Being a kid in Yemen

For centuries, MiddleEast and its surroundings have always been a boiling pot. Until the discovery of petrol rich territories, poverty, clan fights, wars, water disputes, civil wars, and ongoing fights to change Shia vs Sunni balance within the region has probably shed more blood than region's water sources.

Yemen is the poorest country within the region, with one key strategic factor in its hand: Aden. Where almost all Arab and Persian oil passes through. Saudis, UAE, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and obviously U.S is giving support to prevent Houthi's (Shia) , backed up by Iran, to gain control of Aden Port which they are so close right now. If this happens, oil prices would hit sky high, leading a chaos in oil dependant countires, and their cost of productions to exports.

Therefore, when I watch UN, US, EU, and the other big brothers's statements, it makes me feel so sad to see those helpless Yemenis suffer air-strikes leadin 53 civillian deaths...

So don't tell me that all this is for Yemen and Yemenis ! Because Yemen just looks like a beautiful little Gazelle in Serengeti, with a broken leg, being gulped down by predetors.

Not to mention that Pakistani army is also now on highest aler, so I would not be surprised if they somehow start marching on to the war zone soon...

As always, children are the most affected ones without having a clue of why all this is happening. Act now and save children in Yemen today !!!

God Bless them all !

Although I am a passive job seeker, I occasionally get the opportunity to have online screening Skype interviews. This is a great opportunity for me to broaden my network regardless what the outcome would be.
During past couple of days, I have had two interviews with some start-up companies located in Kenya, and Germany, and I felt that I should be publishing this post to let those active job seekers - especially the executives - to get distinguish between a European and African way of interviewing. By the way, I don't mean to stereotype anyone or any culture, but what I am about to share with you is totally based on true experience which I had, and I hope that if any of you HR people read this, can learn something from.Out of discretion, I will not reveal company names, instead, I will call them G for the German interviewer, and K for the Kenyan one.

Kenya
Last week, K's assistant had reached me out telling me that they would be interested in having an online screening interview with me at a mutually agreed date and time. As I have replied positively to the email, I asked for the Skype addresses, so that I could add them into my contacts lists. So far so good....my assistant Nancy had sent them an email to confirm the date and time of the upcoming interview, which was not answered at all. Just before one day of the interview, I sent another email to confirm the date and time, which was finally confirmed. The next day, I was sitting infront of my computer, and the time was up, so I I wrote to her - "...shall we start?" - No answer ! I thought, may be this was because of the time difference....so I waited for another ten minutes and sent an email to both "K" and her assistant asking if everything was allright? Her assistant replied and said that she was in another interview which should be finished in a minute.
There she was....With fifteen minutes delay, and right away, "K" made it very clear to me that this was just a screening interview and would be for ten minutes only. It was very clear to me that a written questionnaire was given to her, to ask the candidates, assuming that each candidate had the same experience, background, skills, or talents. I came to this conclusion because "K" was asking me questions which could have various dynamics to answer it. For instance, she asked me to imagine that she was my boss, and asked me to convince her to accept a possible business plan I had in mind. So I asked her if she had, 45 minutes and not only 10...and in return, she told me that she was trying to get to know my character. I didn't even bother asking more questions about the company, job scope, direct reporting, and start date...It was a 12 minute nightmare !

Germany
You can call it as, first impression, professionalism, discipline, or punctuality; here is the German way, of an interview. So, "G" has reached me out to set a Skype meeting (she clearly pre-indicated that it was going to be a closed camera) indicating a couple of optional dates and possible different times. Leaving me with a good option to choose the most suitable time for both parties. After that, we mutually agreed on 10am and confirmed via email.
On that given time, at "exactly" 10:03am, she wrote over Skype and asked me if I was available. This was a good sign...puncuality and courtesy; checked ! Next, we were online and started off with a nice friendly chat. As I was talking, I could hear her typing on her keyboard taking notes. I asked all the questions I had in mind, and got clear and clever answers back.
Just looked at my watch and realised that we were online for 1 hour 15 minutes !
Finally, I thanked her for the great interview which I enjoyed very much, regardless what the outcome would be.

