January 2014

Vol 3 Issue No.27 January 2014 | 30 | AED 5

Branding What's in a name and a logo?

Dr. Thomas Nechupadom

Significance of a Franchise Manager in a

Franchising Company Chackochen Mathai

B T P W C I n d i a L i s t s I n d i a ' s T o p 1 0 0 C E O ' s R a n k s V .

P .

N a n d a k u m a r a s 4 2 n d M o s t V a l u a b l e C E O Auto Review

Sajimon Parayil A Journey

through / uniquetimes

Life / uniquetimes

The City On Wheel

Honda City

Printed at: S T Reddiar, P.B.No:3627, Veekshanam Road, Cochin

Editorial

Thank you all for the wonderful support that you gave us throughout the last year. I certainly think with this kind of Managing Editor

patronage from readers and sponsors, our magazine set to scale newer heights.

In this very first edition of this year, we are happy to have the life story of Mr. Sajimon Parayil, Chairman-Bits Group who faced numerous struggles in his childhood and succeeded in his life. I am sure that he is a true role model for the youngsters who wants

Correspondents

to become an entrepreneur. Also we are extremely honoured that our patron Mr. V P Nandakumar have been positioned on 42nd among the 100 most valuable CEO's of 2013 by BT-PWC India.

In our regular features Dr. Thomas Nechupadam writes about the

Denisha Sahadevan Marketing

importance of branding for a business and Mr.Chackochen Mathai writes about the significance of a franchising manager in a franchising company and also we have the review of the new Honda City.

Once again I would like to thank you all for your peerless support.

Hope you will enjoy this edition. I wish you a delightful new year.

Ajit Ravi

Our Patron: Mr. V.P. Nandakumar

RNI Reg. No: KERENG/2011/42633 Cover Photograph Sajimon Parayil, Chairman, Bits Group

Contents

30 BT-PWC India Lists India's Top 100 CEO's Ranks

V.P. Nandakumar as 42nd Most Valuable CEO

12

Merging

with

Sajimon Parayil

16

{][m\ KpW§Ä

Branding What's in a name and a logo?

Dr. Thomas Nechupadam

Humble Beginnings

20 32

Denisha Sahadevan

46 25

Ansif Ashraf

A Multi-faceted Businessman

W o m e n

E n t r e p r e n e u r s I n s p i r a t i o n F r o m A r o u n d t h e

Gadgets

Denisha Sahadevan

W o r l d

35

20

S i g n i f i c a n c e o f a F r a n c h i s e M a n a g e r i n a

S w i t z e r l a n d

42

F r a n c h i s i n g C o m p a n y

Chackochen Mathai

Mother Nature's Beauty

46

The

City On Wheel

F o u r t o a

Vivek Venugopal

I m p o r t a n t E l e m e n t s

H e a l t h y L i f e

52

59

Books

55

5

Unique Diary

Odisha Power Project

T

he government may be delinking the forest clearance of coal blocks for the

4,000 MW Odisha ultra mega power project (UMPP), with the

environmental clearance accorded to the entire plant, so that the delay in

the development of the mines would not affect the construction of the thermal station. The coal ministry has also said that if the firms fail to give reasons for the delays it would be presumed that it has no explanation to offer and the appropriate action will be taken against the company. Nine companies have qualified in the first bidding round for the Odisha UMPP and will most likely be participating in the second and final round.

“Business is a game, played for fantastic stakes, and you're in competition with experts. If you want to win, you have to learn to be a master of the game.�

Sidney Sheldon

Idea MD's Pay Doubled

I

t seems that the Idea shareholders have agreed to double the pay package ceiling of the telecom firm's managing director Himanshu Kapania to about Rs. 10 crore per

annum. The telecom company had been reporting the outcome of its extraordinary general meeting (EGM).

"Significant growth in the size and complexity of the business of the company, remuneration structure in the telecom industry, his profile, position, experience, qualification and above all his outstanding performance justifies suitable increase in the remuneration payable to the MD,"stated the company in a note. Mr. Kapania had been appointed the MD of the company as of April 1, 2011 for a period of five years.

06

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

Extension for BHEL Chairman?

A

recommendation has been made by a panel of secretaries set up by the

Prime Minister's Office (PMO), to grant a two year post retirement

extension to BHEL's chairman and MD, B. Prasada Rao. The move to give

the two year extension to Mr. Rao might most likely open up the doors for several other PSU chiefs, like ONGC's Sudhir Vasudeva to get a service term that is beyond sixty years. This is become the first case of a Navaratna PSU head being given an extension if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided to approve the extension.

However the UPA government has opposed granting the extension beyond the superannuation so far.

Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.

Steve Jobs

Aircel Coming Out With 4G

A

ircel is coming out with a 4G network, and the telecom operator has decided to select the Chinese telecom

equipment gear maker ZTE for the new 4G network.

Aircel chief marketing officer Anupam Vasudev stated that they "are happy to partner with ZTE for the deployment of our 4G LTE Networks in India. With this association, we are confident in delivering next-generation networks, critical to meet the growing demand of data in the country," In the first stage, the LTE deployment will be starting off in Chennai, rest of Tamil Nadu and a few other of the critical business circles.

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 07

Unique Diary

HCL Setting Up 100 Acre IT City

T

he technology group HCL has stated that it will be setting up a 100 acre IT city in Lucknow helping to create job

opportunities for about 25,000 people in Uttar Pradesh.

The UP government has awarded the project to Vamasundari investments. About 60 acres of the IT city will be allotted to IT and ITeS including a hi-tech skill development center with a capacity to train more than 5000 people. The remaining 40 acres is to be supporting infrastructure and the initiates of social impact. UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that the "IT City shall play a crucial role in the overall economic development and boost up industrial growth of the state. Apart from this, it will directly create approximately 25,000 job opportunities for the youth of the state."

There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.

Sam Walton

TESCO

T

he Foreign Investment Promotion Board has given permission to Tesco's proposal to invest $110 million

in India's multi brand retail segment. The company

has stated that this will be allowing them to work on setting up a joint venture with the Tata group firm Trent. Tesco has become the first global retailer who has received approval to enter India's multi brand retail sector from the investment board since the government has allowed 51 percent of the foreign direct investment in the segment in September last year.

Tesco had entered into an exclusive franchise

agreement with Trent in order to provide expertise and technical capability to support the Indian firm in running the hypermarket business under the Star Bazaar stores.

08

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

NSN Chairman to Step Down

N

okia Solutions and Networks (NSN) chairman Jesper Ovesen will be stepping down following the sale of the Finnish company's mobile phone

business to Microsoft. Ovesen joined NSN in the year of 2011 when it was still a joint venture between Nokia and Siemens, and will be continuing for a while as an advisor after the mobile phone business has been transferred to Microsoft according to Nokia. The markets are expecting more details on the new management structure at Nokia and its equipment business to be announced after the deal is closed in the first quarter of the year of 2014.

The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows.

Aristotle Onassis

RJIL Opposes Proposal

R

eliance Jio Infocomm has decided to oppose any change in rates for the use of radio waves by mobile operators as

they react to the demand for uniform spectrum usage

charge by GSM operators. In a letter to the Telecom Secretary, Mukesh Ambani-led RJIL said that the "unilateral increase in SUC for BWA spectrum from 1 per cent to 3 per cent will be illegal... Government may take appropriate decision on SUC for forthcoming auctions but without altering the present SUC regime, either directly or indirectly, for already allocated/auctioned spectrum." The uniform SUC, if implemented will be providing relief for mobile operators such as Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea however it will be increasing the rates for broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum holders like RJIL

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 09

Unique Diary

GMR Group Sells 40 Percent of Airport Stake

T

he GMR Group has decided to agree to sell its entire 40 percent stake in Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport for 225

million euros (Rs. 1,918 crore) to Malaysia Airports

Holdings Bhd. The Malaysia Airports already hold a 20 percent stake in the airport. Turkish firm Limak owns 40 percent and GMR acquired the operating rights to the airport for 20 years for 1.93 billion euros in the year of 2007. GMR, whose business interests included airport, power and roads has been divesting stakes to cut its debt load. Earlier this year, it exited a Singapore power project for $532 million. It also sold its majority stake in a highway project in India for about $35 million.

The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.

Henry Ford

Target Corp

T

arget Corp or as many of the youngsters call it "Targe" has said that the PIN data of some of the customers' bank

ATM cards had been stolen in a massive cyber attack at

the third largest U.S. retailer, but it was confident that the information was "safe and secure." The stolen PIN data was strongly encrypted when it was removed from Target's systems according to spokeswoman Molly Snyder. Synder said that "the most important thing for our guests to know is that their debit card accounts have not been compromised due to the encrypted PIN numbers being taken." Target uses the Triple DES encryption standard which can only be unlocked with a digital cryptographic "key" when the PIN data is received by the company's outside payment processor, Synder noted.

