| Nominee: |
Mr Richard Mak |
| Company: |
Alpha-Plus Training Consultants Pte Ltd |
| Address: |
34 Craig Road #06-02
Chinatown Plaza |
| Website: |
www.innovation.com.sg |
|
| Interview with Mr Richard Mak |
| |
| 1. What is the nature of your business? (Business Profile) |
| We
are in the business of transforming lives through training and
consulting. We have a proprietary framework that serves as a blueprint
for personal success. This framework is called MOLI which inculcates
the enterprising mindset and equips you with the skillset to
continually seek out opportunities for innovations and to make things
happen through creative partnership. We have also developed
Zeros-To-Heros, the world’s first boardgame that engages the
enterprising spirit. The Boardgame and the complementary MOLI-based
training programmes aim to propel our customers toward possibilities,
productivity and profitability. We are committed to cultivating the
enterprising spirit in every individual in the global marketplace. Our
vision is to revolutionize entrepreneurship & innovation
programmes. We aspire to become a truly borderless organisation that
blends e-learning, different types of educational boardgames and
training programmes over the coming years. |
| |
| 2. What made you embark on this venture choice? |
| At
different phases of life, I would like to do different things. In my
20’s, it was to learn the ropes and climb the corporate ladder. In my
30’s, it was to carve a niche for my business and now in my 40’s, I
will want to transform lives and make a positive impact on others. I
have a vision of nurturing a whole generation of enterprising
Singaporeans who could compete effectively in the global arena. |
| |
| 3. How does your business work? |
| I
see my company Alpha-Plus Training to be in the business of
intellectual property development. We are currently developing the
corporate version of the Zeros-To-Heros boardgame; a Project Management
boardgame (initiated by Singapore Polytechnic students); an
Emergenetics cardgame that brings out one’s inherent thinking style.
These suites of boardgames serves as a tool for experiential learning.
While playing the game, participants have FUN and discover for
themselves what it takes to be enterprising. We are packaging all these
intellectual properties into programmes that we could license to others
around the world. |
| |
| 4. Did you have the capital to start the business or did you have to borrow from someone to get started? |
| I
used my savings to start my business. However, as my business is in
corporate training and personal development where intellectual property
matters and not the physical assets, I do not need much capital. |
| |
| 5. Do your parents have their own businesses too? Have they inspired you in one way or another? |
| Yes,
both my parents were businesspersons. Both of them were in the
photography business. I am very much inspired by my father who is a
self-made man and an innovator. He pioneered electronic lighting for
in-door lighting. He brought in machineries from overseas that could
mould photographs onto ceramic and plastic plates. He retired in his
early fifties. My parents are my role models. They gave me a first-hand
feel of the ecstasy and agony of operating a business. |
| |
| 6. What was your childhood dream? When did you decide that you would strike out on your own instead of working for someone else? |
| My
childhood dream was to be a soldier boy. But my dream changed over
time. I decided to strike out on my own after I have gained sufficient
corporate experience.
My first job was as an accountant in a Japanese merchant bank with
exposure in accounting, financial and banking. Alas, I found that the
role of an accountant is basically a back office job. I wanted to be at
the forefront where the action is, so I made a career switch to sales
& marketing. I was a Promotions Manager with Asia-Pacific
Breweries, the maker of Tiger Beer. Later, I assumed the position of
Senior Manager with the Salim Group, one of the largest conglomerates
in Asia. But the most significant factor that prompted me to strike out
on my own was my stint as a lecturer with a local polytechnic. When I
was there, I spearheaded the development of the Entrepreneurship
programme. I was heartened by the fact that some of the graduates
actually started their own businesses. I felt that my entrepreneurship
programme had impacted some young lives. Later, I was disheartened to
note that all of their businesses went bust and that they had to seek
corporate employment. I felt somehow responsible for their business
failures. Even though I taught entrepreneurship, I was never an
entrepreneur myself. This sparked my research into what makes an
entrepreneur ticks. I started my training company to have a first hand
feel of what it is like to be an entrepreneur. I sieved through the
curricula of various business schools that I have taught in. But I
could not find an integrated framework that I am convinced will work.
