With all the ups and downs when can you feel safe?
Nevertheless it's not a total fantasy to "hit the market just right and succeed in a single blow." Hsieh Li-teh (pseudonym), who worked in a government institution, opened a coffee shop and restaurant ten years ago. Relying on meticulous and thoughtful planning and treating each customer as an old friend, and because his location is very close to the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan, he attracted many office types that talked business over lunch.
"At that time making NT$200-300,000 in income every month was quite common," says Hsieh. But five years down the road, because western-style fast food restaurants as well as "all-you-can-eat cafeterias" opened in the area, the market had changed, and so he "took the money and ran." These five years of aspirations have enabled him to go from being a poor boy carrying a large debt from his mother's medical expenses to becoming a wealthy man with three houses and several cars, truly realizing the dream of creating a business from scratch.
Of course, the God of Fortune does not smile often. Three years ago Hsieh heard a rumor that the boating industry was going to be liberalized. He invested a great deal of money to become the agent of a certain American boating company and prepared to build a dock in the Kuantu area. Unfortunately, immediately thereafter a disastrous boating accident occurred on Sun Moon Lake, and the liberalization of the boating industry was postponed. Today, the large fleet of boats that Hsieh imported are still stuck in the warehouse. "Now the only thing I can do is scrape by," he says with exasperation.
First prepare:
Predictably, for face and status, most bosses carry mobile phones and drive famous brand sedans. But underneath they may be enduring hard times. This is often something that those who embrace the entrepreneurial dream are not willing to face up to.
"Those who choose to open their own business fundamentally are those who don't like to be controlled, are relatively more subjective and always feel they are smarter than the other guy," suggests Yu Tai-li, the vice-secretary general of the China Youth Development Association. "But maybe founding a business relies on just this kind of domineering and rash strength!"
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. It seems that a common ailment affecting first time entrepreneurs is rushing in to a situation without being very clear about it. Chu Chien-cheng cannot help but give a bittersweet laugh when he recalls his previous entrepreneurial experiences. "At that time I just knew a little bit about the production technology and jumped right in. I didn't have any knowledge about personnel, finances, capital, markets, or management. Frankly, it was doomed to failure from the beginning." Unfortunately, there are still a great many people who feel like they can start a business by understanding a little about production technology or sales.
In the eyes of specialists, blindly charging in is no laughing matter: "For a lot of first time businessmen, they only develop some conception of how to handle money after the fact." Telix Lee takes the example of the small manufacturers you can see anywhere: "Many bosses think that they have got the money as soon as they have the order and think there is some guarantee. They never expect that before getting their payments they will have so many expenses--materials, wages, capital and so on. Even though they deliver their goods all they get is a postdated check that might take three or four months to turn into cash." For small-scale entrepreneurs who are always low on funds, sometimes in order to grasp market share they blindly accept orders and often are unable to make ends meet, and as a result they end up bankrupt.
No turning back:
When a company closes, does the entrepreneurial dream end with it? The answer is almost always, "No!"
"When you first resign to go start your own business, co-workers send you off in a big way, and even say that they envy and admire you. Out of embarrassment and face, after failing naturally you will only think of starting over and trying again," points out Chu Chien-cheng.
It truly is this way: Going out on your own seems like a road on which there is no turning back. Unless you're completely hopeless, when you go under you just want to start again, and therefore there are many people that have been up and down many times. Take for example Chien Yung-pin: after the Hsiamen Photo Gallery closed, he invested in the Hsiamen Life Workshop, running a combination restaurant and arts and crafts shop. A year later, he again decided to dump the store, and established the Hsia Lu Yuan International Co. to do wholesale and department store marketing of arts and crafts.
Telix Lee also points out, "Don't pay any attention to all the reports in papers and magazines on companies that have failed. If you go a little deeper you will discover that after the entrepreneurs dissolve one company, they often immediately open another, and what do they care that each time they get smaller and smaller--anyway they're always the boss."
This kind of perseverance is one of the special characteristics of entrepreneurship in Taiwan. Wu Cheng-hong, chairman of MasterMind Consultants Co. Ltd., points out that foreigners stress specialization and a refined division of labor so that when someone fails in their own field, its very difficult to change professions. However in Taiwan it's nothing at all to see someone repeatedly change from one line to another.
Nevertheless, though the grass may be tough, when it comes up against the trees, how easy will it be to get to the sunlight?
Do small enterprises have a copyright on being cheated?
"It's dog eat dog out there and things are very practical in society," notes Telix Lee. For example, Chien Yung-pin worked hard to set up three branches in major department stores. Each month the operating turnover was at most NT$1 million. But 20-30% of that had to be given over to the department store, and there wasn't much remaining in profit. Don't even mention the cash paid on the spot by the customer, which only got into his hands about a month later.
"Small enterprises are really isolated, and are always in the position of having to ask others for help. They have no standing that will enable them to get tough on prices in discussions with others," explains Lee. For example, a small manufacturer might originally have agreed to accept a two-month post-dated check from a buyer for a purchase. But after the products are actually delivered, the buyer might say that at the moment he has not enough cash on hand and will want to pay with a check that is post-dated by three months. In order to expand the business, the small businessmen have no choice but to swallow this. But on the other side of the ledger, there is no way for them to put off paying for raw materials, labor, and capital.
