Mota Motors

(Post: English)
"On auction sites like eBay, there are generally two parties: the buyer and the seller. Reza Bundy wants to make it a threesome."

Last year, he raised $7.5 million from angel investors and venture capitalists and started a Web-based company, Mota Motors, that seeks to instill trust between online buyers and sellers and take advantage of the growing online used-car market.

The Venice (Calif.) startup runs basic background checks on both the seller and the car itself (via Carfax).

Mota also asks sellers 20 questions about their vehicles, including such basics as to whether the car has a spare tire or key, which can affect value.

Beyond collecting listing fees from firms like eBay Motors and payments from sellers, Mota also draws revenue from insurance companies who pay for customer leads that it provides from its list of buyers.

CEO Bundy won't give out revenue information, but says his 20-employee firm should turn profitable by yearend.

With Mota, Bundy, 37, is falling back on a business plan that has already worked well for him: In 1999, he founded IronPlanet, which grew into the largest online auctioneer of used construction equipment thanks in part to independent inspections that gave prospective buyers piece of mind.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Supermarkets for Energy-Saving Products

(Post: English)
"Beijing's first 2 supermarkets featuring energy-saving products opened on December 26, 2009."

21 varieties and over 300 types of energy-saving products including energy-saving doors, windows and cookers were put on sale. Because of policy support, prices for these products are a little more than 10 percent lower than the prices of similar products on the market.

"If you use this energy-saving bulb for 3 to 4 hours per day, it only costs around 1 yuan every year."

In the energy-saving supermarket located within the Suning Appliance Anzhen Bridge East Store, a salesman was introducing product advantages to customers.

The reporter saw that there were all kinds of energy-saving products in the supermarket, including television sets, fridges, washing machines, air conditioners, bulbs and plug bases being displayed in the 200 square meter energy-saving product sales area.

Reporters learned that only products which possess at least 1 of the following 4 qualifications can be sold in the supermarkets:
1) the product possesses a valid "energy-saving" certification mark.

2) the product's energy efficiency reaches the national standard level II or above and the product's energy efficiency level has been put on record.

3) the product possess a valid energy-saving product certificate of provincial, ministerial, autonomous region or municipality level.

4) the products which have been listed on the "first batch of energy-saving products to be sold in supermarkets" and have steady performance and high energy efficiency can take the expert examination organized by Beijing Energy Saving and Environmental Protection Center (BEEC). If it passes the examination, it can be sold in the supermarkets.

"Launching the pilot "energy-saving products coming into supermarkets" project can on the one hand, stimulate green consumption and increase energy efficiencies of terminal energy-using products, and can also increase the selling channels of energy-saving products and expand their market share."

Officials of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform said that Beijing's pilot project of "energy-saving products coming into supermarkets" has been planned to last 3 years.

Beijing will strive to expand the project to all of its 8 urban districts in 2010 and to the entire city in 2011 when every district or county in Beijing will have at least one energy-saving supermarket.

Source: CCTV

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Jingle Punks

(Post: English)
"Back in 2005, indie rocker Jared Gutstadt landed a sweet job between tours: lead editor and composer on Chappelle's Show on cable TV's Comedy Central."

Before long, his ability to quickly crank out tunes earned him the nickname "Jingle Punk Jared."

The nickname stuck. So, too, did his feeling that there wasn't enough culturally relevant music available for producers trying to make their TV shows or commercials feel current.

In October 2008, Gutstadt opened a stock music company out of his New York City apartment as a way for struggling bands, unsung composers, and unpublished writers to get their work on top shows on network and cable TV.

Today, Jingle Punks licenses music from a swath of musicians ranging from Chip Taylor (he wrote the 1960s hit Wild Thing) to Gutstadt himself.

Gutstadt, 31, whose "musical and entrepreneurial hero" is P. Diddy, says TV network clients pay between $10,000 and $20,000 for four months of access to Jingle Punks' searchable database of 10,000 songs, but the real money is in the royalties after a show airs.

He says Jingle Punks has pulled in about $220,000 since its launch, from networks such as Bravo, MTV, VH1, and A&E, and brands such as Coca-Cola, Kimberly-Clark's uggies, and Geico.

After landing a deal in late May to license music to a roster of Viacom properties, Gutstadt embarked on his first vacation since starting the company.

Source: BusinessWeek
Photo: Jingle Punks

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Butik Hajaba

(Post: Bahasa Melayu)
"Inspirasi farasha atau rama-rama nyata memberi tuah kepada pemilik butik Hajaba, Mona Din, apabila rekaannya mendapat pujian ramai biarpun sebelum ini dia lebih dikenali melalui produk kosmetik keluarannya, Leesa Formula."

Keindahan corak yang melatari helaian pakaian yang masih mengekalkan potongan jubah moden menjadi daya tarikan utama, ditambah warna jingga gelap menyerlahkan si pemakai. Manik dan labuci turut menambah nilai pada rekaan.

Tidak terlalu sarat dengan corak serta sesuai digayakan ke majlis formal mahupun makan malam membuatkan ia tampak eksklusif selain sesuai digayakan bagi mereka yang masih mahu bergaya tetapi sopan.

Selain bercorak abstrak, Hajaba tampil dengan busana rona polos yang boleh diserikan dengan aksesori seperti rantai dan tali pinggang selain aksesori di kepala bagi mereka yang mahukan kelainan.

Menggunakan fabrik batik sifon dan sutera menjadikan busana lebih selesa dan bergaya ketika dipakai, apatah lagi ditambah selendang panjang di bahagian belakang menjadikan ia lebih trendy.

Menurut Pengurus Pembangunan Perniagaan dan Media, Noor Zaina Ahmad, lebih membanggakan, pakaian yang mendapat pujian daripada orang ramai itu dihasilkan daripada bahan tempatan.

"Kami tak sangka maklum balas diterima daripada orang ramai sungguh memberangsangkan walaupun sebelum ini Puan Mona lebih cenderung ke arah bidang kecantikan, namun kerana minat, ia pasti menghasilkan kejayaan," katanya.

Fabrik lembut dan berkualiti menjadi pilihan bagi terus mengekalkan keselesaan pemakai kerana menghasilkan potongan pakaian yang cantik dan nampak terletak.

Sumber: myMetro
Foto: Hajaba

Read More ->>>

Read more...

DXD Sports

(Post: English)
"Call it a lesson in trickle-down economics. As the recession deepened, sports fans quit buying as many game tickets."

That caused teams to cut their budgets, which in turn threatened DXD Sports, a Kansas City (Mo.) company that produces graphics for stadiums and arenas, like photos of players that are flashed up on big screens when they're coming into the game.

DXD, founded by former TV employee Sean Hopkins in 2001, pulled in $3.1 million in 2008 from clients including the Atlanta Braves and San Antonio Spurs.

To keep revenue from sliding, Hopkins turned over the CEO role last year to Willie Lanier Jr., 41.

Though Lanier's background was construction and real estate, he quickly came up with a new product: interactive video games that a randomly selected ticket-holder could play in front of the crowd.

In April, for example, one lucky fan got to virtually shoot the duck logos of Dri-Duck, a sports apparel company that sponsors the Kansas City Royals.

And season ticket-holders for the Cleveland Cavaliers have had chances to play games of Family Feud with their favorite players.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Virtual Recording Studio

(Post: English)
"When Tal Pink and Kevin Cohen were growing up in California's San Fernando Valley in the 1980s, they performed Beastie Boys songs for elementary school parties."

Today the duo and three other thirtysomethings - Frank Harris, Ryo Fujita, and Ron Kurti - host a Web site where hip-hop vocalists and producers can collaborate and record music of their own.

Their site, Dopetracks, allows musicians to upload beats or the basics of a song.

Vocalists or MCs can pick out whichever they like, plug a microphone into their computer, and record their rhymes on top.

Visitors can then listen to streams of any song, post comments, and vote for the "dopest" track. (The artists maintain rights to their original work, while Dopetracks owns their collaborations.)

Since the site was launched in 2007, it has recorded more than 200,000 songs. The site is also "sticky," with listeners spending an unusually high 15 minutes per visit.

The startup isn't a cash machine, however. Cofounders Pink, Cohen, and Fujita spent $60,000 of their own money to create the Van Nuys (Calif.) venture.

Later, the founders, Kurti (who designed the site), and Harris (who was brought in to run the business), raised $150,000 from their families.

