This has got to be the Coolest Chair in the World.
Check out the "Flexible Love", an accordion folding chair made from recycled wood and paper:
I came across a newly opened doughnut shop the other day. You couldn't miss it because there was a long queue snaking outside.
Wow, it must be good.
So we joined the queue and started waiting patiently.
When it finally came to our turn after more than 30 minutes, we had already decided on the flavours we want.
It dawned on us that the queue was caused by slow service rather than popular demand.
The simple matter of packing up 12 doughnuts took the assistant more than 3 minutes. She had to fold the boxes from its flat pack form, put the doughnuts into the box, and shuttle between the counter and kitchen for the flavours that have run out.
I counted six helpers in the kitchen preparing the doughnuts, but only one serving the customers. With a simple reshuffling of workers, the wait could have easily been halved.
Yet unsuspecting people were joining the queue all the time. But treat your customers like fools, and they will eventually wise up and take their business elsewhere.
Whenever I get a customer enquiry, I would ask where they found us from. It's the simplest and most effective way of tracking our marketing efforts.
Usually they found us from the Internet, or came across our booth at the various trade shows we do.
The other day, the customer's answer took me by surprise.
"Oh, I found you from Home & Decor magazine. The latest issue."
Home & Decor is one of the most established and well-respected interior design and renovation magazine in Singapore and Malaysia.
It was certainly a pleasant surprise because it has been some time since I met with the writer Sio Hui.
So I popped by the big magazine kiosk in IMM building where our office is, and bought a copy.
There're lots of interesting snippets in the article, and introduces various recycled and renewable materials that are both funky and eco-friendly.
Star Bamboo was mentioned for our "resilient bamboo flooring and furniture fabrications".
I would like to scan the article (at least part of it) for you, especially those international clients from outside Singapore.
So I'm dropping an email to the magazine to seek their permission first. Will update you once I hear from them. :)
Thanks again, Home & Decor!
I started this Star Bamboo blog just 3 short days ago. So when this landed in my email, I couldn't help but laugh:
Yes, I will be recording my personal thoughts about our business.
No, I am writing it myself.
I see this blog as a way to communicate directly with you - our current and future clients and partners.
So this is something that cannot be delegated away.
Thankfully I am enjoying the process so far, and will aim to have at least one new post per (working) day.
Not just on my personal thoughts about the business, but also our marketing ideas, our products, eco-trends and developments in Singapore and the world, and anything else that will help you understand our philosophy and how we tick.
After all, it's easier to do business with someone you understand.
So if you have any suggestions or ideas on blogging topics, do let me know. :)
Today, the newly appointed Singapore Consul-General in Xiamen, China, Ms Tee Bee Lock, visited our factory in Shaowu, Fujian.
Star Bamboo is one of the more prominent Singapore companies in the area, so it was very nice of them to come by for a chat.
The Consulate-General office is a great channel to reflect our concerns and feedback about doing business in China.
According to their web site, their mission is to "safeguard the interests of Singaporeans visiting, living and working in the Consular Districts of the Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan Provinces as well as to promote bilateral, political, economic and cultural links between Singapore and China."
Sounds great to me. :)
Our Managing Director, Mr Tan Yin Keong, postponed his flight for 2 days in order to meet her.
In this day of instantaneous electronic communication, nothing beats talking face to face.
Our Managing Director, Mr Tan Yin Keong, explaining how bamboo flooring is produced to the Singapore Consul-General, Ms Tee Bee Lock (right). At the center is Ms Tee's assistant.
Mr Tan and Ms Tee in front of our Star Bamboo factory. Actually, this is the back of the building - all the action happens at the front.When your brand is lots of things (like AOL became) then the expectations were all over the place and the emotional resonance started to fade.This is something we pay close attention to. That is why as we expand our product portfolio, we have to maintain a common theme.
