opportunities require the same amount of attention at the same time.  Unlike a job where I have to focus only on that, I need to develop the skill to quickly diagnose what is wrong and get it fixed up.   Multi-tasking is no good, but serial focussing may be a better solution.

The other skill is to be able to quickly discern the validity of an idea, and the probability of success.  I think I am still quite "on the fence" with many opportunities, so develop the quick "making a decision" ability will increase my capacity to test and see ideas.

The other opportunity is to work with Aives on a social entrepreneur expansion into Asia.  At the moment, it seems like their own execution in Australia needs time, but it gives a bit of space to do some proper market research to come up with a good approach to this opportunity.  I think it is a good one, as I want to get involved in social entrepreneurship.  I am slightly wary though, as I may have a romantic notion of what it actually is about.  Need to get out there and talk to those people in the industry and see whether I really want to do it.  Of course, there are many facets of that business, so another approach (which may be more fruitful) is to find the elements of that opportunity that I think I will enjoy and really push on those.

Control

I had an interesting moment talking about a new concept with an investor.  I had informed him that I was having a meeting with the mall management to go through the final version of the concept, and propose the PSF for the outlet.  He said that he should be at the meeting.  At first I said no because I believe that introducing new elements (being a new person) would affect the negotiation, possibly derailing the process.  And since he was only a potential investor, I wasn't sure if it was good to bring him into the process into the first place.

My potential investor (is his characteristic blunt way) pointed out that it was his strength in negotiation, and that (though he didn't use as many words), believed that he could negotiate a better deal than I would.   I thought about this for a while before agreeing to let him come to the meeting.

If I mapped the thinking process, I would guess that besides the derailing risk, I did have an ego hit when he pointed out my previous negotiation results.  As a "entrepreneur", I would think that I am capable of doing all the job elements.  To be confronted with that fact, is a hard pill to swallow.  And then the more I thought about it, the less downside there was.  Ultimately if there is no deal, there is no business.  And he is very keen to get the deal done, and (hopefully) has the skills to get the deal for the right price.  We have to use the resources we have around us to get the results we are looking for.  Also since he has staked his ability to get that PSF rate, then he should have more incentive.

Of course there is still a downside and that is that he alienates the relationships that we have built with the mall.  Given that we don't have any current business with them, then it is not too big an issue.  Let's see how this meeting goes.

As an overall theme though, it's about the amount of control each of the people have in a new company.  Having not worked with him before, I suppose this period is about finding out what the other person wants.  And in this case, I have to be clear what I (and GAP) is looking for.  I should not think of people as being adversarial straight away.  But I should not give the control up without knowing the reason why.  And the reality of the situation is that whoever has 51% of the votes will control the company. 

Reacting for People Management

I was told the other day that I needed to sort out some people issues straight away, for fear that the person might make a rash decision and leave.  That person was quite important to us.  It was suggested that I should bring forward a planned pay increment as that person had made a statement about her pay being not enough for the work she was doing.

So I went in and gave some encouragement.  I decided not to talk about any increment for that person.  I didn't really talk through any issues to be honest.

What I realised after soothing that person was the following:
1. I should be continually encouraging my staff.  Doesn't matter when or where, I should be doing it.  It does help calm a situation and reinforces the "we are here to help each other" mentality.  A lot of times, it is when people feel that they are doing it all themselves is when they get frustrated.
2. I should not act on any decision like pay increases based on another person's view to act.  I need to be willing to wait until the request is given to me, or when I decide it is the right time.  Trust my instinct.
3. Everyone has good and bad days.  We shouldn't blow things out of proportion and react prematurely.  And overall, as long as we are setting a good environment, things will be ok.  Look at the longer term.

I think I am calm in most situations, but I need to learn to be calmer when it comes to dealing with people.  And assume good people are emotionally mature and can take care of themselves.  Sometimes just a good word will be all that is required.

