Prompted by another blogger SI, I wrote this article. Addressing the question, there are always the push the and the pull factors. Let’s evaluate both sides of the coins.
PUSH
Current job
is shitty. Lousy pay, lousy boss, lousy colleagues, low satisfaction etc. Time
to move on to start my own. To take control of our own destiny where we are not
answerable to our boss, and create something that can impact the world with
abundance of self-satisfaction.
PULL
Excellent
idea awaiting to explode. A good partner or investor already knocking at the
door. Too good to resist because it’s going to be something even bigger than
Apple, facebook or Alibaba...?
REALITY
CHECK
Good to think
big, but also need to embrace reality. Both hand in hand.
Ask: In
work, why is everyone or everything is so lousy? Or why is every job so shitty
even I changed several? Often times, we should also reflect about ourselves.
Are problems from us too? This is what we meant by “do not escape”!
Maybe
starting your own is even worst when we are not ready. You are no longer
answerable to your boss, but you are answerable to your clients who may even be
more detesting.
No income,
no more colleagues to help, and if you are unlucky, an untrustworthy partner
(over time). You may spend tremendous amount of time and effort, but still low
return of income during the starting years. Worst of all, all the investment
savings are all down to drain eventually due to immaturity and lack of wisdom.
I am a
super positive person as friends know me. I myself aspire to start my own.
Hence I am not being negative but pragmatic and evaluating both sides of the
coin.
REAL LIFE
EXAMPLE
I had a
business associate in his later year of life and career. Let’s call him Mr. S.
He started his own business close to 40 years ago. Mr. S is experienced in his
field, work very hard and has good integrity and name in the business. Few
years ago, he told me to start my own because he started his own, and that is
the best thing that ever happened to him. His business grew over the decades
with good revenue and clientele list. During its peak, workers of close to 200.
Things took a turn due to the sustained market crisis in the last few years, he
is now facing bankruptcy, high debts accumulated and having re-pumped in all
his personal monies into the company. Worst of all, I see the stress and
despair.
What makes
you think you will do better than Mr. S and not fall into the same situation?
It is not
about the money anymore! It’s about the sweat and blood put in for 4 decades
and the ending is “emptiness!” and opportunity cost of not having enough time
with family and friends.
Of course,
I also know many success stories. My very own sister is a businesswoman. My
ex-boss who sold his business eventually leading to loads of millions.
All I want
to advocate is: THINK carefully and do the necessary checks before impulse come
into play! Especially for those who have family burden.
HOW TO
EVALUATE SHOULD I STAY OR LEAVE THEN?
I cannot
advise for you. Different people different situation. But what I can do here is
to share my own experience based on the circumstances.
Aside from
the basis of
“WHY”, “HOW”, “WHAT”, “WHERE” and “WHEN” to start which you need to
decide for yourself, I also delve into several detail checks. Hopefully it can
help you and me. J
Check 1 – Check
if you do well in your current job?
If you
cannot even do well in your current job, what makes you think you will do well
if you start your own, which is essentially tougher. One person I will like to
make reference to is John Lim of ARA. He was doing really well as a corporate
employee when Lee Kah Shing spotted him. He took a leap of faith at the age of
45 to start ARA.
Gauge for
me: Yes, I am doing well in my current job. At least for my standard, or at
least my boss, colleagues and people within my market are telling me that. I
have been in the same market since 15-20 years ago. Know the products well and
know many people within the industry all over the world. SO YES, I pass this
check!
Check 2 –
Financial Health
A friend of
mine quit his job when market is still down and tell me how excited he is because
he is starting his business, because he is getting out of the shit in his
current job. Then I asked him if he is financially ready? He said yes, because
he is without kids and have some savings and at most can sell his car. 3 months
later, he panicked because of no income and lots of work expenses! He is still
without a job after more than 1 year and savings are all draining and worst of
all, he is straining with stress.
It is
important not to just consider savings as our lifeline for starting a new business,
unless your savings is so huge. But then again, if your savings is
really that huge, why start your own when you can possibly invest. Anyway, my
point is, it is better to have a transition of income reduction. E.g. your
salary is your 100% income. To start your own, you will suddenly start with $0.
This is “No No” for me. At least my income reduces to 50% or to a stage where
my expenses can still be paid for from other source of income. E.g. rental
income, investment income, freelancing income etc.
More
important for me is, I will start in a business which is without huge cash
outlay upfront and able to generate cashflow for even during the initial part.
Most café owners invested heavily upfront and find out that cashflow is not
coming in reference to invested and operating expenses, that soon they folded.
