Business

3 key drivers of successful investment management

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Pay close attention to these aspects of your purchase to guarantee long-term success.

One of the many advantages of investing in residential property is that you can choose how involved you want to be in the investment. Many investors treat it as a completely passive investment and outsource the management of the investment and finances to property managers and trusted advisers. Others have a real passion for it and it becomes almost a hobby. Once you have purchased the property, there are three aspects to managing the success of the investment: the property, the tenants and the financials.

The property

Depending on the type and location of the property there are many things you can do to boost the capital value of the property as well as the rent you receive in the meantime. This can, but doesn’t have to, include extensive renovations. Often a new paint job in some of the rooms is enough to really improve the appeal of the property. An example I saw recently was new carpets in the living area of a townhouse investment. The cost was $6,000 and yet the rent increased by $80 a week.

The carpets therefore paid for themselves within 18 months. There are so many examples of this and don’t forget the outdoor areas either. An appealing-looking property from the street is a great first impression and it doesn’t cost much to plant some nice greenery and paint the front fence.

The tenants

Managing the tenants of the property is the main ongoing task of owning an investment property. Most investors outsource this to a property manager who handles all the liaison including finding and screening new tenants, negotiating the rent, looking after complaints, collecting the rent, and ensuring the place is kept in good order. For this they charge a fee based on the rent amount, usually five to eight per cent of the rent. They will also charge for advertising and often other charges when a lease expires and new tenants are required. For these reasons several of my clients choose to do this themselves and therefore earn a higher effective return on their property.

Even if you employ a property manager you should not assume it is an appoint-and-forget arrangement. Of course some managers will be better than others, and unfortunately there are many who are lazy. A common example I see is that they do not do enough research of what rent your property could be achieving in the current market. They tend to focus on just having it occupied. I strongly recommend doing your own research of the area once to twice a year and especially when a lease is coming up for review.

I had a client who, after doing her own research, had the property manager increase the rent by $55 a week after they recommended the lease just be rolled over with the same tenants at the same amount. It turned out the existing tenants stayed on as they recognised what the market value in the area was.

The financials

Many people just assume a mortgage is a 30-year term and that it’s a matter of paying it off over that time. The fact is mortgages can easily be renegotiated and refinanced with the same lender or moved to a new one. Market conditions, product features, and competition change so much. In addition to this, your own financial situation does as well. You should review your mortgage every six months, or better still if you have a mortgage broker make sure they are doing it for you. So many things can affect the rate you are paying and these have large impacts on the financial performance of your property. Recently I was able to save a client 1.3 per cent on a $525,000 mortgage just by getting the property revalued and negotiating with another lender. This saved her over $6,500 a year on her mortgage repayments!

Another simple tip is to get your ATO classification changed to include a property investor. This allows you to effectively deduct your negative gearing and other expenses during the year rather than claim a refund when you file your tax return at the end of the year. It is simple to do and can really help with month to month cash flow. Speak to your accountant about this.

If you’re willing to have a more active role in managing your property investment, there is a lot that can be done to give your returns a great boost. The more proactive you decide to be the better off your returns will be in the long run.

Source: smartpropertyinvestment.com.au

Expo on crowdfunding and fintech

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LISTED Australian crowdfunding company CoAssets is organising the inaugural Expo for Property, Investing and Crowdfunding (Epic) in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 24 and 25 to highlight the potential of crowdfunding and financial technology (fintech) in Asia, as well as to connect investors to businesses.

“Crowdfunding in Asia, specifically in Malaysia, is gaining much interest.

“With the Malaysia Securities Commission (SC) issuing six equity crowdfunding licences in June 15, we believe more and more people will want to know what this new trend is all about,” said Getty Goh, CoAssets chief executive officer.

“Although CoAssets does not have an equity crowdfunding licence and we have not done any crowdfunding in Malaysia, we have been active around the region and would like to do our part for the local crowdfunding community.

“Hence, we felt organising a major expo would help bring topics like crowdfunding as well as fintech to a wider audience,” he said.

Goh said they had lined up many prominent speakers to share their crowdfunding expertise, including Elizabeth Siew, lawyer and managing partner of Iqbal Hakim Sia & Voo, and representatives from PropellarCrowdPlus and Eureeca, two of the six approved equity crowdfunding platforms in the country.

Property advisor and investment coach Milan Doshi will also be speaking, giving attendees a good mix of property, investment and crowdfunding presentations during the two-day event.

