Saturday, November 14, 2009
Eye Openers: Myths Of Owning A Business
If only you knew then what you know now. ... There are plenty of reasons that statement rings true for battle-tested small-business owners. We asked a bunch of them to share the most commonly misplaced assumptions about entrepreneurship. They just might spare you that familiar lament.
Myth: Entrepreneurs are risk-taking visionaries.
Truth. Despite what some in the media would have you believe, you don't have to be a swashbuckling risk taker to run your own show. "These glamorous stories serve to make entrepreneurship appear to be an exclusive art that's relegated to a few people who exhibit a variety of specific traits," says Len Schlesinger, president of Babson College in Babson Park, Mass. "Entrepreneurs are actually very good at avoiding risk rather than taking it on."
Myth: The idea is more important than the details.
Truth: Whiz-bang new technologies and business models are sexy, but they aren't a requirement. "A well-executed, decent idea is better than a poorly-executed, excellent idea," says Gerald Shreiber, founder and chief executive of J&J Snack Foods ( JJSF - news - people ). Shreiber's secret to minding the details: a healthy dose of paranoia. "I have 2,600 people to worry about," he says. "Somewhere, God or my parents and grandparents are watching over me."
Myth: Jealously guard your idea, lest someone might steal it.
Truth: You may be onto something, but you surely don't have all the answers (if you even knew to ask all the right questions). "While you don't want to put your entire business plan on the Internet, entrepreneurs who do their homework look to a relatively large but select number of people to talk through their ideas," says Reid Hoffman, founder and chief executive of LinkedIn.com.
Myth: Your business plan must be rock solid from the get-go.
Truth: Building a company is an iterative process, says Hoffman, and entrepreneurs must be willing to adapt--to changes in customer demand or the competitive landscape. "It's not like chess where you have a pre-formulated, deterministic strategy and must get all the moves in exactly the right sequence," he says. There should be a principal plan in place--see Ten Things All Good Business Plans Must Have--but it should be flexible and updated constantly. Says Hoffman: "No battle plan survives impact with the enemy."
Myth: Passion will get you there.
Truth: Passion can ease the pain of 15-hour days. It can galvanize employees and win over customers. In some cases, it can even enthrall deep-pocketed investors. But it is no silver bullet. The most effective entrepreneurs learn to modulate their emotions, says Rich Gelfond, chief executive of IMAX ( IMAX - news - people ). His mantra: "It's never as good as it looks, or as bad as it seems."
Myth: You can set your own schedule.
Truth: "I thought I'd be the boss and sit back and put my feet up," says Mike Zaya, chief executive of Printrunner, an online printing and ink-cartridge company. Reality looked a bit different, including a several-night stretch of sleeping but two hours a night at the office. "You end up being the goalie of the company, and the goalie has to sacrifice their body," adds Zaya. "You have to be the first man in and last man out on any given day."
Myth: There's glory in it.
Truth: For all its rewards, entrepreneurship can also feel like a thankless job. "No one tells me that I did really well, it's always me telling everyone else that," says Amir Korangy, owner of the Real Deal, a real-estate focused publishing company in New York City. Korangy says entrepreneurs need internal motivation and reassurance because it rarely comes from outside. "After a few years, you want someone to say you're doing good work," he adds. "But the only way to tell yourself you're doing a good job is to see an increase in revenues."
Friday, November 13, 2009
RI to purchase trainer, attack aircraft from Russia, China
Indonesia will purchase new trainer/light attack aircraft from Russia and China as part of an effort to revitalize its primary defense system, says newly sworn-in Air Force chief of staff Vice Marshal Imam Safaat.
He said the new jets, consisting the Yak-130 from Russia and the FTC-2000 Mountain Eagle from China, would replace the squadrons of British Hawk Mk-53 jets and American OV-10 Bronco.
The Air Force has 20 Hawk Mk-53, and eight turboprop-driven OV-10 Bronco aircraft that are around 30 years old.
“We plan to replace them in the next couple of years. We have done feasibility studies for the purchases, and will propose them to the government soon,” Imam said after the handover ceremony at Halim Perdanakusumah Air Force Base in East Jakarta. Imam replaced Marshal Subandrio.
It would be the first time Indonesia purchases warplanes from China and the second from Russia after the United States embargoed the supply of spare parts for its F-5E Tiger II and F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighters and C-130 Hercules transport planes in 1999 due to human rights abuses mainly East Timor.
The Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman, Rear Marshal Sagom Tamboen said the reshuffle in the Air Force leadership was conducted to improve its professionalism through the regeneration of leaders.
Sagom added the new Air Force chief was assigned to boost the country’s air defense system by increasing the quality of aircraft and equipment.
“It is our mission to reduce accidents during training and operational work conducted by Air Force personnel to zero,” he said.
Iman said the military aircraft had to be replaced soon because the Air Force had used the existing planes for more than 30 years.
Imam said further that the Indonesian Military had also planned to replace the old F-5E Tiger II jets.
“We expect to replace them by 2013,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Imam declined to mention the prices of the new aircraft, saying he had not yet discussed it with the government.
“They are expensive,” he said, adding the aircraft would be purchased using foreign aid.
Indonesia bought three Sukhoi fighter jets in February this year to strengthen aerial defense following a series of deadly accidents caused by outdated military aircraft.
The country now has seven Sukhoi-type fighters, all of which were purchased from Russia through a credit scheme. Three more are expected later this year.
Indonesia purchased the seven fighter jets from Russia through the seven-year credit scheme at a total price of US$335 million, but does not have to start making payments for five years.
TNI chief Gen. Djoko Santoso said the Air Force would focus on increasing the operational quality of its basic equipment and maintenance.
“That includes the improvement of the Air Force’s radar systems and air control power,” he said.
Sagom said the Air Force would also focus on improving personnel welfare, despite its limited budget, in addition to increasing safety standards for its primary weaponry defense system.
Sagom added that 70 percent of the Air Force’s budget was geared toward the welfare of personnel. The other 30 percent was for the maintenance of equipment and spare parts.
He said the Air Force budget was expected to increase to between Rp 5 trillion ($531.6 million) and Rp 7 trillion next year, up from Rp 4 trillion this year. (nia)
Calling all budding Indonesian novelists
Have you ever planned on writing a novel? Or are you already a seasoned novelist looking for your next challenge? Well, there could be no better time to put pen to paper. November is the 11th annual National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a free worldwide challenge in which both professional and amateur writers attempt to complete a 50,000-word novel by midnight, local time, on Nov. 30.
Sound impossible? It really isn't, as the hundreds of thousands of previous NaNoWriMo winners, i.e. all those who achieved 50,000 words of fiction within the month, can testify.
Because it's not about quality, its all about quantity. So perfectionist writers out there can just this once forget about obsessively re-editing every single word. Just charge on and tell your story, in any language you like, with "literary abandon", as NaNoWriMo's tagline encourages. There are no judges and no prizes, just the magical motivation of a demanding yet achievable deadline.
"The 50,000-word challenge has a wonderful way of opening up your imagination and unleashing creative potential like nothing else," NaNoWriMo's founder and program director, Chris Baty, said.
"When you write for quantity instead of quality, you end up getting both. Also, it's a great excuse for not doing any dishes for a month."
NaNoWriMo, the largest writing contest in the world, was founded in 1999 in the San Francisco Bay area, with 21 participants. The rate of participation has dramatically increased every year and spread around the world.
In 2008, more than 120,000 people competed, with more than 30 NaNoWriMo novelists getting their novels published, including Sarah Gruen, whose New York Times *1 Best Seller, Water for Elephants began as a NaNoWriMo novel.
This year there are 213 Nano-novelists representing Indonesia, both locally and overseas, who have so far collectively written 281,921 words.
This Saturday, Nov. 14, Jakarta-based NaNoWriMos are invited to join a write-in at Caf* Gramedia, Grand Indonesia, Jl. MH Thamrin, from 1 p.m. onwards.
"It's exciting this year because we have lots of new young members," said the write-in's organizer Dini, 40, a secretary who has participated in NaNoWriMo since 2004.
To be an official NaNoWriMo winner, the rules are: write a 50,000-word (or longer) novel, between November 1 and Nov. 30; start from scratch (although outlines, character sketches, and research are all fine, as are citations from other people's works); be the sole author of your novel; and finally, upload your novel for word-count validation to the Nanowrimo site between Nov. 25 and Nov. 30.
If you haven't joined in yet, fear not, because it's still not too late to be in with a winning chance. If you start today, you have 20 days, and should aim for 2,500 words a day - a piece of cake for wordaholics!
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