10

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

Troubles With Law in 2013

A

s we wind up the year we have seen corporate high ups like Anil Ambani, Sunil Bharti Mittal and business houses such as Tata

came under intense judicial scanner for scam related cases in

the year of 2013 with Subrata Roy Sahara thus facing the toughest time in the Supreme Court which restrained him from leaving India. The year has also seen several multinational giants like Finish mobile maker Nokia rushing to the high court in a high stake tax dispute while Vedanta Group, Korean steel major Posco and Swiss pharma firm Novartis were engaged in Supreme Court on issues which ranged from industrial pollution, licences to patent.

In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience.

Take the experience first; the cash will come later.

Harold S. Geneen

Apple Inc

I

t seems as if Apple Inc and Carl Icahn are heading for a showdown as the iconic creator of iPhone and iPad urge its shareholder to vote against the investor activist's proposal

for committing at least $50 billion worth of share buyback. The proposal which was made by the High River Limited Partnership and Icahn partners will be put to vote at the company's annual shareholder meeting which has been scheduled for February 28th 2014. Upon recommending voting against the proposal, Apple's board along with the management team have said that they are thoughtfully considering options for returning the additional cash to the shareholders and are currently seeking input from shareholders as part of the company's regular review.

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 11

Accolade

BT-PWC India Lists India's Top 100 CEO's Ranks

V.P. Nandakumar as 42nd Most Valuable CEO 12

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

MD and CEO of Manappuram Finance Mr.V.P. Nandakumar has been listed amongst BTPWC's Top 100 CEO's falling at the 42nd ranking in the mid-sized category of Rs. 1,500- 5,999 crore.

U

nique Times is proud to announce that the patron of Unique Times Magazines and the MD and CEO of Manappuram Finance Mr.V.P. Nandakumar has been listed amongst BT-PWC's Top 100 CEO's falling at the 42nd ranking in the mid-sized category of Rs. 1,5005,999 crore. Mr. V.P. Nandakumar said that the company "has not done as well as it could have, as it has done better in the previous year. However the fact that they were able to make it to the midsized category of Rs. 1,500 – 5,999 crore is a good thing."

Manappuram Finance is a company which has its stature amongst the many financing companies. Today they are the leading gold loan company in India with AUM of Rs.10,000 crores.

They have a nationwide network of about 3,300 branches and they have a live customer base of 15 lakhs.

Many companies that have faced and overcome numerous obstacles such as the slowdown, the runaway input costs, the high interest rates and the adverse market conditions, thus delivering amazing results in the end. They have overcome the slowdown, runaway input costs, high interest rates and adverse

market conditions to deliver stunning results. To show who these companies are the BT-PWC India has listed India's top 100 CEOs. First off BT500 listed India's most valuable companies, and then the winners of the BT-PWC India's Best CEO's of 2013 was picked out.

The companies which had losses in any of the previous three fiscal years, were listed during that period, the companies where the CEO's were not in charge for the full period, and whose fiscal reporting period was not between 9 and 15 months and those whose annual reports were not available till 6 pm on October 24th of 2013 were eliminated.

The data which was used was extracted from CMIE's Prowess database. The list was filtered as the total income was assessed, net profit, market cap and the return on equity over three fiscal years was also assessed. It resulted in listing out a list of Top 100 CEO's which was then sliced into 10 categories and the top companies in each of them was presented to a jury in order to have the winners chosen.

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 13

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

Interview

16

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

Sajimon Parayil In life, we watch many people struggle and there have been many who have suffered much to get where are they are today.

Humble Beginnings

I

in life, we watch many people struggle and there have been many who have suffered much to get where are they are today. And

"If someone were to ask me where is the place where they can get jack fruits in Mundakayam, and how many jack fruits can load a jeep or minivan, even if someone had woke me up from my sleep, I would be able to tell, because I was doing all these jobs,"

sometimes these sufferings make it so that we don't take anything

for granted and we learn to live life the hard way. Learning in that

manner only helps us to become a stronger person. It is through suffering and much struggle, that we realize that we need to work hard, keep our eyes on the goal and not stray if we want to reach the final set destination. The road may be long and narrow, but with much hope and striving, you will get where you want. This is exactly what Mr. Sajimon Parayil has done. Mr. Sajimon was not the best in his studies, he passed his SSLC and did not find success in carrying out his pre-degree but did pass the civil craftsman exam later on in his life. Coming from his native of Mundakayam, Sajimon Parayil has faced many struggles in his life which has brought to where he is today. At the age of 11 years, Sajimon's father who was a bus conductor, passed away which put the family of 5 children including Sajimon and his mother through much hardships. Sajimon being the second eldest after his sister, had three younger brother's to take care off along with his sister and his mother.

Sajimon went into doing business at young age as he helped his grandfather to sell coconut, eggs, and vegetables on the streets of Mudakayam.

"If someone were to ask me where is the place where they can get jack fruits in Mundakayam, and how many jack fruits can load a jeep or minivan, even if someone had woke me up from my sleep, I would be able to tell, because I was doing all these jobs," says Sajimon. "I used to get Rs.200 from my grandfather for helping him." The obstacles which

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 17

The company Bits Groups first in Yanbu known to be the second industrial city of Saudi Arabia with just four employees. Now Bits Groups is known to be one of the largest multi disciplined company in the Middle East, Far East and South Asia.

18

he faced as a child taught him the

stardom that they have now."

oil and gas, electro mechanical,

lesson of humanity. For Sajimon

In knowing that success could not

instrumentation and civil in the rage

Parayil, his grandmother who

come in one day, Sajimon having

of projects executed covers oil and

motivated him to face life is his role

faced his share of sufferings, started

gas pipeline service which has

model, "my grandmother believes

the company Bits Groups first in

contracts in the petroleum industry,

that she is my God, I can still

Yanbu known to be the second

power plants and water treatment

remember her when 35 years back,

industrial city of Saudi Arabia with

plants, HVAC systems etc.

we were in a lift with one of our

just four employees. Now Bits Groups

And Aarbin happens to be a

relatives who was working in

is known to be one of the largest

professionally managed engineering

Kottayam. She told him that she had

multi disciplined company in the

company which helps in assisting

brought me to experience these kinds

Middle East, Far East and South

clients in providing a range of

of technologies," Leading him to

Asia, having bases in three branches

engineering services for process,

spend his efforts learning new

in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain,

plant, architectural, civil, and

methods in the oil and gas business.

Algeria, Singapore, Malaysia,

structural, mechanical, piping,

While entering into the world of

Indonesia, and India. Bits Groups

electrical, instrumentation and

business Sajimon was "blind, found

operates Bits Al Arabia, Bits Indiana,

control design. Aarbin's engineers

freedom took risks implemented new

Bits HR & Manpower Consultancy

develop strategies which provides fast

ideas," but enjoyed the factor that he

Services, Aarbin Engineering, HI-

and an effective technical support for

was his own boss. They say that

Tech NDT Inspection Services, and

commercial and industrial projects,

Rome was build in a day, Sajimon

Bits Care Foundation which is

processes plant modifications,

knew that that success would not

associated with Yasudas Heart Care

expansion, proposal preparation and

made in a day, "the gold initially is

Foundation to help take care of the

many other services. Though

black and has to be stores somewhere

communities which is in much need

dedicated to all industries, they

and it is only after a lengthy process

of support. The foundation is a non-

specialize in inspection, procurement

of purification that it becomes gold.

partition, non religious, non-profit

and training services.

PT Usha, Sachin Tendulkar,

organization which also encourages

The Hi-Tech NDT inspection service

Mohanlal did not find success in just

to provide the well being for

was established in the year of 1998

one day, instead they worked hard,

orphaned and abandoned children.

with the corporate office based in

had to face their share of struggles

Bits Al Arabia has the experience and

Singapore. It has regional office in

and it is through much of their effort

expertise in project management,

Malaysia, India, Indonesia, and Saudi

that they are where they have

engineering, procurement and holds

Arabia. The company is involved in

become the celebrities enjoying the

construction in various fields such as

advanced NDT services, conventional

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

The Bits Indiana which happens to be the world's first exclusive linen readymade for men, women and kids. With show rooms all over India, the company has linen products that are designed and manufactures by their own studio and units.

