Bare with me, i will explain how research and universities contribute to business.

The university of Harvard have been researching human evolution and running (owww evolution:P) and they where researching by asking a question, Are humans built for running?

Many have answered and said quite simply, runners have many injuries and the reason is that we as humans are not build for running, mostly sitting that why we have a cushion under our ass’s. Well it made sense to me and for Nike so they can sell their shoes that are produced by kids in sweatshops all around the world and for us to say”Just do it”.

But after research and unbiased science, Harvard team discovered something phenomenal, if shoes are built to help us run more, why are sport injuries increasing ever so highly, and especially after introducing the soft cushioning sport shoes.  So test were done and guess what Harvard found, barefoot running does not cause injury because of the natural way we run when barefoot compared to using shoes. I know this sounds crazy but i understand because i have the same injury most runner have, its called runners knee. To compare in principle, when wearing shoes and going down the steps your heel touches first but when barefoot, your front feet touches first. Same with running. This is what is different. So now their is a community of barefoot running and business again are trying to capitalize on Harvard research paper on bare foot running.

Now sport giants are producing running (Nike again) shows that look like flats. Now you can see the cycle of how research sells, btw even the Kodak poloriad instant pics came up in the same way.

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New Kuwaiti Website About traveling services Like : Searching for destinations around the world – currency rates – travel agents numbers – Prayer time around the world and other things that help any kuwaiti to find the best destination and best price . I noticed Four advertisements for different companies that mean it’s not small project I think Alwatan behind that business .

Safrah.com

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New Application made by Meshary Al Jeran for Iphone and Ipod touch , This Application made to serve the citizens and residents in the State of Kuwait so that they can find out what documents are required to make government transactions “that more actively traded in our country” . All the mentioned documents taken from the official websites of the ministries and governmental bodies in kuwait .

It might be more useful if he used arabic + english language he might also add other foreign languages and about the App. it must be updated from time to time and I hope to add more requirements for other government transactions in different sectors, Finally it will be more helpful if he made a website because not all people have Iphone or Ipod wela e3yal el BlackBerry wel nokia malhom rab? J/K :] there must be a website for others who are not Apple users .

Thank you Meshari and keep it up .

App Link

Another site selling electronics online, i love the idea about new business popping up but not just for the sake of starting a business. You need a competitive advantage of some sort. Anyways my post is about Blink’s 14,000KD or  more street campaign and at the end the ad has no arabic! nor on the site.

its all over Kuwait but no arabic what so ever in the ad, arabic is the major language in Kuwait. I learnt this the hard way, i once started a DVD delivery business and the whole business revolved around english. Major mistake, i only knew later that many wanted to use the site but did not understand past the words register and submit.

If the ad was only in english a huge influx would have visited the site, remember this is the first part only. Making a sale and keeping them is the challenge, and thus has to be based on a model, competitive pricing, lower margins, supplier contracts, bulk purchasing, the back end that customers do not see. This then has to translate to the customers pocket for them to keep on coming. Remember click and buy , what happened to these guys?? bill boards and all too. You see, sick freaks like me dont forget such stuff:p

I was always interested in e-business ideas like taw9eel.com but when asked about investing or creating such a business i would decline. When starting a business you have to give what is called an added value, if you don’t your customer will start thinking what am i getting for such a business. Well when we sit and discuss idea me and my friends we always talk about taw9eel.com and many say how an excellent idea it is and etc etc, but you have to answer specific questions to make sure the business is profitable in the long run, meaning time has to pass on the business and with time competitors enter the market and only here that we start to relate the benefits as customers. First what does taw9eel.com add in value to you? and secondly whats its competitive advantage? and third whats CEO boxer brand called? j/k that’s a joke…Third, what are the barriers to entry like?

I would push forward a strategy to make taw9eel.com price competitive maybe or service competitive, but when i researched its price and made a comparison i have found out that they are 30% higher than the market. Market here is defined as the normal Co-op, so the other questions is, is he buying directly from the co-op or is he buying from the suppliers and making even a higher profit margin, which is his 30% and plus the margin of the supplier. Below is the table of prices that shows the difference,  some may argue that he delivers for free but lets say you bought from taw9eel.com  goods worth for 130KD if you had went to the coop you would have saved 30KD. Now is the 30KD wasted is it worth going to the co-op, now you can see the added value question being answered.

Nothing against taw9eel.com and i think they do have a good business model, but needs a competative advantage which i cant see, meaning any one can come and copy their business and open it elsewhere.

When I see a business I like to analyze it in two ways, one is the beneficial effects on the Kuwaiti Economy and the other is the business itself, meaning success and what have you.

I’ll explain both and for you so you can see why I perceive business from such a perspective. The second which is the business from a success factor is what I majored in (entrepreneurship) and based on its success the first factor becomes important.

Let me put the idea into perspective, if you own logo design company and started out with yourself as the sole employee and then started to make more money and required more employees you start to employ expatiates, why because their salaries are much cheaper then Kuwaitis, off course you have to include the knowledge and expertise factor in the picture because some Kuwaitis do not have that knowledge at the first place. But again let’s see the flow of money from the logo design company; you start getting more orders from Kuwaiti companies, your wealth increases due to transaction increase, you staff expats, so you created jobs. These jobs by themselves create extra wealth for the Kuwait economy. You see economies run by having money spent in them, which increases the KD value because there is more KD dinar moving around the economy or in economics terms, multiplying. Now multiply this logo company by Kuwait and see how many people are opening business and creating jobs, and these jobs create more jobs because they create demand for more supplies, like food, banking, insurance and rent. But the major flaw in this cycle is that the KD is being transferred outside Kuwait and going into a different market, hence the expat sending money abroad, hence banking, insurance and real estate outside Kuwait. Thus your KD dinar cycle gets reduced and losses value. So as much as we try to create a better economy or a work force we end up draining the cash in the system.

