Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by edyek

Office Boy Services

edyek — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:56:35 +0800

Just received a FAX today, and decide this was interesting. So I analyses the business and decide to post up here to share. And KL or Major city has big potential. Should have people start running this business and if anyone know it, please shed some light.

QUOTE

Business : Office Boy Services
Target Client : Aiming those small and medium enterprise/company who do not have office boy or paying extra overhead for office boy just to send some documents per week or month
Objective : To help your client to pick up documents, bills, etc. and send the documents for them to designated address and pay bills for them.

Package (Quoted from the fax):
1) RM 15 - 1 time pickup for (3 stops) (Whenever you need it)
*Meaning, the office boy goes to the client office to pick up documents, water and electricity bills. Then he goes to 3 stops (send your documents to your customer, go to pay water bills and electricity bills.

2) RM 150 - 8 times pickup in a month for (48 stops) ; Around 2 times per week. And can go to 48 locations.

3) RM 300 - 15 times pickup in a month for (135 stops)

4) RM 380 - 22 times pickup in a month for (198 stops)

5) RM 680 - 44 times pickup in a month for (396 stops)

Terms and conditions:
- Additional RM 5 per stop is applicable if exceeded maximum stops.
- Additional RM 15 is applicable for extra pickup (4 stops) for Package RM 150, RM 300, RM 380 & RM 680.
- No replacements of pickup are allowed due to no job or Public Holiday
- 1 month of deposit of the package upfront before effective date.
- Coverage up to : xxx, xxx, xxx, xxx

Man power could varies from 1-4 office boy, 1-2 clerks and a office.
1 or 2 office boy go to collect documents and bills.
1 or 2 office boy go to send the documents
1 office go to pay bills.
1 clerk goes categorized all the documents and bills and time schedule for office boy to do their work the next day.
1 clerk does all the admin work or arrange time schedule.

Estimated capital could range from RM 10, 000 to RM 50, 000.

One could outsource the sending job to part time office boy and save money from paying monthly salary to office boy and buying motorcycle.

From what I see, this is a profitable business. I mean, the office boy could go and collect water and electricity bills from 10 companies per day. And go and pay them the next day. And give back to the client during their next stop. The only thing that need to be the priority is the TIME SCHEDULE of the office boy. As long as the time management is efficient, one will be racking profits. The best part of it is, office boy uses motorcycle which saves time (save from traffic jam esp in KL).

Increase Value of Landed Residential Property

edyek — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:19 +0800

1. Car Porch
Build a car porch or renovate the existing one into a bigger size so that the tenant or buyer can accommodate more cars.
Cost estimation : RM 20k~RM 50k.

2. New Fence
As the old saying goes "First impression is the most important." Having a new fence can instantly change the initial impression (especially the valuer) than the existing crooked, rusty and dilapidated looking old fence.
Cost estimation : RM 20k~RM 30k.

3. Paint
Nothing is more important than this. A fresh coat of paint to the exterior or/and interior of the house will give the most boost in value.
Cost estimation : RM 2k~RM 8k.

4. Cut the grass
Mowing the grass will not increase the value, but leaving the lawns uncut degrades the value.
Cost estimation : RM 20~RM 100.

5. Landscape
Landscaping can be in many forms. Putting flower beds, install a pergola, fishpond, planting trees and etc are best ways to increase the value.
Cost estimation : RM 100~RM 10k.

6. Remodel the kitchen
Depending on the condition of the kitchen, simply install a new counter top, cabinet, new sink, new kitchen island and etc.
Cost estimation : RM 200~RM 20k.

7. Remodel the bathroom
Kitchens and bathrooms are generally the rooms that tenant or buyers instantly fall in love with. Simply install a new Wash closet, basin, new tiles, large mirror, water heater, exhaust fan and etc.
Cost estimation : RM 200~RM 20k.

8. Install a burglar alarm
Your tenants or buyers feel secure into renting or purchasing this property.
Cost estimation : RM 2k~RM 5k

9. Fire detection & Fire extinguishers
Install fire detectors with extremely low cost which tenants or buyers will appreciate their presence.
Cost estimation : RM 100~RM 150 per set (Fire detector). Not more than RM 200 per set (Fire extinguishers)

10. Grille
Speaking of security, a simple addition is to install grille to rear door and front door and/or windows. Most people in particular seem to like grille as an added level of protection.
Cost estimation : RM 500~RM 20k.

11. Roofing
If a roof is at a bad state of repair, replace the whole roof. And replace all those rusty iron/metal rain water down pipe into PVC.
Cost estimation : RM 1k~RM 50k.

12. Air-conditioning
In Malaysia, it is almost impossible to lead a normal life without an air-conditioning system.
Cost estimation : RM 1k~RM 1.5k per set.

13. Minor interior renovation
a) Replace old lights & electrical fittings

b) Plaster Ceiling

c) New Floor Tiling works

Cost estimation : RM 1k~RM 50k.

Added:
Contributed by @Phoeni_142

14. Extension to Extra Space
a) Extend extra space for wet kitchen.

b) Walling up of balcony to make the master bedroom more spacious.

Cost estimation : RM 20k~RM 35k

Cemetry Park

edyek — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 23:47:59 +0800

Just to share with that I've been involve lately in Land investment. Cemetery Park.

Many have not cross their mind that Land investment includes developing a cemetery park.

If you have a land, and your land is nowhere near any potential development or future development, not suitable for agricultural, small area, but do have scenic views of sea/rivers or jungle, then this might suits you.

1) Make sure your land has small/medium hill(s) (must), river(optional), Lake (must if there is no river), has basic government infrastructure such as road and drains (You don't want to spend money to construct public road & drain leading to your land).

