Myth 1: Entrepreneurs are born
Are entrepreneurs born? Endowed with some mythical attributes that made them what they are. Could there be indeed a genetic predisposition to be successful entrepreneurs?

Even Minister Mentor Lee was initially led to believe that genes ultimately rule. He said that, akin to leadership skills, a person not born with them cannot improve significantly however thorough the training. Nevertheless, those possess them can with training excel beyond what they would otherwise have been.

Yet, through his years of experience and observation, he finally retracted his earlier erred beliefs and was converted to the fact there is such a thing called an entrepreneurial culture in a society that encouraged many to try to succeed in business. (MM Lee's Speech)

In fact, many successful businessmen who became entrepreneurs did so, not of choice but of circumstances. George Quek, founder of BreadTalk Group, who found himself could not afford the enrolment fees into an Arts Academy in Taipei, took to peddling dragon beard candy in a Taipei department store. When the snack failed to bite initially, he was gripped with the sheer terror that he might not have money for a return-ticket home. Founder of Osim International Ltd, Ron Sim, because of his destitute circumstances which perpetually left him in hunger pangs, forced him to "always willing and wanting to work to make money." As early as age nine, he went door-to-door after school peddling Hokkien prawn noodles.

"I always believe that entrepreneurs are bred by circumstances -- where there is hunger, where there is despair, where there is desire. In my circumstances, I had a chance to be born poor," said Ron Sim. "And that, in my opinion, fuels a lot of hunger, a lot of despair, a lot of desire to make things good and right."

If necessity is the mother of all creations, perhaps, crisis is the mother of all creativities. As the saying goes: "If he has nothing, he has nothing to lose; he'll do anything just to get something." That leaves little wonder that he cannot but succeed.

Ultimately, it boils down to one's drives and dreams, not genes nor means, a matter of mind over muscle; will over genes.

For the fortunate, natural traits do give a person an edge in whatever he does. For others, traits can be acquired.

It came as no surprised that almost every child in this modern era can be taught to read and write; full literacy is not an inconceivable idea. But the same cannot be said to the society less a century back.

It took a medical doctor Maria Montessori to revolutionise the education of small children by allowing their self-esteem and natural freedom of thought to reign instead of rote-learning that so much prevailed during that period. The results: she successfully trained idiot children to perform normally -- reading and writing at the age of four, almost unheard of during her time -- giving credence to the nurture not nature theory. So successful was her system that in less than two years the inception of her teaching techniques, all of the kindergartens and orphanages of southern Switzerland were converted to the Montessori System. Even today, around Singapore, pre-schools using Montessori System are quite prevalent.

The Caveat: Anyone can become an entrepreneur though not everyone becomes one. Partially true for it should read, "not everyone becomes a highly successful entrepreneur." Everyone can learn the rudiments of reading and writing, though not everyone excels. The same goes to becoming an entrepreneur, everyone can be one but not everyone can be extremely successful in this endeavour. However, to be literate is far better than being an illiterate; in the same veins, an entrepreneur may not be hugely successful but he is still in a better position than if he were to slog for someone for that monthly paycheck.

Myth 2: Singapore isn't a conducive environment for budding entrepreneurs
Partially true. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2004 studies reported the sad truth that Singapore’s culture disencourage the spirit of entrepreneurial risk-taking, creativity and innovativeness. Moreover, risk-adversity and fear of failure are deep-seated concerns for most Singaporeans. They fear failure and thus bankruptcy and failed entrepreneurs are wary of repeat failures. In addition, people in Singapore are lulled into indolence and contentment with stable and well-paying jobs particularly in MNCs, thus paying little heed to their inner entrepreneurial calling, if there is one to begin with.

Yet, on the bright side, Singapore fared much better than other nations in terms of “access to physical infrastructure”, “low regulation and taxation burden” and “business service effectiveness.” Singaporeans can definitely leverage on all these like the ubiquitous Internet access, having well-stock public libraries and other public facilities. Moreover, the bankruptcy laws are recently relaxed in order to make easy for those who fail to climb back up again.

Interestingly, when the going gets tough, the less tough Singaporeans actually go overseas! According to a Straits Times article, poor job prospects is the major push factor now for those quitting Singapore. For most quitting or planning to quit Singapore, it boils down to job prospects and job security.

Since the Asian financial crisis, Singaporeans have been hit by an almost unceasing wave of layoffs, shrinking pay and warnings about the economic threat of China and India. It appears to have undermined the confidence of many in the economic future of Singapore.

Migration consultants such as Mr Joshua Koh receives up to 20 enquiries a day, twice what he got when he started three years ago. Half are shaken by the gloomy job market.

"We get people in their 30s, holding good jobs but terribly worried about restructuring and retrenchment," he said. "They apply for a visa as insurance, so if anything were to happen, they can get out fast." (read more)

What Singapore is undergoing is not unique to us but it's happening everywhere around the world. Even the biggest economy in the world, the United States of America, is not immured to jobs disappearing to low cost countries like China and India. Globalisation is here to stay and the momentum of giant economies like China and India will only get faster not slower.

Myth 3: The Timing is right
Is there really a right time for starting a business? Not really, according to Ron Sim. "I never believe that there is a good time, or a bad time. I think it's really a function of yourself. I remember that when I started at the age of 20, 1979, friends and relatives say it's too late to do business. It's too late. You can't possibly win. And 25 years later, we are hearing the same thing."

