The Entrepreneurial Traits: Ability to Learn from Mistakes

Ability to learn from mistakes is one of the soft skills or entrepreneurial traits which every businessman and entrepreneurs must have. According to the Mac Millan Dictionary, mistake can be defined as something that we have not done correctly, or something we say or think that is not correct. Therefore, the phrase ‘ability to learn from mistakes’ means we take an action, rearrange and make a plan or decision to make a correction from what we have done before.

Harsukhlal Maganlal Kamdar is an entrepreneur who create and also a manager director of Kamdar, clothing center in Malaysia. He was born in Gujerat, India and reached in Malaysia in 1941. He just further his study until the secondary school in form five because he want to find a job and get a work. He start with import and export business but he have to stop his business because of the World War II. After that, he tried to seek opportunities for his business by cycling his bicycle 20 to 30 mile every day around Pulau Pinang. But his effort does not work.

Based on the text book, Prinsip-prinsip Keusahawanan: Pendekatan Gunaan Edisi Kedua, page 43, it shows how Harsukhlal Maganlal Kamdar does not give up and he tried to learn from his mistakes improve his business. He takes the chance to help his brother in the clothing business at Ipoh and from here Kamdar be a famous and the center of clothing business in Malaysia. From the first small shop at Ipoh, Perak, he and his brother expand their branch at Pulau Pinang, Singapura and also at Kuala Lumpur in 1973.

However, he must face with much kind of problems with the economic crisis in 1977 and the issues of credit terms in his business before he can be a successful entrepreneur. Nowadays, Kamdar become a largest clothing center with 18 branches and 1000 workers. In this book also state that, he does not afraid to make a mistake because from his wrong doing, he can learn to improve himself in his business.