mercredi, janvier 25, 2012 Running Your Own Business: What, When and How To Pay Yourself, and Why You Need To Think It Through ...at least, in Singapore by Lim May-Ann 25 Dec 2011 (wow I'm SUCH a loser!) written for my friends Ed and Ad Given that you're essentially a one-man show, you need to remember what you're doing this for, and why you're doing this. It's easy to go for broke when you're first starting out, and take on as many clients as you can, but remember - there's a reason why fledging eagles don't fly too well at first: cos they're new at it! So take your time to learn the ropes of how to manage your business, your time, your clients. With the freedom to do whatever, whenever, you have the opportunity to find some kind of equilibrium first, then ramp up if you need to. From what I hear from you, it's not hard finding clients - which is great, but what happens later, when you're maxed out of time, but you aren't earning as much as you'd like? You'll appreciate space/time to expand then. What do you do then? Make a plan: 1. What are your financial commitments? Break it down: parents, church, self/travel, taxes, CPF, savings, madmoney. I usually run it by statistics: * Church 10%, Parents 10% (or however much it is), Income Tax 10% (this is an overestimation), CPF 20%. For CPF, note that you will be getting LESS than your peers who have employers, as employers contribute 16% of their income as well, making their CPF contribution 36% of their income. Which means that their CPF has an EXTRA 16% of what they earn going to it. http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/ You might also be interested to know that according to Financial Planners, the recommended savings percentage is 40%. I know, it's CRAZY. This generally leaves 50% left for yourself and your travel, savings and mad money. But not really, since there's always stuff to buy and things that break and need maintenance. 2. Assume makes an Ass of U and Me - make assumptions anyway Travel costs: assume that you have one student per weekday, and 5 over the weekend (spread over Sat/Sun). Assume that you'll take a cab to/fro their places, and each trip is a return trip (it probably won't be, but let's assume.) Assume each cab ride is $25. That's a sunk cost of $50 per student, so it will cost you $10*50=$500. 2. OK, so you've got a number from those financial commitments. How much do you pay yourself per year then? Factor in yearly inflation in Singapore, which is approx 4-6% (most people estimate it at 5%), and a 10% increase every year, plus a 13th month bonus. So take X (from above), multiply it by 13 months, and then again by 115%, divided by 12. That's how much you should be earning per month. 3. You've got to be kidding. Nope, it really is this mad. And I'm not even factoring in savings for the future and your retirement. Libellés : personal, working life [Running Your Own Business: What, When and How To Pay Yourself, and Why You Need To Think It Through] |
mardi, janvier 10, 2012 I've already been quite disappointed at certain professional acquaintances who have dropped me like a hot potato because I've left my "well-connected" job for another which I find challenging (and therefore personally fulfilling.)While I understand less interaction, I think total silence from a simple greeting email is just plain rude. Libellés : personal, working life [Network Users] |
mardi, novembre 15, 2011  Libellés : working life [Compromising] |
lundi, juin 13, 2011
And as I close this chapter of my life, I say goodbye fondly.
 
I'm not evil, just hungry for more.
Libellés : working life [Work is not a job!] |
jeudi, juin 02, 2011  Taking a chance now. Wish me well. Pray for me. Libellés : working life [Changes Afoot] |
dimanche, mai 15, 2011 Giving two months' notice was not a decision I made lightly, but I think it was the right one. There was enough time to handle the fallout of the resignation, manage expectations, communicate clearly and well, start to transit new stuff over to the new hire, and basically taper three years' hard work down slowly.I'm picking up some toys I left on the floor when I started working in this job... been a while since I played with them. Exploring the art of tv shows is one - from cinematography to putting together a soundtrack. Zach Braff's excellent music taste (and Grammy award) for the Garden State soundtrack comes to mind. Right now I'm tripping out on the gems of alt/indie gems that the Everwood team put together. One such gem: The Weepies' Gotta Have You (on repeat in my car for the last 3 days) - lyrics don't really mean anything, but the tune's really pretty. Here's to the soundtrack of the changes in my life. Gotta Have You (The Weepies) Gray, quiet and tired and mean Picking at a worried seam I try to make you mad at me over the phone. Red eyes and fire and signs I'm taken by a nursery rhyme I want to make a ray of sunshine and never leave home The road gets cold, there's no spring in the meadow this year I'm the new chicken clucking open hearts and ears Oh, such a prima donna, sorry for myself But green, it is also summer And I won't be warm 'til I'm lying in your arms I see it all through a telescope: guitar, suitcase, and a warm coat Lying in the back of the blue boat, humming a tune...hmm No amount of coffee, no amount of crying No amount of whiskey, no amount of wine No, no, no, no, no, nothing else will do I've gotta have you, I've gotta have you Libellés : music, working life [Soundtrack of the change] |