Synopsis:
Interviewers: Be punctual, be polite, ask clever questions which you can back up, don't forget that you are interviewing and not intorrogating, never underestimate your applicant's experience, background, and wisdom !
Applicants: Be punctual, be polite, do your research on the company that you are applying for, regulate your tone of voice, humor is good but don't try to be funny, and most important, if you think that you are being rather interrogated, kindly ask to end that interview and not lose time anymore.

Good Luck !

PS: Don't think that I am doing a favoritism...I am not German.

Global Sourcing for Global Online Shopping Clubs

Almost every week, I get a call from a different start-up e-commerce company asking for product support and/or XML share. Their goals are identical: " - We want to do cross-border e-commerce focusing on fashion apparel ". It is great to see many "entrepreneurs" (at least this is the term they use to describe themselves) are pursuing their dreams on becoming a success story and ultimately attract a venture capital firm to buy them over for good sum of cash ! I could list many different real life examples here, but if you are into global e-commerce, you probably know them anyway.

Weather you hold a ivy league college degree, or graduated from "University of Life" , it is obvious that you need some cash, and a good business and solid marketing plan ahead. We all know this...but do you really have the network to source products globally to sell on line? What are the dynamics of finding the right sourcing companies which can offer you products/services internationally? What are the vital threats for both parties? JIT customs and delivery regulations? Believe me, there are no right answers for these (or alike) questions. All you need is to have the guts to try and see. However, it is very important to have someone, or some people in your staff who are familiar with ex-im formalities. Otherwise, the result can be tragic.

Here are some ironically stereotyped Shopping Clubs I had experienced with:

Untouchables:

They are the high-rollers ! You try contacting them with the utmost courtesy, explaining, if the chance is given, how profitable your products/services can be for them. But no, they are at the peak of "Mountain Arrogance" and they want you to go on and play with the sand. No matter what you do, how you try to get a foothold at their doorsteps, they push that door further to close up on your face. No sweat ! You tried, now wait for another 6 months to follow up on them and see if they remain as they were. If not, don't waste anymore time.

 

Elephants in a glass shop:

They are huge to move around ! You got in, but your emails are being forwarded from buyer to another buyer, while you are trying to keep up with the updates. So you got lucky and got a buyer who really clicks with you. Great ! Be patience, be polite, furthermost, be gently pursuasive. Follow up on them, answer emails within 6 - 8 hours, be as helpful as you can. Outcome will please both sides.

 

Timids:

Now this is a tricky one....these are the types which have dealt internationally in the past, but had terrible experiences with the suppliers. Probably they received nothing like what the customers ordered, or the PO has been delivered very late, and worst scenario is to have more than half of short sent items. If this is the case, I cannot blame them for not willing to give it a try with you. So it is "you" who should try three times harder to prove them that you are the good guys who stick to their promises by offering good products, with good prices, sending the right orders, within the right period of time. When and if you maintain a smooth operation, they can be a great referrence for you.

Party Poopers:

So you got everything in place, and started-off with some good online sales with good results. You think that you are in heaven ! Wait until you realize that your buyer is a "party pooper" . All of a sudden, and without a reason, your offers start to get rejected (I know an Asian giant did the same even a successful re-run from previous event which had a huge success) with no logical reasons. It can be very frustrating to see that all the energy, motive and hard work you put together to air your online events are now down in the drain. Your best call is to send a detailed email to her/his superior explaining that you need a good answer. In some cases (which really happened to me a few weeks ago) you get a mail saying that s/he is working on it to get some feedback, but then nothing happens. 

C'est la vie !