But 2008 revenue totalled $50,000, mostly from ads, and CEO Harris projects revenue of $100,000 this year. Other money-generators are in the works.

Dopetracks plans to conduct more company-sponsored contests like a Suzuki competition in 2008 for a hip-hop paean to its Hayabusa motorcycle.

And come September, site users will be able to download ringtones snipped from songs cataloged on the site.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Lampin Kain Wuddah

(Post: Bahasa Melayu)
"Selesa dan tidak mendatangkan kerengsaan kepada kulit bayi antara kriteria penting dalam memilih lampin untuk bayi, selain boleh menampung 'bahan buangan' dengan baik."

Lampin kain moden Wuddah, lampin terkini di pasaran menawarkan ciri yang pastinya menepati apa yang dicari ibu bapa prihatin bagi memberikan keselesaan kepada bayi mereka tanpa campur tangan sebarang bahan kimia.

Pengarah Urusan AMS Awra Marketing, Alias Mohamed Sharuddin, berkata Wuddah adalah lampin bayi yang bebas daripada sebarang bahan kimia dan toksik yang boleh mendatangkan kesan mudarat kepada bayi.

Lampin kain moden Wuddah diperbuat daripada bahan semula jadi seperti fabrik kapas dan buluh serta tidak mengandungi sebarang bahan kimia seperti yang ada dalam lampin pakai buang.

"Tidak seperti lampin pakai buang, Wuddah boleh dibasuh berulang kali seperti pakaian," katanya.

Lampin Wuddah boleh diperoleh dalam lima jenis, iaitu Wuddah microfibre snap button, microfibre printed, microfibre velcro, bamboo snap button dan bamboo velcro yang didatangkan dalam pelbagai warna ceria dan menarik bagi menyerlahkan penampilan si kecil seperti hijau, kuning, ungu, merah jambu, biru, oren dan merah juga empat cetakan corak menarik.

Selain itu, dua jenis pelapik daripada bamboo dan microfiber ada dijual secara berasingan bagi mereka yang ingin menggunakan pelapik berganda bagi penggunaan yang lebih lama terutama bagi waktu malam dan dalam perjalanan jauh.

"Istimewanya lampin ini dapat menjimatkan untuk jangka masa panjang dan ia lebih selamat, praktikal dan efektif bagi ibu bapa moden masa kini. Cara pelapik yang lebih tebal dan lebar untuk model terbaru lebih berkesan menangani kebocoran tepi berbanding model sebelum ini." katanya.

Lampin ini didatangkan dalam satu saiz yang boleh diubahsuai dengan melaraskan kedudukan butang bagi disesuaikan dengan saiz si kecil.

Dibuat dengan tujuan untuk memudahkan pengguna, terutama ibu yang pastinya ingin memastikan bayi mereka memperoleh terbaik dalam segala aspek, Wuddah turut disediakan dengan ciri poket tersembunyi dan kedudukan butang menegak pada bahagian pinggang bagi jenis snap button yang sangat sesuai bagi si kecil yang lasak.

Lampin jenis bamboo snap button adalah produk terlaris Wuddah kerana kualitinya dan harga menarik yang ditawarkan.

Alias berkata, sejak November lalu, semua jenis lampin terjual melebihi 10,000 unit sebulan dan ia menerima permintaan yang semakin menggalakkan daripada pengguna.

"Buat masa ini, kami mempunyai 25 pengedar di seluruh negara dan bercadang meluaskan pasaran sehingga ke Sabah dan Sarawak termasuklah Indonesia dan Brunei menjelang 2010," katanya.

INFO Harga Produk:
Wuddah microfibre snap button = RM42 seunit
Wuddah microfibre printed = RM46 seunit
Wuddah microfibre Velcro = RM48 seunit
Wuddah bamboo snap button = RM50 seunit
Wuddah bamboo Velcro = RM52 seunit

Produk Wuddah juga tersedia dalam pakej-pakej diskaun yang lebih menjimatkan.

CONTACT INFO:
Bagi mereka yang berminat untuk menjadi pengedar produk Wuddah, boleh menghubungi AMS Awra Marketing.

Bilik Pameran Wuddah: No.58, Tingkat 1, Jalan Jujur, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.

Email: amsstore@gmail.com atau wuddahcd@gmail.com

Telefon: 013-8511203 atau 012-2540864

Sumber: Berita Harian Online
Foto: Kosmo! Online

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Suppliers Online Database

(Post: English)
"As imports of everything from sweaters to activated carbon surged into the U.S., Harvard Business School grad Josh Green, 31, saw a void: How could buyers vet all these foreign suppliers offering up goods?"

With support from angel investors, he teamed up with MIT-trained James Psota in 2006 and raised $5 million in venture capital to develop Panjiva, a searchable, online database of 700,000 suppliers from 190 countries.

The service launched in February with nine employees in New York and Boston and has attracted over 200 clients, including apparel-maker VF and Home Depot.

Panjiva's data sources range from the U.S. Customs & Border Protection to Sinosure, a Beijing-based export credit insurance company, to nonprofits like Social Accountability International.

Unlike single-site sources, Panjiva uses algorithms to clean up and analyze data to score suppliers on, for instance, whether business is growing, stable, or declining.

"We take multiple data sources and triangulate them to see if they are telling you the same story," says Psota, 29, chief technology officer.

Clients pay $10,000 annually for search-engine access and can subscribe, starting at $100 per month, for company alerts.

Chief Executive Green says Panjiva is no substitute for due diligence, but "it's a quick way to do a background search and get a short list of suppliers."

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Joy Berry Books

(Post: English)
"First there was Joy Berry the children's book author. Now there's Joy Berry the brand."

Over the past 30 years, the former Northern California public school teacher and day-care center operator has written over 250 books for Scholastic, Random House, Penguin, Grolier, and Childrens Press, with titles such as Do-It-Yourself Potty Training and Help Me Be Good About Being Rude.

Though Berry, 64, has sold over 85 million books that brought in some $450 million in revenue, she felt her work had become lost among her various publishers and distributors.

Instead of renewing her licenses, she let them lapse with the goal of republishing under her own name.

She hired John Bellaud, 35, and John White, 31, as branding consultants, in 2006. In turn, they brought on Kay Koplovitz, 64, the founder of USA Network, as a consultant (and later as an equity partner.)

Now Berry, who holds a masters degree in human development, is selling her lifes work through startup publishing house Joy Berry Enterprises.

With $2 million in personal funds and a $1.6 million investment from Brock Capital, JBE hired Morty Mint, the former president of Pearson's Penguin Putnam U.S. and Canada unit as a brand consultant; contracted with a 40-person national sales team through Continental Sales; and signed a long-term contract with distributor Quebecor World.

Launched in April, JBE has released 80 of her titles, which retail for between $8 and $13 each, and plans to produce 175 more titles over the next 18 months.

White projects $2.1 million in revenue in 2009 and more than double that in 2010.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Nasi Ayam Panggang RESTORAN KAK ADIK

(Post: Bahasa Melayu)
"Nasi ayam boleh didapati di kebanyakan restoran dan kedai makan, tetapi bukan semua yang dijamah mampu menambat selera dan membuatkan kita datang menikmatinya berulang kali."

Bagi peminat nasi ayam, hayati keenakan nasi ayam panggang di Restoran Kak Adik, Bandar Country Homes, Rawang. Jika kebiasaan ayam digoreng, tetapi restoran itu menyajikan ayam panggang atau lebih dikenali sebagai ayam golek.

Ramuan bagi nasi ayam pula daripada bawang putih, halia, serai dan pati ayam manakala sambal daripada cili hidup, halia, bawang putih, gula dan garam.

Untuk sambal kicap pula, ia bukan saja boleh menambah keenakan hidangan tetapi juga boleh diletakkan dalam sup yang dihirup ketika makan.

Sup tulang yang direbus beberapa jam untuk memastikan isinya benar-benar lembut antara menu istimewa di sini, manakala menu sup ekor tidak kurang menariknya.

Nasi ayam ditawarkan dalam tiga set berlainan iaitu sama ada seekor ayam bersama enam pinggan nasi, satu jag air buah, salad dan sambal berharga RM25, set dua iaitu setengah ekor ayam, tiga pinggan nasi, tiga gelas air buah, salad dan sambal berharga RM13 atau satu perempat ayam dan sepinggan nasi.

Penyelia restoran itu, Nur Ariff Mokhtar, 22, berkata restoran dibuka sejak lapan bulan lalu sempena panggilan manja adiknya, Nurul Izzah Syafiqah, 8.