Over the course of 17 years of research and consulting, I have
distilled the essence of entrepreneurship success into a framework
called MOLI. This is an acronym for: Mindset, Opportunity-seeking,
Leverage and Innovation. |
| |
| 7. Why does someone decide to be on their own rather than join an existing company? |
| Now
that I’m in my forties, I would like to have control over my life. I
would like to chart my destiny and to seek God’s direction instead of
taking instructions from others. I sincerely believe that I can
value-add to others by positively impacting their lives, if not
transforming them totally. It is not about money, it is about passion
and seeking the true purpose in my life and fulfilling my dreams. |
| |
| 8.
Are there at any point in your life that you experienced a significant
event (WW2, racial riots of the 1960s, the Economic Crisis of the 80s
or 90s, SARS, new competition or shifts in market behaviour and trends)
which affected or influenced you and your business that made you change
the way you think and do your business? |
| This
has to be during the heady days of the dot.com era in the year 2000. My
worst investment was in a web portal company that I had set up. I lost
$80,000 of my own cash and another $50,000 in opportunity cost. I
considered these to be tuition fees that I have to pay, to learn first
hand from others about the art of deal-making; how to evolve a business
idea into a business model and to make it happen in real life; the
importance of passion in venturing into a business instead of being
driven by greed, the meaning of personal integrity and business ethics.
These are things that were not covered in any business school
curriculum. That experience made me realized entrepreneurship is a
lonely affair and it is never wise to realise your dreams all by
yourself. It is important to have a group of people with you whom you
can draw strength from. |
| |
| 9.
What are some of the challenges in starting a business from scratch?
(Modify question to what are some of the challenges in maintaining a
family business if applicable.) |
| I
started Alpha-Plus Training in 1997, in the midst of the Asian
Financial Crisis. However, I went into an industry that is
recession-proof i.e. conducting school enrichment programmes where the
Education Ministry had set aside millions of dollars of funding. The
challenge was to develop programmes that schools and students find
value in. Even though I have gone into the training business full-time,
I continue to receive an income from part-time lecturing with
world-renowned MBA programmes as well as brokering business deals. As
such, I am supported by multiple sources of income. So my challenge
then was to overcome my lack of focus on my business and the lack of a
clear sense of purpose and direction in my life. As the business was
profitable in the beginning years, I also had to guard against lapsing
into self-complacency. |
| |
| 10. Who/What motivates you? |
| What
drives me is that our programmes could impact masses of people
positively when they play the Zeros-To-Heros boardgame. I recalled an
occasion when we packed 350 game participants into a single venue to
have a Game competition with only 3 Game facilitators. The level of fun
and engagement is unbelievable. It was a phenomenon - the level of
energy was extremely high and we could not think of another more
cost-effective way to transform lives. |
| |
| 11. Tell me about the first few customers and the first few years of business. |
| The
first few years passed pretty quickly as I was kept busy clinching more
training contracts and enabling my pool of trainers to deliver quality
programmes. |
| |
| 12. Please tell me some stories of your best day in business or your proudest achievement to date. |
| There
are two occasions which come to my mind. After having conducted
numerous training workshops, we received excellent responses for our
Zeros-To-Heros boardgame from the primary schools to tertiary
institutions.
One year after our Boardgame was launched, I received a call from a
manager of a public-listed company who said they have heard about our
Zeros-To-Heros boardgame and the MOLI framework. This manager saw the
value in the boardgame in developing his colleagues to be enterprising
executives that would spearhead high growth corporate strategies. After
we clinched the deal and delivered our Zeros-To-Heros game workshop,
the Senior Vice-President was so impressed that he gave us a letter of
testimonial. Since then, we have multinational companies (MNCs) like
SUN Microsystems and Fuji-Xerox (Asia-Pacific) and government statutory
boards like the CPF Board and the HDB which have engaged our services
too. The second occasion happened at a neighourhood primary school
where we pack in about 120 primary 5 students to play the
Zeros-To-Heros game competition. At the end of the game, the less
academically inclined students won the game competition. The teacher
noted the gleam in the winner’s eyes and said that this could be a
turning point in the lives of many youngsters. |
| |
| 13. Do you recall your worst day in business? Have you ever felt like giving up? |
| The
worst day was when I had to make a painful decision to close my dot.com
company and cut loss. It was especially painful as I have roped in
friends and the decision left some of my friends in the lurch. Yes, I
have already given up on the dot.com businesses but not my training
company. |
| |
| 14. When was the moment you realised the business would work and support you? |
| This
boardgame has garnered excellent feedback from all who played it,
including a world-guru, professors from the Nanyang Technological
University, professionals, high-ranking corporate executives and
entrepreneurs. It has been played by thousands of students from primary
schools to tertiary institutions and educational institutions had used
the Zeros-To-Heros game in their staff retreat
When we received commendations from all of the organizations that had
engaged our services, we knew we have a viable product and business
that has the potential to make it big in the global arena. |
| |
| 15. What are some of the things you have had to overcome to succeed? |
| My
initial years in business was to overcome my self-complacency and a
lack of focus.
