Talk by Sheikh Yahya Ibrahim

Notis Mesyuarat JARINGAN

Tarikh: Sabtu, 16hb Julai 2011 
Masa: 9:30 pagi 
Tempat: Bilik Pusat Sumber Ilmu, Masjid Al-Mukarramah, BSD

Semua AJK diwajibkan hadir. Sekian. Terima Kasih.

Seminar: The Purpose of Life by Dr Bilal Phillips

The Essential To-Do List for First-Time Entrepreneurs

By Mary Goodman and Rich Russakoff | June 29, 2011

When you leave the corporate world to go out on your own, you trade the illusion of security for the illusion of freedom. It’s best to realize that now.

It’s also useful to think of starting a business like having a baby: It will take all the time you can give it and lots more money than you thought it would. Go into it with eyes wide open and be prepared to make a 24/7 time commitment. Part-time entrepreneurs have about as much success as part-time parents.

Before we go into how to increase your chances for success, first a few dire facts. Only about half of small business start-ups survive 5 years or longer. The top two reasons for failure are:

1. Lack of experience — not operational (building or selling your better mouse trap) but lack of business experience.

2. Running out of cash — the earning curve never catches up with the learning curve.

So, our best piece of advice to you is this: When you control your money, you control your future. Here’s a to-do list to help you get to the five-year mark — and beyond.

1. Overestimate (generously) your costs to start up.

A few years ago, a rock climber in Phoenix needed rescuing when he tried to rappel a 400-foot rock face with a 250-foot rope. Your initial cash for your start-up is like your rope. Are you going to leave yourself dangling 150 feet from your destination?

Don’t make the mistake of underestimating the cost of your new business and overestimating sales and your break-even point. Instead, try this: Take your best, conservative estimate for your start-up costs, then double it. Then add 20%. Surprisingly, this is usually pretty close to reality.

2. Know your break-even point.

Ten thousand dollars in sales does not cover $10,000 of expenses. Your cost of sales could easily be $7,000, leaving you $3,000 in gross profit, which you will need to pay all of your sales, general, and administrative costs. It’s simple arithmetic: You reach the break-even point when your gross profit equals all remaining business costs.

3. Realize that you can’t make up in volume what you lose in profit — so price accordingly.

One of the great myths in business is that by offering lower prices you will attract more customers and then, down the road, you can raise your prices. Without proper profit margins, you will not generate the cash flow to stay in business. You can’t be all things to all people. It is far more important to establish a clear and unique value proposition, then price your goods and services accordingly.

4. Build your financial team.

Waiting until you make money to put together a financial team is like waiting until you lose weight before you start an exercise program. A good bookkeeper, controller, CFO, CPA, financial advisor, etc… can help you make money, and more importantly, help you keep it! A word of warning: You can delegate to your financial team but do not abdicate.

5. Find a mentor or business coach.

Even if you’re sure you don’t need one, find at least one mentor or coach, and be willing to listen. Ask him or her to review your budget, projections, marketing plan, targeted customer profiles, and, most importantly, your assumptions.

6. Conquer your fear of financials.

No matter what your native language, the financial language of business is foreign. Learn the language or get an interpreter you trust. Though you’ll rely heavily on your financial team to create reports, build time in your schedule to review and understand the reports. For sure you will look at your daily sales and cash balances. Look, too, at your weekly cash flow, break even, and monthly income statement/P&L statement, balance sheet, and variance reports. Conduct both a sniff test (if it doesn’t smell right then there’s probably something sick and wrong) and a random integrity check.

Sound daunting? It’s only the beginning. But if we only thought about dirty diapers and crying kids, we’d never have babies. The same is true with starting a business, there’s a lot of crap, but there’s a lot of joy to be had as well.

For those of you who have started businesses — what were (or are) your greatest challenges?

Stroke Symptoms

They say if you email this to ten people, you stand a chance of saving one life. Will you send this along?

Blood Clots/Stroke - They Now Have a Fourth Indicator, the Tongue

I will continue to forward this every time it comes around!

STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters..... S. T. R.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a BBQ, a woman stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) ....she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Jane went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.

Jane's husband called l! ater telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Jane passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Jane would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

It only takes a minute to read this.

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR. Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S * Ask the individual to SMILE.

T * Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. It is sunny out today.)

R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue

NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', i.e.,  if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

I have done my part. Will you?