Businessman warns of the pitfalls of success

Shen Guojun, president of China Yintai Holdings, gave a keynote speech to more than 400 business people from Zhejiang province in Beijing. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

One of the secrets of being a successful business person is to be self-disciplined, says the businessman Shen Guojun.

Shen, president of China Yintai Holdings and chairman of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, said those who wanted to succeed also needed to stick firmly to the laws when doing business.

Shen made the remarks in an address to more than 400 businesspeople from Zhejiang province at the Zhejiang Entrepreneurs Forum in Beijing on Saturday.

Some businesspeople were apt to lose their moral compass once they had tasted success, he said, but they needed to be self-disciplined and to place a high premium on their reputations.

"I think we should always have credibility and abide by the laws, and cherish our reputation. Some businesspeople can easily get lost. But can you afford to lose your credibility and self-discipline and beat the competition only as a result of unscrupulous means? For me the answer to that is an emphatic no."

Business people from Zhejiang form the largest group of successful entrepreneurs categorized by province and region, in China, among them the founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma.

There are also about 10 million Zhejiang business people active inside the province and elsewhere. Of China's top 500 private companies, about 134 were founded by Zhejiang businesspeople. In Beijing alone Zhejiang companies have invested more than 500 billion yuan, and created more than 1.5 million jobs, according to Shen.

Shen said businesspeople from Zhejiang tend to be hard-working and resilient, are trusted, work well with one another and are innovative.

Apart from adhering to good business practices, all businesspeople should care more for others, he said, including their employees, thus setting an example to other companies and promoting social progress. Companies big and small need to be involved in more altruism to repay society for what it has given them, he said.

Shen said that China's reform and opening up have created good business environment, with better policies, legal system and administration, so businesspeople should have confidence in the country and the government, and it is important for them to support the development of China.

To do that, businesspeople should first operate well their companies.

"Our most important job is to run our business well, and then we would be able to do things that are beneficial to the country and people, such as paying more taxes and creating more jobs," he said.