Dilema Usahawan Melayu, revisited

Many many moons ago, i penned down my thoughts on the dilemma of a Malay entrepreneur. I think it is about time I revisit the situation again.

1. The first dilemma is still the business knowledge, or the lack of it. Many  Malay entrepreneurs still have difficulties in understanding and applying the know how of running a business. Many seem to make the  mistake of equating the skill of making a product to the skill of running of a business. It is NOT the same. Business is a process of which making a product is a subset of.

2. The real Malay entrepreneurship development ecosystem does not exist yet. Or at best very under-develop. What is the ecosystem? Well it is a system that comprise new and successful entrepreneurs, where the latter have, as a matter of culture, a method to promote and invest THEIR OWN MONEY into new entrepreneurship(s). It was reported in the Edge , June 2 2014 edition, that based on the Vistage -MIER confidence index review, Angel investment in Malaysia is at its infancy with ONLY 5% of CEOs have invested in some start-ups. Well that includes non-bumi CEOs, so we can imagine how much smaller the involvement of Bumi CEOs then. This is extremely sad considering the tax deduction granted by the Government for up to RM500,000.

3. The current Malay entrepreneurship development program does not produce enough of the right type of entrepreneurs. There are 3 types of entrepreneurs in my book, who benefits from the current entrepreneurship programs: (1) Entrepreneurs who are out to create wealth to himself alone; (2) Entrepreneurs who are out to create wealth to himself and his close associates; and (3) Entrepreneurs who are out to create wealth of his community. There are plenty of number 1 & 2, but in order to generate a self sustaining entreprenurship ecosystem, we need more of number 3 type of entreprenuers.

 4. Malay entrepreneurs generally lack the ability to account for their business. I don't mean the standard accounting model, but the ability to clearly define and translate the business into meaningful numbers.

5. Many young entrepreneurs, while they have the energy and willpower in abundance, have the misguided notion that entrepreneurship is an way out from having to be under the pressure and disciple of a paid employment. Entrepreneurship actually requires a great deal more discipline and ability to take on pressure than paid employment, if one wants to be successful.

6. Silent discrimination against Malay entrepreneurs exists and there is no point denying it. We can't see it because it is not written in policies but the general trend of actions by the non-Malay business community is negative. The impact is way worse than the NEP but unlike the NEP, it is not written as a policy for all to see and criticism.

7. Malay entrepreneurs, before going to the banks or government for capital, must understand this "pouring fuel into a boat with holes will just make it sinks faster". One needs to ensure that all the nine elements of a business model is in place (not in imagination), and there are no holes in the business, before asking or sinking in more capital.

8. We,  the Malay community, in general, has an unbalanced view of entrepreneurship failure versus effort. The investing community must be able to accept that failure is part and parcel of entrepreneurship. It is how one adjusts that matters.

9. Lack of constructive creativity in business.

10. Greed. Greedy Malay entrepreneurs has created more destruction to the efforts to promote the development of Malay entrepreneurs than the works of the dissidents of NEP combined.