BBIC Interview with Rajeev Singh

Would you mind giving us an overview of Ernst & Young?
Ernst & Young is a professional services organisation committed to providing the highest quality professional accounting, auditing, taxation and consultancy services. With more than 103,000 personnel worldwide, we provide integrated services to private enterprises and public agencies located in more than 140 countries. The Middle East practice of Ernst & Young is an independent professional firm which has operated in the region since 1923 and is a full member firm of Ernst & Young Global. Today our clients are served by over 2,000 professionals, out of 17 offices in 13 countries in the Middle East. We are by far the leading professional services provider in the region.

The Oman office started operations in 1974 and is today the leading professional services firm in Oman. It offers a full range of accounting, taxation and business advisory services through a team of approximately 120 resources, led by four resident partners and one resident director. About 30% of our team are Omani nationals.

Why did Ernst & Young get involved in the Big Business Idea Competition?
Globally Ernst & Young has a long association with promoting and celebrating entrepreneurship. In Oman, we have historically been associated with the Oman Awards for Excellence since its pre-inception days. A key award category is the Entrepreneur of the Year, which is an award category we have a close affiliation with.

Over the past 30 years, we have interacted with and provided services to the private sector including a few entrepreneurs on a daily basis, and our contribution to the development of the Omani economy makes us very proud of what we do. We have also had a strong role to play in the Youth Fund project during its establishment phase.

Finally, coming to the KOM project, we have had close relations with the KOM team and play an important role in the TKM mentor program. We perceive the BBIC as a continuation of our pro-bono involvement in such projects, which is one way of sharing the benefits of our experience as well as helping foster a stronger domestic culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.

How important are start-ups to Oman’s economy?
The realisation of Vision 2020 is dependant on increasing the role of the private sector. Encouraging start-ups is a way of promoting the role of the private sector. Start-ups offer employment opportunities to the Omani youth and further reduces the sultanate's dependence on foreign labour. It is an undisputed fact that SMEs contribute significantly to the growth in any well developed economy. SMEs promote the growth of industries and the formation of well organized clusters and consequently drive growth within the private sector and the evolution of the economy as a whole.

Economists believe that every start-up creates about 5 to 7 service opportunities in the economy (think about additional services required by the new business and its employees). An increase in start-ups will lead eventually to more and more Omani skilled and un-skilled resources finding gainful employment.

What characteristics do you need to be a successful entrepreneur?
Planning / Goal Setting – Challenging yet realistic goals are in order. Comprehensive , simple, clear and updatable plans are essential.

Sacrifice & Hard Work – Starting up a business does not come cheap, entrepreneurs are financially and emotionally locked into their ventures which causes a lot of strain on their personal lives.

Motivation / Enthusiasm – There are many challenges associated with starting up a business, entrepreneurs must have the drive and the mindset to overcome obstacles.

Market Needs – A successful entrepreneur must be in tune with the market, identifying needs and providing products and/or services which are in demand.

Ability to visualize the “Business / Bigger Picture” – It is easy to get distracted by the many money generating opportunities, however due to the limited resources available to the entrepreneur, he/she must remain focused on the bigger picture and be aware that every decision made will have an impact on the overall picture.

Emotional Maturity – Entrepreneurs should learn from mistakes and accept losses. Mistakes and financial losses are inevitable and sometimes necessary as part of the learning curve. Business plans of entrepreneurs must have the flexibility of recovering from failures in order to achieve maximum benefit. Constant evaluation and improvement of performance / progress is imperative.

Which international entrepreneur has inspired you and why?
It is very difficult to pinpoint a specific entrepreneur as a source of inspiration. From an historical perspective, I find the American business culture interesting as it has produced some of the most successful entrepreneurs. This list includes folk like Henry Ford, Phil Knight (Nike), Colonel Sanders (KFC), Microsoft's incomparable Bill Gates who has evolved from an entrepreneur to a global business tycoon to a philanthropist, Apple's Steve Jobs, and the Starbucks trio of Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegel and Gordon Bowker.

Narayan Murthy of Infosys has not only inspired other Indian entrepreneurs but also helped in creating the Indian software story. Another inspiration is definitely Richard Branson whose rebellious and anti-establishment biography is very interesting indeed.

What are the key ingredients for a successful start-up?
Planning (business plan).
Updating the plan constantly.
Committed and invested (emotionally) people / team.
Creativity / resourcefulness.
Ability to turn obstacles to your favour.
Client focused.
Setting challenging yet realistic and achievable goals.
Understand and co-operative investors – Creating trust and credibility.
Special entrepreneurship fostering programs – for example, The Knowledge Mine incubator program based at KOM.

What path do you suggest for would-be Omani entrepreneurs?
Vision, commitment and passion in your idea.
Don't invent needs – identify customer needs – develop solutions for the customer needs.
Flexibility to change their plans in the light of the developments.
Company of like minded and committed people.
What are the drawbacks to being an entrepreneur?
Some of the drawbacks of being an entrepreneur include:
High financial risk – your personal funds and assets are invested in the start up capital.
Fixed income insecurity – no monthly salary and associated allowances that give the comfort of a fixed income to offset your fixed expenses (rent, mortgage, car loan, school fees, utility bills, etc.)
Social sacrifices – inability to build or maintain a stable family / social relationships, based on fixed regular working hours.

How do you recognize the next big thing?
Well, that's for you to guess and me to know! More seriously, I presume that recognizing the next big thing will never be as obvious as it may seem. A crystal ball could come in handy. History is full of run-away successes that were dismissed as frivolous at the time - IBM, Kodak and GE never believed that photocopier machines could have a business future; Xerox never believed that there could be a market for computers; even the Chairman of IBM apparently believed that there was probably a world market for only 5 computers !

One of the critical differentiators will be the commitment of the core promoters. Entrepreneurship is based on the promoter’s vision for a particular product or service and the vision itself is based on providing solutions to the needs of customers. Successful entrepreneurs don't invent needs but identify products or/and services that will serve the needs.