THE MINDSET OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP


ALUMNI PERSPECTIVES


BY SUHAIL BINDRA ‘13


HKA values enabling students to translate their ideas into action. At HKA, that takes many forms such as exhibition, GIN, CAS and beyond. Alum Suhail Bindra ‘13 translated his ideas into action when he co-founded Eureka Consulting Group (www.ecg.hk), a student-led non-profit social enterprise that provides consulting services to NGO’s and charitable organizations in Hong Kong.


Suhail studied at HKA for 12 years and graduated in 2013. He is now a law student at the University of Hong Kong.


An entrepreneurial mindset is premised upon seeing the world as one very big opportunity. What distinguishes an entrepreneur from a mere opportunist is the ability to carry a vision into reality through careful planning and execution. An opportunist takes advantage of situations as and when they arise and benefits in short-term windfall gains. Successful entrepreneurs create opportunities for themselves and others where none previously existed through identifying a need and finding a way to meet it. I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of entrepreneurship, and through personal experience, have found that it is more of an art than a science, with luck being a predominant feature.


In my first year at HKU, I became the Co- Founder and Managing Director of the Eureka Consulting Group (www.ecg.hk), a student-led non-profit social enterprise that provides consulting services to NGO’s and charitable organizations in Hong Kong. With the help of our solicitors at Skadden, we recently registered as a charity. Over the last two years, our 50 members have served seven NGO clients, totalling a contribution of 2,000 pro bono hours at a market value of


approximately 150,000 HKD. Our consulting services include advice on marketing strategy, financial administration, IT, fundraising strategy, and targeted research in other areas. We recruit students from most faculties at HKU. I really think students should make the most of their university experience by doing something different and unrelated to their major. You can’t know something until you try it.


Studying law has been both helpful and unhelpful in the process of setting up and running Eureka. Legal training in contract, commercial and corporate law is practical and inevitably useful when conducting activities of a business-like nature. However, it enables one to see risks where others might not, possibly stifling creativity and giving rise to a risk-averse attitude. Lawyers typically learn to play within the rules of the game and are reluctant to push boundaries. Who can blame them? Managing risk features in their job description, not assuming it.


Eureka works because it creates mutually advantageous outcomes for the three major stakeholders under it: students, clients and professional mentors. Students have the


benefit of excess time and the drive to gain experience to propel their future careers, NGO’s & charities are always on the lookout for any help they can get, and professionals love nurturing students, or alternatively and more cynically, enjoy the attention and admiration of youngsters. Everybody wins. Understanding, recognizing and implementing this model is the perfect example of entrepreneurship at its best. The needs of the three stakeholders are identified above, and the Eureka framework meets these needs through careful planning and execution that results in more than just short-term windfall gains. This isn’t mere opportunism.


Academics are important. There is no substitute for professional skills. However, fostering soſt-skills, valuing relationships, networking, and of course, entrepreneurialism are not to be forgotten. I don’t like the phrase, ‘thinking outside the box’ because the phrase is so ‘inside the box’. You know what I mean? The point is, be creative and do something new, something that excites you and something that hasn’t been done before. If you lack opportunities, create your own. You (probably) won’t regret it.


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