Dia berkata, pihaknya menawarkan set bagi hidangan nasi ayam panggang kerana sesuai untuk mereka yang datang dalam kumpulan besar atau sekeluarga. Ini kerana harga set lebih murah berbanding jika dipesan secara individu.

"Ayam panggang makanan sihat kerana tidak menggunakan minyak masak. Ia dimasak seperti menyediakan ayam golek yang biasa dijual ketika bulan puasa di bazar Ramadan," katanya.

Menurutnya, walaupun ayam dijual dengan nasi ayam, ada pelanggan hanya memesan ayam untuk diratah begitu saja. Apapun, Restoran Kak Adik tetap menerima pesanan berkenaan.

Sup nasi ayam daripada rebusan tulang. Jika ingin rasa lebih mewah, pelanggan boleh memesan sup tulang atau sup ekor untuk dimakan bersama nasi ayam. Sambal kicap yang dibuat ala citarasa Johor boleh dibubuh ketika makan nasi ayam atau menjadi penyedap sup tulang.

Restoran Kak Adik turut menawarkan masakan lain seperti menu negeri di selatan dan utara tanah air. Antara menu dari selatan ialah asam pedas dan masak lemak cili api, manakala masakan utara seperti kari dan gulai kawah.

Ada juga pelbagai ulam dengan cicah sambal tempoyak, mangga, belacan dan kicap. Bagi minuman, air buahan, air batu campur dan lai chi kang antara yang sering dipesan pelanggan selain minuman panas.

Sajian menu dihidang pada waktu petang lebih kepada masakan panas seperti tom yam dan nasi goreng, manakala nasi ayam dan sup ditawarkan sepanjang hari perniagaan beroperasi.

Konsep hiasan dalaman ialah santai seperti menikmati hidangan di rumah. Ruang makan berhawa dingin dengan kelengkapan wi-fi akan dibuka dalam masa terdekat bersebelahan restoran berkenaan. Ia sesuai untuk mereka yang ingin bertemu rakan kongsi atau membincangkan soal perniagaan.

"Mengenai pemilihan sajian dari selatan dan utara, ini kerana kami mempunyai tukang masak yang mahir masakan dari kedua-dua kawasan berkenaan. Ia juga bagi membolehkan pelanggan dari pelbagai negeri menikmati hidangan mereka di sini," katanya.

INFO Restoran Kak Adik:
MINUMAN:
Teh tarik - RM1.20
Jus buah - RM2.50
Air batu campur - RM3
Lai chi kang - RM3

MAKANAN:
Ayam panggang 1 ekor - RM16.50
1/2 ekor - RM8.50
1/4 ekor - RM4.50
Sup tulang - RM5
Sup ekor - RM7
Nasi ayam panggang - RM4.50

Alamat: No 23, Jalan Pusat BCH 1/3, Bandar Country Homes, Rawang, Selangor

Telefon: 03-67334405/06/02

Sumber: myMetro
Foto: Eats Emedia

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Keetsa Mattress

(Post: English)
"There are plenty of mattresses on the market, but how many can be squished into a box to be delivered to your door - and claim to be green at the same time?"

Joe Alexander started selling compressible, eco-friendly mattresses in mid-2007, after selling conventional mattresses for 15 years.

He and two friends pooled $300,000 to open their first store, in San Francisco.

Called Keetsa, the retail shop was profitable within three months - thanks, says the 43-year-old co-owner, to its low-cost business model.

That starts with manufacturing: The father of one of Alexander's partners has a factory in China that constructs the products from recycled and natural materials such as foam and steel coils.

The company pays a fixed cost to ShipWire, a fulfillment and warehousing company, to maintain its inventory.

The mattresses, which list from $439 to $2,159, are available from four Keetsa outlets, partner retailers such as Blu Dot in New York, and online.

Because Keetsa mattresses don't have rigid frames, they can fit easily in the back of a car.

For buyers who can't get to a Keetsa shop in California's Bay Area and Toronto, mattresses are shipped via UPS.

That minimizes the company's carbon footprint since it doesn't have to put its own delivery trucks on the road.

Alexander won't disclose revenue, but he says the partners are talking with a venture capital group about opening up to 20 stores in the next two years.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

nPower Personal Energy Generator

(Post: English)
"Lugging a stash of fresh batteries isn't something Aaron LeMieux wanted to do while hiking the Appalachian Trail."

He had no alternative back in 1996, but he hopes he's got one for hikers, runners, and even walkers. It's called the nPower Personal Energy Generator.

The 9-oz., 9-in.-long cylinder harvests kinetic energy from the human stride and turns it into 2.5 watts of electricity, enough for an iPod, cell phone, or other gadgets.

LeMieux invented the generator after convincing his wife that he should quit his job as a management consultant in Cleveland. He then "

After three days of tinkering in his basement, the mechanical engineering graduate finished a prototype.

In 2007, he formed Tremont Electric, in Tremont, Ohio, with himself as CEO.

He's now selling the product for $149 through Tremont's Web site.

LeMieux, 34, didn't get this far on his savings alone: He's raised $135,000 from friends and family and a $55,000 loan from Cuyahoga County. And he's trying to bring in $1.5 million from government agencies and venture capitalists.

He and his one full-time and seven part-time employees aren't paid.

The generator, which is manufactured in Cleveland, may be pricey. But it means no more batteries to throw out or dead devices while you're away from a recharger too long.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Carolina Electric Boats

(Post: English)
"If more and more motorists are excited about electric cars, maybe fishermen are ready to trade their outboard motors for battery-powered boats."

Frank Jones has wagered $500,000 that they are. His Carolina Electric Boats makes a two-seat boat that looks a bit like a rectangular plastic kiddie pool - its hull is recyclable polyethylene - with a couple of cushioned lawn chairs in the middle.

Its bigger difference from conventional boats is that the 10-ft. craft is propelled by two 36-lb. electric motors that can run four to eight hours on a charge.

Twin Troller X10 is also hands-free operated; controls are in two foot pedals.

Jones, 51, president of the Benson (N.C.) company, came up with the idea when he saw a boat created by a "backyard inventor".

After getting patents, finishing a redesign, and partnering with Nova Chemicals for resin for the hulls, Jones and his handful of employees began production.

Since June 2008, he has sold about 300 boats, at $2,395 apiece.

Jones, a veteran operations manager, picked an admittedly bad time to launch a boat biz.

Brunswick), the recreational-boat industry's leader, predicts industry sales will fall to 150,000 in 2009, half 2005's volume, and it sees no snapback for years.

Jones says, though, that his sales have picked up this summer. He says he's adding a dealer or two every week, though he's still looking for more, especially in the Upper Midwest.

If his startup can top $450,000 in sales this year, he says he'll break even.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Butik Red Glow

(Post: Bahasa Melayu)
"Sungguhpun rekaan baju yang ditampilkan agak ringkas, sekiranya kena dengan pemilihan fabrik, corak hiasan serta kemasan, penampilan pemakainya tampak lebih menyerlah."

"Penggunaan kain yang bersesuaian serta hiasan digunakan dalam setiap rekaan adalah sangat penting."

"Selain itu, corak yang tidak keterlaluan saratnya memang digemari ramai selain dapat mengekalkan permintaan pengguna tanpa mengira usia," kata pemilik bersama butik Red Glow, Annur Najwa Azizan.

Ditemui di Shah Alam, Selangor, baru-baru ini, menurutnya, penggunaan kain crepe lembut tanpa corak paling mendapat sambutan untuk dijadikan baju kurung kerana keselesaannya.

"Kain sedemikian memang lembut dan tidak terlalu tebal justeru, ia bersesuaian dengan keadaan cuaca setempat. Apatah lagi, baju tradisional seperti kurung lazimnya dipakai untuk tempoh agak lama, misalnya sehari-harian khususnya ketika bekerja atau menghadiri pelbagai majlis."

"Selain itu, kain jacquard bercorak masih menjadi pilihan pengguna untuk dijadikan pakaian tradisional walaupun kini terdapat pelbagai pilihan."

"Rata-rata ramai yang memilih kain ini kerana ketahanannya manakala corak yang dihasilkan pula berlainan," katanya.

Untuk rekaan kebaya, kain sutera serat nanas digunakan bagi membentuk satu rekaan unik mengikut potongan badan individu tanpa mengira usia.

Dari segi kemasan, taburan batu swarovski dan renda antara hiasan utama koleksi baju yang diketengahkan butik berkenaan untuk menarik minat pelanggan.

