From rejection and failures to being the richest person in China, Jack Ma has encountered it all. This self-made billionaire is single-handedly accountable for the entire internet industry in China. Now who is Jack Ma? He is the founder as well as executive chairman of Alibaba Group. Alibaba Group is a kin of successful e-commerce ventures. He is also a stakeholder at Alipay. From an English professor to establishing a $24.1 billion empire, not very shabby! 😉
Although a billionaire, Jack Ma, has seen some odd ugly days. He has been through the dark tunnel to reach where he is today. His journey is literally from rags to riches and it’s an exceptionally inspiring one especially in your gloomiest days. Listed below are a few inspiring takeaways from this humble billionaire:
Never Give Up
“If you don’t give up, you still have a chance. And, when you are small, you have to be very focused and rely on your brain, not your strength.”
Giving up is easy it’s calming and soothing. Toiling is what requires courage. Challenges and obstacles are synonymous with entrepreneurship. Jack Ma, failed his university entrance exam thrice. He was the only one out of the 24 people applying for a job at KFC to get rejected. He was also the only one out of 5 people to get rejected for a police job. Well, did he give up? No. Every venture when small faces abundant potholes and detours. When you are exhaustively trying and giving your cent percent and still failing. This is the peak time of losing focus. It’s at moments like these when you have to rely on your confidence and determination.
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Forget 8-5 Spirit
“If we go to work at 8 a.m. and go home at 5 p.m., this isn’t a high-tech company and Alibaba will never be successful. If we have that kind of 8 to 5 spirit, then we should just go and do something else.”
People relate entrepreneurship with freedom and independence. Yes, indeed you are free to choose a part ahead. But, this path is rocky. Being your own boss: tempting, but it isn’t free. If you choose to give only an 8-5 approach to your venture rest assured it will definitely fail. You will miss the stability, safety of an 8-5 job. Entrepreneurship is all about taking risk, persistency, you can’t run away from adversity, you will always have to hustle. A corporate job is limited hours, highly paying. Entrepreneurship is a struggle, it is anything but easy.
Hire Effectively
“If we are a good team and know what we want to do, one of us can defeat ten of them.”
This quote inspires us about a very integral part of any start-up: Hiring. Offering jobs impulsively will result in chaos. You should be very particular and devote time to hiring. Quality of workers matter more than quantity. Try to ingrain the best people in each field. Behind the mind-boggling success of any start-up there is an outstanding entrepreneur but there also lies the exertive labour of a terrific team. Jack Ma has stated till date he hasn’t written a single line of code. His successful enterprises are a result of his vision, guidance and the extraordinary team effort.
Work for Something you’re Passionate about
“In carrying out e-commerce, the most important thing is to keep doing what you’re doing right now with passion, to keep it up.”
This one is a beautifully simple quote by Jack Ma, which becomes the foundation of every successful venture. Passion and consistency, this duo is the sole entity that can make or break any business venture. There is nothing worse than working mindlessly for something you don’t care about. When you’re passionate about your business model you will automatically be more innovative. Also you will be willing to go above and beyond the call of duty.
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Maintain Work-Life Balance
“No matter how successful you are in your career, you must always remember that we are here to live. If you keep yourself busy working, you will surely regret it.”
Entrepreneurs have to make the arduous choice between work and life. Maintaining a work-life balance is the toughest job for an entrepreneur. Passion enforces them to entertain their work more. Accomplishment and Enjoyment are two sides of the coin of life. Your venture matters but so does your family and health. After all we are here to live and work like a human not a robot!
Explore New Areas
“The opportunities that everyone cannot see are the real opportunities.”
Jack Ma, had a vision of internet and its capabilities in 1995. No one else in China had even dreamt about an e-commerce venture at that time. He built his giant e-commerce Alibaba at the budding phase of internet and made it a successful venture. You need to have faith in yourself and you should explore every arena to look for opportunities. It’s as simple as this if you give your customers something new and innovative in a new sphere your venture is bound to be popular and successful.
Be a Winner not a Whiner
“On the path to success, you will notice that the successful ones are not whiners, nor do they complain often.”
Savvy entrepreneur are you a whiner or a winner? Whiners love to dwell on the past. They love to cling to the failures in the past. Past can’t be changed this simple fact eludes whiners. Winners focus on learning from past mistakes and building a bright future. Whiners blame radar goes to fifth gear whenever they fail, simply said they start casting blame responsibility on others. Winners accept their failures and blame themselves. The unexpected curvy path to success can only be reached if you behave like winner!
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Look for a Complimenting Co-founder
“You should find someone who has complimentary skills to start a company with. You shouldn’t necessarily look for someone successful.”
Start-up is a battle and it’s ugly. Being a lone warrior makes it difficult to survive. Alone you have twice the work and half the fun. You definitely need some-one who shares your vision. But, you don’t need someone who has a lot of skills. You need someone who will walk with you through thick and thin. Ultimately it’s more about having matching frequencies. You need someone with complementing skills together you are like yin and yang.
Actions speak louder than words
“The world will not remember what you say, but it will certainly not forget what you have done.”
Many entrepreneurs have the habit of building castles in the air. They actually feel they have achieved a great milestone without actually accomplishing anything. Every successful entrepreneur has dreamt but never boasted about achieving their dream. Jack Ma, has accomplished so much in this short span but never has anyone heard him boast about his vision of internet in China when no one else even dreamt about it.