NDT services, NDT training services

teaching children to become the kind

into the world of acting as he entered

and ASME U stamp audit. They are

of citizen which the world's society is

the Malayalam movie industry, by

in plans to expand their branches to

in need of today. They educate them

having acted in two movies; Dolls and

Oman, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Algeria,

not only with instructions but also

the latest movie Ravu.

and Nigeria.

encourage and inspire their hidden

It is with much dedication and

Then there is the Bits Indiana which

talents by giving them much

hardwork that Sajimon Parayil has

happens to be the world's first

attention and the care that they

reached the place at where he stands

exclusive linen readymade for men,

deserve.

now, though he has no time for

women and kids. With show rooms

With so many companies falling

anything much nowadays, he spends

all over India, the company has linen

under the Bits Groups, Sajimon

his time travelling as he takes care of

products that are designed and

Parayil has certainly made his mark

his business. Through the lessons

manufactures by their own studio

in the business world not only in oil &

learned from the diffculites of life he

and units. Most of the garments used

gas, power & water, but also

believes that one should "dream up to

to make the clothes are imported

construction support, project

the moon. Keep on trying and work

from France, Belgium and Ireland

management, engineering, E&I jobs,

hard to reach that level of you goal

and will be introducing certified

Fashion and life style, and education,

which you set for yourself. Never run

organic cotton and accessories for

thus giving importance to the

away from your problems and don't

men and women as they expand their

children of the future who will one

let your team face any problems. You

company further into other parts of

day be responsible for our own

face it and deal with it yourself. You

the world.

future. Next year the company plans

should never drive from the back

Bits Groups also has schools which

on expanding to Ireland, Colombia,

seat, but drive yourself and you will

fall under the Central Board of

South Africa, Kazakhstan and

find success in life."

Secondary Education. "We endeavor

Kurdistan. Sajamon Parayil is not

to design our educational process on

only a businessman, but also a

the basis that the future of this world

fashion designer, the judge for Miss.

rests upon the overall competence,

South India and Miss. Queen of

sensibility and goodness of its youth."

India. He also has taken his talents

The company believes in helping in January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 19

Business

Branding

What's in a name and a logo?

Dr. Thomas Nechupadam

W One of the most important things which anyone should be remembering is that the aim of your business is to make a name in the industry.

20

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

hen it comes to business, one of the most important things which anyone should be remembering is that the aim of your business is to make a name in the industry. When Bill Gates came about, it is a very obvious factor that no one had ever heard of "Microsoft." Steve Jobs, the father of the Apple made Apple what it is today through hard work and much effort. An idea that came because he was a man who did not like using buttons, Jobs created a phone that revolutionized the mobile industry making other cell phone makers to switch to touch phones. Though in the beginning there is not always instant success, if you keep trying repeatedly without giving up on hope, you will find yourself making a mark in the industry. It does not matter as to whether

you have a good name or a bad name as you start off, but of course you want to do your best to retain a good name in the market when you enter first off, the point of fact is that you have a name. It is your duty as a business person to be able to take that name and alter it into a good or bad name.

As every business starts out, it all starts with the spark of an idea.

Whether it is an idea that blooms out of something that we find we need, or an idea that is created out of attempting to help others.

With each idea whatever it maybe is the beginning of a company.

When a business person first gives way to a new company it is because there is a certain product which may contribute to the growth of society. Once the product is created then of course the main strategic plan comes about and that is where the

The company name which is basically the product name comes about, and that product name has to be something which will make the consumer's stop their pacing and have them enter the store out of curiosity and excitement.

marketing sector comes in.

When it comes to marketing, you have to firstly have a brillant team of marketers who know the what's and how's. Now let's start with an example. Here's an idea for a business, say an individual wants to start off a toy store because they love making children happy.

The objective of the business is to bring a smile and joy to every child. Once you have an idea, the company name which is basically the product name comes about, and that product name has to be something which will make the consumer's stop their pacing and have them enter the store out of curiosity and excitement. You have to make the consumer's think and know that your toy store is not just any toy store. You have to give your products a unique selling point which is a term which is quiet often used in the world of advertising.

As you are reading this article think not only like a business person but also like an advertiser.

See if a business person knows how to market the product, they should think as an advertiser may think and that is how to draw in the consumers. There are many toy stores worldwide. So when it seems like the product which you have an idea for is already in existence, your job is to make that certain product different from that of the rest that is in the market at the present time. So how does it work? Take a look at what is lacking in the products present in the curreny market.

I walked into a Reliance toy store last week in Chennai with my cousins 4 years and 14 year old and of course like anyone else

who is still like peter pan at heart I couldn't help but frolic around the store, playing with the toys.

But as I walked around playing with the toys, I realized something, it's the Christmas season, and looking at the store I didn't get a Christmas feeling.

This is where a new toy store can come about and make their store different from that of all others by decorating or rather over doing a bit of everything when it comes to each season or festival . This could be one of the unique selling point of the product of a toy store.

You can go over the top by having a Santa Claus and his elves roaming around in the store and have Santa Claus give out free gifts just for the season to all the children that come and see him.

See ideas come when you think from the consumers point of view as well. If you were a consuner of toys whether you are a parent or someone who is gifting someone you know, thre are many things which you may thinkbof such as "I wish that these toys had some kind of discount." Especially when you see the big teddy bears that cost near a Rs. 1000 or more. Anyone would be wishing for discounts. During the holiday seasons there could be discounts and a free gift card which may come with a certain amount of purchases.

The idea of a unique selling point should mainly come about in a very drastic outgoing, consumer drawing manner especially if you are new to the business world and new to the entire market of the product. As you market the product, and you come up with the USP (unique selling point) January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 21

when it comes to branding, if you are able to create a catchy name, and able to get an advertising agency that you feel can help your product achieve sucess in the market then you will be able to make your way slowly into the market. you wil be able to go on about slowly creating a name for yourself in the market.

Creating a name for yourself in the market is probably one of the most difficult tasks to go on about doing especially in todays market where competition is tough and you have to play hardball in a clever and cunning way all the while keeping a sense of honesty and commitment to satisfy your consumer's needs and demands.

But when it comes to branding, if you are able to create a catchy name, and able to get an advertising agency that you feel can help your product achieve sucess in the market then you will be able to make your way slowly into the market. Not always will you be able to achieve instant success, but if your lucky enough you may just hit jackpot.

But more than usual, the process of branding is a slow one as you have to make the consumer's feel that they need this certain product, or that if they purchase your product, it is worth their money.

Once consumer's gets a taste of the product which is being sold to them, they wil be able to find that they want to come back for more.

It is similar to creating the hook

22

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

to a serial show or a movie. Give the consumer's hay what they want and satisfy their needs and they will be coming back for more. It is only afterward that word will spread about your product and uniqueness of your product. The oldest form of advertising known to be the word of mouth will be put into practice as consumer's go about giving positive reviews about your product. Whenever there are negative reviews note it down specifically as rather than taking it in an unwell manner, you can take the negative remarks as rather corrections which will help you to better your mistakes. You will never really learn if you always do the right thing, it is with each mistake you make that you will be able to better yourself.

Mistakes serve to be the stairs to succes. Once the mistake is corrected then the consumers will see the immense care which your company gives to their feedback which will only bring in positive reviews for the ears given to their word along with the improivisons that were made to satisfy their needs.

So as your product is sold through word of mouth accompanied by various forms of

advertisement ranging from television advertisements to print advertisements, your company and product will receive the much needed attention. A key factor in being able to brand your product is the logo and the colors used for your company or product. An example would be Nike's logo. If you were to see a check sign anywhere, the name that would come to the common consumer's mind is the brand Nike. The same would go for the brand Airtel. Airtel's red logo, when seen anywhere automatically triggers an individual's sense that it is Airtel.

When the logo which you have appointed the advertising agency to create is attractive and able to capture audiences attention, then you will be able to pave a path to becoming a brand in the

A key factor in being able to brand your product is the logo and the colors used for your company or product.

minds of the common everyday consumer as in todays market it is the brand which is given more attention too. When you mention to an individual today of the younger generation the word apple, more than likely they will not be thinking of the fruit apple, but Apple the iPhone. In just mentioning the name of the brand or seeing the logo triggers the automatic memory of the brand itself.The powering of branding is something which brings the many products in the market a long way down the road though they may be similar to each other, their unique selling point make it stand out to its specific consumer's helping the brand to create loyalty within their consumer's towards their brands.

