Transcription
[Applause] I wish I can do something to improve the skill level of the people here in Indonesia. That was a casual remark I made in 2013 when I came back to Indonesia for good. Back then, I have no business here, no idea of what I was going to do, and I wasn't even sure of what my future was going to look like.
Now, fast forward to 2020, this year I'm honored to have my startup chosen to be one of the platforms involved in assisting our government's nationwide project to provide skill training programs for 5.6 million people here in Indonesia. From a casual remark I made a few years ago, now turned into a reality today. Many people asked how did I do it? How did I build this skill training platform from scratch with no investors' money and now known nationwide? Surveys have shown that 90% of the startups fail and only 50% of the startups actually make it to their fifth year. So, do most data fail because of a bad idea or poor execution? Which is important, a good idea or good execution? Well, as I'm not an expert in analyzing businesses, I can only share my humble experience of how I built my startup from scratch until our seventh year of operation this year.
Just to share a little bit about my background, although I was born in Indonesia, I grew up in Singapore for 20-over years. I grew up in an environment where learning has become a major part of our lifestyle, especially with a lot of campaigns and support initiated by the Singapore government. It is quite common for us to see people attending classes and courses outside their formal education. In fact, my life, my financial life, was literally changed because of a course I attended during my lowest point in my life. It was a three-day digital marketing course that led me to my financial breakthrough in my real estate career. So when I came back to Indonesia in 2013, I felt a huge difference in terms of the culture and the lives of the people here, and learning was definitely not their main priority here. So when I interviewed some of the graduates here, I noticed that most of them were in lack of basic working skills, or the things that I learned in school were outdated. I thought I was the only one who felt this way until I researched further. So apparently, I found out that in a World Bank survey of employers in 2008, two-thirds complained that finding employees for professional and management positions was difficult. The report also said that in some sectors, the education system here does not provide enough graduates, and those who are graduating do not have the right skills. So that's when I made my remark, how I wish I can do something to improve the skill level of the people here in Indonesia.
I remember what Nelson Mandela said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." So I began to have this dream of spreading learning lifestyles in Indonesia, and I wish that more people can have this opportunity to attend classes and courses outside their formal education, just like how I did and it changed my life. So the question for me was, where and how should I begin? I have a younger sister who happened to work as a private tutor for elementary school students in 2013. One day she asked if there's any website in Indonesia that could help private tutors like her to promote their teaching services so that they can get more students. So I helped her look up on the internet one day and I found none that was of good quality, and most of the websites, they were like forums, and they did not focus on education. So it got me questions like, why wasn't there anyone who tried to create websites for education in Indonesia? And suddenly it just hit me, Jordan, since you want to do something about Indonesia's education, why not you do it? That's right, I thought, why not I do it? Why not I create the website myself since I know how to do it, and at the same time I can help my sister too. So that was the moment I discovered my why, and that why defined my mission in life, and that mission became my company today.
So the reason why I'm telling you all this is because I want you to know that knowing your why is the first step to your good execution. Of course, I didn't create the website right away. Creating a website for me was easy, but to create a solid business out of the website and try to make it nationwide, that's the real challenge. In fact, I waited for three months before I managed to convince myself to work on the plan because during those three months there were these battles happening in my head and questions that were so unsettling. So I had to take my time to respond to these questions, which eventually they led me to do my quality research and strategic planning, and surprisingly, as a result, they gave me this conviction and the confidence to execute the plan, which brought me to where I am today. So just let me share with you my six questions that appeared in my head that were actually helpful in giving me this clarity in terms of the planning process.
So number one, what's in it for me? Number two, what's the benefit for other people? Number three, what if it fails? Number four, how to make it work? Number five, what's in my hand now? Number six, what's next? Note that the order of these questions is important as it is arranged in such a way that if my answer for particular questions was not convincing enough, I will not go to the next question, and if I got stuck in a question for too long, most likely I will just drop the whole idea and move on to the next one.