"Setiap individu pasti berbeza kehendak dan permintaan dari segi berpakaian kerana masing-masing ada cita rasa tersendiri."

"Namun, kami memastikan rekaan yang dihasilkan tidak keterlaluan supaya ia boleh digayakan untuk pemakai pelbagai peringkat umur selain memberi tumpuan terhadap keselesaan pemakai."

"Tidak salah untuk meringkaskan gaya sekiranya dapat diseimbangkan dengan perhiasan sampingan untuk menaikkan seri penampilan."

"Inilah yang banyak kami utarakan kepada pelanggan supaya mereka tidak perlu banyak berhabis wang untuk kelihatan cantik dan bergaya," katanya.

Sumber: myMetro
Foto: Red Glow

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Customized Brass Hardware Maker

(Post: English)
"By now, Scott Baxter could be comfortably retired even though he's just 46. In 1991, Baxter formed Icon CMT, a company that provided Internet infrastructure to Wall Street and which he took public and then sold to Qwest Communications ."

He went on to co-found Hawk Holdings and sell its search engine to Ask.com.

But after building a house in Bergen County, N.J., he was unimpressed by his choices for doorknobs and decided to create yet another company.

Using $3 million of his own money in 2006, he built a foundry in Chester, N.Y., to make customized brass hardware for doors, cabinets, and windows from wax casts, a method invented by the Egyptians thousands of years ago.

Today the company, SA Baxter, has 27 full-time employees and a showroom in Manhattan that sells to designers such as Frank Delledonne and Robert Stern.

Wax-casting is time-consuming, and Baxter's products are therefore expensive, with knobs selling for $150 to $600 apiece.

SA Baxter lost money in 2008. Despite the collapse of high-end home building, though, Baxter says sales quadrupled last year, and he expects to be profitable in 2009.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

GeoEstimator Satellite Images

(Post: English)
"Dale Thornberry probably have a dozen or more pictures of every building in North America. He also may have found a way to monetize them."

Thornberry, 50, is founder of GeoEstimator, an Indianapolis company that can measure the area and perimeters of building roofs by analyzing satellite images from Digital Globe, Google Earth and Pictometry.

His estimates are within 5% of measurements taken by a human climbing up on a roof to do it himself, Thornberry says, but his method is faster, safer and maybe cheaper - GeoEstimator charges $29.95 for most jobs.

Thornberry has been self-employed since he started a construction company when he was 18.

Just before launching GeoEstimator, he began Thornberry Consulting, a software engineering firm.

He got the idea for GeoEstimator after talking with a construction materials vendor who was looking for a way to sell the right amount roofing products without having to measure the square footage manually.

Thornberry spent $1 million on computer programs to make accurate measurements from downloaded images.

So far the company has had 660 customers, with 450 returning for a second job. He says GeoEstimator will turn profitable in late 2009.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Next Street Financial

(Post: English)
"Inner-city businesses have historically been underserved by banks and financial advisory services. To longtime bankers Ron Walker and Tim Ferguson, that void looks like an opportunity."

The duo, who met on the board of the Boston Center for Community & Justice, founded Next Street Financial in 2005, modeling it after a traditional European merchant bank to provide credit and "Wall Street-quality" strategic advice to entrepreneurs.

Influenced by Michael Porter's research on inner city economics, Walker, 47, a Boston native and former executive vice-president for retail banking at Sovereign Bank, and British-born Ferguson, 51, a former senior managing director at Putnam Investments, wanted to create a one-stop shop for high-performing, high-potential companies in the inner city.

Though Walker says the 20-employee Roxbury (Mass.) bank has made only two $1.5 million loans so far, it has helped half a dozen companies raise capital from other sources, and is currently advising some 40 clients on strategy.

He estimates he could put $100 million to work in metro Boston and New York, depending on the bank's own ability to raise funds.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Germ-Killing Fabric

(Post: English)
"At least 1.7 million U.S. patients contract infections in hospitals each year, claiming 100,000 lives and costing $30 billion, according to the Centers for Disease Control."

Orlando entrepreneur Ben Favret, a business-side veteran of biotech startups and pharma companies like Pfizer, hopes to reduce those numbers with a new type of fabric for hospital garments, curtains, linens, and furniture.

The material, dubbed Vestex, is coated with an antimicrobial to kill germs. It also repels fluids while remaining breathable enough to wear.

Favret, 44, licensed the technology from Swiss textile giant Schoeller in mid-2008 and formed Vestagen to commercialize the fabric.

The material doesn't need approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, but the company is running clinical trials nonetheless to prove medical benefits.

Favret funded Vestagen out of his own pocket before raising $2 million in May from V10 Capital Partners in Richmond Va.

The company, now with six employees, expects to have initial trial results this fall. After that it will take its first scrubs and lab coats, manufactured at plants in Massachusetts and India, to market.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Livespeakr for iPod

(Post: English)
"There are a gazillion accessories for the iPod and iPhone, from thongs to toilet-paper holders to handbags."

Undaunted by the competition, childhood buddies Erik Groset and Robin DeFay, now both 25, have added another device to the lineup: Livespeakr, a petite but powerful (15-watt) portable speaker system designed to blast tunes from the iPod, iPhone, or any other device with a headphone jack.

Originally, the duo hoped to license the concept to a manufacturer. Good thinking - since neither has background in audio engineering or product design.

To get feedback, they posted 3-D drawings of the prototype on a Web site they built and elicited interest from peers and investors.

So in 2007, Groset and DeFay, who had kicked business ideas back and forth since sixth grade, decided to try to make the product on their own.

Two years later, with the help of $400,000 from two angel investors, an outsourcer who set them up with a manufacturer in Shenzhen, China, as well as $50,000 investment of their own savings, the pair started selling their speakers via their Web site and Amazon in January for $80.

They say their Carlsbad (Calif.) Digital Group Audio has doubled sales month to month, selling a total of about 4,500 units, and expect $600,000 in revenue by the end of the year.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Gambus Grreng Grreng Enterprise

(Post: Bahasa Melayu)
"Dibayangi ahli keluarga yang bergiat di bidang seni membuatkan Dayang Noraidah Mohamad Wali memikirkan sesuatu untuk latar perniagaannya terutama dalam mempertaruhkan nilai seni tradisi supaya tidak luput ditelan zaman."

Hobinya yang gemarkan muzik tradisi mendorong wanita ini membuat anjakan tersendiri dalam diri untuk menjadikan gambus sebagai titik tolak penting perniagaan yang dijananya.

Meninggalkan bidang perundangan semata-mata mahu memberikan nilai komersial terhadap aspek kesenian memberi inspirasi baru kepada wanita berusia 29 tahun ini melakukan sesuatu terhadap alatan muzik tradisi.

Mengorak langkah bermodalkan RM50,000, dia menubuhkan syarikat yang diberi nama Grreng Grreng Enterprise bersama empat rakan kongsi dengan keazaman gigih untuk muncul sebagai wanita pertama di Malaysia menceburi perniagaan berasaskan gambus.

"Sehingga kini syarikat saya menghasilkan 20 gambus sebulan atas permintaan orang ramai. Mengaplikasikan kayu tempatan yang berkualiti serta penggunaan mesin yang ada, saya yakin perniagaan ini boleh pergi lebih jauh."

"Untuk penghasilan dalam skala lebih besar, sudah tentu memerlukan suntikan modal lebih. Tanpa bantuan modal mana-mana pihak termasuk institusi kewangan atau kerajaan, hanya ini yang mampu dilakukan."

"Jika banyak permintaan daripada mereka yang terbabit dalam industri muzik, tentunya ia memerlukan suntikan modal lebih besar dan tambahan mesin yang lebih canggih untuk menggantikan yang lama."

"Saya amat berharap pihak tertentu turut membantu dari segi sokongan moral atau dana tertentu untuk membantu usahawan Bumiputera supaya seni warisan ini tidak terbiar begitu saja," katanya.

Beroperasi di ruang kedai terletak di Ampang Waterfront, Jalan Bukit Belacan, Ampang, Dayang Noraidah meletakkan harapan tinggi untuk melihat seni pembuatan gambus terus dikembangkan pencinta budaya dan seterusnya membuka mata pelbagai pihak terhadap apa yang dilakukannya.

Melihat penghasilan gambus daripada beberapa pekerja yang pakar dalam bidang masing-masing, dia bukan hanya memberi tumpuan terhadap proses pembuatan semata-mata.

