3 questions to ask yourself before venturing into a new business

Are you planning to be entrepreneur to start your own business?

I have just learnt that there are 3 important questions you must ask yourself and sincerely find out your answers, because these are the crucial factors that will affect the success rate of a new business venture.

The 3 questions are:

• How likely will your targetted customers be really willing to take out the money from their pocket and pay for it?
• How big is the profit margin?
• What make you remarkable from others?

Basically, these 3 questions will test the feasibility of your business in terms of acceptability, profitability and sustainability.

You need to get the actual feedback from the real market by doing a lot of observation, conversation and testing.

2011 Customer Experience Impact Report - Getting to the Heart of the Consumer and Brand Relationship

Based on a survey commissioned by RightNow (recently acquired by Oracle) and conducted by Harris Interactive, the 2011 Customer Experience Impact (CEI) Report explores the relationship between consumers and brands.

It reveals facts about what consumers are looking for from a brand, how quickly they will dump a favourite brand, and their tendency to seek retribution after a breakup.

Well, what makes a memorable experience that causes consumers to stick with a brand?

According to the CEI survey, consumers want:

• Friendly employees or customer service representatives (73%)
• The ability to easily find the information or help they need (55%)
• Personalized experiences (36%)
• Brands with a good reputation (33%)

Positive engagements create long-standing, loyal relationships, and this is so important to consumers that they are willing to pay for it. In fact, according to the CEI survey, 86% of consumers will pay more for a better customer experience.

For consumer organizations today, good customer experience is a competitive imperative. Understanding what customers want is the 1st step in creating exceptional experiences.

When asked specifically how companies can better engage with consumers to spend more, respondents said the following:

• Improve the overall customer experience (54%)
• Make it easy to ask questions and access information before making a purchase (52%)
• Improve search functionality and overall Website usability (36%)

Click here to download the complete 2011 Customer Experience Impact Report - Getting to the Heart of the Consumer and Brand Relationship.

DestraShield nanoliquid screen protector with Ag+ formula

I discovered this DestraShield nanoliquid screen protector with Ag+ formula by Destra Nanotech Sdn Bhd in GoMobile 2012 exhibition today.

This is quite an interesting screen protector. It is in liquid format, therefore can fit any form and size of glass surface. To apply it, just drop on the surface and spread it evenly with the melamine foam sponge that comes together in its package. After dried out, it will form a protection layer that claimed to be able to last for up to 6 months, after which we can reapply the liquid onto the surface again for continuous protection.

They say this nanoliquid screen protector can be used for handphone screen, camera lens, spectacles, computer monitor, television, mirror, ... and even car windscreen.

Its features include:

• Anti-bacteria
• Anti-microbial
• Anti-static
• Hydro and oleophobicity
• Scratches resisting
• Super hardness up to 7H
• Hard wearing and durable
• Improves clarity and brilliance
• One size fit all
• Easy to apply

They can demo to you its scratches resistance and hardness at their booth in GoMobile.

I applied this protector on my handphone. After application, the handphone screen has a mirror effect (can become mirror when screen is off). The screen display is crystal clear too. It also does not pick up much fingerprints, and the mild fingerprints can be easily wipe off with cloth material. It is also water resistant, when dropped with water, the water would not stick to the screen.

It's price isn't cheap though, selling at RM69 for a bottle of 2ml only. However, 2 drops is enough for application to handphone screen, and 6 drops is enough for my 21.5" touchscreen monitor.

I would say this is quite an innovative and useful product. Would be better if selling at a lower price.