Monthly Archives: November 2012

Written about: Richard Branson’s Blog

Richard Branson is a leading business magnate, and not only the founder, but also the current chairman of Virgin Group.  I would expect him to be busy with his business ventures of over 400 companies, but he has been keeping up with his own self written blog daily, ever since 2008. Often posting several times a day, Branson integrates entertainment, news, life lessons, social responsibility, reviews, health and wellness, recognition of amazing and influential people, business advice and much more, all into his blogs. I find his blogs a very easy read, educational, fascinating and often relatable to regular people like me.

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In one of Branson’s business advice blogs “Rules for Being a Good Negotiator”, he states that “the parties should try to build a rapport, check each other out, even just by shaking hands or eating together. Each should listen actively.” I am very captivated by the way he gets his point across – his advice is so seemingly simple, but people never stop to think to do such things.

Branson has so much to tell about his exciting fast paced life as he is a very successful and inspirational businessman, as well as a very down to earth person. Many of his blogs provide realistic and practical advice to his readers – be it about pursuing a dream or doing things differently.

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At the same time, when I read some of his other blogs, I feel as if I can live vicariously through his adventures, as he is a big risk taker in life.

Richard Branson swimming with tiger sharks (See blog post)

What I enjoy most about Branson’s blog is that he writes to everybody and not just to people in the business world. His blogs are not long and his topics include a broad range; he knows how to grab the readers’ attention and keep up with their interest. I can definitely say that I never get bored of reading what Richard Branson is talking about.

We have all read about the greedy moneylenders in Bangladesh that led social entrepreneur Mohammad Yunus to create microfinancing, but a similar situation still persists on the other side of the world in Hong Kong.

Avaricious moneylenders are in cahoots with job agencies with an aim to squeeze money out of immigrant domestic workers. While licenced moneylenders can charge up to an exorbitant amount of 60% annual interest under Hong Kong law, job agencies are charging the house keepers not only placement fees but also fees for training – even to teach them how to do something easily learned like using a washing machine. What’s more, when these workers can’t pay the fees, their agencies point them in the direction of  the greedy moneylenders and they are left with no choice.

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In the case of Arida, a live-in helper who lost her job after three months, she was in great debt from the initial fees and forced to dig an even deeper debt by taking out more loans. She was left with the meagre amount of $3 USD per day to support herself and her family back home. Why is it that the government is not controlling the outrageous behavior of these moneylenders? What about workers’ rights – shouldn’t labor laws be able to prevent such things from happening?

Unsurprisingly, “in the past two years, the number of licensed moneylenders listed in Hong Kong’s Companies Registry increased 20 percent”. This I assume, is the result of lenders jumping at the chance to make money from the helpless. Consequentially, thousands of women are subjected to this treatment each year; there has to be something done about it. It sounds to me, that the exploited workers need social entrepreneurs like Yunus to help them.

Prasso, Sheridan, and Cathy Chan. “Indentured Servitude, Hong Kong-Style.” Bloomberg Businessweek Markets & Fincance. BLOOMBERG L.P, 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. <http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-15/indentured-servitude-hong-kong-style#r=nav-r-story>.

The new trend with businesses collecting data has been to trade the data with each other, without the use of money – the result: a win-win situation. Often, the start of new businesses requires information to be gathered, but if the data is expensive, how can new companies afford to pay? For example, Noam Bardin wished to expand his mobile mapping app to South America, but it was too costly a move for him. However, he was able to gain free geographical mapping information – but how? Bardin made a deal with Multispectral, a company with proprietary data, and in exchange he would give access to his data on automobile traffic, speed traps, roadwork, and collisions that his company would collect.

Seemingly, this new trend of data bartering essentially embodies trading data as if it was baseball cards – that is without any finances involved. Doesn’t this sound so simple? Shouldn’t every company that wishes to gain data get involved in data bartering? But I guess the difficulties lie in the fact that both parties must have the data that the other needs, or else a trade will not be beneficial.

“We live in an age where the ability to capture data has never been greater,” – J.P. Rangaswami, chief scientist for Salesforce.com

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In the articles for Class 17: IT and Information Systems, we read about the proliferation of data gathering. Social media especially accrues much data that many companies try to get their hands on.

There is even a market for data swapping called Factual; some fees are required to gain access to this data but you can get discounts if you contribute your own data. This, I thought, is a similar concept to websites where students share notes, past tests, review questions etc. but they have to upload their own to gain access to that of others. These models of data sharing can have profound impact and I see them spreading widely in the near future.

Milian, Mark. “Data Bartering Is Everywhere.” Bloomberg Businessweek Technology. BLOOMBERG L.P, 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. <http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-15/data-bartering-is-everywhere>.

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The rise of the Japadog is an extraordinary business story, started with Noriki and Misa Tamura, an ambitious immigrant Japanese couple with little funds but a large dream. Prevented by civic bylaws from starting a crêpe stand, Mr. Tamura sought to open a small Japanese hot dog cart complemented by flavors of Japanese, which became their successful PoD that customers (including me) love.

