your money ezine
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April 1, 2009TRANSCRIPT
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Duane Lue-Fung does not see a recession, he sees an opportunity. Where other individuals have taken to quivering in fear of the global economic crisis, Mr. Lue-Fung, CEO of LUTEC, has made it his goal to succeed and thrive in these trying times. By engineering their methodology towards catering to the specific needs of individual companies, Mr. Lue-Fung believes that LUTEC has become more than your average company, they have become cost consultants and it is in this men-tality that Lue-Fung believes that 2009 will be LUTEC’s best year yet.
Why has LUTEC been so successful?Maybe Mr. Lue-Fung’s positive outlook comes from the fact that his company, Copier Concepts which was founded in October 1997 has grown into the hugely successful venture that LUTEC has become today by being innovative, less myopic and customer oriented. With 22 employees and over 2000 machines in the field, Mr. Lue-Fung’s vision has grown into a diverse operation providing printer and copier solutions, print management systems, document outsourcing and au-dio-visual conferencing to name a few. LUTEC’s ability to thrive while others suffer may be attributed to Mr. Lue-Fung’s quest to be innovative in the services that he offers. “LUTEC has made revolutionary strides in offer-ing printing solutions to businesses that allow them to save millions annually and keep a tighter rein on their printing expenses”, said Lue-Fung.
“Some companies have literally no idea how much they actually spend on printing yearly; when we give them figures and show them how much they can save with us, they are literally amazed”, Mr. Lue-Fung stat-ed. LUTEC’s approach to customer service is also ap-pealing to small and medium sized enterprises that can reduce their capital costs by having a customized approach which may see them not even having to pur-chase a single printer and still being fully capable.
LUTEC taking the current economic crisis by the hornRegarding the current economic crisis, Mr. Lue-Fung finds the outlook for the global economic landscape to be grim. But at the same time he strongly believes that this is where companies must prove their mettle by being innovative in providing greater value to cus-tomers. “This is a time for audacity, we can’t afford to
blame every little thing on the crisis, this is the time to drive harder” says Lue-Fung. In light of the current state of the economy LUTEC has been the first compa-ny to showcase a sure-fire method of cutting operating
and capital costs, instead of employees. “Our new line of Kyocera “Cartridge-free” printers have been proven to save companies 60-70% when compared to regular printers; this statement is a proven fact and the numbers are there” says Lue-Fung. “Based on these results, in light of the current economic climate we should be laying off costly printers not employees,” stated Lue-Fung, CEO of the twelve year old company.
Any advice for young entrepreneurs?Mr. Lue-Fung urges young entrepreneurs who wish to mirror his success to “Believe, be audacious and have zero fear (in these troubled times)”. He states “I have no professional financial advice to offer but you have to believe, be audacious and have zero fear, remember the bumble bee flies only because it doesn’t know that common sense says it shouldn’t.” “Mental strength will be the difference” says Lue-Fung.
Layoff printers not employeesDuane Lue-Fung outlines ways for companies
to save millions
Duane Lue-Fung shows Your Money what is meant by a Cartridge free printer
Question: I really want to buy my own home one day. I have wanted to do this for a very long time, but I don’t seem to be making any headway. What can I do to accomplish my goal?
Answer: The process of achieving financial goals takes time, energy and focus. It also requires you to lose old habits that keep you in your comfort zone, and to create new habits for success. Here’s how you can turn your dreams into reality:
1. Visualize. Use all your senses to create the ideal picture of your desire. Close your eyes and imagine yourself sitting in your living room with your feet on your sofa. What do you see, hear smell, taste, and feel?
2. Have strong belief. You must really believe with-out a shadow of doubt that you can get what you want. Focus on the reasons why the dream is im-portant to you. If you really don’t think that you’re capable of achieving your goal, then you won’t!
3. Write out a S.M.A.R.T. goal. Take your dream out of your head and onto paper, and give your brain a specific command that it can carry out. Express your dream in specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based terms. So your goal could be to have a 2-bedroom house in St Catherine valued at J$6 million in three years.
4. Get expert advice. Learn from people who have already done what you want to do. Go to seminars, use business support services, read books, or surf the internet, to get experienced advice in achieving any goal.
5. Design an action plan. Ask yourself “If I want to achieve this thing in x number of years, what do I have to do today to get there?” A financial planning expert can help you to create a savings plan to buy your home.
6. Become committed. Be prepared to do whatever
it takes to succeed. Commit to the little actions and sacrifices that will help you to achieve your big goal.
7. Act at once. Just do it! Immediately carry out one of the first steps in your plan. The momentum cre-ated will help to propel you to accomplish the other actions.
8. Defeat dream stoppers. Fear will stop you from achieving your goals. Make it work in your favour by creating a fear for what will happen if you don’t achieve that big goal.
9. Be persistent. Keep going even when you don’t feel like it. Examine setbacks for possible opportuni-ties, as sometimes disappointments can open new doors for something better than you ever dreamed.
10. Review. Reassess your action plan periodically and make adjustments if it’s not working the way you intended, or if your objectives have changed.
...........................................................................Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services is Jamaica’s num-ber one source for practical, down-to-earth and in-dependent answers for all questions relating to per-sonal finance. Get more money smart advice at www.financiallysmartonline.com. Email [email protected] with comments or questions.