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 23

Entrepreneurship

Denisha Sahadevan

W o m e n

E n t r e p r e n e u r s I n s p i r a t i o n F r o m A r o u n d t h e

skills must be learned from

W o r l d

colleagues, family and friends, formal

training, or from experience. A recent nationwide survey found that businesswomen in Vietnam are

Business

A

lthough women have

crying out for additional support that

established themselves as

can assist them in growing their

entrepreneurs in Vietnam,

businesses.?

many businesswomen do not enjoy

In order to promote female

the same level of services and

entrepreneurship in Vietnam there

support as their male counterparts.

should be business support and

widely recognized

While existing laws and policies in do

facilitation that address the needs of

not overtly discriminate against

as contributing to

women, specifically in the areas of

female entrepreneurs, cultural

business planning, financial

development is

economic empowerment of women and promoting gender equality.

factors in Vietnam such as dominant

management, marketing, and quality

gender stereotypes pigeonhole

control.

women into domestic roles or into

Women entrepreneurs face a number

employment sectors that are

of barriers preventing them from

undervalued and poorly paid.

expanding their businesses. These

Business development is widely

barriers include: a lack of sufficient

recognized as contributing to

business management knowledge and

economic empowerment of women

skills, and being disconnected from

and promoting gender equality.

the larger business community. There

However, not all women are born as

is also a low level of encouragement

entrepreneurs; instead, business

and support from the government January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 25

Women entrepreneurs in the world are creative, active and selfconfident. They are facing a lot of gender constraints, but the spirit of Vietnamese women entrepreneurs has been highly appreciated since Vietnam has the new reform policy.

26

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

and society. During the past few

Thu Cuc Beauty - CEO 15th

years, a number of work related

Student, School of Business PTI. Ms.

programs initiated by women's

Nguyen Thu Cuc - Thu Cuc salon

unions. However, middle class

director. The name of this association

businesswomen in Vietnam also need

of women entrepreneurs with a

support in order to catch up with

flower of autumn in Hanoi - a season

male entrepreneurs.

best in the land of a thousand years

Women entrepreneurs in the world

of civilization Ha. Her whole life is a

are creative, active and self-

journey in search of beauty and the

confident. They are facing a lot of

beauty of life.

gender constraints, but the spirit of

Thu Cuc is a woman rustic, simple,

Vietnamese women entrepreneurs

different from my imagination to

has been highly appreciated since

picture a famous salon hostess ... She

Vietnam has the new reform policy.

had absorbed the step ups and downs

Ms. Nguyen Thu Cuc was successful

of life, happiness and failures ... but it

woman entrepreneur in Vietnam.

was not excavated by her fall.

She is Chief Medical Corporation and

Diverged after the early fall that she

had more energy to rise up, go to

aspirations of youth, she had to

their chosen path, knowing that the

engage in the marketplace. It can be

road commission was not

said that Thu Cuc business is a

experienced. Born and raised in

passion, it is also part of her life with

Hanoi in a family of educated,

a burning dream is to bring beauty to

intellectual. Main cradle of the

the women of Vietnam.

traditional family have forged for her

In the 90th century, the aesthetic is

energetic life. From childhood, Thu

still considered a profession are new

Cuc soon reveal the business skills

in Vietnam, so the idea of building a

and her dream of a young girl that

private clinic specializing in the

will become a boss. But the way her

business of beauty services for

parents and follow the tradition

women of that time Thu Cuc seen as

family, Thu Cuc studied law at the

a bold idea. Thu Cuc salon is

University of Social Sciences and

established in 1996 which is also the

Humanities. For her, passion and

first beauty salon for women in

business do not run away from her.

Hanoi. Up to now, over 10 years, Thu

When she graduated, held bachelor

Cuc beauty salon becomes the gold

of law degree, turned to her family to

address for women. Aesthetics is not

Passion is the main source of motivation to help people not easily back down before the hardships of life.

work in the control. No agreement

merely a business, it has more

under which arrangement, Thu Cuc

recently as a medical psychologist.

decided to start her own business.

"In addition to the professional mind

Face with fierce opposition from the

and aesthetic, the work must also

family and relatives, especially from

doubles as doctor of psychology ... it

her grandfather and father, sisters,

is also the most difficult thing that

Thu Cuc still determined to realize

professional expert beauty need to

her dreams.

pass, "she said. Therefore, she always

Difficulties did not stop there, while

shared experiences, enthusiasm,

her own face prevented from family,

passion for her profession staff. To

her parents divorced. At 18 years old,

each of them is not merely play the

the age has many dreams and

role of beauty for everyone, but they January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 27

Women-led businesses have made a lot of progress for the last few years. In the informal economy, however, women-led enterprises do not develop as fast as those owned by men.

28

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

are higher than those of a psychiatrist

of Exotical ThuCuc Spa is considered

that his clients receive. There are

a breakthrough step of Thu Cuc in

customers coming to a clinic because

business. Exotical ThuCuc Spa is

they do not necessarily bad, but in

designed with a European

their psychological always think they

architectural style, elegance and

are not nice, not perfect. And who

modernity, so when you come here,

do the work of a cosmetic is to know

you think they are entering a

how to convince their customers,

completely different world and also

helping them understand the right

how you want to mystery discover in

and give our customers the best

this place. She always has full of new

advice. Encounter difficult

business ideas and the dynamism and

circumstances, sometimes Thu Cuc

acumen. Perhaps those qualities that

takes many hours to convince

helped Thu Cuc quickly asserted

customers to help them understand

themselves and become a successful

and give the best advice for them. For

businesswoman with a clear mind.

her, the job is never boring, because

Thu Cuc also been very successful in

you do with all the passion,

the restaurant business.

dedication to work. Selling the special

Like many other women, come back

product special, Thu Cuc has a lot of

to life Thu Cuc is a woman who is so

opportunities to come many places,

simple and approachable. The

many countries, the beauty of

weekend, set aside all of the business,

paradise, she found the spa to relax

she dedicated her time to care for

and rest in other country is very

her small family or cook by herself

modern and luxurious. While in

and care for small porch garden ...

Vietnam, the living standard is

there is also a powerful source of

higher as well as people begin to

motivation inspired her to come

think of beauty services more

forward. Furthermore, she is a happy

advanced, more perfect. An

woman. She always had

innovative business ideas are

encouragement from her husband

implemented Thu Cuc. And the birth

and two children are very good. At

the weekend she spent time with her

gender-based discrimination. This

family, go shopping or go to the

can range from potential customers'

movies together. She is a moving

skepticism about their technical

forward person. She said: every

capabilities and ability to deliver

success must has passion, some is

products or services to the required

only a momentary passion, but some

standard and on time, to difficulties

passion comes from the human soul

in managing relationships with their

Because passion is the main source

suppliers who may attempt to

of motivation to help people not easily

negotiate unfair terms on the

back down before the hardships of

assumption that women are easy to

life. My passion is trading things of

manipulate and do not understand

beauty products for everyone. I'm not

business principles. Across all

trading for profit which I have staked

industries, women business owners

all my honor. When I bet all of my

may also face challenges in managing

honor so why I stop?

their relationships with their employees (both male and female),

Women face similar challenges as

who may question their judgment

their male counterparts in starting

and authority. Strong leadership is

and running their own businesses.

therefore required, but women who

Women face similar challenges as their male counterparts in starting and running their own businesses.

These include access to finance,

exhibit such qualities are not always

achieving profitability and

viewed favorably due to societal

sustainability, and having the

expectations about how women

business administration skills to

should comport themselves.

manage their operations

Despite these various challenges,

professionally and effectively.

small business ownership can be an

However, it can be argued that

immensely rewarding experience for

women business owners carry a

women. Greater financial

heavier burden than men in terms of

independence, increased self-

achieving a work-life balance.

confidence, and gaining visibility and

Women have traditionally played the

respect as leaders in their

role of primary care giver to their

communities are just some of the

families, and these attitudes are slow

benefits.

to change. Starting and running a

For female entrepreneurs in Vietnam,

business is time-consuming and

running a business successfully

requires focus and dedication –

making several decisions on a daily

female business owners face the

basic and in an increasingly

challenge of balancing the needs of

competitive environment.

their families with those of the

Vietnamese women entrepreneurs

business, sometimes with little

are more than aware of the

support from their social networks.

challenges arising from international

In some industries, particularly those

economic integration and resulting

that are traditionally male dominated,

competitive from other countries.

women business owners encounter

Most women entrepreneurs are January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 29

Women entrepreneurs would benefit from having access to networks where they could ask questions of each other and share experiences about running a business.

30

regional pioneer in the area of gender

could ask questions of each other and

equality, women business owners

share experiences about running a

believe that more can be done to

business.

improve business opportunities.