2) Check whether your land is gazette under which category. If your land is gazette under Residential, Commercial or Industrial please do not go and convert it into Cemetery zone, as the land is much more valuable staying that way than converting into cemetery zone. Best is Agricultural land.

3) Then hire an architect to submit a letter for you to Local Town Planning to convert your land into cemetery zone.

4) After your land has been converted into cemetery zone, ask the architect to draw a DP(How many plots in an acre, the landscaping design, buildings such as reception centre etc.) and submit for Town Planning and Local Authority approval.

5) Upon approval, do approach Church, Association, or Cemetery park developers such as Nirvana or Semenyih or others.

Or

4) After Local Town Planning has approved your land conversion, you can approach Church, Association, or Cemetery park developers such as Nirvana or Semenyih or others. Sometimes they have their own planning on how to develop the cemetery park.

You can either sold off the whole parcel of land (with much more higher price than the raw agricultural land) or Joint Venture.

My sharing:
Bought 14 acres of land for RM 14k (Bought it cheap due to the land located a stone throw away with an old cemetery park). Value of raw land in that area is around RM 8,000~10,000 per acre. The land has a small hill (not more than 30m high), a small stream crossing the land and forest surrounding and 15km from town.

Sold 7 acres to private investor who invest RM 10k per acre and retain 7 acres.

Already apply for cemetery conversion (much more easier so convert due to the old cemetery park), and pending approval from Local Town Planning.

Already signed an MOU with an association to buy over the cemetery park after DP approved. For RM 60k per acre.

Already establish a company and signed another MOU with the association to develop the park after DP approved.

The Boss Service Suites [Klang]

edyek — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:07:09 +0800

What is your opinions on this development? (Recently saw they launched the subject development at KK property fair.)

It is located at Klang and develop by Hotwer Development.

http://www.iproperty.com.my/developments/1...rvice_Suites#m1

1. Locality?
a) How is the Traffic impact?
b) Residential/Commercial Area?

2. Pricing. Is it consider expensive in Klang?

3. Any others? Anyone can tell me how is Klang doing nowadays?

[addedon]November 3, 2010, 10:48 am[/addedon]Nothing?

Budget Hotel (Converting from Shoplot)

edyek — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 22:01:46 +0800

I've notice that most LYN members in this Business group rarely shares or question about Tourism sector service business especially hotel.

So I've decided to share one of my on-going plans in tourism sector. Budget Hotel.

Notes:
1. Don't PM me to ask for any financial institutional that gives loan. (You got to figure out the capital yourself if you want to venture in this field)

Disclaimer:
1. The floor plan shown here are still at preliminary conceptual stage, and is not subject to Architect/Engineer/Relevant Authority approval.

2. The author (edyek) is not responsible for the information of this post as the content in this post are not final.

3. The author (edyek) is not responsible for any undesirable outcome caused by this post.

In this post, the hotel business that I'm sharing is "Converting existing Shoplot into Hotel." It does not include in buying a raw land, and construct a new hotel.

There are two ways of doing it. Either You buy the property or you rent the property.

For this, I'm going for the rental type, as I'm aiming for cash flow business.

1. Search a good location. Location, Location, Location. This mantra is never wrong and never will be. Be sure that your city/town has potential in tourism business. And be sure that your hotel is within few minutes of reach from city/town or even better in the heart of the city/town. This will be a great convenience for tourist, business travellers etc.

I've scouting some shoplot for rent for sometime, and finally I've found the most suitable one. (Those of you who stay in Kota Kinabalu will know where is the place. If you don't know, I don't intend to reveal it either. ) Best to choose a corner shoplot (normally a corner shoplot has wider floor space).

Hotel Front View

2. Make sure the shoplot rent is reasonable. For this particular shoplot that I've choose, it is RM 10k per month. Facing the main trunk road. The junction traffic lights is 50m from the hotel (people will notice the hotel signage if they pass by or stop at the traffic light).
And make sure you are able to rent at least 10-15 years of tenure from the shop owner (the crucial key in making money). For mine, it is 5+5+5. First 5 years the rental would be RM 10k. For the 2nd 5 years, the rental is increase 10% which is RM 11k. and the 3rd 5 years, it is another 10% increase.
*In this part, I assume that you know how to rent the shoplot from the shop owner.

3. Planning.
a) You have to plan what type of hotel that you are renovating and which level of customer that you are targeting. For me, it is best to be budget hotel.

b) Price per room. Budget hotel goes from RM 80-120 per room in my area. If you want to know how much it cost per room for budget hotel, try to look around for budget hotels in your city/town and get the average rates.

c) Floor Plan. Hire an architect to draw the plan for you. Architect knows the hotel by-law, so they will know how wide should the corridor be, the minimum size of a hotel room, the ceiling height, bla bla bla. In this case, this is my second hotel, so I roughly draw out the concept plan myself. After I've decide the final layout, I will pass the design to my Architect and endorse it for me for local council submission.

Ground Floor Plan

1st Floor Plan

2nd and 3rd Floor Plan

*Note: You may notice that at the ground floor level, I've drawn Shop 1, 2 and 3. This shop will be rented out to others so that I can collect money to cover my rental partially. I do not need huge lobby as I'm only operating a budget hotel, not a 5 star hotel. As long as the customer can check in and out, it is fine.
Planning to rent Shop 1 and 2 for RM 1.5k, Shop 3 for 2.5k. Total rental collect would be RM 4k, and leftover RM 4.5k will be cover by the hotels rooms.
You may notice also the hotel floor plan does not have lift, therefore the customer have to walk-up hence it will be budget hotel. And the price of course will not be higher than those with lift service.

After architect has final drawn out the final floor plan, you need to pass the floor plan to C&S (civil & structural) engineer. Why? It is because the local council wants guarantee from your side that you are liable for the renovation in case anything happens during the renovation.