 

It is definitely not easy to overcome certain barriers including; cultural differences, language, time-zone, professionalism, humor, empathy and trust. However, if you get the job done, belive me it one of the greatest feelings to receive an email from your buyer how honorable and trustworthy you have been, in their paths of success.

Final Advise to,

To global sellers: Be polite, respectful, pursuasive, in reach, puncutal, and honest. Always, deliver your promises, don't make assumptions, be direct and most importantly, have some kind of empathy.

To global buyers: It is not easy for her/him to speak your language, understand and coop with your business culture, email language may sound very different than what you really meant, abbreviations can be tricky sometimes, so try avoiding them, what you perceive as "humorous" can be very offensive for your counter part.

Good luck to you all !

FLR101 : Introduction to Business Failure

How to sink your business in 5 steps 

(100% Guaranteed) 

Although the title seems a little odd, it might come handy for those who are at the peak of their careers where the delusion of invincibility climaxes . I know that you probably have read similar articles in the ocean of Internet blogs, but believe me these five steps have been, and even better yet is being practiced everyday. So buckle-up and get ready to dive into my ironic world.

Gather a team of losers and pay them monthly:

Do you think that all your employees are giving their bests to fulfill the job ? Well, they may not be doing so, and yet, even worse, you may not be aware of it so far. Depending on the number of departments you have, there will be people who will be trying to look busy and obedient to you at all times. However, when it comes to statistics to your customer complaints, jobs getting not done, or jobs getting messed up it may be too late for a recovery. You got to be conducting a performance analysis to figure out which gear in your system is not running well, or not running at all. Forgive me putting this bluntly, but GET RID OFF THEM !!! If not, you got your 20 points to complete your 100% failure.

Don't bother to listen to your mid-management:

Yes, don't bother...your managers don't know crap ! Most of the employers, bosses (or whatever you call them in your own business environment) can be seduced by the taste of power and start acting like a kind rather than a leader. The common feeling is that your boss tends to make him/her believe that s/he was alone while climbing up the stairs of that juicy success. So who the heck are you to judge or tell him/her something which can be very valuable. If you fail to practice 3L (Look, Listen, Learn) rule, you might as well add another 20 points to your guaranteed sinking.

Be lavish, and live extravagance:

Live today, and tomorrow will be another day ! Money can be dangerous when you don't have it; but what if you have it ? We all need and like money....there is no doubt about that. However, it would be nice to save some while it is pouring. Small savings on the leaking tabs, turned on lights when NOT needed in places where and when it is not needed, personal chauffeurs, loose control on your variable costs (which will also effect your break-even point), may seem like stinginess, but believe me it is not. A saved penny is your gain ! Never forget this and let your ego take control over your logic. In case of failing to do so, you deserve another 20 points on your sinking.

How are we doing so far ?
If you listen and practice all of the above, then you are more than half way gone by 60%...not bad huh? OK, let's continue then.....

Expect compromise from your employees:

Your mortgage on that yacht's loan is due that month, on top of that you had a call from your bank about the due date of the new month,machine leasing's payment, taxes cannot wait either right? Oh by the way, don't forget about your new Porsche's monthly payment....Sounds familiar? Who are you gonna squeeze on? Of course, your long waiting employees....well, they had been waiting for over two months by now, so they can wait another month too, right? After all, you gave them a job to survive...what else should you do? Your sales manager or, your logistics guys will and SHOULD understand you, right? Did I mention you to add another 20 points ?  :)

Aim for revenue and not for profit:

When you are conducting a business on the above mentioned three headings, you will need some cash to run your company to save the day. Yes, you heard me right; to save the day ! Because most probably, you will reach up a certain point where your revenue will exceed your expenses to cover them. Why? At the end of each month, simply you will end up with no profit. I really don't understand those CEOs who aim for revenue rather than profit which will lead an absolute need for a bank loan. If you are at this stage, and/or aiming for this, then you deserve a gold plated 20 points.


