Sometimes, we must simply enjoy…
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Author: Bal Bansal
So I’ve decided to start throwing back to some good old times… on Thursday’s. Not every Thursday, I’ll throwback once a Thursday a month.
Last month, we had my good old days at Kodak… and this moth, I wanted to share with you a throwback, to a time when my good friend, Karun Chandhok and I met up at Silverstone for a little beverage and a conversation.
Now, Karun is an accomplished racing driver. He’s raced in Formula 1, he’s raced in Le Mans, he’s raced in many races around the world… I could keep going on about his races, but easier if I share a link to his bio –Â http://www.karunchandhok.com/KC/
But why I am sharing this information with you? – well, when we met up, he shared some real good insights into his daily life that are applicable to all of us…
For example,
Karun has, as I mentioned, raced a lot. He’s done speeds, which I can only dream about… but when we met up, he pulled up in a VW Passat. Now, no offence, they’re extremely good, solid, family cars… but for a Formula 1 Racing driver to pull up in a Passat, you’d ask the question… where’s the sports car?
Now his answer… “Well, Bal… you see, i’m doing 350km per hour, in some of the best racing circuits in the world… don’t need anything fancy on the roads where you’re limited”.
Damn! – that put me in my place!! – So true… when you’re following your passion, and you’re doing what you love – you’ll be near the top of your game, with that in mind… who cares what you do (or drive – in this case) when you’re limited with restrictions.
Karun never wanted to be a doctor or an accountant… he didn’t want a professional job like that… he knew, he wanted to be a racing driver. He followed his passion… he worked hard… even though he was limited to resources when in India, he moved to Northampton, out of his comfort zone (away from the hot weather) and kept on pushing himself to achieve his dreams.
That’s another lesson we can all learn. Move away from your comfort zone. We talk about it… but how many of you are willing to give up on home comforts?
The one thing, I really wanted to share about Karun is how humble he is.
Honestly, this guy… is so nice… for example, when we’d finished chatting at Silverstone, I asked him… is it the private jet to the next race venue? – his answer… no, it’s a normal flight. In fact… came over on Easyjet, because it was the quickest and easiest.
Easyjet?! – now… once again, nothing wrong with Easyjet, in fact, I use them a lot… but it goes down to the thinking. Yes, from time to time, the private jet or chartered planes are there to take him around the world, but for Karun, it’s the quickest and easiest method of transportation to get him from A to B. And you couldn’t get any more ‘Lean Thinking’ than that.
And there you have it… a couple of lessons from Karun. Who left the lovely hot weather of India, to come to Northampton to follow his dreams….
I feel I need to put a number of disclaimers in this blog post – The VW Passat, as mentioned, is a lovely car… Easyjet are a great low cost airline (Value for money indeed)… and Northampton does have hot weather (for a few days in August).
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From Bedroom to £2m turnover…
You’ll see quotes and hear about how people made a simple yoghurt into a million dollar business… or how someone made a fortune from selling nuts in a box. Sounds easy, right?
Well, it’s not.
You need a) passion and b) some serious commitment to make it work.
My good friend, Gurdeep…. decided one day, he’d had enough working for someone else, so him and his brother… set up shop from their bedroom!
That’s right – they wanted to have their own business.
Now, the great bit is, several years later… they’re on course to turnover £2m. Fantastic news. Indeed… but it hasn’t been plain sailing.
There’s been some up’s and downs on their journey, more downs than up’s at times… coming to a point of quitting and ‘getting a normal day job’.
But this is where my second point, about having some serious commitment – comes into play. You will have all sorts thrown at you, but you need to keep going.
Now, as 2 Red – the name of his company – continues to grow, he’s branching out, looking at other opportunities and most importantly… meets up with me, for a Nando’s to discuss, what else he could do. And you know what, i’m happy to share thoughts, ideas and what I think could help his business grow over some peri peri chicken.
What advice would he give to people thinking of setting their own business?
Here’s his top 3 tips…
1. Have a clear vision of what you want to achieve
2. Thoroughly research and understand the market you are going into
3. Stay focussed on your goals and don’t worry about competitors.
Some good tips there. And I totally agree with them. Now to see the main man in action – well, not in action literally, but to watch a little video of them (it was filmed by someone else – so it centres on staffing and skills, but the key messages are there… how they started, how well they’re doing now… and most importantly, if you need a boiler, who you can contact).
Link is below to the 2 Red Linkedin Page, where the video is shared…
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6365300208737222656
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Work hard. Be honest. Keep climbing…
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Why should I read your blog, Bal?
Just before Christmas, I shared a blog post, within which there were a few items/suggestions, that you could buy as Christmas presents for loved ones.
These were centred around technology items, gadgets… for the home.
Now, whilst I don’t often do this (saying that, I did it again for Valentines!) – I will only share the best, and what I’ve actually experienced and/or tested with you. I wouldn’t be sharing any old thing, or something I feel does not hold value.
That is one reason why you should read my blog. For what I share, will have some value. And if you can read in-between the lines, there’s more value for you, than what you may realise.
Let’s take one of the items that I mentioned, it was Ring.
What is Ring? – well, to remind you… it’s a door bell, with a camera… which can communicate to your phone or tablet device, and you can see who’s outside. Great in so many ways…. for the older folk, the lazy folk, for those who are not at home, etc…
I also mentioned, how a number of these devices are all connectable making your home, a smart home. They can connect with the Amazon Echo, for example.
And this morning… what did I hear…
That’s right. Amazon… paid $1billion for Ring.
Now, 2 things here…1) Imagine you’d never heard of Ring, read my blog and thought – this looks good, might buy some shares in it…. 2) All these connected devices, surely they’ll come under one company one day… I should look into investing in them.
Either way, you’d be very happy this morning.
