Bingo! I would even argue that entrepreneurship is about more than owning a small business. A small business can be entrepreneurial, but it's not always a necessity. Here's the article, all the way from the Jakarta Post:
First...we don’t become entrepreneurs simply by leaving our current jobs or, for that matter, our present bosses. We can still behave entrepreneurially as a professional, even if we work for the government. In that setting entrepreneurship means contributing innovatively and creatively to the organizations we work for. Vision does not depend on the work place, it depends on care, hard work and positive thinking. I learned most of what I know now from the companies, both the small and the big, that hired me when I was first out in the work force.
Second, many young people get inspired by legendary (and exceptional!) entrepreneurs who made it with little academic background. But instead of learning why these entrepreneurs are successful, we too often mistakenly focus on what they did not have, a good education.
The exception doesn’t make the rule, so education, when we can get a good one, is still the most important factor. Legendary entrepreneurs, such as Richard Branson or our own Pak Bob Sadino, say the same. Even though they didn’t hop through the schooling hoops, they were no less prepared than those with degrees, because they – this is crucial – never stopped learning.
[...]
Next, entrepreneurship is not about earning to meet our needs; we do not live solely for ourselves. We live and work for the people we love and those who love us. I often see friends quit their jobs because they get tired of working for somebody else, and they lose the vision and purpose to give more and better for their family. That is selfish, unwise, and not what entrepreneurship is all about.
Entrepreneurship requires wisdom, not just blind intuition....
Lastly, entrepreneurship is the polar opposite of luck. You know luck, it’s the excuse that let’s us wait for our ship to come in, and the waiting makes us all the poorer. I like the old saying: “Luck happens to those who are most prepared when opportunity strikes”.
In the end, entrepreneurship is more about doing than about talking about doing. I want to share one take-away from my own experience as en entrepreneur: “If we aren’t having fun, we aren’t doing it right”.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Pink Slips Can Lead to Entrepreneurship
Could we ultimately be seeing a round of economic Darwinism in the world of business today?
Check this story out:
When Mr Steven Low was retrenched two years ago from his sous chef job at Meritus Mandarin hotel, he received calls from hotels in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines with job offers the very next day.
But the man credited for helping to create the famous Chatterbox chicken rice had already made up his mind to be his own boss.
He took the pink slip, the $20,000 payout for his 31 years of service and his winning recipe to start a stall selling - what else - chicken rice.
'It was a blessing in disguise. It came at the right time,' said Mr Low, 53, who was already harbouring thoughts of venturing out on his own when the axe fell.
With only the hard-earned experience of running a kitchen but not a business, the early days were, he admitted, 'a struggle'.
'There were so many things to worry about: whether customers would come, doing the sums, inventory issues,' he said.
On that first count, at least, he didn't have to worry. Loyal patrons followed him to his humble stall in a foodcourt at Downtown East in Pasir Ris.
Last April, he expanded his business, Mr Chicken Rice, into a 1,260 sq ft restaurant, also at Downtown East.
Retrenchment may be the biggest fear among employees in this gloomy climate, but it could also be a driver for entrepreneurship, said industry pundits.
While there are no statistics, Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (Asme) president Lawrence Leow said that anecdotally, those made redundant in the current downturn are more open to starting their own business.
'There does seem to be this trend. Maybe it is because of the pro-business environment the Government has been putting in place. In earlier downturns, the amount of incentives and pro-enterprise policies were not there yet,' he said.
Check this story out:
When Mr Steven Low was retrenched two years ago from his sous chef job at Meritus Mandarin hotel, he received calls from hotels in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines with job offers the very next day.
But the man credited for helping to create the famous Chatterbox chicken rice had already made up his mind to be his own boss.
He took the pink slip, the $20,000 payout for his 31 years of service and his winning recipe to start a stall selling - what else - chicken rice.
'It was a blessing in disguise. It came at the right time,' said Mr Low, 53, who was already harbouring thoughts of venturing out on his own when the axe fell.
With only the hard-earned experience of running a kitchen but not a business, the early days were, he admitted, 'a struggle'.
'There were so many things to worry about: whether customers would come, doing the sums, inventory issues,' he said.
On that first count, at least, he didn't have to worry. Loyal patrons followed him to his humble stall in a foodcourt at Downtown East in Pasir Ris.
Last April, he expanded his business, Mr Chicken Rice, into a 1,260 sq ft restaurant, also at Downtown East.
Retrenchment may be the biggest fear among employees in this gloomy climate, but it could also be a driver for entrepreneurship, said industry pundits.
While there are no statistics, Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (Asme) president Lawrence Leow said that anecdotally, those made redundant in the current downturn are more open to starting their own business.
