Please see QLCrisis.com

"Management consultancy Bain & Co. has opened a recruiting center in the Second Life virtual environment. Earlier this month the firm held an open house in Second Life, at which students attended from Harvard Business School, MIT's Sloan School of Business, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, and the Kellog School of Management at Northwestern University."

I heard about this article on Bain Consulting's new recruiting techniques and was absolutely floored.  Are they that desperate for recruits?  As far as I know, if you really wanted the job you'd show up at recruiting events in REAL life.  The consultant that thought of this idea must think he's really clever.  Maybe they should open virtual recruiting centers on World of Warcraft and have recruiters as posed as poker players on Pokerstars as well, I know a bunch of really smart people who play those games who may be interested in a second career in management consulting.

Or maybe they are recruiting in these virtual worlds to create a virtual consulting group that can be outsourced and consult management from their desktops all the way on the other side of the world? 

You want to own your own business? We all see oil prices shooting up at the gas pumps so how about starting your own gas station?  Here are some things I've learned from successful technology entrepreneur who has diversified his retirement funds into a gas station here in San Diego. Oil may sound like pure profit, but it really isn't all that pretty for gas station owners.

$.07/gallon - We may be paying $3.80 per gallon for it, but they are only making $.07/gallon. Thats about 2% margins. This is on the high side. I have heard of others making $.02/gallon. With about 450,000 gallons sold per month, this equates to about $31,500/ month in gasoline sales revenues.  That looks like a big number, but its not all profit. Theres still plenty of overhead to cover.

Convenient store - This is the true money maker. Selling those cigarettes, gatorades and dirty magazines rakes in about $120,000 per month.  The gas pumps draw 'em in but the candy bar's make the money. Another classic example of making people go to point C  to get them from A to B (i.e. movie theaters and popcorn/soft drinks)

Car wash - Another profit machine for the gas station.  This is an automated system with pretty low upkeep ~$2,000/month.  Each car costs about $8.00 resulting in a monthy profit of ~$8,000.

The Bottom line: Theres a lot of money being moved around, but in the end the net result is about break even. Sure you're not in the red, but its not the cash cow you thought it was when you invested a few mill into it.

Conclusions: Retail gasoline, like everything else, is super competitive. You need a massive up front capital investment to get started.  You need to run three separate entities - gas pumps, retail, and car wash just to make a little profit.  Location and name brand gasoline will certainly boost your profits - there are definitely many very profitable gas stations out there, they are the minority.

Don't think that having technical skills is enough to power you through your career.  Unless you are an insane engineer with 99th percentile genius, you'll need to diversify your skill set.  Writing is one skill that you will definitely need and will open up a whole bunch of career opportunities for a technically trained newly grad.  For instance, being an OK writer with a technical background has given me the opportunity to draft up a business plan for a potential start up.  Writing is just something that you can't avoid. Heres a good article on business writing.

When can I expect to hear from you?

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Check out College Grad Resource site for more questions tailored to different members of the company you're interviewing for.

It's not about becoming a millionaire anymore, its about becoming a pentamillionaire these days.. How'd these people get there?

"The vast majority — 80% — either started their own business or worked for a small company that saw explosive growth. And almost all of them made their fortune in a big lump sum after many years of effort."

A quote that reinforces a point I was making in the Kobe beef entry:
"today's very rich say that money itself wasn't much of a motivator."
(thats always easy to say after you've got 5 million in the bank. )

To do list:

1. Get in early.
2. Fund up to the limit.
3. Be careful of going on savings autopilot.
4. Don't let a new job torpedo your old 401(k).
5. Diversify. Diversify. Diversify.
6. Think before you borrow.
7. Consider a Roth 401(k).
8. Take advantage of catch-up contributions.
9. Scrutinize the 401(k) before your hired.
10. Cash out wisely as a retiree.

Source: 10 Golden Rules for your 401(k)

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Not to do list: The 5 Biggest 401k Blunders

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Pretty useful stuff. These first few years are critical to our long term retirement planning. It's the magic of compound interest.

If your in my shoes, you've probably been hearing about factoring in 401K benefits from companies into your job search quite a bit.  But what if you don't have a 401K yet and want to get started building your nest egg for retirement with a little money and savings that you've set aside?

First of all, you should take that money out of your whimpy little bank account giving you a weak interest rate and move it into a high yielding online money market savings account. But after you do that, here's some investment options and ideas that you can consider.  I don't necessarily agree with all of them, just an FYI.

 

Pinkberry is under fire as expected - when you're on top, everyone wants a piece of the action. Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the Pinkberry franchise questioning whether their product is actually made of yogurt. 

Don't you just love America? You have the freedom to pursue the American dream. Start a business. Be your own boss. But remember, any jealous/dissatisfied customer also has the freedom to pursue a lawsuit.  Maybe Hwang and Co. should have cashed out with Disney? Or maybe not, this is probably more free publicity and advertising for Pinkberry. No such thing as bad pub, right?

This is just something we need to keep in mind when we start our own businesses.  If you don't want to deal with the issues unrelated to your core competence then you should just keep your day job - entrepreneurs have to be able and willing to deal with anything.

Here's a suggested reading list of books about entrepreneurship and investing that I will definitely be checking out this summer.

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• Founders at Work
• The Only Three Questions That Count
  
• Hackers and Painters
• Confessions of a Street Addict
• The Dhando Investor
• The Wisdom of Crowds
• Grande Expectations

Source: Infectious Greed

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