I am just reading till page 142 of “If Aristotle Ran General Motors” when I came across something very meaningful about decisions:
It is always thus, impelled by a state of mind which is destined not to last, that we make our most irrevocable decisions.
-Marcel Proust
I think the above statement is very true. Generally, all the decisions I start to regret are decisions that were made on the spot. Today, I was presented with another such opportunity. My friends, Wong Wei Peng and Adrian Yeo, just told me about this Dell Latitude laptop, refurbished in box going for 800 SGD.
Actually, I really wanted to get it, and it seemed like a good deal. Besides, I should be getting an office space in June… and will be needing something like a laptop for my telemarketing staff to use…. so errr… I was really tempted to get it.
What stopped me was my phobia in all my impulse buying decisions. I have a string of them….
- beauty care products that costs 200+ because it was sold by a girl who has nice skin
- yellow pages advertisements which was sold by my friend Mr Leow….
Recently, I have another business venture decision.. that I am getting worried that it is another of my impulse buying crab shit. I was talking to a friend and after some research… I feel that there is a market for cufflinks in UK. I surveyed quite a bit on my competitors and felt that the business can be done. (Seriously, I did my market research….) In fact, i was just waiting to accumulate my 20-30k before moving in.
Then, my friend, Ryan was telling me… that we can do it together if we both throw in 5k each. Honestly, 5k is not a lot of money (I seriously feel so… though my mother will kill me if she reads this….). Unfortunately, once we started some serious sourcing, i.e. looking at those 925 silver ones, looking around for the correct box, etc… the pricing just keeps going up.
Honestly, based on the current costing, each of us probably need to throw in 12.5k – 15k just to give the business a shot…. and of course.. we all know that businesses tend to have a ridiculous amount of hidden costs… 
My mum feels I am crazy… and instead of spending that money on expanding my current business (which I feel… is almost a guarranteed way of earning more money…. and yes I have a plan… which I dare so… 90% will make money one…), I am throwing my money into an industry that I am not familiar with.
I also dun know what to say… other than… I must work doubly hard during these few months… to that I can throw in that amount of money into my business and do the cufflink rubbish. The problem with the cufflink rubbish is that it is one of those things that I can succeed with my friend Ryan…. and ya… I kind of wanted to start something with him for a long time….
I mean… I was talking cock with this guy since year 4 NUS and he was the stupid guy that got me involved in this…. loads of hardwork with minimal returns (in the beginning only…) rubbish called business. I just want something to succeed with him and me in it.
Reason number 2 is…. in the future… if I want to do something like this…. I will need to come out with everything myself. If it is 15k now.. it will be 30k in the future….
Lastly, this business taps on something called sourcing. This is Ryan’s core expertise. He has been doing this for years in MNC. If with his help, I am still unable to pull off a simple cufflink business… what chance will I ever get of succeeding in an ecommerce venture myself (and yes.. i believe the future is in ecommerce… where people will just click and buy things…. in fact, in UK, 15% of retail is purchased over the net….)