Sorry for the lack of updates for the past week! Was kind of caught up with work and plans that I didn’t have time to blog or to tell you the truth, I was a bit lazy to blog at the end of the day when I was all tired and just looking forward to hitting that bed of mine. Anyway, the exciting news of today is that I went to the PC Show Singapore 2008! Frankly, I might sound sua gu but I’ve not been to PC Show before (not that I remember that is :P)!

PC Show Singapore was indeed like a hotbed of tech gadgets that are on their best sale price! It felt as though Sim Lim Square was brought into the 3 levels of the Suntec City convention centre! I could hardly breathe! And mind you, I was there on a FRIDAY AFTERNOON.. and it was sooooo crowded already.

The first thing that came to both Calvin and my minds was, “SO, PEOPLE DON’T HAVE TO WORK THESE DAYS?” Haha.. we actually were quite proud of ourselves being able to fork out time on a weekday to pop by to see the good deals that are available. And we were thinking, PC Show on a weekday afternoon shouldn’t be packed and crowded such that we can check out the deals slowly.. aka window shopping.

BUT!! We were sooo wrong!!!! It was sooo crowded!! And barely enough space for us to walk side by side. And I hate crowded places cos.. you never know when you’ll get that swat on your back or butt. It’s irritating.. I feel vulnerable. Thank God for my darling Calvin..

We were sooo tempted by the good deals at the PC Show which included the following:

Palm Treo (some model no.) Smart Phone going for $599 $299!

PSP + standard pack going for…. $269!!

Sharp 32″ LCD TV going for… $800++!

160 GB HDD going for…. $90!! (which we bought :P)

HP Tablet laptop going for… less than $2k!

Sony Vaio laptop going for… $1699!!

Hahaha.. and soo much more!! There’s even insurance booths there.. I wonder why… I was joking to Calvin that next year we’ll see booths selling Barbie dolls instead.. Hahaha.. LAME joke.

Anyway, I’ve tips to share with you on surviving the PC Show!

My Survival Guide to the PC Show Singapore 2008:

1. A pen/marker –> to mark out the deals that you want to check out as and when you receive those flyers

2. A paper bag –> to store all the flyers that you get

3. A bottle of water –> there’s no place you can get drinks/food on the levels 3,4 and 6 of Suntec.. so just bring along a bottle just in case you to quench your thirst.

4. A pair of comfortable shoes –> Ladies, DO NOT WEAR HEELS. YOU’LL DIE IN THEM. Hahaa.. Wear your most comfortable pair of footwear.. I wore my birkenstocks!! So should u! Hahaa..

5. A foldable trolley –> if you are planning to cash and carry bulky items such as printers and laptops etc, it will be good to bring along your foldable trolley that can save you the aches and the pains of having to carry down your goods from Level 6 and below.

6. A check list –> Always prepare before going down for the PC Show. Decide what you want to buy and then check them off as you move along.

7. Be early –> If you want to browse and compare prices, you have to be there early! LIKE REALLY EARLY!!! Once the crowd pours in, you’ll realise you’re stuck in a maze and will have a hard time finding the previous bargain that you saw!

8. Just spend –> Frankly, after spending the day there today, I realised that the price difference between laptop accessories etc. are between $1 to $5… For laptops, TV, huge electronics, it really depends on the specs. JUST SPEND WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING THAT SUITS YOUR NEEDS. And don’t waste time comparing prices etc. because it’s not worth it. Your time is worth more than running up and down between different booths just to compare the pricing. Always remember you are buying to satisfy a NEED, so any amount that buys that NEED is justified because well, YOU NEED IT!

9. Keep your children at home –> Children are distracting to yourself and to other visitors to PC Show… cos.. they are running around, screaming, trying to get themselves lost by running far from their parents and I just don’t see how you can concentrate on searching for tech stuff while carrying your child in your hands. BE FOCUSED. Your children will only become your distraction.

10. Bring cash but not too much cash –> Well, if you are paying by nets or credit card, there’s an additional 2% of the price that you have to pay for the transaction. I don’t know if it’s the case for ALL booths but it was for mine. If you want to save that 2%, well, bring cash to pay for your goods!

That’s about it! If you’ve not headed down to the PC Show Singapore 2008, what are you waiting for? Gosh.. Saturday and Sunday’s going to be fully packeD!!! Be there early and enjoy!!

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After ‘interning’ at my dad’s shop for the past week, I really can see the differences between running an online business and an offline one. And all the more I can convinced that it is really important for offline businesses to explore the opportunities that are available online for them to expand their businesses and to take them to the next level.

Firstly with a offline business, I have to:

1. pay the rent

2. be/hire someone to physically be there to man my business 

3. be subjected to environmental influences on my business because of conditions such as weather, season and time

4. make sure that I take lots of efforts to gain customers/drive traffic to my shop

5. manage the business by manually taking care of things

However, by bringing my business online, I can subject my business to a lot more opportunities that may not be available to me offline such as:

1. 24/7 operation of my shop online - with a website that is fully furnished with all my products, information and check out system, I can enable my shop to operate 24/7

2. advertising to millions of people through different means - i can explore ways to advertise my business to people of different countries and some ways include, visiting websites/forums that are related to my business and contributing my knowledge and ideas there to gain awareness for both what I do and my business

3. automate all proceedings from purchasing to after sales service

4. stand to earn extra revenue from advertisements on the website

5. reduce the costs of rental etc. to only the costs of webhosting and a domain name and perhaps a script to set up the shopping cart etc.

and frankly, the list goes on…

Online businesses are actually providing conveniences to the internet user community by bringing them their shopping experiences from the malls to the comfort of their homes! Now, people can literally shop in their knickers if they want! It’s amazing at how the shopping experience can be digitised to fit into the computer and the internet and bringing people the joy of not having to rush for that fitting room or to queue those long queues that seem to never end. It also saves people the time and energy of having to travel out of their homes to get down to the busy shopping mall.

It’s good to consider how your offline business can be translated onto online medium! Well, think about it if you are an offline business owner and I hope I have enlightened you in some ways! Do drop me an email if you have any questions you would like to ask me personally!

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