Success comes from ‘hunger’

Sunday December 13, 2009
Success comes from ‘hunger’
By CINDY POH

YOUNG entrepreneurs imparted precious pearls of wisdom at a panel discussion during the recent Global Entrepreneurship Week at the Gardens Mall in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Entitled ‘Empowering Youths in Entrepreneurship’, the event was jointly organised by Youth Entrepreneurs Malaysia (YEM), Leaderonomics, and Warisan Global Sdn Bhd.
Dash
“An entrepreneur needs to always stay ‘hungry’ and ‘foolish’ enough to constantly ask questions, make mistakes in order to grow, and have a point of view,” said Dhakshinamoorthy Balakrishnan, or more popularly known as Dash, Warisan Global’s chief executive officer (CEO).
And Dash is no stranger to the business world. From a young age, he demonstrated considerable business talent when he gave Mathematics tuition classes under a hut in order to sustain his own studies.
At 44, Dash has been at the helm of three businesseses, including the two companies he sold for profit.
He said that the spirit of entrepreneurship meant that an individual could start as an entrepreneur at anytime of his or her life, without being restricted by conditions or circumstances.
The panel also featured American entrepreneur-in-residence with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Michael Levin, YEM co-founder Michael Teoh, Leaderonomics CEO Roshan Thiran, and young aspiring entrepreneur Sabrie Salleh.
Teoh
Among the issues highlighted was whether youths should go straight into entrepreneurship right after graduating or gain some experience in the working world first.
Teoh, the youngest of the panelists at 22 years old, said that students need not be a full-fledged ‘businessman’ in order to be an entrepreneur.
He added that they could even start practising to be one now by doing something in a small scale, such as organising a bazaar at their campuses.
“This way, the students can practise to be in action and be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge,” he said.
Roshan, whose articles on leadership appear regularly in The Star, said that the decision to be an entrepreneur was a personal one, and depended on the individual’s background and experience.
The panel discussion also discussed the question of how a higher education institution should go about encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship in its students.
Sabrie, who is currently undertaking his Masters in Entrepreneurship at HELP University College, commented that most students had a mindset that entrepreneurship meant opening up a stall.
Roshan
“I’m not stereotyping, but this is true of many students in Malaysia. Sometimes, it is up to the individual’s instincts and passion in becoming an entrepreneur,” he said.
On the importance of conducting a business with passion, Dash said that students needed to hunger for success.
“This is perhaps lacking among students where some actually do it as escapism from having to work under someone and instead, becoming the boss themselves.
“Others would expect a grant from the government to start off, which ought not to be practised. Rather, you need to ask yourself what exactly is your trigger factor,” he said.
At the same event, YEM also unveiled the results of the 550 Youth Entrepreneurs Research in Malaysia, where 550 youths aged 20 to 29 were surveyed on matters concerned with their interests in entrepreneurship.
More than 50% of the surveyed youths said that they were interested to set up their own business and most would prefer to begin in the services sector.