Equality doesn't mean that women

Women-led businesses have made a

want to trade places with men. They

lot of progress for the last few years.

still want to be wives and take care of

In the informal economy, however,

the family. Society needs to provide

women-led enterprises do not

more support for women-owned

develop as fast as those owned by

enterprises, because women

men. Household responsibilities, still

entrepreneurs have to juggle both

largely shouldered by women, are the

family responsibilities and run their

main constraint. Limited possibilities

interested growing their business

businesses. Women entrepreneurs

to establish business networks are the

through a variety of means, such as:

need better access to business

next factor. According to the criteria

better customer relationship, larger

education and training so that they

used in the research, more women

trade and export networks…

can manage their businesses better.

than men entrepreneurs are

However they face a number of

Training courses need to help women

“livelihood-oriented” rather than

obstacles, including a lack of

establish longer-term strategies for

“growth-oriented”, managing

resources, time, information and

their businesses. Women

business operations that are to large

linkages to potential partners and

entrepreneurs would benefit from

extent integrated into the family's

markets. Although Vietnam is a

having access to networks where they

livelihood.

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

Business

Ansif Ashraf

A Multi-faceted Businessman The wounded experiences helped him to experiment with naive ideas and strengthened him to challenge the outdated conventional myths in business.

While his sweet experience always propeled him with confidence for his future plans and projects. Ansif Global Inc (formerly Paradise Group) is going public.

A

nsif Global Inc was founded by Ansif Ashraf in 2002. The firm serves and important and essential role in supplying technology to various industries. The firm Paradise Industries Limited incorporated in Hong Kong has presence in diverse range of business like consumer electronics, cement, mining and exploration and technology.

Apart from being a successful businessman, Ansif is also an international speaker, moderator and writer. He was the Brand Icon of the Year 2013 in Diversified Business which was awarded by Times of India. He also functions as a coach of the Youth Employment Network managed by International Labor Organisation, United Nations and the world Bank

32

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

Mining and Exploration Ansif Global provides cutting edge machinery and technology to the mining and exploration industries. In 2010, AGI had signed an MOU with Saudi Managem Mining Company Limited in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for supplying machinery & technology.

The project covers a range of activities in mining and exploration of volcanic scoria, dolomite and basalt.

And AGI took a new initiative to promote and sell the mined products in India and China. The Dolomite mineral is also certified by Indian Rubber Board, Government of India.

Centrifuges Separators Ansif Global are the exclusive distributors of Zhejiang Qingji Ind Company Limited for selling their Disc Separators and Two-Stage Pusher Centrifuges in Srilanka, India, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Centrifuges are manufactured under the license and whole technology from Swiss Sulzer Escher Wyss.

These separators are used in Latex and Oil industry for refining. Have installed 10 machines in Srilanka in last 2 years.

Print Media Ansif Global Inc ventures out into the media and entertainment sector by relaunching Cochin Herald, the business magazine to the lime light.

Dr. S.A. Mohamed Ashraf founded

Cochin Herald in 1992 as a Malayalam News Paper. Cochin Herald has signed media partnership agreement with Bizxchange (A Times Group Initiative). Cochin Herald hosts, Kerala State Business Excellence Awards to recognise and accolade the state's most excellent business leaders that nourish them to grow towards the posterity, started in 2012.

Ostrich Electronics In 2004 Ansif Global Inc ventured out into a business focussing on consumer electronics with brand name “Ostrich�. On 12 Jan 2014 it is launching AVDOC in India which can stream from mobile devices to HDTV wirelessly.

Technology-Innovation Ansif Global Inc focus on providing cost-effective and innovative solutions to the industry. The recent invention from AGI is the development of Anti-EMR fabric which can be used to prevent remote triggering of Explosive Devices.

LEAD Kindly Light Ansif Ashraf took inspiration from the real leader whose thoughts and teachings lead as a light to thousands - Prophet Muhammad. The main business of the company is not in violation of Shari'ah.

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 33

Gadgets

LG G Pro Lite Rs. 22,990 With a 5.50 in display, 1 GHz dual core MediaTek 6577 processor, 1.3 MP front camera, this phone has a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels, and 1 GB RAM with Android 4.1 OS. It has an inbuilt storage of 8 GB, but have expandable storage up to 32 GB and 8 MP rear camera battery life lasts for about 7-8 hours. Wi-Fi is enabled

LG G Flex Price: Yet to announced The phone has a 6 inch display with a 2.2 GHz quad core snapdragon 800 processor, a 2.1 MP front camera, and 13 MP for rear camera with a 720 x 1280 pixel resolution, a 2 GB RAM and a Android 4.2 OS. The phone has 32GB storage which is nonexpandable. The price has not been announced as this curved display phone will be released only in February of 2014.

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 35

Gadgets

Moto G Price: $179 With a 4.5 in display, this phone has a 1.3 MP front camera and a 5 MP rear camera with a 720x1280 pixels resolution. The phone has a 1GB RAM with a 1.2 GHz processor. The battery life lasts up to eight hours at least even when you use streaming video.

Xolo Q2000 Rs. 14,999 This phone has a 5.5 in display with 720x1280 pixel resolution. The phone has a battery life which lasts up to a day depending on your amount of usage of course. The phone is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad core processor and runs on an Android 4.2 OS and has a 1 GB RAM, it has 8 GB of internal storage which is expandable up to 32GB. Wi-Fi is enabled.

36

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

Nexus 5 Price: Rs. 28,999 This p hone has a 4.9 in HD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and has an 8 MP rear camera and 1.3 MP front facing camera. The phone runs on Android 4.4 OS and is powered by a quad core 2.25 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with a 2 GB of RAM. The phone has an in built storage of 32 GB and does not have an expandable storage. The phone's battery life can last up to a day.

Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 Price: Rs. 28,999 This tab has a 10 in display with a 1280x800 pixels resolution. The tablet runs on Android 4.2 and is powered by 1.2 GHz quad core processor and has a 16GB inbuilt storage which is expandable up to 64GB. It has a 1.6 MP front camera and a 5 MP rear camera with Wi-Fi enabled. The battery life lasts up to 8 hours even with video playback.

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 37

Gadgets

Acer C720 Price: 22,999 This phone has a display of 11.6 in with a resolution of 1366x768 pixels The chromebook is powered by Google's Chrome OS, and is powered by a 1.4 GHz dual core processor and has a 16GB of internal storage. The Acer lasts up to seven hours.

Asus Fonepad 7 Price: 17,499 This tablet comes with a 7 in display with a 1280x800 resolution with a 5 MP autofocus rear camera and a 1.2 MP front facing camera. The Fonepad runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS and is powered by a dual core 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Z2560 processor with Hyper Threeading. The tab with a 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of inbuilt storage which is expandable up to 32 GB. The battery life however only lasts around 5-6 hours.

38

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

BlackBerry Z30 Price: Rs. 39,990 This phone has a display of 5 in with a 720x1280 resolution with a 8 MP rear camera and a 2 MP front camera. The phone has a BlackBerry OS 10.2 and is powered by a 1.7 GHz dual core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor alongside 2 GB RAM.

Lenovo P780 Price: Rs. 22,529 The Lenovo has a 5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. It runs on Android 4.2.1 with 8 MP rear camera. It is powered by the quad-core 1.2GHz processor with 1GB of RAM. There is 4GB of built-in storage, 2.1GB of which is available to the user, the phone battery life lasts up to 16-17 hours

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 39

Xbox One Price: $500 The Xbox One is not just a toy to play games on, now you can use it to watch movies, you can connect it to your cable box and watch live TV, you can Skype as well! It has a Kinect camera.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Price: Rs. 49,900 This phone has a 5.7 in display with a 1080x1920 pixels resolution. It runs on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and has a 13 MP rear camera and 2 MP front camera. It is powered by 1.9GHz Cortex A15 quad-core processor and a 1.3GHz Cortex A7 quadcore processor which work together to optimize processing. It has 3GB RAM, and has 32GB of expandable built-in storage.

The battery life lasts up to 9-10 hours.

40

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

Business

S i g n i f i c a n c e o f a F r a n c h i s e M a n a g e r i n a

F r a n c h i s i n g C o m p a n y About the author: Chackochen Mathai is a franchising coach with over 23+ years of experience in the field of franchising. He worked for major franchising brands like NIIT, Aptech, SSI, CADD Centre and currently working as GM Business Development with Trends Invogue Pvt Ltd, a CavinKare Group, which has 2 saloon brands Green Trends & Limelite. He is a regular writer and speaker in many franchising forums. Currently pursuing his Ph.D in Franchise Management.

Mob:9003222086 chacko@trendsinvogue.in

42

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

F

ranchise managers organize and plan the franchising department of an organization.

The manager ensures that franchisees receive the origination's message regarding business strategy, promotions and products. A franchise manager offers support to franchisees, which ensures the overall success of the organization.

Franchise manager is also responsible for all new renewals and license enforcement. He is responsible for franchise contracts with franchise stores to ensure participation; Maintaining the company guidelines and cooperation in company values and agendas.

