Let’s continue from the ‘Behind every succesful man is a woman’ post.

Everyone has their own definition.  I have mine.  But individuals who have experience it, can truly say it with conviction.

Dr.M said it before.

Anwar’s wife Dr_Wan_Azizah allows him to say it out loud with pride.  Without her he would have been long forgotten.

Lee_Kuan_Yew said the same about Mdm_Kwa.

John_Chow said his wife was his number one reason for his success.  Always cheering him on and inspiring him to succeed.

Pak_Lah quickly remarried because he knew the ingredient for success.  Oklar, not all are success stories. :P

Seen our new PM’s wife lately?  You dare tell me she’s not playing a part in his success?  Can you guess who came out with his brilliant branding campaign 1Msia, his blog, tweets and even facebook?  I dunno, I’m asking you. ;)

Men are the most unbalanced creatures.  Walk also senget wan.  Noticed or not?  Who keeps a man balanced?  Only a woman can.  Who can he turn to when something goes wrong?  If he can’t, he’ll just keep it all inside.  Only a woman can take care of a man’s emotional needs.  Only a woman can inspire a man, give him motivation and be his reason to achieve something.

Oklar. Enough oledi with the bs.  Which comes to the reason for my post.

When I decided to take over the business, the first thing I did was work on a cashflow projection.  I cannot stress how important this is for people who want to start a business.  I did not want to go into it and ‘chap lup’ in the end which happened to a business venture I went into many years back.  A friend’s uncle was opening a cafe in 1U and my friend had a part in it.  He asked me to join in.  Both of us didn’t know anything about the food business but his uncle had work experience in Vietnam.  Trusting his uncle I just blindly took a small stake, believing that food business will always make money.  

At that time the New_Wing was under construction.  We believed that when the New_Wing opened, our business would take off because we were located at the lower ground walkway connecting the Old_Wing with New_Wing.  Unfortunately we couldn’t last the distance.  It was either pump in more money or sell the business to someone else.  My friend’s uncle decided not to continue and wanted to sell his stake to us but what did we know about running a restaurant.  So Kaboom!  We cut our loses.

That failure was a big lesson for me.  My wife made sure I was reminded of my ‘foolishness’.

But with my business now, it’s different.  I know the industry.  I know the business.  Since my boss is leaving, it’s really just continuing the business without him (and pay).  It was a risk worth taking.  I came out with a cashflow and had a projection of the worst case scenario.  I had a number as capital that would sustain the business for two years.  I offered my current partner a slice of the pie.  He was only willing to fork out a small sum which was fine by me.  I had some savings and we were also being offered pay packages by my boss.  I took a risk with almost everything I had.

I told my significant other.  She was on board with the idea until I told her how much money was involved and the sacrifices I had to make.  I had to give up our office in the Twin_towers.  I was only going to retain a handful of employees, only those under my partner’s department.  I had to give up the company beemer.  I had to give up my meal allowance which meant the company wasn’t paying for our meals anymore.  I had to give up travel allowance, full petrol and handphone claim.  I was going to take a much much lower salary than what I was getting.  And most of all, I wasn’t going to get 10% commission on every business deal.

All this will change when the company makes serious money of course.

I did not need my wife to take care of the home while I went out on my ‘quest to succeed’.  She can continue to work and she should, since she was earning more than me at that time.  I can concentrate on my business and stay at home to look after the kids (Last time I got maid mah).  Besides got chips and ice-cream also. :P

All I wanted was some support.  Building a business doesn’t happen overnight.  You think I got any support?

All I got was negativity.  That I should go out and work for someone, especially foreign companies with operations here.  Demand a well enough pay with fringe benefits.  Steady income every month.  Commission.  Company car.  Meal allowance.  I had already failed once.  I was wasting time.  Business is not for me.

I met a guy last year and we have been in regular contact through business.  He was one of the senior partners of a fast moving company.  They were to be listed on the second board and the financial crisis in the 90s struck.  He suffered heavy loses in the share market.  He lost every thing including his home.  After everything settled down, he started another company.  He was a one man show.

This time things were progressing slowly.  He would go more than a year without salary.  His wife was the bread winner and supported him with her salary which wasn’t much.  She also had to pay for the car loan and the rental of their apartment.  He thought about giving up the business and going back to full time employment but his wife was against it.

Instead his wife encouraged him and gave him her full support.  He remembers clearly what his wife told him that caused him to leap up and strive to succeed.  His wife told him that he shouldn’t give up and should continue with the business.  She believed in his ability to build the business.  He had done it before (with the earlier company) and she was confident he would be able to do it again.

Today he is no longer a one man company.  He even started a branch in India employing over 70 employees.  He is grateful to his wife for believing in him.  If she hadn’t shown belief in him, he would probably be in full time employment.

Having the support of a significant other is a big encouragement factor.  Someone that believes in you, cheers for you and lifts up your spirits even if you fall flat on your ass.  That is my definition of ‘Behind every successful man is a woman’.  It’s an old saying but taken in today’s context, it should work both ways.  Man, woman, she-man, he-woman, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, watevar! :P

Well I don’t have a woman behind me but I got……  I pigi tidor dulu.  Tomorrow got meeting.  Sambung besok.