He added, "Be it bad time or good time, I think it's a matter of how resourceful you are, how courageous you are, how driven you are, to prove yourself."

In fact, there is no better time than "NOW". Job security is now an obsolete idea. Our generation is unlike our parents'. During their times, jobs were abundant, competition lesser and therefore lifetime employment was plausible. Once they found a job, they usually held to it for life. However the same cannot be said for today's generation. Down-sizing and cutbacks are inevitable due to the influx of foreign skilled labour and the relocation of MNCs to low cost countries like China and India.

Let's not deceive ourselves that Singapore will ever return to its glorious days of double-digit growth. Job security and income security, as we knew them, are now things of the past.

For employees who are well educated, well trained and ambitious, the next few years will be tough ones. Why? Because well-educated, ambitious, high paid employees are often the first to be downsized and once downsized, they often find it harder to find a job at the pay scale they were use to. In the yesteryear, if you were well educated, hard working, and experienced, you were desirable. Now, experience and age are liabilities, not assets. So with each passing year, it gets harder to re-enter the job force and find a high paying job in the new economy.

Even the so-called "iron rice bowl" as the civil service is undergoing restructuring. According to Lee Hsien Loong (then Deputy Prime Minister) in his 2004 Budget Speech, the Government would start tightening its belt and the civil service may have to shed staff as its restructures and to keep itself trim.

No one's boss or company can protect one from the geopolitical forces that are at play today. There is an old song that said, "For you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone, for the times they are a changing."

Myth 4: Entrepreneurs have break-through inventions or ideas
This is a kind of falsehood that scatters into common places. History has shown us countless examples that prove otherwise. Bill Gates didn't write the DOS programme but bought it from a struggling engineer for a mere US$2,000. Nor Steve Jobs came up with the idea of a Window and Mouse interface for his Apple range of computers but copied that idea and all the research efforts from a Xerox engineering team whose own superiors ignored their innovations. Again, Bill Gates took that idea into his Microsoft Windows. Ray Kroc didn't concoct up the MacDonald recipe but acquired the entire rights from brothers Mac and Dick McDonald for US$3 million dollars. And Sam Walton improved on the idea of a discount retailing that had been developed by predecessor stores like Ann & Hope and used careful site selection and rigorous inventory control to help create the Wal-Mart empire.

According to a study (March 2001) done by the National Commission on Entrepreneurship, only six of 100 successful entrepreneurs interviewed even claimed to have had a unique concept, and less than 10 percent of the Inc. 500 companies studied were based on unique innovations according to their founders. Few founders were even the first or second players in their markets. Instead, they positioned their companies on replicating existing services or products with only a marginal improvement – “slightly modifying someone else's idea.”

Very often, entrepreneurs create distinctiveness and protect their advantage by always keeping one step ahead of the competition, together with massive marketing efforts as well as quality implementation, flexibility, the ability to meet customers' needs, the successful delivery of the promised productivity benefit. These are usually more important than whether a company provides a unique service or product.

Moreover, the so-called unique idea could be unbelievably simple and straight-forward. Look at George Quek, he single-handedly transformed the bland and banal task of bread buying into the most charming and delightful gourmet experience for consumers with his elegant, space-age bakeries serving out freshly baked creative recipes, with funky names. The founders of Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream came up with the idea of offering 31 different flavours, one for every day of the month, in order to set them apart from other ice cream parlors.

Myth 5: Budding entrepreneurs stand no chance against the big guys
Well, in Singapore, the big guys include the GLCs. True is that Microsoft, by flexing its muscle, can easily trash Netscape or any other companies in its way. But that is more often the exception than the rule. Looking back in history, one could not but to ask why didn't Microsoft produce the Internet browser, IBM didn't see the opportunity in offering licensing to PC clones, Giant bookstore Barnes and Noble to set up an online bookstore.

Well, the truth is large firms once they are dominant, they become caught up with their own myopia. Despite the millions of dollars spent and the best brains hired, they might be easily caught off guard by a nobody from nowhere.

"You look at any giant corporation, and I mean the biggies, and they all started with a guy with an idea, doing it well," Irvine Robbins, co-founder of Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream.

Another shining example is Soichiro Honda, the former motorcycle mechanic who founded a car company to rival the big three of the US as well as other state led, consensus driven Japanese car manufacturers.

Also in corporate Japan, Masayoshi Son, founder of softbank and is a Chinese-Korean not Japanese, was denied a chance at any Japanese leading company because of discrimination against Koreans, he started Softbank and has become one of Japan's richest men and since challenged the major Japanese corporations that once despised him.

Myth 6Relatives, friends and experts say so
"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible."
-- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

"But what ... is it good for?"
--Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
--Ken Olson, president, chairman, and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

"If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this."
--Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M "Post-It" Notepads.

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value."
--Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.

"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
--Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.

"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
-- Bill Gates, 1981

"$100 million dollars is way too much to pay for Microsoft."
-- IBM, 1982

So much for these experts’ opinions? Even our infallible uncle Bill is in the category. Their opinions are as good as our guesses. They may be experts in their field but not necessarily they must be correct. even reputable organisations are perfectly capable of getting their facts wrong and their analysis erroneous.

Avoid naysayers, they may be your relatives, friends or experts, for there's a chance that they may see the trees but miss the entire forest.

Read my other essays under the Chutzpah series.

Leo Kee Chye

Thursday, March 31, 2005