The Franchise manager is the face of the organization and this manager should be empathic to the investor who is seeking an opportunity to become an entrepreneur by investing his hard earned money in a product or services franchise. Therefore the responsibility of the franchise manager to the highest order is to

help the entrepreneur to choose the right franchised business. He should not sell a franchise for the sake of targets. The franchise manager should also be responsible to the franchisor by selecting the right investor for the brand. Valuating the investor before making him an entrepreneur seriously lies with the franchise manager. The skills of the Franchise Managers should be of a high calibre where he needs to know a bit of psychology to assess the investor and his seriousness in the business.

Today there are many investors with free money in their hand and wants to invest the same on some business for their spouse who is sitting ideal, or a brother/sister who has not found a job etc., but the person coming to take a franchise is a well learned person who is clear with his intentions to help either his spouse, brother or a relative and make them successful. But the fact is that if the franchise manager gets carried away by the looks and the knowledge of the investor without figuring out who is going to run the business, then it's a bad choice of a franchisee.

However if you see many franchising businesses fail because the investor acts only as an investor and does not run the business. This not only affects the investor but it affects the brand too. I strongly feel the selection of the franchisee should have solid process to scrutinize the investor which will result in both the franchisor and the franchisee's benefit in the long run. The franchise manager is like a middle man, in the alliance seeking activity for a man and woman to be wedded. All facts need to be laid on the table before marrying the franchisor and the franchisee. The franchise manager needs to be honest to himself and the organization that he works for and needs to rise above all relations to be a thorough professional to help both the franchisor and the franchisee succeed in their business objectives.

The franchise manager needs to lay all the facts without any hidden agenda to the franchisee and should not promise the moon. Explain both the pros and the cons and help the investor to take the right decision.

Once the investor who has the option to take any franchised business needs to take a well informed decision and since the franchise manager has been honest in his dealing to close a sale, the investor will decide mostly

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 43

keeping in mind the returns that he will get as well as think of what the franchisor will do to help his business as a franchisee. He will remember all that the franchisee manager had stated and he will take the final decision. A franchise manager is one who helps the investor take the right decision for his venture.

Talking about the skill of good franchisee manager, he should first put himself in the investor's shoes and think if he was taking a franchised business what will he expect from the franchisor and if he is convinced of the offer will he invest and buy the franchise. If he puts himself in that position and sells the opportunity, he will make the right choices of selecting the right franchisee by assessing the attitude and the financial capability to invest in the business, before signing up.

If the manager believes in his organizational capability to deliver what is promised when he is signing the agreement, then he will be confident to sell the concept to the franchisee with high confidence and motivation. Therefore empathy, communication skills, business acumen, coordinating skills, projects 44

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

handling, event organizing capacity, operational skills, branding, training, marketing and PR skills are important for a good and efficient franchise manager. Beyond that he needs to have the grace to build a long term relationship with the franchisee. Many organization makes their franchise mangers to cut the relation off and transfer the job to the next set of people who have never built a relationship in the initial stages and many managers do not even pick their calls after the sales is over. This will not help a good franchisee-franchisor relationship in the long run.

A franchise manager is one who is a bridge between the franchisor and the franchisee. The manager understands both parties well and their intentions and should work towards the success of both parties. It should always be a win-win situation.

The manager should look at the franchisee as a customer; therefore any decision taken should be in this line, benefit to the customer and profit to the organization that he works for. If this concept is clear in the minds of the manager the relationship will be rock solid.

A franchise manager is one who will be communicating the organizational strategy to the franchisee and hand holding him to success. He should understand the pain and the emotions of the investor to negotiate with the organization to ensure that the franchisee is successful by providing adequate help in the startup stage of the business. The success of the franchiser is rated in the success of the franchisee. Therefore helping the franchisee being successful is the key to the success of a franchiser and the franchise manager.

The franchise manager needs to look at the profit and loss account of the franchisee and suggests various marketing activities along with the marketing team. He has the moral responsibility to help the franchisee since he sold the brand; he is also responsible for all the training needs of the franchisee. He needs to understand what kind of training requirements for the staff and also

In a nut shell, the franchise manager is one who ensures a smooth transaction with the franchiser and the franchisee ensuring all payments being collected to ensure a good relationship is being maintained. for the franchisee. Since he would know while signing the agreement the background of these franchisees, all of them will not have all the required skills like marketing, finance, human resource, projects etc, understanding the need the franchise manager should organize for the training to help the franchisee to be a better entrepreneur to run the brand.

In a nut shell, the franchise manager is one who ensures a smooth transaction with the franchiser and the franchisee ensuring all payments being collected to ensure a good relationship is being maintained. The franchise manager should be loyal to the organization that he works for and is a key person to build the brand

along with the marketing or the brand manager based on the feedback received from the consumer and the franchisee. The franchisee manager is an important person in the franchising business, both for the franchiser and the franchisee. In the current scenario there are not many who are looking at the benefit of the both the parties they look at their own benefit; finally the brand and the franchisees suffer. Therefore being an honest manager with high integrity will take him to places and he will be able to build brand. A franchisee manager should be part of the system for a longer period of time to establish stability to the organization. That will ensure brand stability too.

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 45

Travel

S w i t z e r l a n d Mother Nature's Beauty

46

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

he country of Switzerland is

T

population is known as Rhaeto-

located in western and

Rumantsch which is a trilingual

central Europe, where it is

language. Rumantsch is a language

surrounded by Germany, France,

with Latin roots. Switzerland is a

Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein at its

country where there are many

Switzerland is located

borders. It's motto is “unus pro

languages spoken by its people as well

in western and central

omnibus, omnes pro uno” in Latin

many of the foreigners who have

which is translated to “One for all, all

brought their own language with

The country of

Europe, where it is

for one.” The country's official

them which has now outnumbered

surrounded by

languages are known to be German,

both Rumantsch and the Italian

French, Italian, and Romansh. About

language. The largest foreign

Germany, France, Italy,

65.5% of the country speaks German

language group is shown to be

as most of the country's population is

Serbian/Croatian according to the

Austria and

Swiss German Speaking. French is

2000 census. English was the main

Liechtenstein at its

known to be spoken in the western

language for only 1% of the

borders. It's motto is “unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno” in Latin which is translated to “One for all, all for one.”

part of the country. Four cantons

population. So make sure that when

(Switzerland is split up into cantons):

you getting ready for a trip to this

Geneva, Jura, Neuchatel, and Vaud

beautiful country that you don't just

are known to be French speaking.

buy a book for just one language, but

Three cantons: Bern, Fribourg and

four languages. It'll be a very colorful

Valais are bilingual where both

culture experience for one in that

French and German are spoken.

way!

Italian is spoken in Ticino and four of

A country with the world's 19th largest

the southern valleys of Canton

economy, Switzerland happens to be

Graubunden. A language which is

one of the richest countries in the

spoken by at least 6% of the Swiss

world holding the highest wealth

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 47

counting in each adult's financial and the non financial assets than of any other country in the world. The cities of Zurich and Geneva have been ranked as cities that have the highest quality of life when in comparison with many other countries.

The country has a population consisting of approximately 8 million people. The economy of Switzerland mainly consists of very high skilled work such as micro technology, hi tech, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals as well as banking and insurance. And when it comes to recycling, the Swiss are very serious, so make sure that you don't liter and you stay environment safe when you are visiting the country!

When it comes to the beauty of Switzerland it is because of its

The economy of Switzerland mainly consists of very high skilled work such as micro technology, hi

forests, woodlands and the alps.

tech, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals as well

Mother nature's beauty is what any

as banking and insurance.

tourist would enjoy seeing as they go hiking, biking and mountain biking,

48

skating and canoeing for leisure

they would know what is where and

because of the architecture, it casts a

when they visit. To carry on all these

when and how the best.

certain medieval spell abound with its

activities, the route covers over

When you visit the country make

fountains, sandstone facades, and the

20,000 kilometers in Switzerland and

sure that you know the real spellings

historic towers making you feel like

to make it easier to travel, it is

(the one which the locals know

you have stepped into another world

coordinated with the public

about) of the regions when you visit

(somewhat like a fairytale world),

transportation. Of course if you are

in Swiss. Bern is also known as Berne

kids would enjoy sightseeing in this

traveling during the December time

in English or French and Berna in

city of narrow roads and high towers.

of year, due to the cold and the snow,

Italian or Rhaeto-Rumantsch. The

When you are in the city you can also

you won't be able to do the summer

city of Geneva is known as Genève in

catch the family of bears at the Bear

outdoor activities, but you can take a

French, Genf in German, Ginevra in

Park, and go around the arcades

run down the slope for a ski ride or

Italian, and Genevra in Rhaeto-

where you can shop no matter the

snowboarding down the mountains to

Rumantsch. Note down the spelling

weather. The arcades consist of many

enjoy the cold itself. If you want to

as it will help you immensely to avoid

stores, boutiques, and galleries are six

get a new pair of skiing or snowboard

any confusions. On your vacation

kilometers long and It is known to be

equipments you can visit the

make certain that you make a visit to

one of the longest shopping

Kitchener Sport store or any other

the city of Its Bern, the Swiss capital.

