TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS, entrepreneurs must be flexible, be aware of risks they face, and choose a venture that has a market, according to taipan John L. Gokongwei, Jr.

Four questions should also be asked before one decides to pursue a business, he said at last week’s launch of the book John L. Gokongwei, Jr.: A Path of Entrepreneurship by Maritess A. Khanser.

"Is there a market?", "Can you challenge the competition?", "Can you mobilize your resources?", and "Can you stomach the risk?" have to be answered, the chairman emeritus of food, real estate, and airline conglomerate JG Summit Holdings, Inc. said.

It is important to know whether the product one wants to push has a market, Mr. Gokongwei said, because "it lessens the chance of failure and ensures that there is a need that the product can meet".

Market studies are a must, as there are other companies that are probably already entrenched, thus the importance of finding out what needs remain unserviced.

The second question, meanwhile, prepares prospective businessmen for the inevitable.

"When I started selling ... I competed for customers with vendors three times my age with all the experience," which made him realize that competition makes one "do whatever it takes to fight, to compete, to succeed".

When the Gokongweis put up Sun Cellular, they went head to head with two established telcos. This audacity, he said, has driven the brand, with close to five million Sun subscribers after only four years in the market.

"Today our businesses also competes with some of the toughest multinationals in the country and in the region. While we are market leaders positioned in some businesses, we are fighting it out with the big ones in the others," he said.

Knowing if one can mobilize resources, meanwhile, is important because it "enables companies to go into areas worth going into".

To stay in the game, "you must condition yourself to conquer your fears, to rely on yourself, to be resilient, opportunistic, take calculated risks, and to do the best at that point in time."

In the book, Mr. Gokongwei gives nine rules for success:

• change is inevitable and flexibility is the key;
• personal stakes in the company encourage everyone to work hard;
• mistakes and disappointments are inevitable;
• good brand building equals reputation;
• family support is crucial;
• never lose sleep thinking of business risks;
• pausing to recharge brings new vigor;
• reading and traveling enriches one’s mind; and,
• philanthropy is a personal satisfaction.

Rodolfo P. Ang, dean of the John Gokongwei School of Management of Ateneo de Manila University, said Mr. Gokongwei’s business philosophies are characteristic of taipans.

"I think Mr. John’s attitude should be common to many, if not most successful entrepreneurs, especially serial entrepreneurs - those who have started up more than one successful business."

Mr. Ang said Mr. Gokongwei’s first three questions, which can also be rephrased into the more officious "market gap analysis" and "sustainable competitive advantage", can be learned in school.

The fourth question, however, is something students or budding entrepreneurs will have to answer in the real world.

"It is certainly less of a factor in school than it is in real life, simply because ’entrepreneurship’ for students is so often either merely an academic exercise or so small in scale that the risks are quite low, almost negligible," Mr. Ang said.

He also said that while other taipans may phrase their business philosophies differently, essentially, they would reflect Mr. Gokongwei’s because "these are very fundamental issues for any entrepreneur to look at".

Luck can also play a part in taking a business to the top, and Mr. Ang said.

Mr. Gokongwei said he recognizes that in reality, opportunities in the country are few. But he added that entrepreneurs should not be disheartened because "however small the opportunities, however difficult the situation is, however small the investment is, we always have to start somewhere."

Asked for more words of wisdom to encourage budding entrepreneurs, the taipan had this final reply: "buy a bicycle." — M. F. M. Baja

Source: http://www.bworldonline.com/BW090407/content.php?id=003