The private enterprises are developing quickly in the spring tide of the market economy. Now due to all kinds of factors such as inside, outside, social and economic reasons, etc, most of the private enterprises are suffering from great venture, much risk, short life, which have already been paid more attention by the government and society. Taking advantage of the investigation made by chairman Sun from All-China Federation of Industry & Commerce to our city, I¡¯d like to express a few opinions mainly aiming at how the entrepreneur itself to establish the risk-prevention consciousness. Hereinafter discuss it together with the readers, if there is something inappropriate, your kindly correction is requested.

I. Be Good at Self-Control

Generally speaking, more achievement will bring more confidence, even overconfidence. It seems normal, but you should learn self-control. Most bankrupt enterprises had a splendid period and the turning point was always from the peak of the splendid period. The owners of the private enterprises usually felt that they could do everything when their enterprises reach the height of its grandeur. They always only seek rapid growth and wildest diversification and do not prefer taking more pains on ¡°exquisiteness, fine and profession¡±, just because ¡°exquisiteness, fine and profession¡± can make man feel tired and you can not easily get achievements in short time, which just like reading books. It is interested to broadly read but tired to read carefully with heart, therefore Mr. Zheng Banqiao stands for ¡°When you read a book, you should use your heart and dip into it¡±. You will become to be the person like Mr. Yu Pingbo if you read the Chinese classic novel "Dream of Red Mansion" carefully for one hundred times. However in fact many people has already read ¡°Dream of Red Mansion¡±, but there are only a few experts on it. Even with overload risk-prevention consciousness, some owners of private enterprises rest too much confidence to the past experience so that it is easy to fall into danger. The small and medium-sized private enterprises which have passed the start period get better and feel better, so the situation mentioned above will happen and this needs us to pay more attention.

From the products¡¯ improvement point, the small and medium-sized private enterprises should care three points. Firstly, regularly perfect and improve the quality, performance and service of our old products and take more pains with ¡°exquisiteness, fine and profession¡± because it is the base for us to live and it takes up a large proportion of the contract amount, so there is no reason why we do not do it well. Secondly, extend old products, going from easy to hard. In small difficult circumstances of technique and technology innovation, you can gradually perfect the series, specification and variety and you can expand the clients in the close fields. Finally, if circumstance permits, strengthen the power of development of totally new products and reserve of technology with an eye to the next three to five years. Constantly seek new increasing points for the enterprises¡¯ long-term improving. It is the connotation of ¡°Strive for survival on the basis of quality, development on the basis of variety¡±. It is also the general rules in this field that support new products by old products. No existing, no improving. Bad fame will make clients leave and make business down if the quality and service are worse and worse. Even though the new products are made out with many difficulties, no one will buy them then. So the three points: perfecting, extending and totally developing should be put into the right place and order. There are lots of examples both in Europe, America countries, and Tai Wai, Wenzhou City, stating that the small and medium-sized enterprises can exist permanently depending on exquisiteness, fine and profession. The Dell¡¯s direct marketing and build-to-order model is the pioneer of exquisiteness, fine and profession. More lessons can be drawn for the enterprises¡¯ existing and improving.

