Life is Good

JUST GOT BACK from Vietnam yesterday and am back to work today. I'm really enjoying life right now, especially working on DealDecor.com.

We're launching the business in June and that was the main reason I was in Vietnam. I was sourcing for furniture factories out there and found a crap load of factories.

I actually visited 25 of them in 4 days, which is quite a packed day when you consider it takes a few hours to travel to each factory from the city.

I noticed that I haven't blogged in a while, so I wanted to drop a small note. Above is a picture of me at a occasional/dining room factory. They produce children furniture as well and I'm sitting on one of the small chairs. Seems like I'm going back to school again.

Entrepreneur. Reset.

It's been a long time since I've blogged on this account. I think one of the reasons is that I've been so preoccupied with blogging for Wne vs Food that I kind of lost focus on just writing about me and what's going on.

The other reason for me not blogging on this account recently is that I've been a little shy blogging about the less exciting and more challenging times of being an entrepreneur.

Yesterday was one of those days. It was one of those days that you want to just crawl away from a meeting or two and go home and just get away from everything. I compare this to four or five months ago that I started the different projects that I'm engaged in and thought how wonderful they all were and are going to be.

Thus far, I've hit some speed bumps along the way for all the projecs. Reasons range from lobster hygiene permits to slower development of a marketing strategy to even not having a clear head around what we're producing.

I'm aware that most businesses fail in their first year and I wondered last night what this would mean for me. Insecure with the thought that failure was inevitable (or at least possible), I started looking online for jobs to get a better sense of the "what if" strategy in case things didn't work out. Waking up this morning, I could not help feel I was cheating on my dreams and all that I sacrificed to do what I am doing.

That was last night and this is today. I'm feeling a lot more collected now. I'm more appreciative of the opportunities ahead of me. And I understand that the time I have now until my bank account runs out is not infinite, therefore I have to make the most out of the time that I have in making these businesses meaningful.

It's been nice writing this blog.

Life in General on this Cold Winter Day

Life in general on this cold winter day is going very, very well. I was feeling a bit under the weather the other day. Claire tells me that I have man-flu: a sickness of men exaggerating an everyday common cold.

Today, I have had a pretty productive day. I met with my IT developer whose been working really hard on making winehappy.com a pretty cool sight. It's amazing how the business that I originally had has totally morphed into something out of my imagination.

Aside of WineHappy.com, I'm also really engaged with a start-up called DealDecor.com, which we'll be officially launching in March/April. You can think of it as Groupon, except that we sell physical product. I kind of see us really changing the dynamics of the home decor industry, because we're able to offer such great deals and transparency in the supply chain.

It really befuddles me sometimes of how expensive things really cost in the US. For example, when I use to live in China and was sourcing furniture, I could get a chair for US$80 and then the company I was working for was marking it up to $289, then shipping cost another $40 plus bucks, which is about 400% more than the original cost.

Since my partner Craig and I both come from strong sourcing backgrounds, we're really going to blow up the scene and show everyday folks the hidden costs that retailers don't want others to see. =) They probably won't be too happy, but hopefully we'll have a few happy customres coming our way.

Does success depend solely on who you know?

One of the books that I am reading right now is Duncan Bannatyne's "Anyone Can Do It." Duncan is one of the 4 multi-millionaires on Dragon's Den where entrepreneurs present their ideas in hopes of getting an investment in their business.

One of my favorite lines thus far is "my business success was forged from the strength of my personality, not my contacts."

I think this point is really what differentiates an entrepreneurs frame of mind: it's the realization that we don't have everything that we need at any one point, but we have our resourefulness, our initiatie, and a yellow pages to get started.

Today's a great day to get something started. Take a look at the pic of that little kid above -- his personal strength is shining through already.

Thankful

I'm an hour away before heading off to dinner with my gf's family and just wanted to take a moment to write.

Writing for me has been a new revelation -- a way to explore new ideas, unravel my mind, and to share with my friends what's up with me.

One of the things that I've realized over the past 3 months is that no man is an island and though I'm a classic case of a guy who thinks success is man-made, the reality is that we can work as hard as we want, but without the help of a stranger or the support of friends, our efforts fall short of the true potential of our projects / ventures / dreams.

It's quite interesting. As an entrepreneur we don't have all the resources at our disposal. No secretary. No budget. No swanky office. Fortunately, the businesses that I've been working on have been gaining a lot of traction and it's not the budget for advertising that made the difference -- it's been the friends and everyday people who have given their support -- unconditionally.

There is a warrior's code for entrepreneurs that I've heard over and over again -- it's that we help those that were in our shoes when we were just starting our ventures. We pay forward the good nature and spirit of entrepreneurship -- one hand at a time.

Thanks to all of you that have unconditionally lent a hand to me and the new things that I'm working on. For that I'm truly greatful.

Just a Dream

Quick Entry: In the middle of my sleep last night I dreamt that I was in back of a pick-up truck with several people. One of them was sitting on a 4 wheeler, which was on the bed of the truck. Another two or three people were in front of this guy, closer toward the front of the cabin.

While on this ride one of the guys in the front asks me "What would your dream job be?"

I thought about it for a second and replied "I'm doing it right now."

This might not seem so shocking, but when I woke up this morning and went for my morning walk I thought about how incredible it was that I was subconsciously thinking that I love what I'm doing now.

I'm headed off to MongKong later today to film so streetfood adventures -- unlike Wine vs Food which is a 10-15 minute clip with a professional camera, I'm just going to take my camcorder, a wine glass, and an appetitie to film something called "5 minutes of Swizzle" -- not sure if that name works, but the clip should be a small appetizer between our monthly Wine vs Food shows. Any suggestions?

Soul Food in Hong Kong

I just came back from one of my favorite eating holes in Hong Kong and felt quite inspired to write about "Soul Food."

What is it? Imagine turkey stuffing in the US, fried plantains in the Caribbean, Sunday Roasts in the UK, or a bowl of rice and steam salted pork meat in Hong Kong....

I often wonder why the creator of the word "Soul Food" would appoint such a powerful name to describe what we eat. My best guess is that certain foods bring out the soul in all of us -- especially foods that make us feel comfort in the heart through our stomachs.

I've had a relationship with food since I was born (kind of wierd i know) and realize that sometime when we're having a sh*tty day, all we need and want is some foods that will uplift our souls. All we really need is something to feed our appetite for life.

Fortunately for me today, the soul food in the picture above just added to the beauty of life for me in Hong Kong. If you are in the city and you need some hearty soul food to pick you up (only for the equivalent of HK$28/US$3.60) then check out Mang Ambo's filipino food in Wanchai (Jaffe Road). As you can see above I tried the Chicken Apritada and Bicol Pork Express, plus a little Bagong (shrimp paste) -- a heartful menu that won't break your wallet!

Say hello to "Dante" if your going for lunch or "Lonnie" if you are going for dinner. They'll be sure to make you feel at home and hopefully by the time you finish your plate, your soul will be jumping for joy.

If not, give me a holla and we'll go there together and share a bottle of wine along the way.