business opportunity

don’t let only the cups drive you… enjoy the coffee!!!!!!

A group of alumni of a reputed college, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for each of you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other’s cups. Now if life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn’t change. Some times, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it.”

So, don’t let only the cups drive you… enjoy the coffee!!!!!!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt.

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously forhours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him.They all grabbed a shovel and begin to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that fell on his back, the donkey was doing some thing amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon,everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and totted off !
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick is too not
to get bogged down by it. We can get out of the deepest wells by not stopping.
And by never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up !-

Sometimes, when you think the other is dumb, you are making a fool of yourself.

A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his Customer,“This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.”The barber puts a dollar in one hand and 25 cents in the other,then calls the boy over and asks, “Which do you want, son?”The boy takes 25 cents and leaves.”What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!”

Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. “Hey,son, May I ask you a question? Why did you take 25 cents instead of the dollar?”The boy licked his cone and replied, “Because the day I take the dollar, the game’s over!”

Moral: Sometimes, when you think the other is dumb, you are making a fool of yourself.

smart cock

A farmer rears twenty-five young hens and one old cock. As he feels that the old cock could no longer handle his job efficiently, the farmer bought one young cock from the market.
Old cock to Young cock : “Welcome to join me, we will work together towards productivity.
Young cock : What ya mean? As far as I know, you are old and should be retired.
Old cock : Young boy, there are twenty-five hens here, can’t I help you with some?
Young cock : No! Not even one, all of them will be mine.
Old cock : In this case, I shall challenge you to a competition and if I win you shall allow me to have one hen and if I loose you will have all.
Young cock : O.K. What kind of competition?
Old cock : 50 meter run. From here to that tree. But due to my age, I hope you allow me to start off the first 10 meters.
Young cock : No problem ! We will compete tomorrow morning.
Confidently, the following morning, the Young cock allows the Old cock to start off and when the Old cock crosses the 10 meters mark the Young cock chases him with all his might.
Soon enough, he was behind the Old cock back in a matter of seconds.Suddenly,Bang! ……before he could overtake the old cock..
He was shot dead by the farmer, who cursed, “What the hell ! This is the fifth GAY chicken I’ve bought this week!“

Always consider a business proposal in its entirety before agreeing to it and getting screwed!

Johnny wanted to have s e x with a girl in his office, but she belonged to someone else…

One day, Johnny got so frustrated that he went up to her and said, “I’ll give you a $100 if you let me screw you. But the girl said NO.

Johnny said, “I’ll be fast. I’ll throw the money on the floor, you bend down, and I’ll be finished by the time you pick it up.”

She thought for a moment and said that she would have to consult her boyfriend… So she called her boyfriend and told him the story.

Her boyfriend says, “Ask him for $200, pick up the money very fast, he won’t even be able to get his pants down.”

So she agrees and accepts the proposal. Half an hour goes by, and the boyfriend is waiting for his girlfriend to call.

Finally, after 45 minutes, the boyfriend calls and asks what happened.

She responded, “The bastard used coins!”

Management lesson: Always consider a business proposal in its entirety before agreeing to it and getting screwed!

smart wife

Letter from husband ( who is abroad) to wife
Dear Sweetheart:
I can’t send my salary this month, so I am sending 100 kisses.
You are my sweetheart
Your husband,
Allen

============ =========

His wife replied back after some days to her husband:

Dearest sweetheart,
Thanks for your 100 kisses, I am sending the expenses details.
1. The Milk man agreed on 2 kisses for one month’s milk.
2. The electricity man only agreed after 7 kisses.
3. Your house owner is coming every day and taking two or three kisses Instead of the rent.
4. Supermarket owner did not accept kisses only, so I have given him Some other items……. ….
5. Other expenses 40 kisses
Please don’t worry for me, I have a remaining balance of 35 kisses and I hope I can complete the month using this balance.
Shall I plan same way for next months, Please Advise!!!