samedi, avril 16, 2011 Giving two months' notice is a long goodbye - not always bad though, just wistful.Case in point: this little guy was sunning himself (wings open-close-open-close) in my face on Friday, as I sit at my desk with half-height window panes all around. Judging from the ragged state of his wings, he could have just emerged (badly) from chrysalis stage, and was drying out.  Small pleasures which I will miss, and which I am taking time to say goodbye to. Libellés : working life [Slowly saying goodbye] |
jeudi, avril 14, 2011 When you have to manage two on top, and two below, it's difficult.When one on each side is behaving badly, and one on each side is not performing, it's even harder. The solution? The subway.  Libellés : working life [Squeezed: Top and Bottom] |
samedi, avril 09, 2011 Even as I struggle with my decision to resign from my job, God keeps sending me reminders of how He will take care of me. Bible Gateway email reminders, RBC Daily Bread devotionals, random emails from other websites, recent posts from my favourite Christian bloggers/websites - these are love letters to me from God, which I am noting here so that I may not forget His love for me.If you're wondering what I'm talking about, and you'd like to find out more, leave a comment to start a conversation with me on this. God's love is amazing, abundant, and unending. I'd wish it upon anyone.
I will carry you! —Isaiah 46:4 The prophet Isaiah draws a picture for us in Isaiah 46 of the siege of Babylon and the evacuation of its idols. The carts and carriages that carry them creak, and the weary animals groan under the load (v.1). In contrast, Isaiah says that God carries His children from birth (v.3). “Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you!” God declares (v.4). The contrast is precise and vivid in the Hebrew text: The carts and carriages are “loaded” with the weight of the idols (v.1), but we are loaded upon God (v.3). Idols are a “burden,” a thing carried (v.1), but God has gladly “carried” us from the womb (v.3). The Lord has made us (v.4). Nothing could be more comforting, for our Father loves and cares for His children. He promises, “I will carry you!” and that includes every care and worry that comes our way throughout our lifetime. So we may let Him carry us and our every burden. This song by Annie Johnson Flint challenges us to experience God’s care: “Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision, / Our God ever yearns His resources to share; / Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing; / Thy Father both thee and thy load will upbear.” —David Roper Heavenly Father, I want to unload my Our work is to cast care; God’s work is to take care! Libellés : working life [Messages from God] |
dimanche, mars 20, 2011 Singapore Meritocracy vs Foot in the Door  To all the talk recently about how underprivileged children can move up in the social ladder, I say - bullshit. There will always be old boys' networks, and who your parents are (and your parents' parents are) will ALWAYS matter. Ceteris paribus meritocracy means you have your foot in the door thanks to your connections - which will always be an ace up your sleeve after meritocracy has its say. I have intimate experience with this since I am the person who manages our internship programme in my workplace. I've had at least three interns whose parents sort of know my boss in some way, who basically shot a personal email to my boss requesting for internships for their children, and of course my boss subtly/not-so-subtly nudges me to take them. How can I not capitulate under such pressure? Now, are these kids idiots? No, far from it - they're bright young things... with the exceptional exception of one total airhead bimbo who seemed to be very poor - she couldn't seem to buy enough cloth to wear to work. Are these kids particularly exceptional? Nope, not anymore than the next candidate. So meritocracy does demand that I give them a chance (it would be bad to discriminate against these lucky kids who get born with silver spoons in their mouths) - but after all is said and done, and the cards are revealed... it's always the ones with the family connections who win the game. Is it meritocratic? I suppose so, if you want to consider "family connections" as something which should be considered. But is this fair? Not really. The solution is total transparency about who gets what job and why. Enough about meritocracy being alive and well, and look closer into what exactly you're putting on the table when you're interviewing people. People with a familial foot in the door should be declared loudly and clearly, for transparency's sake. This way, we'll always know who's in (figurative) bed with whom. And we'll know who the good guys are. Libellés : personal, singapore, working life [Singapore Meritocracy vs Foot in the Door] |
