I caught this on RB today. Worth reading. Plus CAOL has hired another company to assist with spreading the word about the company.
Lermontov, I agree. And I like your RB handle. I read "A Hero of Our Time" some years ago, and enjoyed it immensely. (I'm
assuming your name is derived from Mihail Lermontov. I may be wrong.)
I spent the last 20 minutes or so on the phone with Brian Ransom. We covered a lot of ground. As tylcar reported,
CathayOnline is now on the building directory. My suspicions that they might be subletting from another business on the third
floor were wrong. Nor are they involved in other business interests. CAOL is their sole focus.
We spent some time discussing how the leadership is able to oversee and coordinate the implementation of their business
plan when all of the operations are overseas. This is a particular concern of mine, as implementing a business plan is hard
enough when the business and its market are located in close proximity to leadership. As Sheila had said when I visited their
office two weeks ago, they depend largely on their director, Owen Li. They correspond closely via e-mail and telephone, and
Mr. Li travels back and forth between China and Vancouver frequently. The Ransoms came to know of him and his
capabilities over a number of years as they pursued other business ventures in China. They would not have moved forward
with the CathayOnline venture unless he or someone like him was on their team.
The next phase of our discussion centered around revenue. Revenue is being generated from the kiosks CathayOnline owns
as well as from the banner advertising on the Torchmail site. (Note: Every time you visit Torchmail and click on a page, you
generate revenue for CAOL.) They still intend to acquire the remaining 50 kiosks they announced they would purchase within
the first half of their fiscal year (by Dec. 31, I believe).
When the Chinese-language version of Torchmail comes online by November or early December (Note: this is earlier than
promised on the website), their revenue potential will be much greater. USA.Net is developing this version for them. They are
now pursuing co-branding opportunities with individual companies as well as portals in China. Any deals they strike would
take effect once the Chinese-language Torchmail site is ready.
I also asked how they are addressing the limitations that capital and people resources present when it comes to taking
advantage of business opportunities. They will be adding administrative and technical staff both in China and Vancouver. He
did not give specific timetables for this, but did say, for instance, that when the Chinese Torchmail service goes live, they will
need to have new staff in place In China to support that aspect of their business. Also, he said that capital can generally be
found to invest in opportunities that arise. It sounded like the more limiting factor was the people resources.
(This is no different than many businesses with whom I consult. It takes a lot of focus from leadership and tremendous
follow-through from staff in order to execute a business plan. If you have the people in place to get it done, then money can
usually be found to fund a good opportunity...within reason, of course)
That's why, IMO, the USA.Net partnership has been an extremely shrewd move. They have been able to leverage the
capabilities of an established vendor in order to open up a huge business opportunity.
Brian said that they will consider additional business opportunities as they are suggested to them from the Chinese portions
of their business or arise as ideas in the Vancouver headquarters. He is open to receiving ideas from shareholders. The
best avenue to suggest these is via e-mail on the CathayOnline or Torchmail websites. He said that they may not be able to
comment on suggestions, as they may already be under consideration. Likewise, CAOL may not be able to pursue good
ideas, given the limitations discussed above. But he did welcome them, so knock yourselves out.
I've probably left some things out, but that's what I can remember at the moment.
Da! |
