Monthly Archives: September 2013

Benefits of Being an Online Entrepreneur

Online entrepreneur benefits

I love internet, I absolutely do. It is not just a channel of exchanging information and data, but it also enables business in various scales, and lowers the entry barrier for startups. Setting up a business online is not only easy, but it can be very inexpensive to maintain compared to its offline counter-part. If you think of it, with a little over $100 you can have your own website running for a year.

Market

The most important thing for an online business is the ability to reach people in every corner of the world. Well, at least as long as they have access to internet. If you think of a startup business before the internet era, it was very limited to the location. And without substantial investment, taking over new markets was very costly. Through the internet we are able to target markets outside our physical reach almost as easily as markets within our physical reach.

Workforce

Another great aspect of running an online business is the easy access to remote workforce. Many startups begin with very humble financing and every penny and cent saved is a big win. In the traditional manner, a startup would need a physical office, where the hired staff would be working.

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When Should an Entrepreneur Give Up?

quit-business

Being an entrepreneur is not always easy, well actually, most of the time it’s not easy. There are number of reasons why we become entrepreneurs. For some it’s a desire to create something, for some it’s a problem with authorities, for some it’s the feeling of freedom etc.

Well, after you have made the decision to become an entrepreneur, you soon realize that it’s not all fun and games. You start worrying about money in ways you never even dreamed of while getting your monthly salary from your former employer. In case you’re hiring staff suddenly you start losing your good night sleeps towards the end of the month figuring out where to get the money to pay salaries. Your values change from “changing the world for better” towards to “I will sell what ever they buy”, and so on.

I-quit-middle-finger So, is there a time when you should just give up and stop trying? Well, the simple answer would be “no”, but perhaps it’s a little more complicated than that. Maybe you realized that being an entrepreneur was not for you, and that you would be better off by working for someone else. In that case, maybe the right answer is to do so, and perhaps while being an entrepreneur your contact network grew and you met the right people and you would be getting a lot better position in some company than where you were before.

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What’s Wrong with Our Current Education System?

I am a big fan of Sir Ken Robinson, not just what he represents, but the way he expresses himself. He has been appearing in TED Talks, and one of his speeches, perhaps the most famous one, is the all time most watched TED Talk. [The ones, who are not familiar with Sir Robinson, he is actively pushing an education system reform.]

What makes his case so special? Why is his TED talk the most watched? Is he bringing something new to the table that we didn’t know before? Perhaps, but lets have a look what he is all about:

The very clever video infographic that was made from one of Sir Robinson’s speeches, illustrates the problems in the education system he has been pointing out for a while: Since we are all different, why are we being educated in the same way. Arranged to classrooms based on the year we are born. Tested in the same way and measured against one criteria. etc.

So what’s wrong with that? Nothing, if the purpose of the education is to create soldiers and factory workers (which was the case of our 19th century built, still-in-use, education system). But what about today’s world?

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3 Misconceptions of 3D Printing

3d printing misconceptions

Lately I have been running into more and more discussions about 3D printing with my friends. The ones who have followed the development longer know quite a lot and the conversations are more of what’s happening now and what are the next steps. The ones who first of all understand the difference between 3D movies and 3D printing, and have just discovered technology, are so biased thanks to the mainstream media that it almost annoying to even have the conversation. I thought I’d list the 3 biggest misconceptions based on these conversations.

Misconception #1: 3D printers can print anything

No! No, no, no! We are not living in Star Trek world. It is not possible to print a fully functional iPhone. At least not today, not even tomorrow. Maybe, maybe in several years of time, when the technology evolves. Where we are today, is that we can create any shape of an object with the materials we have available. I am not saying that the technology isn’t incredible and what it can do already today isn’t amazing, such as the bioprinting human tissue etc. Heck, I am the one getting my daily kicks out of it. But, no, not everything can be 3D printed today.

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Getting a Myanmar Visa in Bangkok

getting a visa

I have plans to travel to Myanmar end of this month representing Sancus Group, and to attend the Myanmar Business and Development Week, therefore needed to apply for a Visa (the stamp, not the credit card…). Obtaining Visa’s can be tricky, especially in Asia. Although the situation is improving certain countries still require a visa prior to entry, including Myanmar.

So, I headed to Myanmar Embassy near Surasak BTS station this morning. I have to say that it was a surprisingly pleasant experience. I got a heads up from a friend not to go there when it opens as the queue starts to pile up little after 8AM (the embassy opens for visa applications at 9AM), but to wait around 10AM when the queue has mostly cleared out and the process is faster. It certainly was, maybe 5 people in front of me in the queue. Of course I had the wrong form (downloaded cleverly and filled up in advance), so I filled up the updated form and stood in line. Finally reached the counter. “We only accept color photos”, said the clerk. Great. I still couldn’t get rid of my black and white passport photos. Luckily near every embassy, some business minded person has started up a photo shop.

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