Sebaliknya, dia menjangkakan akan lahir kelas mengajar cara bermain gambus yang betul tidak lama lagi selain pakej untuk mereka yang berminat mempelajari seni pembuatan gambus.

Berasa bertuah kerana sepanjang menguruskan perniagaan itu, dia tidak bersendirian.

Sebaliknya, suaminya, Zahar Hussein turut memberi suntikan semangat kepadanya demi merealisasikan impian untuk menjadi usahawan gambus yang berjaya.

"Pengalaman suami sebagai kontraktor dimanfaatkan dalam menjayakan cita-cita saya untuk meletakkan gambus sebagai satu sumber mata pencarian. Tambahan pula, suami berasal dari Johor dan sering terdedah dengan seni pembuatan gambus di negerinya."

"Melihat kepada ekonomi yang kurang memberangsangkan, suami dan saya terpanggil untuk menyumbang sesuatu terutama dalam industri pembuatan gambus yang jarang diterokai. Ternyata, percaturan kami tidak silap untuk melonjakkan gambus sebagai satu daripada cabang perniagaan."

"Memikirkan alatan muzik tradisional seperti gambus kurang dihayati masyarakat hari ini, kami mahukan satu anjakan dalam perniagaan dan seni. Lalu kami menggabungkan dua nilai itu dengan memilih untuk memulakan kelas belajar gambus dan cara pembuatan alat muzik tradisional itu."

"Kami turut mengadakan kelas berkaitan dram, keyboard dan gitar manakala kebanyakan tenaga pengajar terdiri daripada mereka yang profesional dalam bidang masing-masing," kata wanita yang berdarah Melayu-Brunei ini dengan bersemangat.

Sesibuk mana pun wanita, dia masih turun ke dapur untuk suami, malah tugas sebagai usahawan tidak membataskannya bergelar ibu terbaik buat anaknya.

"Sementara Faiz masih kecil, saya mampu memberi tumpuan sepenuhnya dalam perniagaan ini. Kalaupun suami sibuk dengan perniagaannya, saya dan rakan kongsi masih memberi komitmen sepenuhnya untuk menjadikan perniagaan ini sesuatu yang menarik."

"Sesuatu yang menyeronokkan apabila melakukan sesuatu yang saya minat dalam bidang seni. Bahkan, saya tidak menyesal melupakan bidang perundangan dengan memberi tumpuan kepada sesuatu yang berseni apatah lagi seni itu amat indah," katanya.

Sumber: myMetro
Foto: blog OG.Latansa

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Paragon Lake DIY Jewelry

(Post: English)
"While at Babson College, Matt Lauzon saw something shiny and sparkly in the country's $60 billion jewelry industry."

Most Americans had plenty of options for rings at jewelry and department stores, of course, but he thought people might like another: rings custom-made to designs they submitted to a Web site.

In May, after earning a degree in entrepreneurship and raising $5.8 million from Highland Capital Partners and Canaan Partners, Lauzon began offering jewelry buyers that alternative through something he calls a "virtual display case."

The online showcase, which shoppers can access from partner retailers, contains over 1,200 designs of rings and other jewelry.

By changing the type of metal, stone or other features, each style has roughly 1.5 million permutations that customers can sort through at the store or from home after setting up an account at a retailer.

Lauzon's startup, Paragon Lake in Lexington, Mass., has signed up 39 independent retailers, mostly in suburban strip malls, in 22 states.

The pieces are made in the U.S. and arrive at the retailer in two to three weeks.

Revenue is split between the store, Paragon Lake, and its 44 jewelry designers.

Lauzon, 24, says the average sale is $1,250, but rises to $3,000 to $4,000 for bridal jewelry.

He estimates $500,000 in revenue by yearend.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Chutney Joe's

(Post: English)
"The average Joe loves fast-food burgers and pizza. Chipotle Mexican Grill proved that Joe also has an appetite for chain-restaurant tacos and burritos."

Now, with America's Indian population rising, Vijay Puniani thinks average Joe is ready for chicken tikka masala at Chutney Joe's.

Puniani, 58, a retired real-estate developer, opened his quick-serve restaurant in Chicago's Loop last February.

He modeled Chutney Joe's on Chipotle, which boasts all-fresh ingredients in dishes prepared in front of you to your specifications.

Customers start by choosing either basmati rice or naan, or flatbread. Then they select from four meat or five vegetarian entrées. There are also appetizers, desserts, and, of course, chutney.

A full meal can be had for less than $10.

Puniani began experimenting with recipes and preparation methods about two and a half years ago, using focus groups of 15 to 30 people. He had experience: In 1974, he opened a restaurant in New Delhi.

Chutney Joe's turned cash-flow positive about four months in and now grosses $15,000 to $17,000 a week.

Puniani, who put $500,000 of his own into the business, is looking for investors and franchisees to expand in Chicago and beyond.

Why start in Chicago? A Starbucks exec once told him that if something succeeded in Chicago, it would succeed everywhere.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Procuit

(Post: English)
"Companies regularly shell out big bucks for employees to attend professional training seminars. But research shows employees forget 80% of what they learn within a month of the event."

Software developer and serial entrepreneur Tom Meloche, 46, a figure within the agile development community who has taught corporate seminars since the late 1980s, is trying to change that.

Building on clinical research on human cognition, his Ann Arbor (Mich.) company makes software designed to increase knowledge retention by customizing lessons based on an individual user's responses.

Meloche says students who use the software need to study only three to five minutes three to four days a week in order to recall material over an extended period.

His team is also writing algorithms meant to determine the most important information for students to learn in the first place.

So far, five-person Procuit, founded in 2007, has created a test app for Facebook (over 10,000 people have used it), landed one commercial customer for custom work, and launched a home-schooling application, HomeSchoolAdvantage.com (which charges $20 per user), in August.

Meloche says Procuit recently received a $50,000 unsecured loan from a local incubator to develop and market the home-schooling product.

He expects just under $100,000 in revenue in 2009 and around $500,000 in 2010.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Perusahaan Coklat Seri Umairah

(Post: Bahasa Melayu)
"Bukan mudah untuk seseorang melepaskan jawatan bertaraf eksekutif dengan gaji bulanan agak selesa semata-mata untuk membabitkan diri dalam bidang perniagaan, namun ia tidak menjadi halangan buat Norhatina Abdul Rauf."

Usahawan berusia 41 tahun ini melepaskan jawatannya di sebuah kilang elektronik di Senawang, Negeri Sembilan bagi memenuhi impiannya untuk membabitkan diri sepenuh masa dalam bidang perniagaan pembuatan coklat dengan menggunakan jenama Haniez's.

Walaupun sebelum ini tiada pengalaman dalam bidang perniagaan berkenaan, dia memberanikan diri selepas melihat potensi bidang terbabit untuk berkembang maju berdasarkan penguasaan bangsa asing.

Dengan modal RM30,000 hasil simpanan selama berkhidmat beberapa tahun di kilang terbabit serta berbekalkan semangat serta dorongan kuat ahli keluarga, Norhatina menubuhkan syarikat Seri Umairah Food & Beverages Sdn Bhd pada Mei tahun lalu untuk memulakan langkah awal.

Usahawan kelahiran Perak itu kini menjalankan perniagaannya dengan menyewa bahagian bawah sebuah rumah kedai di Taman Rasa Sayang, Senawang, sebagai pejabat dan tempat memproses coklat.

Menurutnya, modal itu digunakan untuk menyewa premis dan membeli beberapa peralatan memproses coklat. Bahan mentah pula diperoleh menerusi Lembaga Koko Malaysia (LKM) serta syarikat pembekal coklat di Klang, Selangor.

"Saya akui tiada pengalaman dalam bidang ini, tetapi memberanikan diri kerana cemburu dengan kejayaan orang lain terutama bangsa asing yang berjaya. Justeru, saya merasakan orang Melayu perlu berani meneroka sesuatu bidang baru bagi memastikan produk yang dikeluarkan lebih terjamin."

"Setakat ini, saya memerlukan antara 150 hingga 200 kilogram bahan mentah coklat sebulan untuk diproses. Keluaran coklat itu kemudian dipasarkan bagi pasaran tempatan kerana belum mampu mengeluarkan lebih banyak berikutan cara memproses dan membungkus coklat dilakukan secara manual," katanya ketika ditemui, baru-baru ini.

