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Susan Ma's Company |
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#51 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 114
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Quote:
No one in their right mind would buy a product online from a company that under "contact us" did not list their address, email and telephone number?
having a website means nothing and i would seriously doubt they (she) get any orders. She also calls her self the managing director. Which other directors does she manage and what staff do the directors oversee? Her email address and postal address are also listed online. There is even a contact form to make contacting the company easier. It seems that you desperately want this girl to be unsuccessful, regardless of the facts, perhaps it makes you feel better I don't know. I don't think her company is massive, but her products look nice and I'm sure she gets business, especially from the Apprentice publicity. |
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#52 |
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: ¥
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Quote:
The link was a video to her selling at exhibitions. And the contact page says that she will call them within 48 hours if customers want to be called. And there are plenty of businesses online that doesn't list their phone numbers.
Her email address and postal address are also listed online. There is even a contact form to make contacting the company easier. It seems that you desperately want this girl to be unsuccessful, regardless of the facts, perhaps it makes you feel better I don't know. I don't think her company is massive, but her products look nice and I'm sure she gets business, especially from the Apprentice publicity. Quote:
You are talking rubbish. If you can find the time, why not? Rather that, than wasting my time with computer games.
There are quite a few young entrepreneurs out there building online busineses and using their part-time earnings to fund their education. |
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#53 |
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Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 114
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Quote:
For a start Mark Zuckerberg, founder of facebook started it at University and there is no contact phone number on their website.
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#54 |
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Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,284
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Quote:
How did Susan make a success of her business without ever having to pitch?
And on the subject of pitching, she point blank refused to do it, so why did she pretend she put herself forward? |
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#55 |
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Join Date: May 2011
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Quote:
For a start Mark Zuckerberg, founder of facebook started it at University and there is no contact phone number on their website.
and not a good example as he is not in retail |
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#56 |
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 584
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Quote:
I can't remember, but I know there are. My point is, there is no reason why anyone can't a start business while in education or working. Just have a read at some of the success stories http://www.startups.co.uk/success-stories and you realize that anything is possible.
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#57 |
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Join Date: May 2011
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I can't remember, but I know there are. My point is, there is no reason why anyone can't a start business while in education or working. Just have a read at some of the success stories http://www.startups.co.uk/success-stories and you realize that anything is possible.
Play the percentages |
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#58 |
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 11,473
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I can't see how spending a few hours a week on your own business is any different to spending a few hours a week working in a bar or restuarent.
Of course when I was a student we had full grants & no fees so my time was spent on the drinking side of the bar
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#59 |
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Join Date: May 2011
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I can't see how spending a few hours a week on your own business is any different to spending a few hours a week working in a bar or restuarent.
Of course when I was a student we had full grants & no fees so my time was spent on the drinking side of the bar ![]() Orders every day, posting, stock, questions, site maintenance, returns, customer issues.. |
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#60 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 3,089
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Quote:
How do you spend a "few hours a week" running a 24 hour a day online business?
Orders every day, posting, stock, questions, site maintenance, returns, customer issues.. Just because the web site runs 24 hours a day does not mean that someone has to be supporting it 24/7. If she was selling, say, 5 items a day she could easily handle that expending just an hour. And there is no reason why she could not have had someone helping her. There are many people running small Ebay or Amazon Marketplace businesses on that basis. It seems you have absolutely no idea about the range of sizes a business might be nor the amount and distribution of time needed to run them. |
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#61 |
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Join Date: May 2011
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Quote:
You don't know the exact nature of her business when she was at uni.
Just because the web site runs 24 hours a day does not mean that someone has to be supporting it 24/7. If she was selling, say, 5 items a day she could easily handle that expending just an hour. And there is no reason why she could not have had someone helping her. There are many people running small Ebay or Amazon Marketplace businesses on that basis. It seems you have absolutely no idea about the range of sizes a business might be nor the amount and distribution of time needed to run them. And your "if she was selling, say, 5 items a day" is based on what? I run my own online business and have done so for 9 years. I can spot a billy bs from a mile off. Her included..
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#62 |
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 3,089
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Quote:
And your "if she was selling, say, 5 items a day" is based on what?
It wasn't 'based' on anything, it was a specification for a hypothetical.Quote:
I run my own online business and have done so for 9 years. I can spot a billy bs from a mile off. Her included.. Except that you evidently cannot. You are presumably one of these people who assumes that because your business works in a certain way everyone else's must be just the same.
I have a friend who has a very small Ebay business that sells around 10 items a day and he reckons to spend less than half an hour a day on it. Add to that his wife making a round trip to the post office every couple of days at half an hour a time. At a net profit of around £4-5 per item it's a nice, easy, little earner for them and would be something that anyone could handle quite easily whilst pursuing full time education. |
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#63 |
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: On a horse atop an ivory tower
Posts: 1,707
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Her business hasn't always been online. It started in a market stall and markets often have fixed days trading. The idea that it was impossible for her to run a stall once or twice a week while studying is ludicrous.
