SOMETIMES we have to arrive here to ask the unasked question: is it better to be an entrepreneur or a salaried worker? Our story of the day yesterday -The business of being Vivy -would have helped answer that. At only 32, Datin Vivy Sofinas Yusof has etched herself a place in the fashion and retail industry.
She made her first ringgit renting a children’s story that she wrote on her school exercise book. And she was a girl of just 7, in a pinafore at that. What a story!
We are exclaiming at the business idea, of course. Others may need to find a better way of building mousetraps, so to speak. Or sucking up dirt, like James Dyson did, by turning “the humble vacuum cleaner into a design icon” as this week’s FTWeekend put it. Who knows, you might even be able to buy the most expensive penthouse in Singapore with that clever design. But you get the point.
As they say, every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. The decision to try must come as it did to Vivy Sofinas at the tender age of 7 or much later as it did to Dyson. Entrepreneurs such as these build a door for opportunity to knock, even when there was none.
Our would-be businessmen must know this if they do not want to go home with a median salary of RM2,160 as 50 per cent of Malaysians did in 2017.
Malaysia may not be a huge country but its 32.4 million is good enough for small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to thrive. SMEs matter a lot in Malaysia; they are the backbone of the economy in the language of SMECorp Malaysia. Of all the business establishments in the country, 98.5 per cent or 907,065, are SMEs. Interestingly, 20.6 per cent are owned by women. SMEs contribute more than 36 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Such statistics tell us that Malaysians are not averse to business. But more need to be encouraged into the field. As it stands, the queue heading towards the salaried path is longer. Department of Statistics’ Salaries & Wages Survey Report 2017 says it all. In the year of the survey, 8.7 million Malaysians were paid employees, meaning, seven out of 10 people were paid employees. No, we are not against the salaried. After all, many who earn a living by the pen are a salaried lot.
Popular belief may dictate otherwise, but the entrepreneurial spirit has been spotted early. Vivy Sofinas is one example, but there have been others who have been seen exhibiting this acumen at 5 even. A University of London study of 10-year-olds does lends some support to some such traits being present in young children. But identifying them is one, and how this natural talent is developed, is another. Educators must design curriculum that nurtures it, not inhibit it.
Policymakers, too, must ensure that our regulatory and business environment encourages, not impede commerce. We needn’t go the length to produce the next Bill Gates or Dyson, but must create the climate to enable a Malaysian Microsoft and Dyson Ltd to sprout.