BUILDING THE RIGHT ATTITUDE
The Peak, Vol 15, No 1
To mark the association The Peak and the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization (YEO), a lively forum was held to discuss the role of entrepreneurship. Members of the YEO argued various issues in this inaugural session held at morton's of Chicago, at The Oriental, Singapore.
Sometimes, it's not the kill, but the thrill of the chase, when it comes to the entrepreneurial spirit. At a gathering of members of the Young entrepreneurs' Organization (YEO) at the inaugural The Peak – YEO Forum, views were presented and argued in a lively session covering a variety of entrepreneurial issues. The boardroom – like setting of Morton's at The Oriental Singapore, served as a suitable venue, with rounds of coffee, tea and sandwiches serving as fuel to fire up the adrenalised emotions and drive of the participants.
Why be an entrepreneur?
For many among the 10 YEO members present, entrepreneurship was a result of circumstance rather than inheritance or a conscious decision to take the path less trodden.
Goh Bock Seng started his own eponymous insurance agency after 13 years in the army. "I had no sales experience, and my soldiers said I could only be good in the army. I wanted to prove them wrong and be a captain in the commercial market."
Richard Hoon, the President of YEO, spent many years in the corporate world before realising that the same amount of hard work put into his own business could ensure a greater degree of autonomy. So, he went out and secured the Asian rights for executive search franchise, Humana International.
Liang Thow Ming, who has the franchise for RE/MAX Singapore, saw his superior given 24-hour marching orders and realised that job security was an illusion. He left to join a real estate company, rising to become the Singapore Salesperson 1996. "But I saw so many things that I was totally unhappy with, so I went shopping for a franchise."
Lena Ng started her own PR consultancy, Huntington Communications, after growing disillusioned by the management in the corporate world.
Seah Liang Chiang spent two years in the corporate world and was fired twice in that time. While many would have been disheartened by this, Seah set up Digital Scanning Corporation, which deals in data collection and identification in the area of bar code, radio frequency and card ID technologies.
While dissatisfaction has served as a push factor to seek change, others have bee motivated by different factors. Arvind Agarwalla "jumped into entrepreneurship straight out of school" in India. His company, FACT Software International, develops realtime accounting and enterprise payroll software, and he feels that if he had gone the corporate route, he would have been blinkered in the way he runs his business. "Of course, some of the mistakes we've made are laughable," he adds.
Tay Teng Joo, of SUTL Corporation, felt differently about the corporate world. His three years in a bank prior to joining the family business helped him identify business systems which he could then incorporate into his own company, which has a lot of business dealings in this region, especially in Indochina.
For Janet Ong, it was a case of Joining the family company, DTS Marketing, straight after university She is of the opinion that information on company systems can be had by talking to people, reading up, and finding out how things are done.
Chris Tay, who started up the Billy Bombers chain, never desired to be anything but an entrepreneur. "You are building a foundation. Whether I fail or succeed is up to me."
Regardless of their respective routes into the realms of the entrepreneur, passion and drive are necessary qualities to succeed. "It's about pushing ahead with your dream," reackons Genevieve Theseira, who is the Executive Creative Director of Republic Advertising Consultants.
What factors helped you become an entrepreneur?
That old question of nature versus nurture had to crop up in the course of the discussion. Seah felt strongly that entrepreneurs cannot be taught. "You are born with it. At the age of eight, I started selling rambutants," he comments of his initial display of entrepreneurship.
"I know someone who started selling rambutants when was eight. He's still selling rambutants today," quipped Goh, to much laughter from the room.
Goh went on to add that his years in the army helped him tremendously to be organised, a useful trait for an entrepreneur to posses. "Also, in the army you have unwilling workers. In the commercial world, you have willing workers, so it's lot easier."
Seah, who is Malaysian and didn't have to do national service, begged to differ, stating that in the army you took orders, which is not something an entrepreneur is likely to do. But Hoon felt the army trains you well, so that you react instinctively in a tight situation, but you still need to make well-reasoned decisions on the ground.
However, Goh felt that in his line, there were too many restrictions. "The Singapore environment is very restrictive. There are lots of rules in insurance. In other countries, an entrepreneur can do any thing that can make money; just don't break the law." Chris Tay, however, doesn't find the regulations stifling. "It helps."
"Singapore is so well organised, the real test for an entrepreneur who has plans to internationalise is that it's too clean. He wouldn't have learnt survival beyond Singapore's shores. He would not know how to deal with inefficiency," Hoon points out.
"A Singaporean in India or china is a fish out of water. You don't know which buttons to push. In that respect, Singapore is a safe place to do business," Agarwalla believes. Coming from India, where it "difficult to get a phone line", you have to fend for yourself a fair deal. "Sigaporeans are spoilt to a degree. I feel the government does too much here."
"People are not taught to think. Entrepreneurship has to start in the schools," reckons Seah. "Very seldom do university graduates here start up business," he observes. Another valid point raised by Ng was that the corporate life is both comfortable and prestigious.
"For the longest time, everybody had to become a doctor or lawyer," adds Theseira, reflecting on the mindset of parents who wanted their children to become professionals with relatively risk free jobs.
"Also, unlike the US where it is easier to raise money to start a business, in Singapore it is more difficult to make that money, so people might start later in life to pluck u their courage to venture into business for themselves," Chris Tay adds.
So, what are the goals?
"A businessman goes for money. An entrepreneur goes for different things. I want to be happy," states Seah.
However, Liang is at the other end of that argument. "I believe financial reward has to be a part of the formula. Once a company is established and stabilised, I would probably be the worst person to run it. But it should still be a cash cow, run by professional managers. Meanwhile, I'll look to do something else."
Hoon echoed Liang's comment, adding that entrepreneurs should move on to become investors. "You should let money make money for you. You don't work for money," Goh opines. "All entreprenuers should work out a system which can run without him. He should develop a second and third line. You don't want to work like a dog everyday," he adds.
"An entrepreneur is never contented," reckons Ong. "My father is 65, and he is always looking for something new to do." "Entrepreneurs can never be contented. They are opportunists. When they look at anything, they want to know if it can make money," Goh adds.
"It is important, at the end of the day, to find the balance between making money and inner peace," believes Theseira, whose other business venture is in the holistic line.
What can entrepreneurs do to help the current economic situation?
"Entrepreneurs never say die. We have to adjust our businesses, but we don't talk about gloom and doom. Every road block is an opportunity," expresses Agarwalla.
"Entrepreneurs, like a river, will find their own way," Hoon recknons. "Whether the economy is good or bad, entrepreneurs have to be resilient and forward thinking," say Tay of SUTL.
While no definitive conclusions were drawn from the session, it was generally felt that among the reasons why entrepreneurs are so successful are their individuality and spirited sense of adventure; daring to go where others dread to tread. A healthy sense of opportunism and a willingness to take risks are probably important qualities that set the entrepreneur apart from the rest of the field.
As Goh Bock Seng puts it succinctly, "entrepreneurship is an attitude".
What is the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization?
The YEO is the leading global organisation dedicated to fostering the growth of young entrepreneurship. Founded in1987, the organisation has more than 2,000 members worldwide.
YEO members must be under the age of 40, be the founder, co-founder, owner or controlling shareholder of their company, and have gross annual sales exceeding US$1 million.
Beyond entrepreneurial education, YEO stresses the importance of personal development as an equal partner to professional development. Hence its mission is: "to support, educate and encourage young entrepreneurs to succeed in building companies and themselves".
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