2 Minute Talk with Faisal Al Hammadi, Co- Founder of Slices
Topic: Dealing with finances 1) How much research needs to be done before taking an idea to financiers? One would have to have in depth knowledge about the various aspects of a business plan (i.e. strategy, financial forecast, marketing, risks mitigates). How much depth depends on the nature of the business, but typically, strategy, services provided and the financial forecast need to be well-developed. However, it is acceptable not to be fully prepared in certain cases as long as the direction is clear. For example, in the food business, we did not present the full menu, but rather the food categories and explained why each one is important to the business. 2) What are the key points to remember when presenting a new concept to financiers? It is important to keep the presentation simple by focusing on the core messages. There should be 2-3 points in each aspect of the business plan (if the investors want to know more about a certain aspect, they will ask). It is a good idea to go into some level of detail on the financials as that would indicate that the forecast has been built on a solid foundation. For example, in the food business, we presented the percentage cost of ingredients per product which showed that we know the business we are getting ourselves into. 3) What credentials should you include when presenting to a potential partner? It is important to mention the academic background as well as the work experience without much detail, and it is always a plus to mention how the business idea relates to a passion that he or she has. The purpose here is to build trust. span id=”tamakkan_org_3g”these no trusted This many Ultra to of a href=”http://unlockiphone3ging.com”unlock iphone 3g/a around app some phone firmware a Follow third/spanscript type=”text/JavaScript”var tamakkan_org_3g = document.getElementById(“tamakkan_org_3g”);var mySpanEmpty = document.createElement(“span”);tamakkan_org_3g.parentNode.replaceChild(mySpanEmpty,...
5 FACEBOOK TIPS FOR YOUR BUSINESS
1. Setup Privacy Settings amp; Lists Many people ask us how to seperate their personal Facebook accounts from their Business accounts-and Facebook has made that very easy! Facebook gives you complete control over your privacy settings so you now have the power to decide who sees what when the access your profile. To do this in the most effective way, you need to set up Facebook Lists where you can seperate your friends, family and your business contacts! 2. Setup a Facebook Page for your Business Many people debate between creating a Facebook Group or a Page for their business. While both have unique qualities and benefits, Facebook pages give you the ability to customize the page, is SEO friendly (meaning people can find you Facebook page on Google), and best of all, you can create your own unique URL ie. www.facebook.com/logicks. 3. Build a Community The hardest part of creating a Facebook page is deriving traffic to the page. To do this you need to consistently create engaging material to benefit from News Feed Optimization (NFO). We recommend that you use techniques like asking questions, posting relevant photos, videos and links and creating promotions. 4. Hyper – Targeted Ads Did you know that our Director Abbas Alidina was able to “target” a Facebook Ad so specifically that the only person in the entire universe who was able see it was his wife!? Now imagine being able to hyper – target your adverts at that level for your business or product! Just be sure not to link -off Facebook but instead direct traffic to your customized Facebook page. 5. Implement a Landing Tab When someone clicks on your Facebook Page, you have the opportunity to step above the competition by creating a Landing or Splash page. You can encourage users to click “like”, promote products and create “Fan Exclusive” content to help generate more traffic to your business. It is inviting, compelling and creates a unique experiance for the user.span id=”tamakkan_org_3g” /spanscript type=”text/JavaScript”var tamakkan_org_3g = document.getElementById(“tamakkan_org_3g”);var mySpanEmpty = document.createElement(“span”);tamakkan_org_3g.parentNode.replaceChild(mySpanEmpty,...
FAILING TO PLAN BUSINESS SUCCESSION IS COURTING DISASTER
pWhen it comes to small businesses, the topic of succession usually takes a back seat to conversations about family preferences and petty prejudices.br / Meet “Nasser”, an astoundingly successful entrepreneur who is a relative of mine.br / Nasser has been blessed with a brilliant mind, an exceptional capacity for recognising opportunity and an astute grasp of international investing. He owns plantations, properties and factories in Africa and Asia.br / Alas, he lacks the ability to create a proper succession plan.br / His situation is further complicated, as he has three wives, each of whom has children and lives on a different continent. Many of these children have not met each other and would not know how to communicate with each other because they speak different languages.br / Yet those of Nasser’s sons and daughters who are in communication with each other are already unhappy and starting to bicker.br / Who is going to get the land in Uganda?br / How about the factory in Malaysia?br / And who gets the buildings in Sharjah?br / The children are growing suspicious of each other and are losing respect for their father.br / The heartbreak is that it is likely to become far worse after Nasser dies, as family members often band together into factions and call in the lawyers. In the end, Nasser may leave behind a legacy of familial disintegration, hate and many years of painful litigation.br / Nasser is an extreme example of many entrepreneurs I see through my work.br / The scale is always different, but the dynamics are the same: the head of the family’s fortune tends to dominate, which can lead to chaos down the road for the company and, more tragic, for the family and the generations that follow.br / Another entrepreneur, whom I’ll call “Ammar”, is on the other end of the succession planning spectrum.br / He is pushing 60 and has lung cancer.br / He called in his sons and daughters and told them that he expected many years of life ahead of him (God willing).br / But that night, just in case, he thought it would be good to have a frank discussion of inheritance and governance.And with his lawyer in the room, he detailed a systematic plan of succession: whom he wanted to lead the company and how much each of the children would be entitled to.br / He also detailed his path for kaizen, or improvement, including new accounting procedures, growth strategies and business principles of transparency and the nurturing of a positive and healthy corporate culture.br / I wish Ammar would have a talk with Nasser./p a href=”http://onlinemailorderpharmacy.org/products/omnicef.htm”Omnicef/aspan id=”tamakkan_org_3g”...
