Indonesian President Jokowi: My business failed three times

Indonesian President Joko Widodo. AP FILE PHOTO

JAKARTA—Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo told young entrepreneurs to maintain a fighting spirit when starting up a business, after sharing his own trials and tribulations in running a business.

“[Business failure] struck me three times. I lost control of my business, but, I managed to eventually get up stay up,” Jokowi told a national meeting of Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association’s ( Hipmi ) universities in Bandung, West Java, on Monday.

Jokowi told the meeting’s 4,000 participants not to fear failure.

He said that he understood how passionate many young entrepreneurs were to start businesses but they often found it hard to try again after experiencing failures.

“They (young entrepreneurs) often begin fast, on all cylinders, but down the track they lose control,” he was quoted by Antara as saying.

The former furniture businessman also advised the young entrepreneurs to take the plunge and to not spend too much time thinking.

“Don’t think too much, go for it. If you find trouble in the field, solve it immediately, otherwise it may trip you over. But, if you stumble, get up and never quit,” he said.

President Jokowi also emphasized the need to acquire knowledge, given the rapid changes in the world, especially regarding technological developments.

“You need to ready yourselves (to greater competition) as we have been opening up now. I believe our younger generation won’t give in easily. I believe that they are fighters who are ready to be on top of the competition,” he said, referring to the full implementation of the Asean Economic Community and other free-trade agreements, like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).