Zen master aiming to change the world
Bohemian internet boss Richard Tang always went into business to make a difference. He enlightens reporter Stuart Greer about company values, Rochdale and his adventurous hobbies.
SINCE Richard Tang was eight years old he has wanted to change the world through business.
Sat in class at his primary school in Rochdale, deeply affected by recent news reports of people starving to death in Africa, Tang set himself an almost impossible goal: to build a massive multi-national company and save the world from starvation.
By Tang’s own admission it became an isolated thought - but it never withered.
Instead through the process of building his business, Zen Internet, the idea evolved. Oh, and there was also some input from the King of Bhutan, but more on that later.
“I’ve got a bit of a problem with the nature of society today and the negative aspects of capitalism,” the 52-year-old declares in an opening gambit that unravels into a mesmerising monologue.
“Don’t get me wrong I am not a socialist or a communist, there are loads of good things about capitalism: survival of the fittest; innovation; invention, all driven through competition. That’s great. What is wrong is the system we’ve created is ultimately about returning value to shareholders which sets in motion a chain reaction of targets that go all the way from the board down through the organisation. So it’s money first, people second. I don’t think that has a sustainable future for society or the environment.
“The financial crisis is an example. The world’s markets nearly collapsed because of incredibly shortterm money driven behaviour by the banks. Millions lost their jobs and savings. A few people got very rich. Is that right? Is that a good model for society?”
It is quite an introduction to the boss of Zen Internet, the internet service provider, based in Rochdale, and not what I was expecting.
At last November’s Manchester Evening News Business Awards, where Zen scooped a top prize, Tang was a notable absentee and it was suggested that he is something of an introvert.
Listening to a man passionately and sagely talking through his revolutionary vision, the preconception doesn’t ring true.
“In the past I’ve not gone out to seek publicity, adding to this suggestion that I am an introverted techie who likes being with his computers,” Tang admits,
“But more recently I’ve realised I want more people to know about Zen and I want our story out there, so I have to push myself forward.”
The business leader grew up in the Shawclough area.
He describes a happy childhood with his dad, a maths and chemistry teacher, his mum, who taught English as a second language at college, and two brothers.
It was at Falinge Park School where he discovered computers.
“When I was 14 the school got its first PC, a Commodore Pet,” Tang recalled. “I started programming at lunchtime. There were a few of us, the geeks. I knew this was it. I know then and there my career lay in computers.”
Tang went on to study computer science at Salford University before moving down south to where the IT jobs were. For a number of years he designed computer hardware and software.
Knowing his next move would be to start his own business which would take everything he had, Tang went travelling.
He spent nine months travelling Pakistan, China, India, Nepal Hong Kong, travelling 7,000km on an Enfield Bullet, before coming home and setting up Zen, a name which reflects his Chinese ancestry, which goes back 30 generations.
“When I set up Zen the internet was nowhere,” Tang said. “It was a novelty for computer geeks.
“Starting a business is like running up a down escalator: you have to run faster than the steps are going down and if you get to the bottom you’re gone bust.
From 1995 to 1999 I was running as fast as I could to keep the money coming in. I had no work life balance, working 16 hour days. I had no time for anything else.”
Another key decision for Tang was to set up in Rochdale.
“Our logic was that if the internet took off it would happen everywhere, so it didn’t matter where we set up,” he said.
“Rochdale ended up being a really good place strategically because back then ISPs had to make a phone call to connect and there were local, regional and national rates.
“Setting up in Rochdale we covered the whole of Manchester and an area distinct from others in the South East.”
In those early days, Tang was selling dial-up access for £10 per month.
“My biggest fear was that someone would start giving it away for free and put everyone else out of business. It happened with Dixons who began offering Freeserve. CIt could have been a disaster. It was actually a blessing in disguise.”
While many home-users left, small businesses stayed because Zen was offering additional services, which forced Tang to focus on business customers.
Then after three years of making a loss, in 1998 it turned a profit.
