It’s obvious we never worry about becoming great, if we think we are good. Because good is the enemy of great. The reading of this first chapter had given me some great insights for my works and consultancy stuffs. But still eager to read the rest soon if the time permits. One interesting thing about this book is the companies which were considered for the analysis. These companies are quite unknown in the Sri Lankan context and the author had done a perfect study by collecting 50 years of articles (around 6,000), over 2000 pages of interview scripts, and 384 million bytes of computer data.

Study Summary 

So what is good to great? We know some companies perform well in the market, despite of unattractive industries. So what is the black box secret to become the great? I’m also interested to know the black box soon.

Generally if a company is well performing and well known its obvious the  CEO is also known. They give interviews, they talk about themselves, and their image will be used to strengthen the company since they act as the brand ambassadors. But in this good to great case the circumstance seems to be different. The great companies had a type of leadership totally different to well known personalities. They are self effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy and similar to Lincoln and Socrates and most importantly they had grown inside from the company and not recruited from outside. Please find the summary below

The strategy did not separate the great companies to good. Both set had well defined strategies, and these companies did not focus principally on what to do to become great, but instead focused equally on what not to do and what to stop doing. Seems they focused the indirect factor more and more. Even in terms of technology used, it didn’t become significant for these companies. They used it to accelerate the transformation but it s not a cause for transformation.

It is also common sometimes companies grow bigger and bigger and become great when the industry is performing well. But according to this book the companies considered for the study are exceptional. Their tremendous progress wasn’t because of the industry. All were not operated in healthy industries and some were operated in terrible industries too.

The total analysis of the book was depended on six phenomena, starting from

1-      Level 5 leadership

2-      First who, then what,

3-      Confront the brutal fact,

4-      Hedgehog concept

5-      A culture of discipline

6-      Technology accelerators

When looking at these points, it is obvious to see having great strategy, having personality leaders, having technology won’t make sense if the black box factors are not there. Let me read the remaining chapters and share the black box secret with you all .

Also mergers and acquisitions didn’t play a major role on these companies. In Sri Lankan context there are instances where companies merged together and did not reveal the expected output. While reading this book I thought to do the same analysis in the Sri Lankan context to see, whether these principles work in Sri Lanka as well or whether the findings are only relevant to the foreign context.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 22,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 8 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

The world is full of different types of people. Some are hard workers, some were born with silver spoon, some are lucky, some are lazy, some just give a try and see whether things are happening and so on and so forth. That’s why the world is highly diversified with numerous type of human beings.

I have heard people saying “I tried it but didn’t work out”, “I couldn’t do it”, “I am going to give up” etc etc. As human beings in most of the circumstances we find barriers after a certain limit. Some try to break those barriers and move forward. Some fail in doing that. This post is totally dedicated to people those who fought back to achieve their goals, people still defend their destiny with problems and struggles in life.  I wanted to combine some stories and thoughts here which inspired me the most.

Just wanted to recall a great personality who was my inspiration at this time, a person struggled for his daily meals, once in a week he gets food from a Hindu temple, and to get that good food he walked for over an hour. A great personality I admired the most. The thoughts, his inventions will still remain in the world until the end of this universe. He is an example person for never giving up.  Steve Job…  With all struggle in his life he had beaten every problems in life.

So what you think as the most important thing for never giving up thought? Is it your ability, behavior, perception? Nothing, it’s your attitude. No matter how you feel, you should get up, dress up and show up. It’s your attitude. It’s all about the “Positive Attitude”.

Whenever you start something which you think as correct, you should not have any second thoughts. Make sure you will win, win in style. Do not think “Will I win?” “Am I in a position to do it?”. Don’t think either in negatives or questions. It will always be your attitude at the beginning of any difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome. If you see the below picture, what will be your answer?

Half empty glass? or Half filled glass? The answer shows your attitude. Positive mind set people would say it is a glass filled half. People with negative attitude would says it’s half empty. Never think negatively….It prevents you from achieving your dreams…. Always Dream more while you are awake…… Determine whom you want to be….Work towards it. Achieve what you like.