promenades in Europe. You can also

store which might be recommended

As the city of Bern makes you feel as

visit the Kitchener, where you will

by the locals. If you ever have a doubt

if you have traveled to the ages of the

find some of the most classist

make sure that you ask the locals, as

Renaissance (not literally), but

fashionable shoes and dresses. If you

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

are more into handmade gifts and

be worth your time. You will get to

souvenirs then do make certain to

see the heaviest bell in Switzerland

visit the Schweizer Heimatwerk which has drawn in many visitors since 1930, where you will find various crafted items which will be pleasing for any age group. And if you have a sweet tooth, and are craving delightful confetti's, take a trip to

If you want to relax down, you can go up to the tower in Bern, where though you have to

Beck Glatz Confiseur where you can

walk almost 254 steps

find Mandelbarli which will be a treat

to the highest church

for your taste buds. You can also get

known as “Heavy Susanna.” When you reach the top you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the city of Bern while you sip on wine. Apart from Bern, your next stop should be in the largest city in the rich country of Switzerland known as Zurich.

When it comes to traveling around the cities you can travel by bus, train

steeple in the country, it

or even boat. But however it is that

baked goods, coffee, and sandwiches here, but don't miss out on the

will be worth your time.

city to be very clean, and your trips to

You will get to see the

be very relaxing, that you won't even

heaviest bell in

day. When travelling by boat, you get

Mandelbarli which comes in a variety of flavors like chocolate, honey and lemon!

Once you are done with all the shopping, and you want to relax down, you can go up to the tower in Bern, where though you have to walk

you travel around, you will find the

feel tired from having travelled all

Switzerland known as

to see the alps, and the clear blue

“Heavy Susanna.”

There are also many entertaining

waters. events in the cities which only come

almost 254 steps to the highest

around at a certain time of the year.

church steeple in the country, it will

During March to May, there will be January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 49

You can entertain yourself with thousands of others in the month of July with the music scene as several artists from the international music world perform at the Gurten festival.

50

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

the Bern Jazz Festival. In March

be one of Switzerland's most modern

there is also Museums night where

clubs. You can also visit Volver in

Bern's museums will be open till the

Bern which is located by the Bern

wee hours of sunrise. In May there is

town hall which is also a restaurant

the Grand Prix, which happens to be

where concerts are also held at times.

Switzerland's biggest racing event. In

Whether you are with your family or

June you will find yourself

friends, you will not find a dull

entertained with the Bern Dance

moment in the country, you will

Festival known as the Berner

entertained throughout as there will

Tanztage where there will be

be many events happening around

performances, workshops,

the cities. And even when there

discussions, and exhibitions which is

aren't events you will be able to enjoy

dedicated to dance. You can entertain

the simplicity of nature in a country

yourself with thousands of others in

where culture and tradition still

July with the music scene as several

carries on. Also when you visit

artists from the international music

Switzerland make sure that you don't

world perform at the Gurten festival.

forget to visit their chocolates shops,

There is another music festival in

as Switzerland is known for their

August called Buskers Bern Street

chocolates! But wherever it is that

Festival which happens to be a

you visit keep in mind that the

cabaret where artists perform in

country is very environment friendly

about 20 places according to a fixed

and make certain to be as

programme.

environment friendly as the locals

Now if you are a bachelor or

always are, because what makes

bachelorette traveling with your

Switzerland the way it is, is not only

friends for a good time, at the end of

the culture, the traditions and it's

the day you can enjoy the night life of

people, but natural beauty which you

Switzerland by hitting the Bonsoir, or

won't be able to find in many places

the Wankdorf Club which happens to

nowadays.

Health

F o u r I m p o r t a n t E l e m e n t s t o a H e a l t h y L i f e W True wealth is measured by what you have, not what you do not have or what you have lost.

52

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

ealth, Health, Beauty

investments, our homes or other

and Success are four

forms of “financial capital.� The word

elements that had, have

WEALTH comes from the Old

and will continue to have an

English words 'weal' which mean

immense amount of importance. To

'well-being' and 'th' which means

some these things might be just

condition. Hence, 'weal' and 'th' when

materialistic possessions and to

put together means 'the condition of

others they might relate to their

well-being'. Most of us are

underlying meaning. Both of these

accustomed to looking at wealth

aspects are correct in their own

strictly in financial terms or property

context, but ideally every coin has

and possessions. But in real, wealth is

two sides; hence similarly wealth,

much more than just money.

health, beauty and success also can

Someone has very correctly said,

have two meanings.

"True wealth is measured by what

Wealth is an abundance of valuable

you have, not what you do not have

material possessions or resources.

or what you have lost."

Everyone wants to be wealthy. Some

True wealth encompasses tangible

climb the wealth ladder gradually,

and intangible assets. Intangible

through honest means. Whereas

assets include family relationships,

others might just make a leap from

time, and pleasant memories. When

the 1st step to the top most step,

wealth is defined in such a manner,

gaining wealth through dishonest

there is less 'miserableness.' True

means. We all tend to associate

wealth consists of being happy,

wealth with money, our savings, our

healthy, feeling successful and

We all may know that “Health is Wealth” and our health is in our hands. How many of us are really conscious about it? fulfilled, maintaining and enjoying

Beauty is often associated with

loving supportive relationships,

celebrities or individuals who are

finding uplifting and satisfying work

good in looks. But are looks so

as well as having our desires and

important that one might forget the

needs met and enjoying life to the

importance of the beauty within? I

fullest. If one can have all these

think not. In my opinion, being

things in their life – they are wealthy!

beautiful physically is a very

Health is a state of complete physical,

comparative terminology, and

mental, and social well-being and not

different people might have different

merely the absence of disease or

opinion about two 'beautiful' people.

infirmity. We might think that if a

For example: A might say that Miss. X

person does not have any ailment,

is more beautiful than Miss. Y,

then he is healthy. But this is often

whereas B might be of the opinion

not the case.

that Miss. Y is more beautiful than

According to the definition, being

Miss. X. Nobody really thinks about

healthy does not mean being just

how Miss. X or Miss. Y is from inside,

physical fitness. Being healthy also

how their heart is, whether they are

means that a person is mentally

mannered, cultured or not. Gaining

stable, at peace and content with

praise for being physically beautiful is

what they have. Good health can be

easy, but one has no contribution in

attained through regular exercise.

that. On the other hand, receiving

Hence once again, we must work

praise for ones' behaviour, manners

towards being healthy, and achieving

and thoughts is indeed a very

our goal. We all may know that

commendable thing.

“Health is Wealth” and our health is in our hands. How many of us are

Beauty is being able to see beyond

really conscious about it?

the superficial, look within, look at

Mental health refers to an

the depth of being, not just the

individual's emotional and

surface. If the heart is warm, and the

psychological well-being. "A state of

smile makes one feel comfortable,

emotional and psychological well-

then the beauty will reveal itself, by

being in which an individual is able to

way of feeling. Beauty cannot be,

use his or her cognitive and

should not be associated with

emotional capabilities, function in

flawlessness or sexiness. It is not

society, and meet the ordinary

necessarily a certain look, but more

demands of everyday life." Good

of an attitude and modesty. True

physical and mental health plays a

beauty is to be confident in one's self,

very crucial role in helping us

not to believe that you are anything

perform effectively and efficiently

less then lovely. Beauty is not a

and hence, achieve goals.

contest; in life, there are no prizes for being the most 'beautiful'. Beauty is

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 53

A mountain reflected in a peaceful lake, a person who has inner peace, a cat quietly purring – they all reflect beauty. An old saying captures the underlying meaning of beauty perfectly: "beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder."

timeless and hard to define.

respect us, we truly have failed to live

A mountain reflected in a peaceful

our lives. People identify the concept

lake, a person who has inner peace, a

of success with having a lot of money,

cat quietly purring – they all reflect

achieving fame, having a good career,

beauty. An old saying captures the

finding your true love, raising a

underlying meaning of beauty

family, owning your own home,

perfectly: "beauty lies in the eyes of

possessing all the things one ever

the beholder."

wanted, being able to retire, and

Success is the progressive realization

things like that. But countless people

of worthy dreams, goals, and

have achieved these goals only to find

objectives. One never truly arrives at

themselves feeling unhappy inside

a destination called success, but

more often than they thought

rather is either successful or not

possible. They wonder if there is

successful at achieving goals and

supposed to be more to life than all

reaching objectives. In other words,

those things, or if they just missed a

success is not a destination, but each

secret somewhere along the line.

