Some Personal Opinions

Many folks, after creating their own business, may start facing all kinds of problem. These problems always make them feel worried and nervous. The followings are some occasions that may to those who want to run his/her own business: -



1) Is it a good idea to find your best friends to be your business partners?

That’s a lot of folks, when selecting his/her business partner, will first consider those who are familiar with. As both know each other very well, things will always be done emotionally without making any contract and establishing any system for the business. This kind of partnership will definitely make the business fails.

An unorganised and unsystematic partnership not only will prevent the business to develop, it may sometimes even lead the business to insolvency.

A friend of mine used to have firm with this kind of partnership. There were conflicts happened between them and finally resolved after bringing the issue to the court. The initial asset of the firm was USD12,500 and increased to USD37,500 when the firm was being closed. It’s obviously a profitable business! It failed simply due to contract was not made and proper system was not established. What a waste!


2) Is it wise to follow the trend and go for the hottest business?

Some folks when determining the direction of his/her business, which is yet to be created, may follow the trend blindly and choose to run the hottest business. However, when a business becomes hotter and hotter, it means “unhealthy competition” is coming. Company created for such hottest business will most probably be led to failure by this unhealthy and unsustainable environmental.

It’s important to have a thorough market survey and rational analysis before you create your own business. It’s similar to investment in stock market. It needs studies and analysis in order to know when to enter and when to exit the market.

A senior of my university, who has been running for his own business for years, just told me that two years ago he bought some shares of a company, which was doing a trendy business during that period. He joined the business without getting enough information as well as having proper analysis. He had started suffering loss after 2 months and quit the company another 2 months later. And now one leg of the company has already stepped into bankruptcy.


3) A short-sighted employer with have short life of business?

Many entrepreneurs and folks who just created their business are like hungry ghosts who are brought to a pastry shop. They eat whatever they have grabbed. They will never think to go to the pizza shop at next door and try some tastier pizza.

A business without a long term plan will not be able to last long. Chinese always say “A business will not be wealthy for more than three generation”. But indeed the businesses nowadays are rarely managed to last for one generation.

One of my cousins, with the financial support from a successful entrepreneur, bought shares of a factory producing stationary. The factory seems performing well, gaining about USD 60,000 of monthly gross income and having about 15 labours. My cousin felt that he was so lucky to join this established company. But later he realised that this factory in fact had been performing this well for five years, without any further development. Also, the management, system, plants and machines are all old and aging. Most importantly, the main reason why the factory was not developed was the managing director (another share holder) is short-sighted!

As my cousin still needs to pay back the money that he had borrowed to buy the shares, he suggested during the meetings several constructive strategies to reform the factory. Finally within three-year time, he managed to increase the factory gross income from USD 60,000 to USD 240,000. He always asks himself “How can I produce something with the best quality but the lowest price?” In other words, it is simply a “Quality vs. Price” policy.


4) Big business represents successful business?

During the process of running a business, the business creator should not always think to expand the size of his/her business. Without a strong and firm foundation, fast development can only lead the business to suffer higher risk.

“Small” represents sensitive, agile and flexible. Many business creators rather remain their business small in order to have higher “Reward/Risk” ratio.

My dad used to own a trading business which only comprised two partners. The size of the company was small and only concentrated on exporting goods to China. However the business managed to bring them a lowest monthly profit of USD30,000 as both of them were always holding the principle of “maximise the profit as well as minimise the expenses”.


5) Delegation means out of control?

No matter how brilliant and efficient the employer is, he/she must not be able to complete all the tasks in his/her business. To gain the highest benefit for the business, the employer should employ different people to work for different fields of the business and let them fully utilise their skill. Business creator must always remember “Do not use a person if you are doubting such person; Do not doubt a person if you are using such person”.

There were a few businesses created by one of my friends and he did almost every single work for those businesses. Finally he sold all the business within two year as he had already exhausted.


6) Good employee means efficient employee with low wages?

Employers are always dreaming of having “horses that can run and don’t need to eat grass”. However, it’s very rare to engage a good employ without offering good salary. If you need some good helpers, please plan some motivation and reward scheme in advance.

An employer must always be going for something that can create the highest benefit and cause lowest expense to the business. On the other hand the employees will always expect for the highest wages with the lowest volume of work load. Both parties’ expectations are always contradicting. Thus the employer should know how to balance such situation for most of the time employees are also one of the most important assets of a business.



Running a business a long and difficult journey. Business creator has to consider all kinds of factors and make sure always your own self is well prepared. Having enough experiences and relevant knowledge are also a must for all business creators. Good luck!