Further, a good innovation might just be the greatest advantage a small business has in struggling to survive. Unfortunately, today, when information travels fast and competition is extremely intense, any new innovation will immediately attract a host of imitators. Of them there will be no shortage of large enterprises with a great deal of capital who will mass-produce products to engage in cutthroat pricing to steal the market. After Chien Yung-pin brought in arts products from abroad, immediately people moved to steal away those ideas that sold the best.
If you want an enterprise to succeed, frankly speaking it's not easy. But it's an even more demanding task to reform oneself to create an enterprise.
Wang Mei-ling points out that her husband Chang Wei-chun in the past was very "openhearted." At class reunions other people would whip out their calculators to figure out their part of the bill, but Chang would just tap his chest and declare, "It's all on me today," without regard to the rather green look on the face of his wife sitting at his side. Because of his generosity, his classmates called him "Chairman of the Board Chang" in school, and he became quite intoxicated by this nickname.
Nevertheless, after founding his own business, he discovered that only an extremely small number of his many "friends" were truly sincere in their relations with him. Now as much as possible he restrains his naturally open personality and has learned to adopt a poker face and to calculate things down to the last penny. "Though I must say he still prefers himself the way he used to be," says Mrs. Chang with some dismay.
It's not a small number going through the same struggles. Lin Hung-wen, director of the Tien Chi Development Company, says that once he and a foreign client were discussing a certain order. Because he himself was not familiar with the electronics technology involved, he had no choice but to ask a friend to come in to help out with the R&D, and without thinking twice invited him to come along to speak with the foreign client. Little did he expect that when the work got to the final stages his friend would disappear with the blueprints, hoping to be able to take the order for himself. Their friendship came to an abrupt halt.
"I used to be rather naive, but even now I still tell myself not to distrust people so quickly," says Lin Hung-wen, with a look of innocence regrettably lost.
Not only are entrepreneurs under great pressure to constantly adapt themselves, their wives must learn to be especially forgiving and thoughtful. There was a time when Chen Fang-ju's husband was doing quite badly and each night would go drinking to forget his woes. After finding out, Chen didn't bring it up. "Men are really worried about their egos. And so I couldn't shatter him. Otherwise it would be like letting the air out of a balloon, and he wouldn't even have had the courage to keep on going," says this woman in full understanding of her husband's personality.
How does it feel looking back?
Looking back at the entrepreneurial dream, many people are deeply moved. Wang Mei-ling says that in the past her husband always hoped that he could be "one of those guys who flies around the world talking business carrying a 007 briefcase." Little did they expect that three years into the business, running back and forth between Taiwan and Vietnam, he would get squeamish just thinking about sitting on a plane. "That's OK too. If he can't keep on going, and wants to find a new job, who knows? We might feel more at ease and accepting of our fate," she says.
Having several times gone under and come back up for air in the sea of business, Chu Chien-cheng can't help but be a little sentimental. When he was young he loved to talk big, and always just thought it was no big deal to fail, and that there would always be chances to start over again. In a flash he is already past the half-century mark. "If I fail again now, there's really nowhere to turn," he concludes. Fortunately, he sometimes can see the bright side of things as well: "What's the big deal about making a lot of money? Big businessmen have to be surrounded by bodyguards when they go out and are always worried about being victims of extortion. It's better being free and easy like me!"
Of course, this type of talk only serves to pacify him from time to time. "You'd only be kidding yourself if you tried to claim that you don't want to succeed," says Chu. Before you become successful, you have to run up against a few sharp edges. You have to take the humiliations and unhappiness others dish out to you. There's only happiness to speak of once you are successful. But success is like a plum suspended in midair. The more anxious you are, the farther away it seems. Still, that plum hanging in the air is always there to stimulate him to struggle once more.
Is being an entrepreneur and founding a company really a dream? Perhaps. Lin Hung-wen--who today finds himself with a stack of orders thanks to the failure of so many of his Japanese competitors--makes the point that since founding his business he has been to many countries, made many good friends, and learned many things. Even if he isn't completely successful ever in his life, what's the difference? "It may be a dream, but it's one that I've been able to make very solid."
[Picture Caption]
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In big cities and small towns, the streets are lined with small businesses. But who really keeps track of their waxing and waning? (Sinorama file photo)
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There are a great many people who found their own companies because they can't stand the drudgery of the nine-to-five lifestyle. (Sinorama file photo)
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Get a load of goods, grab a space, and catch the latest trendy wave: "Those interested in starting a business would do well to learn from a street vendor," is the advice of this entrepreneur.
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One man's business, one family's occupation. Only with the support of the wife can the husband go confidently forward. The photo is of the art products exhibit center of Chien Yung-pin.
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Working in his dad's company from the time he was in middle school has been very helpful to Lin Hung-wen.
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In the initial orientation period, a lot of businessmen confess they get more scared as they go along. The only thing for it is to go back to class and learn with an open mind. The photo is of the CYDA's "The Boss Goes to Class" program.
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To stay comfortably in a niche, or boldly go out to found an enterprise? Make sure you're clear about the potential cost first. (Sinorama file photo)