Post by oldman on Oct 15, 2014 10:22:05 GMT 7
2002: Be an Entrepreneur!
Section: The spirit of the Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs can come from very different backgrounds. Firstly, there are those who do not do well in school and end up working for others for low wages. Sensing that they have little to lose, they take courage and start their own businesses.
It does not matter to them if they have to beg for business or take the bus to work; after all, that was what they were doing while they worked for others. It is very tough when you start up on your own. You and your company are unknown and you have to work extra hard to win business. You have to show others that you are hungry for business and that you will go all the way to make sure that you will deliver as promised.
After all, unlike the established companies, the business that they give to you is probably the only business that you currently have – without which you may not have enough to survive. This is the hunger that comes with starting a new business.
Those who do not have a strong educational background or who have started from the bottom of the ladder will understand this hunger as they are faced with it daily. What they have earned in the past is barely sufficient to keep the family afloat. Every dollar counts and every cent saved goes to the family kitty. Pride has little place in this family. Survival is paramount.
When these individuals go into business, they are extremely careful with their expenses. If they have to walk to work, they will. If they have to hand out leaflets in public places to promote their businesses, they will do so without hesitation. The reality is that these individuals have the survival instinct that is so critical in the early stages of forming a business.
Then there is the graduate. In university he is constantly reminded that he is the cream of the crop and that the hopes of a nation depend on him. Pride is naturally instilled in the graduate and this pride is constantly fanned as the years go by. Pride rises to a crescendo on graduation day when he dons a gown that shows the world that he has arrived.
It swells further when as soon as he graduates, he lands himself an executive job. At this moment in time, the graduate has little or no practical experience but employers trip over themselves to hire him based on his degree. This makes the graduate feel on top of the world, and he now believes all that his parents have told him is true: get a degree and you are sorted out for life.
For the first few years, the graduate is on cloud nine. He drives to work and buys his first house. Reporting to him are employees who are twice his age but did not go through university. Life is blissful but he then starts comparing himself with his peers. Someone else is driving a Jaguar and stays in a bungalow.
The fact that this someone else has a bigger loan to pay for these luxuries does not matter. What matters is that the graduate feels he has not done as well as his peers. Pride has taken over his life. He goes to his boss to ask for a promotion but realises that this is not due for many years. Frustrated, he looks around for other better-paying jobs. If he finds one, he is likely to move on and this will satisfy his pride – at least for the time being.
One day, the scenario will be played out again and this time, he will not find a better-paying job. By now, one of his peers may be running a business of his own and appears to be doing very well. Full of pride, the graduate then jumps out of the corporate rat race and into the realm of entrepreneurship.
A major shock awaits as the graduate suddenly finds himself in a strange land. In the past when he was with a large company, he could open doors very easily. Now, he finds it impossible even to get meetings with prospective clients. All his previous business partners politely tell him that they are unable to help as he is now representing a different company. Frustrated, he tries to seek venture funding only to be told that he should first prove himself by getting clients. This takes him back to square one.
With each passing day, his savings dwindle further. With a housing loan, car loan and possibly a family to support, the pressure mounts on him to either throw in the towel or to take the plunge. It is truly a plunge as it may involve the selling of his car, his house and the lowering of his family's standard of living.
Having driven to work since he graduated and knowing that most of his graduate friends are still driving their cars while he has to take public transport will hurt the pride that has built up since his university days. His pride will get pricked even more when he meets his clients in the bus or runs into the subordinates who used to work for him. The fear of meeting someone he knows scares him whenever he thinks of taking public transport.
Even if he sells his car, he knows that this will merely extend the time he has to build up his business. There is still the need to get customers. No one is responding to his requests to grant him a meeting. With time, he will know that he has to be persistent and swallow his pride further by dropping by the offices of potential clients even without having arranged a meeting. This may mean sitting and waiting for hours with no assurance that a meeting will be granted.
Such is the hunger of an entrepreneur. He believes in himself and in his products or services. So much so that if he is granted a meeting, he knows that his passion in his business will shine through. The prospective client, having built his own business before, can recognise this passion and will then give the entrepreneur a chance to prove himself.
It truly takes this amount of passion and commitment to start up a business. Every businessman will have similar stories to tell you. However, there is a common theme. They persevered, and one day, they had a lucky break. Someone gave them a big contract and the rest is history. But before this big contract came, they continued passionately in their business regardless of the odds against them. During this tough period, they took the bus to work, distributed leaflets in public places, and waited to be seen when they had no appointments.
If you truly want a taste of entrepreneurship, I suggest to you to leave your car at home and take public transport to work. Whenever I mention this, most folks will give me reasons why their case is different. Many will tell me that they are marketing people and it is difficult not to drive a car to work. Some will tell me that their clients are in far away places or that their big clients will look down on them.
What I tell them is that I too am in marketing and travel to out-of-the-way places by taxi. My experience with big clients is that they are impressed that I take public transport to see them and that I am not ashamed of this fact. Many times, they ask their drivers to send me back. Many of these big clients are now my personal friends as they too have been down this road and can identify with me.
Taking public transport does reduce one's expenses but even more importantly, it shows the desire and ability to be humble. The ability to be humble and to be able to swallow one's pride will be a key asset on the path to success.
