An anatomy of success
STARTING A company and sustaining its success are two entirely different things for Mang Inasal Founder and Double-Dragon Properties Corp. ( Double Dragon) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edgar “Injap” J. Sia II, and he believes an entrepreneur needs a diverse set of skills to excel at both.
“I think the challenges differ in every stage [of the business],” wrote Mr. Sia in an e-mail to Business World. “Even before you start your first day of business, you will be immediately faced with the challenge of properly identifying what line of business you want to venture into, to make sure that the chosen venture not only has a high growth potential but that it is also a venture that will remain relevant and sustainable in the long term.”
According to him, during the start- up stage, entrepreneurs will be faced with a number of challenges, especially since they are entering the market for the first time and are thus trying to compete with more established and financially strong competitors.
Mr. Sia said, “Starting a business with limited capital, network, knowledge, and experience make things even more difficult. At the start-up stage, since you can’t afford to hire professional talents yet, you and your small team have to be the creator, marketer, salesman, designer, accountant, treasurer, contractor, project manager, HR, trainer, and coach all at the same time.”
But when the business enters maturity and face new challenges — like steering the company to transition from the start-up stage — he believes the entrepreneur has to make it “as gradual and as balanced as possible.”
For him, this transition stage is crucial to the overall success of the business and must therefore be handled well.
“This is a stage where the founder needs to be very involved [and use his] full understanding of the nuts and bolts of the business to set up the foundations of an efficiently working and operating business,” he explained. “[He has to] make it ready for competent and trustworthy professionals to bring it up to the next level of sustainable growth and make the business withstand the test of time.”
For the business to succeed, then, Mr. Sia believes it has to navigate well through the different stages.
“I personally am a strong believer of the importance of setting a very clear vision, a detailed and well- strategized plan, and in the importance of passionate execution,” he pointed out. “The stages of the business must already be consciously anticipated from the very beginning, so that every decision made along the way from day one are all towards gradually shaping up the business to that direction.”
Further, he feels that it is important to choose a sustainable venture among the available opportunities at a given point in time.
“If you plan and study well to understand every venture and every transaction that you do, and couple that with hard work, passionate execution, and good intention, success and abundant financial gains will just be a natural result,” he said.
Last month, at the Luminary Awards 2015 hosted by Singapore cable network Channel NewsAsia, Mr. Sia received the Future Business Luminary award for being one of the most promising entrepreneurs in the region.
The Luminary Awards is hosted every year by the regional network and is generally aimed at inspiring the business community to pursue excellence in their respective fields.
The Future Business Luminary award, on the other hand, recognizes an individual who embodies the Asia entrepreneurial spirit and shows leadership promise in growing the business globally.
“The award not only inspired me to continue working towards reaching our set goals, it also made me remember the various support and efforts of my family members, partners, employees, friends, and the thousands of our shareholders that all contributed en route to the prestigious international recognition,” Mr. Sia said.
Today, as the head of a property company rapidly gaining ground in the market, Mr. Sia said he employs a management style that varies, still depending on the business’ particular phase. He said he is “extremely hands- on” if the business is at its early stage, and he gradually adjusts when it goes through the different stages of maturity.
Asked about his plans for DoubleDragon this year and how he plans for it to maintain its strong market position, he said that he and his team work hard every day to make sure they reach set targets.
“We believe that the efforts we put in everyday are sturdy building blocks towards forming a strong and f o rmi d a bl e c ompa ny, ” M r. Si a ended.
“If you plan and study well to understand every venture and every transaction that you do, and couple that with hard work, passionate execution, and good intention, success and abundant financial gains will just be a natural result.”