Text for III Semester B. A. / B. Com./ B. Sc. Additional English
ARE
YOU AN ENTREPRENEUR?
VICTOR
KIAM
When I was eight, The Streetcar Named Desire ran only four blocks from my home in New Orleans. But
the sound of eager Desire racing through the night did not inspire me – as it
did Tennessee Williams – to spin a passionate tale. Instead, it invited the
entrepreneurial muse to whisper the suggestions that guided me to the path I’m
still travelling.
That summer I noticed
that people getting off the Streetcar at the end of the day looked as if they
would pass out if they had to go another step without a cool drink. I didn’t
realize it then, but I had responded to the first precept of an entrepreneur: I
had recognized a need.
My grandfather gave me
five dollars to buy 100 bottles of Coca-Cola. But before I could take my first
step into the world of high finance, I had to set a price for my goods. With
naïve boldness, I settled on a mark-up of 100 per cent!
Business was brisk the
first day and got better as the week progressed. You would have thought I was a
pint-size millionaire. My grandfather was of that opinion. So you can imagine
his shock when, having sold my entire sock, I had only four dollars to show for
my efforts.
Few of my customers could
afford to pay ten cents for a bottle. Many couldn’t even afford the five cents
I needed to break even. It was so hot that I couldn’t bear to let anyone go
away empty-handed, so I just gave away my merchandise. My first business was a
financial failure, but it sure built up a lot of good will.
Entrepreneurs can be
found everywhere – from fellows with outdoor lunch wagons to people within the
corporate mainstream. Their common bond is that they are risk takers, willing
to roll the dice with their money or stake their reputations in support of an
idea or a project. They’re following their visions, and have decided to make
the sacrifices necessary to achieve success.
In 1968, after 18 years
at Lever Brothers and Playtex, I left my job. I had long thought of doing
something on my own, but it was talking with friends and attending a seminar on
entrepreneurship that gave me the push I needed. I bought into the watch
manufacturer Benrus Corporation. Then in 1979 I acquired the Remington Company.
Thirty-five years of
experience has given me a good idea of the entrepreneur’s profile. To find out
if you have what it takes, ask yourself.
1.
Do I have enough self-confidence? You
must believe in yourself. In a company, you want the people working for you to
follow your lead; you want your superiors to respect your judgement. If you’re
running your own business, you want investors to place their money and trust
behind you. You want your clients to catch your enthusiasm and to believe in
your product or service. How can you inspire them if you don’t believe in
yourself?
If
you lack self-confidence, find some. Lack of confidence isn’t a disease, it’s a
symptom. Self-perceived negatives can rob you of a healthy ego.
Every
six months, I do a personal balance sheet. I make a list of my pluses and
minuses. For example, I was once a procrastinator. Confronting this helped me
to overcome it. I started making it a point to tackle distasteful jobs first.
In a short time, procrastination disappeared from my list of minuses.
There
is nothing on my list I can’t overcome if I make the effort. Try a balance sheet
of your own.
2. Do I have confidence in my venture? I’ve been asked, ‘When you make an investment, are you
backing the idea or the people behind it?’ Both. No entrepreneur is a miracle
worker. You can work 16 hours a day, seven days a week, but if your product is
lousy, you’ve wasted your time.
A
friend of mine is a terrific shoe salesman. When management of the business
changed, the quality of the stock dropped off. A customer complained that the
expensive shoe she was about to buy was too tight. He offered to stretch it. ‘I
gripped the shoe and pulled’, he told me. ‘It tore in half. What had been a
finely crafted shoe was now a piece of junk. I told the customer the truth,
then I resigned.
The
lesson is simple: you can’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy.
3. Am I willing to make sacrifices? Body-builders
have a saying, ‘No pain, no gain’. I should be the credo of every entrepreneur.
Forget the clock. Nine-to five doesn’t
exist.
Saturday
became part of my regular work schedule as a young salesman. And when a
snowstorm hit my region, it was an opportunity, not an obstacle. The idea that
my rivals would be hiding from the elements gave me the impetus to push my
product. It’s amazing how receptive a buyer could be when the snow was
waist-deep and I was the only friendly face he’d seen all day. If you’re
opening your own business, you’ll lose the security of a regular salary and the
company benefits you take for granted. And there will be other changes. You might
not get home for dinner; relaxing week-ends may be few and far between. I’ve
even seen entrepreneurs whose marriages fell apart because they forgot about
their spouses. That’s one sacrifice I don’t recommend!
4. Do I recognize opportunity? This
is essential. Get used to examination all angles of a proposition. Ask, ‘How
can this work for me?’
I
learnt this the hard way. When I was with Playtex I met an inventor who showed
me two pieces of nylon fabric and demonstrated how they adhered without hooks,
zips of buttons. All I could think about was the lack of applicability for our
brassiere business.
That
product was Velcro. And not a day goes by when I don’t see it used somewhere.
5. Am I decisive? You’d
better be. As an entrepreneur, you’re on your own. And you’re going to
encounter situations where time isn’t on your side. At Lever Brothers we were
launching a new product, an improved wrinkle cream. We planned a major
promotion in Ohio stores, with a famous make-up man flying in from New York to
apply the stuff. But he suddenly became ill and couldn’t come.
What do I do now?
I thought. So I spent the next 24 hours in a crash course in make-up, using a
secretary as a guinea pig. Poor woman. I practised until her face was raw.
My
moment of truth came with my first customer, the wife of a store president. I
applied the product and she left without comment. Two days later she came back.
Her husband had liked the results so much that she wanted more. Developing a
quick positive response to adversity had saved an important promotion campaign.
6. Am I willing to lead by
example? You can’t ask. Your
workers to give their all if your idea of a rough day is two hours in the
office and six on the golf course. I never ask an employee to do something I’m
not willing to so, and I work even harder than they do.
By now you should have some idea if you have
what it takes to be an entrepreneur. So I’ll mention some of the rewards for
your sacrifices. You’ll find satisfaction in creating something out of nothing.
You’ll gain a positive sense of self. And of course, there are financial rewards.
But it’s not easy. Nothing worthwhile is! If
David had slain a dwarf instead of Goliath, who would have remembered?
****
Glossary:
entrepreneur: person
who undertakes business with a chance of profit or loss.
muse: inspiring
goddess
pass
out: colloquial
phrase meaning faint, lose consciousness
precept: moral
instruction; rule or guide, especially for behavior
naïve: natural
or innocent in behavior (because of being young or inexperienced}
pint: one-eighth
of a gallon
merchandise: goods
bought and sold, trade goods
corporate: belonging
to a corporation (i.e. group of people recognized in law as a single entity,
especially in business)
self-perceived: regard oneself mentally in a specified
manner
procrastinator: one who delays actions
venture: undertaking
in which there is a risk
credo: a
statement of belief
impetus: driving
force
adversity: trouble
spouse: husband
or wife
Tennessee
Williams: Famous American
playwright (1911 – 1983)
‘A
Street Car Named Desire’:
Tennessee Williams’ classic play, produced in 1947
‘David
and Goliath’:
Reference to the Biblical story in which David in his youth slew the Philistine
giant Goliath
*****
No comments:
Post a Comment