In the age of Quad Core and Mach 3 travel, no one seems to have the patience for anything nowadays. A person in front of us in a queue is one too many. The same kiasu-ness is now so ingrained among entreprneeurs and businessmen, that we are constantly looking for shortcuts and other ‘lubangs’ to success.
Some will argue that success in business is about finding the fastest way to your objectives. I would agree if in so doing, we do not neglect our integrity and ethics. However, many of us tend to forgo the very principles we are brought up with, in favour of shortcuts to success. Expediency rules.
A few examples come to mind. One is our tendency to now ‘buy’ talents rather than groom them internally. Some would say that’s smart management. After all, aren’t clubs in Premier League known to pay millions for top players? Again, I would agree, if job hopping among senior executives is not as prevalent as it is today and by so doing we are not starting a talent-pinching war among ourselves. Some of us are blind to the fact that not all sweet-talking MBAs are any good or have any loyalty to you or your business. And certainly, few of these people stay long enough to do good for your business.
The sad truth is, few businessmen would have any qualms about pinching their competitors staff, if that means they would learn their competitors secrets and steal their clients. Again, that’s good business to some.
Another phenomenon that has hit many SMEs is the eagerness to raise fund rapidly to expand their business and hopefully make it big in a short time. Words like ‘mezzanine financing’, ‘investors’ prospectus’, ‘IPO’ and ‘exit strategy’ are being brandished even by mom-and-pop operations. Some of these companies seems to have lost all interest in taking care of the basics of business: developing good quality products and services, building relationship with supplier, staff and clients, and earning money the traditional way. Perhaps the lessons of Lehmann Brothers have not sinked in for many of us. Many of us are still caught up with the dotcom tagline: if you have an idea, money will start pouring in.
I don’t discourage businesses raising fund from whatever sources for whatever reasons. But it is good business sense to realise that businesses cannot be built on air. Many of the dotcom wonders that you read about have also gone through hardwork and setbacks like you and I. And business news are so full of unchecked facts nowadays, you should not allow yourself to be swayed by news of a competitor hitting it big through some investment from some mysterious funders. The truth is, money don’t grow on trees. And businesses don’t just grow on their own. If you thought labouring for your business is futile; well, it’s at least a notch better than day dreaming.
This brings us to another shortcut many are resorting to. I call it the ‘sugardaddy phenomenon’ (or ‘sugarparent’, to be gender sensitive). The government call it SME assistance program. Again, I would say go for it as it means free money in many cases. But if you are going to be building a business on the back of government handouts and nothing else, you will be steering an empty ship to nowhere. Real businesses are built on solid ideas and real products and services. There’s really no shortcut to success.
The lowest form of ‘shortcut’ to success must be those among us who bribe our way through. Some of us would be tempted to offer inducement to get that one lucrative project. After all, some grease between palms make some people easier on the cheque, and shorter on the memory. But consider the long term costs of such business experdiency. Many of the truly successful people I know are men of true integrity. Hard to believe, but it is true. Integrity and ethics do make good business sense.
Rich Kids, Poor Kids
I have nothing against direct selling. But before you are convinced by an eager sponsor hoping to pin you somewhere among his downlines, make sure you understand what you are getting yourself into. Like any business, it’s 99% effort and 1% luck. 99.9% of everyone who joins a direct selling business fails. And that’s a higher failure rate than conventional business. So YES, direct sales can be a route to success and financial independence, but NO it is not shortcut to success either.
Some of us are born with a silver spoon. Nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, capitalize on it. But again, that is no short cut to success. Your daddy and mommy can only help so much, the rest is still up to you. One of the inmutable laws of success in business is this: value creation. If you are not creating value with what you do, if you are a consumer of idea and products rather than creator of value, then you will never meet success.
I am going to tell you the real shortcut to success. It is one fact that the world’s three richest men: Warren Buffett, William Gates and Carlos Helu Slim, agree upon. It is called hardwork.
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I wrote this for SME Magazine October issue. If you haven't got your copy of SME Magazine, get one today!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Change?
We tell our children that if they work hard, they would be successful. But at the same time, we put in money each month into their education fund. We tell our employees to come early, and we make efforts to do so ourselves. We tell our children not to play with fire, but we also make sure we have fire alarms, extinguishers and insurance, just in case.
In short, while we do all the talking, we know that talking in itself is not good enough. It surprises me therefore, to find out that the Nobel committee decided that talk is enough in awarding the Peace prize to US President Obama.
Many people think Obama came into power on a ticket of change. What really brought him to power is the US electorate’s frustration over former President Bush’s arrogance, thick-headedness and refusal, well, to change. And his savvy strategy to appeal to the impressionable young through Facebook, Twitter and blogs.