Pass another copy to your electrical engineer also to design the electrical layout for you.

d) After all the three consultants has drawn the floor plan, you may submit your floor plan to the local council for comments and approval. (Normally the architect will do the submission, but most of the time the approval will be late as they don't follow up the approval regularly. If you intend to have faster approval, you may hire a runner to do the submission and follow up job for you.)

e) After you get the approval from Local council, Bomba, Health and other relevant dept, you may hire contractor to do the renovation job for you. The golden thumb rules in estimating cost for hotel rooms in East Malaysia is around RM 20-25k per room (including renovation of room and lobby, bedsheets, bed, and all the things that you can see in budget hotel).

f) For mine, the total rooms would be 15 rooms.
15 rooms x RM 25k = RM 375k (Capital)

g) In order to calculate your profit, you need to decide how much you want to rent out your rooms. For my rooms, I take average RM 100 per room.
15 rooms x RM 100 = RM 1.5k per day
RM 1.5k x 30 days = RM 45k per month
RM 45k x 70% (occupancy rate) = RM 31.5k per month
*Occupancy rate is just an estimate, Kota kinabalu is a tourist city, so 70% is a safe factor. Melaka (example) might be higher or same.

RM 31.5k per month x 12 months = RM 378k per annum
RM 378k x 20% = RM 75.6k
*80/20 (80 expenses and 20 net profit) is my safety factor. It totally depends on your effectiveness of running a budget hotel. Low wages, own laundry service, bla bla bla.

RM 420k (RM 375k construction fees + other fees) / RM 75.6k = 5.55 years to break even.

In the first 5 years, you get paid to operate the hotel and high turnover in your hotel account.
For the following 10 years, you earned net profit.
OR
In the midway, you might sell off your business and earn back you capital + profit.
OR
In the midway, with sufficient cash and cash flow in your hotel account, you can opt to buy the shoplot.

This also apply to those who wants to buy the shoplot. Monthly profit are pay to cover the bank loan, and for years down the road, the property will be yours to keep without you yourself paying the loan, but the hotel business is paying it. Most hotel industry are targeting property appreciation and heavy cash flow.

For your information, my 2nd hotel is still at conceptual stage. I've yet to decide on the final floor plan of the hotel. I will update relevant information from time to time in this thread until final stage (operating stage).

Cheers.

[addedon]October 22, 2010, 10:24 pm[/addedon]-Reserved-

Resort Apartment Investment

edyek — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:16:35 +0800

As some of you have known, I'm currently involve in construction business and land banking investment. Believe it or not, let us leave that for now.

Recently, my company is planning to buy a land. Therefore before we proceed into future negotiations of the price, we are in the midst of concept planning to develop a block of apartment at the land which is approx. 3.5acres.

Propose Plan
1) Development = 2 floors Resort Apartment with (28 or 32) units. <---Still pending on my architect conceptual design.
2) Land Development size = 3.5 acres.
a) Building development = 1.5 acres. Consist of 2 blocks of building.(One Block = Management, lobby and restaurant building. One Block = Apartment)
b) Nature Landscaping = 2 acres.
3) Location = Kundasang, Sabah. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundasang

Development Concept
1) My company will development the apartment (28 or 32 units, have yet to decide the final units. Apartment size will be around 400~600 sq.ft. 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom)
2) Purchases purchase the apartment just like normal procedure in buying apartment (fully furnished) which purchaser will have a subsidiary title with tenure 99 years.
3) The purchaser of the apartment may rent out their unit vide in a 10 or 20 years Sublease/Tenancy agreement to the hotel operator (appointed by my company) in return for a fix annual rental sign by both parties (the purchaser and hotel operator). Maintenance fee will bear by the hotel operator but not the sinking fund.
4) If purchase does not want to rent their unit to the hotel operator and choose to rent on their own, it is allowed. Owner will have to bear the monthly maintenance fee and sinking fund.

The Pro
1) The apartment will be manage by the hotel operator.
2) The price will appreciate faster as the apartment will be manage by the hotel operator (which the hotel operator does best in tourism, pulling tourist to stay in the apartment), and purchaser will have guarantee annual return.
3) Apartment owners will have 2 weeks of free staying in their own apartment (if they sublease their unit to the hotel operator.)
4) Apartmetn owners can enjoy the facilities provided by the hotel operator.

The Con
1) Apartment owners cannot go and stay in their apartment as they like (they are not allowed to stay during peak holiday season and need to make a booking 2 weeks in advance.) To prevent conflict of hotel operator business during peak holiday season and guest reservation.
2) If the apartment owners wish to sell their unit to 3rd party, the sublease/tenancy agreement with the hotel operator will still be valid to the new owner.(unless of course the owner did not sublease to the hotel operator).

Just want to release this info to share with LYN members here and ask for LYN members suggestion and opinions about the said development plan. Any of you have bought these kind of similar properties before?

*Note:
This is only a pre-planning stage development. Nothing solid yet. Just want to access the market and decide whether or not to purchase the said land for the development above.

Billboard Business

edyek — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:44:10 +0800

Disclaimer:

1. The advertisement shown is solely for reference purpose only. There are no contract bind between the shown company advertisement / products with the author of this post (edyek).

2. Any words, images and any other equivalent information used throughout the here are solely for reference only.

3. The billboard size and modification on billboard framework shown here are not subject to engineer approval.

4. The author (edyek) is not responsible for the information of this post, as each state & city/town is governed by different state rules, local council rules, etc.

5. The author (edyek) is not responsible for any undesirable outcome caused by this post.

For those who is interested to venture into media advertising (Billboard advertising), I've compiled the information regarding billboard business (From proposal stage to execution stage). This serves only as a guideline. (This is what I've done to get my billboard business from planning stage to execution stage and all the samples shown here were in my proposal).