Currently, my company is poised for global expansion, I have to adopt
the mindset of “letting go” for my control and share ownership will be
diluted when external investors are brought into the picture. |
| |
| 16. What are some qualities that you feel you possess which differentiate you from someone who works for others? |
| Firstly,
I like to take the initiative and make things happen. I like to take
charge instead of taking instructions. Secondly, I like deal-making
which is to workout the terms and conditions to a creative partnership.
I firmly believe in my ability to conceptualize. I strive to see the
“whole world in a grain of sand” and see possibilities and
profitability in situations before others realize the opportunity. I
spent great amount of time and money to invest in the grey matters
between my ears. Not in terms of filling my brain with knowledge by
attending courses but to sharpen my thought processes and to enlarge my
thinking capacity. I strive to be well-read, well-travelled and be
well-connected and with each experience gained, I will indulge in a
process of constant reflections to integrate new experiences with
existing knowledge to enhance my thinking capacity. |
| |
| 17. To succeed in business, what qualities are essential? What are some of the secrets in making a successful business? |
| To
draw wisdom from God instead of counting on our human wisdom. To draw
strength from God, to seek his counsel in times of key decision-making.
My father once told me that “life is like a game of chess. Every move
you make will affect the next move and definitely contributes to the
outcome of the end-game. And life IS actually a game.” So don’t take
life too seriously – many are risk averse because of the fear of
failure. Look at it not as a failure but as a “hit or a miss”. Despite
all our efforts, sometimes we hit our target, at other times we may
miss our mark. Pick ourselves up and go for the next game, not
forgetting to have fun along the way. There is no “be all and end all”
or final destination. |
| |
| 18. Who or what inspires you? |
| There
are 2 things that inspire me. At the spiritual level, God inspires me.
I began to realize that whatever talents and gifts God has for me, they
are not for my own benefit but are to be used in my service to others.
On planet Earth, it is my father and Richard Branson, the chairman of
the Virgin Group of Companies, a fun-loving, flamboyant and innovative
deal-maker who inspires me. |
| |
| 19. Have you ever thought of expanding the business in some way or in multiple locations? How and where? |
| From
day one, we have global ambitions for our business. We may have started
small and at this point in time we are still small but we are poised
for tremendous growth. After we have developed our full suite of
products and programmes as well as build our brand equity, we will
license our intellectual properties around the world. |
| |
| 20. What aspects of expansion would you like to see for your enterprise? |
| I
truly believe in people. If I have good people working with me, then
naturally, the business will grow. Hence, after we have developed our
suite of boardgames and complementary training programmes, we will
spend time to build a system to attract and incentivise talented people
who share our vision to work with us. We will strike up licensing deals
and creative partnerships to fuel our global expansion. |
| |
| 21. In your opinion, how would you define entrepreneurship? |
| Entrepreneurship
is about seeking business opportunities on a continual basis and to
make a profit by creating value for your customers. The crux of
entrepreneurship is deal-making which is to develop creative terms and
conditions for partnership to multiply your resources.