Since coming to power barely a year ago, Obama has announced a slew of ‘changes’ – many of which was in his election manifesto. He made a slew of visits to hot-spots such as Afganistan and Iraq. Repeated his oft-quoted remarks that ‘change must come to America’. Promised the Afghans and Iraqis that America is committed to justice for all, and an early withdrawal. And followed-up by bombing buildings and houses, killing sons, daughters, mothers, fathers and friends, along with ‘suspected terrorists’.
He followed up with his ‘change agenda’ by appointing Hillary Clinton, a staunch nemesis at one point and in his own words, an ‘old-school politician’ to the powerful position as Secretary of State. Consistent with his feel-good and big slogan style, he appointed more non-white Americans into his cabinet than any previous administration. But none of these are in what Americans would call the Big Four.
In one of his many contradictory statements, he wanted troops to be pulled out from Iraq and Afghanistan, but has waivered numerous times when pushed for a date. The fact that his proclaimations are made with little consultation with the professionals and with little respect for reason and research is obvious. It’s shooting off the hip for the sake of political expediency.
Whilst critizing Bush’s heavy military budget and wars in Afghnistan and Iraq, he also proclaimed that ‘to ensure prosperity here at home and peace abroad, .. we have to maintain the strongest military on the planet’. And he won the Nobel Peace prize for that.
You want to change, President Obama? Let’s change to make sure the US government do not continue encouraging oppression of the homeless in Palestine and Afghanistan, stop suppressing the voice of the majority and listen to the voice of reason.
You want to change, President Obama? Let’s change to become leaders by example, to start dismantling your nuclear arsenal before you talk Pyongyang into doing the same. Stop your industries from polluting the world, sign the Kyoto protocol before you criticise others over their environmental records.
You want to change, President Obama? Pull your Pacific Fleet away from Asia, stop your strong-arm economics policy, stop bullying small countries into submission, vote to revamp the UN to make every vote counts, and live up to your promises!
Talk is cheap, Mr. President. Slogans and taglines are for ad agencies, not state leaders. You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. We hope that the Peace prize will at least motivate you to live up to it.
In short, while we do all the talking, we know that talking in itself is not good enough. It surprises me therefore, to find out that the Nobel committee decided that talk is enough in awarding the Peace prize to US President Obama.
Many people think Obama came into power on a ticket of change. What really brought him to power is the US electorate’s frustration over former President Bush’s arrogance, thick-headedness and refusal, well, to change. And his savvy strategy to appeal to the impressionable young through Facebook, Twitter and blogs.
Since coming to power barely a year ago, Obama has announced a slew of ‘changes’ – many of which was in his election manifesto. He made a slew of visits to hot-spots such as Afganistan and Iraq. Repeated his oft-quoted remarks that ‘change must come to America’. Promised the Afghans and Iraqis that America is committed to justice for all, and an early withdrawal. And followed-up by bombing buildings and houses, killing sons, daughters, mothers, fathers and friends, along with ‘suspected terrorists’.
He followed up with his ‘change agenda’ by appointing Hillary Clinton, a staunch nemesis at one point and in his own words, an ‘old-school politician’ to the powerful position as Secretary of State. Consistent with his feel-good and big slogan style, he appointed more non-white Americans into his cabinet than any previous administration. But none of these are in what Americans would call the Big Four.
In one of his many contradictory statements, he wanted troops to be pulled out from Iraq and Afghanistan, but has waivered numerous times when pushed for a date. The fact that his proclaimations are made with little consultation with the professionals and with little respect for reason and research is obvious. It’s shooting off the hip for the sake of political expediency.
Whilst critizing Bush’s heavy military budget and wars in Afghnistan and Iraq, he also proclaimed that ‘to ensure prosperity here at home and peace abroad, .. we have to maintain the strongest military on the planet’. And he won the Nobel Peace prize for that.
You want to change, President Obama? Let’s change to make sure the US government do not continue encouraging oppression of the homeless in Palestine and Afghanistan, stop suppressing the voice of the majority and listen to the voice of reason.
You want to change, President Obama? Let’s change to become leaders by example, to start dismantling your nuclear arsenal before you talk Pyongyang into doing the same. Stop your industries from polluting the world, sign the Kyoto protocol before you criticise others over their environmental records.
You want to change, President Obama? Pull your Pacific Fleet away from Asia, stop your strong-arm economics policy, stop bullying small countries into submission, vote to revamp the UN to make every vote counts, and live up to your promises!
Talk is cheap, Mr. President. Slogans and taglines are for ad agencies, not state leaders. You can put lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. We hope that the Peace prize will at least motivate you to live up to it.
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