I wanted to share a story here. A story of an athlete. A person who didn’t gave up. Generally in races the athlete who comes first only will be noted and appreciated. Last person will never get noted. But the story here something different.  Derek Redmond in the 1992 Olympics despite of an injury which haunted him and made him to finish the race last. However his attitude made the world to look at him, made him to get standing ovation from the crowd over 65,000. Though his dream was interrupted he didn’t give up. He set out to dominate and win his dream. He continued his dream though injured the injury with his father and finished the race.

If you want to be successful, you can start at anytime. But you must start. Don’t make the mistake of not doing anything because you can only do a little. Do what you can do. It could be studies, it could be work, it could be your business. No matter whether its small or big but, think big and achieve big. To be aware of what you want and not go after it, to spend years wondering if something could have materialized, and never knowing if it could have been, is a tragic waste of your life. The worst thing you can do is not to try.

Assume a port is your dream, and you are in the middle of a sea on a boat. If you want to reach the port you must sail. You must sail towards the port. Do not lie at anchor. You must sail off in the direction of your dreams, not drift. A journey of a thousand miles, begins with one step. While your journey you may face failures, disappointments, frustrations, and many…But NEVER GIVE UP until you achieve your dreams… You might be having problem with your loved ones, with the business partners, with the family, with you wealth. But nothing should stop your journey towards your goals. God invented problems to fine tune humans, if you worry about your early struggle in life, you may not have a good and fruitful journey in later life. The problems you face will become a norm for you once you win. When you look back after you win, you will laugh at the problems.  Watch this video:

Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, Not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life……     A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes.  It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.

Let’s change to make a change!!! 

“The Optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty, whereas the pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity” 

My blog is always ranked high in Google Search Engine for important keywords, drives me several visitors per day. Whenever I update my blog the post quickly get scrolled and showed in the top position in the Google ranking. For some keywords I wondered how it got ranked up. Later I identified Google has linked the Gmail and SEO together. If the person in your Gmail contact searches for a keyword which is relating to your post / site then the respective post / site comes up in the ranking. Lets try an example and see.

Step one – I logged in to my Gmail from other account, which has already my main Gmail contacts saved.

Step Two – I had written a post about invest in Sri Lanka in this blog, and searched for the keyword “Invest in Sri Lanka”, where my blog appeared in the first page as 8^th and 10^th result. Please see the screen shot:

Then I logged out from Gmail and again searched for the relevant keyword, where I couldn’t see the same results. So I’m not sure about my guess on these, however I can see that Google tempting people to use Gmail more and giving more personalized search results.

When I see this I got an idea, it’s good for Sri Lankan firms in the following ways:

1-    Use Gmail for communication with customers (Specially travel firms)

2-    When they reply it will be saved as contact

3-    At the same time they should share their online presence such as website, blogs etc etc. Both should be killer content.

4-    Now when they search for relevant keywords since the firms are in the contact list with shared content the relevant content will appear in the first page, which might surprise them and create credibility.

(But using Gmail for customer contact may not represent professionalism since people may worry about the trust).

These are just my observation and the ideas are totally with predictions. If I’m wrong please correct me.

1. Good is the Enemy of Great……& that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great…..
   • I got this when I read the “Good to Great “Book written by Jim Collins.  It is 100% true that people stop their process once they believe they are doing good. Then they fail to take the next step to be great.
2. Not words win arguments… only action…..
   • It is obvious that everyday we spend our valuable time in arguing and justifying.  But it’s always simple to finish any arguments. If anyone argues with you, and if you don’t agree with them, keep quiet, save your time, show it in your action.
3. A humble visionary, leader, teacher and inspiration. He will be sadly missed but his legacy will live on to inspire countless others as he has inspired me. Thank you Steve Jobs and rest in peace
   • Loss of my admired personality, Steve Job. I have used him as an example in several places, several training programmes. He is not in the world today, but his legendary marks will always remain until the death of this universe.
4. “When You Are In The Light, Everything Follows You, But When You Enter Into The Dark, Even Your Own Shadow Doesn’t Follow You.
   • In life when you have money, you can see a lot of people around you. Though you have negatives they never speak about it when you have wealth. They do what you say, they agree what you say. But when you are alone without anything no one will be there for you, to care , to cry or even to help.
5. Coin Always Makes Sound, But The Currency Notes Are Always Silent. So When Your Value Increases Keep Yourself Calm and Silent”
6. You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.
   • Without taking risks you can’t lead a perfect live. If you want to realize the real rhythm of life take risks. Higher the risk bigger the return.
7. There are no perfect fathers, but a father will always love perfectly. Remember to Care for those who care for you…………… Watch this video…..
   • An amazing video which made me cry.

