Every Child is a born genius- Richard Buckminster Fuller

Every once in a while along comes a child and teaches me the most amazing lesson!

For those of you who have children, it is probably the most intense education you have ever had. For me, I learn vicariously from other people’s children. A friend told me that her little 7 year old wanted to speak to me because she wanted to be in business for herself just like I was.

 I was , of course delighted to accommodate this request and spent a lovely afternoon with Hannah drinking orange juice out of wine glasses and generally helping her understand the basics of setting up a small business model for her to get her pretty little toes wet in the world of business. We sat down with a pad of paper and sketched out all the things she enjoyed doing.

 Having identified that she liked baking cookies with her mom, we decided that would be her first venture in the world of business.  She would bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies and sell them to the neighbours. Read More→

If A equals success, then the Formula is A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y play and Z keeping your mouth shut! – Albert Einstein

Recently the IIFA  (The International Indian Film Academy ) Awards’ North American Premiere was hosted in Toronto,  Canada.  Indian cinema has frequently been touted as  superficial song and dance musicals with stereotyped one dimensional characters without original storylines.

However, in  recent times , the world’s attention has been drawn to Indian cinema of the finest calibre with multidimensional characters with nuanced performances in very original storylines rooted in the mystique and misery that is part of the authentic make up of India’s culture.

Slumdog Millionaire was one such thumping success and won several coveted Oscar awards and launched many international careers in its wake. Other noteworthy films have been Devdas , Lagaan and Mother India.

But  what do Bollywood formula films have to do with business? Read More→

We are all afraid for our confidence, for the future, for the world. That is the nature of the human imagination. Yet every man, every civilization, has gone forward because of its engagement with what it has set itself to do.  – Jacob Bronowski

On Nov 16th, 2010 we heard the news that Prince William and Kate Middleton were engaged to be married. Britain, and indeed the world, rejoiced at the news, because everyone loves a good romance that ends with the prince marrying the beautiful girl and living happily ever after. 

A business has to be involving , it has to be fun and it has to exercise your creative instincts.  – Richard Branson

Getting into Business is like getting onto a never ending Roller coaster ride. There will be highs and lows and your stomach will be tied up in knots most of the time, but there will also be that thrill and freedom of accomplishing something by yourself. But not all people like Roller Coasters, nor are all suited for a Business!

Every economic Recession has spawned a myriad new businesses. Of these only a few survive and even fewer become successful.  People write themselves or their businesses off as a failure when in fact other people are succeeding at the exact same business! What  then, makes some succeed and others fail?

My contention is that not enough time was spent in the Start up phase, in fact in the pre-start up phase of their Business . Most people go into Business for the wrong reasons  – predominantly to make money. However they don’t stay in business because that business was not right for them. Read More→

Without Trust there is nothing.

It is a basic fact of every relationship and that does not exclude business relationships. 

Without Trust every profitable business  deal will turn sour at some time, every promising business partnership will inevitably disintegrate and every satisfied client will eventually find another product or service to replace yours.

If you have ever wondered why a promising relationship, whether business or personal,  seems to have inexplicably crumbled before your eyes it is because the Trust element has been missing.

Sometimes it is a perceived lack of trust, but often times there are clues left, that although unspoken will indicate that there is a marked absence of trust on one or both sides of the relationship.  Ignoring it will not make the issue vanish. Read More→