mercredi, mars 09, 2011 Enough already - let's talk about things that matter  I attended a "business and social enterprise" discussion today, and thankfully missed most of it. Every time I sit through one of these things, it just makes me feel like I'm sitting in a room full of idealists (which is good) who want businesses to behave responsibly to their stakeholders (which is unrealistic.) I keep wanting to say - enough already about "Social Enterprise", and stop embracing it like it's the thing that will save the world. It's just Corporate Social Responsibility/CSR repackaged into a more "sustainable" and "holistic" form, and even that is just good public relations. Instead, let's talk about character. Ethics. Morals and virtues. Integrity. Authenticity. Let's talk about the thing which drives you and I. Let's talk about motivations, and whys. Let's talk about the Golden Rule (or God's commandments), and then let's build these intangible things... then see how enterprising a social spirit innate can be. 2 Timothy 1:7 - For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. Libellés : christian, personal, thinking, working life [Enough already - let's talk about things that matter] |
jeudi, mars 03, 2011 I was just commenting to BYM that no two days are the same in the office - it's good, and it's bad. It's good because there's no real boredom that sets in (my ennui is a different matter). It's bad because the "different" things are mostly trivialities - like yesterday night, when my phone rang at 1130pm because someone had accidentally set off the office alarm. Today was one of the more interesting different days - we're test-driving the new Toyota Camry Hybrid 2.4l because the boss wants to buy an office car (hopefully heavily discounted). So yay, to driving around Orchard Rd with this baby for about half an hour.  Libellés : working life [No day like today] |
mardi, février 15, 2011  This is generally what my work space looks like before I leave the office (yes, we all work till when it's dark out.) Yes, that's my slippers at the bottom. The colourful cube is English Afternoon Tea. Some people think it's strange to have my workdesk so impersonal and uninhabited, but I think that a clean desk lets me start afresh each morning. Where's my work? (1) in the cabinet (but not much, really) (2) online in email (3) in e-form on the server or on my computer desktop (again, not much actually) I really dislike clutter. Libellés : working life [My Work Space] |
mardi, février 08, 2011 Relak One Corner? Relegated to the corner I've moved house! Sort of... the Big Man In Charge says to move my team, so now we have (arguably) the best seats in the house - overlooking the garden! As I type now, I'm looking at the sun's rays hit the plants and the trees, and it's really, really lovely. Have a look: Libellés : working life [Relak One Corner? Relegated to the corner] |
vendredi, décembre 24, 2010 Cooking Class at Coriander Leaf The company tries to do something fun and team building each year. The year before this was prawning, last year it was paintball (I had an emergency wisdom tooth extraction and missed this), and this year, we headed to Coriander Leaf restaurant in Clark Quay for a cooking class. It's a fun class - pricey, but fun. Your staff is broken up into teams, which contribute to lunch by making parts of the meal. I'm thinking of replicating it in my house for new years'.  Here's the pristine kitchen before we wreaked havoc  The island counter top with vent and stoves - note another one in background, plus oven  We got there at 1030am and had a quick round of photos and drinks first  The CEM team  The Finance/Admin team  The Policy Research team  Putting on the plastic apron  Finally everyone's in and ready to go!  This was our team "Sure Win" (named by C! I told her she condemned our team to hubris with that name) We made three dishes - minced kebab (more like a patty, really):  We also made a Vietnamese prawn roll, with the "Marina Bay Sands" gardens by the bay.  What did I make? If you squint carefully enough, you'll see this small cup of peanut paste: that's what I made. I know, I know, it's puny - but not that I can't cook; that's just what I got when we drew for the recipes!  Chick Peas  Banana Crepe Roll (this was seriously delicious)  Duck rolls  Samosa  Having a well-deserved meal  The winning team "The Expendibles" - or "The Expandables", depending on your waistline  Here's my team, with me in the hat - yes, I got an award: Sexiest Chef, for apparently rolling the Vietnamese rolls "lovingly" (I'm fairly sure it was a consolation prize -it replaced the "Don't Quit Your Day Job" prize, which was deemed too demotivational)  Here's everyone, with the Best Chef, Serial Killer Chef and Sexiest Chef from left to right (we're all holding decorated paper chef hats Libellés : food, working life [Cooking Class at Coriander Leaf] |
lundi, octobre 04, 2010 .JPG) Sometimes balloons make people happy. This was stuck on a lamppost outside my office, one night that I was working late. Libellés : photography, working life [Happy nights] |
