Entrepreneurship From A Young Persons Perspective

We have all seen articles, blog and websites regarding entrepreneurship, but today I intend on writing from a different perspective. Many young folk today are looking around and seeing young people, entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Ben Kaufman (Mophie), Bobby Chang (Rapidshare) and many others and become motivated by their success. These people have made it..but only through hard word and determination.

Now I understand that you as a young person may have many things that you need to balance ie: studies, side work, friends and relaxing in general. But with a little work and determination – you can be on the road of success.

Please remember that becomming successful or making a name for yourself will not happen overnight – you will have tons of obstacles and difficulties that you need to persevere through, but you know what? At the end of the day IT’S WORTH IT! Why you may ask? Because in reality this will be experience on its own!

So what does it take to become an entrepreneur you say?

My first advice to you is to find something you love. In my experience and reading, doing something you love is the most important because in it you will find yourself passionate about it and without even realising, you will work hard. And work isn’t work if it’s something you love

2. Always think BIG – Now don’t backpaddle, always be thinking big, but remember to think realistic aswell. When you start small, take one step at a time – persevere and work towards a goal.

3. Focus! Focus! Focus! – I cannot stress the importance of this point. Many and I say many people tend to find an idea..think it through and through – but don’t follow up. They forget that the follow up is the most important thing. Everybody has ideas, but it is those few who follow up on their ideas, work hard through it and are determined that truely make it.

4. Keep a balance in your life – Too much of something is never good. You need to balance your studies, work, friends and social life. Equilibrium is the best state and always try to plan yourself accordingly so that none of your obligations suffer.

5. Find something that motivates you – Whether it be you sticking a page on your roof saying “I WILL BE A YOUNG MILLIONAIRE” or by you reading about other young successful entrepreneurs – find something that motivates you. It will help you in times of difficulty and lack of motivation. Remember to act upon that motivation every single day.

If there is one thing I’ve learnt it’s that.. you become what you ultimately think about most. So if you’re thinking about your idea of entrepreneurship contineously – you will ultimately become successful.

One step at a time, slowly but surely you will get there. Trust me, if you want it bad enough – you’re definately going to get it.

Wotcha,

Imraan Moosa

Mobile Apps

The U.S mobile apps market is set to reach $9 billion by 2011.

Web Apps

By 2010, at least 60 percent of new applications will have web capabilities.

C# String Searcher

Below is a little C# program that I wrote which searches all files within a directory for a custom string. Could come in handy nah?

If you have any comments regarding the code, feel free to comment.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;

namespace MyProgram
{
    class Program
    {
        static int results = 0;
        static int dirs_searched = 1;
        static int files_searched = 0;

        static void SearchForString(string _dir, string searchstring)
        {
            try
            {
                DirectoryInfo dir = new DirectoryInfo(_dir);

                string[] _files = Directory.GetFiles(_dir);
                int counter=0;

                foreach (string file in _files)
                {
                    files_searched++;

                    if ((counter = ReadIt(file, searchstring)) > 0)
                    {
                        results += counter;
                        Console.WriteLine("Found \"{0}\" in {1} - {2} times.", searchstring, file, counter);
                    }
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Error: " + ex.Message);
            }

            try
            {
                string[] _dirlist = Directory.GetDirectories(_dir);
                foreach (string subdir in _dirlist)
                {
                    dirs_searched++;
                    SearchForString(subdir, searchstring);
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Error: " + ex.Message);
            }
        }

        static int ReadIt(string file, string searchstring)
        {
            string line = "";
            int counter = 0;

                try
                {
                    StreamReader sr = File.OpenText(file);
                    while (!sr.EndOfStream)
                    {
                        line = sr.ReadLine();
                        if (line.Contains(searchstring))
                            counter++;
                    }

                    return counter;
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Error: " + ex.Message);
                }
                return 0;

        }

        static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            string searchstring="";
            string dirstart = "";

            Console.WriteLine("String searcher.\n");

