“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago”…Warren Buffet

What is a Business?

According to Business Dictionary, it is defined as, “An organization or economic system where goods and services are exchanged for one another or for money. Every business requires some form of investment and enough customers to whom its output can be sold on a consistent basis in order to make a profit”. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/business.html

It was also defined as,” A business is defined as an organization or enterprising entity engaged in commercial, industrial, or professional activities. Businesses can be for-profit entities or non-profit organizations that operate to fulfill a charitable mission or further a social cause”. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/business.asp

So you are doing business once you exchange value for money right? Either service or goods, once it’s exchanged you are a businessman or woman. So what is left is to define the scale of your operation. You are either a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) or a large Organisation or Corporation depending on your scalable value.

But today, I want to focus on the SME. SME forms the base level of any business that would or may eventually grow into an empire. According to PWC, “The SME sector is the backbone of major developed economies, as well as important contributors to employment, economic and export growth” The World Bank also stated that, “SMEs account for the majority of businesses worldwide and are important contributors to job creation and global economic development. They represent about 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide”. So am I an SME you ask? Follow me on this journey.

In order for us not to sound too technical, we would stick with layman terms and definitions. If you buy and sell, and you are your own manager, stock keeper, and accountant or probably you hire an assistant(s), you operate on a lean cashflow or budget…then you qualify as an SME as it were.

So what would make you succeed as an entrepreneur, SME, businessman/woman? Is it in setting those goals? Aiming at the big picture? Aiming for those Customers? Driving with all your might to achieve your set target? Why would you succeed? Let’s pause, reflect, and meditate on it. How do you get the desired breakthrough in your business? Interestingly enough, it’s not far-fetched.

I like this quote of Sun Tzu in the Art of War, “It does not take sharp eyes to see the sun and the moon, nor does it take sharp ears to hear the thunderclap. Wisdom is not obvious. You must see the subtle and notice the hidden to be victorious”. The subtle and the hidden are things we gloss over daily, ignore and regard as unimportant…but they would give us the victory we seek once they are mastered fully.

… To be continued