thursDAY, july 12, 2018
guyanatimesgy.com
15
Business News
Asian stocks remain under pressure
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laytime and cupcakes; delicious fruits and gifts. Who would not want to be enjoying those, particularly during the long August vacation: But for some entrepreneurs like Athalyah Yisrael of Fun Park Rentals, Devi Mulai of Dessert Delights and Indra Mekdeci of online gift shoppe Reminiscence, fun is serious business. Here are their tips for succeeding in business:
Play to your strengths
“I really like children… They make you so happy around them; there is never a dull moment,” says Yisrael, who has co-founded another company Outliers Zone, which provides financial advice intended to create generationa l
oday from fears of an escalation in the US-China trade war, while the dollar stood tall after rallying against its peers amid the turmoil in broader markets. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.25 per cent. The index slumped one per cent on Wednesday along with a slide in global equities after US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on another US$200 billion of Chinese goods deepened the trade row between the world’s two largest economies.
wealth, with a special focus on teaching children financial responsibility . “I believe success comes when you become your greatest self….” Mulai, who started her business at home out of her love for “baking and cooking the fancy things”, agreed.
Build a winning team
“I have also gained a lot of insight into choosing the right partners. My biggest lesson by far is to trust others; I now believe that to be really successful, you do better in numbers. Everyone wins,” she noted.
Embrace failure as necessary to success
“ T o succeed you have
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fail. People [wanting to get] in business have an illusionary idea of business….Learning to overcome failure is a lot of what it takes to succeed,” she noted, adding that resilience (to keep getting up in the face of failure) and nurturing your leadership quality (to inspire a team to bring your vision to life) are the most important traits of an entrepreneur. “I live my life like a GPS. I put in my destination…I may make a lot of wrong turns, but I reroute to get to my final destination.” While Mulai said: “Always keep trying. ‘Cause every failure is another step towards success. You love doing something? Push towards it. There will be room for mistakes, but with every try, you only get better.”
Market statistics Cambio Rates
Gold Prices – Guyana Gold Board
Bank of Guyana Cur
Buying
Calculated at 94% purity, June 27, 2018 Selling
GBP
$275.47
$278.96
CAN
$158.15
$159.98
USD
$207.98
$210.45
$ 243.54
$246.65
EURO
USD
$1254.60
Gross
$246,632
Net
$226,901
Indicators as on July 4, 2018 Indicators
US inflation data. The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was steady at 94.703 after gaining 0.6 per cent overnight. Against the yen, which usually gains in times of political tension and market turmoil, the greenback rallied 0.9 per cent on Wednesday to touch a sixmonth high above 112.00 yen. Commodity-linked currencies such as the Australian dollar suffered deep losses on Wednesday. (Reuters)
Oil suffers biggest price drop in 2 years
Start small
“Walk before you leap – Do not overextend yourself financially, most businesses fail within the first year in operation, because they overspend and do not get a solid return on investment as they first proposed, [and] have a backup plan, as an entrepreneur you must be able to adjust to market demands,” Mekdeci stressed.
Australian stocks rose 0.35 per cent, South Korea’s KOSPI was flat and Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.75 per cent. “The markets had some time to digest the latest trade war developments and are poised to begin consolidating. It has become a pattern of reacting to each new development and hoping that trade strains ease in the next few months through negotiations,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management. The dollar was buoyant, supported by mounting trade tensions and strong
US$ per barrel
Crude Oil
$73.40
Price
USD
Rough Rice
$260.81/ton
London Sugar
$339.70/ton
Live Spot Gold
Change %
-7.44 Change %
-0.08 +0.40
USD Per Ounce
Bid/Ask
$1242.90
$1243.90
Low/High
$1240.60
$1254.00
Change
+1.90
+0.15%
Business Concept – Capitalism Economic system based (to varying degrees) on private ownership of the factors of production (capital, land, and labour) employed in generation of profits. It is the oldest and most common of all economic systems and, in general, is synonymous with the free market system. (Business Dictionary)
il prices suffered steep falls on Wednesday after Libya said it would boost supply, even as investors fear that trade tensions will hit demand. Brent crude dropped 6.9 per cent – the biggest decline in more than two years – to end at US$73.40 a barrel for the global benchmark.
US crude fell five per cent to US$70.38 a barrel – its worst one-day decline in a year. The declines followed a months-long rally that had increased prices to some of the highest levels in recent years. However, oil prices have been volatile in recent weeks after the US said it would
reinstate sanctions against Iran, a major producer. Wednesday's sell-off started after the announcement by Libya's National Oil Corp that it would reopen four export terminals that had been closed since late June, shutting most of the country's oil output. (BBC News)
Investor’s Guide
Proven practices to build effective relationships at work – Part 1 Presented by Rosh Khan, MD
H
ow often do you work with people who seem to really get under your skin? Maybe your co-worker who complains about everything. Or it’s your customer who insists on unrealistic demands. Perhaps it’s a team member who continually drops the ball or your controlling, micromanaging boss. When confronted with people like this, your first reaction would be to blame and insist that someone (other than you) needs to change. “Can’t you just get over it?”; “When will you stop talking and start listening?”; “Why can’t you be more responsible?”; “Things would be so much easier if you weren’t so controlling, or demanding, or temperamental, or arrogant, or impatient, or disorganised, or __________ .” (Fill in the blank with the personality trait that irritates you the most.) Think of all the time and effort you’ve spent trying to fix other people. Has it worked? While we’d like to believe we’re successful at changing others, we’re usually not. An “outside-in” approach to changing others is a futile investment that yields little to no return. We must first focus on ourselves. Over the next articles, we’ll discuss proven practices that will help you build effective relationships at work. Here are the first two:
Carry your own weather When we allow darkening clouds to dictate our mood, it’s easy to feel like a victim and surrender to the belief that we’re helplessly subject to the external world. At the foundation of carrying your own weather is the ability to pause between stimulus and response. The earliest humans learnt “fight or flight” as a way of reacting to life-threatening situations. Our stresses now come in different, less life-threatening forms. As human beings, we share the unique trait of self-awareness – the ability to see and evaluate our own thoughts. It gives us the capability to pause, step back and see ourselves along with the paradigms we adopt and use. The next time something happens, remember that you are in control of your response. You can maintain the internal sunshine although dark clouds surround you. Behave your way to credibility It’s easy to say others should have credibility. But again, we must look within. Credibility isn’t a label we simply apply to ourselves. We must behave our way to credibility. There are three important elements tot making that happen: Demonstrate character and competence Without a high degree of character and competence, credibility can’t flourish.
Character isn’t built on being infallible, but by behaving in a way that proves to others you can be trusted even when no one is looking. Many people think strong character can make up for lack of competence, but you can lose credibility if you allow your competence to wane. Take the long-term view Credibility isn’t earned overnight. Taking the longterm view means you are willing to pay the price to earn it — regardless of the time and effort involved. When it comes to building credibility, there’s no escaping time. Transitory actions may build confidence in others, but trust only comes from seeing the consistency of such actions over time. Adapt to the situation at hand Building credibility often means adapting to new situations and people. The behaviours you’ve honed in one job context may undermine your credibility in a new role. This ability to observe and reorient oneself is often referred to as situational awareness. Once you’ve damaged your reputation and credibility with someone, the way back can be difficult, and it certainly won’t happen overnight. Dr Rosh Khan is the CEO of SocialRank Media, Guyana’s leading digital marketing agency, and the President of the Masterclass Institute, Guyana’s approved Covey Leadership Centre.