C'mon genius ! You can multiply 20 by 5 right?
Let me know if you need a calculator...or better yet, a good lawyer !

Champagne....not just a drink, but a culture.

It was almost 9AM of a misty crisp morning, when we entered the Champagne region of France. Except some of the bakeries, surprisingly enough, most of the authentic shops were closed. So, we decided to drive on to Epernay (More info on Epernay region), where the big boys like Moet Chandon, and Perrier Jouiet are located at famous and beautiful Avenue de Champagne (More info on Av. de Champagne). There they were, incredibly well tailored vineyards, laying like a piece of art. Almost all tones of green, and fertile soil made a perfect contrast on each side of the narrow road to Epernay. Small white milestones marked with the name of each land's operator or owner: Moet Chandon.



While George was driving through beautiful vineyards, I rolled down my window slightly to smell the soil with the wind on my face. What a feeling ! All my senses were in charge, eyes, nose, ears and soon my mouth would be in charge during a taste. This was truly a culture, and not just a show-off.  In fact, it was a sign of enjoying life, tranquillity, and taking your day in slow motion with the help of a glass of champagne. When I am in a foreign country, I often find myself comparing them with my own, and when I did this, I have realized that France is not only producing the best and most well known campaigns in the world, but they are also marketing this whole concept within a great tourism potential as well. Enthusiasts pour in from all over the world to connect with the brand itself, and while doing this, producers use a very niche marketing tool based on quality-not quantity philosophy. This is the crucial reason to their success for centuries, and it sure is paying back well in the long-run. When it comes to alcoholic beverages, I had only Raki to compare with. We too have our own traditional and customs to drink it. But to market it with a culture? I don't think so...Why? Because it is not in our culture. How? In the past Imperial Years, it has always been either banned, or treated as a taboo to drink alcohol. Even today, with the help of current government,  it is forced again to become like in the old days. We have some of the finest grapes, but I personally know from a gentleman who is from Gaziantep (More info on Gaziantep), saying that the local grape producers do not sell their grapes to wine producers. Why? It is a sin !!! So what do they do? They prefer to bury their harvested grapes into the soil, instead of selling them to the wine makers. See? This is the difference, and it always will be.

Although I have not been a huge fan of drinking champagne, my personal choice has always been Perrier Jouet over MoetChandon. Unfortunately, PJ was snob enough to offer "Appointment Only" tours within their headquarters in Av. de Champagne which was a huge disappointment for me. Nevertheless, there we were, beautiful town center of Epernay and the sun had already started to show itself with an excellent warmth...

View from Avenue de Champagne

Avenue de Champagne

Headquarters of Boizel

Couldn't figure out what this building was...

Beautiful architectural buildings

First we took a long walk on the avenue, and got into some of rather smaller brands' houses to get a taste of their goodies before we visited the big boys. So our first stop was, Collard-Picard http://www.champagnecollardpicard.fr/, too bad, they were just about to close so I could only take a couple of photos for you.

Cellar closed :(

Walking further up the avenue, we walked into a very nice house of Paul Etinenne Saint Germain.  A Glamorous and Contemporary House. The Maison PAUL-ETIENNE SAINT-GERMAIN was created out of the love and passion Agnès and Jean-Michel Lagneau had for their native land of Epernay, their rich winegrowing culture and their attachment to family history. As far back as they can remember, they have never left the authentic world they so love. After 20 years spent in the higher spheres of local economics (including LVMH), Jean-Michel fulfilled his dream and created, with his wife Agnès, his own make of champagne, Paul-Etienne Saint-Germain, in a sublime tribute to his children, Pauline and Etienne. Made from excellent varieties, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Grands Crus, for a prestigious clientele, Relais & Châteaux, Leading Hotels of the World, in the most high-end national and international resorts, Paris, Deauville, Courchevel, Cannes, Saint-Tropez, New York, Miami… 

Jean-Michel is very passionate of his job, and very friendly. Despite of my 16 months old daughter running around the house, I have tried listening to his success story as well. Again, he underlined one rule of his sales strategy: He is neither using distributors, nor large wholesalers. Why? Because his customers buy directly from him, thus, he tends to keep a very direct, discreet and loyal relationship with them. He is not into making millions in a year, yet, he is rather interested in keeping a nice touch directly with the customer. I asked him if he had any exports to Turkey, he said no.

