Punctuality

Ever had the thought of showing up slightly later than the appointment time because you think :

• The other party may be late

• It's okay to be late

• I do not want to wait for the other party

If you are guilty of any of the above, you may want to do some self-reflection after reading the following.
In Singapore context, when two parties fixed an appointment to meet, the party playing the role of the consumer assumed the rights to be late because he/she may be giving you a business.

We are constantly puzzled by people who fixed an appointment and cannot be there at the stipulated time and date. In order for the society to progress, the people must change, the mindset must change. If time is precious to you, it is so everyone too.

You couldn't be expecting your potential clients to be on time and you are late for an appointment when you are a potential client to someone else.

There is a high influx of foreign entrepreneurs in Singapore. Some of them are from countries that are very precise in the time. You certainly don't expect to fare too well with these entrepreneurs if you don’t have the habit of keeping track of time. It relates a lot on your responsibility, self-respect and respect for others.

We have our fair share of people who are late for an hour, 2 hours, 3 hours; some never had the intention of turning up, and we also have people who turn up a few days later. You may think it is funny but I can tell you it is not when you are waiting for these people.

Especially the recent years, we have provided support to a few of MNCs and foreign entities coming over to set up Rep Office and branches. Being punctual for appointments and on time delivery, it gives them more confidence to entrust greater responsibilities to us. We are also impressed by their working culture, every employees are punctual. Punctuality doesn't mean being early, it means being at the place at the stipulated time. It some countries, if you are early, you are still not punctual. I personally feel we still are far from this.

Let's cut out the bad habit.

Our Boutique Serviced Offices featured in Business Times

Competition gone wrong!

How do you response when someone asks you what business are you in? Shiver? Stammer? Hesitate? Errrr.........then push this question to another person??? You don't have to be a genious to know that person must have something to hide and is caught off guard.

Story begins....

A lady called to ask for a viewing appointment and came to our boutique office. 3 of them came, a couple in their 40s and a younger chap came over. As we spoken earlier in the Feng Shui article, some people are more sensitive. The moment they step in, I caught an strange feeling. I stop my work immediately, walk out of my office and saw my colleague serving 3 person. Particularly that lady, is emitting out a strange "Qi" or what we call aura. Aura is like a smell, if you have the right vibes, you smell like perfume, if not it's fermented toufu.

Observation is a fundamental feature to determine your Feng Shui as what we discuss earlier. You just need to observe their behavior carefully, each action, response and expression drops you a hint, piece them together and you will get the whole story. Never go against this theory, words can deceptive but actions don't lie. The wily tail of the sly fox will show, if you pay due observance to their strings of leery actions and questions.

After establishing their intention, I approach the woman to ask for name card, my colleague cut in inadvertently and ask for their trade before I can do that. Have you seen chickens jump before? That's what we saw. This simple question send them into frenzy panic-mode and that lady is dumb enough to re-direct this question to this inexperienced chap in his 30s who happen to be their Interior "Designer" or affectionately known as COPYCAT. This chap had made a joke out of his own career by doing that. You don't call yourself a designer if you can't conceptualise. It's may not be his wish to tag along but as a designer, you really need to learn how to respect yourself. The other thing I cannot understand is why they engage a designer who cannot conceptualise, why not bring a contractor instead? It's cheaper and anytime you miss out something, our doorbell is always there.

The moment they knew they have been caught, I was treated to a intimidating stare by the woman. I didn't know what was that for. I could have ask them politely to "GET OUT". After 5 seconds of that, her 360° transformation shocked me. I guess she finally realised we didn't ask to be spied on. She make a quick attempted to get out of the embarrassing situation by putting on her most pretentious smile and claimed they are entrepreneurs and they still haven't decide what business to do and I could join them for coffee. They are interested in anything that makes money. No prize for guessing I didn't want to be associated with such people. Is Entrepreneurship is all about making money? That's simply superficial. It's about achieving the standards set and monetary benefits should be considered part of the package for doing your job well. I still remember clearly when we first started, we WANT to change what we dislike in the leasing industry and certainly not because we found a brilliant idea to replicate.

What amazed me is their lack of knowledge in basic Telco equipments like phone system. Based on their questions, chances are they haven't use one before. B2C business model is different from B2B business model largely by B2B customer requirements are more unforgiving for mistakes. You need to be really sure of what you are doing or you are just messing up other peoples' businesses. There are still a lot of technical knowledge required other than counting money. Of course one may argue everyone has to start somewhere. When we first started, businesses are still using 256 Kb internet broadband, now the fastest is 10 Mpbs. Considering the pace of business in today's context, there is no longer room for mistakes.

The other thing I find peculiar is our boutique office appears to fascinate them so much; their uninhibited excitement on their faces is exceptionally amusing. They simply couldn't stop poking their fingers at every corner. We couldn't understand why.

We also couldn't understand why they have to barge unexpectedly into our tenant's office suite when we told them it's tenanted. It gave our tenant a pretty rude shock. Usually if that is unintentional, an apology is expected. It's a shame that these self-proclaimed "Entrepreneurs" didn't even have the basic courtesy. I presume these "entrepreneurs" still have a lot more to learn.

Business is not about sniffing out one's ass. Not that we are afraid of competition but to bring a designer with the intent of copying is just so disgusting. I believe all business owners will not want their brainchild to be copied and replicated it without "contents". A computer cannot function without software.

An entrepreneur is someone who assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. An entrepreneur is also someone who observes his/her own conduct and possesses leadership, management ability, and team-building as essential qualities. I wrote this welcome message to encourage all Entrepreneurs. We recognize the adversity of all Entrepreneurs and have respect for all them. Not everyone in business is an entrepreneur and not everyone who call themselves entrepreneurs are true blue entrepreneurs.