8. The best students are those who never quite believe their professors …..
   • Obviously.
9. LEARNING TO LIVE WITHOUT RECOGNITION IS A SKILL!If anyone ever tells you that your work is unprofessional, remember:amateurs built the Ark and professionals built the Titanic.DON’T LOOK TO BECOME A PERSON OF SUCCESS, LOOK INSTEAD TO BECOME A
   PERSON OF VALUE!

10. Take the first step in faith, you don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step…….

• Simply thousand miles of journey begins with the single step, if we actually worry about the 100 steps we won’t make the first step.

11. If you win, you need not have to explain…If you lose, you should not be there to explain..

12. In a day, when you don’t come across any problems, you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path…

• If the life is so smooth the life won’t be interesting.  Simply a smooth sea won’t make good sailors. When you face problems only you will be polished up to face the future challenges.

13. When it rains, most birds head for shelter; the eagle is the only bird that, in order to avoid the rain, starts flying above the cloud. …
Winners win by pushing their limits until their limits become the norm.

• One of my famous saying. Absolutely amazing. A story which impressed me. The story of an Eagle.

14. Strength is a matter of a made up mind

15. Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever- Lace Armstrong

• Whenever you start something, if you fail giving up is not the solution for everything.  Take the pain, try your level best, win the war, be a mercenary.

Sri Lanka is the most natural sightseeing friendly island in the Indian Ocean and the popularity and number of tourists coming to the island keep on and still continues to grow and grow. One of the reasons for Sri Lanka to be most attractive tourist destination in Indian region is because it boasts the finest beaches in the world which enable tourist to do diving, swimming and coral sightseeing. Crystal clear waters which come and conquer the sands of srilankan shores will make our feet feel like silk cloth between the toes.

Not only is the ocean there is also another secret behind the success story of srilankan tourism. The secret is none other than the heritage historical places of Sri Lanka which illustrates the nation’s history and the importance of such an island in the middle of Indian Ocean. Anuradhapura, Polannaruwa and Kandy are growing as most popular tourist spot which resides in Sri Lanka. The historical importance of these places keeps on attracting tourist who is more interested in learning the culture of Sri Lanka.

Other than the beaches and historical importance, Sri Lanka is also an island which defines convention. According to island bio-geographic theory, small islands don’t have large mammals. Regrettably for theory Sri Lanka is an exemption, as the largest terrestrial mammal in Asia, the Asian Elephant, is found on the island. Sri Lanka is beyond hesitation that the best place in Asia to see the Asian Elephant. Uda Walawe National Park, to the south of the central mountain massif, and the tourists are assured to see elephants. During September and October an annual concentration of elephants, called ‘The Gathering’, takes place on the receding shores of the Minneriya Lake in Minneriya National Park.  ‘The Gathering’ is surely one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on the planet.

The tourism merchandise in Sri Lanka is growing and so too does the infrastructure of Sri Lankan transportation and accommodation facilities. There are mountains to tramp and hills to trek. These hiking spots are improved so that the tourists can enjoy the trekking of mountain with the worry about the safety of the lives. Sri Lanka is not only about the beach and what lies beneath the brilliant blue waters. It’s the culture which prevails in Sri Lanka which makes it special. Ever smiling, generous and always obliging people of Sri Lanka make the tourist feels they are welcomed to this wonderful island- A promise like no other.

