We see them in almost all organisations / businesses. These are employees who work for the sake of salary alone. They do what they are told. And they don't act even if they see a need to, unless ordered to. They are disconnected from the general vision, general problems of the business. They don't use their brain or heart for the business.

You can easily identify them by just looking at them. Or watching how they work.

These are not the right employees and you need to change them or replace them.

*But what made them so?*
Most businessmen will run to find a good HR trainer to "repair" their staff. But before you do that, do a check on yourself. *Did you make them like that?* by,
+ Not giving them any importance
+ Not appreciating their ideas and suggestions
+ By insulting them
+ Not trusting them with higher responsibilities
+ Not having a vision yourself
+ Not following ethical practices that they stopped respecting you

The list goes on. So first make sure you are not the reason. Then make sure their immediate manager is not like that. If so, be the change first, then employ an HR trainer.

If you are ok, but they are still so. Replace them with passionate people.


*Best of luck for you and your enterprises!*

Business Insights from
*Ameen Ahsan Strategy Consulting*

7558-900-800 | www.ameenahsan.com
7th Floor, Hilite Business Park, Calicut

Most of us are aware of others mistakes, but rarely know what is wrong with us. Even if we do know some "wrongs" with us, we tend to find some excuse or it is linked to some other person or other happenings.

This can be very dangerous for an Entrepreneur. Unless he knows what is wrong with him, how can he solve it. If left unsolved, it can result in operating losses, loss of profit opportunities, diminishing competitiveness, wrong culture in the company etc.

But how can you know what is wrong with you? Ask your team, staff, customers... They are the once who sees your errors better than you. And what ever they say take it positively. Don't give them excuses and explanations.

Once you get the list of "wrongs" that you do, make a priority list. Then an action plan to solve each error one at a time.

This way, you get to be a good entrepreneur.

*Best of luck for you and your enterprises!*

Business Insights from
*Ameen Ahsan Strategy Consulting*

+91-7558-900-800 | www.ameenahsan.com
7th Floor, Hilite Business Park, Calicut

*Please share to all Entrepreneurs & Management Graduates*

Starting a business is a very tough job. But then, after many years of extra ordinary hard work, you push your competitors or you build a new virgin market, and finally you are no longer struggling! You have become a reputed player in the market, you have loyal customers, and you are making profits. In fact, you start to make enough profits that “make you happy and complacent”. Now, after all the years of hard work, it is natural but dangerous to be complacent. Why? Because the market is dynamic, it’s changing always. The customer tastes are changing, they become more demanding, and there’s always a new player who comes with something new that your customers might fall in love with! And that’s why it’s dangerous to be complacent.  As you know, “complacency” is that feeling among businessmen that “this is enough… we are “satisfied”….customers trust us so much that our competitors will not steal our customers…our quality is superior… and worst “we don’t have a competition!” mentality.

Now complacency leads to guaranteed business failure. When it will fail is just a matter to time.

Now Failure was 5 stages according to JIM COLLINS, the author of “How The Mighty Fall & Why Some Companies Never Give In”.  He states the 5 stages as;

1st Stage: This stage is when the businessman becomes arrogant with his success and/or when he believes that he is successful because “of what he does”, rather than the reason “why he is doing it and in what conditions it will work or not work”. In the former case, he will not change what he is doing (it can be a product that refuses to evolve with customer preference changes, or a service that refuses to update itself to what competitors are doing), just because it has worked for some time (past success, without considering the future). So how do you know if you are in this stage? Ask yourself,

• Do I know my competitors? Make a list of them, or better make a table
  
• Do I know what services are they providing? Which of those of services are different from mine? Better than mine? Worse than Mine? Add these data to the “Competitors Table”
  
• Do I know how much they charge from customers? Add these figures into your table. 
  
• Do I know how much business they do? This is tricky to get, but crack your head to get it. Add the findings to your “table”.
  
• Do you really know who your customer should be? Most businesses don’t! Since not all human beings are born to be your target customers, learn what kind of customers prefer the kind of products/services you sell. This is called Customer Segmentation. 
  
• Ask your customers if they are happy with your service? Or is it fading? Is something making them think twice? Make another table to list the points that your customers like about you and dislike about you. Highlight the points that customers like in you in your ads and PR campaigns; and try to improve the areas that the customers dislike, even if it is something small
  
• Find potential customers, via survey or other activities, who are not using your products/services (but using your competitors), and ask why they prefer them over you? Note those points to the Competitor table
  
• Ask your staff if they are happy working in your company? Are they satisfied with the management actions? Do they think there are better ways for the company to perform? This is because; business success is a result of the staff performance. If they are good and dedicated there is success. If they are not, business will fail. If they feel there is no growth opportunity, no challenges, no thrills, if so then they will either resign or join your competitors or they will sulk and get spoilt. Always note, it’s the good talented staff that resigns (because he wants more action, more benefits and there is someone out there willing to give it to him), while the useless staff, they stick around like a pasted paper (because they know they don’t add any value to any post, and hence nobody will hire them).
• What’s happening in your industry? Do you read news about where your industry is moving? Is there a Govt regulation or policy that is going to trouble you? Is there a new technology in the making that can cause disruption in your industry, changing either the manufacturing process, or quality standards or completing deleting that product from the market? This is a very scary part. These are about macro aspects, things that are beyond your control. But you have to know it to be better prepared. How can you know? Subscribe to industry magazines/journals or online publications, continuous online research, watch relevant YouTube vids etc. What happens when you know? If it’s a good change going to come, be prepared to accept it and make best use of it months or years in advance. If it’s a bad news, do all steps to reduce that risk. Or if it’s an industry destroying trend, plan about diversifying into other streams before the Tsunami comes.

