| GP |
Posted
on 26-Sep-01 12:05 AM
I was helping a local business woman who wanted to put her
Pashmina Shop's (all from Nepal) information in internet and
first name I had in mind was PASAL.com.
I was quite satisfied when I found the name was gone
to one Nepali because there was an Advertisement on Pashmina.
Suddenly, I went to check status of www.pasal.com yesterday,
found, its gone to someone else
who does not know the meaning of PASAL in Nepal, and
now the domain is for sale.
Then, I went to find nepal.org because it was where RajPal's TND
was hosted, and suddenly I found its no more hosting TND,
but, went to a company that has no relation with Nepal.
When searched the WORD: ????? (the earlier founder)
at www.nepal.org, it gives results as : "
Sorry no further results were found for *****. Please search again."
The way our Nepalis start business, it starts with overwhelming
interests, and it starts picking up to certain level, and the interest
rate continues to increase, and suddenly the point of inflexion
arises i.e. 2nd order derivative( dy/dx ) becomes negative, and its because
these fellows have to work in addition to thinking. Just getting
idea might be easy, but, to keep interest with realization of
idea into practice needs a lot of faith, and dedication. So, they
reach to peak where first derivative also becomes zero and moves
to negative i.e. you were here in maximum interest, and your total
interest start dimishing, and you are under high pressure to assimiliate
resources to make your dreams come true. Thus, your interest on
the project diminishes and frustartion increases, and if you can develop
some resources based on your capacity, your interest will again
start increase, frustration will start diminish. Something like
we join a new coursework, as teacher start his lectures for few days
we get confused with the vocabulary, the terminology, the equations,
the data, ... and we fill messed up with this new core subject,
and frustration goes to peak, and interest diminishes. If you have
some more options, you might end up this subject and switch to
new easier subject, but, it up to you. If you manage to understand
some tricky words and curves or equations, you will go through the
topics because your interests on the topic changes its direction
from negative to positive and you realize that you can move with
this new subject. But, if frustration wins your interests, then,
you will give up and hate the topic. So, the part of the curve where
our interests were decreasing and frustrations were peak, and
the deflection point from which you reverses the curve is usually
referred as SADDLE POINT.
Starting a new job or project is quite easy, but, to make it
sustainable, you have to clear the saddle point. If you fail
to get saddle point, then, your interest on the project will
become zero, and you will start with new project, and it
will continue like the same one as before. Finally, you find
yourself losing your valuable age trying this and that.
The PASAL.com and nepal.org can be taken as examples where
peoples started with a lot of interests, but, they could not make
it lasting, just the way Nepali peoples do business in Nepal.
They keep on switching from one project to another, and they
give up project before they had ability or resources or knowledge
to over come the SADDLE POINT. YES, I was also asked to join
great projects in Nepal, like starting one private college, and
I did agreed to them to join them, in a few months when they
had overwhelming responses they even told me that HEY we
don't want a guy who is abroad and sleeping partner. Well,
at the beginning they thought I could make finanacial contribution,
but, they got house, furniture, ... all equipments on loan,
and the whole college started from zero monetory investment
from its partner. Well, they announced admissions, students
paid huge sums of money as admission fees, then, the college
started, and I was disqualified to be partner because of my
absence from Nepal and my need was not there in monetory
funding. Well, I said , "NO PROBLEM", I have my own job, why
should I worry much, and in fact, I got several other offers
from their rivals. Then, before the college celebrated 1st
anniversay, I was again contacted from the same college
founders, whether I am still interested. They, said they
had misunderstanding between members, (on share,
because students paid a huge money during admission
to a college where founding members had zero investments),
and if I have interest I could pay few millions of rupees and
make those trouble makers out of sight? The trouble makers
were going to get few millions with zero investments in one
year, and I had decline the offer with very cool phrase
"NO THANKS". Then, I realized that they could not cross
the the SADDLE POINT. Saddle Point theory that I was
taught to my foreign students advisor here in Japan, within
the first week of my arrival in Japan, because the advisor
was feared of students suffering from Mental stress and
frustrations because of language and cultural shock in Japan.
The Saddle point concept really helps me a great whenever
I make my new move. Why not you think of ways of
overcoming this saddle point before you start a new project,
the project can be big like investments of your money to
moving your stay to a new city (where you have to
buy time to make new adjustments: friends, favourate shopping
complexes, parks, libraries, roads, ... and miss the
previous city where you were so used to and comfortable,
and if you can not settle in new city, you will have homesickness
to citisickness. I have at least changed half dozen residences
and my work places, here, and I surely passed through
a lot of SADDLE POINTS. Apply Saddle Point concept,
and get rid of failing projects. Think of sustainability.
Sustainability requires first resource, dedication, knowledge,
pride, ego, honesty, goal/vision and time of your life.
GP
|
| ashu |
Posted
on 26-Sep-01 03:40 AM
Hi GP-ji,
I am no journalist or an anthropologist or even a sociologist or, for that matter, a psychologist, but, based on my limited experience in Nepal, I fully agree with the message of with your "saddle-point" (dy/dx) metaphors.
Let me explain: In my present work in Nepal, which is basically working with purely private-sector entrepreneurs (that is, those who are spending their own money out of their pockets to start either a completely new business or trying to develop a new product under the umbrella of their already established business . . . . and now you see why I would side more with capitalists than with
socialists/Marxists :-)), the biggest constraints -- as I am learning -- are
NOT really of:
a) money (capital)
b) academically/technically qualified manpower (labor)
c) technology (computers and so on)
BUT of a certain mindset/behavior on the part of the would-be entrepreneurs or business houses.
chiefly:
d) an ability to network with a wide variety of people/teams to distribute work and get help in areas where one is weak.
e) an ability to think long-term and divide up a large, long-term piece of work in terms of do-able segments.
f) an ability to work on teams to get agreed-upon results.
g) an ability to shrug off temporary setbacks and persist on in the face of obstacles and criticisms while being open to new ideas.
h) and an ability to have 'fire in the belly' to really, really succeed.
i) and a solid dose of optimism, optimism and optimism.
Entrepreneurs I meet in Nepal, at times, are even apologetic, yes apologetic, about wanting to start a business, about wanting to make profit as if they are exploiting others! And they talk as though they are into business only for "survival" and that their real calling, in case you didn't know, is social service.
I mean, with attitudes like that, no wonder they find to hard to survive in any business. Running a good business, after all, IS social service. THis idea is foreign
in Nepal.
Sure, schools like Harvard Business School, or for that matter, the School of Management at Kathmandu University, can teach one how to get -- in theory -- the most optimum combination of a, b and c (see above) to come up with a product.
But even they can't definitively teach people how to integrate d,e,f,g and h and i (above) into the production process, and there are always -- as a glance at the business books section at any book-store tell us -- new ideas and theories coming up.
Coming back to the validity of your examples: I think Nepali businesses (whether nepal.org or something else), by and large, have this sort of mindset because there are not any Nepali role models to learn from.
So, I guess, our challenge is to PROMOTE such Nepali role models (with their struggles and triumphs and whereever they may be found) and assure many
young Nepalis that it is perfectly all right to get into business, do it well, make money and serve the society by providing jobs to people.
oohi
ashu
ktm, nepal
|