I visited Kandy last month for training and stayed in a nice holiday bungalow. It’s a very traditional and eco free place. It was only ten days ago in early Dec, that I sat out with my collogue in the verandah in that home after a heavy dinner. It was  pitched dark and so  silent, calm and quite. It was like the world was absolutely still. After years, I too could hear the frogs making such a noise with the evening showers. They sound so happy and continued till I fell asleep.

Suddenly my mobile rang, it was a thundering noise. It would have been heard   by   any person, even 500 yards away. In Colombo it is not even heard within the home. That was the silence that I am talking of.

Thereafter, it was just one sleep and I was up  only with the many  serene voices of the     birds led  by the cock a doodle do as he wakes the whole village. Thank god, it was not by a screaming bus or a three wheeler that is so common in the city.

I was up in a flash and as I opened the front door, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I have never seen two huge eagles on any lawn the noise and the sound they created, as they  flew was never heard before   and still it lingers in my ears.

I have enjoyed the evening and the morning at that home and I thought just had a chat with the owner and I got to know he is planning to sell the house to the investors. It’s lovely place for a travel holiday bungalow. People those who buys it will definitely earn great profit in future and many more. I have got some snap shot of the place, see those below – contact me if you are interested ragulfun at gmail.com

Challenges, sorrows, failures, disappointments, success, risks, recognition, satisfaction etc etc these words are always entangled with an entrepreneur’s life. As much as you gain you lose the same. Sometimes joys, sometimes sorrow, sometimes confusions, sometimes challenges, life is not easy as you think. When travelling in this path, after sometime if you turn back and see you will realize what you have earned as well as what you have lost.

Now I’m an entrepreneur. It’s nearly one year since I started to be on my own and just thought of writing this post today to share my difficulties and experience I underwent during this period.  I’m sure I would not have learned so much if I had worked for a company because I wouldn’t have taken such risk if I worked for someone. As an Entrepreneur I faced so many challenges and there are heaps of risks accumulated in my list. I was always willing to take challenges not only these days even when I was schooling.  I guess this life further strengthen my challenging ability.

When I was working for a company I was in two mind i.e. a year back, whether to start my own venture or not. I know the decision I’m going to take has an opportunity cost. If I continue to work on my own definitely I can earn more than what I would have been getting by working in a company per month. However I knew an entrepreneur’s life is not an easy one. I realized that always I cannot be in the safe zone. So many advices from people circled my mind. Some advised positively and many negatively. Some looked at this as an immature decision and some laughed at it. When I told I’m going to be my own, the biggest question people asked was “how you are going to survive?”. However my gut feeling didn’t allow me to keep quiet and quit my decision. I know I can make it, but the big concern I had was about my parents and my girl. Even my parents were not in favour of my decision. They told me to try and see.  Generally girls wants their guys to be in a decent job with a safe zone life. It’s rare that they want the person whom they are going to marry to be an entrepreneur at his very early stage struggling to achieve the victory.  When I told the decision to my girl, “You can, we will rock “, that was the reply she told me. All the questions I had about my decision vanished away and I started to be on my own.

After struggling for 8 months I’m a happiest person these days with the smile thinking about my company. Now I have a brand of my own. I’m not going to say I have earned money but I’m happy about the growth of my brand. I can proudly say that I’m an owner of a brand.

I never compare my life to any others. Because I know each individual’s path of journey is totally different. I know now I’m no more in the safe zone. Now I have taken my brand to a certain extent. I have clients both locally and internationally. Apart from that “Epitom” is a quite a known brand in the HR sector of Sri Lanka. Those days handling foreign clients was a nightmare to me. Because it was very difficult to understand their language. These days I feel it’s pretty easy, one thing always there in my mind, all are human. Deals are done.

I’m very grateful to my cousin because he is the one who encouraged and supported me to get in to the business with him. Now we both are in to two different fields. We both meet up regularly and discuss the progress of our brands. Though we are not partners today still we share our experiences.”friend in need is a friend in deed” this is a common saying and I realized it as 100% true because of my friend who helped me to start my journey as an entrepreneur. Also I’m thankful to my previous bosses who helped me and guided me in many occasions.

