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Entrepreneurial advice from taipan John Gokongwei
Business World
September 4, 2007
TO SUCCEED
IN BUSINESS, entrepreneurs must be flexible, be aware of risks they
face, and choose a venture that has a market, according to taipan John
L. Gokongwei, Jr.
Four
questions should also be asked before one decides to pursue a business,
he said at last week's launch of the book John L. Gokongwei, Jr.: A
Path of Entrepreneurship by Maritess A. Khanser.
"Is
there a market?", "Can you challenge the competition?", "Can you
mobilize your resources?", and "Can you stomach the risk?" have to be
answered, the chairman emeritus of food, real estate, and airline
conglomerate JG Summit Holdings, Inc. said.
It
is important to know whether the product one wants to push has a
market, Mr. Gokongwei said, because "it lessens the chance of failure
and ensures that there is a need that the product can meet". Market
studies are a must, as there are other companies that are probably
already entrenched, thus the importance of finding out what needs
remain unserviced.
The second question, meanwhile, prepares prospective businessmen for the inevitable.
When
the Gokongweis put up Sun Cellular, they went head to head with two
established telcos. This audacity, he said, has driven the brand, with
close to five million Sun subscribers after only four years in the
market.
"Today
our businesses also competes with some of the toughest multinationals
in the country and in the region. While we are market leaders
positioned in some businesses, we are fighting it out with the big ones
in the others," he said.
Knowing
if one can mobilize resources, meanwhile, is important because it
"enables companies to go into areas worth going into". To
stay in the game, "you must condition yourself to conquer your fears,
to rely on yourself, to be resilient, opportunistic, take calculated
risks, and to do the best at that point in time."
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change is inevitable and flexibility is the key;
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personal stakes in the company encourage everyone to work hard;
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mistakes and disappointments are inevitable;
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good brand building equals reputation;
-
family support is crucial;
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never lose sleep thinking of business risks;
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pausing to recharge brings new vigor;
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reading and traveling enriches one's mind; and,
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philanthropy is a personal satisfaction.
Rodolfo
P. Ang, dean of the John Gokongwei School of Management of Ateneo de
Manila University, said Mr. Gokongwei's business philosophies are
characteristic of taipans.
"I
think Mr. John's attitude should be common to many, if not most
successful entrepreneurs, especially serial entrepreneurs - those who
have started up more than one successful business." Mr.
Ang said Mr. Gokongwei's first three questions, which can also be
rephrased into the more officious "market gap analysis" and
"sustainable competitive advantage", can be learned in school.
The fourth question, however, is something students or budding entrepreneurs will have to answer in the real world. "It
is certainly less of a factor in school than it is in real life, simply
because 'entrepreneurship' for students is so often either merely an
academic exercise or so small in scale that the risks are quite low,
almost negligible," Mr. Ang said.
He
also said that while other taipans may phrase their business
philosophies differently, essentially, they would reflect Mr.
Gokongwei's because "these are very fundamental issues for any
entrepreneur to look at".
Mr.
Gokongwei said he recognizes that in reality, opportunities in the
country are few. But he added that entrepreneurs should not be
disheartened because "however small the opportunities, however
difficult the situation is, however small the investment is, we always
have to start somewhere."
Asked
for more words of wisdom to encourage budding entrepreneurs, the taipan
had this final reply: "buy a bicycle." ' M. F. M. Baja