            Console.Write("Enter string to search for: ");
            searchstring = Console.ReadLine();
            Console.Write("Enter directory to search: ");
            dirstart = Console.ReadLine();

            try
            {
                if (Directory.Exists(dirstart))
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("\nSearching {0} for \'{1}\'", dirstart, searchstring);
                    SearchForString(dirstart, searchstring);

                    Console.WriteLine("\n================\nFound {0} results.", results);
                    Console.WriteLine("\n{0} directorie(s)", dirs_searched);
                    Console.WriteLine("\n{0} files.", files_searched);
                    Console.WriteLine("\n================");

                }
                else
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Path could not be found.");
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Error: " + ex.Message);
            }
        }
    }
}

Compiled version can be found here: Download String Searcher

- Imraan Moosa

Is your website/blog ready to launch?

People and customers judge you by your website. It is especially important for a startup company/website/blog to have all the basic information covered. Check your website against the following to make sure you are giving your viewers the things that they require.

• Contant Information – Do you have all the relevant information on your website/blog for your viewers to contact you? The most frustrating thing for a viewer is not finding the right information in which to contact you.
• Consistent design – Be sure to have a consistent design throughout your website (if you have one) or your blog. Be sure that menu’s, logos, colours are all in the same place for every page.
• Search menu – Have a look around the most popular and large websites. They all have a search ability to search for material from within your website/blog.
• Updates – The most critical thing is for you to consistently update your website or blog. Keep it updated! Post new things all the time. Remember that each day is a new beginning and brings new viewers. You want to keep updating so that you give reason for your viewers to come back.
• Analytics – What if you built a website and nobody came? Thankfully blogs offer a system in which you can view the number of viewers on a post, the most popular topics etc. Google Analytics ( www.google.com/analytics ) offers such a tool for websites. Another tool that you could use is Woopra ( www.woopra.com ).

Enjoy your day.

- Imraan Moosa

Starting an Import/Explort Business

- Imraan Moosa - CrackerSolutions

Hello again I recently received a comment asking for some advice on starting an import/export business and so I decided to read up a little on the subject so that I could provide some insight and share what I have learnt. I do not claim to be an expert on this topic, however I am most willing to learn together with you. With that said..let us begin!

The international market is becoming more and more popular as the world progresses. Actually it is becoming hot! Gone are the days were things like flying, sailing across countries were laughable. We live in a world with endless possibilities and it is becoming more and more common for the average person to begin an import/export business.

Take a step back however. International trading is not something new. Remember the old days, when travellers around the world use to set sail in order to barter cotton, spices and other precious stones. We as more technologically-advanced people, have just found easier ways to import/export our products.

Not everybody is cut-out to be an international trader. If you are the type of person who shudders at the thought of making a sales pitch, or you are an organizationally challenged person then I would say that you don’t want to be doing this kind of business. If however, you are a really enthusiastic person- who enjoys tracking receipts, invoices – or if you love the idea of working with people from different cultures, then I would tell you to just keep going! You are on the right track!

Why do we Import/Export?

It comes down to 3 main reasons being:

1. Availability: There are certain products you just can’t obtain from within your own country and therefore need to import it from another.
2. Image: Sometimes the ‘image’ of a product from another country just appeals more or has a greater effect even though the same product is available in your country.
3. Price: The price of a product from another country in comparison to the price in your country being lower – would be profitable to import and sell within your country – at a lower price.

Aside from these things, countries usually export products which they can product inexpensively due to technology and resources and import products which they can not/find difficult to produce. Take for example a country such as Saudi Arabia which is gifted with oil. They contain the resources together with the technology to take advantage of this oil and export it – but they may need to import clothing.