mercredi, juillet 21, 2010 Writing Resume and Cover Letters: for crying out loud This is a snarky post, so if you're having a really bad day, please don't read it. I'm just having some evil fun. If you don't have a sense of wry humour, really - leave now.Having worked for more than 2 years sifting through hundreds and hundreds of really, really terrible resumes, I've decided to put up a personal post to help other resume and cover letter writers STOP THE KILLING OF INNOCENT RESUME READERS. Seriously, I sometimes nearly put out my eyes from the agony of seeing yet another badly written cover letter. A) Sending/Receiving Most resume writing sites miss this section. THIS IS TERRIBLY IMPORTANT. No matter how wonderful your attached file is, I see four things first before touching anything: EMAIL NAME, your EMAIL ADDRESS, your TITLE, and the NAME OF YOUR ATTACHED FILE. Then maybe I'll move on to the EMAIL BODY. Email Name: your email service provider asks you for your name in your “settings” or “options” function. Send an empty email to yourself, or your best friend and check if it’s your full name, properly capitalised. It’s a massive red flag to me when someone’s email name is “Lory FIRST NAME, LAST NAME HERE”. Email Address: zomg_shit_skies@hotmail.com is not a good email address. Neither is starry_skies_are_pretty@yahoo.com.sg nor jesus_loves_nadia1989@gmail.com nor omgitssofluffyimgonnadie@mail.com. Webmail is free. USE IT. Email Title: If you type "application for internship", you are among - ballpark figure - maybe 50 others who have the SAME title. Try something unique - maybe your NAME? "TAN AH KOW: Internship Application for the ABCD Fellowship Programme" makes me much, much happier. Attachment Name: Same problem as above - nearly all attached resumes that come with applications are titled the same way - "resume.pdf". Saving them one by one makes me annoyed. Suggestion: title your documents "Surname_FullName_Resume2010.pdf" or something along that vein. It makes it easier for me to just right click and download into a folder. Email Body: I have gotten strange messages in the email body. "I have compiled my documents into a single pdf file for the internship application. Thank you for your kind patience and understanding." Am I supposed to be impressed with your ability to compile all your documents into one PDF file, when it was expressly requested on the internship application page? Cut and paste your cover letter into the email body instead. B) The Resume/CV Plenty of sites cover the next two parts, so I'll be brief. - Never, ever go beyond 2 pages. You are not that fascinating. REALLY. If I really like you, I’ll facebook you. (Yes, which means, clean up your facebook act. Stop putting up drunken/smoking photos of yourself - or if you do, please make them super duper ultra private so that a non-friend/network can't see the photos. You may want to add a LinkedIn link on your public profile.) - Photo - professional-looking please, not something you took at a birthday party. Please. PLEASE. - Format it well. Neatly. C) The Cover Letter - It’s REALLY not about you. “This is the type of organization where I am confident my skills and knowledge would be best suited.” Wow. I have been waiting my whole life for you. - It’s all about me. I don’t care if you are “looking for somewhere which will help me grow as a person”. I want to know how YOU can help ME. So write with that in mind. - Harvard Business Review has an excellent article you may want to check out, on effective cover letter writing. You may also want to google the topic. This will be an ongoing updated page as I encounter more interesting resumes. Libellés : working life [Writing Resume and Cover Letters: for crying out loud] |
mardi, mai 11, 2010  Does working life gag the blogger in you? I find that it does for me. There are things that I want to blog about, and anecdotes to tell, as well as situations to poll, but this blog used to come up when you googled my name, so that is a serious cramp on what I want to write.If integrity is based on the understanding that you stand by your written opinions, isn't self-censorship (as what I'm doing) an ethical dilemma? I have an interesting and infuriating anecdote to relate on imperialism, Chinese names, and blind double-standards. Libellés : thinking, working life, writing [Gagged] |
mercredi, janvier 27, 2010  So maybe it could be that I'm not brave enough to stand up and fight for certain things, but most of the time, I generally feel that it's not really worth the hassle to speak up for unessentials, or things that would be "good to have". How much passion and fire should work take out of you, when it isn't really geared towards the furtherment of God's Kingdom?At the same time that I think these thoughts, I am acutely aware that the holy scriptures clearly instructs us in the way that we see work - Col 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. How much of my fire and passion do I give to work? Given that it has a rigid admin structure which will not permit pragmatic ponderations (i.e. processes will not help with finding solutions to getting good projects done.) How can an organisation that cannot support its own employees, develop and grow larger? When it is hamstrung by a department that does not wish to get on board the innovation train, and refuses to be open to questioning and constructive development for the organisation? tyger tyger burning bright in the forests of the night what immortal hand or eye can frame thy fearful symmetry? Libellés : personal, working life [Some thoughts on work] |
dimanche, octobre 11, 2009 Email, and some questions on the Modern life Sometimes, I like to imagine that my Inbox is a computer game.The aim is not to let too many undone or pending items sit in my Inbox.  I was never any good at video games. Libellés : working life [Email, and some questions on the Modern life] |
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