Posted in August 22, 2008 ¬ 8:39 amh.adminNo Comments »
When you start a business you will encounter many difficulties and take on more challenges than you thought possible. Passion is the emotional attachment to the business that carries you through the hard times. It is often the intense, driving, feeling or conviction that this can work, will work and must work. Passion is what gives most of us the perseverance needed to make it through the difficult start up stages.
The best way to work towards a plan is to take your ultimate goal and work backwards from it, setting milestones. It’s a rough business plan, but it is not something you have to live by, nor does it constitute as failure if you don’t follow it verbatim. Business plans forever evolve. Rarely do you find a company that is still following its original, blueprint business plan. A business plan often gets the mind going and challenges limitations we set for ourselves.
Sometimes, the means is more important than the end itself. In fact, the process of doing is more valuable than people believe–the skills attained, the mistakes made, and the triumphs achieved. Business plans are never static to changing social trends, culture, competition, and growth of a constantly evolving economy. While keeping the vision in mind, evolve and grow with it. It could be the vision of your business or your life. Everyone has their own unique way of interpreting a vision. Make sure your vision is clear. If you know what you want, you can do anything to get to it. Once you figure out where you want to be, things will slowly start piecing together.
To help you with your business plan, we have created this web site that will present to you all types of plans, from all types of industries. You are welcome to search through and find that perfect article that will assist you in creating the right business plan for your enterprise. Please be sociable and link any page that you feel would be valuable to other entrepreneurs.
Posted in April 16, 2012 ¬ 4:25 amh.adminNo Comments »
3 Ways to Get up Close to an Elephant in Sri Lanka
Statistics say that the chances of having a close encounter with an elephant are higher in Sri Lanka than anywhere else in the world. So if you’ve always dreamed of getting up close and personal with Dumbo’s distant cousins, a Sri Lanka holiday is your opportunity to make those wishes come true.
There are around about 2,500 to 3,000 Sri Lankan elephants living on the island and with a land mass of just over 25,000 square miles, it doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out that your odds of seeing an elephant are pretty good. Of course it doesn’t mean you’ll walk out of your hotel and find one waiting at the bus stop, but with a little planning you can turn your Sri Lanka holiday into a totally “elephanticious” experience.
National Parks
Sri Lanka abounds with national parks. It is a credit to the culture and also the past and present governments of the country, that wildlife conservation is an issue high on the agenda of national importance. One of the best opportunities to spend time really getting to know the wild elephants is to observe them going about their daily business in their natural habitat. You will have the best opportunity for elephant-spotting on your Sri Lanka holiday if you head to Yala National Park, Minneriya National Park, Udawalawe National Park and Wilpattu National Park. The elephant population roams freely and in most of the parks you can take a specialised jeep tour with trained rangers. They will give you a fascinating insight into the behaviour and breeding patterns of these wonderful creatures. The advantage of visiting elephants in a national park is that, even though they are the most popular inhabitants, there are many other intriguingly elusive species that manage to keep a lower profile but which you may encounter as well.
Elephant Orphanage
One of the most popular attractions of a holiday in Sri Lanka is a visit to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Originally set up to care for five abandoned elephant calves over thirty years ago, it has evolved into one of Sri Lanka’s premier tourist attractions, in a self-propagating project; as the animals matured and bred so too the number of visitors swelled.
The sensitive approach the orphanage takes to the nurturing of its residents makes Pinnawala a very special place. The elephants themselves are extremely gentle and you can walk amongst them freely without fear. You can wander down to the river and watch them wallowing in the shallows, and they are so used to human contact that often a cheeky trunk will curl out to nudge you in a shy, curious greeting. A visit to the orphanage is a magical day out and will be a highlight of any Sri Lanka holiday.
Elephant Back Safaris
But surely the platinum experience for any elephant-lover would have to be a safari through the exquisite wilderness of Sri Lanka on the back of your favourite new friend. These safaris are a wonderful way to really get to know these beautiful gentle giants. Not only will you spend the day on their backs slowly ambling through the terrain, but you can also swim in the river with them and have the opportunity to groom them. It is a truly relaxing day and an incredibly bonding experience. By the end of the safari you will have completely fallen under the spell of your companion and it will be almost impossible to say goodbye.
