A Report Comparing and Contrasting Two Entrepreneurs (Research Paper Sample)

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A report comparing and contrasting two entrepreneurs
The world of business is very competitive. It is surrounded by many uncertainties. A person who is entering the business arena cannot predict his or her success with any degree of certainty. Although an entrepreneur is hopeful of success when starting a business, many times, he may be apprehensive when selecting the idea to invest in. The reason for this is that one is surrounded with different ideas that are competing for scarce capital to invest. The success of a business idea is influenced by a multiple of factors; internal and external; controllable and uncontrollable; and many others. As such, entrepreneurship is like gambling; their winning depend on the cards they have; how many right cards. When we talk of entrepreneurs, we are addressing the issue of business-starters. These are people who are risk-takers; in pursuit of quenching their curiosity for the plausibility of new business ideas, they venture into un-tampered business areas without minding the results.Coupled with creativity,they follow their passion and zeal. This report will try to analyze the reasons for the success or failure of business start-ups by comparing and contrasting two entrepreneurs. The report shall walk you through the journeys of Jack Yu Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group in China, and Jianlin Wang, founder of Wanda Group in the same country.
Jack Yu Ma
Jack Ma was born in 1964 in Hangzhou, China. His parents earned a living through traditional storytelling and singing ballads. He had a small bodily physique in comparison to his peers. Academically, he was weak in mathematics, a situation that made him flop twice in China’s College Entrance examinations. He only managed after the third attempt, which eventually enabled him to graduate from Hangzhou Teachers’ Institute in 1988 CITATION Jil14 \l 1033 (D'Onfro).During his lifetime as a student, he did not have English literacy. As a result, he used to go to a local hotel every day to learn English from the patrons. In pursuit of his quest for English literacy, he acquired a radio so that he could listen to English programs daily. After his graduation, he secured himself a teaching job; he taught English at a local University where he only managed a measly $12 per month. The export boom of China made him set up a translation Company that enabled him to travel to the US in 1995. This first visit made him learn the internet, as a result of which he started China pages, an internet business. Business frustrations forced him to partner with China Telecom, thereby losing control of the firm. In 1999, Ma, together with his friends came up with another internet business idea. This move saw the inception of today’s Alibaba Group. It is a global conglomerate of an online market that lets exporters post product listings that buyers could browse. This marketplace started attracting traders globally. During its first years of inception, the company grew very fast, but like other enterprises, it almost crossed doors at around 2001due to financial hurdles. Today, the Company brags of a host of subsidiaries that add up to its revenue and capital base. It operates the world’s largest online and mobile marketplace that’s founded on eCommerce. It is worth over $160 billion CITATION Jil14 \l 1033 (D'Onfro). His stake in the Group is 8.9%, whose estimated value is $14.5billion.
Jianlin Wang
He was born in Chengdu in China in 1954. In 1970, he enlisted in People’s Liberation Army in 1970, when China was undergoing the Cultural Revolution CITATION Mal13 \l 1033 (Moore). He confessed of a humble beginning because as a young boy, their family had to scramble to eat. He worked in PLA for 16years before venturing into business. Following his exit from the Army, he took a city government job in Dalian. Three years into this job, he rose to the rank of General Manager of Xigang District Residential Development Company. This Company, under his auspices, reorganized into Dalian Wanda in 1992. CITATION Rus13 \l 1033 (Flannery).The years after this to date saw the expansion of the Company into it is today. By 2013, the Group had eighty malls. He is today reputed as the founder and chairperson of Dalian Wanda Group, China’s biggest commercial real estate developer CITATION Rus13 \l 1033 (Flannery). A private Company, Wanda Group transformed into a household name in China. Following China’s plea for motherland Companies to promote culture, Dalian Wang Group is today investing in museums, theaters and galleries. What factors have led to the fast success of the two entrepreneurs?
A detailed introspection of these two entrepreneurs bring qualities of comparison and contrast. The first comparison is evidently clear that they had humble beginnings. Right from their youth, they developed guts to make ends meet. The stamina for struggle enabled them to persevere through hardships. Jack Ma was feeble and weak academically, Wang’s parents could barely provide necessities like food. This situation presumably hardened their children to survive in turbulent times. Probably out of this, they had a natural resolve or attitude to pursue their passion to the bitter end. In other words, they had a positive attitude and were determined to follow their dreams. Quoting Jack Ma’s speech as he introduced the business ethos to his employees, he said:"We will make it because we are young, and we never, never give up," CITATION Jil14 \l 1033 (D'Onfro).  This attitude propelled them to be initiative and creative, a very active strategy in business innovation. Any business requires an incubation period before it is considered unsuccessful.
The two entrepreneurs are innovative. Jack Ma ventured in a line that was unheard of in China. The internet was a very novel idea. In his pursuit to connect investors in China with the rest of the world, he took the risk by investing in this novel idea. Wang also gambled by investing in a field that was risky. Real estate was a preserve of those who had knowledge in the construction industry, as opposed to his military training.
Both investors endeavored to reach a global clientele. To realize this dream, Jack Ma developed a website for his business.In this way, the global market became an online village through fast-time communication. Wanda Group would be unsuccessful without fast communication via the internet. In this way, buyers and sellers are connected in time.
It would not escape the attention of the reader that the two investors diversified their investments. Looking into Alibaba Group, it is a conglomerate of businesses: Alibaba.com; Taobao.com; andTmall.com; Ali.com;juhuasuan.com;1688.com; AliExpress;Alimama.com;aliyun.com;ANT Financial and CIANIAO. These Companies, either as subsidiaries or affiliates, advance the aspirations and goals of the entire Group. This is a vital strategy of broadening the catchment area or area of operation of the group. In 2013,Taobao and Tmall managed to bring to the Group’s transaction basket$ 240billion. For Wang Group, besides investing in real estate, it also operates in the entertainment industry. He has invested heavily in the movie business, luxury travel and leisure abroad. His aggressive diversification campaign is highlighted by his recent investment in sixty-two story hotel and apartment tower in London. The acquisition of British yachtmaker Sunseeker for added credit to his diversification portfolio.Diversification as a strategy has seen a reduction of operation costs, therefore, an enabler to the gaining of a competitive edge of rival companies. In this way, Alibaba Group outrivaled eBay in the field of online marketing in China in the mid-2000’s CITATION Jil14 \l 1033 (D'Onfro).
The two entrepreneurs are aggressive in their investment strategies. Despite pitfalls leading to a flop in his first and second ventures, Jack Ma dares to venture in a field never again dealt with in China. For Jianlin Wang, he served the PLA for sixteen years before venturing in the business world, an area in which he was green. It was out of their overzealous nature coupled with the daredevil attitude that they have succ...