Published on
May 22, 2010,
Marketing is what almost EVERYONE dreads in business, however it’s absolutely the most detrimental aspect of building a business. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in running my business early on was not spending enough time and money on marketing. I focused too much on fixed/operational costs, and figured it was more important paying the rent on time then “splurging” my money on marketing. And guess what? IT WAS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE I MADE! People till today make the mistake of being cheap and not spending ENOUGH on marketing. They spend a couple of hundred bucks and wonder how and why their business isn’t progressing to the next level! Let me tell you that after being in business for over 5 years total and making so many mistakes that’ve cost me over $200K+, the BIGGEST mistake was being frugal about my marketing and brand development. Having a great business concept is not enough. Most local businesses have 0 online presence, hence nobody knows they exist other then through personal referrals or Word of Mouth. You might have a great [Click to continue...]
Published on
March 26, 2010,
I can’t stress the importance of following your passion. If you like squirrels then do a blog about squirrels. You like the Smurfs? Then Smurf it up! You like David Hasselhoff? Make a David Hasselhoff blog and sell some tees. You better believe the owner of chucknorrisfacts.com is probably drinking pina coladas while cashing in those chuck norris t-shirt sales. Meanwhile you’re sitting at work playing Minesweeper thinking about using that Chuck Norris Roundhouse Kick on your annoying boss.
Published on
February 26, 2010,
Many of you maybe wondering why I haven’t updated in so long. The main reason is that I went to India at the end of 2009 to get married. After my marriage I decided to hang out in Dubai for a few months with my wife. There’s nothing better then enjoying your life, spending time with people you love, and working for something your passionate about. You may say ”that might work for you Frank, but I got bills to pay.” Guess what genius, so do I! However, there’s more to life then working 9-5, paying bills, and living a routine life. There’s nothing you can’t accomplish with a little CRACK. Wait…what?..Crack? Am I out of my mind? You better believe it, CRACK!
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Published on
October 26, 2009,
You maybe wondering why your brand has never become the next Apple, Virgin, Bad Boy, or Coke. Many aspiring entrepreneurs spend long hours on their business, and sometimes become frustrated because all they do is work FOR the business, and not ON the business. Working FOR the business is no different then working a 9 to 5 job. However, when you begin to work ON your business, you’ll start seeing a noticeable change. As a business owner myself, I used to wonder what set apart top brands from the rest of the herd. How did thought leaders such as Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, and Sean John grow their brand, and what type of grassroots approach they used when they first begun. After taking a closer look and studying some brands, I realized that there were a few distinguising factors that enabled these brands to explode their loyal fan following and boost their sales. I’ll be sharing about 5 approaches these thought leaders took, and how it can help take your brand to the next level.
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Published on
October 22, 2009,
I’ve really been thinking how to scale Samosa Cabana while maintaining consistency. The best lessons I can find come from McDonald’s. Yes, I mean the awful hamburger chain.
The secret of Big Macs is that they’re not very good, but every one is not very good in exactly the same way. If you’re willing to live with not-very-goodness, you can have a Big Mac with absolutely no chance of being surprised in the slightest.
The other secret of Big Macs is that you can have an IQ that hovers somewhere between “idiot” and “moron” (to use the technical terms) and you’ll still be able to produce Big Macs that are exactly as unsurprising as all the other Big Macs in the world. That’s because McDonald’s real secret sauce is its
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Published on
October 21, 2009,
One thing I realize that all entrepreneurs share is the fact that we have an anti-corporate spirit. We don’t like following the rules, instead we like making our own. We don’t work very well under authority, instead we like setting the tone. We fancy making our own schedules. We go on vacations when we feel like it. We wear what we want, and we ultimately live life to the fullest. I am a firm believer in being passionate in whatever you do. If working a 9 to 5 is what you love, then do it passionately. If you can’t genuinely love what you are doing, then you are living a boring, unfulfilling life. I’d much rather make little money doing something I love, then making tons of money living an impassionate, dull life. At the end of the day, it isn’t always entirely about the money. It’s about freedom and flexibility. When you are an entrepreneur, life is full of new challenges, obstacles, and tests. My motto is simple; there are no failures, only quitters. There is never a boring day, and your success usually relies on trying to find the most creative ways to maximize your output. It is this anti-corporate spirit that sets entrepreneurs apart from regular people. There are six reasons why people decide to become entrepreneurs:
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Published on
October 21, 2009,
Mistakes are something very successful entrepreneur makes. They are the stepping stones to success. There’s absolutely nothing wrong in making mistakes. In order to grow as a brand, you have to make mistakes and learn from them. I value the cumulation of my mistakes more then my BS or MBA degree. I’ve grown as a person as well as an entrepreneur by making certain mistakes, and I won’t ever go back in time to correct my mistakes if I had a chance. The reason for this is, as a person, you NEED to go through certain difficulties in order for you to mature. Many times kids go into business thinking they know it all. When you fall flat on your face in the first 6 months, and you lose every dime that your daddy/mommy gave you to play with, then things start to really hit the fan. If you think you can become a “successful” entrepreneur without making mistakes, dream on. It’s the fighters who can take a beating once in a while, and don’t quit that become successful. From a very early age I’ve been business minded. However, I’ve made probably some of the stupidest mistakes during my entrepreneurial journey. Here’s my top 5:
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Published on
October 21, 2009,
Now I’m sure many of you know about the whole “Samosa” brand that I’ve been working on for the past 2 years. My goal is to bring urban South Asian culture to mainstream America. I’m not talking about my parent’s generation who immigrated from Kerala, India, 20 years ago. I’m talking about young, urban Indians, or American Born Confused Desi’s (ABCD’s) who were brought up here. I started to accomplish my goal initially with food (Samosa Cabana), and as time moves on, I plan to expand to other areas. Currently, I’m also moving into the South Asian Advertising sector. As a potential advertiser myself with Samosa Cabana, I’m always faced with the problem of trying to advertise to Indians. There is a huge disconnect in the South Asian Advertising scene. Business owners such as myself do not have an outlet to visit to obtain quick exposure to millions of South Asians. The closest we get is Malayalamanorama.com, or Malayalam Pathram, or AsiaNET. However, all these outlets have limitations, and they cater more to the older Indians (my parents generation). After relying on useless forms of media buys, which resulted in
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