There's so many interesting things about Semarang,
and it's a waste not to add their cuisine to the list. It was really true when
they said some of the best food are to be found in the nooks and crannies.
Humble looking stores that serve you Nasi Padang that can compete with the best
in Singapore. Enak, they'd say.
Today's morning started with a tidbit (more like a
giant breakfast) to ponder upon by Cik Farid. One of the challenges of being an
entrepreneur is actually being very clear about what you have to do for your company
to grow. He asked me a very simple question - "If I gave you or any young
entrepreneur Micromart, do you think you can run it here in Semarang". The
answer to that was simple - no. Why was the harder follow up question to that.
So frankly I told him "I don't know enough about business, much less
Semarang, to be running a business of such a scale. Everybody makes mistakes,
but make too many and you may not be able to jump back from it". So I
elaborated further - if the Financial Controller or Accountant were to just
show me the numbers I'll probably just gloss it over and sign off without
knowing what the numbers mean (easy way out eh). He then enlightened me on one
lesson on how to be successful in what you do. Sadly enough it was no magic
formula, but such is life. It was a very simple thing. Experience.
It took Cik Farid his failures and subsequent
perseverance to be where he is today. That is essentially experience. There is
no shortcut about this. You need experience (and he also likes to add, Hunger
too) to be able to run a tight operation. Without it, you are much more likely
to holes in your operation, and over time those holes will only get larger and
larger. Experience lets you see problem when its there - be it in the numbers
or even staff. Experience shows that you know what you are doing, and in turn
allow your staff to have faith in you. Experience is a long road - but it is
what defined Cik Farid. Experience gives you knowledge no textbook can.
This was followed by a very simple task to study
Sun Tzu's Art of War. I have heard of the fabled sun Tzu's art of war - but
never found compelling reason to go about reading it. Admittedly I was missing
out quite a bit. In what I managed to read through the day - I found it very
interesting that Sun Tzu believes that wars should be won before it even
happen, and this is done with information. Treasure information, and never rest
on your laurels - because someone else will get ahead. It seems business was
not so much "doing what feels right" rather than "knowing what
exactly to do". From what I have seen with Micromart, this has certainly
been a very key part of his operation. Cik Farid does not make decisions
"just to try". His decisions from my observations are based on keen
awareness of everything that is happening in his surroundings, from
competitors, operation and even staff mentality.
I ended off my day with a meeting late in the
evening together with Cik Farid, Cik Topan(Micromart's Corporate Growth Group
Division Head) and three other potential investors into Micromart. It was my
first time witnessing "negotiations". Well, it certainly was not the
cutthroat, high tension, cunning smiles environment I expected. I probably
watched too many movies. What I did take away from it from the get go was really
how Cik Farid carried himself and applied his value of being very transparent
with his investors. "MM's aim put simply, is to open as many tokos as
possible". There was give and take, and both sides can align themselves to
each other's interest.
However, what was most interesting from this
exchange was really in the fact that the investors value was really beyond the
capital that they are capable of investing. In the course of their discussion,
they raised the possibility of bringing their friends or contacts in the fold
who might be interested in Micromart. Mr Farid was very interested in this
possibility and was very encouraging. I realized this discussion just took it
up to the next level. You might not be in it just to win over the investor, but
also the people they know as well who may also contribute greatly to MM in a
different way. I'm quite certain he was aware of this, and was very proactive
in facilitating the possibility. So this was "networking" which I
often hear people talk about. Nobody ever teaches you to "network",
however I am starting to believe that if anything - this is one skill that you
must have. Opportunities may not come to you on a silver platter. You need to
be hungry for it. However, knowing who to know might increase the odds of that
platter coming your way.
It was certainly a long day - yet there's still
more to learn, more to know. I haven't even scraped the surface of this new
world down here in Semarang, after a week here in Semarang. This... potential
is exciting. It's hard to describe the feeling, but it really is one of a kind
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