“It was brilliant,” Tang grins. “All through that period my highest thoughts about changing society were nowhere because I was spending my time dealing with the daily challenges of running a small business. I never imagined in my wildest dreams it would happen.”
Tang spent the next decade honing the company’s values.
“The internet was growing exponentially and we started looking at quality and being a premium brand,” Tang explained.
“At that point we were doubling our revenue every year. There was one point when, hard though it was, we had to close the phone lines to new orders because we couldn’t build the network fast enough to cope with the demand.
“As the company grew the values started to form. There was a well ingrained culture to do the best we could possibly do.”
Then came the King of Bhutan.
In 2008 during a paragliding holiday to the little known Asian country Tang read about the king’s unique approach to economics, which measures
prosperity by gauging its citizens’ happiness levels, not the GDP.
“The life looks simple, but everyone is happy and healthy,” Tang explained. “There’s no poverty there. I was sat on a bus reading about the King of Bhutan and his approach and said that’s it, that’s the model for Zen. I went back, stood in front of the senior leadership team and told them my new vision.”
That must have been some presentation.
“There was a mix of feelings,” Tang admits. “But because people knew me, they knew this was in line with who I am. Setting it as an objective for the company was a bit unusual but it wasn’t a difficult sell. It was supported, with some reservations.”
“What I’ve wanted to do within Zen is create a system that is different to what is going on outside, where people are truly first and money is truly second and subservient.
“I want to create a business with fundamental long-term objectives in priority order of happy staff, happy customers, happy suppliers.
“Money of course is critically important, as are things like hard work, enthusiasm, cleverness and strategy. We do all of that, but it is subservient. I want to do my bit to demonstrate to the world that there is a different way of running a business.
“Looking back on it now, it has proved itself through customers and staff. It’s genuinely heartwarming when someone comes to Zen and says they’ve worked in IT for 25 years and they’ve never come across a company like this. One guy started recently and said he felt like he’d come home. When I get feedback like that I know what I am doing is right.”
But how do you create a happier workforce? More money?
“Happiness is partly superficial,” Tang explained. “Possessions make us happy, but that doesn’t last very long. So, sure, higher wages would help but your workforce need to be fulfilled in their work. They need a challenge that isn’t easy and needs their hard work, something which betters themselves, creating an environment where people can achieve their potential, where they are listened to. Where they are empowered to use their initiative to find solutions without fear of getting told off.
“I wrote a blog a while ago and use this analogy that you’re at the bottom of a rock face, we’ve provided climbing gear, ropes and instructions, but you have to do the climbing.
“However, built in the rock face is a lift. If you use that to get to the top the end result is the same, but the people at the end of the routes are different. In Western society our focus is on the end result, the target. At Zen the journey is the thing that makes the difference.”
Listening to Tang talk about his vision is like listening to an intensely engaging sermon.
His casual attire, ponytail and disarming smile make you forget you are talking to one the region’s most successful businessmen.
Tang’s track record supports his approach.
For each of the last 23 years the business has grown. It is forecast to turnover £71m next year and staff numbers are expected to hit 500.
Zen also has an enviable reputation for good service with loyal customers. A quarter have been with them for over 10 years, 60pc for more than five years.
This year Zen was named the 44th best company to work for according to The Sunday Times annual list.
Visiting the impressive headquarters at Sandbrook Park in Rochdale, with its circular staircases and beautiful lake, and listening to Tang’s dreamy vision for a better world, you might easily write Zen off as a potential challenger to the Big Four: BT, Sky, Virgin Media and TalkTalk, but that would be foolish.
“My aim is to enable Zen to reach its maximum potential,” Tang concludes.
“One of our biggest challenges is that most potential customers have never heard of us. Our challenge is to get to a largely known name.
“We are something like the ninth largest ISP in the UK. Our ambition is to be in the top four. But it’s not just about battling for market share, it’s battling for a better way to do business that is more people-centric and less money-centric. It’s a bit like David and Goliath.”
And we all know how that story turned out.