Young Successful Entrepreneur

Photo by Lucia Holm

I got an email from my good friend Robert the other day and here is what he asked:

“Jun, have u ever worked with people before? Did you start doing business right after you finished your study?

What gives you the confident? How do you manage the risk? Do you have a contingency plan in case the business doesn’t go as what you expected?”

I thought he had some very honest questions that many people might share, so I decided to devote an entire post to answering his questions.

1. Have I ever worked with people before

This question makes me chuckle because it brings me back to the days when I was interviewing with companies as an undergrad.  The “team situation” question is one that all companies seem to love.

At UCLA I founded Bruin Consulting which has become one of the premier business organizations on campus, I organized the first UCLA Undergraduate Case Competition, and  I was also a part of Delta Sigma Pi - Internation Business Fraternity where I spent a lot of time working with my brothers on organizing professional speaking events.  So yes, I’ve worked with A LOT of teams.

Lesson Learned

It goes without saying that undergraduates should join every club, take leadership positions, take internships, and try out everything that they could possibly want to do.  What if you’re already in an established career?  Where can you go to meet new motivated people and expand your horizons?

The answer seems pretty obvious, but it must be stated: join an organization!  Think of something you’re interested in, look up the organization for it online, and join it.  What if the organization doesn’t exist?  Then start it!

Here is a great organization for Leadership and Public Speaking.  It’s called the Toastmasters International.  I almost went to a meeting myself but it just keeps slipping my mind.

2. Did I start doing business right after college?

I actually started doing business as an undergraduate.  I started The Verdical Group, which was a small business consulting firm, with a group of friends from UCLA.  We worked with about 3 companies in the Los Angeles area and consulted in areas like operations, human capital, and technology.

What gave us the credibility to do it?  I had established a really good relationship with a consultant from Hitachi Consulting as an undergrad and he decided to join our company.  With his 15 years of experience as a consultant, we leveraged his credibility to get clients and do some work of our own.

You know what’s funny?  While writing this, I feel like I’m sounding pretty impressive.  “Wow Jun, you started a company as an undergrad, that’s so impressive!”  But really, I don’t think it’s that impressive at all.  If you really think about it, it is not difficult and the clients we worked for came from family and friend referrals.  We did make a little money, but most of it went toward finances, creating the LLC, the website, and overhead.

Lesson Learned

It’s never too early to start your own company.  My friend Yu-kai Chou started his first company as a freshman in college and my friend Joseph Yi started his first company as a sophmore in college.  Both were profitable!

It’s really just how Nike says it - Just Do it!  There is never going to be the “perfect time.”  You can always wait until you graduate, wait till you get your MBA, wait until you get your next pay raise, wait until you get a new house, wait until you have 2 years of experience, or wait until the economy isn’t so bad.  There are so many excuses! If you don’t embark on your entrepreneurial journey right now, then you’ll never do it.

Start off small.  Become a part-time entrepreneur, and once you get the groove, quit your job and do it full-time!

3. What gives you the confident? How do you manage the risk?

I think that I have been fortunate enough to be born with the following qualities: confidence, a nice smile, and a want for attention.

Before I became a full-time entrepreneur, I was a full-time Consultant at Navigant Consulting.  I had the confidence to leave my job because I succeeded in creating Bruin Consulting as an undergrad, previously worked on a startup with Veridical Group, and was joining my friend Yu-kai Chou who I had 100% confidence in.  I really thought that he would lead me to the promise land.

That’s what gave me the initial confidence to make the leap.

As far as now, my confidence and motivation come from a relentless desire to succeed.  We have already failed a couple of times, so I highly doubt that we’ll ever get to the “promise land.”  However, I do believe that the skills that I’ve learned during the 1.5 years as an entrepreneur will get me there.

How do I manage risk?  I have taken the appropriate steps to increase my chances of succeeding as an entrepreneur: I have moved back home, cut costs in every possible way that I can, am establishing 3 potential projects that will hopefully bring me a steady stream of revenue, and I’m using every single resource that I can get my hands on.

Lesson Learned

Keep your friends close and your most trusted and valuable friends closer.  There are a few key people in my life that I consider my good friends AND potential business partners.  These people are: Chris, Steve, Jason, and Joseph.  I know 4 people that I highly trust to do business with.  So what do I do?  I have started a project with each of them.  With my experience and they’re specific abilities, skills, and work ethic, we will hopefully establish a company that generates self-autmoated revenue that will allow us to work on the next Facebook.

Take a look at your network and friendlist.  Who amongst them do you trust with your money?  Who amongst them have a special skill that compliments your own?  Figure this out, because it could be the first step in establishing your startup team.

4. Do I have a contingency plan in case the businesses don’t succeed?

Yes.  The contingency plan is to keep starting companies until I DO succeed!  I’m serious!

I’ve tried the corporate life and I hate it; I’ve tried the entrepreneurial life and I love it.  The choice is clear, I am meant to be an entrepreneur.

Lesson Learned

You WILL FAIL.  I don’t care what your idea is or who you are; you WILL FAIL!

Great, so now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, do you still want to be an entrepreneur?  Are you sure?  Even though you know that you will lose a lot of money, that your friends won’t understand the career path you chose, that you will be working more hours than you did in your corporate job, and that you and your team members will most likely end up hating each other for the rest of your lives.  Do you still want to be an entrepreneur?

If the answer is “YES,” then shoot me an email and come join me on my journey.

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Robert, thank you for the great questions and I hope that I was able to offer you some insight to what I have learned as an entrepreneur.