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10 Smart Steps to:Achieve Money Goals
Provided by: Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services
If Gentleman’s Quarterly publishes an article which states that pink pants are the new rage in Los Angeles, one would be hard pressed not to value fashion advice from such a trust-ed authority. The same could be said about a list published by “capitalist bible” Forbes Magazine and its spin-off Forbes.com, regarding wealth. The Forbes lists began under the leadership of Mal-colm Forbes and has become the hallmark of the decades old publication. Forbes has managed to infuse itself into the fabric of mainstream culture to the extent that you would be hard pressed to find an individual unaware of the person who currently holds the mantle of “Richest person in the world”. This contribution to society by the “capitalist bible” has not gone unnoticed and the glare of scepti-cism has not missed an opportunity to question an institution.
The MeThoDoLoGY;According to Forbes.com, The World’s Billionaires list is formulated by a team of over forty reporters who spend the greater part of a year researching the personal fortune of suspected billionaires. The research protocol includes an examination of per-sonal holdings, stock, assets, art, and just about everything that can be valued, even debt. The earnings of privately owned companies are com-pared to price-to-earning ratios of similar public companies. The list is comprised only of the wealth of individuals and family members are only includ-ed if the average net worth among them is over a billion dollars. In addition to these factors, the website also states that reporters try their best to get in touch with suspected billionaires or their repre-sentatives in order to get first hand information on their personal fortunes.
The list is a snapshot of an individual’s wealth at a particular time of the year usually around mid-February. [So it is wholly possible that an individual’s wealth, for example, Mr. Michael Lee Chin who is currently ranked at 701 on this list might have been worth a lot more before the 12th of February or after, for that matter.] The problem with this fact is that while it might not trouble those at the top too much, it might be a big deal to a fledgling billionaire whose personal wealth dropped to just below a billion around the
11th causing him to be left off the list for another year.
ACCurACY oF The LIsTThere have been a few instances over the years where alleged billionaires have flat out denied having as much money as they were stated to have had. One such example is the inclusion of pork in-dustry Kingpin, Wendell Murphy who was reported to be worth a billion dollars in 1997. Representa-tives from Murphy’s company reportedly referred to Forbes’ ranking as “Hogwash”.
Also Forbes magazine had to offer an apology for leaving off Utah busi-nessman Jon. M. Huntsman off their 2000 billionaire list. H u n t s m a n was at the time actively managing a portfolio of $3.9 billion at the time.
Converse ly, Forbes Maga-zine was used as the main piece of evi-dence in a child support suit brought against al-leged Califor-nia billionaire Donald Bren. Forbes estimat-ed his worth at $4 billion which would entitle the children to $2.25 million monthly which is a far cry from the $24,000 that Bren is currently paying.
The relative scarcity of complaints and the very few reports of errors on a list as detailed and as far reaching as the billionaires list is quite possibly proof of a sound methodology at work.Y
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The World’s Billionaire ListHow is it really determined?
Jamaican-Canadian Inves-tor Michael Lee-Chin, cur-rently ranks at 701 on the Forbes list
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We have been looking at strategies that entrepre-neurs can employ to achieve business growth with-out increasing their personal work load. System-izing the three key business elements – production, operations and marketing, will enable an entrepre-neur to convert initial effort into a repeatable pro-cess that persistently produces profit.
While effective product design and efficient opera-tions are important elements, at least 65 per cent of your efforts should be involved in marketing your enterprise. T. Harv Eker, CEO of Peak Poten-tials, a business training company that produces the World’s Greatest Marketing Seminar, defines marketing as “the activity of presenting products or services to potential customers in such a way as to make them eager to buy.”
The uLTIMATe MArkeTInG sTrATeGY Most people try to increase sales by advertising on
an ad hoc basis, without a specific plan of action. Systemizing your marketing will help you to develop a programme that will produce dependable results and eventually, massive business
growth.
Eker reveals that there are four equal parts to the ultimate mar-
keting strategy: the market, the message, the medium and the back end. To be successful, he
continues, the four parts must all work together.
It is crucial to define your target market, which is the audience that is easiest to reach and most likely to buy from you. Too often, entrepreneurs waste precious resources chasing after persons who don’t want or need their products. You can define your market by looking at the demo-graphics - age, gender, income geographical location, educa-tion level; and the psycho-graphics – lifestyle prefer-ences such as what do they watch, listen to, or buy.
WhAT’s Your MessAGe?Once you have zeroed in on your target, you have to focus on the message you send to them. Your message should answer two questions – “Why should I buy this?” and “Why should I buy this from you?” Eker advises that to stand out from the com-petition you must create a unique selling proposi-tion (USP) that will be the primary distinguishing feature that raises your position and helps you to stand out from the competition.
Your USP should be customer-fo-cused, and should speak to the bene-fits that your prod-uct or service will bring to solve your target market’s problems. I cre-ated a USP for my business that says ‘Jamaica’s num-ber one source for practical, down-to-earth and inde-pendent answers for all questions relating to personal finance.’
Eker defines the medium as the delivery vehicle that carries your message. These could be flyers, newspaper ads, PR articles, television or radio ads, seminars, websites, business cards, telemarketing, referrals, banners, billboards joint ventures, and many more. The key is to be as efficient as possible in reaching your target market, by optimizing the use of appropriate media.
Next, we will continue looking at the ultimate mar-keting strategy by examining a little known, but highly effective success tactic called the front-end / back-end system...........................................................................Cherryl is a financial consultant and coach, andfounder of Financially S.M.A.R.T. Services. See more of her work at www.financiallysmartonline.com.Email Cherryl at [email protected]. Please add this address to your email addressbook in order to ensure you receive a response.
Maximising Your MarketingGet the ultimate strategy
by: Cherryl Hanson Simpson
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