“I was excited by the challenge. I knew there was more than just ketchup and mustard. I thought I could try something out of Japan, something different from the ordinary, and take hot dogs to the next level.” -Noriki Tamura

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They bypassed many more difficulties from the cold and raining Vancouver weather making business dismal, to their language barrier and the birth of their new child. Incredibly enough, the Japadog became enormously popular and spread like wildfire through word-of-mouth. If you’ve tried their Japadog, you’d know it has a very unique taste – a taste that has gotten big names, including Mark Zuckerberg travelling to Vancouver to try them; it has become an authentic taste of Vancouver, a tourist attraction even.

Their business has been flourishing greatly as they have expanded to six locations, one of which is in New York.  I have to say that Noriki and Misa Tamura have also added value to their product themselves; they are so genuinely nice and friendly that getting a Japadog is an authentically warming experience.

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Taking a look at their business model, I have to say they played the business well – even if it was unintentional. Their successfully made PoD and natural valuable experience make you want to go eat at Japadog.

Interesting statistics:
$10,000: Amount the Tamuras invested in their first Japa Dog cart
$10: Price of the most expensive hot dog – a Kobe beef sausage – on the Japadog menu
80: Approximate number of Vancouver street food vendors
400: Number of $5 Terimayo hot dogs a Japa Dog cart needs to sell in a month to break even

Mourtada, Rasha. “Vendor Takes Hot Dogs to ‘next Level'” The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc., 24 Aug. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. <http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/success-stories/vendor-takes-hot-dogs-to-next-level/article2032476/?service=mobile>.

Gill, Alexandria. “The Globe and Mail.” The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc., 27 May 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/street-meat-japanese-style/article4274992/>.

In response to Emily Chen’s “$4 Milkshake Anyone?”

Emily’s blog is really interesting and it explains a lot about Starbucks’ profitability from giving customers “valuable experiences”. I always knew Starbucks’ prices were expensive, but I never really thought about what it does to justify its high prices; I just thought it relied on coffee addicts to buy its pricey beverages. I am especially surprised by its implementation of psychological techniques to make its atmosphere more appealing to customers. I never realized Starbucks has round-edged tables to seem more welcoming and single seated tables for study. I did, however, notice the “Starbucks lingo” used, but it can be intimidating for those who don’t understand it, which may work against their whole “welcoming image”. Also, I actually never thought of a Frappuccino as just a milkshake; I have to admit, Starbucks had me fooled that it was something more special and delicious.

On a side note, this blog reminds me of a book I read a while ago “The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary”.

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The book talks about the 5 Principles that Starbucks uses to succeed.
1. Make it your own
2. Everything matters
3. Surprise and delight
4. Embrace resistance
5. Leave your mark
Within the first two principles, the book explains how a company should connect with customers on a personal level. This principle must be why Starbucks baristas are asking for each customer’s name to write on their drink orders; it gives the customers a feeling of friendship. It also discusses paying attention to every detail in the store and to customer satisfaction, which makes sure people receive the highest quality possible. I guess this “Starbucks experience” is what has given Starbucks a comparative advantage amidst the competitive world of coffee shops.

 
Michelli, Joseph A. The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Print.

After learning about all these social entrepreneurs and social enterprises in class, I realized that the earliest social entrepreneur we have talked about is Mohammad Yunus. I inquired as to whether this is a coincidence or not: is social entrepreneurship something of the present?

I dug into some research and came to find that there were some social entrepreneurs long ago in history dating back to the 18^th century. It just so happens that the term “social entrepreneur” was not widely used until it spread in the 1960’s and 1970’s by promotion of Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public.

Among the social entrepreneurs of the past I found are Florence Nightingale, Henry Durant, Robert Owen, William Booth, Fredrick Law Olmsted, John Muir, Dr. Maria Montessori and even the past U.S. president, Franklin D. Roosevelt. They revolutionized industries from innovation of the innovation of a new type of nursing school to the creation of “The Salvation Army”.

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The names that stand out to me, are Florence Nightingale and Franklin D. Roosevelt, but I never thought of them as social entrepreneurs. After learning about the specific characteristics that embody social entrepreneurs, I realized these people match the descriptions of what social entrepreneurs essentially are. Our classes on social entrepreneurship really opened my eyes to the world of social entrepreneurship and now that I think of it, there must be more social entrepreneurs in the past we haven’t identified. But my question is – why did it take until the 1960’s for social entrepreneurship to be widely recognized?

Sources:

Nayab, N. “Early Social Entrepreneurship History.” Bright Hub. Bright Hub Inc., 9 June 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2012. <http://www.brighthub.com/office/entrepreneurs/articles/73851.aspx>.

PBS. “Who Were the First Social Entrepreneurs?” The New Heroes. Oregon Public Broadcasting, 2005. Web. 17 Nov. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/whatis/whatis_ss_1.html>.