Norhatina berkata, setakat ini syarikatnya mengeluarkan lebih 20 jenis coklat pelbagai bentuk dan saiz yang memberikan kelainan dari segi kualiti serta rasa berbanding coklat jenama lain di pasaran.

Menurutnya, antara produk itu ialah jenis coklat praline, truffle, mufin, kek cawan dan coklat blok serta minuman coklat.

"Syarikat juga menyediakan perkhidmatan penyediaan cenderamata untuk majlis perkahwinan atau sebarang keramaian anjuran jabatan kerajaan mahupun swasta atau individu dalam bentuk barangan coklat mengikut pilihan pelanggan," katanya yang dibantu tiga pekerja sepenuh masa.

Katanya, pihaknya dalam perancangan untuk membeli mesin bersaiz besar bagi membolehkan lebih banyak pengeluaran produk coklat dalam sehari kerana sehingga kini permintaan daripada pelanggan amat memberangsangkan.

"Sehingga kini, produk saya dipasarkan di seluruh negara termasuk Sabah menerusi rangkaian pemasaran termasuk melalui kerjasama beberapa rakan niaga."

"Ia dipasarkan di tapak ekspo dan promosi dengan kerjasama Lembaga Pemasaran Pertanian Persekutuan (Fama)," katanya.

Ibu kepada dua anak berusia lapan dan sembilan tahun ini mengakui bukan mudah untuk berjaya dalam perniagaan kerana pandangan orang ramai terhadap produk coklat tempatan berbeza dengan produk coklat keluaran luar negara.

Namun, dia tetap yakin dengan potensi perniagaan itu apabila sambutan pelanggan meningkat selain mendapat sokongan Fama serta LKM termasuk pengetahuan dari segi pengurusan dan kemahiran menghasilkan coklat bermutu tinggi.

"Alhamdulillah, setakat ini perniagaan terus berkembang dengan baik dan memberangsangkan."

"Sebagai persediaan masa depan, saya berhasrat untuk membuka kilang dan mengeluarkan bukan saja lebih banyak jenis coklat, malah dalam kuantiti yang banyak bagi memenuhi permintaan termasuk kemungkinan mengintai peluang memasarkannya di luar negara suatu hari nanti."

"Saya ingin membuktikan bahawa wanita juga boleh berjaya dalam bidang perniagaan dan kalau boleh ingin berada sebaris dengan usahawan wanita lain yang sudah berjaya," katanya yang merakamkan penghargaan kepada LKM yang banyak membantu termasuk mengadakan promosi di luar negara seperti di London.

Sumber: myMetro
Foto: Haniez's Chocolate

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Beautifull Fresh Foodspace

(Post: English)
"Eric Greenberg When Eric Greenberg, an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, learned he was pre-diabetic, he overhauled his lifestyle."

The then-275-lb. New York native gradually revamped his diet and built up to three-hour runs, losing 70 pounds.

He also was inspired to launch a new venture, Beautifull, which would serve fresh, prepared foods free of hormones, steroids, and antibiotics, such as Golden Beet Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette for $5 and Tea Smoked Salmon and Red Quinoa-Edamame Salad for $13.

Greenberg, 45, says do not always use healthful ingredients. For example, they might use white flour, butter, and refined sugar.

He hired a team of experienced Bay Area chefs and a licensed nutritionist to create great tasting food that focuses on nutrition rather than calories.

Established in mid-2007 with undisclosed investments from Greenberg's own venture firm Innovation Investments, where he is still chief executive, and Mohr Davidow Ventures in Menlo Park, Calif., Beautifull began as a meal-delivery service reaching 300 customers a week, but last April it opened a "fresh foodspace," or a retail dine-in and take-out store, in San Francisco.

The new outlet boosted sales to nearly 2,500 customers per week and to date has had over 60,000 transactions.

Beautifull, which now has 20 full-time and 20 part-time staffers, expects $1.5 million in revenue this year and to be up to eight stores by the end of 2010.

"It's about real food," says Greenberg. "Eating fresh, natural, whole food is more effective than treatment and drugs."

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Chicago Crime Scene Cleanup

(Post: English)
"Dan Reynolds didn't set out to become an entrepreneur. Instead, the full-time firefighter and former commercial truck salesman from suburban Chicago wanted to hire on with a big crime-scene cleanup company."

But when he was treated rudely during his interview in early 2007, he vowed to found his own company as payback.

His Chicago Crime Scene Cleanup got its first job - a messy suicide in a home in Minooka, Ill. - three months later. He's been busy ever since.

Today, in fact, the startup is up to nine part-time employees, drawn mostly from haz-mat teams at nearby fire departments, who scrub down everything, including foreclosed homes that have been soiled by vagrants and/or wild animals and meth labs.

Says Reynolds: "If another contractor comes in and says, 'Ew,' that's where we go to work."

Reynolds, 35, and his 50/50 business partner, Michael Frakes, 36, who's also a full-time firefighter, began with $20,000 of their own for training in removal of biohazardous materials and equipment and $6,000 for marketing.

They also went without pay for a spell.

Reynolds projects $400,000 in revenue in 2009 and at least $700,000 in 2010.

Chicago Crime Scene Cleanup's with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and northern Illinois accounts for about a third of revenue.

The expected bump in 2010 income stems from getting licensed to dispose of prescription medicines.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Haddad-Wylie Industries

(Post: English)
"After graduating from San Diego State University, Deric Haddad tried to make a living as a screenwriter, but Cannes Man, a mockumentary he co-wrote, was the only feature he managed to get produced."

At 29, trying to pay bills and decide what to do with his life, the Bakersville, Calif., native took a $10-an-hour job driving a truck for a Silicon Valley contractor.

The company specialized in building cleanrooms for the likes of Intel and Hewlett-Packard to test and make circuitry in a dust-free place.

Intrigued by the esoteric trade and buoyed by the steady paychecks, Haddad spent the next seven years working on a swath of design-build construction, maintenance, and manufacturing jobs.

By 2004, Haddad says he had accumulated enough confidence in his skills to invest $25,000 with his wife, Heather Wylie, to launch cleanroom construction company Haddad-Wylie Industries.

Aware of a new federal mandate that required certain types of hospital pharmacies to install cleanrooms, they focused on the life sciences industry and landed Duke University as their first customer.

Haddad, 42, says the Pittsburgh-based company became profitable in 2006, now has 12 full-time employees, and has expanded into manufacturing its own systems as well as doing turnkey design-build jobs for other industries, including nanotech, aviation, and semiconductors.

Most jobs are in the $500,000-to-$3 million range in the U.S. and abroad for clients that include the Cleveland Clinic, AstraZeneca, and W.L. Gore.

The recession has forced the duo to impose temporary pay cuts and outsource some work.

Still, Haddad says the company had around $5 million in revenue in 2008, will have $7 million this year, and $10 million to $20 million in 2010.

He thinks Haddad-Wylie could go public within five years.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Hilyah Islamic Designs

(Post: Bahasa Melayu)
"Mendapatkan baju-T yang bersesuaian serta menutup aurat pasti agak sukar kerana tidak ramai pengeluar yang menjadikan produk itu sebagai satu perniagaan."

Malah tidak dapat dinafikan kebanyakan baju-T kini mengikut fesyen semasa tetapi amat jarang rekaan yang dihasilkan memenuhi keperluan wanita Muslimah.

Bagi pemilik Hilyah Islamic Designs (Hilyah), Latifah Hussein, salah satu faktor untuk memulakan perniagaan berasaskan pakaian Muslimah adalah maklum balas daripada pelanggan terutama ibu bapa yang sukar mendapatkan baju-T rekaan Muslimah untuk anak mereka.

Dari situ, timbul minat untuk mengusahakan rangkaian produk pakaian Muslimah seperti diketengahkan syarikatnya itu.

"Saya suka melakukan sesuatu yang baru dan berlainan daripada orang lain. Tidak timbul banyak persaingan sekiranya menjalankan perniagaan berlainan daripada orang lain."

"Sebagai pengeluar tunggal, kita juga dapat memastikan kualiti barangan dihasilkan mengikut piawaian diingini," katanya lagi.

Pasangan ibu dan anak kini boleh mendapatkan baju-T Muslimah keluaran Hilyah yang diperbuat daripada 100 peratus kain kapas bagi memberi keselesaan maksimum kepada mereka.

"Kain yang digunakan tidak terlalu tebal dan mudah menyerap peluh dan ia amat sesuai digayakan dalam pelbagai keadaan cuaca," katanya.