Now, I want to make it very clear – i’m not in a position to advice you.. in what to invest and what will provide you with great returns.
The position I am in, is for you to read my blog, have conversations with me… and then assess for yourself, what may work and what may not.
I too, have invested my money into various companies, businesses and start-ups. Moreso, to help them grow… and for them to help my pension pot to grow. Let’s be honest… who wants to be working when they’re well into their 50’s and 60’s… mind you, there’s even possibilities for many folk to be clever with their money and retire earlier! (On which point, I know some folk who have just done that).
So, you’re probably wondering… when will I be sharing my next ‘top things to buy for a particular occasion….’ well, I’ve nothing scheduled right now. But what I might do, is share individuals whom I’ve met, working with, listened to… who’ll be successful. Becuase at the end of the day, it’s the people that make the businesses work.
Oh… on the conversation of investment – there’s various places you can look and research, where you can invest your money… anything from Kickstarter (the potato salad was my favourite) to various websites & organisations. I would however, encourage you… to do your research. And continue to read my blog.
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Accept and have faith…
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Stack ‘em high… sell ‘em low…
Mass manufacturing. Build, build, build…. sell, sell, sell… introduced by Henry Ford. The move was from Craft Manufacturing… where cars, were individually built for the customer.
Highly unlikely would it be that there were two cars that were the same.
Henry, saw this, thought… damn! – this is expensive, what if we made 100 doors, the cost would drastically reduce… combine that with the production line and hey presto, you had mass manufacturing.
Today, we’ve moved a little back into craft – were many folk, do like individualisation and are willing to pay for it.
Manufacturers are also using techniques to manufacture low batches and more variety.
But then, there’s industries, whom are looking at stacking them high… and selling them low. Take the airline industry. Norwegian Air are squeezing folks onto their plane…. and offering them a no-frills, low-costs ticket, to a number of destinations.
Now, why is this working?
1. You want to get from A to B… without paying too much. There’s many folks who’d happy, go backpacking, a holiday with their friends, and when cost comes into the equation – having the option to spend more on beers and sightseeing, and minimum amount on getting there – well, the maths is quite easy.
2. No frills is fine – It’s like having the basics and then you bolt on top, what you want. Like a car, you get the basic, and pay for extras. Maybe a friend wants that reversing camera but you want a heads-up display.
3. Close by…. the airports that Norwegian are less expensice then well known and the ones used by major airlines – hence they can keep the price down, but the good thing is, they’re close by. In this example, Gatwick. Not a million miles from Heathrow. Once again, depends on the final destination – there’s plenty of trains and shuttles from Gatwick to London. Central.
So it looks like there’s a mix between mass and craft…. in the sense, there’ll be lots and lots of people on the plane… but then you’re all individually adding on the extra’s you want. Which works. That’s why many of the low cost airlines are seeing it work. Now… for long haul… would it work?
Why not?… new technology, new planes… allows more options.
Just like the introduction of the production line by Henry, which had the cars going down one line faster than ever before… means, airlines can use aircraft that holds more people… travel longer distances… use less fuel… be more efficient… Yes – there’s a big outlay for a new aircraft, but then… just like Henry, you can stack ‘em (the people) high… sell ‘em (the seats) low.
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Don’t Complain. Train.
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Technology…with Love.
Valentines Day soon. Very soon. This week, in fact. And if you’re like most people, you’re probably wondering, what do I buy!?!
Yes, you could head over to Pandora and buy some more jewellery… or you could get something from Amazon… where you’re more than likely to spend a few hours, searching… and going round in circles from one gift idea to another.
I thought… why not share my top 3 tech gift ideas for your loved one!
1. Apple iWatch
If your partner hasn’t already got one – this is a must, in my opinion.
Series 3 is the latest one. Full connectivity and does everything you’d want in a tech-loaded watch, from tracking your fitness to taking calls… from sending ‘I love you’ messages to notifications suggesting you ‘breathe’.
They’re £329… just think of the expression on your partners face, when you share your thoughts on how many calories they should be burning a day.
2. Headphones
We’re more and more using tablets and our phones to watch videos. So why not purchase a nice set of headphones to ensure the listening pleasure is as good as the viewing.
There’s a variety of headphones that are available… and there’s some great makes, but i’m going to play it fairly safe and go for something that’s not all about the branding… but about the beat.
That’s right – Dr Dre’s Beats.
Now, whilst looking around, I noticed there’s some great offers available!… for example, check this out…
3. Power Bank
It’s all about budgets. The iWatch is expensive… but worth every penny. The headphones is a mid-range present.. but if you’re thinking, Bal… I don’t really have that sort of money to spend, but would like to buy something tech related and something nice for my partner… what could I buy?
Well… these days, we seems to be needing to charge and power, virtually everything. From watch’s to phones, from cars to Sony’s Aibo (the robotic dog). So why not purchase a power bank.
That’s right… a power bank!
This is a Tecknet power bank, that is available on Amazon. Good quality… good ratings… good to power up anything! And let’s be honest, it’s one of those things that isn’t glamorous… nor is it sexy, but it’s realiable, trusting and always there when you need a little ‘pick me up’.
Obviously, other types and brands are available, and there’s great variety on some of the leading on-line stores…. like Amazon.
There were other tech items you could purchase for your loved one, I did think of Fitbits, but thought the iWatch does much more.
There’s rings that store your personal data… but then, this could get a little complicated and what happens if you lost your ring… you’ll lose your personal data… but moreso, if it got in the wrong hands, that’s a bad thing!
You could also buy DIY electronic kits… Nintendo Switch’s… the list is quite endless. It’s all about, what your loved one will appreciate. And i’m sure, one of the above with some flowers… will do the trick!
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
In memory of my friend, Satnam Thamu…. who recently passed away.
Always happy, always smiling…
