He Quanping, 72, executive chairman of Rongshu Group.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, and many people who take risks have one thing in common: confidence.
That's according to hotel tycoon Ho Kwon Ping, 72, founder and executive chairman of the Banyan Group. Banyan Tree Group is a hospitality company with approximately 80 resorts and hotels in 22 countries.
The company is listed on the Singapore Exchange and has 2023 revenue of approximately S$328 million (approximately US$240 million).
Mr Ho is also the executive chairman of food and beverage manufacturing company Tai Hua Public Company Limited and the founding chairman of Singapore Management University.
He attributes part of his success to his youthful willfulness.
"Willfulness and confidence are related. If you're not willful to some extent... then you basically become a risk-averse person," Ho told CNBC Make It. "If you want to be an entrepreneur, you need to be a little willful. You also need to be a little confident."
“Know where the boundaries are”
But there's a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and while the former is important for starting and running a business, the latter can be "a recipe for disaster," He warns.
"My wife says I'm the most optimistic person she knows because I fail at everything but I still pick myself up and keep going, so you need confidence. But if you have too much confidence, it It's going to get bad. "So you need to know where the boundaries are," he said.
Create your own great PR, but never believe a word of it.
He Quanping
Founder and Executive Chairman of Rongshu Group
He explains that a common pitfall of hubris is that it can lead to a company or founder "overextending" or taking on more risk than they should, but in business, things aren't always favorable.
As an entrepreneur, "you always have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario because no one is going to help you when things are bad," he added. He said people should not think about how much money they can make when starting a new project or business, but how much they can afford to lose.
“Never be arrogant enough to think you’re great,” he said. “A saying I use is…create your own wonderful PR, but never believe a word of it.”
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