Two days ago I attended a talk at MATRADE called The New Faces of Entrepreneurship given by Prof. Rajesh Chandy of the London Business School. To say I found it interesting would be putting it mildly. After Rajesh’s talk there was a panel discussion with six really good panelists. Whilst they were all excellent, Malek Ali’s (founder of BFM 89.9) discussion points struck a chord with me.
As an entrepreneur myself, it was a really good experience to catch a first hand glimpse into the mind of the big boys. I can’t remember who said what but I’ll highlight some of the things I heard that day.
Many of us at some point or the other toy with the idea of becoming entrepreneurs. We’ve been told, “Hey buddy, your cooking is excellent. You really should start a stall or restaurant”. Or “Dude get into business - that’s where the money is!” Things are not as simple as this.
Malek was recounting how he struggled during the first few years of setting up Jobstreet.com and then BFM89.9. While today both those ventures are mighty successful, in the early days it was difficult getting individual investors in, let alone bank funding.
The head of CIMB Private Equity & Venture Capital, one of the panelists, commented that every month her department receives thousands of business proposals and out of these only approximately 2 in 1000 finally qualify to obtain funding. So don’t give up if your business idea gets rejected. Keep at it.
One of the things that fresh entrepreneurs overlook is creating a solid business plan. A vague idea just won’t cut it. Solid research and number crunching, especially when it comes to profits, needs to be done. When I started my first business, a computer repair and service company, I was definitely one of those guilty of not having a business plan.
Besides a business plan, an entrepreneur should know the limitations of his/her capabilities. Being optimistic is great but it is easy to become misguided and think you’re helluva great.
Another thing that if considered early on would pay rich dividends once the business has taken off is scalability. It is pivotal that whatever product or service you have can reach its target audience via the internet. Even in politics we can see the power of new age media over traditional media like newspapers, radio and television. The internet simply reaches more people.
Many entrepreneurs hit a brick wall because they focus on products and services that are based on a business-to-individuals model. A business-to-business model is generally speaking much more profitable. Even if profit margins on an individual product might be lower, economies of scale does mean that actual profit increases.
Your vision as an entrepreneur is an important factor in your success. You’ve got to think globally because if you truly want to make good money Malaysia is too small a market. An entrepreneur in China, India or Brazil has an immediate upper hand because of the sheer size of the market. Of course this piece of advise is not intended if you’re contented with doing a small business which settles the bills, sends the kids to school and pays for the occasional holiday.
Successful entrepreneurs are those that have got these 3 things right.
1. The right Mindset. Get over your mental barriers and the battle is half won.
2. Risk tolerance (the ability to balance risk). Most tend towards conservatism or extreme risk taking. An example of this is spending a balance of effort to ensure healthy cash flow and at the same time budgeting money for R&D.
3. Ability to delegate & celebrate. Research done by the London Business School found that there was a strong culture where the reward for success was substantially more than the penalty of failure in highly successful organizations. Success is celebrated. Robert Kiyosaki once said, “I hire people that are more intelligent than me.” This goes to show that smart entrepreneurs don’t do everything themselves but choose to delegate or get the best person for the job.
In a nutshell, if you’re thinking of starting out on your own, have a business plan, know the extent of your capabilities, have a good management team, ensure scalability and think globally. 
Really cool post I totally agree with you on the companies now days need the internet, Not only because it can reach a bigger group of people, but a much targeted niche,it is so amazing how you can target the people who have done their research and are just waiting to buy from you.Thats where the money is. But you also have to remember to get your brand across to the people who are doing their research because you what to let them you exist. It is just amazing what you can do with the internet days.
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