Your Sweet Heart

don’t share critical information

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.
The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, “I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel,”
After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob.
After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 dollars and leaves.
The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.
When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, “Who was that?”
“It was Bob the next door neighbor,” she replies.
“Great!” the husband says, “did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?”
Moral of the story: If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

A priest offered a lift to a Nun.
She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.
The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.
The nun said, “Father, remember Psalm 129?”
The priest removed his hand.
But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again.
The nun once again said, “Father, remember Psalm 129?”
The priest apologized “Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.”
Arriving at the convent, the nun went on her way.
On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129.
It said, “Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.”
Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

aLWAYS let ur boss have the first say

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.
They rub it and a Genie comes out.
The Genie says, “I’ll give each of you just one wish.”
“Me first! Me first!” says the admin. clerk.
“I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world” Poof! She’s gone.
“Me next! Me next!” says the sales rep. “I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.” Poof! He’s gone.
“OK, you’re up,” the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, “I want those two back in the office after lunch.”
Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say.

When you can’t earn an MBA

Recently while I was going thru review of book “When you can’t earn an MBA” by RajeshShetty. as per this book he inspired by one of Seth Godin article in which he suggested that “actual experience combined wit a dedicated reading of 30 or 40 books” might be a better use of time and money than an MBA degree.It’s a good book,describing abt what you can do when you can’t earn MBA degree… he give 10 step alternate approach to MBA.@ last, he write about 10 Things that one have that the people who are pursuing MBA won’t have !!! I really like it and after reading it.. I just tried to give a second thought to it..that to invest in an MBA or not to invest in an MBA?
I posted 10 things that author talk about in book…
1 More Timeyou have two more years of time on your side. Now, if you just spend those two year with “zero” investment in yourself, you can be guaranteedthat the MBA route is far better. However, if you design your life to take advantage of those two years, then the game is different!
2 More MoneyYou save $100K in fees and earned two more year of income – may be another $200K. So you literally save $300K

3 Short-Term career advantage unless someone is doing an executive MBA program, they lose two years of their career. You don’t !! Again, how your career grows during two years is entirely up to you. In two years, you should be able to add value to your organization and grow as a person. If not, you may want to check your attitude and behavior. There may be problem that even an MBA degreecouldn’t fix.

4. More varied networking opportunities While you miss opportunities to network inside the MBA program, you get to network in your workplace, your profession, and your community. The MBA folks are often so busy that they won’t have any time to network outside their school.

5 Fewer debts to repay since you don’t have to borrow money for an MBA program, you don’t have to worry about those education loan.
6. Opportunity to get more creative Since you don’t have an MBA and you know that it’s going to be a disadvantage you need to get creative to fill the gap. You will start looking for alternate option. Here’s a quick example. We all know that communication and public speaking are two important skills that you can develop in an MBA program. You could seek out other ways to develop these skills -may be bye joining a group such as Toastmaste International. Instead of spending $100K in tution, you might spend $100 a year in membership dues.

7. More time to develop your strength In an MBA or any educational program with a set coursework, chances are that you need to study a number of required subjects. This is true even when the subjects are :
- Not completely relevant in near future

- Not in your area of strength and/or interests.
Because you aren’t inside formal program, you will have the freedom to focus on the topics that interests you and will move you towards your goal. You can focus on continuing to read and develop your strengths.

8 Time to build your brand when you are in an MBA program, the course will be so intensive that you don’t get time to build your brand. Personal Branding is extremely important in this age of rapid commoditization. You develop a chance to build a reputation based on real-world action and achievement. Two years of focused investment in building your personal brand may provide you with a huge competitive advantage over an MBA

9 More Grounded I have heard time and again that several MBA graduates tend to be “over confident” and assume that they have that extra dash of smartness because of their MBA degree. You don’t have an MBA so you can’t have that problem. So, in essence you are more grounded on that subject that many MBA graduates.
10 TIME TO RELAX If you think getting into a good MBA program is hard work, you just have to wait until you get into one.One MBA student remarked to me once that before he joined an MBA program, he had difficulty in grasping the meaning of the term “Time Flies”. He had no problem with that term at the first quarter in his program.Once you get into an MBA program you really don’t have a choice but to keep running as fast sa you can. You are not alone. Everyone there is running.
If you are not pursuing MBA though, sometimes you can carve out some time to relax
Confused???? what to do??
well, It all depends on you.. on action you take… If you don’t take any action no knowledge in world can help you… this apply to both the cases here… to do MBA or not to do. If you don’t do MBA and don’t take any action to improve yourself it won’t work and if you do MBA and get the knowledge but still don’t take any action.. it won’t work either