House of Paul-Etienne Saint Germain

I have tried three kinds, Rose, Charme, and Exeption and I must say that Exeption took me by surprisingly well balanced and fruity taste. According to JeanMichel, some champagne experts event told him that the Exeption's taste is far better off then MoetChandon. My opinion? Very close, and may be equally good....I would definitely recommend you to visit him, and taste of his finest sparkling wine menus starting from 9 Euros in a beautiful home atmosphere.

Mr. Jean-Michel Lagneau

Coming up next:

The Big Boys: Perrier Jouet and Moet Chandon (Dom Perignon)

Heart of Europe: Luxembourg

Cremant Champagne

Think about a country which is in the middle of Europe, with 400,000 population and one of the founders of European Union. Small, very clean, mostly foreign expats, lots of beautiful castles, home of Skype and Amazone in Europe.

Thanks to Mehtap and George, who are the sweetest couples on Earth, were kind enough to invite us in to their lovely warm homes in beautiful Beaufort. Now that Turkish Airlines have started to fly directly to Luxembourg, it is only 3 hours from Istanbul. Small but very practical airport allows you to land right at the heart of the country, and it takes you about 20 minutes to the capital Luxembourg City.

As soon as our touch down, we went to Bernard-Massard in Cremant (http://www.bernard-massard.lu/en/) visit one of the most well known sparkling wines or champagne in Luxembourg. Produces about 3 million bottles per year, and sells almost 60% of it. Very nice and quiet neighborhood, and they offer English cellar or factory tour ending with excellent tasting which costs you about 20Euros for 3 different types: Brut, Demi-Sec and Sec. Lovely atmosphere, very kind and friendly personnel. A definite "Must See"...

Our gide in the cellar

Next day: Short trip to Germany

Trier

Only for 11Euros, you can take a train to Germany's bordering neighbor city to Luxembourg in 50 minutes. You are now in Trier. A small, German town with around 100,000 population (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trier). Porta Nigra or Black Gate, welcomes you to enter main downtown. Great German beer, along with veal schnitzel served with Pommes Frites (French Fries) in a very typical restaurant in Hauptmarkt. While you are at Trier, youcan also visit the house of Karl Marx :)

Train view

Best veal schnitzel ever had....

Eiffel Zoo

If you are travelling with kid(s) and dont know what to do, I suggest you to visit Eiffel Zoo in Germany which is about 80 kilometers from Luxembourg by car. Very nice, quiet, great walking paths with kids, some animals like, lions, tigers and bear which kids may love. 9 Euros entrance fee, free for kids under 2 years of age.

Castles, beautiful castles...

If you are in Luxembourg, I definitely recommend you to visit some castles. I was fortunate to visit two of them: Beaufort and Vianden. Built in 13th and 14th centuries. Feels a little haunted and spooky, but prepare your cameras, because you are definitely going to shoot some great photos. Most castles' entrance fees are about 6 to 10 Euros.

Conclusion: Very Swisslike country, with lots of castles, beutiful architecture, clean, child-friendly, easy to go around. Take a intercity bus to enjoy beautiful countryside of the country as well...

Places to see: Vianden and Beaufort Castles, Rue de Phillip II (Designer Brands), Cathedral Notre-Dame, Palace of Queen Luxembourg, Old Town.

Notre-Dame Cathedral

Senate of Luxembourg Internal Affairs

Coming up next: Champagne Region and Paris

Joy of cooking for friends

Tre-bon ! 