'There does seem to be this trend. Maybe it is because of the pro-business environment the Government has been putting in place. In earlier downturns, the amount of incentives and pro-enterprise policies were not there yet,' he said.
Even Commies Support Entrepreneurship
Whatever happened to that "workers of the world unite" stuff?
Tran Quoc Thang is the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology for the (still Communist) Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Here’s what he had to say in a recent interview about Vietnamese scientists’ efforts to commercialize new tech:
In developed countries, about 15 to 20 per cent of products invented are invested in and brought to market. But in Viet Nam, only about 5 to 10 per cent of inventions make it out to society. However, the products that have been applied have brought back lots of benefit. For example, a high-tech group at Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park has applied its product to clean a lake in Ha Noi; another group successfully discovered medicine to treat a disease of lobsters, which greatly benefited fish farmers.
[…]
We don’t lack money. We just lack feasible projects. We have lots of people who got high rankings in international competitions in math, physics and chemistry but have problems in applying their research… Scientists must find out what the society needs and have the will of a businessman. If not, their research projects will be worthless or of less value. Money will be wasted without making a breakthrough.
We have defined four key fields in science and technology to focus on which are information technology, construction materials, biology and automation. As an agriculture-based country with a high volume of agricultural products, we can invest more in preserving technology and post-harvest processing. In the high-tech field such as new energy, clean energy and nanotechnology, the Government is very willing to support all feasible projects. Breakthroughs in these areas are very important for scientists and businessmen. This is because scientific and technological products eventually become goods in the marketplace. Once they become goods, they will be accepted in the society and bought. Thus, the scientists will have orders for research.
Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01COM050109
Tran Quoc Thang is the Deputy Minister of Science and Technology for the (still Communist) Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Here’s what he had to say in a recent interview about Vietnamese scientists’ efforts to commercialize new tech:
In developed countries, about 15 to 20 per cent of products invented are invested in and brought to market. But in Viet Nam, only about 5 to 10 per cent of inventions make it out to society. However, the products that have been applied have brought back lots of benefit. For example, a high-tech group at Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park has applied its product to clean a lake in Ha Noi; another group successfully discovered medicine to treat a disease of lobsters, which greatly benefited fish farmers.
[…]
We don’t lack money. We just lack feasible projects. We have lots of people who got high rankings in international competitions in math, physics and chemistry but have problems in applying their research… Scientists must find out what the society needs and have the will of a businessman. If not, their research projects will be worthless or of less value. Money will be wasted without making a breakthrough.
We have defined four key fields in science and technology to focus on which are information technology, construction materials, biology and automation. As an agriculture-based country with a high volume of agricultural products, we can invest more in preserving technology and post-harvest processing. In the high-tech field such as new energy, clean energy and nanotechnology, the Government is very willing to support all feasible projects. Breakthroughs in these areas are very important for scientists and businessmen. This is because scientific and technological products eventually become goods in the marketplace. Once they become goods, they will be accepted in the society and bought. Thus, the scientists will have orders for research.
Source: http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01COM050109
MN Unemployment Agency: Employment Via Entrepreneurship
Interesting... isn't this Senior-preneurship?
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is launching a program that aims to help unemployed workers start their own company, the agency said Monday.
The program, dubbed Growing America Through Entrepreneurship (GATE), is available to people who are at least 50 years old and qualify for the Dislocated Worker Program (DAP). DAP supports workers who’ve recently lost their job.
GATE, which is backed by the U.S. Department of Labor, doesn’t provide financial assistance or seed capital to participants. However, it offers personal evaluations, education on how to start a business and other guidance.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is launching a program that aims to help unemployed workers start their own company, the agency said Monday.
The program, dubbed Growing America Through Entrepreneurship (GATE), is available to people who are at least 50 years old and qualify for the Dislocated Worker Program (DAP). DAP supports workers who’ve recently lost their job.
GATE, which is backed by the U.S. Department of Labor, doesn’t provide financial assistance or seed capital to participants. However, it offers personal evaluations, education on how to start a business and other guidance.
Self Publishing Authors Need to Be Artists and Entrepreneurs
There'a nice article on entrepreneurship and self-publishing in Nigeria's Business Day. (What, doesn't everybody read Nigeria's Business Day in Eastern KY?) Here are a few snips:
As more people turn to self-publishing to launch their creative works into the market, there is now the realisation that sound business principles are needed to achieve success. Joy Isi Bewaji, self-publishing author of ‘Eko Dialogue’ discusses the principles needed for success in self publishing business recently in a chat with Business Day.
[…]
Self-publishing is becoming a very difficult terrain, where the artiste also becomes the entrepreneur pursuing goals that are not art-related all in a bid to make known the product. Artistry and business management are two divergent tasks but it could be a good learning experience for all writers who intend to become or are already ‘self-publishers’.
