Just do IT

Everyday, at least five times a day, I pray for only three things.

That Dear God please:

1) Strengthen my faith

2) Protect my family from evil

3) Make fortune more attainable for me

And it seems to be working. Well except for the fact that Sis Lilie still remains uncontactable in Perth with no news... but I'm sure she's alright. I'll keep on calling her and praying that nothing is wrong.

I met Max when he agreed to be my affiliate in my now dead and buried SmashingBargains.com project. When the project failed, Max loaned me some money without any strings attached. I didn't ask. He said to take my time to pay back. No worries. That was slightly over a year ago.

I paid my last loan instalment to Max this morning and as usual I sent him a text to inform him of his sudden increase in wealth.

CM: hi max, i've transferred my last loan instalment of 200 to you. yay!

MAX: congratulations. would you like to pay interest and work for me this sunday?

CM: dude, i'm working this sunday lah.

MAX: after work lor.

CM: i work at taman jurong. by the time i reach there it's 11.45pm. anyway, when do you intend to actually semi-retire like you always say? (he's just opened another store at Ming Arcade)

MAX: when you come and work for me lor.

CM: you nabeh. but i'll do one better. i'll buy one of your shops one day.

*Suddenly my phone rang. It was Max.*

MAX: Eh you wanna take over my Toa Payoh shop or not (he's been advertizing [removed] for takeover on the Straits Times classifieds for a while now and I noticed coz I read the "Business Opportunities Section 209" all the time)?

CM: You mad ah? You want $80000, I $80 also don't have!

MAX: We'll work something out lor, like a franchise. I'll consign you my goods.

CM: Ok I understand. If your POS (cashier) system can print out daily and monthly reports, maybe what I can do is to surrender to you my entire daily sales to consolidate, then you deduct whatever pre-agreed amount I owe you at the month end and transfer me back the balance. That way, both our interests are protected.

MAX: Ok, we talk tonight.

We were supposed to meet an hour ago but he was held back with moving in his stuff to his new store so it's postponed till tomorrow.

The above system I mentioned is what is being practiced at all my company's foodcourts. Pre-agreed amounts (to be paid to the company) are not always the same. It all depends on the tenants' negotiations skills and/or whether he actually bothers to negotiate in the first place. Believe me, it happens. Some tenants are so simple they just accept whatever terms my company offers. It's sad.

But I'm gonna negotiate. Knowledge is nothing without application. I have nothing to lose anyway. If the terms are ridiculously lopsided the other way then I see no point in getting involved. I'm not desperate. For your information, I didn't accept the Operations Whatever job at the security company.

So it seems I do have one more option to consider. Talk about a late run. This taking over one of Max's stores is definitely more desirable than all the other options by ten miles.

It's strange how from becoming neighbours in a shopping mall, to an Internet business affiliate and working for him part time, then leaving and borrowing money from him to get by and working someplace else full time while slowly paying back his loan, I am being offered a chance to take over one of his outlets now.

Maybe SmashingBargains wasn't a bad idea after all. It's possibly now my best ever investment. Otherwise I wouldn't have become friends with Max.

People have that kinda trust in me and I'm proud of that. It does pay to be honest. I've never believed in stepping on anybody's head to get to the top. God does have a plan for me. He works in mysterious ways He does.

However as usual, the ink is not on paper yet. Everything's still 50-50. We haven't really sat down to iron anything out. I'm quite hopeful of it though.

One part of me does question why he would wanna let one of his stores go if it's making money but from my past experience working for him, I don't think that is a problem. I've seen the numbers.

And in all this time that I do not work for him, we do meet up and conduct small business dealings with each other. He's the guy I get all my IT accessories supplies at wholesale prices from to sell elsewhere. So I have kept myself in the loop.

Besides, he also plans to move House of Mouse to another location in Toa Payoh Central, most likely the entertainment centre where there is a LAN gaming/cybercafe shop, an arcade and the cinema where I usually catch my movies at. Great. Target-market central.

It's also nearer to the MRT station and the bank which both Max and I have accounts with. The rent is also cheaper by two times as compared to Mouse's current location. And, it's just next to the FNS 470 foodcourt so I can still easily get my Halal food for meals.

Neat.