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Alibaba CEO Jack Ma

Small Enterprises: Time to Dream Big

Small Enterprises: Time to Dream Big

Source:CW

For Jack Ma, CEO of Internet company Alibaba, rebounding from the economic downturn is a challenge, and an opportunity, especially for the little guy.

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Small Enterprises: Time to Dream Big

By Ching-Hsuan Huang
From CommonWealth Magazine (vol. 440 )

On Jan. 19, Jack Ma, chairman and CEO of Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group, delivered a keynote speech at the CommonWealth Economic Forum titled "Opportunities for Small Businesses in the Global Marketplace." On the one hand, the witty and humorous Ma scoffed at the recent brouhaha over U.S. Internet giant Google's threat to pull out of China over censorship issues and hacker attacks. On the other hand, he encouraged small and medium-sized enterprises to enter the Chinese market with optimism and confidence, because whoever wins China will win the rest of the world.

Following are highlights from his speech:


The financial crisis is not over yet. What has recovered so far are only the figures. Countries around the globe have poured so much money into the economy, we'd have to see some numbers, unless the economy was completely dead. But the economy is not dead.

The economy is now entering the post-crisis stage. In the earlier stage of the crisis, the problem of the economic figures was solved, but what we really need to tackle is creating the economy of tomorrow. No one could possibly be happy if all we did was regain yesterday. What we need to do is to create tomorrow.

In this financial crisis the world went through the equivalent of a World War III. The redrawing of the economic landscape reached far greater dimensions this time than after World War II. Economic crises are occurring at ever shorter intervals. In the past we had one once every decade, then once every five years, but currently we're down to once every three years. What will we see next? And when will it start? I think that the next crisis is already brewing.

So what did we learn from the financial crisis? What did we think about? We still face enormous problems, but there are always more solutions than there are problems.

Entrepreneurs need to face crises with optimism and a proactive attitude. When a crisis hits, there's money to be made. When the economy grows, there's also money to be made. There will always be opportunities.

A while ago I ran into a young guy in Beijing who said to me, "Mr. Ma, you guys have taken all the Internet opportunities in China, all the opportunities for innovation. There are no opportunities left in China. What should we do?"

A century ago when Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, an American economist predicted that everything that could be invented had been invented. But human inventions never ceased.

When the Internet emerged we first had Netscape, followed by Yahoo. When Yahoo seemed unchallenged, eBay popped up, followed by Google and then Facebook. Mankind is eternally inventing new things. Innovation does not cease. We need to take an optimistic attitude toward all opportunities that lie ahead in the world.

We need to reconsider the following three points: First, a new business paradigm; second, small enterprises dreaming big; and third, our attitude toward young people.

The present crisis is challenging our business paradigms. Businesspeople have always been regarded as putting profit above everything else. But in the era of a new business paradigm, as we enter the 21st century, businesspeople should seek to solve social problems and make money from finding solutions.

I feel that our present direction is an aberration. We're putting more and more emphasis on key performance indicators, profits and shareholder value. Before Alibaba went public our shareholders promised us that they would never sell their shares, but when the financial crisis hit, they were the first to run as fast as they could. The ones who held on to their shares until the very end were my colleagues. If we put shareholder interest first, then we'll only see money. But if all you see is just money, just figures, then you are a machine, incapable of innovation.

The enterprises of the future need to have four important features – an open mind, a sharing spirit, a sense of responsibility, and a global outlook. Only if you have an open mind can there be progress. Only if you share will people want to work for you and make a concerted effort. Only if you assume responsibility will there be a tomorrow. And only if you have a global outlook will you aim high.

You Won't Get Far Looking at Your Feet

(Qing Dynasty businessman) Hu Xueyan once said that doing business is getting more difficult, but the more difficult it gets, the greater the opportunities. It all depends on your vision. If you have your eyes set on a city, your business will have the scope of a city. If you set your eyes on a country, you'll be nationwide. If you set your eyes on the whole world, you'll be doing business globally. The pace of the Internet and globalization has been much faster than people ever imagined. If today you're still looking at your feet, you won't get very far.