Whenever I’m disappointed and say “I’m totally fed up” I had an encouragement always. The words from my girl “Don’t worry we will rock” keep myself motivated which I feel as the real motivation exists in the word. It carries lots of value and energy. Still a long path to go and  I know I have to answer so many people who are around me but I will try my best and work hard to keep the spirit going.

Few things I would like to share with people who are thinking of start something of their own.

1-      Always keep in mind that money is not the ultimate thing, it’s the experience you earn.

2-      Try to avoid partnerships, but get good assistance and guidance from someone.

3-      Do not have second thoughts of what you are going to do.

4-      Always value your gut feeling, If it says yes for anything “GO FOR IT”.

5-      Careful about your competition, always monitor them.

6-      Hard work matters a lot, but you should believe in god too. Always start the day with a prayer.

7-      Make sure you are not away from family and friend. Be in touch with them (This I failed to do).

8-      Though you are struggling do not give up. One day you will succeed. It is always dark before dawn.

9-      Do not get discouraged by others words. Only action can win arguments. Prove them and show that they are wrong. Do not argue with others. You will lose your precious time.

10-  Always remember people helped you. Even a small help matters a lot.

11-  Do not reveal your secret to anyone. One day it might destroy you.

12-  In business you will start something and end up in some other. Thats the entrepreneurship nature. But love what you do.

13-  Take big risks, the return is always high.

14-  Manage your cash flow properly .Keep reserves for future growth.

15-  Try to attend as much as external events. It will help you one day. Create your own network. Don’t place yourself in a short circle. World is too big.

16-  If you think the negatives in your mind are beating positives try to speak to someone who encourages you. Try avoiding speaking to negative mind set people. Because their thoughts can destroy you.

17-  Listen and watch motivational videos and read articles about entrepreneurs. It will keep you in the game. That’s why people say if you want to get the real motivation speak to an entrepreneur because they are the people always motivate themselves.

18-  Give rest to mind and thought. That is important for more productive days.

19-  Pay your overheads on time, do not keep any balances.

20-  People might say “You cannot be a Bill Gates”, Even if you cannot be you can have a try. Speaking from the safe zone is always easy. Forget about them.

21-  Create a clear vision and work towards it. When you see the success the best happiest person is always “YOU”.

22-  Always look for opportunities. It’s all around you.

23-  Until you establish yourself strong enough try to do one thing at a time. Do it correctly. Do not consider too many options at once. It will diversify your effort and bring you less success.

24-  Save some cash for marketing.

25-  Never fall into debts. It will destroy your liquidity.

26-  Try to get the help from others but give the return back. If you didn’t do that then you will be stucked in the middle.

These are some key learning points I have studied during this one year. I didn’t lose any but instead I gained so much. New set of people, new pattern of thinking, new ways of implementing things, international contacts, out of box thinking, understanding of so many people, market, the taste of failures etc etc.  It’s not about money, it’s about experience which are worthy than money. In the entrepreneurship life you will lose money. Money won’t come as you expect. It will take its momentum first to get the control.

“The Secret” and “The Power” those are the two books given me the control over this life. Sometimes mind works in the negative way. If you feel so, just take a deep breath and continue your work. You will see the real different. I would recommend you all to read these books / even you can buy the movie at Liberty Plaza. Listen / read these, your world will change.

To get the outcome of your hard work it will take time. The negative thoughts might take you away from your vision. Do never give up. Walt Disney took 10 years to come up with the world loving character Micky Mouse and even he had pulled off from the company he worked for saying he is not having creativity. Steve Jobs got pulled from his own company later again he became the CEO of the business. It’s all about hard work, but in the entrepreneur life it will take some time for you to get the maximum out from the hard work.

Entrepreneurs remember one thing,

“Winner Win by pushing their limits until the limits becomes the norm

My Web site

The pearl isle of the Indian Ocean has been a sensational destination from the ancient days to date in various aspects. The strategic location in the Silk Route, the rich tradition and the culture of the country, the numerous natural treasures, and many more reasons have made the country a prominent nation in the world. The dark shadows of war have moved out of the country and now the country is enjoying the peace. The peace has started to show prosperity in most of the sectors of the country. As the result the country is prospecting to be the global hub in the South Asian region for trade, investment, tourism, communications, financial services and many more. The government is in the view of developing the country through partnering with the private investments.