1. Location
This apply to most business therefore it is not exclude in this business either. LOCATION. If you have found a suitable location to setup your billboard, be it an individual structure construct at ground or attaching to certain building/structure (such as pedestrian bridge etc.), do take pictures of the area and search for your proposed billboard locality using Google Earth.

Example:
(The photos shown here were edited with billboard structure to give impression on how the billboard will be.)
1. Building

2. Pedestrian Bridge

3. Individual Structure

2. Billboard Structure Details
First, you need to state how big is your billboard. 1,400ft x 20ft? 1,000ft x 15ft? What kind of materials are used? Steel?
Secondly, I hire my engineer friend to help me out. Remember that you need a licensed engineer to draw it, as you need him/her to chop & sign the drawings for approval purposes.

Dimension
Some Example:

3. Billboard Power & Other Utilities
Here, you have to decide whether your billboard is illuminated type or un-illuminated type. If you decide to install spotlight to your billboard structure so that your client can advertise their ads at night, then you need to see this part.
To have illuminated billboard, you need to ask your engineer to draw in the spotlight to the structure drawings. Electrical accessories & wiring are to be indicated in drawings and to where the electrical wiring will be connected.

1. Building
This is the most conveninent part, as long as the building owner provide electrical point for you, you can always connect it (provided you have sign an agreement with the building owner. Most owners require you to install meter box to monitor your electricity usage and what you use is what you pay.)

2. Pedestrian Bridge
This is the hardest part. You need approval from local state electrical company to connect the wiring. You may need to install a small suis box with DB Board. Approval from electrical company comes in later part after local council and JKR has no objection in issuing the billboard advertisement license.

West Malaysia = TNB
East Malaysia (Sarawak) = SESCO
East Malaysia (Sabah) = SESB

3. Individual Structure
Same goes with this. Refer to No.2.

4. Billboard Safety, Maintenance & Insurance
You need to know that the billboard structure needs monthly maintenance checking. From time to time, you need to check whether your spotlight/electrical wiring is fuctioning, is the steel structure rusting, and etc.
Therefore, you need to come out with a time table to indicate how frequent is your steel structure maintenance checking.
Last but not least, you need to purchase public liability insurance. You never know when your billboard is going to collapse or being vandalised, and worst of all damaging nearby properties or hurting nearby humans.

5. Attachment
1. If you are constructing billboard at people's building or land, surely you need an agreement with the building or land owner which gives you consent to do so. So please attached together the agreement in the proposal.
2. If your billboard falls on public places, such as (refer to Point 1, No.3 Individual Structure), then you need to get Local council or JKR consent to do so. That why you need to indicate on Google Earth where is your location.

Now with all the above Point 1, 2, 3,4 and 5, compile it into a proposal and ready for local council or JKR submission.

Submission
1. Local Council
After you have complete your proposal, you need to submit your proposal first to your local city/town council for meeting and approval. Each local council have their own rules for advertising in public, therefore you need to submit in the proposal first and wait for their comments. Some places that you have proposed might not be suitable for billboard structure erection, or you need to build higher structure, or you need to build smaller and etc. Some places that you proposed may not fall into their territory (yes, some place you proposed might fall in the road reserve which is the territory of JKR).
You need to get 2 things from Local council.
1) Advertising License
2) Approval letter to erect billboard structure (if the public place falls to local council territory)

2. JKR
After you have submit the proposal to local council and found out that some of your billboard falls on JKR territory, you need to submit the proposal to JKR again for comments and approval.
You need to get 1 thing from them.
1) Approval letter to erect billboard structure (if the public place falls to JKR territory)

3. Electrical Company (TNB, SESCO or SESB)
*Apply to billboard construct at public places and illuminating billboard
After the approval from both 1 and 2, you need to submit your proposal (indicating your billboard location) to respective electrical company as you may want to install a suis box as per their requirement before you can connect your electrical wiring.
You need to get 1 thing from them.
1) Approval letter to install suis box and electricity connection

Construction Stage
After you got the advertising permit and approval from local council, JKR, electrical company (TNB, SESCO and SESB), then you can hire steel contractor to construct your billboard structure for you. Before you hire them, you can give them the drawings to quote the price(you can also do this at proposal stage or before submission stage).

Marketing Stage
Please don't ask me how to rent your billboard space or find clients or something similiar question, as I'm sure you will have the ways to do it. After you have found your client, do sign a yearly or half yearly agreement with them but never monthly (Yes, it is better if you sign yearly agreement as you will have less headache in finding new client). Then give yourself a grace period of 2 months to find a printing company to print the advertisement and install the advertisement for you on your billboard.

Things-to-Do
1. Yearly renewal fees for advertising permit. (might incurred other fees depending on your local council rules)
2. Yearly public place contribution fees for Local council and JKR as you are constructing your billboard at public places. (might or might not have depending on your local council rules)
3. Renew your client contract 3 months before it end. If they decide not to rent, you can always have a grace period fo search for new client.
4. Maintenance of billboard structure and electrical accessories.

FAQs
1. How much I need to setup this business?
To be safe, at least 100k or more.

2. The initial capital is so heavy, why?
The billboard structure and license application cost.

3. How much revenue I will be able to gain from this business?
It depends on how much you are renting your billboard. Normally the ROI for this business is 1-3 years.

4. How am I going to collect the money from my client?
Collect 50% deposit upon signing agreement and 50% after installation of ads on billboard.

5. If my client pays the 50% deposit but fail to pay the rest?
Put a clause in the agreement stating that any failure in payment in a specific time, the billboard company has the right to terminate the contract and keep the 50% deposit.