Malah katanya, corak dihasilkan juga akan diubah dalam jangka masa tertentu memandangkan kepekaan pengguna terhadap fesyen terkini.

"Bagaimanapun, kebanyakan corak baju-T berkenaan lebih ringkas kerana benang kain yang diperlukan hanya akan dihasilkan sekiranya mempunyai tempahan."

"Kos pengeluaran juga akan meningkat sekiranya ditambah rekaan tertentu dan untuk mengelakkan perkara itu, Hilyah lebih mementingkan corak ringkas," katanya.

Di samping itu, setiap baju-T keluaran Hilyah mempunyai sulaman bunga dan perkataan di bahagian tepi baju setiap koleksi yang disampaikan sebagai mesej kepada pengguna secara tidak langsung.

"Selain berniaga, kami tidak lupa untuk beramal dan ini adalah cara digunakan untuk mengingatkan sesama Islam dalam menyumbang kepada perkembangan agama itu sendiri," katanya.

Sumber: myMetro
Foto: Hilyah

Read More ->>>

Read more...

ClickFuel Online Marketing

(Post: English)
"Steve Pogorzelski, formerly group president-international at Monster.com, found a new calling when he met Colby West, an entrepreneur looking to get a startup funded."

West, 30, had co-founded AuctionPal, a Web-based company that helps people sell their belongings online, but wanted to shift his focus from consumer-to-consumer transactions to business-to-consumer.

He saw an opportunity in helping small and mid-sized enterprises - dentists, plumbers, salons, electricians, law offices, and so forth - market themselves online.

West founded ClickFuel in Boston late last year.

Pogorzelski became ClickFuel's first investor by putting up $250,000 and last January was appointed chief executive.

The company raised an additional $2.5 million in June through Chicago-based venture capital fund Baird Venture Partners.

To build the startup, Pogorzelski, 48, recruited old colleagues from Monster.com: Brian Farrey (president of Monster Technologies), Rob Hayes (vice-president of finance-global sales), and Denise Cautela (senior director of marketing-emerging markets).

"At Monster, we were able to take customers and put them on the Internet, which was transformational at the time," says Pogorzelski.

"Now we're looking at the migration from the Yellow Pages to the Internet."

ClickFuel, which has 20 employees plus outsourcers in India, Ukraine, and the Philippines, builds Web sites and manages online marketing campaigns for a monthly fee, typically between $1,500 and $2,500.

Fuel Station, a Web-based ClickFuel application that was recently included in the QuickBooks app center, tracks results such as leads generated, clicks on a company's site and advertisements, and consumer calls made to a phone number listed online only.

So far, ClickFuel has attracted 400 clients, mostly with 10 to 15 employees, and expects numbers to skyrocket in 2010 as it partners with such companies as Intuit.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Made-to-Order Energy Bars

(Post: English)
"No matter how great a new product is, it can't succeed unless would-be customers know about it."

Jonathan Miller, 29, has understood this from the get-go.

A student at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, Miller had been making his own high-protein nutrition bars when his wife, Jennifer, introduced him in December 2007 to another DIY energy-bar baker, Maria Sutanto, a PhD candidate in molecular nutrition at the University of Chicago.

Within a month, they had a business plan: custom-producing fresh, all-natural bars to the specifications of each customer.

They brought in a third partner, Jonathan Kelly, to help set up a Web site and oversee operations at a contract bakery in Chicago, and in April 2008 the three incorporated Element Bars.

Then Miller got busy marketing. Copying tactics from his years running price-comparison site GetCheapBooks.com, he bought keyword ads on Google and Facebook.

He also e-mailed blogs and got picked up by TechCrunch.com, which profiles Internet startups.

Element Bars grossed $18,000 by year-end 2008 and was selling about 1,000 batch-baked bars a week - at $41 for each minimum 12-bar shipment - through last summer.

That's when Miller really scored. Last May he had pitched Element Bars to Shark Tank, an ABC reality-TV series, and on Sept. 13 the episode aired.

Element Bars sold more in the next 24 hours than it had in the first six months of 2009.

Moreover, the show triggered inquiries from a national nutrition-products retailer and a national chain of gyms.

Turned down by banks for loans, Miller, Sutanto, 28, and Kelly, 27, pitched in $70,000­ to launch the Chicago company.

CEO Miller says Element Bars turned profitable post-Shark Tank and he projects sales of $200,000 this year.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Teaching Junior a Foreign Language

(Post: English)
"Her father, renowned linguist Dr. Paul Pimsleur, was the brains behind a language learning system that bears his last name."

So when Julia Pimsleur Levine, then a documentary filmmaker, wanted to teach her first son how to speak French, she was understandably picky.

Audio learning materials for myriad languages based on her father's method continue to be sold by Simon & Schuster, but are intended for adults.

After finding nothing suitable for the under-5 set, she shot a $30,000 pilot video she and her husband paid for themselves and launched Little Pim full time in early 2008.

A departure from her father's audio method, her animated series features a panda as instructor and is intended to be as entertaining as any children's TV fare.

"We recognize that no child is going to say, 'Mommy, I want to learn Chinese.' But if they fall in love with the panda, which many of them do, they're going to say, 'Mommy, I want to watch the panda' and then the next thing you know, they're learning Chinese."

Little Pim has won numerous awards and earned positive reviews and parent testimonials.

Still, distribution is a challenge, because the New York-based company has to compete with such big players as Fisher-Price and Walt Disney for shelf space.

The courses are available on DVD in 10 languages and will soon be available via two iPhone apps.

Pimsleur Levine, 41, says her seven-person startup has landed about $2 million from angel investors, will bring in about $500,000 in revenue in 2009, and expects about $1.2 million in 2010.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Ikan Sangkar di Kampung Langgar

(Post: Bahasa Melayu)
"Pendapatan lumayan selain tugas yang tidak terlalu membebankan menjadi pendorong suri rumah, Noreha Abd Ghani, 49, menceburi bidang ternakan ikan sangkar di Kampung Langgar, Pekan, Pahang."

Selepas tiga tahun dalam bidang berkenaan, dia kini mampu berbangga apabila mempunyai 15 unit sangkar yang memuatkan lebih 30,000 ikan spesies patin dan tilapia merah.

"Kejayaan masyarakat Kemboja dalam bidang ternakan ikan sangkar di sepanjang Sungai Pahang menjadi pendorong kuat kepada saya untuk menceburkan diri dalam bidang yang tidak pernah diimpikan sebelum ini."

"Berkat sokongan suami, Abd Khalid Mohd Yusof, yang turut meminati bidang ternak ikan sangkar, akhirnya saya berjaya memulakan projek yang kekal sehingga kini."

"Tidak dinafikan ketika memulakan projek ini, saya berhadapan pelbagai cabaran terutama membabitkan modal. Namun, dengan bantuan pinjaman Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) dan Lembaga Pemasaran Pertanian Persekutuan (Fama) daerah, semua masalah dapat diatasi," kata ibu kepada dua anak ini.

Noreha berkata, dia membuat pinjaman dengan Mara sebanyak RM30,000. Modal itu membolehkan dia menapak dan kini menjadi antara 50 penternak ikan sangkar di bawah bimbingan Fama daerah.

Dalam usaha menambah pengalaman, dia mengikuti kursus ternak ikan selain seminar dianjurkan Fama daerah yang sentiasa berusaha memajukan industri ikan air tawar.

Menurutnya, ikan sangkar di Sungai Pahang tidak pernah menghadapi sebarang masalah terutama dari segi pasaran, malah hampir setiap bulan bekalannya tidak mencukupi.

Harga yang ditawarkan juga lebih tinggi iaitu antara RM10 hingga RM15 sekilogram bagi ikan patin dan tilapia merah, berbanding RM6 sekilogram untuk ikan yang diternak dalam kolam.

"Walaupun berhadapan masalah harga makanan ikan yang tinggi, harga ikan yang mahal membolehkan saya dan penternak lain terus menjalankan projek ini."

"Setiap bulan saya mampu mengeluarkan antara 800 hingga 1,000 kilogram ikan patin dan tilapia merah, dengan purata pendapatan kira-kira RM8,000," katanya yang turut menternak kambing.

Noreha berkata, ternak ikan sangkar tidak memerlukan penjagaan yang terlalu membebankan, sebaliknya dia hanya meluangkan masa antara satu hingga dua jam saja sehari.