About the Author
Ricky Coates is a Sri Lanka holiday specialist for key2holidays, an online tour operator offering Sri Lanka holidays
as well as holidays to other destinations in the Indian Ocean; the Far East, Cuba and the Caribbean, Egypt, Southern Africa, Italy & the Mediterranean, Canada, Australia and the Pacific. key2holidays has a dedicated team of experienced travel consultants to share their knowledge and help you to plan and book your holiday.
This digital document is an article from WWP-Business Opportunities in Asia & the Pacific, published by Worldwide Projects, Inc. on February 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1095 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any …
This digital document is an article from WWP-Business Opportunities in Asia & the Pacific, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2006. The length of the article is 421 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Ci…
This digital document is an article from WWP-Business Opportunities in Asia & the Pacific, published by Worldwide Projects, Inc. on July 1, 2001. The length of the article is 876 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web b…
Posted in April 15, 2012 ¬ 2:41 pmh.adminNo Comments »
The Demise of the National Insurance Company (NIC): Can the Privatization Commission explain the sale to a Nigerian-based private company?
As its 37-year existence as a national financial institution draws to a close, with the reported decision by the National Commission For Privatization (NCP) to sell the National Insurance Company (NIC) to a Nigerian-based private insurance company, Sierra Leone’s indigenous financial services sector is once again being dealt a severe blow, the socio-economic ramifications of which are as yet to be fully comprehended. It is ironic that an institution established in 1972 by the APC government of Siaka Stevens to serve as a last resort provider of insurance services to the nation is being dismantled today when its role and services are most needed in facilitating the country’s development.
The rationale adduced for privatization of government-owned institutions was to alleviate the burden on the nation’s budget and to free up private sector development. According to the NCP implementation document, Strategic Plan for The Divestiture of Public Enterprises-Implementation Programme (2003-2006), “the government policy on privatization is to restructure and rationalize the public sector in order to lessen the dominance of unproductive investments in the sector and to re-orientate the enterprises for overall efficiency, thereby reducing or eliminating current subsidies and future calls on government finances and borrowing”.
While loss making enterprises were to be privatized with employee ownership and local participation “given high priority in the sale process”, the decision of the NCP to sell the NIC at all, let alone to a Nigerian based insurance company, not only fails to comply with its own criteria for divestiture but raises serious conflicts especially with the absence of transparency in the bidding and sale of the company. Despite its poor management, NIC was and has never been a drain on the nation’s finances as none of its operating budget ever came from the nation’s consolidated fund. Rather, the company’s precarious financial position can be directly attributed to the failure of governmental institutions to pay for insurance policies and services.
It is thus hoped that the Presidency and Parliament as a matter of urgency and transparency obtain from the National Commission for Privatization answers to questions such as: What are the terms of the proposed sale agreement? Were other companies involved in the bidding for the company? Why were indigenous insurance companies or individuals not involved in the bidding, if any bidding ever was done prior to the reported sale? How much was paid for such a valuable insurance asset, which only needed a change in management and new policies addressing the nation’s developmental concerns to return it to profitability?
The news of this impending sale is all the more painful to alumni and employees of this once venerable institution as several members of government, constituting the cream of the nation’s current political leadership have at some point worked at this institution and as such bear a special responsibility to forestall its demise. It is thus is this context that President Koroma and parliament’s intervention is being sought to halt this transfer of wealth from the people of Sierra Leone to a foreign private owned institution.
Mis-management alone not a recipe for sale of NIC:
I recently had occasion to review the latest Sierra Leone Insurance Commission (SLICOM) Annual Report on the activities of insurance companies in Sierra Leone and was especially struck by the appalling performance figures reported by the management at the National Insurance Company (NIC). From a once premier insurance company in the country, an analysis of the NIC’s poor performance in all sectors spanning over a decade, can aptly be attributed to the poor management and leadership skills of the Managing Director and consecutive Board of Directors.