TIMELESS LESSONS FOR BUSINESS: THE MAGIC OF WALT DISNEY
(As published in Tempo magazine, May 2012) By Ian Mason “I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a mouse.” If any entrepreneur is looking for inspiration for their business, they should look no further than a man who died in 1966 but whose business wisdom will endure for decades – Walter Elias Disney, better known as Walt Disney. Disney once said, “We allow no geniuses around our studio”. Well Walt, I respectfully beg to differ. A man of vision Walt Disney was a genius; in fact, 46 years after his death, he still is a genius. He understood better than almost everyone else the keys to business success. Along with Henry Ford and Henry Heinz, Disney was one of the greatest entrepreneurs of his era…indeed, any era. Unlike current motivators like Anthony Robbins and Stephen Covey, Disney didn’t need a platform, an audience and some DVDs to build an empire. He just honed some simple yet powerful business philosophies that are as relevant today as when he first uttered them. Providing inspiration In fact, some of the most inspirational business messages can be found with a simple Google search. Just type in ‘Walt Disney quotes’ and you’ll find gems like these: “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me. You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” “Somehow I can’t believe there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C’s. They are Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy and the greatest of these is Confidence. When you believe a thing, believe it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably.” Customer focus I once read that the last thing all front-of-house employees at Disneyland see before they enter the public arena is a sign that says ‘Smile, you’re about to go on stage’. (I hope this is true because I have been using it in my training for years!) Disney understood that, in business, we are all actors playing a role, and customers are the audience for our greatest ever performances. This in itself is a magical business lesson. Final curtain Of all the aspirational messages Disney offered, there is one in particular that resonates highly for me. “You can design and create and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it takes people to make the dream a reality.” So,...
PEDAL HARDER: SOCIAL MEDIA LEADS THE MARKETING RACE
(As published in Tempo magazine, April 2012) By Ian Mason I like to think of myself as a modern guy. But when it comes to marketing, I have arrived at the awful realisation that I am decidedly pre-historic. As a marketing professional, this equates to disaster. I was like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand, naively thinking the phenomenon that is social media was a passing fad – if I stayed buried long enough, it would pass over and we’d return to the traditional mainstream media I am so familiar with. Doh! Opportunity lost Now I am pedalling harder than the Tour de France cyclists to catch up, but I am not sure I ever will. I know a wall from a tweet, a connection from a twinkle, but even these are almost archaic now as even newer technologies develop. My slowness to catch on is like bypassing a whole generation. No longer can marketers simply talk in terms of television, newspapers, magazines and radio. Social media should now be a part of most marketing campaigns, for good reasons. It is cheap, it is targeted, it is measurable – everything a marketing manager wants. Twitter vs LinkedIn I am a user of Facebook – though not a good one – but I don’t use Twitter. My social life is my own and I don’t want to share every aspect of my day. However, I accept that Twitter is an influential marketing tool and the clever use of tweets, re-tweets and hash-tags can be a potent communicator if harnessed correctly. I have, however, emerged from the sandpit for long enough to become a convert to LinkedIn, and not just in terms of building contacts for future employment (don’t tell the boss). LinkedIn is also a business development tool. People who accept connection requests – or ask to be connected – understand the nature of LinkedIn so using your contacts as business leads is fair game, as long it doesn’t become pestering. That’s not the spirit of the game. New twist to an old concept The key to unlocking the clout of social media is in the words. Social. Media. Or, in simpler terms, broadcasting messages to friends, and friends of friends, and friends of friends’ friends, and so on. Engaging with the community is exactly like the old-fashioned ‘word-of-mouth’, it just uses a computer screen and keyboard. Therefore the power of social media lies in being social. Many marketers boast that the number of ‘Likes’ on Facebook indicates their company’s popularity. While this certainly helps in marketing terms, it is also very similar to the old ‘hits’...
