The idea of creating a business is exciting and additionally brings incredible rewards. Think of Jack Ma as an example. Before he founded Alibaba, he was a $12-a-month English professor at a local university. He is currently one of the richest men in the world.
It may be cliché, but the most successful businessmen have rocky starts, and Jack Ma was no exception. But beyond the adversities, he was able to overcome them and make Alibaba the most important e-commerce portal.
Find below a list of the most important advice that Jack Ma has for those who want to start a business:
6 tips Jack Ma used to make Alibaba a success.
1. Before starting you must be sure of what you are going to do.
The purpose of being your own boss should not only be that you don’t want to work for someone else, it is also to discover a business opportunity that adds value to customers.
In 1995 when Jack Ma visited the United States as a translator, one of his friends showed him how the internet worked. With this information he began to look up the word “beer”. He discovered that there was German beer, American beer, but no Chinese beer. Then he searched for the word “China” and realized that there were no results. For this reason, he decided to create China Pages, Jack Ma’s first internet company.
2. Hire smart people, not popular people.
As a leader you must look for the right candidates who contribute to the growth of the company. Jack Ma says that when it comes to hiring an employee, he must find the right people and the company that meets his professional level and needs.
If you try to hire a person with enough experience for your small business, it is very possible that you are making a mistake. Neither the employee nor the company are compatible. You have to hire smart people with the right mindset.
3. Learn from the mistakes of others.
We often focus on the success of famous people and subconsciously forget about all the obstacles and tough times they had to overcome. Despite having learned from his successes, Ma is emphatic in stating that it is from mistakes where you learn the most. Most people fail for the same reasons, if you know why they fail, you can correct them in time.
4. Always think about innovation.
Steve Jobs and Jack Ma are often compared. Both dropped out of college and are the founders of two of the world’s largest technology companies. Jobs is credited with developing personal computers and the touchscreen technology that made iPhones so famous. On the other hand, Jack Ma took advantage of the potential of the internet.
In an interview for CNBC, Jack Ma shared these thoughts when answering if he would buy Ebay. “First, I don’t know if they would be willing to sell and second, we have to think that doing business is not just buying, it is creating something innovative. We have to create something that never existed. We have to think about the future.”
5. Take all the risks worth taking.
Jack Ma’s first business was China Pages. This was his first failure, the business lasted for about a year. Ma eventually lost control of China Pages and had to merge with China Telecom.
Although many consider this a complete failure, Ma sees this episode as a calculated risk. In the end it was an experience that was worth it and from which we learned. Always remember to have a plan to minimize risk.
Also read: How to make difficult decisions when I don’t know what to do.
6. The key to success lies with the younger generations.
In any business it is crucial to plan ahead. A very important factor to consider when planning for the future is the needs and desires of customers. Since modern businesses are aimed at the young generation, who better than them to understand how to model a business.
As a visionary, Jack Ma knows that the internet-savvy generation is the key to leading a company to success. “The younger generations are better than the older ones. I am better than my father but my children are better than me”. If you want a company to be innovative and successful, you must trust young people.
If you are really interested in creating your own business and want to find more information on this subject, buy our book “How to create a company while you work. Discover how to manage your time, manage your money and motivate yourself while creating a company and working for another” , where you will find all the information you need to found your own company, without having to leave your job.