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#64 |
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Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 114
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She also did very well in her education as stated on her personal website. That's something you cannot lie about.
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#65 |
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Join Date: Oct 2009
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Quote:
She also did very well in her education as stated on her personal website. That's something you cannot lie about.
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#66 |
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Join Date: Nov 2009
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Quote:
And most fail and f up their studies.
Play the percentages |
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#67 |
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Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 114
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Well you can, but after what happened to Lee (I mean the shame of being found out, not getting hired), anyone would have to be a complete basket case to try it.
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#68 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 3,089
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Quote:
Oh yes, I do remember something about Lee...what did he lie about again?
Quite honestly they should check these easily verifiable things out before accepting candidates because: a) It make the producers look seriously incompetent if it takes a thiord party to discover the discrepancy. b) it makes Sugar and the whole programme look bad if people lie and get away with it. (Even if I did, personally, have considerable sympathy for Lee). |
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#69 |
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Join Date: May 2011
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Posts: 1,720
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Quote:
And since Susan clearly didn't 'f up' her studies (as evidenced by her 2.1 from UCL), doesn't that perhaps indicate that she has more to offer than the typical young entrepreneur? Or are you suggesting that she succeeded solely through luck?
Someone who did 2 car boot sales in their first year at uni could claim the same. The proof is in the numbers and she will, if she gets there, be ripped apart in the interview stage
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#70 |
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 1,291
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Can you start a small business while you're doing your university degree? of course you can. You don't necessarily f*** up your study or fail your business.
I did not start a business while I was studying. However, I had 2 jobs. 3 days a week doing admin works for a PR company (only for 3 hours everytime I worked) & 3 days a week (evening plus weekend) doing a cr*p call centre job. The reason was purely financial. I needed money then. I got First-class from one of Russell Group Universities. I personally know some young entrepreneurs who started their businesses while they're still at uni, i.e. Dr Thomas Whitfield from Oxford. If you remember, on Dragons' Den, there was a female rower who was still a student then, and she came up with something brilliant. If I am not mistaken it was something related with sport equipment but it can be used by other industries as well. |
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#71 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: May 2011
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Posts: 1,720
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Quote:
Can you start a small business while you're doing your university degree? of course you can. You don't necessarily f*** up your study or fail your business.
I did not start a business while I was studying. However, I had 2 jobs. 3 days a week doing admin works for a PR company (only for 3 hours everytime I worked) & 3 days a week (evening plus weekend) doing a cr*p call centre job. The reason was purely financial. I needed money then. I got First-class from one of Russell Group Universities. I personally know some young entrepreneurs who started their businesses while they're still at uni, i.e. Dr Thomas Whitfield from Oxford. If you remember, on Dragons' Den, there was a female rower who was still a student then, and she came up with something brilliant. If I am not mistaken it was something related with sport equipment but it can be used by other industries as well. Susan constantly implies the latter. We shall see very soon... |
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#72 |
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Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 6,570
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Quote:
That is because she was not running a business, she had created a website and perhaps sold 10 bottles of shampoo in a year.
Someone who did 2 car boot sales in their first year at uni could claim the same. The proof is in the numbers and she will, if she gets there, be ripped apart in the interview stage ![]() Either she's lying outrageously, or she's managed to sell slightly more than ten bottles of shampoo a year. (and if you are suggesting that she's an outright liar, then there's really no point in debating this, since you could just respond to everything with, 'she's LYING.') |
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#73 |
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: North of the Watford Gap
Posts: 774
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Perhaps her business is now reaping the benefit of a £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar?
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#74 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 3,089
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Quote:
That is because she was not running a business, she had created a website and perhaps sold 10 bottles of shampoo in a year.
Someone who did 2 car boot sales in their first year at uni could claim the same. The proof is in the numbers and she will, if she gets there, be ripped apart in the interview stage ![]() Quote:
I think the thread should make a point of difference between starting a business which you could do in a morning, building a website, which may take you a day and running a business that makes you a profit and turns over a decent tick.
Susan constantly implies the latter. We shall see very soon... |
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#75 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Dumfries
Posts: 38,495
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Worth reminding people that (IIRC) one of last years contestants claimed to have started a business and grown it until it was a big, profitable, enterprise and it turned out that what'd actually happened was that he'd started a business and then his dad had handed over a business of his own to the kid (probably for tax reasons) so he could change the name slightly and claim it as his own.
I forget the exact details but it was uncovered because of something to do with sponsoring an offshore powerboat racing team IIRC. Never underestimate the ability of people to bullshit. |
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It wasn't 'based' on anything, it was a specification for a hypothetical.