6. Is it hard to apply for advertising license?
Yes and no. It all depends on your local state government and local council ruling. They may implement many procedures to apply for license, or just a few simple procedures. It also depends on the location that you are proposing, some might not be approved, some might need to change design etc.

7. Is it hard to construct the billboard structure?
No. Just consult an engineer to draw a simple steel structure which will withstand the billboard weight load and certain wind load. Hire an experience steel contractor to construct it for you.

8. Can you tell me roughly what kind requirement does the local council/JKR wants in order for them to approve the ads license?
a) Do not obstruct traffic view. Especially at turning area, flyover area, traffic light area. (Just build high)
b) Do not construct billboard that cover the pedestrian bridge. (For safety issue. Most criminal cases happens at the pedestrian bridge due to the bridge was cover with the billboard, therefore if you insist to build on the bridge, do propose above the walkway or on top of the roof)
c) If you propose the billboard at road reserve, drain reserve, open space, buildings, certain structure very likely they will approve it. (There is a risk in proposing at road or drain reserve though. If one day the state government decides to widen the road or drain, you will be instructed to demolish your billboard.)

9. Do I really need to buy Public Liability Insurance?
Yes. Considering that your billboard structure is design to withstand certain wind load. You'll never know which day Mr.Wind becomes nasty and blow your billboard off while damaging nearby properties; worst of all humans. You may never know when your suis box, electrical wiring being sabotage, and shocked nearby pedestrians. So in a nut shell, please do buy Public Liability Insurance.

10. How many types of billboard are there?
As far as I know, Stand-A-Lone billboard (Unipole or multi pole), billboard attaching buildings/bridge or certain structure and gantry billboard

*I will add in some more information if there is any question raised by LYN forumers.

Newbie Guide for Business Starters.

edyek — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 09:47:41 +0800

I found out that there are alot of people facing some difficulties when they are first involved in business. Some basic problems that are asked over and over again in the forum. So I'm going to post some basic problems here to make it easier for new business owners to look his/her answers.

1) License. Do I need to register Trade License for my business?
Legally speaking, you need to register license. Go to your local council and ask for forms to be fill in at the information counter. It might cost your around RM 1-RM 5. Register yourself and VIOLA!

If you are registering a Sdn. Bhd. Company, you still need to register your company at the local council. Get ready all your photocopis of Form 24, 49 and etc and bring it over to the local council to register your company.

2) Office. When I register my Trade License, they say I need address?
Yes, you do. This is what you can do:
a) Rent a cheap cheap office. Find somewhere which is sub urban area whereby the office is rented at RM 200-400.

b) Find someone who you know who had office. Rent his address from him. (Of course with his consent). Just tell him that you need his address to register your trade license, and you can opt to pay him RM 100 monthly. Later on, do a small signage with your company name and hang it on the ground floor of the shoplot to indicate that your office is here. (Council enforcement might go and check up your office).

3) Bank account. How do I open a bank account?
For Trade License business owners, you can opt to use your own personal account. If you are registering Sdn. Bhd., you need to open a current account for your S/B, find someone to be your referral.

4) Tax. How I deal with it?
For Trade License business owners, make sure you keep your receipt or related stuff that you might want to report to Inland Revenue Board (IRB) also known as Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri for your tax reporting. Get someone to bookeep your revenue. Hire a part time accountant (Does not have to be a liensed accountant). (This might change in the near future whereby chartered accountant will be needed).

For S/B company, you need a chartered accountant. Don't treat this as a joke, as S/B company are more strict in complying rules of IRB. That is why, S/B company need audit fees every year.

I know some people are thinking of "running"/avoiding tax. Please do not think of this when you are a business starters. Why am I saying this?
1st, you do not have the necessary experience in building a business, thats why concentrating building on your business is more crucial than anything else. After 1 or 2 years and you are familiar with the game of business, then you can consult your accountant on how to pay minimum tax.
Do treat this as a seirous matter. Our M'sia government is getting poorer and poorer each day, and IRB was pressed to investigate every possible transaction that are not reported. It is not worth your small/medium business to be penalize by IRB. We must pay but pay reasonably and minimally.

*The information above is just a basic guideline and might varies in some states.

Generate Profit On Vacant Land

edyek — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:06:45 +0800

Someone in the thread just give me a spark in creating this thread. Some of us might have own a piece of land, some lands or many lands at the town/city outskirt or kampung area. There are times when we have this headache for our land where by "It is swampy or too small or too hilly or too inland and etc. " And we don't know what to do with it.

Here are some ideas/suggestion (some of which I've encounter) that one can consider what to do with their empty land (applies to outskirt and kampung). Correct me if I categorized something wrongly. Do contribute to make the list as complete as possible.

Agriculture - Farm, Plantation, Nursery
1. Various fruit trees
2. Various vegetables
3. Trees with commercial value etc. Gaharu
4. Palm tree
5. Coconut tree
5. Pepper tree
6. Koko tree
7. Rubber tree
8. Padi Field
9. Mushroom farm
10. Herbs farm
11. Landscaping Nursery
11. *Reserve*

Aquaculture
1. Fish
2. Prawn
3. *Reserve*

Animals Rearing & Stock Farming
1. Goat
2. Cow
3. Ostrich
4. Deer
5. Pigs
6. Chicken & duck
7. Swiftlet
8. Horse
9. *Reserve*

Natural Resources - Extract and sell (Don't tell me about minerals deposit as it won't be yours to keep)
1. Earth reserve
2. Rock reserve
3. Timber
4. Underground spring water
5. *Reserve*

Development & Business
1. Hire an architect to draw development plan and find developer to develop it
2. Rent to telecommunication company for their telecommunication tower
3. Resort
4. Zoo
5. Paint ball ground
6. Nature Park/Memorial Park
7. Camping Ground
8. Rest Stop / Petrol station
9. *Reserve*

For Small and Medium Business Owners

edyek — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:24:24 +0800

The purpose I open this thread is to gather all business owners to share their experience in Small and Medium cash flow business. This will be a guide to someone out there who intends to invest in small and medium business. I share mine 1st.