Currently, as an adjunct lecturer with the RMIT (Royal Melbourne
Institute of Technology in Social Entrepreneurship), I would like to
expound on the Triple Bottomline concept. If the sole focus of running
a business is to make money, it is too short-sighted and narrow in
scope as the emphasis is only on the financial bottomline. Bottomlines
in terms of Social Equity - i.e. contributing back to the community
that allows you to make your profit and contributions to the
Environment are equally important. The motto could jolly well be “To Do
Good (to Others) in order to do Well.” |
| |
| 22. To what extent does one?s educational level help or hinder entrepreneurial-ship? |
| Yes,
the level of education definitely has an impact on entrepreneurship. It
enables us to learn quickly and efficiently from those who have already
walked the journey. It is better to “stand on the shoulder of great men
so that we can see far and beyond”. It saves us a lot of agony of going
through the school of hard knocks! Our educational attainment helps us
to be thinkers, to be able to conceptualise and acquire
self-discipline. It stimulates our thought processes. Going into
business requires a different mindset and skill-set altogether where
perseverance, a ‘never-say-die’ attitude, the desire to exert control
over our environment and the abilities to spot opportunities and
getting others onboard through creative partnerships are important
attributes that we cannot learn through academic pursuit alone. |
| |
| 23. As we try to select the final 41 entrepreneurs, what qualities would you think a person should have to inspire others? |
| The
qualities I think that are inspirational can be summed up in the C-B-A:
Conceive, Believe and Achieve. Firstly, you must be able to CONCEIVE –
to give birth to the idea or a vision, sincerely BELIEVE that you could
make it happen or to rope in others to overcome whenever constraints to
make it happen and to strive at your level best to ACHIEVE it. Someone
once remarked that the world is made up of two types of people – the
reasonable man who goes along happily with most of the things in this
world and the unreasonable who want to change the world. Most of the
progress of this world is achieved because of the existence of the
unreasonable man. Hence, it is important to have your point of views
and to hold on to it and to make things happen despite what others said
or done. |
| |
| 24.
What are some of your own values in doing business and what do you like
to pass down to others, particularly the younger generation? |
| My
number one value is Integrity. The golden rule is: “to do unto others
what you want others to do unto you”. My number two value is humility:
where you give high regards to other people because you can learn
something from them one way or another and you need to have an open
mind to do that. My number three value is to have the abundance
mentality: to help others to win so that in turn you will win as well. |
| |
| 25. What advice would you give young people who want to start their own business? |
| Firstly,
they have to find the passion and meaning in the things that they do
and their true purpose in life. And ideally, the business they are
starting should be aligned with their true purpose or passion. They
should be on a constant lookout for business opportunities even after
they have started their business. They also need to see how to leverage
on others to make things happen. Most importantly, they need to be
innovative in whatever things they do to gain that competitive edge.
It will be good if they can find a mentor, people who are successful in
the field they are pursuing and who has been there and done that and be
humble enough to seek their advice.
To be mindful of cashflow problems, because cashflow problems are the
ones that usually brings down a company, irregardless of whether it is
profitable or not.
Don’t go into business with the goal of making money. If making tons of
money is your motive, then your life will be on an emotional
roller-coaster. When you are pursuing the million-dollar business deal,
you will be on the “Highs” and when the deal did not materialize you
could be in the dumps. Most research showed that money is never a good
motivator. You could get burnout or depressed when things went wrong
because getting the money is your end-goal. However, if you have
passion and found lots of meaning in the things you do – you will enjoy
doing it and along the way, you look forward to the rewards, both
financial and otherwise. |
| |
| 26.
Please help me make a three-line summary of this interview after the
basic information: your name, name of your business and kind of
business. These three lines will highlight the interview for those who
will be reading the summaries prior to reading the entire interview. |
| Alpha-Plus
Training is in the business of transforming lives. Our MOLI Framework
serves as a blueprint for personal success as it enables you to
continually seek out opportunities for innovations and to make things
happen through creative partnerships. We have developed Zeros-To-Heros,
the world’s first boardgame that engages the enterprising spirit which
has received endorsements by a world-guru, professors and high-powered
corporate executives. |
| |
| 27. Student Interviewer's Personal Comment |
| I
feel that Richard Mak is one entreprenuer that really walks the talk.
He does what he preached. How do I know? In that brief encounter with
him during the interview, he does everything that he has been talking
about - the MOLI framework. |
| |
| Interviewed by Teng Shu Qing, Jocelyn on 2006-05-30. Student can be reached at shuqing02@hotmail.com |
| |