An analysis of the statistical figures in the Sierra Leone Insurance Commission (SLICOM) Annual Report, 2006 is highly instructive in assessing how the company has been and is projected to be managed under the current management. The statistics, facts and figures to a trained actuarial mind will glaringly show a trajectory of continual stagnation and disintegration in all levels of insurance productivity as reflected in the company’s below-industry standard claims and combined ratios; high outstanding premiums; exorbitant management expenses; very high expense ratios and dramatic decline in overall market share without a concomitant strategy and vision to initiate a turnaround of this deplorable business situation. I have chosen to address two of the below mentioned areas affecting the solvency of the company.
The Life Insurance Business:
In the 1980’s and early 1990’s NIC had unsurpassed dominance in the underwriting of life insurance in the country. In fact the current Managing Director was a Senior Life Insurance Manager during this period. However, its near 70 percent market share had dwindled to 32 percent in 2003 and to a 19 percent market share in 2005 culminating into a dismal minus 14 percent share in 2006. The dissipation of the life insurance business in the company is a singular testament to the incompetence of management.
Outstanding Premiums:
In the underwriting year 2006, NIC reported gross premiums of 4 billion 167 million 697 thousand Leones (LE4, 167,697,000.00). However, of this amount the sum of 2 billion 170 million 486 thousand (LE2, 170,486,000.00) represented outstanding premiums the management was unable to collect. As previously stated the high levels of uncollected premiums represent a sort of unfunded liability by governmental ministries and institutions who represent the bulk of the deadbeats. A sucessful program designed to collect on this hugh outstanding premiums owed could easily make NIC one of the nation’s profitable companies.
The level of incompetence exhibited in managing such a modern financial institution not to mention an inability to design and introduce modern insurance policies addressing our nation’s developmental aspirations is indeed breathtaking in scope.
As a concerned observer of the activities of the National Insurance Company (NIC) and looking at presenting its management, financial and business profile in a very clear objective manner, it is regrettable to note that the continued downward spiral in productivity and growth witnessed over the years is projected to continue unless urgent and radical steps to rectify the situation are undertaken by both the management and its Board of Directors.
Conclusion:
The company’s current dismal performance however should not be the basis for the rumored sale of this venerable institution to a foreign Nigerian insurance company. What is required is a visionary and pro-growth management with clearly defined goals and objectives articulated with accountability to further this national institution’s continued relevance in the development of our nation. Sierra Leone has the talent and expertise in the insurance field that can take over the management of this institution with the requisite fiduciary and oversight duties and responsibilities by a competent professional board that can bring about fiscal accountability to the management and profitability to this once venerable insurance institution in our country.
The attention of the National Commission for Privatization (NCP) is respectfully drawn to the fact that in making an assessment of an Insurance company’s financial strength or ability to meet its ongoing financial obligations, a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analysis of risks to the Insurer’s financial health, operating performance and business profile as reflected not only in the balance sheet but other financial statements and regulatory reports must be assiduously reviewed and taking into account. In this regard thus the Commission’s decision to sell the NIC is economically unjustified and robs the nation of a venerable institution which only needed a change in management and introduction of new insurance products for it to viably compete and provide not only taxes to government but more importantly serve as a beacon of our nationhood.
About the Author
The author, Mr. Kortor Kamara has over 25 years experience in the insurance industry both in Sierra Leone and the United States. He is a Chartered Property & Casualty Insurer and holds the Workers Compensation Claims Professional (WCCP) designation. He is a Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute (London); Certified Self-Insurance Claims Administrator-State of California; Registered World Bank Consultant and has served as a Consultant on various Insurance initiatives in Sierra Leone, including design of the country’s first Title Insurance Policy.
In addition, Mr. Kamara is a graduate of Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, 1978-1981; studied Law at both the Univerisity of West Los Angeles School of Law and the California Southern School of Law in Riverside. He is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Insurance and Risk Management.
Through association with Saddleback Re, were he serves as the Regional Manager, Africa Division, Mr. Kamara is intimately involved in the provision of reinsurance coverage, policy design, loss control, training and risk management services to the African Insurance marketplace. Mr. Kamara can be contacted at Kortorkamara@yahoo.com