Concept Work Part 2

It was fun to work on the concept deck for O.  What was cool was to realise how rubbish my first effort was! The subsequent polishing / carving of the presentation via clarifying the concepts, adding new concepts and generally improving the look and feel of the presentation was good to watch.  Plus I have learnt many things about Powerpoint that I had take to the next presentation!

I have read that whatever one writes on the page is what one falls in love with.   The hardest part is to accept feedback and make the necessary changes to improve it.  As someone who is easily swayed, it is easy to lose track of what the original idea was.  Luckily it is good to have people around me who "add value" to the idea instead of trying to bring a whole new idea in.  I also have to be conscious of this and really try to add value to other people's ideas, cause that is where the great ideas come from.

Having the concept brief should make the interior design work easier to understand and to integrate not just the interior but the overall design of the outlet, from food / drinks to interior to uniforms and even the toilets.  We must stay true to the style of this concept, and I think the guest will appreciate the integrated whole.

The most difficult part comes next, which is a) to convince the mall that the concept is good for them, and b) to convince them that whilst it is good, the sales are still at risk and hence we will need a good deal on the rent!  A fine line to tread.

Networking

Just went to a boat cruise today with lots of new people.  Always good to meet new friends, and I think some of these people are ballers! :)

If I am to stay here in SG for a long period of time, and especially if I am going to do more business, it makes a lot of sense to network more and develop a better connection with the "SG upper class".  That's always been one area where I have not put enough thought into.  I just meet people and have fun.  But in SG, probably more so than in Syd or New York, having that connection is a very advantageous thing to have.

The clash is that I always want to do concepts that bring people in.  Hence I am such a mass market fan.  There is less of the "oh if I piss this person off, my business is ruined" concept.  I was talking to a friend that wanted to get into yacht sales, and I was thinking, that is an extremely small market.

I should just continue to be willing to go to new parties and meet new people.  Club meeting is not as good as you can't really talk and everyone is mostly smashed.  Junk boat parties are a good start!

Convincing

I think I have some skill in convincing people to do this things I want.
But with this skill, there is always a risk that I ignore what other people's views are.  It's like riding roughshod over people, but those people feel ok about it!  Is that still a bad thing?

I read a book "Raise the Bar" which talks about the fact that ANY interaction has an emotional component to it.  In that sense, there is always some feeling to any discussion.  And the aim of any discussion with staff (positive or negative) is to make them more engaged, more energised and more motivated than the start of the conversation.  I think that is good advice.  It is very easy to berate people, especially as the boss when whatever you say people listen more than once.

So today, convincing one more my staff that he should cut his labour costs was tough.  I think I ended up pushing through with a certain cost number.  What I think was good was that I offered some specific areas for him to focus on in order to hit that cost number and used past history to manage this expectation.  The "you've done it before, you can do it again!" has worked on many occasions!

Building Ideas

We have an opportunity for a new space at OC.  Rent seems like it can be quite low, so this may mean there is less requirement for it to make massive numbers.  In this case, it's pretty much a blank slate.  And that is the problem, I find it difficult to really conceptualise things that I can confidently say "oh yeah, the market will like this".  Perhaps that is actually too much to ask, start with something that I personally will like and go from there?

This location is on the rooftop, so need to take advantage of the views.  There is a outdoor section, which will be good for smoking.  There is an existing long izakaya bar, which should be easily converted into a normal bar.

The crowd around Orchard I find is not as avantgarde.  As a friend puts it, "it's atas and casual".  So I'm thinking comfort hipster!  Or something a bit more like Jones the Grocer.
Thoughts of utilising the space as an outdoor BBQ, but not sure of licensing rules.
I think back to The Oaks, but not sure if Singaporeans want to cook their own food!
Life is Beautiful is doing something similar.

I would like to combine:  good comfort food, normal priced drinks, and pop music done by a DJ.  Include a decent view and a smoking area, I think I would get some people.

The key is to transition from dinner to night time without missing a beat.  Lights have to go down.