Investing in a country which is developing gives relatively higher returns rather investing in a country which is developed and stagnated. Especially in the case of Sri Lanka which has wide range of positive and favourable features for investment can be a profitable investment opportunity.

if you want to do a market study / feasibility study / business planing  ,you  can contact me – ragulan at epitom.org / visit www.epitom.org

Many new and old companies are becoming as sick companies due to several reasons. High competition in the market, rapid changes in the industry, rigid organizational activities, lack of prospective vision and long term orientation, lack of resources, incompetent strategies, under performance, over anticipation and many more effectiveness related aspects contribute for a company to become sick.

Contribution of a Consultancy Firm in Reconstructing a Sick Company

Capital restructuring, raising fresh capital, capital reduction, organizational reengineering, divestiture and liquidation are few options which can be suggested by a consultancy firm for a sick company. Either increasing the competitiveness or ensuring the survival and recovery of the company or even closure while maximum realization of value can be the motive underlying in the suggestions given by a consultancy company.

The rebuilding and reconstructing process of a sick company can be done mainly in three phases. One can be relating to Strategies to be presumed, second can be related to performance related improvements and third can be financing options for rebuilding.

-        Strategically Rebuilding a Sick Company

• Corporate restructuring and organizational structure change
• Growth strategy
• Harvesting strategy
• Organizing for survival
• Retrenchment, downsizing and organizational rearrangement

-        Performance Improvement to Rebuild a Sick Company

• Process reengineering
• Cost, process and performance benchmarking
• Budgeting
• Outsourcing

-        Corporate Finance Options for Rebuilding a Sick Company

• Mergers and acquisitions/divestitures
• Split-ups, equity carve outs and divestitures
• Capital restructuring
• Liquidation and recovery
• Downsizing

Sick Company – Small Enterprises of Sri Lanka – Assistance from Consultancy Firms

Rebuilding and reconstructing these companies involve huge investments, tremendous efforts, pool of expertise, advices and guidance. Specially in a developing country like Sri Lankan’s scenario it imposes huge financial assistances and these companies are burden for the country and which would pull back the economic prosperity of the country and the development of all aspects of the business sector as well.

In financial term a sick company can be identified as a company which is unable to settle its debts. In marketing perspective a sick company can be seen as a company which is uncompetitive and looses its market share due to high competition and poor customer satisfaction. In operational perspective a sick company can be identified as a company which produces low quality products and involve huge defects and dissatisfy its customers.

Globalization is a main factor which has made many local companies to become sick. Sri Lanka has been severely affected by globalization due to the open economy policy and liberalization of the Balance of Payment.

Many Small Enterprises of Sri Lanka has become redundant from marketing, financial, operational and even in many perspectives. This can be explained by a cycle of redundancy. When new products and services are bombard into the local market the home products and services started to be considered as unattractive and uncompetitive. The Small Business Enterprises starts to loose their market share and from the marketing perspective these companies starts to become sick. When this happens the companies try to reduce their costs and offer their products at a lower price in order to capture the market but this in turn affects the quality of the products produced and this leads to low quality out puts and huge defects. Here the company becomes sick from the operational perspective also. Finally this makes the company to bankrupt and financially also the company becomes ill.

In many instances these failures of the business can be rectified to an extent provided that there are proper and prospective guidance and strategies are utilized. Most of the Sri Lankan businesses lack in right time strategies and guidance due to unavailability and unawareness. These issues can be mitigated to a considerable extent through the assistance of industry experts.

Business consultancy is an act which advices appropriate measure and steps at the right time which need to be followed by businesses to avoid their failures and losses. Consultants are in a better position to help the businesses as they are surfing in the industry and posses sound knowledge about the industry.

Right strategy at right time would avoid failures and break downs.