Section: The spirit of the Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs can come from very different backgrounds. Firstly, there are those who do not do well in school and end up working for others for low wages. Sensing that they have little to lose, they take courage and start their own businesses.
It does not matter to them if they have to beg for business or take the bus to work; after all, that was what they were doing while they worked for others. It is very tough when you start up on your own. You and your company are unknown and you have to work extra hard to win business. You have to show others that you are hungry for business and that you will go all the way to make sure that you will deliver as promised.
After all, unlike the established companies, the business that they give to you is probably the only business that you currently have – without which you may not have enough to survive. This is the hunger that comes with starting a new business.
Those who do not have a strong educational background or who have started from the bottom of the ladder will understand this hunger as they are faced with it daily. What they have earned in the past is barely sufficient to keep the family afloat. Every dollar counts and every cent saved goes to the family kitty. Pride has little place in this family. Survival is paramount.
When these individuals go into business, they are extremely careful with their expenses. If they have to walk to work, they will. If they have to hand out leaflets in public places to promote their businesses, they will do so without hesitation. The reality is that these individuals have the survival instinct that is so critical in the early stages of forming a business.
Then there is the graduate. In university he is constantly reminded that he is the cream of the crop and that the hopes of a nation depend on him. Pride is naturally instilled in the graduate and this pride is constantly fanned as the years go by. Pride rises to a crescendo on graduation day when he dons a gown that shows the world that he has arrived.
It swells further when as soon as he graduates, he lands himself an executive job. At this moment in time, the graduate has little or no practical experience but employers trip over themselves to hire him based on his degree. This makes the graduate feel on top of the world, and he now believes all that his parents have told him is true: get a degree and you are sorted out for life.
For the first few years, the graduate is on cloud nine. He drives to work and buys his first house. Reporting to him are employees who are twice his age but did not go through university. Life is blissful but he then starts comparing himself with his peers. Someone else is driving a Jaguar and stays in a bungalow.
The fact that this someone else has a bigger loan to pay for these luxuries does not matter. What matters is that the graduate feels he has not done as well as his peers. Pride has taken over his life. He goes to his boss to ask for a promotion but realises that this is not due for many years. Frustrated, he looks around for other better-paying jobs. If he finds one, he is likely to move on and this will satisfy his pride – at least for the time being.
One day, the scenario will be played out again and this time, he will not find a better-paying job. By now, one of his peers may be running a business of his own and appears to be doing very well. Full of pride, the graduate then jumps out of the corporate rat race and into the realm of entrepreneurship.
A major shock awaits as the graduate suddenly finds himself in a strange land. In the past when he was with a large company, he could open doors very easily. Now, he finds it impossible even to get meetings with prospective clients. All his previous business partners politely tell him that they are unable to help as he is now representing a different company. Frustrated, he tries to seek venture funding only to be told that he should first prove himself by getting clients. This takes him back to square one.
With each passing day, his savings dwindle further. With a housing loan, car loan and possibly a family to support, the pressure mounts on him to either throw in the towel or to take the plunge. It is truly a plunge as it may involve the selling of his car, his house and the lowering of his family's standard of living.
Having driven to work since he graduated and knowing that most of his graduate friends are still driving their cars while he has to take public transport will hurt the pride that has built up since his university days. His pride will get pricked even more when he meets his clients in the bus or runs into the subordinates who used to work for him. The fear of meeting someone he knows scares him whenever he thinks of taking public transport.
Even if he sells his car, he knows that this will merely extend the time he has to build up his business. There is still the need to get customers. No one is responding to his requests to grant him a meeting. With time, he will know that he has to be persistent and swallow his pride further by dropping by the offices of potential clients even without having arranged a meeting. This may mean sitting and waiting for hours with no assurance that a meeting will be granted.
Such is the hunger of an entrepreneur. He believes in himself and in his products or services. So much so that if he is granted a meeting, he knows that his passion in his business will shine through. The prospective client, having built his own business before, can recognise this passion and will then give the entrepreneur a chance to prove himself.
It truly takes this amount of passion and commitment to start up a business. Every businessman will have similar stories to tell you. However, there is a common theme. They persevered, and one day, they had a lucky break. Someone gave them a big contract and the rest is history. But before this big contract came, they continued passionately in their business regardless of the odds against them. During this tough period, they took the bus to work, distributed leaflets in public places, and waited to be seen when they had no appointments.
If you truly want a taste of entrepreneurship, I suggest to you to leave your car at home and take public transport to work. Whenever I mention this, most folks will give me reasons why their case is different. Many will tell me that they are marketing people and it is difficult not to drive a car to work. Some will tell me that their clients are in far away places or that their big clients will look down on them.
What I tell them is that I too am in marketing and travel to out-of-the-way places by taxi. My experience with big clients is that they are impressed that I take public transport to see them and that I am not ashamed of this fact. Many times, they ask their drivers to send me back. Many of these big clients are now my personal friends as they too have been down this road and can identify with me.
Taking public transport does reduce one's expenses but even more importantly, it shows the desire and ability to be humble. The ability to be humble and to be able to swallow one's pride will be a key asset on the path to success.