*Edited - Add in Equipment, Overhead, Rental, and other cost.
*All the income shown is Gross Profit only. It is not Net Profit.

Success :

1. Car wash
Capital : 20k
a. Water Jet Pump - RM 800 (3 nos) = RM 2,400
b. Soap Bomb (Snow Wash Dispenser) = RM 700 (2nd hand) *Just fill in the soap and it will come out with snow wash, and the shape is like a bomb
c. Detergent = RM 500. Always stock 10 tong (RM 50/tong).
d. Cleaning Cloth = RM 100 (50 pieces)
e. Other miscellaneous stuff = Book, Promotion banner etc. = RM 1,000
f. Minor renovation = Concrete ramp for under car wash. M&E wiring. Minor repair to the dessert house. = RM 15k
g. Some additional cash to start the day = RM 500
Partner : 1
Location : Nearby Government Office and Residential Area. Converted a dessert house to a carwash centre.
Monthly/Daily Income : Average 55 cars daily, average RM 11 per car.
Workers : 10 workers. RM 300 per person. With commission RM 1 per car and includes lunch
Duration : Manage it for 1 year and a half and sell it off.
Opinion : Good cash flow business. Easy to manage.

2. Laundry
Capital : 10k (I take over from someone who owes money to the loan shark, and he needs money urgently.)
a. Take over all the shop which includes 2 heavy duty washing machine , 3 heavy duty dryers, 2 iron and board, etc.
Partner : None
Location : Apartment area (Approx. 5,000 units). The only laundry available as there are only 2 rows of shoplot own by the same owner and I pay slightly higher rent to the owner and signed an agreement with him not to rent to any other laundry.
Monthly/Daily Income : RM 4 per kg (all kinds of clothes). Average income RM 25,000 per month. (Do not include contract wash from nearby reflexology centre, cafes and restaurant)
Workers : 10 workers. RM 400 per person. With commission RM 0.50 per kg and includes lunch
Duration : Manage it for 2 years and sell it off.
Opinion : Good cash flow business. For walk-in business, find location with medium/heavy populated residential area.

3. Western Food Stall
Capital : 15k.
a. Minor renovation of the stall = RM 2,000
b. Additional aluminum stall = RM 3,000
b. All the equipment necessary for cooking (Utensils, Grilled Plate and Fridge stand the major portion)= RM 5,000
c. Rental = RM 3,600 (RM 1,200/month. 2 + 1)
d. Cash to buy ingredients = RM 500
d. Some additional cash to start the day = RM 500
Partner : 1
Location : Food court nearby to residential area.
Monthly/Daily Income : In weekdays, average 30 plates of steak. And average 50 plates during Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Average RM 15 per plate.
Workers : 6 workers. With commission RM 1 per plate.
Duration : Half a year. Sell it off to my partner.
Opinion : Need a good chef who cooks FANTASTIC FOOD! The hours is too long and tiring. Eventually every customer has their own taste, therefore complaints are un-avoidable.

4. Room Rental
Capital : 40-50k.
Refer to my thread on this. http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=1240408&hl=
Partner : 1
Location : Shoplot.
Monthly/Daily Income : Average income RM 2,600 per month.
Workers : 1 worker. Ah ma. Cleaning services.
Duration : 3 years. Ended setting up 8 locations and sell it off.
Opinion : Need good management. Humans are the most complicated animals on earth. Some are fussy, some are grouchy, you name it.

Failure :

1. Computer Sales and Services
Capital : 20k
Partner : 2 (Too many chef spoils the broth)
Location : Shoplot.
Monthly/Daily Income : The peak sales is only RM 3,xxx. Lowest RM 50.
Workers : 1 worker. Based on sales commission with base salary RM 500.
Duration : Bear the lost for half a year. Lost all the 20k after deducting all things, rental deposit and etc. and still need to fork in 1k to wind up the company.
Opinion : Too competitive. Too lousy margin. Too many partners. Since then, I reject every computer venture that approach to me. (They keep pitching how they do it differently, bla bla bla.... and I still end up saying "NO, thanks".)

2. Nasi Lemak & Kuih Stall
Capital : 10k
Partner : 1
Location : A stall at residential area
Monthly/Daily Income : The peak sales is RM 600 per day. After everything sold out. RM 2 per bungkus nasi lemak. Target 200 bungkus everyday.
Workers : 1 worker. RM 300
Opinion : Fail due to the failure commitment of my partner. Today lazy, do only 50 bungkus. Tommorrow rajin, do 200 bungkus. Therefore, I close down the stall and sold off the stall for 5k. Still RUGI 5k!

Your Investment Portfolio In 2010.

edyek — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:29:12 +0800

Year 2010 is coming. Have anyone of you decide how to manage your investment portfolio? If you have, do share it here and stated why, maybe someone will be enlighten by the course of your portfolio.

I start with mine.

