Essay

Rollercoaster ride

By Anita Lee

About five years ago, my husband, Mike, and I took the plunge to start our own businesses — the rollercoaster ride was about to begin.

Bear in mind, the last thing that Mike wanted to do was to start a business while in Japan. Being the boss of our own new venture sounds great in theory, but coming from an entrepreneurial family, I was acutely aware of the risks and difficulties involved. My parents had also worked together so I knew the strain it could place on a marriage. Raising a young child is difficult enough, but add to that start-ups, no stable income and limited family support and the rollercoaster analogy becomes clear.

So, of course, we climbed on board and started not one, but two separate businesses.

Initially we worked independently but quickly realised competing for the same limited resources would not work in the long run. Two years ago, we made the difficult decision to shift our primary focus on one business, merging our operations. Interestingly enough, this step made life simultaneously more difficult and easier. I was so unsure of how it would work out that I gave Mike a month-to-month lease when he first moved his team into my office! Eventually we figured out how to best combine not only our respective strengths and weaknesses but our entire office infrastructure.

Over the years, I have become much more flexible, tenacious and patient — all important character traits to develop if you have your own business! Sadly, we started our businesses at the same time as three other friends launched their own ventures and today we are the only ones still operating.

Many times it would have been much easier to give up and take a regular job but we chose to continue. Either I am incredibly patient or plain stupid — the jury is still out! As a professional accountant I am naturally conservative, but even I underestimated the cost and time it would take to build our businesses. We funded everything, including our household requirements, with our savings for four years. Despite the very "bumpy" ride, we never once considered outside investment.

I have never worked so hard in my life, nor have I ever faced so many challenges. But I love the fact that I learn something new every day and awake each morning with a clear sense of purpose. More importantly, I know that our efforts are for our son's future. When I finally do leave Japan, I will have helped build a business in the world's second-largest economy. Now that's quite a ride.

Shukan ST: Oct. 17, 2008

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