To create greater exposure to the crowdfunding ecosystem, CoAssets has shortlisted six startups to showcase their products and offerings at Epic. Startups looking for funding and business opportunities in Malaysia will also be participating in a pitching contest.

The most popular startup with the highest vote will be awarded with RM10,000.

Some of the startups involved in this contest include I Transcend, ParkEasy, Square Social Com-merce, ImageCrowd and Busttle Eco Ride.

There will also be a lucky draw, with participants standing a chance to win RM10,000 cash in prize. In addition, developer Hatten Properties will sponsor a three-day, two-night trip to Malacca.

Prior to this upcoming event, CoAssets successfully organised an Epic expo in Singapore in July.

The event attracted more than 900 participants, comprising industry stakeholders, businesses and investors. It also drew 16 exhibitors from eight countries, namely Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Mongolia, Cambodia, Australia and the UK.

MayBank, Propertyguru and Seristine Properties Ltd were among companies that attended the Singapore event.

In total, more than S$9mil worth of business deals were generated.

“We received positive feedback from exhibitors and event attendees,” reported CoAssets chief techinical officer Seh Huan Kiat.

“This is because unlike other expos, we try to organise sessions for businesses and investors to directly connect with each other.

“One such event is the Speed Networking Session, also known as SNS. This is similar to speed dating but it gives business owners an opportunity to meet as many investors as possible and vice versa.

“This provides some structure to break the ice, and we have found that exhibitors and attendees were able to have meaningful business discussions after that.”

Source: The Star Online

coassets-event

More information, kindly visit http://s.coassets.com/FF1

GST First, Point of Sale (POS) Compliance Later

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Chinese chambers say authorities should not rush small businesses into installing a point of sale (POS) system, adding that it’s more important to educate them on GST compliance. JOY LEE reports.

SMALL traders should be given time to fully understand and comply with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime before the authorities enforce the compulsory use of point-of-sales (POS) system, says the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM).

National council member and chairman of SMEs and HRD committee, Koong Lin Loong, says small business owners are still unsure about how to be GST-compliant and are demanding better clarification on the requirement for a POS system.

Last week, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani said traders must install POS systems to issue invoices that were printed and numbered, in compliance with the GST standard by Oct 1.

The ministry had identified six categories of businesses at retail level that had to have the POS system or at least a GST-compliant cash register, namely pharmacies, bookshops, grocery and sundry stores, hardware shops, mini-markets, eateries and entertainment outlets such as pubs and karaoke joints.

“We should not rush into forcing all these retailers to have a POS system. I think there should be more emphasis on educating them on full compliance of the GST first. Getting the POS is a good thing but there needs to be a timeframe for SMEs to adjust to the GST system first,” Koong says.

According to Koong, other countries that have implemented the GST such as Australia have also allowed pre-printed invoices as long as they contained details that are GST-compliant.

He notes that expectations for local SMEs to install a POS system over the next two to three weeks may be “harsh”.

“According to the Customs director general, all GST-registered company should not use handwritten invoices. They must use computer-generated receipts. So traders are confused because now they have to install POS. A lot of them don’t have POS and cash registers.

“Is it not good enough to use computer-generated invoices that is GST-compliant? Do they need to get new cash registers?

“There needs to be better clarity on what is a POS and a GST-compliant cash register for these small traders. SMEs want to comply but they are not sure how to,” says Koong.

He is also urging the authorities to give more leeway to small businesses in meeting deadlines, given that the past six months has been a transitional period for them to find their way around the new tax system.

He says SMEs are getting better after this learning stage and expects things to improve over the next six months as the authorities look into problems peculiar to individual industries.

Koong also applauds the Customs Department for their efforts in hurrying the GST refunds to businesses.

“Customs has done a good job in making the refunds. There were delays previously as there were cases of companies that had wrongly put the amount of the refunds, submitting the wrong forms or had inaccurate bank account and contact information.

“Customs has already clarified that they are not doing any auditing. They are also trying very hard to contact the companies for more information so that refunds can be made. This is good effort on their part,” he says.

Under GST Regulation 2014, refunds of input tax are to be made within 14 working days of online submission of claims, or 28 working days when done manually.

Over 92% of companies that had submitted their GST for the month of April have received their input tax refunds.

Koong believes that companies that have all their information in order should not have any issues in getting back their refunds.

One such company is education services provider LeapEd Services Sdn Bhd.

“We started preparations early. We brought in specialists to train our staff because we wanted to be prepared to manage the new system. We made a heavy investment to be GST-compliant because we wanted to be fully compliant.