There are different types of Import/Export Businesses niz:

1. Export Management Company (EMC): An EMC handles the exporting or a product for a domestic company that wants to sell its product internationally, but does not know how to or does not want to know how to. They handle most of everything. They take care of distribution, packing, dealers, arranging shipping and sometimes the EMC takes title to the goods becoming their own distributor.
2. Export Trading Company (ETC): An ETC focuses on the other side of the coin. They find out what products are in demand from foreign buyers and then find domestic sources that are willing to export. See the difference between an EMC and a ETC?
3. Import/Export Merchant: This sort of entrepreneur is like a free agent bound to themselves only, taking all the risks – but gaining all the profits too. They specialize in no specific product, nor do they have a permanent client base. They look for whatever is in demand at that moment, import/export it – package and ship it.

Other things that you will need to look into – finding a trade market! Every product needs customers in which to sell to and you will need to research what foreign customers are in demand for and do market research so that you are fully equipped.

I have now come to the end of my mini Import/Export Business guide. What I have written is just the beginning on a major topic of how to start an Import/Export Business. However, I hope that I have hyped you, oh future Importer/Exporter enough to continue reading more on the topic so that you may fulfil your dream.

If you have any furthur questions, comments or suggestions – feel free to comment on my blog or email me: id3ntity@gmail.com

Lunch is ready..and I’m out

- Imraan Moos

C# Ebook – Round 2!

Hello there. My name is Imraan Moosa and for those of you who do not know me, I am the author of the CrackerSolutions blog.

While browsing the web, I came along an interesting e-book taken from the www.programmersheaven.com

To all those programmers or wanting-to programmers out there, I suggest you take a few minutes to check out that website. It contains alot of programming material and guides that will assist you and help you familiarize yourself with the programming environment.

Now back to the point

The e-book that I came across can be found here: Download C# Ebook!

Take your time. Read through it slowly. Follow the examples if any..but most importantly keep programming! The best way to learn programming is to practise. Don’t be afraid. Try things. Programming is all about exploring. Pushing your computer into creating something extraordinary. You will be suprised at how satisfying a working program can be.

Happy programming friend! :

- Imraan Moosa (id3ntity@gmail.com)

PC Hardware Tutorial – Components of a computer

Good Evening my fellow friends. I am Imraan Moosa the author or CrackerSolutions.

As computer begin to override and ’simplify’ our lives more and more, it is becoming vital to understand the basics on computer hardware. Below is a basic video that will demonstrate the different components of a PC.

Enjoy

Components of a PC

Visual Basic 2005 .NET For Dummies – Ebook

Here is a link for all those Visual Basic .NET programmers out there

Download Here

Happy Programming.

E-Biz Business Startups

Hello there. My name is Imraan Moosa and on this fine afternoon, I would like to share with you a wonderful article I found interesting in a business magazine. If you are amongst the group of people thinking of starting an online enterprise, here are a few business ideas for your startup.

• Conduct Internet tutor workshops for students or other small business owners who want to become a “webizen” if not a webpreneur.
• Write articles for companies that need to create material for their websites that change frequently.
• Launch your own service as a website designer.
• Sell services and products on your own website.
• Select a topic that your interested in/talented and launch a blog about it and you can make money by selling ads on it.
• Put together emailing lists for other small businesses. (Beware that you do not go beyong peoples privacy)
• Start your own business as an Internet development manager and help other small business owners investigate possible ways of earning money online.
• Visit existing businesses and check whether they have a website. If not you could offer to design one for them and get them cheap hosting.
• Sell a product via your online website.
• Start a website service that contains lists of current events, concerts and other activities that will attract a group of followers.
• Start your own import shop online - Find a product that you think customers would be interested in from other parts of the world and sell it via your online website. You can specialise in one product or have a variety of different products.
• Become a web-editor and offer your services of managing and editing the website of a company/individual.
• Host Q & A and discussion sessions – Banner advertisements that scroll through the conversations could produce income.

These are but a few E-Biz business startup ideas. However, you should always remember that it is not the idea that makes people successful, but the perseverance and folow-through that counts. A million dollar idea could be stuck in your head, but without the effort and the ability to make it a reality, it is worth nothing.

I urge you reader, open up your mind, strive for your dreams and make them a reality.

- Imraan Moosa