Recently I was fortunate to attend a good friend of mine’s wedding in Bali. He’s a partner at a well-known law firm in Singapore, and many of the attendees were merchant bankers, venture capitalists and other people in the finance space.
Talking business with them was very different from talking business with most business owners. There was no talk of operations, or tactics, it was all about moving the pieces around to put deals together to create value, in terms of business valuations.
It made me realise how much we are limited by our own perspectives; things that we absolutely believe to be true, are, and also are not.
One perspective in life is to finish school then get a trade. That’s good advice, and bad advice.
Another perspective is to get a tertiary education then get a job at a large company. Again, that’s good advice, and bad advice.
Another perspective is to start your own business and grow that. That was my perspective. Once again, that’s good advice, and bad advice.
Another perspective is to control the capital and to use that capital to put together deals that create value.
All advice is founded on perspective. Perspective is often created by your upbringing and your peer group. Whether that perspective is right or wrong, however, has nothing to do with your upbringing or peer group and everything to do with your personal aspirations and goals.
All these approaches are merely vehicles, and they all have different destinations. Being conscious of the destination your vehicle is taking you in might be something you want to think about.
Because you can always change vehicles.