Some folks seem to forget that building a successful business...

Some folks seem to forget that building a successful business takes time, hard work, good management and staff, and some luck. There is a good reason why most new business ventures shut their doors within 1-3 years. So if anybody decides to invest in the small/micro-cap companies like YOJ, they need keep in mind that there is a high likelihood that they will lose money on their investment. The same could be said about various mid/large-cap companies as well.

So what makes Yojee an intriguing investment? Some would say blockchain, other would say machine learning, while another may say artificial intelligence, and may other people will say last mile delivery. Those are all good reasons. For my part, I find YOJ intriguing because they have built a multi-sided technology platform that can be used by any company operating throughout the value chain of the logistics industry. As such, any company on the Yojee platform can transact with other companies on the platform while maintaining full visibility of the progress of packages/goods moving through the Yojee network. Thanks to geolocation and the internet, there are no geographic boundaries to the Yojee network. More importantly Yojee is operating sight unseen because they have chosen South East Asia as their first market. Unlike most logistics software companies, the Yojee team is not only staffed with  Computer Science geeks and MBAs. Ed Clarke made some shrewd moves by bringing in two individuals with deep understanding of the logistics industry:  Ray Lee, Chairman and Carl Hemus, COO. 

If Yojee goes on to become a successful company it will be attributed to the hiring of Cal Hemus. He is a sales expert with executive management experience who worked for leading global logistics companies (DHL  &   Kuehne + Nagel) in Europe, Middle East, Asia. Look him up on LinkedIn. Since his arrival, a number of legacy and unproven sales people have been let go. To replace them, they brought in couple of proven sales professionals just like the one highlighted below... You will have to do your own digging to find out who is...

All that said, Yojee is not the only company looking to capitalize on its collaborative logistics software. I have identified two well funded start-ups (one in Silicon Valley and the other in Europe) that are marketing a collaborative logistics technology platform... With that said, Yojee better begin cranking up sales and building critical mass on its platform or else they will be displaced by somebody else.

If you own shares in YOJ, I would say to hold on to end through the end of 2019 if you can afford to do so. If they is not material increase in sales by year end, then you can liquidate your position.

So keep calm - I feel like the upcoming 4C will feature very encouraging financial figures.

National Strategic Development Manager

Company NameToll Holdings Limited

Dates EmployedJun 2006 – Jun 2013

Employment Duration7 yrs 1 mo

LocationMelbourne, Australia

Responsibilities:
Head of Sales, Marketing and Strategic Development for Toll Intermodal – a road, rail and coastal shipping freight forwarding business

• 6 reports including sales managers and commercial managers within an overall department of 35
• Set the strategic development for the commercial operations of the business for rail, road and shipping
• Influence business improvement and operations through innovative transport solutions
• Manage complex tender submissions for major supply chain contacts including analysis, preparation of proposals, presentation and lead negotiator See less

Director

Company NameFANZ

Dates EmployedJul 2005 – Jun 2006

Employment Duration1 yr

LocationAdelaide, Australia

FANZ was a private company I established to promote fine food to international markets. The company had supplier agreements for fine food manufacturers and promoted their products to international markets via online services

Responsibilities
Manage the entire company activities to ensure business success

• Established legal and accounting framework
• Funded the development of the company
• Promote Australian fine foods to foreign markets via marketing channels See less

General Manager Trade

Company NameBusiness SA

Dates EmployedFeb 2004 – Jul 2005

Employment Duration1 yr 6 mos

LocationAdelaide, Australia

Responsibilities
Represent the private sector business community and to promote ties and linkages with international trade concerns

• Board member of CITCSA (Council of International Trade and Commerce South Australia)
• Board member of ITASA (International Trade Association of South Australia)
• Executive Director of SABAN (South Australian Business Ambassador Network)
• Manage the trade office which attested and authorized international trade documentation
• Manage a department with 4 trade officials
• Represent the private sector to the Federal Government (DFAT, Austrade) and to State Government (Department of Trade and Economic Development)
• Promote South Australian business to international markets See less

Company NameDHL

Total Duration12 yrs

• TitleAlliance Development

  Dates EmployedJul 2002 – Dec 2002

  Employment Duration6 mos

  LocationMumbai Area, India

  Responsibilities
  • Meet with target company owners and establish a basis for negotiation and a framework
  • Build confidence that the target company would operate with the due diligence framework required
  • Establish multi-functional work group teams to undertake the completion of the required alliance schedules
  • Manage the task via agreed project plans See less

• TitleAsia Pacific Sales Development Manager

  Dates EmployedJul 2000 – Jul 2002

  Employment Duration2 yrs 1 mo

  LocationSingapore

  Responsibilities
  • Lead the regional sales development within this country network ensuring sales strategies were aligned with the corporate goals
  • Facilitate multi-national sales conferences
  • Facilitate sales and marketing initiatives in the countries See less

• TitleAsia Pacific Government postal Alliances

  Dates EmployedNov 1998 – Jul 2000

  Employment Duration1 yr 9 mos

  LocationSingapore

  Responsibilities
  • Develop high level relationships with ministers and public servants within the postal and telecommunication sector
  • Prepare and present marketing and alliance initiatives to the Asia Pacific postal network
  • Operate under the aegis of the Deutsche Post postal strategic framework
  • Establish direct relations with Universal Postal Union in Bern and Deutsche Post in Bonn See less

• TitleNational Sales and Marketing Manager

  Dates EmployedNov 1994 – Nov 1998

  Employment Duration4 yrs 1 mo

  LocationSaudi Arabia

  Responsibilities
  • Change manage the business from a distributed profit and loss state business structure into a national P&L entity
  • Manage the business from a monopoly into a fully competitive market place
  • Directly manage the revenue of the business with a department of over 240 employees and 5 direct managers
  • Manage the marketing function with an annual budget exceeding $2M
  • Manage the recruitment of junior managers into the business from New Zealand, Australia, the UK and the Republic of Ireland
  • Manage the recruitment of Arabic speaking managers from Palestine, the Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt
  • Manage the accounts receivable function See less

• TitleGlobal Sales Manager Hi Tech and Automotive

  Dates EmployedJan 1991 – Nov 1994

  Employment Duration3 yrs 11 mos

  LocationBrussels Area, Belgium

  Responsibilities
  • Establish relationships with the top global companies in the Hi-Tech and Automotive sector worldwide. Both at their global office level and through a global network of DHL sales people assigned to the program
  • Establish global negotiation frameworks for pricing, service performance, contractual agreements and addendums
  • Work with business improvement teams to provide global standards for commercial operations
  • Respond to Global “RFQ’s” for network wide international logistics
  • Report to the Global Steering Council on global sales matters
  • Liaise with regional and national heads of sales worldwide See less