While forging a new business paradigm we also need to reconsider the relationship between the company and its employees, the company and its customers, the company and the environment, these relations must be redefined. In the past we depended on the exploitation of others, on surplus value, but nowadays we depend on creating value.

Second, the 21st century is not the era of the large corporation, of large scale and big capital. Small enterprises dreaming big is the model for the 21st century. Whenever I address small enterprise forums, I see dreams and enthusiasm. I see people that want to change themselves and others. But at Fortune 500 forums, I see greed, numbers, profits, and stock prices. I think we won't be able to walk down that road for much longer.

Nowadays, everyone is talking about the Chinese market, which no doubt is huge. My next sentence might be a bit outrageous, but I feel that who wins China will also win the world. All the large corporations have already gone to China, so the next wave should be the small enterprises.

Twenty years ago globalization meant that if you understood Europe and North America you would be able to do business in other places too. But today you will be able to do business around the globe if you understand China. The rules of the game for the 21st century will be written in China, because people from all over the world will be there. You're not going to China to make money, but to participate in making the game rules for the future.

Don't Just Look at the Pitfalls

I encourage all small entrepreneurs today, telling them that China is where you can develop your business. An entrepreneur must not fear competition. In the process of running a company, competition is the greatest source of fun.

Many multinational enterprises bring knowledge to China, but they forget to bring their spirit. All companies, be they Yahoo, eBay or Google, were successful in America, because they had entrepreneurial spirit and never gave it up. But after they came to China, they forgot all about it. They thought they could rely solely on their brands and capital, thinking that they could change the market with money. But it doesn't work that way. They should always be down to earth and use their spirit and dreams to change others.

Not long ago I met a world-famous investor in the United States who told me that it's impossible to do business in China because that place is full of traps and potholes, and that on top of that there are the Falungong and Tibet problems, and so on. And he asked me what I thought about all that. I said, "I never heard of Falungong." He couldn't believe it, but I responded, "What's so unbelievable about it?" The intelligence of Westerners lies in seeing what others haven't seen; the wisdom of Orientals lies in not seeing things when they see them.

There are potholes all over the place, but you can be sure to find a road between them. So why don't you look for the road, instead of always looking at the potholes? If I went to the United States for a whole month, I would also be able to point out thousands of potholes. This world has no shortage of complaints. What it lacks are methods to resolve them. Anyone who visits China will definitely have complaints and difficulties. But that's what entrepreneurship is about. Otherwise, don't bother going.

Young People Are Your Problem-solvers

Third, I would like to talk about the problems of young people.

I will always firmly believe that today's youth will outdo us. Those born in the 1980s and 1990s are much stronger than us. I competed with my father for many years, just as my father competed with my grandfather. But in the end, I bested my father, and my father bested my grandfather. My son stands 182 centimeters tall. I told my father, look what kind of son you raised, and look what kind of son I raised – so who is more capable?

Back when we were young, we accepted whatever we were told, but young people today know how to say no. They will tell you, "I don't need this." That's our greatest hope.

I make this appeal to all CEOs: Don't think that you're better at innovation than young people, or our employees. We should always believe that there are others that are smarter than us. When you are at the peak of your physical strength, you should leave opportunities to younger people. Only then will your company have opportunities. Taking an interest in young people means taking an interest in the future. Young people today care about green issues, the environment, low carbon. We might not take these things into consideration, because we are old. I firmly believe that if you solve the problems of young people, young people will solve your problems.

Last but not least, I would like to mention that markets are not made through research, markets are pounded out. I have seen too many people who in the evening dream up a thousand new roads to take, but when they get up in the morning, they still walk down the old road. Over the past ten years, I have heard too many people say that China is a great market, but they never went. It's just like always talking about how great swimming is, but never actually getting into the water and learning to swim. So, by the time we get old, we ought to be able to tell our stories, and not, at the age of 90, still be talking about our dreams.

Translated from the Chinese by Susanne Ganz

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