So let me address the first question, what's in it for me? A question that revolves around me and myself. Yes, although we are living in a time when everybody wants to be seen as selfless, it is important to know that every time when we commit into something, there is always an opportunity cost, like our time, our effort, and our money. Failing to address this question can lead us jumping mindlessly into projects that have no benefit for us, and as a result, we might get burned out and give up eventually. So why not think of the benefit first? Is it the money, the fulfillment of purpose, or even relationship? So what attracted me back then to create this education website was this big vision I had for Indonesia, apart from the money I hope to earn, of course. If the project is launched successfully nationwide, I imagine that I'll be working on a job that is so meaningful and fulfilling. So that was in my head, and I thought it was really worth the try.
Now let's go to the second question, what's the benefit for other people? Although the question now makes us seem selfless this time, this is one important question that can actually help you identify the real problems you are solving, and whose problems are you trying to solve? And because of this, you are then able to set the right objective, which is crucial because setting the wrong objective can cause the whole plan to fail, and you don't want that to happen. So how did I set my objective back then? I saw a real problem that private tutors could not get enough students for themselves, and the same problems too for the students because they could not get the right tutors. So my plan then was to create a number one learning platform in Indonesia where both educators and students can connect and gain benefit from. So that becomes my objective.
Now here we are in the third question, what if it fails? Yes, it sounds pessimistic, but we shouldn't avoid this question because it can encourage us to make our risk calculation, and it can also make us visualize our worst-case scenario. What will I lose? How much will I lose? And how will I react if I lose everything? Personally, if I had found that the risk was too much for me, I would have cancelled the plan back then. But in my case, my calculation has shown that it was possible for me to start the business with my limited fund. So even if it failed, I would just probably lose my time and my part of my savings, which I thought I could afford to lose for the learning experience. So that's how I convinced myself.
Now let's talk about my fourth question, how to make it work? This is where your idea turns into a plan. This is where the bulk of all the technical work such as in-depth research, strategic planning, and creation of action plan will take place. This is why it took me almost two months just to answer this question alone, especially that I was new in the business. I had to make extra effort to research the market, analyze the business model, and understand the competitive landscape and the technology. And only after I had gathered enough information and insight, I would then be able to create solid strategic steps to achieve my objective. So that's why this question is really crucial because how well you answer this question will determine the fate of your execution later on.
Next question, what's in my hand now? This question will make you analyze your resources. You have the money, the time, the people, the knowledge to execute the plan. If not, how are you going to gather these resources? Or maybe is this the right time to execute a plan? Or can you create a minimum viable product first using your limited resources just to test the market, like how I did for my education website? After analyzing my resources, I realized that I could not afford to build an expensive website using fancy technology. So what I did, I created the first version of the website using a simple web design template which I bought online that cost less than a hundred dollars. So I did not have to hire any programmers or designers to kick start my business first. So that's how I manage my resources.
And so we have come to the last question, which I thought is the most effective question, what's next? This will help you conclude everything that you answered earlier and get you to do the next practical steps. Now that you have done your research, your planning, and analyze your situation, what are you going to do next? As soon as I was convinced to work on this project, I remember the first thing that I did was to come up with a brand name for my website. And once I finalized the brand name, I quickly designed the logo, I signed up for the domain name and the hosting plan, and I bought the web design template and installed it to the server, and suddenly I have a website. And all of that was done within a week. So as you can see, once you have a clear strategy, the execution will be quite straightforward. But of course, you still need to regularly reflect, review, evaluate, and re-strategize again and again because the result of your execution does not always turn out the way you want them to. The reason why people fail in their execution is because they do not have this clarity in their planning process, and as a result, they create strategies which are not so precise or solid enough to be executed. That's why it's important for us that we approach those questions mindfully until we're convinced with our own decision.
In fact, the same six questions still applied today, even after I have grown my team to 30-over people. But instead of asking the question to myself, I ask the questions to my team. Number one, what's in it for us? Number two, if we do this, what's the benefit for other people? Number three, what if it fails? What impact do we have? Number four, how can we make this work? Number five, what's in our hands now? And number six, what's next for us? So using the same thought process over and over again, we managed to come up with strategies that help us win small battles after small battles after small battles. And now that I look back, it just amazes me to witness how by responding to those questions mindfully can turn my dream into a company that is serving our nation today.
So if there's one lesson I want you to learn today, it is this quote taken from my favorite Chinese philosopher, Sun Tzu: "Every battle is won before it is fought, and if you know your enemy and you know yourself, you do not fear the result of a hundred battles." Thank you.