Shortcuts to Success

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!

How Not To Be a Bad Boss

Most of us do not like the idea of working for someone else. Nevertheless, most of us would have started our journey in the working world, well, working for someone else. As it goes by, some of us may hear the inner-entrepreneur in us speak. Soon we find ourselves arranging, building, planning and pushing our own start-ups. Building a business is hard work, and full dedication is needed if you want your business to succeed and reap the rewards.

So just like yourself, you soon find yourself in the position of being the boss. So it is great isn’t it being the head-honcho? No more taking orders from people and feel like you are being sandwiched between two hot buns (clients and your boss). As good as it may sound, but it could also be a nightmare you could never have imagined.

Ever wonder why your old boss barks at everyone in the office, and scrutinises everything from employee working habits to company finances (for obvious reasons)? You as the boss now would soon find out why your old boss was like that. It takes a lot out of them to control their businesses and nobody would like to see their businesses go down the drain because of a few tiny, but fatal mistakes. All of this however, does not mean you have to become an object of hatred.

WHAT MAKES A BAD BOSS?

Being the boss may not be the most fun thing in the world to be and it also holds many tough challenges; not just on your company’s daily operations, but also the internal relationships that you have with your employees. Have you ever had the thought run through your mind whether you may be considered as a bad boss? Ever wondered whether your actions and decisions could have impaired your relationship with your employees, causing them to hate you and stab your back?

Being stiff and outwardly mean can de-motivate your employees and be counter-productive. “But we need to be in control”, sometimes we say, but on the contrary to actually being ‘in control’; you may fare worse off by doing so. Being in control of your business doesn’t mean holding an iron-fist styled dictator-like grip on everything that happens in your business environment. So how do we keep everything in control without being a stickler?

[this is an excerpt from the article of the same name which appears in SME Magazine March 2009]

How Not to Scr*w Up Your Business

All businesses have a life cycle. They are created, grow, mature and unfortunately in some cases fail and disappear.

You would have heard of the oft-quoted truth of businesses - 90% fail in the first year. And less than 1% survive beyond the life of the founder.

For the 10% of you who survived the first year, you have my congratulations. The next step really is what this posting is about - how NOT to scr*w up your business.

Many entrepreneurs have a habit of experimenting. That's good in many cases, but can also lead to highly undesirable results. If your business have survived its first year, chances are, you have done something right. It is going to survive a little longer, if you DO NOT end up scr*wing it up now.

I can't tell you how to scr*w-proof your business. But generally, leaving the good bits alone will do the trick.

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For more on how NOT to scr*w up your business, get a copy of SME Magazine February edition.