success is a step that we take on the path to our destination. In order to

A lot of people think that if they just

succeed, we must successfully

have positive thoughts, ask for the

navigate the path to our dreams,

desires and wait, they will come true.

goals, and objectives. Success is such

This is not true. Action is required on

a vague term though, that it can be

our part the right kind of action so as

taken in many ways. We might

to develop our desires into reality.

consider ourselves successful if we

Hence, in order to be the rightful

make a lot of money, or if we are the

owner of wealth, health, beauty and

youngest person in the history of the

success, we must make efforts, focus

company to make president. Others

ourselves, and work towards

still will consider themselves

achieving our goals. Our aim should

successful if they leave behind a

not be just owning a bungalow, 3-4

loving family, people who care about

cars, the most expensive clothes, but

them and the fact that whatever they

also understanding that at the end of

did, they made some impact by doing

the day, we leave all our materialistic

it.

possessions behind but take our good-

I believe that success is being able to

nature and manners with us. These 4

connect with others, and make a

elements held plenty of value in the

positive impact in their lives. We can

past, present and will continue to do

have all the money in the world, but

so in the future as well.

if we don't have people who love, or 54

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

Auto Review

The

City On Wheel

HONDA CITY

Vivek Venugopal

No car defines the Indian mid-size segment like the Honda City. The City is now 45kg lighter and 10mm taller than the outgoing model with the length and width unchanged. However the trump card will be the introduction of the diesel engine alongside the highly proven 1.5 iVTEC in manual and auto variants.

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 55

W

hy fix something that isn't broken is the first thing that comes to mind when one drives every new generation of the Honda City. While the current model is still competitive, Honda has gone lengths to make the car better and importantly, this new fourth generation model has something that has been missing for the last fifteen years- a diesel engine.

No car defines the Indian mid-size segment like the Honda City. Ever since the first generation came along in 1998, Honda has had a successful run selling close to 4.3 lakh cars with the last third generation model alone accounting to nearly 1,90,000 units.

Each of the models had a life span of five years between them and now we have the fourth generation model.

The styling, for starters, is rather evolutionary especially at the front.

The large chrome grille and the elongated headlamps give it a familiar City face but the front end now seems wider and has better road presence. The sides have a distinct character line and elongated silhouette that accentuates the 50mm longer wheelbase of the new car. The rear had a higher boot lid 56

UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

and longer tail lamps that lend it a slightly BMW-ish look. The City is now 45kg lighter and 10mm taller than the outgoing model with the length and width unchanged.

The interiors have been improved with better space utilization. Two six footers can now sit behind each other comfortably. The front seats are wide with good side support although seat base is now thinner than before. The dashboard gets a total revamp along the lines of the new Jazz (also coming to India). The top of the line model gets a myriad of new equipments like keyless entry, button start for the engine, sunroof, cruise control, touch controls for the AC, reverse camera, rear AC vents etc to name a few. In the new age of big phones and inadequate battery life, Honda has thoughtfully provided four charging points for all your mobile devices.

The rear seat is very comfortable with good posture and a sloping floor, although head room has been slightly compromised with the sloping roofline. Boot is the largest in its class with 510 litres.

The trump card of the new City will however be the introduction of the diesel engine alongside the highly

It comes in a five speed manual and a CVT automatic, with seven virtual ratios and a paddle shift to toggle between them.

Although it sounds a bit noisy out on the open road, the efficient CVT makes great sense in today's congested roads.

proven 1.5 iVTEC in manual and auto variants. This is the same 1.5 litre engine that powers the diesel Amaze and has an identical 98.6bhp and 20.4 kg-m of torque. The gear ratios are identical to the Amaze too, but the City gets an additional sixth gear for added fuel efficiency.

Drivability is excellent with turbo-lag almost non existent although some might miss the sudden punch at 2000rpm like in most diesels.

Performance on the highway is good, although rivals like the Vento/Rapid and Verna are considerably faster.

Another area where the City diesel lags behind is the noise and vibration in the cabin. Although Honda has gone lengths to add more sound insulation in the cabin than the Amaze, the diesel engine is still audible and the rather unrefined clatter of the aluminium block makes it even worse. Still, it is a very fuel efficient engine that will please most high milers.

Those looking for refinement would however love the petrol. It is the same 1.5 iVTEC from the older car with minor changes. Power now stands at 116bhp and torque is a healthy 14.7 kg-m. It is a smooth revvy unit that pastes a smile on every enthusiast's face and can return good fuel efficiency when

driven sedately. It comes in a five speed manual and a CVT automatic, with seven virtual ratios and a paddle shift to toggle between them.

Although it sounds a bit noisy out on the open road, the efficient CVT makes great sense in today's congested roads.

The last gen City rides and handles rather well for its segment and the new one is no different. The steering is quite accurate and body control is good for a spirited drive. The slow speed ride is a bit harsh, but it improves considerably with speed.

The narrow 175/65 R15 tyres on cheap looking wheels don't do much justice to the chassis' capabilities and quite lack the grip when it comes to high speed braking.

While I got to drive the three variants of the City a month and a half prior to its launch in the first week of Jan 2014, the pricing is still unclear. The new City with its better interiors and equipments is not just a replacement for the outgoing model; it will also try and fill in the void left by the discontinued Civic. What is for sure is, Honda will continue to dominate the segment and have an even better success story to tell us at the end of the next five years.

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 57

Books

You First Inspire Your Team to Grow Up, Get Along, and Get Stuff Done

by Liane Davey

F

or every business team work is the most essential key to success.

To make your team work, Your First helps to build your team up

to success. Helping to guide on how to build up your in a clear

manner with good advice on which you can trustworthily depend on.

With an ease of writing, you won't just feel as if you are reading a book, but actually interactively talking to the writer herself on how to help your team succeed.

The E-Myth Revisited Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber

T

his book is a revised and an updated edition of the bestseller about the myths of starting your business. Michael E. Gerber is a small business consultant with a sharp insight which has been

gained through many years of experience. He points out some common made assumptions, set out expectations and many other things can get in the way of running a successful business. Gerber guides you through the numerous steps of running a business, from starting out to finally being able to grow it into a big business.

Instant Profit Instant Profit by Bradley Sugars

Y

ou always want quick money whenever you are starting or doing a business. In the book Instant Profit Bradley J. Sugars, a worldrenowned entrepreneur, author, and business coach teaches you the ways in which you can improve your business and boost profits fast using the 4 M's of profit: management, money, marketing, and merchandise.

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 59

Tested Advertising Methods Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples, Revised by Fred Hahn

A

dvertising is the key to selling anyone's business. And as a

business person you must know your advertising methods.

Caples shows as to how to make your advertising successful. It is

only if your ad's are successful that your product will be a success. He talks about why some advertisements work and why some fail, and how to write headlines which will attract readers, choose graphics which can help sell your product and how to find the right appeal for your specified audience.

The Secrets of Closing the Sale The Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar

E

veryone has to know how to sell their product no matter what their profession is. They have to be able to sell their ideas and themselves in order to find success. And this book is exactly

what will help your clients say the long awaited "yes." Any salesperson can get help from this book on how to make their sales and get to the top of the charts with the most clients.

Little Red Book of Selling Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness: How to Make Sales Forever by Jeffrey Gitomer

L

ittle Red Book of Selling is short, sweet, and to the point as it's packed with answers which many people are searching for in order to help them make sales for the moment and the rest of their lives. This book contains an MP3 CD of the audio book. This is to play on either an MP3 CD player or on your laptop/desktop or to rip to an iPod or other mp3 player, a DVD of the video presentation of the book. A CD-Rom that contains digital video files to be played on a laptop/desktop or ripped to an iPod or other mp3 player with video capability which will help the sales person to listen or watch any time, or anywhere.

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UNIQUE TIMES January 2014

Books

Secrets of Question-Based Selling Secrets of Question-Based Selling: How the Most Powerful Tool in Business Can Double Your Sales Results by Thomas Freese

T

his book is basically a "commonsense" approach to sales, which is based on the theory that "what" salespeople ask-and "how"

they ask-is more important than anything they will ever say. By

asking the right questions at the right time, you will learn to uncover the prospect's needs. With this book you will learn how to penetrate more accounts, establish greater credibility, and generate more return calls.

The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss

F

orget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferredlife plan–there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream

is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, The 4-Hour Workweek is the blueprint.

The Wolf of Wall Street The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort

B

y day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could, on drugs, sex, and international globetrotting. From the binge that sank a 170-foot motor yacht and

ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids waiting at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in his own inimitable words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called him The Wolf of Wall Street.

January 2014 UNIQUE TIMES 61

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