Many years ago, I failed at two attempts at starting and running my own business. The first time, I failed at putting up a trading business with a partner from the Middle East. The second time, I failed at making success of a small retail business with my spouse as partner.
Sometime in the late 1980s, I was in the middle of nurturing a third venture. This time, before doing anything else, I spent years understanding and comprehending the dynamics of the business. I made sure that I understood supply side systems and demand side strategies. I made it a point to save up for my capital requirements, develop a network of useful connections and relationships, and learn what I believed to be the right skills and competencies to ensure that I become a self-dependent and complete entrepreneur.
I remember one morning, six months and a year into my third venture, I was in the middle of strapping some cartons for a shipment when a, stern-looking officer from the Department of Labor and Employment came knocking at my door. She was conducting a random, on-site inspection for fair and humane treatment of employees by business owners.
“As an owner of this company, you wouldn’t mind answering a few questions would you?” she asked.
“Sure! Go ahead and be my guest.” I replied.
“How long has this business been operational and what is it that you do?”
“Well, it’s now been a year and half. We are in the business of trading soft goods like home decor, garments, handicrafts, and similar stuff. We buy them here in the Philippines and then ship them to clients across the world.”
“Hmm, that must be quite lucrative. How many people do you have working here?”
“Two. One girl. And there’s this other chap.”
“Can you please describe the job of the girl?”
“Well, she answers the phone, takes messages, files loose papers, types a letter a day, once in a while makes bad coffee, and every two weeks runs to the bank to draw her salary.”
“Right; that sounds like she is the Office Assistant. Awful supporting, aren’t they? Does she put in any extra effort for the business?
“Oh, yes, yes! She puts in extra time and effort to fix her hair, powder her nose, file her nails, and look as neat as can be. On weekdays, she uses the office telephone to chat with her girlfriends, and on weekends, with her boyfriends. The days when she doesn’t have or loses a boyfriend, she spends her days crying and eating chocolates in the office. Poor little thing!”
“Oh, that’s quite sad. How many hours a week, would you say, does she suffer like this in here?”
“Oh, the little darling, she comes in a bit after ten in the morning to avoid the morning traffic and leaves just before five in the afternoon to beat the evening traffic. On Saturdays, she drops by for a quick brunch and then leaves to get her hair and nails done.”
“Gosh! That’s over 40 hours a week! And does she get a fair wage, social security, health insurance, all the prescribed holidays, annual vacation, and sick leaves too?”
“Oh yes, she does get all that, plus an extra three days every month for headaches in the stomach.”
“Hmm, I totally understand and empathize with her. Now about this other chap who works here -- what exactly does he do?”
“This chap draws the contracts, works on the purchasing, chases the factories for deliveries, drives the truck, manages the inventory, packs the shipments, processes the billings, cleans the car, answers the phone, and makes coffee when Jane is not around.”
“Sounds like quite a handy man. What are his working hours around here?”
“He’s here before the break of dawn on Mondays and then stays till all the work is done for the rest of the week.”
“That’s amazing! Does that mean he also sleeps over here?”
“Yes, on that wooden bench over there by the doghouse.”
“That does look quite inviting and warm. Probably allows him some quality time with the dog too! Now, does he get a fair wage for his hours, social security, medical and health insurance, annual vacation and sick leaves?”
“Oh yes! Sure!" He gets two square meals a day, a daily cup of overly sweet but weak coffee, a pack of cigarettes every month, and he is also allowed to sneak off early on Christmas eve and come in a bit late on New Year’s Day.”
“Sneaks off on Christmas Eve? Comes in a bit late on New Year’s Day? How dare you do such a thing, sir? That is disgusting! You, sir, are an animal, a monster and a slave-driver! He is a man, not a dog! Please call that man here, right now! I’d like to read the poor slob his rights as an employee and as a human being!”
“Madame,” I said softly and with a very long pause for effect, “you are looking at the Adam!”
Though that story is very slightly dramatized, it brings us close to putting across the point that an entrepreneur, a business owner, has to work, eat, and sleep like a dog. He has to put in atrociously obscene amounts of time, effort, and dedication for the success of his business. It is all, as they say, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.
Entrepreneurs, like leaders, are made, not born.
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