Need to think more!!

Business Automation

My goal this year is to be able to earn the same amount of money from my business in SG without being in SG.  It is being location independent, but having very physical assets.

I estimate that I am about 50% of the way there with GAP.  The current situation is as follows:
1. Operationally on a day to day basis I am not involved.  I am at the outlets a lot, but I do not need to be on the floor or in the kitchen.
2. Corporate work in HR is done by our corporate admins.  This includes all timesheet reporting, payroll submissions and new hires/terminations.
3. Corporate work in IT is still done by me.  All POS changes, all computer issues, all printer issues, etc are done by me on a day to day basis.
4. Corporate work in Finance is still done by me.  This includes all cheque payments, our operations reporting, accounts receivable creation, GIRO payments, bank issues.
5. Suntec outlet construction issues still handled by me.
6. Mall relationships handled by me.
7. Key supplier relationships handled by me.

To be able to be location independent would mean the following (at a base level):
1. Corporate work in IT to be handled by a third party.  Not too hard, just a cost to be factored into our P&L.  I can do POS work remotely.
2. Corporate finance work, especially cheque payments would be handled by another person.  We just installed a cheque printer, so I just need to write up the process for submitting payments to be printed out.  From a sign-off perspective, if Jo is in SG then it is easy just for him to sign cheques,
3. Move more payments into GIRO form so that it can be done remotely.  At the very least all payroll (except CFS) should be GIRO.  Cash flow is an issue now, so holding payments is a good thing and hence holding cheques is a requirement.  Hopefully this is only an issue until April.
4. Mall relationships to be handled by Restaurant General Managers, instead of me.
5. Key supplier relationships to be handled by Drink and Food Champions, instead of me.  That one I can probably still manage remotely.
6. Sort out a communication method (Skype?) to manage the flow of information remotely.

The one area that needs me in SG is business development and new concepts.  Things such as OC or other options need to be sorted out.  Then this becomes a question of priority.  Is it more important to have the Korea experience, or rather should I concentrate this year to get more stuff off the ground?

If the goal is to earn the SAME amount of money, then perhaps it is ok to delay these new projects until I come back to develop them properly.

Separately, to improve some of our existing processes, we need to document the procedures better so that I do not need to be on call for questions on things that have already been answered,.

Worldviews

It's amazing to have conversations with people who have different worldviews to me.  A friend of mine is quite anti-Muslim. Every news they hear that concerns that worldview is slanted so that it paints Muslims in an even worse light.  And with western news the way it is, we only get to see the extremist events, which plays into the "there is nothing good about Islam" view.

It is easy to stay in one worldview.  Everything validates the view, as per perception bias.  It's altogether another challenge to see things from another worldview.  It really is a skill and a discipline to be willing to see the other side of the coin.

I still rate the David Wallace Foster speech as it articulates this skill so well.  I think seeing that other worldview is also skill in identifying business opportunities in this world.

Practising Negotiation

After the Sunday event incident, I had the pleasure of negotiating with the owner of the club as the outcome of the event was so bad.

Previously the agreement was that we would pay for the expenses of marketing the event, and he would cover the cost of staff and the band.  Based on the event turnout, he refused to pay the band.

In the end, we split the cost of the band.  In review, I think I did not negotiate well.
1. We had clearly agreed on the cost of the split.
2. The leverage obviously changed as after the event I was in a fairly poor position.
3. My worse case was to split the cost of the band.
4. My best case was that the agreement was the agreement and they should honour it.
4. When I offered to pay, I should have gone for increments.  Start at $100 and resisted hard on giving more money.
5. I have too great a sense of "fairness" in this context.  Given the relative transactional basis of this negotiation (I was really never going to work with the club owners again) I should have been more aggressive.
6. Will learn to hold the line more for next negotiation.
7. One thing was that I was able to put myself as the "good guy" with the band.  Keeping that relationship is not a bad thing, and something we can cultivate going forward for any additional events.