Chinese Venture

A crisis provides opportunity for growth
- Interview with Verne Harnish, founder of Entrepreneurs' Organization

Verne Harnish is the founder of the world-renowned Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO), an international, non-profit organization which provides a peer-to-peer learning platform for entrepreneurs all over the world. He has served this organization for over 20 years and has witnessed the fast growth of global enterprises in the last two decades. Verne said, "I tell entrepreneurs what they should worry about is not the economic crisis, but how they can survive it. We have to learn from Google, Facebook and Microsoft, who had survived crisis in the past and emerged stronger." The rapid rise of Google, eBay and Amazon post 2000 has proven that in times of a crisis, not only do you have to be on the defense, you also need to strike. What entrepreneurs need to think of, is not merely how to survive the crisis, but also how to rise above competition. Verne Harnish suggested three strategies for businesses: first of all, entrepreneurs must be good at unravelling industry trends hidden by new technologies and opportunities; secondly, businesses need to promote their strengths; and lastly, pressure must be imposed on business rivals.