By now, you probably have realised that I like cooking, eating and drinking...Especially, when I have good friends over my house, the joy of cooking and gathering around the table for a nicely home cooked meal gives me a great pleasure. A couple of days ago, one of my best friends from Germany was visiting me in Istanbul and I wanted to cook a full course dinner of salad, soup, smoked eggplant salad, and slowly oven cooked lam shank. I know that I have not been posting new recipes lately, so this is a good opportunity to share these with you.

Green Salad

Difficulty: 1/10
Cooking Time: 5 - 7 mins
Ingredients:
1 Fresh Lemon
Pinch of Fresh Mint
French Onion
Olive oil
Arugula
Salt

Simply cut everything into a large bowl, add olive oil, squeeze the lemon and give its salt.

Roasted Lamb Shank

Ingredients:
Served for 6
Difficulty: 8/10
6 lamb shanks
Salt
Pepper
Butter (50grs)
Olive oil (half a cup)
2-3 Carrots
1-2 Potatoes
2 Large Onions
5-6 Cloves of Garlic
Aluminium Foil
Steam pressured cooking pan

6 pieces of Lamb Shank

Other ingredients

 Peel all your ingredients and chop onions, potatoes, and carrots into large bits. Place your steam pressured pan on the stove, and let it get heated up. Add your butter and olive oil together and let them slightly start sizzling. Now its time to add, black pepper and salt...

After drying out your lamb shanks with paper towel, slowly add the shanks into your pan. This way, you will seal your shanks. Keep on stirring the shanks and do this until they turn to slightly brownish color.

After about 5 minutes stirring them, you can now add your remaining ingredients with the shanks. Don't stop stirring, and avoid getting them burned out.

Now it is time to add some water on top and wait until it starts slowly boiling.

You are now ready to place the top of the pot and click to seal it it safely and securely. Then wait until steam starts blowing out of the top. Once you see the steam coming out, ease the fire on the stove and let it cook about half an hour.

Once half an hour is done, DO NOT OPEN the steam pressured pot immediately. Let is sit under the cold running water under the tab for about 10 minutes and slowly release the air out and then carefully open the top. You are half way there....

Take out all your shanks, and some of the other add-ins, place them into an oven-proof glass (or porcelain) tray. Add some of the sauce in it, then cover it with aluminium foil. Make sure to make some hole on the foil with the help of your fork.

You are now all set to place your foil covered tray with shanks, into the pre-heated (200C) oven to sit there for 2 - 3 hours.

SOUP of the DAY

Do you remember that we still have some hot sauce along with potatoes, onions and carrots in your pot. This will turn into a great soup with the help of a small hand blender. All you need to do is, use your hand-held kitchen blender to chop everything to let it turn into a nice soup.

Remaining sauce of the main dish

Blendered soup

You can chop and pan fry some bread crumbs to dress this soup which makes an excellent add-on taste

Smoked Eggplant Salad (Meze)

4-5 Eggplants

Olive Oil

2-3 Cloves of Garlic

Salt

1 Peeled Tomato

Difficulty : 5/10

Cooking time: 30-45mins

Place your smoking pan (if you don't have such pan, you can place your eggplants directly on to the fire) on the stove. Let it heat for 5-6 minutes...Chop the heads of eggplants, and make sure that you scratch them with the help of a knife's tip. Let them sit and turn them in every 5 minutes, until they start getting wrinkled and dried. Once they are in such condition, peel them off carefully, and chop into very small pieces. Grind the garlics, and add them into your mesh, followed by some olive oil. Dress it with peeled tomato slices and serve cold....

Time for the GrandReveal....

After 3 hours of slowly cooking, you are now ready to take your tray out of the oven, and de-foil it. Since I had a German friend, I thought that a cold and non-filtered Efes beer would go nice with it...

Enjoy....Afiyet olsun !  :)

Coming up soon: A week in Luxembourg and its surroundings with great friends