Getting what You Want

How to get what I want? You've heard the expression, "What you see is what you get." My grandfather used to say: "If you look at a tree long enough, it will move." We see what you want to see.

Psychologists tell us that nothing controls our live more than our self-image. We live like the person we see in the mirror. We are what we think we are. If you don't think you'll see be successful, you won't. You can't be it if you can't see it. Your life is limited to your vision. If you want to change your life, you must change your vision of your life.

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The Successful Sales Manager

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A friend of mine is a very successful sales manager. After he had carefully interviewed and then selected a new salesman, he would take to the salesman to a Cadillac dealership and insist that he trade in his old car for a new Cadillac. The salesman would usually balk at the idea. He would be frightened of the cost of the car and the huge monthly payment involved. But the sales manager would insist that he buy the Cadillac as a condition of employment.

Success in Flash

Young entrepreneur carves a creative niche with USB drives.

  Finding a cute flash drive for his girlfriend's birthday proved more difficult than Doug Stienstra imagined. At the time a student at The University of Iowa, Stienstra searched the mall and the Internet, disappointing to find that the nontraditional flash drives on the market were unattractive and overpriced. So he took a DIY approach: He bought a fuzzy finger puppet from a toy store and glued it to a standard USB drive. The give was a hit.
  "All of her friends loved the flash drive and started asking me to make one for them," recalls Stienstra, now 23, "I knew I was onto something."

  In 2010, he used the resources at the Bedell Entrepreneurship Learning Laboratory on campus to launch a business production and selling the fuzzy finger-puppets drives he now calls Flash Pals (the original name was dataBabies). The drives come in variety of safari animal designs, and a portion of preceeds from each sale is donated to wildlife charities, reflecting Stienstra's love of animals and desire to run a socially responsible business. "I think it's great that I'm able to use my business to have an impact on something I'm passionate about," he says.
  Stienstra invested $2,500 (P105,700) in his startup, using cash awards from business plan and elevator-pitch competitions to cover the cost of trademarks, UPC codes and web design. Additional funding covered production for 640 units. Stienstra not only sold the drives for $20 through his website, but he also offered them on eBay and in gift shops and bookstore in Iowa City.
  At first Stienstra did the manufacturing in his room, attaching finger puppets with glue. "It took hours and hours to assemble them by hand," he recalls. "(But) when I tested the market, there was clearly a demand, so I kept it."
  After graduating last spring, Stienstra moved to Austin, texas. he worked with a community College (ACC) and sought out investors to expand the business. When his initial inventory almost sold out late last year, the accidental entrepreneur knew he needed to change his business model if he wanted it to be sustainable.
  With the help of $5,000 in capital from investor Scott Goyette, an entrepreneur and management professor at ACC, Stienstra began outsourcing the suppliers of Flash Pals to China (manufacturing is done in the United States), which allows him to produce more units for less. He stills sells the drives (now priced at $29.95 each) online and through local negotiating contracts with national retailers.
  "From the minute I saw the business plan and started crunching the numbers. I knew Doug was unto something," Goyette says. "The creative, simple design had obvoius marketing potential."
  Now that Stienstra has seen the sales potential among his target market- tween and teen girls- he is envisioning new markets for Flash pals. He's considering doing branded drives featuring college mascots or pitching the products to zoos and wildlife nonprofits as fundraising incentives.
Source: Entrepreneur Magazine

Opportunities from Hair Blowing

Blowout Bar: A Makati-based hair salon that provides blow-drying services only.

  Inside some of the busiest salons in the United States, you won't see a pair of scissors or a bottle of hair dye. What you will see, however, are women arriving at these salons as early as seven in the morning, clad in corporate attire and clutching their cups of coffee. A quick shampoo and blowout later, these ladies are ready to take on the workday with their hair styled to perfection.
  This American concept of no colors, no cuts, and just blowouts is what Michael Arroyo, 33, and Kristina Picar, 28, have replicated in Makati City. In fact, Blowout Bar is the first of its kind in the Philippines. It came to reality with a P 1-million investment and around a year's worth of hard work and commitment.
  "In 2010, we saw this concept of blowout bars becoming popular in the States, and I had this Eureka! moment to bring it back home. There's always a risk in any business, and the cool thing is we would bring something new to the Philippines-we didn't want to be a "me too' business," says Arroyo.

