Honestly...

There is no place in business for brutally honest people. It is a disability I have. People have tried very hard to wean me back to the 'real world', but since it is always via 'free' advice, it has never worked. I have tried to pay some of them for the advice, which is the honest thing to do, which some accepted, but it still does not work. You see, honesty is a permanent disability.

Global Recession, in the context of an Expat in the GCC

Scroll down for a recap from Forbes of the recession from a global perspective, for 'laymen' like me.

Amazing... this is the first global recession ever and, there are still people in denial or people in panic, not knowing what to do. There is nothing to do, except make hard decisions. Many business owners (particularly expats) in the GCC (where there has never been a real recession) are practicing the same styles of crisis management they learned during the two Gulf wars. They don't have a clue nor know how to assess the fact that this time, it's entirely different. The public and government owned corporations are far ahead since they have qualified advisors 24/7. I know this first hand! Thank God I worked in Malaysia prior to this, a reasonably open, liberal economy since independence, that took me through two recessions.

The amazing thing is, places like Dubai, where many expats made many billions through all means, now have expats who are whining... from employees to business leaders... they don't seem to get the picture... do they expect their host countries to bail them out when the going gets tough for the first time? The key is, these
expats all know their home/origin countries will ignore them completely if they choose to return. So they stick on... or migrate to Canada, Australia, New Zealand... and then discover things are not very different... except the right to continue blaming, freely, their previous host countries for all their failures...

A Global Breakdown Of The Recession In 2009
Forecasting pain, from the U.S. to Australia.
By Nouriel Roubini

http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/14/global-recession-2009-oped-cx_nr_0115roubini.html?partner=email

Why, why, why... ?

Whether you are down to zero from several Billions or from Millions, business leaders taking their own lives is just the pits. Shows the lack of grit or the fact that they are what they are because of what their fathers and grandfathers built... rules have changed... I feel so sorry for these people... if I knew earlier, I could have most certainly turned this particular old man away from that decision... nature has to take its course... it always takes its course... there's a cycle to everything... even in these times of the worst trials the world has ever faced... how many more of these depressing stories do we have to read in the coming months of 2009?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7814257.stm

'SME Opportunity' Submissions

Thank you, submissions were received from around the world for a wide variety of business categories. A few have caught our interest. We will respond directly to those shortlisted within the next three weeks.

Wish you all a fruitful and peaceful 2009.

Business aspirations? Need funding? Here is an opportunity.

Individual investors in the GCC region (if you don’t know where that is, you probably don’t qualify) are interested to invest equity privately in small and medium enterprises. Up to US$300k is available for investment in each business. You must be an individual skilled and experienced in the line of business that you propose, but not necessarily have run a business before this.

Those interested, please see submission requirements detailed below. All fields are mandatory. Please note that a response cannot be guaranteed. If your idea is found suitable, an associate or the author of this blog may contact you to discuss further or request more information.

Please DO NOT submit your information to this blog. Submit directly to the email address set up for the purpose: sme_equity@yahoo.com.

NAME
NATIONALITY
AGE & DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF INTENDED BUSINESS (country, state, city)
EMAIL ADDRESS (this will be the only way we will communicate with you in the first stage)
BUSINESS IDEA SUMMARY (not more than 200 words about your small business idea and your target customers)
TOTAL INVESTMENT (please mention figure; do not include any financial forecast now)
INVESTMENT SOLICITED (not less than 40% and not more than 85% of the total equity, maximum available US$300,000 for each business)
ABOUT YOU (attach a one-page bio or state in not more than 150 words each about yourself and any others involved).

You may submit no matter where in the world you plan to operate the business. Preference will be given to locations in the Middle East, Europe and Australasia. Those seeking to re-capitalise existing small or medium enterprises are also welcome.

Important: due to other commitments and investment deadlines, this offer closes at midnight, Abu Dhabi time, on December 31st, 2008. Remember, no one likes to let excess liquidity get stuck in a bank longer than possible. Scammers, your emails will get deleted on the spot. A consulting fee may apply if we are convinced about your idea and, if we need to take it to the second level of potential investors we’ve on the panel following the first panel (sorry, time is money). 10 finalists will be shortlisted for consideration, unless there are more viable submissions than we expect.

Notes: please send your submissions in English. If you are not proficient in English, it does not matter; try to communicate your thoughts as well as possible. We are looking for capable people with ideas and determination, not teachers of the language.

Remember: please DO NOT submit your information to this blog. Submit directly to the email address set up for the purpose: sme_equity@yahoo.com.

Calling SME aspirants...

The day after tomorrow is the day of the announcement, in this blog, of unique support available to small and medium business ideas.

Character Assasination

I do not like quoting from other sources, but I happened to notice something succinct, so here goes (there's always a first time):

"Character assassination is at once easier and surer than physical assault; and it involves far less risk for the assassin. It leaves him free to commit the same deed over and over again, and may, indeed, win him the honors of a hero in the country of his victims." - Alan Barth (The Loyalty of Free Men,1951).

Here’s my quote:

“Times have changed since 1951. Means and speed of communication have altered dramatically. Even retribution from the almighty is substantially quicker. Shorter, sharper sentence construction is in style.” – Mathew Jacob (Unpublished, 2008).