There is another opinion in this industry: mature enterprises should learn the subtraction and study their own fields carefully, do not overreach themselves. Even you can say that when the enterprises know what they should not do, they really get matured. Otherwise, more is covered but less is strengthened so that it is impossible to making up the core competitive power. The characteristics of the strong enterprises in western developed countries are specialization cooperation, socialization cooperation and internationalization cooperation while we pay more attention to small scale with extensive cover and also large scale with extensive cover. The enterprises in China always fixed on how the others make money and neglect the capability of themselves and the opportunity around their necks. One good enterprise usually has its bright subject and predominant characteristic. For example, ¡°Disney¡± is working on the business of happiness and ¡°Heineken¡± is seeking younger, fashion and sports. They all have their own special economic scale strength. An enterprise must not become one that does not look like anything. In fact, it is a great waste if you occupy more of the social resources but you can not make better use of it. It makes no benefit for others, yourself and also the society. From the point of benefit, the enterprises should firstly care about the fund flow, then the profit and the last is the improving speed. To the enterprises which have already formed a certain scale, the order above can not be reversed. Sometimes over-fast improvement will lead to a loss of balance of the relative resources then the danger will creep into without any sense and the theories are almost alike. Many enterprises, especially the private ones, always put maximum profit in the first place. It is no problem, but it should be based on the primary premise that is to satisfy employer, employee, clients and society complying with the national and international principles, because the four sides are the ¡°¡±four shareholders¡± of enterprises and the returns of every side should be considered fairly. All bad behavior must be prohibited such as owning wages to or docking employees, cheating clients by fake and shoddy products and tax evasion. The entrepreneurs should seriously control themselves at any time, especially when they are facing the benefit. ¡°We must do good rather than evil, on however humble a scale.¡± To abide the law, to be trustable and to have moral are the base of the enterprises¡¯ sustained healthy development. The punishment must be taken against the enterprises that break the law; the opposition of the public will be aroused by the disobeying of moral and honesty, all of which will push the enterprises into hell. In a word, it is the basic skills for entrepreneurs to control themselves and to resist the temptation. There is a Chinese old proverb that ¡°The wings should come down if the birds prepare to fly, and the feet should be prepared well if you want to run¡± If the small enterprises need to keep the profits to live, the large enterprises should also care the rules and the responsibility. It also needs self-control to make a change from pursuit of nothing but maximum profit at the beginning to all-out seeking of maximum value during the strong period.

II. Be Brave to Overcome Ourselves

Two thousand years ago, the great thinker in pre-Qin Dynasty, Mr. Lao-tzu had already said that we should overcome ourselves. In chapter 33 of the book ¡°Lao-tzu¡±, there is a saying ¡°He is clever who knows others, wise who knows himself; strong who wins others, and great if he wins himself; He is truly rich who desires nothing and ambitious who is persistent to everything. He can exist for a long time if he does not lose his objectives and orienting and he is longevous who dies but his spirit is existed forever.¡± The ideas of the saint are already in advance of the time, space and border limit and have a great guidance meaning in real life. Our young people should study and interprete the great minds deeply then we can benefit a lot from it. Chairman Mao and Mr. Jiyu Ren both studied and learned a lot from the great thinker Lao-tzu deeply and they used them in reality. So we should make the past serve the present and learn them harder. ¡°He is great who wins himself¡±, it is certainly that the person who can win himself is strong but too hard to be realized. In life, nothing is more difficult than to change our own habit. For example, smoking is a bad habit and there are a lot of people who want to give up it, but the tobacco companies can still sell them to every place as usual even though there are a good many advertisements of NOT SMOKING. The great irony is that the warning on the cigarette packet ¡°smoking is harmful to health¡± has become the ¡°decoration¡± which is ignored by the smokers. The bad habit seems like simple but it is so stubborn. Is there really no method to get rid of it? Yes, there is. Most of us have already visited large shopping malls before and we all know that in the shopping malls there is almost no one smoking and also there is no warning of ¡°NO SMOKING¡±. I believe that there must be smokers but why is there such a phenomenon?

It shows that the external condition has positive guidance to the change of people¡¯s personal habits. The psychology that to do as many people do is more useful than simple control. As to the enterprise¡¯s management, why do not we take advantage of external conditions and good affairs to positively guide ourselves and then with opening mind to study our situation and to gradually drop the old habit and ideas which is inappropriate to the occasion so that we advance with times. And of course, with self-discipline and persevering, I believe that our private enterprises can win ourselves and become to be one of the strongest competitors in the multi-economy and would not always be short life. Now I just make a small change of Mr. Lao-tzu¡¯s saying ¡°He is longevous who dies but his spirit is existed forever¡°. To private enterprises it should be ¡°He is Longevous if he can find and correct his mistakes and also he is longevous if he can overcome himself¡±. (This is challenge to the Saint. How dare you say that? Let it be. In fact, though it is different, it can achieve the same effect. I am not planning to offend the Saint. Just a joke)

What are external conditions and good affairs? We may go out and invite someone in, flip-through and take a look of others, approach to and take part in others. I will not say much about the first items just explain ¡°approach to others¡±. It means to be close to the excellent enterprises to learn some experience; ¡°Take part in others¡± means to ¡°mix with¡± some excellent internal or external enterprises by changing the shares. During the mutual-penetration, we can feel more positive guidance through comparing with some excellent internal or external enterprises. Our courage and consciousness may be drawn out by the hard work.