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  With its mint green and white interiors, sleek bar and modern furniture, Blowout Bas has an inviting and lively atmosphere. In connection with its bar theme, the blowouts are named after alcoholic beverages. For P350 per blowout (regardless of hair length), women can select from best-selling Flirtini for a Victoria's Secret model hairstyle, the Lond Island for a sleek and straight style, and Malibu Rum if casual waves are your preference, or the Cherry Bombshell for a culred and polished look.
  Meanwhile, bureaucratic hurdles are discouraging the duo from adding actual alcoholic beverages to the menu. "As we all know in the Philippines, especially in Makati, it's difficult to get permit to sell and serve alcoholic drinks," adds Arroyo.
  Having been open for months, the duo would like to improve their system, branding and costumer experience. "We want to blow-dry to be synonymous with our brand, "says Picar. "We also want to venture into franchising in the long run.We're trying to make this place more fun for girls, that's why this place doesn't look or feel like a salon."
  Source: Entrepreneur Magazine

The Cookie Champion Story

Gerwyn See, President and CEO, Cookie Cafe Franchise System Inc.
  The soft, chewy cookies of Mrs. Fields are renowned worldwide, but Gerwyn See went one step further and revolutionized the well-loved brand in the Philippines.
  As president and CEO of the Cookie Cafe Franchise System Inc., See revitalized Mrs. Fields by launching the Cookie Cafe concept in 2007, opening its first cafe at Trinoma in Quezon City. Far from simple cookie kiosk, Cookie Cafes offer costumers a way to experience the products of Mrs. Fields in a cafe setting.
  "We saw the potential of the brand being there with coffee," says See. To capitalize on the coffee craze, he extended the product line of hot, cold and blended beverages. "We also offer sandwiches and pastas and call them light meals," adds See, who first knew of the brand because his wife loves Mrs. Fields product.
  While the brand's loyal costumer base falls in the 35-and-up age segment, See aims to tap the younger market with the "love it, share it" campaign carried out through these cafes. The Cookie Cafe is "not a typical cafe, but a gifting cafe," note See, adding that gift items such cookie cakes, edible cookie cards and other baked products in premium packaging are available at the cafes.

  Relaunching the well-loved international brand wasn't easy, note See. "It was a challenge for us to give the brand a new flavor without abandoning our current loyal client base, "he says. "So we did some consumer research to develop new products and determine price points to cater to a new crowd without diluting the identity of the brand."
  This new direction is paying off, with the Cookie Cafe undeniably a success. Nine out of the 17 Mrs. Fields outlets in the country are cafes proof that even popular brands can benefit from a tweak or two.
Source: Entrepreneur Magazine

Home-cooked meals still warming tables

  There may be countless restaurants and fast foods out there, but people are still finding time to cook meals at home at least several days a week, according to a poll by Euromonitor International.
  The firm's Quick Pulse of its global network of analysts shows that more respondents in emerging markets cook for their entire family-only six of 100 respondents say they eat out for every meal-and these respondents typically spend more time doing so, especially at lunch.
  "Although packaged foods can make cooking easier, especially when preparing meals for large families, respondents report using more fresh than packaged ingredients," Euromonitor says in the blog. "Is home
cooking a lost art" dated August 24, 2012. Women prefer fresh ingredients, and developing market respondents were also more likely to say they use or exclusively fresh ingredients when cooking, it adds.
  Men and those living in developed markets are more likely to use packaged ingredients for part, most, or all of a meal.

Global bakery industry facing identity crisis

The global bakery industry is facing "a crisis of identity," with two opposing forces driving the industry, according to recent report by Euromonitor International.
"On the one hand, consumers are demanding innovative products that produce indulgence and can be eaten as treats, while on the other they may perceive bakery products as unhealthy and demand items less laden with salt and fat," adds the report posted on MarketResearchWorld.net.
Bakery manufacturers "face the challenge of how to satisfy such divergent consumer demands," Euromonitor adds, Regionally, Asia Pacific appears insatiable in its demand for bakery products, primarily due to growing consumption in China but also increasing in India, the report says.

Gundam Collections Exhibit

I drop by to SM Tarlac yesterday to buy cartolina, pencils, and permanent marker. Then, when I suppose to  go home I spotted a group fixing and displaying their gun dams collection. See some of the pictures I've got;

Globe Telecom Gift

I subscribed internet connection from Globe Telecom last May, 2010. Since then, I continued my subscription until May, 2012. I started with a WI Max connection for a year, but when I moved to another house, the WI Max can't connect to internet so I switch to wired internet, the DSL which is available in the place. Again, after a year I moved to another house, which is maybe my permanent home. Unfortunately, there is no available Globe connection for WI Max and DSL, the only available connection is Tattoo broadband. For that, I decided to close my account, 837913321 and switch to new account, but still from Globe Telecom.

 The gift from Globe, delivered by AIR21