“I think if a company is fully compliant, the system should work and there shouldn’t be much of a problem,” says CEO John Chacko.

Source: The Star Online

Zeti: Ringgit will Regain Strength Again

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KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz is again brushing off suggestions to peg the ringgit, saying that doing so would do more harm to the Malaysian economy.

The ringgit has hit new 17-year lows against the US dollar in recent weeks, declining 26% year-to-date and closing at 4.395 yesterday. The ringgit was pegged against the greenback at 3.80 during the height of the Asian financial crisis in September 1998 and was unpegged in July 2005.

“If you peg the currency, something else will adjust and that means prices or demand conditions, and those might have a greater cost on our economy,” she told reporters following her speech at the Malaysia-OECD High-Level Global Symposium on Financial Well-Being.

Zeti also does not envisage implementing capital control measures at this point of time. “We have market mechanisms that adjust. What we want to demonstrate is that when we have fundamentals that can allow us to adjust, then when the uncertainty subsides, our currency will regain its strength,” she said.

Prolonged weakness in the ringgit, coupled with uncertainty on the global economic front as well as a slump in commodity prices, have also weighed on the local equity market.

Experts said the ringgit could hit another low later this week if China’s manufacturing data, which will be released today, comes out weaker than expected.

The uncertainty surrounding a US rate hike has also played a part in the foreign-fund outflow from local equities and bonds.

MIDF Research said in a report on Monday that the market has seen a year-to-date cumulative net foreign outflow to the tune of RM17.7bil.

“There is a lot of uncertainty in the world. We have to demonstrate that we can live in that uncertainty and survive it,” said Zeti.

She pointed to Malaysia’s resilience during the global financial crisis of 2008/2009 and said the country was quite capable of recovering from economic setbacks quite quickly.

“When there was the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, we had huge outflows, much more significant that what we are seeing now, and even then, we were able to intermediate those flows,” Zeti said. — By Wong Wei-shen

Source: The Star Online

Avoid These 5 Mistakes to Succeed with Your Small Business

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At one time or another, virtually everyone thinks about starting a business. The allure of being your own boss can be strong, but it’s important to remember that launching a new business is risky: According to a recent SBA report, about 50% of all small businesses will fail within just five years.

Managing a startup can be a minefield, especially when the pull of entrepreneurship clouds your decision-making – and when you go it alone with no business experience. But if you do decide to start your own business, it’s a great idea to learn from other’s mistakes and set yourself up for success. Here are five mistakes to avoid:

 

1. Inaccurately gauging demand for your product or service.

Remember – just because you like jalapeño-flavored pickled okra, that doesn’t mean everyone likes it. Too many small businesses fail because the owner overestimates demand. Before launching your venture, find out how strong the demand is for your product or service. Is it a product or service that most people need or want? Does it fit with current trends? For instance, a DVD rental store is probably not a good investment now due to the popularity of streaming services. Before settling on a business venture, ask yourself if the benefits to the customer are compelling and easy to understand. Test demand for your product or service by vetting it with a wide range of friends and family who will be brutally honest with you.

 

2. Entering a crowded market without a distinct competitive advantage.

You may cook an incomparably delicious hamburger or make a mean pizza, but before you try to build a business around that talent, think about how you are going to distinguish your business from every other hamburger or pizza restaurant. It’s important to consider factors like price, taste, décor, service speed, advertising and other choices and define how you can set your business apart.

Without a well-defined competitive advantage, it’s tough to compete in a marketplace like the restaurant business, where it typically takes a lot of time and money to build a viable brand. Make sure you have a competitive advantage that stands out.

 

3. Forgetting to count the costs.

Like any other large-scale project, such as building a house, successfully launching a business requires a thorough, upfront accounting of costs, both financial and personal. Under capitalization is one of the top reasons for business failure, so before you launch, make sure you have a detailed budget that includes not only startup costs but the living expenses you’ll have to take on before your business can start paying you. It’s best to assume it will cost more and take longer than you initially think it will. And it’s also important to include the personal and family costs since startups can be an all-consuming enterprise. It’s better to overestimate the costs and be pleasantly surprised than to project an overly rosy scenario and end up bankrupt.

 

4. Failing to delegate and ignoring critical functions.

No one person is great at every facet of running a business, so make sure you identify each critical function and delegate tasks to the best person to get the job done. Use your strengths to the company’s best advantage and offload functions that others can do better.