Land Banking = 40% (All times favourite.)
Commercial Property = 25% (Some commercial property with great commercial value has been dumped below market price during the crisis.)
Mutual Funds = 5% (Still have yet to decide which fund to choose. Already appointed my Public fund agent.)
Stock = 15% (I've invest in my friend investment firm. He has been doing a great job for the past 2 years.)
Reserve for golden opportunity= 15%

*I'm not a great fan of stocks and funds since the beginning of my portfolio. After years of constant monitoring and learning, then I get to know their value. I do not invest much in things which I'm not familiar with, therefore my mutual funds only stand 5% of my total portfolio. As for the stock, initially I only invest 5% in the 1st year, increasing another 5% the 2nd year and another 5% for the fourth year (2010).
Lank banking and commercial property is the largest portion that I've invest, mainly because I've derive high cash reserve in these 2 areas.
We never know what golden opportunity will be coming our way and normally it will need some capital pumping. That is when the 15% comes along and give a hand. (Who knows I overcome a piece of land or a commercial property selling cheap? Some potential stock on the rise? and etc.)

to Year 2010 !

Lesson From Your Mentor

edyek — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:16:57 +0800

In the world of business, we often meet someone who has eaten more "salt" than we eat "rice".
They might be somone close to you to someone who you just knew for a day. Share in here about the advice they have given you which brought you to what you are today.

Some advice I've received and remember:

1. My Dad
a) Never ever sell my identity, protect it as if they are the most valuable investment of your life. (What he mean was never to be anyone's guarantor)
b) Formal education will make you a living; self education will make you a fortune. (He quoted this from Jim Rohn)
c) There are 6 billions of people in this planet, and none of them are the same, get used to the people who you felt cranky, selfish (and the list goes on)
d) During negotiation stage, if the opposite side is not willing to consider your terms and you are not satisfy, get up, pay the bills, shake hand, smile and say goodbye. (There is no need for you to sit there whole day wasting your time arguing on the terms they are not willing to consider)
e) Talk when it is necessary otherwise keep your mouth shut and do not show your cards when you are negotiating.
f) In the world of business, it is all about money. Don't talk to me about relationship.

2. My Mentor
a) Knowing who you are and knowing who they are will make your life easier when you are dealing with them.
b) Use all the available resources you can to realize something, and money is always the last resort.

Land Banking

edyek — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:25:36 +0800

I start this thread just to share with you my all-times favourite investment in property field, that is Land Banking. Some of my friends have no idea what land banking is. When I told them to invest in property, they always think of houses and shoplots.

Never quoted better than Wikipedia.org

QUOTE

Land banking is the practice of purchasing raw land with the intent to hold on to it until such a time as it is profitable to sell it on to others for more than was initially paid. Land is popular as an investment as it is a tangible asset as opposed to shares or bonds.

The intended increase in value may come from inflation, conversion for use as housing, or potential for extraction of raw materials.

Typically parcels of land desirable for land banking are those that lie directly in the growth path of rapidly developing cities. The initial goal is to buy undeveloped land that will increase in value because it lies in the path of urban growth. The investment objective is to identify these parcels well in advance of the developers and wait for the value to be realised.

My Land banking Investment portfolio
1. 2 acres land = With approved development plan consist of 16 units of terrace house. A developer just bought over 3 years ago and develop it. Got back 3 units of terrace house + cash.

2. 4 acres land = With approved development plan consist of 24 units of terrace house + 4 units of Semi-D. A developer just bought over 1+ year ago and develop it. Got back 4 units of terrace house + 1 unit of semi-D + cash.

3. 10 acres land = Currently planted with palm oil. (Waiting for the day development drop by in the neighbourhood, i'm giving it another 2 years)

4. 5,000 acres sea TOL = Currently planted with seaweed and rearing Ikan kerapu. (Some planning are in the progress)

Have anyone of you involved in land banking before? Lets share it here.

50k Business

edyek — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:39:25 +0800

The purpose I open this thread is to share my first experience in property field. If there are people who are interested in doing the same business that I do, feel free to PM.

*The business that I shared might not be applicable to some states or area, but who knows it might spark a new idea in you mind. In my case, I did it in my hometown, Sibu, Sarawak.

Budget : RM 50k

Property : Shoplot (1st, 2nd and 3rd floor)

Location : Sub-urban

1. Find a shoplot located in populated area, preferable nearby with many shoplots with many sort of business (our income comes from workers).

2. Rent the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor. In my case, my rental is shown as below:
a) 1st Floor - RM 800
b) 2nd Floor - RM 600
c) 3rd Floor - RM 400

Total Rental = RM 1,800
= RM 1,800 x 2 months advance + 1 month rental (2+1 rental)
= RM 5,400

3. Find a contractor to renovate your unit. I've ask my contractor to setup rooms for every floor. The shop i rent is 1,200 sq.ft. I've manage to setup 5 rooms per floor, totaling up to 15 rooms. My room cost around 2k per room.

Total Renovation Cost = RM 2,000 x 15 rooms
= RM 30,000

4. Go and advertise. In my case, my location has a medium supermarket, some cafe and others business. My tenants are the workers working in those area. I manage to rent my room for RM 250 per room.

Total Gross Income = RM 250 x 15 rooms
= RM 3,750 x 12 months
= RM 45,000 x 70% Occupancy rate
= RM 31, 500 p.a.

Net Income = RM 31,500 - RM 21,600 (Rental)
= RM 9,900 p.a.
= RM 825 per month (Positive Cash flow)

5. Therefore, my rate of return is 19.80% per annum. Not much, but it helps me to get a kick start in property renting field.

And this is how I get my first experience in property renting. With the experience I had, I've setup 8 locations and manage to sold off my business.

Things you need to know :
1. Always maintain your services. Prepare a sum of money for that.

2. Always know your tenant payday so that you can easily collect rental from him/her (usually 90% works). If not you will have a big headache to collect rental from him/her.
This is what I encounter when I collect rental after a few days from their payday.
"Boss, boleh tunggu bulan depan ka? Saya sudah habis guna duit untuk bayar ini bayar itu. Kalau saya bayar sekarang, saya tiada duit untuk makan."

