New Year Resolutions

This is a little different of a post on this blog which hasnt been updated for quite long. I had been the flagbearer of Marketing on campus during my MBA; however basic financial accumen is a must to have in order to manage the money you would earn thru marketing. Came across a blog - subramoney.com. A post on financial resolutions follows from the same -

Financial Resolutions for 2010!

Doing an article for the New year is easy. Just go to the article you did in the previous year…and change the year.However is a good list of resolutions that you can make – it is really useful if you made it already, just reiterate it, and follow it! So here it goes1. I will write down my financial goals – NOW, IMMEDIATELY.
2. I will convert a big portion of my savings into investments – especially if you are less than 55 years of age.
3. I will live a simple, frugal life by choice – but choose my dream career.
4. I will start saving/investing for my retirement – NOW IMMEDIATELY.
5. I will have regular conversations about money, saving and investing with my colleagues, friends, spouse, kids and parents – all people for whom I feel financially responsible.
6. I will not deal in direct equity with my current level of knowledge of equities.
7. I will increase my financial knowledge – inter-alia by visiting www.subramoney.com, www.myiris.com, www.moneycontrol.com, and such other sites.
8. I will maintain my income and expenditure details diligently and keep reviewing them.
9. I will maintain proper records of my assets and liabilities, understand the risk of each asset class, and do proper asset allocation.
10. I will protect all those people dependent on me. Will review my term insurance, medical insurance and retirement and make sure it is up to date and adequate, and the nominees are current.Most important: Properly stick to all the resolutions!

Movie List - (Depression killers)

Was recommending few movies to my friend..then i thought it would be cool to put the movies i like most in my life...especially movies which inspire you and create a burning desire to achieve your dreams/goals. (Though it is just a thought..some people believe in it..some dont)Anyways hers the list -

Extremely Powerful Movies

The Shawshank Redemption (Life turner for me!!)

The pursuit of Happyness

Cinderella Man

Schindler's List

Brave Heart

Gladiator

Patriot

Its a wonderful Life

Powerful ones..

Men of honour

The Insider

The last Samurai

Seabiscuit

The Fountainhead

Jerry Maguire

Hindi ones

Black

Mein Aazaad Hoon

Swades

Will add more...and also put in ur comments, movies which inspired you! 

Marketing is missing..

Dream lives on & still a dream!

Even after years of persistence to enter the world of ideas, business plans, marketing warfare...the marketing world remains elusive(lost). Why?

Blame the subprime crisis, it rocked US & EU, and had an indirect effect on the economies of the world including india. Indian financial sector has been marred in a way it will take 1-2 years at least to get back to normal. Stock Markets....you already know!!

However, people tend to say that consumer-driven sectors like retail & FMCG should be shielded from such meltdown. This isnt true. Retailers have been hit really hard this year 08-09. Consumer Spending declined given the fears of rising inflation, melting equity market & increasing interest rates! Also, the apparel exports declined like anything as lakhs of workers went without jobs and mills closed given the lost business demand from US & EU.

What else, 26/11 happened and drove away consumers from shopping malls, giving them a run for thier invested money (rentals, inventories, promotions...). Diwali season was a 'Diwala (bancruptcy) situation. SALE SALE SALE...everything was on sale...but what got sold were those banks in Us & EU...including the prestigious 'Lehman Brothers'!!

And now the latest from India itself...to add to all the worries...'Rajugate' - 'Satyam' got its balance sheets fudged & kept running in the inflated fashion for 7 years...The only problems i have with Mr Raju...is that why this time only - to clear the burden on your conscience! - To put us in burden....??? So, 53000 people might soon be in the run for a better job...er rather for a job! Raju will not be associated with 'Chacha' anymore!

Given these times...MTs are yet to get into some meaningful profiles - personally i have been through cost-cutting task forces, Rental negotiations, Warehouses, Logistics, Competition Scan, Product Cycle Project and blah blah blah....

Marketing is still elusive,....and the dream continues!! Long live Kotler!