Gauge for
me : If I were to start a new business, it will definitely be something I am
good at for already many years. E.g only... perhaps I can first become a
consultant (sign a 1-2 year contract) for a foreign company I know well working
2-3days a week, or they know me well within the market I am familiar in. This
will keep cashflow coming in, and yet, I have excess time to work on developing
my own business bit by bit. First being an intermediary, then developing my own
product etc. Then I also have my property rental income to sustain some of my
expenses. Wife is still working to also sustain burden. And possibly investment
returns. Only in desperate measures, I will allow to drain my savings. But this
is already very serious
Actually,
I been approached a few times in such situation from foreign company who knows
me well, but time is not ripe because I wanted my financial situation to be
even more stronger. Remember: Savings will always deplete faster than you think. Better to have a
transition reduction in income when you resign from job and start your own!
So NO, I
am not comfortable. Check failed.
Check 3 –
Family Burden
This is for
those who are married with kids. If you are having young kids, and cherish the
time with them, then it is quite unlikely you are able to juggle between time
of starting your own and time spent on them. Opportunity cost! Most will want
to think that “who says I cannot have enough time for my kids when I start my
own”. Yes you can, but for sure you will not do as well for both areas. You are
creating a “LIE” for yourself. Starting your own is always most difficult in
the first few years. So it is certain that family time will be sacrificed. Are
you willing to do that? Is your wife ready to take the family burden?
Check 5 –
Right Ideas + Right partners
Fantastic
ideas are always essential for good business. But that said, we often always
start with crappy ideas, and learn from there to develop better ideas as we
have more experience. So unlike many people who think right ideas are all
important, perhaps a right partner is even more important for a start.
Ideas are
not as ideal without fantastic partners. Finding the right partners are not
easy. Recently a friend of mine split with his business partners because of
“trust” issues. My brother in law had been doing his own business for ~25
years, and his best partner is my sister (his wife)!
In my work
experiences, I also see success in partners who one is commercial and the other
one is technically inclined. I also know 2 partners who are best friends and
both have equal share in the company. I asked them, “what if Mr. A say “YES”
and Mr. B say “NO” to a proposal, so what’s the decision? They told me if one
disagree, then “NO GO”! They will only go ahead with decision when both agrees.
And because they know each other as best friends, so far it works for them for
the last 15 years.
John Lim
and Lee Kah Shing started ARA. To Lee, it is an investment he has no problem
losing if it fails, relative to his net worth. For John Lim, it is a must win,
because he depended on it. And Lee trusted Lim because of his capability as Lee
already had a working relationship with Lim. Hence Lim (capability + hard work
+ cannot fail) + Lee (wealth + connections + experiences) = success!
Gauge for
me : No partner identified for now. I will probably start myself first, then
start finding partner later. “Trust”, “friendships”, “loyalty” and being
different from skill-set I have is important criteria me to find a partner.
Check 5 –
Timing
Is it the
right timing? This links to almost all of the above points discussed.
Gauge for
me : I still love my job travelling and meeting people and making deals,
despite the politics which I manage reasonably well. My priority is to serve
the Lord as I work. I am able to do that in my present job. So no complains. I
prefer to have my mortgage cleared within next 5 years. Should be able to do
that in 5 years time, hopefully. I have children who are still young, with the
youngest at 2 years old. I prefer to spend more time with them in the next
couple of years. To start my own now, its huge opportunity cost not having
sufficient time with my family.
John Lim
started ARA at the age of 45. It’s not too late for me then. And as my blog
wrote, its better late than never! I reckon I still need couple of years ahead
before I start my own! I have to be patient and sensible now to be successful
in a godly manner later!
Hi Bro,
You are on a roll! Blogging consecutively for a few days in a row.
Good post!
You were the inspiration, who always encourage me to blog here. Since I took leave in the last few days, I decided to squeeze more articles.
Hihi Rolf,
Like your post. Success at work, depends on the part that u bring to business. Sometimes we might not be as successful in certain areas that is redundant in the first place, and highly unproductive.
But the part of not rusbung through, and small capital outlay, and having a trusted partner is indeed core missing areas.
Keeping a lookout…
Success is subjective and varies. But to me, it is achieving the goal I set and in the process able to help people around me, and of course help myself to learn, and improve.
There are many refundancy and unoroductivity in life, but most important is if you reach your goal or even if you didn’t achieve your goal, did you in the process become better and stronger the next time.
In work, in the past, I wanted to climb to the top mgmt and able to achieve certain range of income. I sort of achieve it, so to me, it is considered successful.
Nowadays, my success in work derived from my relationships with people, which I consider again myself successful. No longer have any desire to climb, but instead to sustain is good for me.
I still believe that a good business is one that is able to generate cashflow, or at least CF positive. Many people go into a business investing loads of upfront cash, but eventually just loose it. Of course there are exceptions.
E.g. Thai Express founder manage to get upfront cash with the support of his Father in Law and make it successful.
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