5 tHings B-School don’t teach

Stepping out of B-school into the real world is like learning golf from manuals, or like teaching yourself cricket online. You have all the required theoretical inputs; a clear understanding of the rule book, the jargon and concepts; a dash of history to boot; and anecdotes and trivia as fillers.As this package comes in contact with reality, it goes through a range of emotions, starting with denial, wrath, angst, confusion, wonder, and finally settles into pragmatism, with bouts of nostalgia and a few clear learnings that are far removed from what the rule books preached.
The moral of the story: the real world teaches you some home truths that academia does not touch upon. In our journey down the road of experience, some of them get etched as gospels. If I were to pick a few of them, and share them here, they would be:
1. Brevity:
All the case studies, presentations, analysis and concept notes do not prepare you for the first reality of life. The world does not give you the opportunity to expound on theories over a 40-page Word document, or a 120-slide PowerPoint presentation.
In most real life situations, you get a tiny window in which you need to make your point, in as impactful a manner as possible. The more august the audience, the shorter the time.
From 10-second one-line summaries, to elevator pitches, to one paragraph e-mail, you need to cultivate the habit of being concise. There are no second opportunities in a real-time scenario.
Keeping that in mind, all your thinking needs to be crystallised and constantly carried around, to capitalise on the opportunity.
The clearer the thinking, the easier it is to say it succinctly. I would like to see the day when we put tight leashes around time, space and resources, and start recognising and appreciating brevity as a virtue in academics, instead of letting duration, length or aesthetics drive judgement.
2. People skills:
Real life is about real people. It involves dealing with diverse personalities, cultural backgrounds and competencies that you do not normally encounter in B-school. The challenge is, thus, compounded and you often see stars of academia unable to deal with this core reality.
Working with, dealing with, and successfully arriving at mutually beneficial and satisfactory decisions on a day-to-day basis is what the real world teaches you — sometimes harshly.
Understanding, communication and appreciating someone else’s point of view is difficult. It is seldom as the books expound, a clear rational process aided by the theories of people management.
3. Execution:
In B-school, all that you learn is from books, periodicals, case studies, which do not prepare you for the biggest differentiator in the real world: the ability to execute.
Perhaps the most understated competency needed, it hits you between the eyes the first time you try to execute a plan, a project or a campaign.
The various parameters you deal with and the fickle nature of the elements are not issues you think about in B-school.
The need to plan with buffers, with alternatives, and the need to keep an eye on the ball at all stages of execution, cannot be overemphasised.
Unfortunately, in our desire to move ourselves up the knowledge curve, there is a propensity to take this skill for granted, and most management programmes don’t expose you to this harsh reality.
4. Dealing with failure:
Learning to live with failure is another of those often not realised truths. In the real world, we are constantly dealing with the fact that not all decisions, activities, interactions, strategies, or communication translate into success.
My favourite saying is that learning comes from experience and good learning from bad experience. But no B-school teaches you to take failure in your stride.
More often than not, there is enough time to mull over a failure or even lick your wounds. Facing it with grace and bracing yourself for the next set of decisions or actions is what the real world is all about.
We will still deal with the same environment where we failed; at times, lead the same team that could not pull it off, have the same limited facts and figures and information; and more importantly, yet have the same objectives to achieve. It can be a humbling experience, which no education with books or classrooms can simulate.
Dealing with failures is paramount. Otherwise, a propensity to shy away from decision and action for fear of failure can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
5. Multi-tasking:
This is probably the most common, yet the most demanding task. Unlike academics, more often than not, executives have to deal with the very real implications of their ability or inability to multi-task.
Financial, organisational and people implications are the riders we contend with. On a day-to-day basis, the ability to multi-task, yet prioritise and drop a few tasks and live with the implications is something no classroom can teach in its entirety.
To quickly estimate the impact, segregate the critical, handle them with speed and calm, constantly scan the environment for changes, and build them into your thoughts and actions as you go through the day, is an experiential learning.
Add to this the fact that often, the information available is scant or incomplete, there are always a few angles no one knew about, the unpredictability of people we are dealing with — and your hands are more than full. In hindsight, vision is often 20-20, but reality is not.
B-schools do give you an understanding of the tools, aids and theories with which you need to arm yourselves, but where they fall short is in correctly teaching the application and the virtues of experiential learning.
- Raj Raman (senior vice president, sales and marketing, Prudential ICICI AMC Ltd. Hegraduated from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. )