Monday, October 09, 2006

Back from Sydney

This blog has been quiet for a while, that's because I went to Sydney to visit my parents. But this trip turned out to be very unpleasant: My parents' customer in Aus refused to pay for the latest production because they suspect one of the factories has stolen their brand and sold their products online. But the weirdest thing is, my parents never subcontract to that factory directly, and those products being sold online is not included in our contract. The customer has been pretty ridiculous, and even sent out a letter by her solicitor requiring my parents to be responsible for this. I can say that's a nightmare for small business. So I had to visit several solicitors in Sydney with my parents, and finally we found one who we think would be able to speak for us. But those legal expenses are hell expensive in Syd, can't imagine if we're really going to court with this customer. Why can't she just calm down and make some sense?

From another perspective, this is actually a good lesson for us. My parents used to run business without any legal protection, that's why this customer can take advantage of us. While we try to keep cost low when running a small biz, legal cost is actually essential. We never realized that till now. The industry has become more complicated than when my parents first started, that's also why they feel incapable of dealing with it any more. Hopefully, after MBA i can continue their business and make it even better.

On the Application side, I just got my TOEFL score yesterday, it's a 113. Weird enough I got 30 in all sections except speaking, but only 23 for speaking! That's very unbalanced...:S But i'm generally told by people that I speak good English, so I don't know what's wrong... Hope those adcom can give me an interview so I can make this up.

As what I said in last post, I've decided to postpone most of my applications to R2 except for NYU. Plus, I've decided to apply for Columbia also, after so many sweet things been told about it, and my strong desire to go to NYC. I'd better be in New York if i'm starting a fashion brand right? So, for the next few weeks, I'm gonna work aggressively on those essays. Hopefully I'll get all drafts done before Nov.

Wish me good luck!

2 comments:

-tvu said...

Yes...NY has huge fashion industry. Same as Paris or London. Good Luck!

Hobbes said...

Sorry to hear abt that, must be hard for u to manage on both the fronts. Try to keep ur spirits high, I am sure it will all work out in your favor. Take care!