~ Nits

Info on Education loan

Tax benefits on education loans help you reduce the overall cost of the loan.
You can claim a deduction under section 80 E of the Income-Tax Act for the interest paid on an educational loan.
You will get the tax benefit on an education loan only if the loan is in your name and is taken for the purpose of higher education of yourself, your spouse or your children. Education loan taken for the higher education of siblings (brother or sister) is not covered in this regard.
Earlier, only the lesser of the two amounts was eligible for tax deduction: either the total amount paid during the year (principal repaid and interest paid) or Rs 40,000. Now, this has been done away with; you can deduct the entire interest amount from your taxable income, without any limits. No deduction, however, is available for the principal that you repay.
These deductions are available only for a period of eight years starting from the year in which you start paying the interest on the student loan.
Do remember that you cannot claim tax deductions if your employer, family or friends gives you an education loan. You can get tax benefits only if the student loan is from a financial institution, bank or an approved charitable institution.
Tax benefits are not available in respect of interest paid on a loan taken for any course. The course has to be for full-time studies (no part-time courses covered) for any graduate or post graduate course in engineering, medicine, management, or for post graduate course in applied sciences or pure sciences including mathematics and statistics.

Marketing world starts...!

Started a new phase in my life...finally out of the software world...!

New job....with new status of married and employed!

The new phase starts in retail/marketing profile in a retail apparel manufacturer!

Can you imagine from software codes to apparrel (i m staggering to spell it only..:) )? However, i think this will be interesting. I have already spent past few days in visiting various malls (as i have been doing since my MBA started..) and my roommate is already cribbing about how i keep dragging him along.

Branded Apparel from some estimate i read last time is around 9000 crore market in india, and each brand is doing a miniscule amount of it given the spate of brands in the market. And given the population advantage, young poulation, increasing incomes...(u must have read it hundred times i guess..), this market is a big opportunity. And truely so, each brand is trying to put up some presence in malls, high streets, tier II, III cities..wherever they can find a manageable rental (thats kinda rare these days...).

However, as marketing bhakt, i always wondedred how cool is FMCG to start a marketing career..but i realize now that apparel market is very tough....given the no of brands ( i heard that it was 28000 on last count in India), and the kind of least u can do in product differentiation....ppl have already tried segmentation - pricewise, genderwise, occassionwise, designbased...agewise...whats left? The kind of retail formats thru which apparel is sold are again umpteen...LFR, MBO, EBO, SIS, MOMPOP, ....And promotions? - buy 2 get 6 free, flat 50 + 20 + 5 + 3.45 + 2.657 % less (what does that mean???), a gillete on 2 trousers, .....again u start doubting am i buying the right stuff...

SO, the big question i am asking these days is that what i will do as a marketing person in apparels?? Whats left?

Lets see....how things move!

Proxy!

This post is a proxy!

The same proxy which respected participants used to practise in the pious corridorrs of an institute...

My life has changed with lots...

1. MBA Over! (Alas!)

2. Life Over....err bachelor life (u can understand...it sounds the same!)

3. New life calls...(joining in june)!

4. No Newsgroups to refresh :(

5. No more vella chai-friends to bakar with..

6. No indori poha :(

7. No MERCURI activities...

8. No Tension (???) - thats another problem

9 No workload :(

10 No late nite maggi-chai-omlette

....

...............

You can understand!

Bored!

~nits

PS - written in the spirit of blogging....however i am happily married :)

Learning from Class...

Had just finished one course called Rural Marketing in Term 6 of MBA programme. The professor was a 66 year old veteran in rural marketing..Mr. Rajan. He tought a lot of new things and most importantly key insights about rural people, rural markets in India from his vast experience of 3 decades!

He concluded the course with few things on personal front, which i believe really do matter:
1. Success of a person is not measured by the money he earns or by the status...but whether he/she played all his/her roles perfectly be it son, parent, husband, brother, employee, etc
2. Dreams = life, else you are dead! Whats the point in living a life of compromise....dreams should lead your actions!
3. Nothing is impossible. Create a balance sheet of all your assets & liabilities (which you think) and revisit them periodically in life....see that most of the liabilities have been moved to assets side.
I guess real nice learnings from life. Thankyou Sir!

~nits