3. Never mix male and female in one floor. As we all know males are more "hamsap" kind of creature, and we as the landlord must protect females privacy. (I've got history with male tenant who punch a hole through the wall to peep the girl-next-door.)

4. Never rent to a family with kids. Its usually annoys the other tenants when the mother is scolding her children.

5. NEVER EVER allowed your tenants to bring a bunch of friends or relative to their room as this may annoys other tenants especially in terms of sharing bathrooms.

6. If you found one of the tenant with grave misconduct, just kick him/her out as you don't want to lose your other tenants. (I've once rent a room to a couple and needless to say they are good tenants. The sad thing is that, every once in a while they quarrel. The male shouts at the female, the female throws things to the wall which really getting the nerves of other tenants. After 2 warnings, I've decide not to rent to them anymore. Enough is enough.)

Investment Scam Alert

edyek — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:22:50 +0800

I've email Bank Negara Malaysia about a company details to verify their scam. And this is what they send to me.

QUOTE

Identifying Illegal Deposit Taking

With reference to your email dated 26 Oct 2009 on the above.

If the investment scheme clearly offers an investment opportunity by collecting deposits from the public and investors are promised investment returns within a certain period of time, whereby the original investment will be refunded, it maybe contravene Section 25(1) Banking And Financial Institutions Act (BAFIA). This investment activity is against the law and you are investing at your own risk. Please invest only with licensed financial institutions only.

An easy way to identify and verify whether or not a company is licensed by Bank Negara Malaysia, you can refer to the licensed institutions list on our website by following this URL

http://www.bnm.gov.my/index.php?ch=17&pg=54&ac=57

If the company is NOT LISTED on our list on the website, it simply means that the company is NOT LICENSED NOR APPROVED by Bank Negara Malaysia to offer any financial services or products.

You may also cross check with Securities Commission's (SC) licensed/alert lists on their website :

1. http://www.sc.com.my/eng/html/licensing/licenseMain.html

2. http://www.sc.com.my/eng/html/licensing/in...Alert_list.html

3. http://www.sc.com.my/eng/html/licensing/in...IApg_other.html

If you have any information pertaining to illegal deposit taking activities or illegal foreign currency dealings or are a victim of such activities or scams you can send details of such information or complaint together with the documents to us.

Please be guided accordingly.

BNMTELELINK
Bank Negara Malaysia
No Tel : 1-300-88-5465
No Faks : 03-21741515
Email : bnmtelelink@bnm.gov.my
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISCLAIMER: Any e-mail messages from Bank Negara Malaysia are sent in good faith, but shall not be binding nor construed as constituting any obligation on the part of the Bank.
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail contains confidential information, which is intended only for the use of the recipient(s) named above. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately via e-mail and return the entire message. Thank you for your assistance.

I hope this provides some insight for some people who try to invest in companies offering bonus, dividends and etc.
If you have any problem, go to this website http://www.sc.com.my/eng/html/licensing/investors/Alert_list.html and email them to verify.

Seaweed Investment

edyek — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:07:12 +0800

Recently, I was exposed to an investment project by a Malaysia company call Dynasty Marine Farm Ltd. They claimed they are investing in seaweed cultivation farms located at Semporna, Sabah State of Malaysia.

I've attended their talks at Tawau, Sabah and they claimed Lloyds Of London are covering insurance for their company, with assurance to us that we will have our capital secure if we invest in Dynasty Marine Farm Ltd in their seaweed project.

Take a look at their website.

http://www.dynastymf.com/

Here, I don't claim their investment to be true or scam.

I would like to remind everyone of this seaweed investment again(I've saw previous thread).

I saw the previous thread that someone saw there are seaweed planting when they arrived in Sabah. Let me tell you this, there are not much company with large scale of sea TOL to plant seaweed. The one you saw maybe planted by fisherman and the company claimed that this place is theirs. Believe me, it is true.

My relative has 5,000 acres of sea TOL in planting seaweed, and he never ask for private investment. Their company is supported by the fisheries department whereby they provide ropes and other necessary accessories to cultivate seaweed. And from time to time, there are some people who ask permission from him to go to his area to have a look. And many of them took some photos, and to his acknowledge, some of them brings "private investors" and "sell" my relative cultivation farms to "private investors". So there you go.....Seeing is not believing.

If there is a company selling plots to you, please ask them the letter written and supported by Fisheries Department.
Not forgetting Jabatan Hasil Bumi (Sabah), and Land & Survey Department will issue a letter and sea TOL to the said company which cultivate seaweed farm.

This is the way that a company needs to have before they are authorized to cultivate seaweed. If they cannot provide you this supporting letter from related department, then mostly they are trying to scam your money.

Q&A
1.
Q: I saw with my own eyes that they are planting seaweed.
A: The one that you saw does not necessary belongs to them, they can show you any place they want. Please ask for related documents confirming they have the rights to plant the seaweed at the place that they show you.

2.
Q: They say some insurance company are covering your investment.
A: I'm not sure about this. But what i know is this, if they are trying to scam you, anything they talk from poo to gold will try to gain your interest to invest. The golden words, PLEASE INVESTIGATE PROPERLY BEFORE YOU INVEST.

Others information:

1. The market price for seaweed in Sabah now (23.10.2009) is RM 2- RM3 per kg in dried state, depending on your drying quality. Currently, my relative is selling RM 4 per kg to Philippine.

2. One acre doesn't not necessary produce 1.7 MT per cycle (as claimed on internet). It depends on your area, the wave conditions, the sea water nutrients and other factors. Normally one acre produce 1 MT per cycle.

So, that is all about it. Take care people. I've try to provide as full information as needed to prevent some from falling into traps. If you have any question, please post it or email me. I will try my best to answer you.