¡°Simply something by cutting out the superfluous just like the trees in deep autumn and do something unconventional or unorthodox just like the flowers in February.¡± However now it is not deep autumn and the branches and leaves are luxuriant but well-spaced, therefore just like see the trunk of the trees through leafy trees, we can make a general analysis to see if there is any other habits that the private enterprises can improve.

For the small and medium-sized enterprises especially the private ones, some original shareholders are always considering that the enterprises belong to themselves like their own children and they have the right to manage the enterprises but others can not do so. Is that right£¿Why can not others manage it? There is no doubt that original shareholders have some special quality and know-how which are greatly useful at the beginning of the business. However, when the enterprises develop to certain scale, we find in fact we are still lack of much knowledge and ability and can not make up it in short time. Why not appoint a better daring manager if we can not manage the large enterprises well by ourselves. Why not change the share structure when we find the shareholders¡¯ knowledge is single. Why to seek honor together with others when we find that our knowledge and ability falls behind. Why can not we fall back courageously? Is it a good situation that I am smiling in the flowers when the flowers have an excellent blossom? Why not try the new idea of hierarchy management when we find that the shareholders¡¯ understanding about right is single? Why not further perfect the governance structure? And is it right that the big manager is less powerful than the little manager who is directly in charge of the position? In fact, we can try it when time is proper as long as we have the courage to win ourselves.

The entrepreneurs with high level always wish to make use of the managers with much higher level to build their own team to cooperate and compensate with each other. They always wish to integrate and make use of all kinds of good resources to accelerate their improvement. The resources include materials and immaterial part. To a certain extent, the enterprise is not alive if the share structure has not been changed for ages and the enterprise is not steady if the share structure is changed continually. In general, the share structure should comply with the different phases of improvement. The share structure of ¡°BENZ¡± is changing and also the ¡°Volkswagen¡± and ¡°Porsche¡±. Different enterprises should size up the situation and make decisions depending on circumstances. This is also one concrete show of resources integration. All in all, on the premise of overcoming self-satisfaction and establishing risk consciousness, the successful entrepreneurs should find differences by contrasting to excellent enterprises, keep advantages and find lacks, open talks to pilot the road and make decisions as per the problems. On the sustained development road, we will try our best to make less strategic mistakes, not to walk on the wrong direction road and make the enterprises remain invincible in the complicated domestic and international situation.

III. Be Wise to Protect Ourselves

Enterprises especially small and medium-sized ones are still suffering from much risk. We usually complain that the loss of talent is very serious, business secret and intellectual property rights can not be protected effectively.

When the talented persons leave, we should not only be angry with their unfaith. The key point is that the cohesion and attraction of the enterprises are not strong enough. We should analyze if our own assignment system is reasonable and if the performance evaluation is good, if the culture is accepted, if the strategy positioning is appropriate and if the value orientation of the enterprises is consistent with the talents. It is inevitable that the talents will leave if all above can not be disposed well. It is also hard for the small and medium-sized private enterprises to keep their business secrets and their intellectual property right especially that the information can be transferred more conveniently through computers after computers are applied to the business. Many small and medium-sized enterprises¡¯ management of computers is ¡°opening¡± and never takes any measures to keep secret. Actually, we can build an internal LAN to save all the electronic documents in server and adopt proper protection measures. I think it is unreasonable if you complain about the stealing in case of no locking the door. Besides these technical measures, we should take corresponding measures on management, regime and system. For example, the innovation members should be separated according to their majors, reduce the number of people who knows the technical secret, perfect the borrowing system, set up rewards and penalties system of keeping secret of the drawing and sign the agreement with the employee to reduce the loss to the lowest level. The situation will get better with the improvement of protection of intellectual property right. On the other hand, when the technology changes quickly and competition is getting tougher today, the only way for the survival of enterprises is to erect the principle ¡°I have what others don¡¯t have, I have better ones while others have and I have newer ones while others have better ones¡±. We should speed up the innovation and exchange. From the point of philosophy, it is also the power of pushing the enterprises to apply the new technology, defending risks, strengthening the core competitive ability and satisfying the clients.