Also, make sure you never just ignore the things you don’t like to do. You can go bankrupt just as fast for failing to pay federal payroll taxes as you can if you don’t generate sales. There are many critical functions involved in running a successful business. Get the right people on your team and be sure each one is in the right position.

 

5. Not planning for profitability.

One of the first things you should do when making a business plan is to define the business model. Running a non-profit or charity can be satisfying, and it definitely takes business skills, but before you can succeed in any type of business, you’ll need to know your profit model inside and out.

What is your gross margin on sales? Your net margin? How many sales do you need to break even each day or week? What is the worst case scenario, and how would you overcome it? Establish the key performance indicators (KPIs) for your business that will let you know how your company is performing. Numbers don’t lie, they’re not emotional and they don’t make excuses. If the numbers show you are in a steep decline, take action and make changes before you crash. But you can only do that if you define and measure your numbers

So how can you increase your chances of being among the 50 percent of businesses that make it for at least five years? Luck and timing definitely play a role, but you can improve your odds with careful planning and a detailed strategy. Another way to mitigate the risk of business failure is to choose a franchise business. The top franchises already provide solutions and support to help new business owners overcome potential problems.

Successful franchise companies have proven products and processes, and they have historical data and financials to work with, which are valuable resources at the planning and operations stages. Most importantly, franchise companies can provide support when you need it to make good decisions and avoid the minefield of mistakes that doom half of all small business startups. But whether you choose an established franchise or decide to go it alone, remember to avoid these five common business mistakes, and set yourself up to succeed.

 


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Investing the Right Way

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Joint Venture Investing is the Right Way to invest. Why? It allow us to minimize the impact of invest and increase our reach on our investment road map. Let’s break it down into the essential part for investing in property. First we need a certain amount of capital, second we need to have a salary that able to cover our loan amount, third “age” which determine how long your loan term can reach as the longer the term the better and finally the knowledge.

For 1 person to able to able to fulfill all these is hard as it only few people that able to achieve that. So what about those that did not have the basic criteria to be able to fulfill? That when Joint Venture Investing is the right way to invest.

If a person who is in his/her mid 20’s which have the ability to get loans from the bank both in term of his/her salary & age but not the capital and knowledge, he/she must find a elder person who have the capital and knowledge. With both utilizing both advantage then the basic criteria is fulfill. We know well this is an method that exit the problem is preventing Joint Venture Investing melt down and a exit plan if one does not wanted to continue be involve, this is to protect both party.

Hence, this year PIC we are honor to be able to invite Chris Tan a lawyer and founders of Chur Association. He will touch on the the Joint Venture Investing and teach how to prevent dispute between joint venture party. Sharing his knowledge on how to be able to protect joint venture party and ensure that there is an exit plan in place to in cast any break of joint venture.

In the past joint venture investment is been known widely but the main cons is on the exit plan and also the dispute  arrangement. Therefore, if we remove both of these obstacle, joint venture investing is the right way to invest.

MOC《资本圈》企业参访 | MOC Capital Circle – Corporate Visit

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Good news! < MOC Capital Circle> brought you another exciting corporate visit to Korea Wallpaper and Mediasoft Entertainment on 26th of June 2015! Entrepreneurs tends to learn from each other, increase value to the company, hence, create absolute advantage !!!

Below is the details of two company:

Korea Wallpaper:
－Founded in 2009, ASEAN’s Largest wallpaper gallery at KL, JB, Penang and Melaka.
－Industry leader showcasing thousands of collections imported from South Korea.
－Public recognise its BRAND for highest standard wallpaper at lowest price.

Mediasoft Entertainment:
－Mediasoft is a MSC Status Company and Autodesk Certified Partner.
－Malaysia’s largest game company with 80 employee come from Malaysia, India, Brazil, Germany
－Asia’s Awards winning and Star employer in the local game industry and Universities.

Corporate visitation agenda：
9.30am Korea Wallpaper Reception Registration
10am -11am Korea Wallpaper Corporate Visit
11.15am Mediasoft Entertainment Reception Registration
11.30am -12.30pm Mediasoft Entertainment Corporate Visit
1pm – 2.30pm Networking Luncheon & MOC Sharing
2.45pm End

Credit to <MOC Capital Circle> arrangement，Networking Luncheon sponsored by Korea Wallpaper and Mediasoft Entertainment.

Entrepreneurs and investors that eager to learn how to leverage on Capital Mechanism MUST register. Due to limited seat available, REGISTER NOW, FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS.

