Posts Tagged ‘Business’

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Jun252010

Flying to Malaysia for Business

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Recently I have been involving myself in the hotel travel industry and as a result have been meeting up with other businesses regarding hotel management software and marketing opportunities.

During my stay in Malaysia I enjoyed getting around without traffic, the clean air and streets made the stay a lot more enjoyable. One big bonus is people are not harassing you on the streets to buy something, you can casually walk around being relaxed!

Getting around without a Map is perhaps easier then what I expected, but is certainly worth while having if you want to really take advantage of rural areas outside the city, as I found the landscape to be very well planned and there are lots of places I would love to visit perhaps next time I go if their is enough time as I am usually otherwise so busy.

If you are looking for places to eat and go out at night time, there are a very nice selection of restaurants from Morocco to Chinese and of course Malaysian and if you are not afraid of spicy food then you will really enjoy the food there. As for the night life along KL you will find some very nice streets which have Jamaican bars, Irish pubs, Gypsy bars and much more. After all as it is now the world cup so it was a good excuse to mix with the crowd!

The great thing about Malaysia is everyone speaks English so it is quite easy to get things done and most of all the people are friendly and very helpful!

Jun232010

Setting up an IP VOIP Phone System

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World Unlimited

IP phones also known as VOIP are the way to go and much better then using a normal land line and much cheaper too. If you are familiar with Skype and their costs you will know that this is the way of the future. The beauty of IP phones is it is just like a normal home or office phone but just plugged into your router so you are basically making calls via the internet.

One thing that you will need to know before you get started is the phone number from which country you would like to create. You can carry over your existing number or create a new one. It’s very handy for businesses that travel around a lot so you can take your phone with you and as long as you have internet connection answer the phone on the same number anywhere you are in the world.

There are other providers as well like CallFire, but I personally found InPhoneX to suit my needs catering more to the global market and suits me more just with customer support and service alone. They usually step you through and if you have technical issues they will get on teamviewer and configure your router for you at no cost.

On the hardware side, you will just need to buy an ip phone adapter, which can be bought through InPhoneX website directly when you set up an account they will take you through the process, and then send this out to you.

Also along side the standard local number you set up, I recommend having a toll free number as well which forwards to the main number. something like a 1800 or 1300 number if you are an Australian company etc. This is great way to get new clients to call you without having to pay for calls. You can create any toll free number for any country using TollFreeForwarding or for UK residents try RingCentral.

You will also need a fixed ip, you can arrange this with your host.

Jun212010

Setting up a Company in Australia

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First of all it is pretty easy to do, you simply go to the ASIC website and search for the company name you would like to register to see if it has not been taken, and to be extra sure I also suggest you search in the business registration website as well by clicking on ABN look up and you can type the name of the company just to see if anyone else has this name.

Now that you are 100% certain nobody has registered your name, you can download the form 201 which appears as a drop down from the right sidebar on their home page and leads you to this page and then gives you the option to register either a public or proprietary company, to keep this really simple, I recommend you register the proprietary company (201c) which has a cost of $400.

This is the download form (unfortunately they do not yet have an online version) Once you are ready to fill out the form, remember that it is highly likely you need to nominate yourself as the director, and you can leave other directors and secretary pages blank if you do not have partners, however if you have partners then you will need to fill out those pages and also state the shares each partner has. Otherwise leave it as 100 shares at 100% ownership at $1 per share. (This is just an example)

From the time the application is submitted there is usually a 3 day waiting period, it really doesn’t take that long and then you will need to wait a week or two on the company registration certificates. You will need the original certificate in order to open the company bank account.

You will then have an ACN number which will be very useful for when applying for certain things. Remember also that if you think that you will be earning over $75,000 to apply for GST. This means you will need to charge 10% on top of all your invoices to your clients. But also remember that by doing so you will need to get your bookkeeper to fill out the GST statements each quarter before giving them to your accountant, which can be very time consuming and costly.

For those who are in need of branding out, I highly recommend trademarking your name as well. This can be done through IP Australia and remember to do a search there as well!

And if you have a new product on the market, do not forget to patent it!

Last but not least if you are after website design or search engine optimisation services for your new company at affordable prices please do give me a bell – info@danlew.com

I hope you found this post useful and wish you all the best in getting a company set up and good luck!

May212010

Business, Travel and Pleasure

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One thing I have been doing alot lately is traveling, just in one year alone I have flew to Australia and Back to Thailand three times. Although some of my time I had spent were related to pleasure generally most of my time mainly was related around business and setting up companies.

When I was in Melbourne this year I found the city to be very multicultural, perhaps more so then last time when I was there. There seems to be alot of Asian faces particularly Chinese who are there for university or study and even some in which have migrated there or been doing living there since birth. The amount of restaurants which are either owned by Asians or just generally working there is immense. Sad to say sometimes staying there, I don’t even feel Australian anymore.

Business on the other hand is quite enjoyable, being able to arrange meetings is not easy as time is very limited and everyone is always very rushed and busy, but after some time it is easy to nail them down and get clients to go through with a deal. Funny enough I probably got a total of around eight good clients while I was there and didn’t get anyone to sign a deal until I left to go back to Thailand. Once I flew back everyone started going ahead and using my services. It’s always the way.

I also really enjoyed the amount of networking events I attended whilst I was there, all ranging from social media marketing to entrepreneurship kind of groups. Once you start getting your face out there and giving out cards, people see your passion and start giving you work sooner or later.

As far as the rest of the trip was concerned I got to see family and of course my nephew as I am now officially an uncle! Being in Thailand now feels good as I can now handle business as usual with all the right connections I have here as I have always been a bit more set up here particularly for the last five years since I have been here. Regardless of the Bangkok riots and political situation I really do love it back here and am happily safe back home far away from all the chaos. I do have some exciting opportunities ahead of me here though now too.

Two clients in which want to work very closely with me one in the hotel software industry and the other in a global travel directory.
Jan252010

Doing Business in Melbourne

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Generally speaking if your wandering around Melbourne at cafes wearing a suit and have business cards handy, deals are very easy to come by.

Most people who are from Melbourne are very social people so network marketing is very easy and conversation with CEOs are not a problem, as they too also like to get out to their favourite restaurant or coffee for a business discussion over lunch or dinner.

I am originally from Australia and spent most of my life there, although I have invested 6 years overseas doing business in Bangkok, Thailand and London, UK, there is one thing about Melbourne that inspires me to continue business there. That is the fast paced lifestyle. It is naturally in me to be very hard working and around business minded people that take their work serious.

One thing about Melbourne is the cold weather which keeps you on the go. I really enjoy doing business there. I will be going back around March to set up a new office there, so should be exciting. I plan to make my SEO Melbourne business well known particularly around the Caulfield area.

When doing business in East Melbourne or the city, it’s very convenient to go from one client to the next as trams come and go every 5 mins or so. Just setting your day up for scheduled appointments is the key, as you want to meet at a specified time. I generally feel that early morning around 9-10am is good as it gives you a nice 1-2 hours if necessary before lunch if they have already something scheduled during this time.

In my field relating to SEO and Internet Marketing taking a laptop is vital for any appointment regardless if they have a projector or not, and remember that following up with a client over lunch or inviting the client to your office as well is also a good idea.

And one big tip, if you want to get in your clients good books ask what is their favourite football team, no matter your interest, they will appreciate you asking!