Usually, we don't blog about such thing; they are not the first and certainly won't be the last. We decided to blog this because they are most underhanded.

Feng Shui For Business

Feng shui is part of an ancient Chinese philosophy. Feng shui is a form of geomancy, divination by geographic features, but it is mainly concerned with understanding the relationships between nature and ourselves so that we might live in harmony within our environment.

We have encounter some people who brought their Geomancer AKA Feng Shui Master to audit our offices. For harmony and mutual respect, we would appreciate we are informed of such visits. We have something to share about what we think of Feng Shui too.
Nope, we are not going into anything superstitious. We will be revealing what has brought us good "Feng Shui" for so many good years. We have been doing very well for many years and certainly want to have many more good years.

Disclaimer : It may not work for you as it works for us.

Before we go into that, We seriously feel that we should get a free audit if you are bringing in a Geomancer to see if we will continue to do well. We have to do well in order not to affect your business. Agree?

The Secret

1 . The "Qi" of our offices or better known as vibes has always been good. This is what attracted good tenants and bad tenants. It is your judgement to select the right tenant and turn away the bad ones. ( It's easier said than done, especially at a time like this, we have been put to many tests.)

2. The people managing the place is great importance. We encountered some proprietors who call themselves Entrepreneurs, they are so sneaky that they brought their interiors designers and ask alot of sensitive questions. You certainly do not want to be associated with such people. If an Entrepreneur cannot be upright and has to resort to sneaky means, what makes you think your deposit is safe? What makes you think that this sneaky mindset will not be used against you? Even if the Fengshui is good for you, you don't even need to consider.

3. Sincerity. If you believe, humans can feel each other. Do this experiment, if someone close to you or you know very well step in, you will be able to feel the mood of the person. Some people are more sensitive, they can feel anyone. Actually how we discovered the sneaky proprietors is through this feel. The moment they step in, they emitted a bad feeling, like a suspicious character. You just need to catch this feel and observe carefully. You should get enough signals to determine. It's not a 1-way road, whether it's the Landlord or the Renter, both parties need to be sincere.

4. Observation. If you observe a person long enough or how to company is projecting themselves, you can evaluate a person or a business easily. Through the first face to face encounter, you have to observe if the person is a serviced oriented person if service is what you are looking for.

In a good working environment where you can have a peace of mind to concentrate building up your career and the Landlord has good faith in the renter to keep the property in good condition, more time and effort can be spend on improving the services and watching out for each other instead of keeping a close tab on each other. This is what it means by Harmony breeds prosperity.

These are some effective Feng Shui tips we use faithfully and it has work well for us. Nonetheless, we hope you find your set of good Feng Shui guidance to bring prosperity to your business. Paramount Assets Corporation take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and prosperous lunar new year.

Serviced Office For Rent ( Eunos TechPark )

LAST unit : 200 Sq Ft unit

Recommended : 2-4 Pax

Price : $ 850.00
Available : 1st Jan 2010 (1 week early move-in)

To check availability, kindly visit http://www.paramountassetscorp.com/servicedoffices/whatsavailable.php

Located in the next Business Hub with prestigious address with nice unit number

Furnishing : New 4ft designer glass desk, sleek designer armchair

Individual air-conditioning system

Unlimited High speed Internet broadband 4 Mpbs Lan/Wireless

Condo facilities : 2 Tennis court, Swimming pool and a gym

Card access system
24hrs access to office
Own Entrance
Air conditioned lobby
Cargo lift and passenger lifts
Corporate image office to meet your clients

Contact us @ http://www.paramountassetscorp.com/

Wcega Tower Boutique Office Launched!

New concept boutique office space…

With Hong Kong-Manhattan styled interior.

Location : Bukit Batok Crescent

Date Available : 1st Dec 2009

Suites Available :

- 2pax Suite

- 2-3pax Suite

- 3-5pax Suite

- Price starts from $900/mth

Location :

- Next to PIE, 5mins drive to AYE

- 10-15mins bus ride from nearest Clementi MRT & Bukit Batok MRT

Rental Includes :

- Fully-furnished private office

- High-speed 4mpbs broadband

- Office phone system ready

- Meeting room & Reception area

- Secure 24/7 access

- Private own entrance

- Individual air-conditioning unit

- Electricity inclusive

- Data point ready in all suites

- Daily mail delivery to your office

- Complete pantry facilities

- Stylish restroom within office premise

Visit us now http://www.paramountassetscorp.com/

Congratulations! Paramount Assets Corporation 1st Boutique Office Launched!

We finally completed the renovation of our boutique offices on 18th Nov 2009. This is a totally different concepts of serviced office which puts many serviced offices to shame including our existing ones. Personally, I haven't seen something like this in Singapore. We have appointed people who designed ONE°15 Marina Club at Sentosa Cove to take on this project.

No details were spared in the concept, we only used the best in the renovation. We have to constantly cope with the budget expansion as we keep changing material to capture a better effect. Our designers joke that the ambience in the toilet is good for drinking champagne. Did I tell you this toilet plays music too?

Personally, I like the meeting room most. The setting is very relaxing, you shouldn't be seeing something like that before. We had used Tulip table and tulip chairs for the meeting room to get a more futuristic look.

Each room is design to achieve a Hugo boss feel, bearing in mind all that people working in here are all bosses. We used Eames chairs to achieve the sleek look.

Our guests verdict : They have never seen something like that before. It's really wonderful working here.

Our verdict : We are  really please to be able to attain more than 50% occupancy before official launch.
We are proud to house 2 Nasdaq listed company with us in this serviced office.

Visit us @ http://www.paramountassetscorp.com/ now