These are just some questions to think about, to know if you are in the first stage of failure. If you are then take a reverse turn, correct all your mistakes, and steer away from potential failure.

If you need assistance in evaluating your business status, you can use the help of professional business consultants like us. To know more call us at +91 9995 900 800 or email info@ameenahsan.com

Almost all NRIs dream of having a good investment back home that grows. And Malayali NRIs are no exception. My consulting firm, AASC, is now working on a solution for it. And I will be delighted and grateful, if you would read through.

There is upcoming NRI Seminar in Kuwait and my consulting firm, AASC (www.ameenahsan.com), is made in charge of presenting a strategy to help NRK investors invest as a group in the local Kerala economy. To develop a good strategy, I am collecting data from NRIs and Business community about the real situation. Hence, I need your valuable opinion on various issues that affect an NRI making an investment decision in Kerala. Your experience and knowledge is very important to us. If you are an NRI from Kerala, please read the details below.

The Foundation for Enhancing Expatriate Life (FEEL), a social change initiative of Kuwait Kerala Muslim Association (KKMA) is organizing its 2nd Middle East Conference in September 2014. 

The theme of the Conference is: BUILDING TOGETHER: Rehabilitation of NRIs through inculcating saving and investment habits. The objective of the Conference is to explore solutions to ensure that NRIs are able to better settle back in Kerala by ensuring that they have converted their hard earnings to reliable savings/investments. 

To this end, AASC (Ameen Ahsan Strategy Consulting) has been assigned the task of preparing the “best option strategy” that is to be presented during the Conference. In order to suggest the best option, we are collecting NRIs’ opinions, suggestions and experiences to better understand the challenges faced by them. 

We request you to participate in this survey, and help us serve the NRI community better. Thank you in advance for your time. If you need any clarification, please email us at info@ameenahsan.com. 

Please click below for accessing Survey form in Malayalam language 
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Zasmp1g1tTT6s_6t2enRUWyidrU9nnIkFdbsxSBuJtA/viewform

Please click below for accessing Survey form in English language 
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-_z3Q67v--a-VYV-YsHUwEed3jqjcz4yBFX1S6sDX_A/viewform

I hope you have a great day. Today, my thoughts are not in the form of a blog, but a presentation (so you don’t have to spend lot of time reading through!). It’s a presentation about how we write reports, and why we should change it.

People hate reading, that too when the content is dry like business content or reports. So I have a new method of presenting your reports. Please go through my presentation on “Why Should Reports Be So Boring?”

http://www.slideshare.net/ameenahsan/why-should-reports-be-so-boring

Hope you find it interesting!

I read an interesting article by Vivekh Wadhwa about why China produces 7 times more engineers than US, and why it still can’t be innovative. Can resources (infrastructures, manpower etc) can create an environment that inspires creativity? It certainly does not seem so. The cultural factor should also be considered. The Government and the Society should be able to recognize and appreciate innovative ideas and creative people.

For example, in China and for a large share in India, innovation is not what is appreciated; instead it’s the art of copying. The shortcut! Why waste significant amount of time and energy and face the prospects of failure, when you can copy and paste a tested and proven model. This helps students submit their dissertations faster, get applause easier, for corporations to gain on competitors faster. But it does not help the nation grow! If you look closely, in our country, this non-support to be different you can found right from our childhood, at schools, at homes, at colleges and later on even at work places. Hence you have parents who refuse kids to choose careers (that are unconventional), schools who refuse to beyond the out dated syllabuses, corporates that do not invest in research and developments and Governments that do not any vision or clue about it!

Another thing that holds back innovations or innovative startups are too much Govt formalities and corruptions. Now innovators are people who think, and since not everybody is perfect, are not people interested in running from office to office, carrying paper works and kickbacks! These matters piss them off, and they decide to go elsewhere. Even our Chambers of Commerce has nothing to do with assisting them. We know how prevalent this is in India. But China is not better. Corruption, redtapism have played a major role in preventing innovation.

One area where India and China differ is that, China invests Billions into research and development and its promotions. At present, it’s second only to US in filing patents and by 2015 could overtake the US. India is sleeping on this end. But nevertheless, China is not going to be an innovator. And that is the lesson that I wish my readers to note. Due to corruptions and due to lack of sense of “originality” China is wasting this money by giving it through corrupt practices. Also because China focuses mainly on quantity of the patents and not the quality. And by giving extra ordinary benefits to those who create more patents, the focus shifted from the quality of patents to producing more and more patents.

