Occupation: Chef. And Social Entrepreneur?

 

Jamie Oliver and Fifteen

Though I knew of Jamie Oliver, I had always thought of him as just a chef. It wasn’t until I read toptable.com’s blog post on Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Foundation that I realized he was actually one of the most well known social entrepreneur.

He founded the Fifteen Restaurant which takes in unemployed and underqualified young people and teach them all the necessities in starting a culinary career. Once the apprentice chefs have completed a twelve-month program, they graduate and are qualified to work anywhere else. The restaurant would then take on another generation of young people. The profits yielded from the restaurant would be reinvested into local charities.

Jamie and the Apprentices

A social entrepreneur, as he clearly demonstrates, is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to create a venue to make social change. Jamie Oliver recognized that many disadvantaged families need to break out of their poverty cycle, and developed this program in the form of a restaurant to accomplish this.

In the blog, the author quotes, “I can’t think of another person in the public eye who has used their fame, fortune and talent so honourably and charitably.” Jamie is truly deserving of the name ‘Social Entrepreneur.’

 

From Books to Millions of Dollars

Amazon.com

“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.” – Jeff Bezos

————————————————————————————————-

Have you ever heard of a website that allows you to browse variety of products and services at the convenience of your home, compare goods, offers a wish list for gifting, and allows you to shop with a simple click of the mouse?

Amazon.com, founded by Jeff Bezos is the world’s most customer-oriented online retailer, offering low prices, vast selection, and convenience to its customers. It is an entrepreneurial e-commerce platform that is now one of the Fortune 500 companies.

Its startup from Bezos’ garage as a book-selling website was everything entrepreneurial companies were supposed to be. Within a mere 2 years since start-up, it had had its IPO and earned millions of dollar. While there was substantial risk doing business on the Internet, Bezos understood that the Internet was a marketplace where there was a lower production cost precisely because all transactions were done online. He capitalized on the opportunity and was able to sell for far less than the retail sellers could. Such was Amazon’s competitive advantage that made them stand out from the rest.

Amazon did not invent anything, but rather, it revealed a new market that was overlooked before.

Internet Market

RE: Euro Crisis

Euro Crisis For Dummies

Reading Eric Lee’s post has informed me about the severity of the Euro crisis. He noted how a) France and Germany had begun talks of recapitalization, but have not told the specifics or plans and b) Europeans are starting to notice the decline of Euros.

In class, we learned that as uncertainty or risk rises, the cost of money rises. Since Greece’s has been rolling on interest for a while, it’s getting costly for them to continue borrowing money. The bailouts have barely helped and many economists think the Eurozone may already have sunk into recession.

The question now is, how long should countries keep bailing out Greece? The IMF had estimated a cost of at least 100 billion euros to help Europe’s banks; and currently, the European Central Bank is the only institute that can help.

Broken Euro

Perhaps now, besides Eric’s conclusion of waiting for France and Germany’s action, the solution would be to follow Germany — print old currency in preparation to leave the euro. By printing deutsche marks, Germany expects export prices to jump as a result of leaving euro; but German industries seem capable of handling the price increases. They just want to leave the crisis in one piece.

For All You Sugar Addicts

For you sugar addicts (in middle east), you’re in luck. Brand name bakery Sugar Daddy is going to open new brand ‘Hey Sugar’! In the article, the owners address the issue of positioning Hey Sugar to attract more customers.

Hey Sugar

According to Ries and Trout, the ‘Free Ride Trap’ has happened to countless companies as they try to build a sub-brand on top of an existing brand name. They believe it’s impossible for a single brand to hold multiple positions because either the new or the original product will take the other’s market shares. For that reason, the owners chose to differentiate Hey Sugar.

Since this is a new brand, and not the first bakery; the brand’s point of difference is its unique DIY-bakery concept “Mix, Batter, and Bake” as well as an array of new desserts different from the original store. The owners also tried to introduce a name that is simple enough to tell people immediately what the store is about and give people a ‘fun’ perception to the store.

Hey Sugar Cupcakes

Hey Sugar’s value proposition has been clearly set out, and if people like its PoD, they will be positioned as the ‘first’ with that concept and succeed.

 

Advertisements Revolutionized

Recently, I received my album ordered from Korea. The first thing I noticed when I opened the album pamphlet was the QR codes scattered throughout. When I scanned them, they led me to hidden videoclips and extra footages.

This surprise led me to wonder just how far technology had come. In class, we learned that IT has been accounted for as 50% of expenditures around the world and is worth over 3 ½ trillions. QR code, among others, is one of the new, tech-driven marketing tactics.

QR Code

We are all used to advertisement on billboards and social media, but new technology has enabled us to advertise in the wildest way. In the article, companies put a QR code on their roof so that satellite imaging can help advertise their code to users (e.g. Google Earth). When users scan the QR code, they’ll be linked to the company’s websites.

QR Code on Rooftop

In this way, QR codes can be used for sharing insights. They can also collect data about who links to the site (Measurement). From those collected information, they can identify the potential target market by pooling the results of the data (Experimentation).

It makes me wonder: how much farther can technology and telecommunications go?

 

 

 

 

Oh My God Sun

Candlemakers Petition

Once upon a time (1845), in a faraway land (France), a patriot (economist) named Frédéric Bastiat had a brilliant (?) discovery.

He saw that the lighting industry was being mercilessly destroyed by a foreign “rival who … is flooding the domestic market with [light] at an incredibly low price” and asked for the government’s actions.

That wretched rival who showed no respect for the indigenous people of his country, who so perfidiously stole the income of many, was none other than – the Sun.

When I read the Lieber Case, I was reminded of the Candlemaker Petition, for in both, export dumping, or selling below domestic cost in a foreign market, was evident.

Though the petition was satirical of French Protectionism at best, it resembled the problems industries often face. When trades are being invaded by predatory pricing from an international rival, should the businesses lower and match that predatory pricing?

In class, we learned that businesses need to at least reach the break-even point. When we added up the fixed costs and overheads, price war seemed unrealistic. Perhaps the best thing to do, then, is to wait until the other side breaks? But… will the Sun ever fade?

Shameless Marketing

Many of us are underage. While we weep over our lack of credit card, we don’t have to endure hidden costs in the form of  ‘negative option marketing’ like many unsuspecting citizens.

In the Strait Times article ‘ Pay unless you opt out,’citizens were forced to pay to an organization in which they had no prior contact with, unless they chose to opt out. Automatic bill paying makes checking invoices tedious; thus, when people do not notice the hidden extra cost, the company will continue charging them.

Salespeople believe negative-option marketing will ‘help achieve their short-term sales objective’, but from experience, I know that it only creates customer distaste and criticism towards the company.

My mother was once a Sears reward-card member. One day, she looked over her invoice and discovered an unknown fee. Alarmed, she called the Sears customer service who told her that it was a cost she had consented to. My mom soon realized that the so-called consent was simply her not opting out of the fee.

Negative-option marketing is shameless, but legal. Yes, shocking. A word of advice: peruse over your invoice as if it were your econ textbook. It’ll be worth your while.