I was pondering whether I possessed entrepreneurial traits: am I really future oriented? Am I a moderate risk taker? Am I confident in my ability to succeed? These days I feel more risk adverse than anything else and seriously lack self confidence. Unemployment - and extra post pregnancy weight- does this to you unfortunately...In my self-analysis I did manage to tick 'high level of energy', sigh of relief.
One thing leading to another I started to reflect on my previous dabbles with entrepreneurship - which all failed miserably.My first venture lasted 2 hours. I was 10 years old. The idea was fairly simple: cut roses that were hanging out of private gardens, make bouquets and sell them door to door for 10 French Francs (a bit less than $2). As far as I was concerned this whole thing was legal and a rather opportunistic business idea. The problem was that I solicited my mum's friend and within minutes (trust the Lao community to get news around) my parents heard of my little entreprise and put a lid on it illico presto. I had made a rookie mistake: targeting the wrong customer. I thought that because she knew me she would buy. But she did not want flowers and she loaded the fact I was walking around trying to sell my bouquets! I was an embarrassment for my parents and my community because people would think we were being malnourished.
I cannot pretend it was any way like a social enterprise since all I wanted was cash to buy candies.
A couple of years later I did took part without realizing it in my first social enterprise, a family business. My mum was pregnant with her fifth child and my dad had just lost his job as a security guard. Things were pretty tough; that is when they decided to meet the needs of Lao communities living far from Asian grocery stores. (note: my childhood friend Khonesavane created an awesome initiative Lao food in Cork (check her Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lao-Food-In-Cork/184219828297766) to answer a similar issue by cooking and distributing delicious dishes. They bought a van and every Friday would go to Tang Freres supermarket to buy some coriander, mint, bean sprouts, sirarcha chili sauce, nuoc nam, 25kg bags of sticky rice etc. Every Friday evening my siblings and I would make bouquets of herbs and 1kg bags of sticky rice. On Saturday my dad would go to different villages and sell to Lao and Vietnamese communities who were deprived from the very ingredients that were the pinnacles of their daily meals. Without even being aware of it my parents became overnight social entrepreneurs. Unfortunately only few months later they had to close shop, cash management problems (they did have 5 children to feed), a regular death sentence for small businesses, and an unfortunate car accident put an end to the family Lao van adventure.
This did not stop my crazy parents though who kept offering catering services (Lao sausages, beef jerky, spring rolls etc.) for weddings and other events and here we were my sister and I wrapping hundreds and hundreds spring rolls on Friday evenings! My parents never considered entrepreneurship as a long term and full time career option but rather a way to get cash when things were financially hard. As soon as they found stable employment all these ventures stopped. I did not even tell them about my aspirations because they would say: 'This is no serious job. What is the point of your 3 Masters degrees if all you want is to set up shop????'.
However now that I am embarking on this journey as a social entrepreneur I am wondering I should not thank (or blame...) them. Perhaps my parents not only taught me to be a half competent cook with all these crazy food businesses but also gave me the taste for entrepreneurship...
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