The objective of comparing China and India with the US on innovation is to make us think, how this will help us develop our local economies. The above cases teach us that , for innovation to happen we need a free mind to float fearless, avoid clutters on the way- so that they can concentrate on what they do best, create a positive environment where they are support financially and emotionally when they win and fail (like in the US). And not be indifferent like India (where no money, no infra and road ahead is littered with corrupt Govt agencies, unwanted processes and procedures, unreachable subsidies, preventive taxes, etc), nor be doing it the wrong way like China (funds for research in the wrong way, wrong incentives, preference to quantity not quality, copycat promoting attitude, and lack of opportunity for free thinking).

As private investors, businessmen and entrepreneurs in India, how can we make things better? I suggest we create private institutions that will invest into innovators and incubate them. And profit from selling them out when they succeed. Where do we get the capital for it? From investors, like any other business.  It does have its complexities and not as easy as said. But there are ways. There are people doing it.

Do you have any better idea, or wish to share your views. Please do comment.

Thank you. 

Ameen Ahsan.

I just came across an interesting business model. A model that has been around for some time, but this is of “new age” type. It’s a website that gives you the chance to have dinner with celebrities. Now this is interesting for many reasons. As students of the ever growing complex business world, I feel there are some insights and tit bits that we can learn, and perhaps apply in a different way in our businesses.

Its called IfOnly (www.ifonly.com), a website whose caption is “Extra Ordinary Experiences For Good”. In short, in this website, you get the chance of life time to be with celebrities on a very important event (like the launch of a movie) or a private one (like have a one to one dinner, etc), for a price. The site features, westerns actors, musician, sportsmen- and interestingly even Bollywood stars, as well- like Amitabh Bachan and Salman Khan!

Now the point I am making is not that you have a site, where you can pay to dine or celebrate with a star. But how new business models are evolving. In this case, its about next encashment of the celebrity status of some people.

Why Celebrities? Proximity to celebrities (actors, artists, businessmen etc), is seen to add significant “satisfaction” to the customers. In fact, I read in a report, that is olden times, it was an honor to the Celebrity when powerful people (like Kings) gave them an audience. Like when Charles Dickens visited the United States in the nineteenth century, the President, John Tyler, hosted a reception for him at the White House; or when the famous Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind visited Vienna, in the same era, the imperial family invited her to give private concerts. But today, its kinda reversed. Today, we admire the people, who hang out with the celebrities, envying the power and accessibility that they have. For example, a reporter once told Barak Obama that her daughter probably imagined that the coolest aspect of Obama’s position was hanging out with Beyoncé and Jay Z. To this Obama replied that, that was what his own daughters too thought “cool” about his job!

The Opportunity? Well, I see many opportunities. Sharing the time of celebrities with others not only brings opportunities for making profits, but also supporting social causes, branding your business, learning & interaction opportunities and sometimes, even help create a strong customer loyalty- by buying that time for your customers!

I would love to hear your views on this. If you agree or disagree? What are the new models that can be introduced on similar lines? What are the ethical concerns that can arise? How it can be used for the societies benefit? Where can this go wrong? Possibilities of such initiatives in India? Who can be defined as “celebrities” in this kind of model? Your shot…

Yet again another disaster that claimed innocent lifes, mainly students. Time and again, Govt beuracracy proves it has no value for human life. Should we wait till its our or our beloveds turn to be next, in line.

My suggestion to avoid such disasters are,

1. Make it compulsory for schools and colleges to have thier own bus services (at least these buses need not compete with anyone). I feel pity when I see dozens of kids compressed into autos and jeeps, and watching school kids run behind buses.

2. Special license and rules to drivers who handle students. Thier full license should be cancelled if they do anything dangerous, apart from any legal proceedings

3. A special body comprising of civilians (not politicians), authorized to randomly check the fitness of buses, receive complaints from passengers, report or sue rogue buses etc. Such bodies can be incorporated on district or city basis, as we do for local chamber of commerces.

4. Change the present bus timing system

5. Install speed radars across all main roads (its a means of Govt revenue)

6. Zero tolerance like jail terms and license cancellation and driving ban for few years for those who drink and drive

7. Severe punishment to those who drive using mobile phones

My take would be nature. Environment will be in a severe condition affecting all aspects of our life. The future Govts will realize we cannot keep living the way we do now. It will be a time, when environment friendly revolution will be needed in all aspects of our life. And it will affect our career. Many career streams that we know today, might simply disappear, because it hurts environment and health. Many new careers streams will open up especially in research on more efficient greener way of life. This will affect engineering, medical, social science and practically all career streams.

So what should our young generation look forward to? I would recommend streams that will help in the greening of our world. That should be your future, as the world’s future will depend on it.

To make things clear, please watch this great video. It’s long, but truly worth it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uve2q39z7ag