[…]
Apart from raising funds for publishing a book, as a self-published writer, one needs to set aside funds for publicity, advertisement and be able to create regular forums where the book can be discussed. All of these cost a lot of money. However, self-publishing gives the owner a level of control over the intellectual property.
The most essential thing for a self-publishing author is funds and ability to take advantage of every available opportunity. Money is needed to run the ideas and sponsorship is usually difficult in this line of business. So, the writer may need to take up a job on full-time or part-time basis or engage in a business at the initial stages to jump-start the self-publishing business. But care must be taken to ensure the job or business does not stifle time for creativity.
[…]
To know if there is a market for the book, research has to be done. Since funds are limiting, simply explore ways to find out if people normally buy books in that category. If there are already similar books to the one you want published, find out if they are being patronised.
As a self-publisher, the author must make a firm resolve not to publish any work that would not be interesting to the target market. This can be done by asking some knowledge people to assess the manuscript before publication.Always remember that it is not what you write but how you write and sell it that matters. So do not simply write and publish what you want but what buyers want to buy.
Even though self-publishing is challenging, if one is ready to apply the entrepreneurial principles needed for its success and be persistent, it could become very lucrative.
A footnote: Aren't there paralells here for those of us who work in rural areas where heritage products/services (tourist sites, crafts, artistic works, stories, music, etc.) offer a way to build the local economy?
As more people turn to self-publishing to launch their creative works into the market, there is now the realisation that sound business principles are needed to achieve success. Joy Isi Bewaji, self-publishing author of ‘Eko Dialogue’ discusses the principles needed for success in self publishing business recently in a chat with Business Day.
[…]
Self-publishing is becoming a very difficult terrain, where the artiste also becomes the entrepreneur pursuing goals that are not art-related all in a bid to make known the product. Artistry and business management are two divergent tasks but it could be a good learning experience for all writers who intend to become or are already ‘self-publishers’.
[…]
Apart from raising funds for publishing a book, as a self-published writer, one needs to set aside funds for publicity, advertisement and be able to create regular forums where the book can be discussed. All of these cost a lot of money. However, self-publishing gives the owner a level of control over the intellectual property.
The most essential thing for a self-publishing author is funds and ability to take advantage of every available opportunity. Money is needed to run the ideas and sponsorship is usually difficult in this line of business. So, the writer may need to take up a job on full-time or part-time basis or engage in a business at the initial stages to jump-start the self-publishing business. But care must be taken to ensure the job or business does not stifle time for creativity.
[…]
To know if there is a market for the book, research has to be done. Since funds are limiting, simply explore ways to find out if people normally buy books in that category. If there are already similar books to the one you want published, find out if they are being patronised.
As a self-publisher, the author must make a firm resolve not to publish any work that would not be interesting to the target market. This can be done by asking some knowledge people to assess the manuscript before publication.Always remember that it is not what you write but how you write and sell it that matters. So do not simply write and publish what you want but what buyers want to buy.
Even though self-publishing is challenging, if one is ready to apply the entrepreneurial principles needed for its success and be persistent, it could become very lucrative.
A footnote: Aren't there paralells here for those of us who work in rural areas where heritage products/services (tourist sites, crafts, artistic works, stories, music, etc.) offer a way to build the local economy?
KY Living Magazine Plugs Entrepreneurship and KECI
Here's what the piece is about, in a quick snip:
Encouraging more Kentuckians to start up small businesses is a key feature of our state's post-tobacco economic development efforts. Successful small businesses pay taxes on their earnings, increase property values, and contribute a sense of vitality wherever they spring up. Helping these businesses start up, then grow and develop strong roots within their communities, takes a special focus.
[Some already have] experience as business owners. But what about the men and women who've always worked for someone else? How can someone make the move from employee to entrepreneur?
Being self-employed or becoming the boss of your own company with employees is a big change. Having a good idea for a new product or service isn't enough--you'll need a lot more to get your idea to the people who want it and will pay for it. Even if you're smart about your industry or know how to do something unique, you might not know how to think like a business manager, or how to make the right connections to money, or where to go to get other information vital to your success.
Fortunately, there are numerous entrepreneurial programs across Kentucky offering assistance... [including the Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute].
And here's the part about KECI and some of the work I did w/ Rednour Properties:
The Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute trains volunteer community leaders to help aspiring independent businessmen and women develop realistic plans and achieve their goals. This innovative program operated in 19 counties in northeastern Kentucky when it began in 2004. It has since been expanded to include more than 20 additional counties in south-central Kentucky in cooperation with The Center for Rural Development in Somerset.