Menurutnya, ikan hanya perlu diberikan makan dua kali sehari iaitu pada sebelah pagi dan petang manakala pengawasan lain lebih tertumpu kepada memastikan sampah tidak tersangkut pada sangkar.

Bagi memastikan sangkar tidak rosak seterusnya dibawa arus deras terutama pada musim tengkujuh, sangkar perlu diikat pada tebing sungai selain sentiasa mengawasi kayu balak yang hanyut.

Beliau berkata, rumahnya yang kira-kira 50 meter dari sangkar juga memudahkan dia menguruskan projek berkenaan dengan lebih sempurna.

"Untuk berjaya dalam bidang ternakan ikan sangkar, seseorang itu perlu berminat dengan ikan, tidak mudah berasa jemu dan tidak berputus asa apabila projek berhadapan masalah."

"Sebagai contoh, saya pernah berhadapan kekecewaan apabila banyak anak ikan mati disebabkan air Sungai Pahang yang berkeladak selain kesukaran mendapatkan benih berkualiti."

"Semua dugaan itu saya anggap sebagai cabaran yang akan mengajar kita erti kesukaran seterusnya akan menambahkan lagi pengalaman," katanya.

Sumber: myMetro
Foto: blog IkanPatinTemerloh

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Group Coupons Spread the Savings

(Post: English)
"By now everyone knows the power of the crowd in creating goods and services. As Andrew Mason, 29, has discovered, the crowd can be a pretty big force when it comes to buying, too."

As founder of the Point, a social fundraising Web site, Mason was well-versed in aggregate spending.

In November 2007, that led him to start a second Chicago business, Groupon, a site where people sign up for a daily coupon via e-mail.

The discounts are usually good pretty good, averaging around 65% off from companies as diverse as skydiving and restaurants in 18 major cities, such as Chicago, New York, and Seattle.

The catch: The coupon doesn't activate until a minimum number of people have pledged to buy.

Customers enter purchase information, but no one is actually charged until the minimum is met, so there are no refund hassles.

It's free for the business offering the deal, and the guaranteed revenue offsets the juicy discount.

Groupon collects all the money, takes a cut that varies from client to client, and passes the rest of the money along to the offering business.

CEO Mason says businesses are thrilled with the exposure of targeted e-mails and are reporting increased revenues.

When the Art Institute of Chicago offered a Groupon on July 31, for instance, 5,000 people purchased a yearlong membership - or 5.9% of the total 85,000 in the museum's history. Moreover, nearly 98% were first-time members.

Since Groupon's start, some 850,000 people have signed on, nearly 250,000 in the last two months alone.

The 103-employee company is already pulling a profit, Mason says, and expects to clear $100 million in revenue next year.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Restaurant Snackbar Goes Coast to Coast

(Post: English)
"Jonathan Makar, who had worked as a stockbroker for two years, plowed $30,000 of his own money and another $300,000 from investors into a 50-seat restaurant in Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square in 2006."

He called the place Snackbar and has obsessively catered to customers ever since.

Makar, 29, who lives above the cloth-napkin restaurant, says he lets patrons sit as long as they want and his staff makes sure to know customers (and their kids) by name.

They even know the kind of Champagne customers drank at their weddings.

His hospitality paid off. Clothing retailer Urban Outfitters, which had been headquartered a couple of blocks away, tapped Maker to open a second Snackbar at its Space 15 Twenty mini-mall in Hollywood last year.

The California location is about four times larger, and 75% of its business is daytime, corporate, and takeout.

Still, Makar says he has been able to keep doing what worked in Philadelphia. He makes sure staffers remember the names of customers.

He calls repeaters if they haven't ordered lunch, goes out of his way to prepare their favorite dishes, and even has the chef bake a cake and bring it over to patrons.

"I might be forgoing a certain amount of revenue that day but it all works out," he says.

Indeed, despite the recession, Makar says revenue from both places should come to about $2 million in 2009.

Source: BusinessWeek

Read More ->>>

Read more...

Pusat Bowling Gold Finger Pro Shop

(Post: Bahasa Melayu)
"Biarpun bergelar suri rumah ketika itu, Fatimah Alias yang sememangnya atlit sejak di bangku sekolah sering memupuk minat yang mendalam dalam apa saja jenis sukan kerana ia memberi kepuasan kepada jiwanya."

Meminati permainan badminton, berkayak serta aktif dalam apa saja jenis larian termasuk maraton, wanita berasal dari Slim River, Perak ini tidak membiarkan minatnya berkubur begitu saja.

Bahkan, dia sering mencuri masa senggangnya untuk melakukan pelbagai aktiviti riadah untuk menjaga kesihatan diri.

Tidak hairan sejak beberapa bulan lalu, dia mengambil alih pusat bowling di Kompleks Mutiara Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, sekali gus membeli pusat jualan dan kelengkapan bowling sebagai bukti cintanya terhadap bidang sukan tidak pernah padam.

"Sejak dulu lagi saya sukakan sukan atau aktiviti lasak. Kalau di kampung ketika kecil, permainan saya adalah panjat pokok, mandi sungai atau apa saja aktiviti yang sering dilakukan budak lelaki."

"Membidik burung yang sering dilakukan budak lelaki pun jadi pilihan saya."

"Permainan anak patung atau apa saja yang diminati budak perempuan ketika itu memang tiada dalam kamus hidup saya."

"Jiwa saya seolah-olah tidak feminin seperti kebanyakan wanita lain namun semua itu memberi inspirasi dalam membentuk kekuatan jiwa sebagaimana lelaki," kata ibu kepada tiga anak ini.

Menurutnya, dalam memupuk minat mendalam sebelum mengambil alih pusat bowling itu, dia banyak mempelajari selok-belok pengurusan berkaitan bidang perniagaan berkenaan.

Baginya, ia penting untuk menambahkan pengalaman sedia ada termasuk lawatan ke negara lain bertujuan meninjau bagaimana perniagaan di bidang berkenaan dijalankan.

"Sesuatu yang dipelajari, saya melihat ia menjadi tempat menjalin perhubungan sesama pemain serta mengeratkan hubungan keluarga."

"Ini kerana ada keluarga yang menjadikan bowling sebagai sukan keluarga. Seronok apabila melihat pasangan yang bermain bowling terdiri daripada suami, isteri dan anak-anak yang mencintai satu jenis sukan."

"Pengurusan pusat bowling dilihat semacam senang, tetapi sebenarnya, pelbagai perkara perlu dipelajari kerana banyak yang saya tidak tahu," kata wanita ini merendah diri.

Menggalas tugas bukan mudah sekiranya seseorang itu tidak benar-benar menjiwai perniagaan berasaskan aspek kesukanan, Fatimah akui dia berasa bertuah kerana anak-anak banyak membantu perniagaannya itu.

Dua daripada anaknya, Fazreena dan Faidly Amirul banyak mengurus dan memberikan tumpuan terhadap pelanggan selain meringankan kerja pengurusan.

Sebagai isteri kepada seorang usahawan, dia akui keluarga penting sebagai pemacu semangat dalam perniagaan yang dirintisnya itu.

"Saya bertuah kerana suami sering memberi perangsang dalam apa saja yang saya minati."

"Dalam perniagaan, dia juga tulang belakang saya. Namun dia sering memberi laluan dan perangsang dengan membiarkan saya melakukan sendiri. Cuma apabila ada masalah atau sesuatu yang sukar diselesaikan, barulah saya merujuk kepadanya."

"Apa yang membanggakan, suami meminati sukan bermotor, motosikal berkuasa tinggi atau sukan yang agak ekstrem."

"Untuk itu, kami sering bersama jika ada aktiviti yang dianjurkan. Begitu juga dengan anak bongsu lelaki kami yang turut berkongsi minat sama. Pada saya, ia mengeratkan lagi kasih sayang sesama keluarga," katanya.

Hasratnya ialah memiliki bangunan sendiri yang menempatkan aktiviti dan peralatan berkaitan bowling di samping menjadi pusat sehenti yang memfokuskan pembangunan sukan itu suatu hari nanti.

Lantas kini, dia berusaha gigih merealisasikannya dengan menjadikan pemain bowling negara, Shalin Zulkifli sebagai inspirasi dalam perniagaan itu.

INFO:
Nama: Fatimah Alias
Jawatan: Pengarah Urusan Lafaz Equity Sdn Bhd; Gold Finger Pro Shop, Kompleks Mutiara, Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur

Sumber: myMetro
Foto: CollegeBowling

Read More ->>>

Read more...