Traits of successful Pinoy entrepreneurs

Ihave always been fascinated by stories of men and women who have succeeded in business as entrepreneurs. For the past many years that this column has been appearing in this newspaper, I have been sharing with my readers now and then stories about how successful Filipino entrepreneurs started their businesses. It is amazing how these Pinoy entrepreneurs have hurdled the flops and setbacks that they encountered on their way up.

Let me share with you some of the common traits of Pinoy entrepreneurs that have emerged based on my interviews with those whom I featured in these column for the past many years:• They think big. They are bold. They are not deterred by the big boys in the industry. They reach for the sky.

• They are not afraid to take risk. They deal with day-to-day battles.

• They make decisions fast. Sometimes the decisions have disastrous consequences. They stumble. They fall. They get up again. If they fall in one business, they look for another one.

• They are not necessarily MBA degree holders. Neither are they college graduates. In fact, some finished only their grade school. But their business ideas are amazingly innovative, practical, and easy to implement. Truly business is practice. It is not about theories. We wonder sometimes if there is something wrong with our academic curricula. Or probably it would be better for schools to hire business practitioners as business professors rather than academicians who have had no exposure in business. Why? Because there is a wide gap between theory and practice.

• They base their decisions many times on guts feel and intuition. Or to use the layman’s term – decision based on a “hunch”. If you ask the entrepreneurs the basis of their decision, they will just say: “I just know it will work.” Business gurus may not admit it but many times, business decisions based on intuition are better and more effective than those based on voluminous projects studies, analytical reasoning, and economic statistics. Why is this so? I really do not know the answer. But what I know is that the best of business plans can go awry; the best of projections can be disrupted by factors beyond the control of the best economists. Simply, all I am saying is that the successful entrepreneurs trust and rely on their intuition for business decisions.

• They treat their employees with respect and compassion. They recognize the sensitivity, the feelings of the employees. The employees are not treated as robots or computers. When an employee requests for an emergency cash advance because a member of the family is in the hospital, an entrepreneur, without a second thought gives the funds immediately. An MBA graduate will still have to consult his accountant – who in turn will have to analyze the performance and work attitude of the employee. Time passes by. Either the patient is already dead, or has been released from the hospital or somebody else (in some cases the fellow-employee pitch in to raise the funds needed) already donated the funds out of compassion and still no decision of the cautious MBA graduate.

• They know everything about the business. They are hands-on. In turn the employees have great respect for them. One reason why employees do not show respect for their bosses if they know that the latter do not know anything about the businesses.

• They are fast in spotting/detecting disaster early. They react fast. They are not embarrassed or afraid to fall. They do not deal with failure with a sense of finality. They use their failure as a springboard to other ventures. Their axiom is “If you are not falling down, you are not learning.” In short, failure is part of their education in business. They feel safe to fail.

• They love to work. They do not use a time clock when they work. While we all have the same twenty-four hours a day, it is what we do with the time that counts.

• They are open to change. They listen to suggestions of others. They are receptive of new things, new trends, new technology. They are always looking around for other opportunities. Success in one business does not stop them in venturing in other projects.

• They are not coming exclusively from the male gender. Unknown to many, in our country, there are many successful women entrepreneurs. Most of the women entrepreneurs that I know started their businesses as backyard operation commonly referred to as ‘chicken’ operation. Later this small business blooms into multi-million businesses, all because of the patience, boldness, and guts feel of a woman.

There are, of course, other traits of successful entrepreneurs. Suffice it to say that the country today needs more aggressive entrepreneurs to contribute to our economy. I hope housewives with grown up children who are not working will be challenged to try their God-given talents in business. I know many housewives who are late bloomers – and who are now successful in their businesses that in fact they are unbelievably earning more than their husbands. This is the comment of one of my friends – a successful lady entrepreneur: “You know, Nelly, I did not know that I had the ability to persuade people.” Amazing, indeed. My friend did not know that she is gifted with the skill of salesmanship. But she has always been a person who exudes much enthusiasm about people and about things. She is an optimist with an overflowing sense of humor. She is always smiling. All these God-given talents have been mobilized for business!

Have a joyful day! (For comments/ reactions please send to Ms. Villafuerte’s email: villafuerte_nelly@yahoo.com)