Another main measure to protect ourselves is to learn and use policy and laws. It is not enough for enterprises only depending on themselves. They should make good use of outside power. They should learn to protect themselves by laws and try to get more policy support. They could never care about nothing else but only the business. They should learn and make good use of inside and outside regulations and laws. They should grasp all the interrelated domestic and international information and developing trend so that we can advance with times and development of the situation and will not be washed out by vigorous development of the times. In this way, we can achieve the intended purpose that protects and develops ourselves. From the point of life, the owners of the small and medium-sized private enterprises are usually feel superior and lucky than others around them, which is not proper. We should treat property and honor with a normal heart and should refrain from rash action. ¡°Someone with arrogant is easy to fall behind¡±! Less flaunt causes less contradiction then you can get more self-protection, just like what Mr. Runfa Zhou (famous film actor) said with modesty and smile ¡°I am a green guy and please take care of me¡±. In fact, this tell us that we should straighten out and coordinate all kinds of relationship and get well along with others. It is also one of the bases to protect ourselves. We and others can mutually beget each other. We should also have the consciousness of preventing risks. The biggest risk of enterprises is that they can not realize it. The entrepreneurs should get eyes in their heads and keep an ear to the ground. Our sense organs should often be practiced to get sharper, richer and more efficient. It is impossible to be always doing what you said, but you have to think it over. If we do like this, the small and medium-sized private enterprises will keep healthy and keep a new balance in the quick improvement.

IV. Be Strict to Evaluate Ourselves

This is a recognized fact that Chinese private enterprises is suffering from great venture, much risk and short life. How to avoid risks, how to deal with crisis and how to grow healthily are the problems that should be seriously discussed. Knowing all sides of ourselves and seriously valuing ourselves can help us to show our advantages, to compensate our lacks then we can take correct measures to avoid making wrong decisions. It is easy to open a shop but hard to keep it always open. In the ancient book ¡°Zi Zhi Tong Jian¡±, the king of Tang Dynasty, Shimin Li summarized the guarding motto that ¡°The man who takes copper as a mirror can adjust his clothes, who takes past as a mirror can see the replacement, and those who takes others as a mirror can know gains and pains.¡± Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat. Firstly, the entrepreneurs should do like this. However, it is really hard to correctly know and evaluate ourselves. ¡°Persons who are involved in are confused and the persons who are onlookers can see clearly¡±, and this tell us that we should communicate with others frequently, organize more democracy meeting, often ask the professors to analyze and often attend the activities organized by government. We can put our heads together, expand our thought, listen to a wide range of opinions and collect information through all kinds of channels, then eliminating the false and retaining the true, discarding the dross and selecting the essential, proceeding from the one to the other and from the outside to the inside. If we can do always like this, we can substantiate and perfect our decisions and also can develop a new decision-making idea. This will make the enterprise¡¯s important decisions more democratic, more procedural and more scientific in order to avoid risks. The private enterprises have not got direct superior and all affairs are controlled by themselves. We will feel lonely if we are too independent. You will think of constraint if there is no constraint. Who can give indication and warning to the private enterprises to avoid risks and to know or evaluate themselves on time? I suggest that Federations of Industry and Commerce and United Front Work Department of every districts to be a new liberal and fashionable ¡°mother-in-law (constraint)¡± of privates enterprises, then give the private enterprises one real home belonging to themselves.