Every now and then, some people make it big time in the business world either from, pioneering a fresh new business strategy to improving something that is thought to be already at it's best. Entrepreneurs can be found in virtually any part of this world. I guess, when you think about an entrepreneur in a global perspective, the first few people you might think of would be - William H. Gates who founded Microsoft, Steve Jobs who brought to us the iPod or even Warren Buffet arguably the best investor in THE world. Bring it down to a narrower perspective, the local scene - Tony Fernandes co-founder of AirAsia and Teh Hong Piow founder of Public Bank Berhad (equivalent to a PLC), and of course there are many more!
I guess, there are times when we sit down and ponder, "how exactly did these people turn out to be who they are?". Were they born with such innate ability? Did they have parents that constantly gave them inspiration to be their own boss? Did they have a natural eye for business opportunities? Or, did they just get lucky? I guess we'll never know exactly how they really made it. But one thing is really obvious - they certainly are a lot wealthier than we are, especially those of us earning an average paycheck at the end of the month. But are they really the epitome of entrepreneurship? But, do not get me wrong; I am by no means denying that they are entrepreneurs. But really, how many of us really know what entrepreneurship means?
Let's all fall back on the dictionary. Kindly provided from Dictionary.com, the word entrepreneurship means - a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, esp. a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk. So from visualizing some of the names I mentioned above, they would give near perfect examples. All of them took a substantial amount of risks doing what they did, and they made it. Not only did they make it, but they made it BIG time! Tony Fernandes, won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award last year, for example.
Looking at all these people, I can pretty much come to a conclusion that it is not impossible to really be able to achieve success. But we have to have, perseverance, patience, and most importantly - an attitude that accepts failures. Very often, the fear of failure deters us from doing something that we might truly want to do deep down in our hearts - be it, at buying a new car, starting a business or even something as simple as approaching the opposite sex. But, really, why do we fall every now and then? It is simply because with every fall we encounter, chances are we will actually learn something from it even if it is a small little piece of knowledge. Knowledge as we know it has no real value, it is priceless and it is even more valuable when we learn to use the knowledge that we have honed throughout our lives. And I believe, it is that very ability to use knowledge, that makes such people so successful! There is a saying after all that, "you don't have to be the smartest guy in the world to be rich!".
Microsoft Windows is famous for it's user-friendliness, iPod is famous for it's cool looks and practicality, or AirAsia is well known for it's fantastic no-frills cheap short range flights. All these ideas, had to come from somewhere, right? And, they all stemmed from knowledge.
Then comes another important similarity - willing to take risks. Then again, taking risks is something one should consider with due diligence. This pretty much, goes back to the question of whether one is willing to accept failures. However, it is of importance to note that only valuable lessons can be learned through 'smart' failures. Meaning to say, one takes a risk in starting say, a business upon considering relevant factors, and then fails; but he would still be able to learn from the failure (i.e. something he might have missed taking into consideration?), as compared to taking a risk forming a business without understanding what one is doing!
By and large, most of us out there are on an employment earning a monthly paycheck. Reason why I wrote this tonight, simply because I think it is about time, our generation started thinking of getting out of our comfort zone of, "I am happy with a monthly paycheck and I am pretty sure my employment is secured as long as I don't make a mess with my job at hand.".
Let's all think about making a difference; after all, there is a Chinese saying that goes like this - "there is no end to earning money!".
Think about it? You might just get inspired! ;)
I guess, there are times when we sit down and ponder, "how exactly did these people turn out to be who they are?". Were they born with such innate ability? Did they have parents that constantly gave them inspiration to be their own boss? Did they have a natural eye for business opportunities? Or, did they just get lucky? I guess we'll never know exactly how they really made it. But one thing is really obvious - they certainly are a lot wealthier than we are, especially those of us earning an average paycheck at the end of the month. But are they really the epitome of entrepreneurship? But, do not get me wrong; I am by no means denying that they are entrepreneurs. But really, how many of us really know what entrepreneurship means?
Let's all fall back on the dictionary. Kindly provided from Dictionary.com, the word entrepreneurship means - a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, esp. a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk. So from visualizing some of the names I mentioned above, they would give near perfect examples. All of them took a substantial amount of risks doing what they did, and they made it. Not only did they make it, but they made it BIG time! Tony Fernandes, won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award last year, for example.
Looking at all these people, I can pretty much come to a conclusion that it is not impossible to really be able to achieve success. But we have to have, perseverance, patience, and most importantly - an attitude that accepts failures. Very often, the fear of failure deters us from doing something that we might truly want to do deep down in our hearts - be it, at buying a new car, starting a business or even something as simple as approaching the opposite sex. But, really, why do we fall every now and then? It is simply because with every fall we encounter, chances are we will actually learn something from it even if it is a small little piece of knowledge. Knowledge as we know it has no real value, it is priceless and it is even more valuable when we learn to use the knowledge that we have honed throughout our lives. And I believe, it is that very ability to use knowledge, that makes such people so successful! There is a saying after all that, "you don't have to be the smartest guy in the world to be rich!".
Microsoft Windows is famous for it's user-friendliness, iPod is famous for it's cool looks and practicality, or AirAsia is well known for it's fantastic no-frills cheap short range flights. All these ideas, had to come from somewhere, right? And, they all stemmed from knowledge.
Then comes another important similarity - willing to take risks. Then again, taking risks is something one should consider with due diligence. This pretty much, goes back to the question of whether one is willing to accept failures. However, it is of importance to note that only valuable lessons can be learned through 'smart' failures. Meaning to say, one takes a risk in starting say, a business upon considering relevant factors, and then fails; but he would still be able to learn from the failure (i.e. something he might have missed taking into consideration?), as compared to taking a risk forming a business without understanding what one is doing!
By and large, most of us out there are on an employment earning a monthly paycheck. Reason why I wrote this tonight, simply because I think it is about time, our generation started thinking of getting out of our comfort zone of, "I am happy with a monthly paycheck and I am pretty sure my employment is secured as long as I don't make a mess with my job at hand.".
Let's all think about making a difference; after all, there is a Chinese saying that goes like this - "there is no end to earning money!".
Think about it? You might just get inspired! ;)
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