Instant Registration hotline:
Queenie ＋019 331 7818
Zoe +018 211 7178

 

好消息！ MOC《资本圈》携您一起于6月26日（五）企业参访Korea Wallpaper 和 Mediasoft Entertainment！企业之间相互学习、提高企业价值、打造企业的绝对优势！

以下是两家优秀企业的简介：
Korea Wallpaper:
－2009年创立，如今是东盟最大壁纸展示厅，分别位于吉隆坡、柔佛、槟城与马六甲
－行业佼佼者，展示过千进口韩国集合系列
－享誉公认品牌－提供最高水准但最低价格的壁纸

Mediasoft Entertainment:
－MSC公司，也是Autodesk认证伙伴
－马来西亚最大游戏公司，超过80位来自世界各地员工（马来西亚、印度、巴西、德国等等）
－荣获亚洲大奖与Star Employer、并获得Apple，Google Store 与Windows Store等各种奖项

流程：
9.30am Korea Wallpaper接待处集合报到
10am-11am Korea Wallpaper 参访
11.15am Mediasoft Entertainment 接待处集合报到
11.30am-12.30pm Mediasoft Entertainment 参访
1pm-2.30pm 午餐交流与MOC分享
2.45pm 圆满结束

在此感谢MOC团队的细心安排，也感恩Korea Wallpaper与Mediasoft Entertainment赞助午餐！
席位只限50位，请尽快报名！

报名热线：
婷婷 ＋019 331 7818
佳蓁 +018 211 7178
WMA富道学院启

PRESS RELEASE: Rise of ASEAN Conference and the 8th Global Entrepreneur Roundtable 2015

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PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION

Rise of ASEAN Conference and the 8th Global Entrepreneur Roundtable 2015; First ever joined entrepreneur and investment outlook into ASEAN

2nd April 2015, Kuala Lumpur- MOC Capital Berhad in collaboration with wealth Mastery Academy and MICE Preferred has presented in-depth information with regards to The Rise Of ASEAN Conference and the 8th Global Entrepreneur Roundtable in Kuala Lumpur. A press conference was held at the Park Royal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur chaired by Dato’ Terry Ong CEO of Wealth Mastery Academy, Dato’ Tony Looi from Persatuan Usahawan Maju Malaysia (Pumm) and Datin’ Samantha Tee COO of wealth mastery academy.

The event scheduled for the 17th of April- 19th April at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur and will be attended by at least 300 delegates from around ASEAN. Malaysia, a growing nation was quoted to be as “A nation capable of being a central business hub for ASEAN for business and business expansion. We want our nation to match businesses on a global scale” this was a key talking point during the press conference, quoted by the CEO of Wealth Mastery Academy Dato’ Terry Ong. Besides conferences that are planned to take place on the specified dates, there will also be cultural night on the second day of the event. This is planned so that Malaysia can showcase to the world that Malaysia not is melting pot of cultures not only locally but also internationally. The introduction of Malaysian hospitality and culture to the other member nations and delegates was also very much stressed on.

Dato Tony Looi also quoted that “We want our nation to grow as a whole, to promote international businesses into Malaysia also matching them with existing businesses”. As quoted by Datin’ Samantha Lee “From the pass GER events we’ve manage to gain the followers and support to make this 8th conference a successful one. This would be the 8th conference that we will be organizing and it is honour as it will be hosted in our home nation”. This conference will provide an opportunity to both Malaysian and foreign delegates the opportunity to witness how that investments can transcend borders and local policies at the same time achieving the desired business aspirations that have been set.

As a whole, This conference is targeted to attract individual that are directly or indirectly involved in investment, entrepreneurs, small and medium business owners, bankers, fund managers, portfolio management and various investment authorities to understand better the economic climate and market ASEAN has to offer.

For more information, please contact

+6018 – 211 8178 / +6018 – 201 1178

aseanrise.com

ASEAN, the Future of Economic Growth

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“ASEAN faces the future with confidence. Its strong foundation and remarkable achievements will serve ASEAN well as it pursues higher goals at the dawn of the new millennium. The ASEAN Heads of Government have reaffirmed confidently that Cooperative peace and shared prosperity shall be the fundamental goals of ASEAN. Economically, ASEAN shall move towards greater economic integration with emphasis on sustainable and equitable growth. Finally, ASEAN shall nourish a caring and cohesive ASEAN community, whose strength lies in fostering a common regional identity and a shared vision for the future, it all comes back to the basics and foundations that naturally is nourished among ASEAN countries.”

Want to know more on how you could be a part of this bright future? For more information on how you could be part of this kindly visit www.aseanrise.com