Strawberry Entrepreneurship

Some time ago, I heard of an entrepreneur who had to close down her business because it wasn't running as well as it should be after a few years of operations. Now don't bother asking me who the entrepreneur is, because the lessons lie beyond her identity or her business.

Stories of failed businesses are plenty.

Having ran Fuckupnights KL for 2 years, I've heard failure stories that can send shivers up my spine. Some picked themselves up, while others decided to call it quits.

In both cases, they lived to tell the tale. (I've read stories about suicides and deaths due to the stress of running a business, so I'm not denying that a business can potentially take lives)

But for this particular story, I found it was outstanding, not just because of how raw and honest the sharing was, but some remarks she made in particular.

1. She did not want to be of a certain age and still not have a property in her name
2. She did not want to continue on cheap meals (RM5)
3. She did not want to just travel locally but want to be abroad too
4. She do not want to use a cheaper smartphone
5. She wanted to spend more time with her family

I respected the last point, because family is important, and some people do value family and relationships above anything else.

Of course, I would also say that the alternatives of starting a new venture, diving into MLM/insurance or going back to corporate, might not result in much free time anyway.

The other points? I got to swallow that lump in my throat.

Now, by all means, I applauded that she fought till the end, and unlike those who had dreams but dare not even venture a try, she has done way, way better.

But points 1 to 4, seriously, I would wonder if they were even valid to entrepreneurs, change makers and business owners?

Don't have a property?

I knew a music event organiser up north who lost his house and family (wife divorced him) after his first event failed big time.

Don't want to go on cheap meals?

Try eating white bread with water for 6 months, and when there is even a breather space between debts, buy that small chunk of Planta so at least the bread tastes better.

Not contented with local travels?

Try hustling 24/7, every waking moment. If you take a short weekend trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and visit the cafes and co-working spaces on any given Sunday, you will see it full with young adults. Oh no, they are not there to hang out or catch up with friends. They are there coding, designing, writing, studying, taking online courses. And please know that most of them work 6 days in a week, and Sunday is their ONLY rest day. Yet, they decided to spend it improving themselves. That hunger, that thirst, that struggle to raise their game, can put many entrepreneurs in Malaysia to shame, myself included. And no, let's not make it an argument about poor work-life balance. When you really want something that badly, you will fight for that small inch.

Don't want a cheap smartphone?

Try no phone. Try asking a friend to use a table at his office and beg him to cover the phone charges until the first sale comes in. Read up how Joe Girard, The World's Greatest Salesman, started his career after he tanked a previous business. No one can even come close to breaking his Guiness Record of 13,001 car sales over a span of 15 years. No bulk sales, all one-by-one. And he even remembered the customers he had over the years, down to the smallest details.

She may be reading this article, or maybe her friends. Yes, I do not know her personally, but from her sharing, all I can say is this:

It could have been a great lesson for all. If those points were removed.

No great feats ever come easy. I've seen people did it without grants, investors, mentors or family support. I've seen people who had to beg for RM50 just to pay a fine to bring the electricity back up again. I've seen a father, upon walking out of the clinic, scolded the son for being sick, for not taking care of his own health, because after that RM150 medical bill, his bank account has only RM23.78 left. Credit cards are maxed out, banks accounts close to empty, bills stacking up, and the worst thing he had done which he truly regrets, was showing his sick son the screen shot of his bank account that reads:

Available Balance: RM23.78.

How did I get the details so well? That kid was William, that clinic was a child specialist in SS2, and that shitty dad was me.

And no, no mother came to the rescue, because sadly for him, he's a child of a single parent, single source of income. Dad's gotta borrow money to buy time. Just got to take a deep breath, swallow that ego, chew that stupid pride, and admit that you fucked-up, and you need help.

Was it easy? Fuck no. Not those uneasy walks to school because dad couldn't pay the road tax. Not the stares at meals they had to eat another day. Not the cold silence of the night, laying awake, deciding which bill was the most crucial to pay first, and which could be asked for a second extension.

Does that make someone who suffered through hardship a better entrepreneur? Hardly. But in those times of utter darkness, when you seriously take a look out the 18th floor window and knew you can end it all, you will be very close to an attitude shattering breakthrough:

Plan B.

Yes, before you throw in the towel, before you give up on what you've built, before you try to rebuilt your savings to buy back your late mother's jewelery you'd pawned off to pay your kids school fees, there's this moment, brief and very hard to replicate, that will make you a better entrepreneur. The moment you realised there is another way out. The moment you realised there is a Plan B.

Over the years, I've got to Plan E.

Plan A - Go as planned. I rock!

Plan B - Take stock of your bankable skills and see which one can be used to finish a quick project and get paid quick.

Plan C - Pimp myself and my bankable skills out to be a part time employee at one of my friends' businesses. Yes, that means admitting defeat to a friend and asking for help. Both of you will remember the experience, and how good of the friendship will be determined in how the experience it's being remembered.

Plan D - Cold call and begged for a meeting to present a deal.

Plan E - Look for a 9-to-5 job, which will be hard for someone who has misplaced his Diploma and SPM certs, but I can beg.

Bare in mind, I hate Plan B, despise Plan C, would kill myself than do Plan D, and it would be over my dead body before Plan E, but if that's what I got to do to survive, then it has to be done.

Does that make a great entrepreneur? Hardly. It just makes you appreciate every moment you're above the surface. It just keeps you humble when you're a little successful. It just grounds you and reminds you to run a good Plan A.

But one thing for sure I know about hardship. It doesn't make strawberry entrepreneurs.

“Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can't” - Jerry Rice

p.s. Is this a personal attack against the entrepreneur? No. Her dedication to build the business from scratch is fantastic, genuine applaused, and I love sharings that are uncensored. But those points on not having those items and experiences, it just rubbed me in a very wrong way. If the generation today were to take the time to talk to their parents, and asked them about the silent suffering they were through to put the kids through college, they will also learn that their parents suffered, compromised and sacrifced more. They will learn that if resilience is in the genes, perhaps they do can do as well as their parents, and even better. There is no need to idolise business idols that are distant to us, when stories of hardship, dedication and perseverance are so close to home.

p.p.s. It's better to be a dick than a fraud.

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