A Valuable Lesson

About a month ago, I raised a bill for service rendered to a client handled by an associate. The client jumped at the deemed unexpected enormous amount and asked for a discount. A post-mortem helped analysed what and where went wrong and I learnt a few valuable lessons in business :-

1. Always agree on a written Terms Of Reference, never based on verbal agreement;

2. Raise interim progressive bills, not a lump sum at the end of an open-ended project so that clients are not caught off-guard i.e. clients are more willing to pay smaller amounts and not feel the 'pain';

3. What you focus on expands : don't sweat and feel miserable about clients who do not appreciate the value of service rendered; move on and concentrate on clients who do appreciate and who are good paymasters;

4. Do not repeat mistakes made, learn from mistakes and be wiser the next round;

5. Ask for/Accept advance payments especially when offered i.e. money in the bank first is always better; then over-deliver;

Hmm... posting these points down as a reminder :-)

Open My Eyes

Monday, 22nd November, 2010

This book sat in my cupboard for months. Got it out and started reading (well, it certainly has been a while since I sat down to enjoy reading a good book like this one :-)

Enlightening, makes a good read with its collection of short stories and poems that illuminates the lives of people struggling to make meaningul connections by reaching out with courage and love, the empowering lessons of unconditional love, hope and healing ... a calming balm in the midst of storms.

Getting Creative

Sunday, 20th November, 2010 - bought these 2 paintings last week and well, we actually spent an hour putting them up. The kids and I had a tough time deciding the best positions, after which, I did the marking and Jenny helped to drill the holes and nail them in :-) Brightens up the otherwise bare wall right? Nicely done ... hmmm

The next project : went shopping at the neighbouring landscape nursery and bought this cute little bicycle handmade in Thailand and stuff 8 pots of fresh little yellow flowers into 2 pots. Love the effect ^_^

It's Christmas soon .... saw this plant and fell in love! Just gotta have 3 pots and group them together in a bigger pot, add a ribbon and hey, it made a beautiful centre piece ^_^

For a few days, I scouted the neighbouring area, on the lookout for plants which I can replant at the backyard and ended up with some beautiful abandoned plants, even took some grass from an open field.... hmm... must take some photos when they are steady :-)

Lastly, Ela trimmed a few branches from the backyard and they ended up this way!!!! Wow ...

UPSR results out today !

Thursday, 11th November 2010 - I guess I was the first parent in school today to request for Jasmine's UPSR results. Jasmine was so anxious that she had a nightmare yesterday about failing her exam!

Her actual results .... 2Bs and 5Cs! No big deal right? Well, it was actually a rather big deal for me. I mean, for a girl who used to fail her Maths and BM literally all these while ... I know it was definitely a great deal for Jasmine. After all the many hours spent at school, afternoon enhancement classes and external tuition centre, it finally paid off ^_^ I am happy for her, she doesn't have to go to remove class, she can enter into Form 1 directly ... phew!!!

Another MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ! YES !!!