Business Ideas (Entertainment) - Weeknight Clubbing for 9-5 crowd

Did I hear any horrays out that? I guess clubbers will be thrilled with this. No cheers from me, cos i dun club but this may be a good business idea though.
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Nightclubs may operate seven days a week in many cities, but working professionals who partake in their late-night offerings outside of the weekend tend to regret it the next day. With such schedule-bound partiers in mind, Toronto's Gladstone Hotel recently launched an earlier alternative that still lets revellers get to bed on time.

The Gladstone's Granny Boots series of dance parties take place each Wednesday night beginning at 7:30 and ending promptly at 10—"so you can go home, watch 'Law and Order' until 11 pm and go to BED," as the hotel puts it. The events are held in the Gladstone's Melody Bar, which is already famous for weekend karaoke nights, and feature different performances and
livingroom DJs each week. Admission is free.

We also spotted something similar in Belgium, where Bart Van Orshoven's After Work Parties draw large crowds—and corporate sponsors—in various venues in Antwerp, Gent, Leuven and Brussels. The parties start at 7 pm and doors close at 9 pm to ensure a decent-sized crowd from the start. At 1 am, everyone is sent packing.

Of course, in addition to the legions of business people and other working stiffs out there who can't afford to stay up late, there's also the substantial crowd of older people who still like to party but simply don't want to be up during the wee hours. Catering to such consumers could be the key to attracting a whole new segment. As the saying goes, the early bird gets the worm—or, in this case, the entertainment dollars! ;-)

Website: www.gladstonehotel.com/events/show.cfm?id=791 — www.afterworkparty.be
Contact: dance.granny.boots@gmail.com — bart@afterworkparty.be

Employee - Company's Most Valuable Assets

I think the most under-rated assets in a company is human resources, and also the most difficult to assess value. Most companies failed to comprehend this and I find they tend not able to go far or grow big.

I wonder is it their ego that caused them not to value employee other than themselves or that they just dun see the importance of it. In any case, to have staff resigning or failure to attract capable staff can cost the company their future.

I guess this is why Google provides such good facilities and working environment. After working with them, I bet no one wants to leave.

Crowdsourcing a Make-It-Yourself Restaurant

Lately crowdsourcing seem to be the 'in' thing to talk about when coming to setting up business. I guess this makes the consumer more involved in the formulation of the business and hence spending more.

Sex, drugs and oil: corruption scandal rocks US agency

Why am I not surprised? Maybe cos the business is such a lucrative business and to protect interests, corruption will definitely happen. All these seem like coming out from movie scripts.

Yesterday local news also reported a case of corruption by a official in MOM.

I do think that in every business, there would some form of corruption, be it in terms of monetary or gifts. I dun think it is that easy to eradicate, only minimise.

One way to help minimise is to protect the rights of whistle blower. Without them, usually things are gone unnoticed.

Read the article here - http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080911/twl-us-government-oil-corruption-7e07afd.html

Singapore luxury hotel dedicates floor to the ladies

I really like the idea. Just a small change, can create hype for the publicity for the hotel and create better revenue. Very clever!

I bet ladies would love to have such attention.

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SINGAPORE, Sept 9 - A luxury boutique hotel in Singapore has set aside a whole floor for women, decking it out with designer amenities and female-only staff.

The Naumi hotel, which opened this year in Singapore's central business district, said the concept was intended to give women travellers a sense of security and privacy in luxurious surroundings.

"There weren't any hotels we knew that had a dedicated floor for ladies," marketing manager Adeline Quek told Reuters.

"More women are travelling around the Asia Pacific, whether it is for work, business or leisure and we wanted to provide them with a sense of peace and a feeling of being at home.

The 40-suite hotel has five ladies-only suites, hidden behind a glass panel on one floor which is accessed by a key card system. A sign on the panel reads "Naumi says... for ladies only" and men are strictly forbidden.

Special female touches on the floor include in-room cosmetics such as make-up remover, toner and aromatherapy products from all-natural Australian brand Aesop and pink and grey flowery wallpaper.

Quek said guests were mainly business executives and well-heeled women on shopping trips or holiday from Europe, Australia, Indonesia and Hong Kong. Occupancy of the floor has been 80 percent since the hotel opened, she added.

And if female guests want to entertain men in their room, Quek said the hotel recommends they stay in their regular suites.

Rooms at the Naumi are priced at between $420 and $600.

Philosophy Of The Stock Market

Once upon a time in a village, a man appeared who announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.

The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys in the forest, went out and started catching them.

The man bought thousands at $10 each. As supply started to diminish and villagers started to stop their efforts, he announced that now he wouldbuy them at $20 each.

This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon, the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms.

The offer rate was increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so scarce that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it.

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 each.

However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of the man.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers 'Look at all the monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 each and when my boss comes back, you can sell them to him for $50 each.

'The villagers queued up with all their savings and bought all the monkeys.

After that, neither the assistant nor the businessman could be found anywhere but the monkeys were everywhere!

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LOL!! Well this kind of sums up what the stock market is all about.

Higher fee for international mailing

Business Times - 06 Sep 2008
SingPost warns of higher fees
SINGAPORE Post has warned of a potential increase in its net terminal dues payments for international mailing. This comes after it was announced at the recent 24th Universal Postal Union (UPU) Congress in Geneva, Switzerland, that Singapore would be reclassified as a Target Country (previously known as 'Industrialised Country') from the current category of Net Contributor Country for the purpose of terminal dues settlement. The change will take effect from Jan 1, 2010.

Terminal dues refer to settlements for the processing and delivery of international mail between countries. Singapore will have to apply the relevant terminal dues system from 2010 to 2013 and contribute to the UPU Quality of Service Fund. The group foresees an increase in its net terminal dues payments for international mailing as the dues payable by target countries are generally higher.

I guess small business who has been delivered packages through post will be badly affected. Luckily there is still 2 years time to make adjustment.

2m Britons want to turn hobby to business

(LONDON) More than two million Britons who are in permanent employment are at the same time trying to turn their favourite hobby into a business, according to a new survey released yesterday.

Commissioned by Direct Line for Business, the poll also found that for 23 per cent of Britons it would be a dream come true to start up their own business based on an outside interest. Of those who have already made the jump to self-employment, 32 per cent described it as a successful venture, and more than 25 per cent said they were making good money from the business.

The survey listed the most successful hobby-based businesses as fashion design, eBay selling, buy-to-let property development and web design. -- Reuters
Copyright © 2007
Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Oh yeah, I too would like to turn my interest into business. But the problem is I can't identify one that will make money.

I wonder what is the number be like for Singapore....