outsourcing to Mauritius TJ's Weblog

Even tiny nations like Mauritius have entered the competition to get outsourcing business as this article suggests. Indeed Mauritius has quite some advantages: people with great language skills, much better infrastructure and living quality compared to nearby India and still very affordable salaries. So I hope my next trip to the island might be deducted as a Business trip from my tax statement. :) There is also some statistics covering the [...] Read More


effects of outsourcing TJ's Weblog

The Economist nicely summarizes the new developments on outsourcing during the last 6 months. The most interesting new finding is surely the often cited McKinsey calculation on how much value outsourcing creates. The very interesting study argues that for any dollar spend on outsourcing benefits of $0.12 to $0.14 might come in. This would be a great interest rate... For more info about outsourcing see our new Outsourcing Weblog [...] Read More


outsourcing your headquarter TJ's Weblog

SiliconBeat links to Om Malik's story about John Flowers desire to take Kozuru to the countryside: "Some potential investors encouraged him to head back to the Valley and tee up again. But one day, as he was looking out the window of his spacious three-bedroom house, Flowers had an epiphany: He could launch his company right there in Overland Park. The reason? Sprint had totally wired the town. "What I needed [...] Read More


The Out-Sourcer Next Door Home Based Business

Out-sourcing has become a dirty word in American business culture. Out-sourcing means cutting corners, under-handed deals and providing a less-than acceptable product. Unfortunately, a lot of these accusations are based on fact. But just because many out-sourcing companies are less than reputable doesn't mean that you can't find a great company to help you out with the day-to-day business chores you hate. Remember, outsourcing doesn't have to be [...] Read More


Bundled Offering Business Process Outsourcing + Information Technology Outsourcing The CIO Weblog

Recently came across this report by TPI on the budling of BPO+ITO, this is a trend that is increasingly become very popular, one example was the merging of Infosys's BPO division Progeon into the main IT Services business. When you think about the this from a different perspective, the whole budling concept can probably be termed as "on+demand business function"....We are truly moving into an OnDEMAND world. Your thoughts? The key points [...] Read More

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It's never been, well, easy to get venture capital money to use as start-up funding. Over the past year or two, the venture capital industry has all but dried up as a source of start-up money. But now that the economy is rebounding, there's at least a little seed money out there to be had, if you're willing to beat the venture capital bushes.

You're chances of getting the money are still slim. But they are better than the next guy's chances if you have some idea of how a VC firm is going to evaluate you. So that makes Carl Showalter's piece on the subject a timely one.

Showalters company reviews about 2500 applications each year and picks out six to twelve companies to invest in. They look at the team of people working for the company, they look at the market, and they look at the technology or the product the company is focused on.

Want to know what they're looking for? Read Showalter's piece.

entrepreneurship in Dubai TJ's Weblog

Dubai is probably the best place in the Middle East to do business outside of Israel. The city is a great mix of shopping cathedrals, wonderful beaches, skyscrapers and business parks. Source: vienture.comI recently discovered Dubai-based entrepreneur Ashraf Sheikh with his very informative (though not often updated) weblog. Ashraf is also organizing a networking event the Dubai Mixer. If you are in Dubai don't miss... [...] Read More


Dubai country briefing TJ's Weblog

There are just a few spots in the middle east that fully embrace economic growth and globalization. One of them is Dubai that managed to grow from a small settlement in 1960 to a 1 mio. metropolis in modern times. It boosts GDP growth figures between 5-8% and does play in an already high income area (USD 20.000). Dubai ranks third worldwide in shopping area per capita as it has [...] Read More


Global Entrepreneurship Report 2004 released TJ's Weblog

The GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) has a new paper of Entrepreneurial Activity in 2004 on a global scale. You can download it here (pdf).

- GEM research estimates that 73 million adults are either starting a new business or managing a young business of which they are also an owner.
- Worldwide TEA (Total Entrepreneurial Activity) varies between 1.5 percent and 40 percent worldwide
- Young people tend to be more [...] Read More


Tiger Blows Off Dubai Eagle Par Birdie

Courtesy: AP It was the kind of remark that PGA Commissioner, Tim Finchem, must have nightmares about when he imagines a worst case scenario for his FedEx Cup. Tiger Woods, fresh of his latest pga tour Player of the Year honors, has ruled out the idea of playing in the European Tour's newly minted Dubai World Championship, the shiny, 10 million dollar blow-out closing tournament which starts in 2009. Before he could do [...] Read More


A cool example of sustainable development in Africa Audeamus - How dare we...

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I don't have an iPad yet. The new Apple gadget looks like something I'd have fun with, but the truth is that I probably wouldn't carry it to the grocery store with me. I go there now with a little slip of paper in my pocket (milk, eggs, whole wheat noodles, pork chops...) Tech mobility only extends so far for me, I guess. That's part of being a middle aged digital immigrant. I already have a Palm I could use to carry my shopping list to the store or the mall. I just don't...

That means that paper is still an important part of my shopping patterns. And while I can write my own notes for the grocery store, for most other things a good business flyer that gives me the product information I need and that I can fold up and put in my shirt pocket - well, that's a useful thing to me.

Since I know how valuable a good business flyer is to me when I'm shopping, I also make them myself. And rather than reinvent the wheel every time I need a flyer, I go looking for flyer template out there on the web.

So maybe I'm a little tech savvy, after all.

I sometimes joke that my favorite verse from the Bible is Ecclesiastes 10:19, which says that money is the answer to everything. It does actually say that (although you have to take it in the large context of the book). But I can come up with verses I like more...

While money might really be the answer to everything in some cynical sense, hold down your costs can be the answer to a lot of things, especially if you're just getting started in your business. Women Entrepreneur has some tips for doing just that.

Ideas, fortunately, are free-until you decide to implement them. Does your idea require a patent or a trademark? What will you call the entity? Will you require a professional license? Do you need local or state licenses? If there are two or more people involved, will you form a partnership or a corporation? If you're going to be a sole proprietorship, consider potential personal liability should something happen to a client or visitor on your property. These are only a few of the things to consider as you set up shop.

There's a cost to every one of these details...

The article goes throguh and examines a number of common startup costs and looks at alternatives that may reduce those costs.