Each year, a new group of coaches receives training that equips them to help beginning entrepreneurs fine-tune their business plans and get them ready to turn their ideas into reality. Each coach meets with three to six entrepreneurs eight to 10 times each year for face-to-face discussions; coaches are also available for phone conferences and e-mail conversations.
Johnathan Gay, director of Morehead State University's Innovation Center, learned the finer points of business coaching as a member of the first Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute class in 2004-2005. Gay says, "Here at the MSU Innovation Center, many of our clients are developing businesses that are based on technology to try to grow a new economy in eastern Kentucky." Gay's clients are typically attempting to commercially develop some new form of technology, such as a new software program or invention, so he helps them find ways to protect such intellectual property.
In addition to his duties at Morehead, Gay continues to serve as an entrepreneurial coach. Although he frequently advises entrepreneurs with high-tech products and services, he also has time for more traditional business ventures.
In 2004, Ritchie Rednour of Clay City connected with Gay. "I was just a small-time real estate investor back then," Rednour recalls. "For several years, I'd owned some mobile homes and single-family homes that I rented to people, then I bought a multi-family unit. I decided I wanted to take things to the next level and grow my business."
Starting with 55 rental units and five employees in three counties, just five years later Rednour's business now includes 2,200 rental units and 72 employees in 21 counties.
Such rapid growth was not always easy or smooth, and Rednour credits the Coaches Institute with helping him stick to his plans. "A lot of folks have a false impression of what business is like," Rednour says. "They think you just rake in the money all the time, but it isn't that easy. It's important to have someone in your community who can give advice and provide moral support, that extra encouragement you need that will keep you going along. Some people give up just at the moment when they're poised for success, and the Coaches Institute helped me see that more than anybody." Instead of being discouraged, Rednour and Gay figured out ways to keep developing the business.
Encouraging more Kentuckians to start up small businesses is a key feature of our state's post-tobacco economic development efforts. Successful small businesses pay taxes on their earnings, increase property values, and contribute a sense of vitality wherever they spring up. Helping these businesses start up, then grow and develop strong roots within their communities, takes a special focus.
[Some already have] experience as business owners. But what about the men and women who've always worked for someone else? How can someone make the move from employee to entrepreneur?
Being self-employed or becoming the boss of your own company with employees is a big change. Having a good idea for a new product or service isn't enough--you'll need a lot more to get your idea to the people who want it and will pay for it. Even if you're smart about your industry or know how to do something unique, you might not know how to think like a business manager, or how to make the right connections to money, or where to go to get other information vital to your success.
Fortunately, there are numerous entrepreneurial programs across Kentucky offering assistance... [including the Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute].
And here's the part about KECI and some of the work I did w/ Rednour Properties:
The Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute trains volunteer community leaders to help aspiring independent businessmen and women develop realistic plans and achieve their goals. This innovative program operated in 19 counties in northeastern Kentucky when it began in 2004. It has since been expanded to include more than 20 additional counties in south-central Kentucky in cooperation with The Center for Rural Development in Somerset.
Each year, a new group of coaches receives training that equips them to help beginning entrepreneurs fine-tune their business plans and get them ready to turn their ideas into reality. Each coach meets with three to six entrepreneurs eight to 10 times each year for face-to-face discussions; coaches are also available for phone conferences and e-mail conversations.
Johnathan Gay, director of Morehead State University's Innovation Center, learned the finer points of business coaching as a member of the first Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute class in 2004-2005. Gay says, "Here at the MSU Innovation Center, many of our clients are developing businesses that are based on technology to try to grow a new economy in eastern Kentucky." Gay's clients are typically attempting to commercially develop some new form of technology, such as a new software program or invention, so he helps them find ways to protect such intellectual property.
In addition to his duties at Morehead, Gay continues to serve as an entrepreneurial coach. Although he frequently advises entrepreneurs with high-tech products and services, he also has time for more traditional business ventures.
In 2004, Ritchie Rednour of Clay City connected with Gay. "I was just a small-time real estate investor back then," Rednour recalls. "For several years, I'd owned some mobile homes and single-family homes that I rented to people, then I bought a multi-family unit. I decided I wanted to take things to the next level and grow my business."
Starting with 55 rental units and five employees in three counties, just five years later Rednour's business now includes 2,200 rental units and 72 employees in 21 counties.
Such rapid growth was not always easy or smooth, and Rednour credits the Coaches Institute with helping him stick to his plans. "A lot of folks have a false impression of what business is like," Rednour says. "They think you just rake in the money all the time, but it isn't that easy. It's important to have someone in your community who can give advice and provide moral support, that extra encouragement you need that will keep you going along. Some people give up just at the moment when they're poised for success, and the Coaches Institute helped me see that more than anybody." Instead of being discouraged, Rednour and Gay figured out ways to keep developing the business.
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