Don’t get me wrong, even for a company that I will be starting closely, I will be staffing expats. I point out this because when discussion occur in a  Diwaniya and the subject is that small Kuwaiti business are creating a better economy it’s not true, surely it is creating wealth to the Kuwaiti owner but not the economy itself.

Cuil a new search engine a start up from the hill, ex googlers staff are coming in strong this new start up is getting alot of attention and it is blowing over the internet fast. I have tried it personally and i think they do come differently. They claim they can search a larger portion of the net. I do support such startup just becasuae its healthy to have more competitors our there, i have nothing against google honestly sergey and larry sound like good business people but yet again competition is healthy. I guess we should start researching the stock option of Cuil.com:P

tennisondean.jpg

Try not to circulate your personal info over the internet or at open forums, chats, etc.. i.e. facebook, as they may circulate your information to various sources when you have agreed to without reading the terms and conditions.

Here’s the story: 

Just over a week ago I received an international internet phone call (As the country code would not appear or sometimes appear as the figure 150 or +111XXXXX) from a person with a Scottish accent asking to confirm that I am the person whom he’s calling for. Due to bad reception/unclear line I couldn’t make out who the caller was, but I made out that he was addressing me so I assumed that he was a representative of one the many companies my employer deals with. I vaguely could understand what he requested; eventually I conveyed the message to call me at a later time to allow me to change my location for a better signal. The man calls again, and starts talking about stocks etc, I was a bit confused as this has nothing to do with the core business of our company, and however I listened carefully.

 The man is claiming that his company is a large and very reputative, experienced/profound brokerage firm in the market, and that they are seeking new investors/clients to establish business with them. I was asked many questions regarding the stock market which I’m pretty ignorant in. Not to bore you, I was lectured for about 20minutes about the Stock Exchange, and that they have access to lead information of various stocks which basically describes their so called success but attaining high returns to their clients.

The man then states that as a valued customer/client to-be, it is crucial to invest a minimal amount equivalent to the cost of 1 Unit of shares which accumulates to 1000 shares. The stock he was referring to is currently being traded at a value of $22, where his offer which is only valid for the moment will cost $19. Such ‘minimal’ amount that I’m suppose to invest will compute to approximately $20,000, however, due to their intuition and solid information – that in 90 days I will be able to sell and make a net profit after paying their commission of  minimum $11,000. Now, I’m no financial expert, but I can distinguish that this is a very large return of investment especially in a 3 month time frame!

As the man claims; The Tennison Dean Company is willing to share this tremendous ‘success’ and high profit with me just in order to establish an effective trust relationship in which my future business will be furthered though their firm.Of course, he emphasizes that it is essential to be decisive about this issue and confirmation of proceeding with the transaction is imperative! (Very pushy, eh?). Then he makes a remark that all he needs is my verbal agreement over to phone so that he can allocate 1 Unit worth of the specific share mentioned.

Being polite, I told him I need time to think and research, review my finances (My many millions), etc. yet again he is so persistent – eventually he said that he is willing to bring down the purchase instead of 1 whole unit, I would invest in ½ of a unit. I ended the call stating that he can call me in 3 hours as I had to hang up.

Also, being curious I visited their ‘dodgy’ website, tennisondean.com; which not surprisingly contained no contact information whatsoever, no phones/email – just nothing for the exception of bullcrap (excuse my French). The amusing thing was that I click on the ‘careers’ tab of the website, which stated “Please Forward an up to date copy of your curriculum vitae to Human Resource with a brief covering letter highlighting the position you are applying for.” (BUT there is no info – such retarded idiots).

Of course, Tennison Dean, would not want to un-grasp and let go of a ‘potential valued client’ like me and he calls again in another 3 days time! Attempting to be refined, I tried to convey the message that I am aware  of what they up to, and even if they were legit I would not interested – but he was insisting and relentlessly asking ‘WHY’, I had no choice but to break my silence and blur out the truth that they are a bunch of hoaxers.

Just wanted to share this story to inform all – just in case you or someone you know comes across these swindlers.

A designers haven for free spirited designer, a website that sells unique designed tees. Well, you all know how people love to own unique designs tees. Designers come in submit there artistic idea’s and then can see them on tees around the world. The only missing part from that website is the Arabic perspective of design, honestly i think that Arabic typography is the most beautiful script i have ever seen. Believe me i’m not biased towards Arabic culture but the old Arabic scripts are beautiful and have a sense of time, culture and a certain rhythm to it. So if any designers out there, check the site out.

 

Im not realy into politics, but i can explain the problem and a simple solution from a business point of view: let me explain, what is the goal of our debate/political clashes between the two liberal and conservative side, isn’t it to provide the best education for the next generations. Well its a simple matter from my view, we have implemented the segregation of students law, yes?we should have studied how effective the segregation on Kuwait University students and if it created a better educational environment. These should have been studied and done by statistical students and the psychology department at KU. After such a law that has been passed, these studies should provide a clear decision if to continue the segregation law or to reverse it. A study in some state schools in the US have implemented a class segregation to study if its a more effective from an educational perspective (i never got the results honestly). The true benefit for the coming generations is to create a better educational environment and to have a stronger workforce to lift the quality of life in Kuwait. So as i have said before “numbers never lie”, if we had the numbers proving how good or bad the segregation law is, we would not be talking and fighting everyday, and the raciest and religious shout outs would stop. Each side is blaming the other and trying to get the people behind them, the main reason we are discussing such a law is to provide the best educational system, not defending what ideologies we stand for!