I want to share this with all businessmen – those who already have their stores or factories or bars as well as those whose dream businesses are yet to materialize.
I myself have the seeds of a business idea germinating in my mind. And the image shifts. One day, it would be a video production company. Next day, a salads and healthy-meals-to-go shop. Maybe it will be both. But I am still working to raise capital to fund it.
In the meantime, I try to read up on how to start and run a business. I read the SERDEF website and other business development sites. I read books on entrepreneurship and wealth creation. I read biographies of moguls and taipans. I pick up lessons here and there while the seeds inside me grow.
Incredibly, it is from a non-business book that I found some of the most interesting ideas on how to start a business.
The book is South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami, awarded writer, sometimes dubbed as Japan’s best export to the rest of the world.
Let me to share how the main protagonist of the book describes his approach to business. Hajime is name is, which in Japanese, means beginning. Hajime runs two successful jazz bars in Tokyo — but of course your business, our business need not be a jazz bar, but rather could be restaurant, a boutique, a spa, a beach resort, a grocery store, a book shop .. ad infinitum.
Anyway, this is what Murakami’s Hajime says:
“I don’t really consider myself a businessman. I just happen to own two small bars. Can’t call what I do talent. But you know, sometimes, I imagine things, pretending I am a customer. If I were a customer, what kind of bar I’d go to, what kind of things I’d like to eat and drink. If I were a bachelor in my twenties, what kind of place would I take a girl to? How much could I spend? Where would I live and how late could I stay out? All sorts of scenarios. The more scenarios I come up with, the more focused my image of the bar becomes.
“This whole process is one I’ve been doing since I was little. Thinking about all kinds of things, letting my imagination take over. Constructing an imaginary place in my head and little by little adding details to it.
“… You have to use your imagination to survive. And you can put your ideas into practice immediately. No meetings, no executives here (in this small business). No precedents to worry about. ….
“… sometimes my bars feel like imaginary places I created in my mind. Castles in the air. I plant some flowers here, construct a fountain there, crafting everything with great care. People stop by, have drinks, listen to music, talk and go home. People are willing to spend a lot of money to come all this way to have some drinks, and do you know why? Because everyone’s seeking the same thing: an imaginary place, their own castle in the air, and their very own special corner in it.”
Hajime also has great things to say about recognizing talent in employees, and taking care of it:
“ Take him for instance (indicating a handsome young bartender). I pay him a lot of money. Which is a secret as far as the other employees are concerned. The reason for his high salary is his talent at mixing great drinks. Most people don’t realize it but great cocktails demand talent. Anyone can make passable drinks with a little effort. … But if you want to take it to the next level, you’ve got to have a special flair. Same thing with playing the piano, painting, running the hundred meter dash (also cooking, designing, gold smithing, woodcraft, ad infinitum). … So if you find someone who has talent, you’d best take good care of them and never let them go. Not to mention pay them well.”
And here’s one more about pleasing customers:
“…you can’t please everybody. Even when I ran my bar I followed the same policy. A lot of customers came to the bar. If one out of ten enjoyed the place and said he’d come again, that was enough. If one out of ten was a repeat customer, then the business would survive.
“To put it the other way, it didn’t matter if nine out of ten didn’t like my bar. This realization lifted a weight off my shoulders. Still, I had to make sure that the one person who did like the place really liked it. In order to make sure he did, I had to make my philosophy and stance clear-cut, and patiently maintain that stance no matter what.”
Don’t you just love these ideas, coming from an icon of literature? Here’s to imagining and dreaming. And here’s to chasing our dreams and making them come true.
And yes, Murakami is talking not only from the depths of his imagination but also from experience. He used to run his own business.
Ali C.
Pasig City
Photo of Haruki Murukami: from google images