The Importance of an Investor’s Vision

In 2005, I was still a student of the third year at the campus of the Department of Statistics, Padjadjaran University (Unpad) Bandung. Then a friend of the same generation on campus, named Ivan, invited me to join the student association, Himpunan Mahasiswa Statistika (Himasta) Unpad. Previously they chose Ivan as the vice head of the Himasta, and he was building his team by recruiting other students, including me, to join the Himasta. Then, I was wondering, ‘What will I do in Himasta? I dislike joining an organization.’

Then Ivan replied, ‘Don’t you like trading, Guh? I have an idea, How if we make a new department for Himasta, called the Department of Entrepreneurship. Its jobs are trading, doing business or anything related to the business field, but for Himasta. The department has not ever existed before and I think that it is worth to make one, who knows if it may spread the passion of entrepreneurship among statistic students’. Then most students had already known me as a small-scale entrepreneur. I was the only student who still had the time to sell this and that, when other students spent their time analyzing numbers, making researches, and drawing charts.

And even though I might want to join campus organizations (people said if the organizational skills would be useful in the work field), but I assumed if organization was a time waster, in which its only job was meeting in the secretariat without doing any real action in the field, while I like doing outdoor action. However, because Ivan was one of my best friends and we often played Play Station in a rental together, then I agreed with his invitation to join Himasta as the head of Entrepreneurship Department. Then I recruited some younger students to become members of the new Department.

Unfortunately because I engaged with my business, then for the next few months, the Department of Entrepreneurship had no action at all. Then, I had a meeting with my members to discuss the matter, and the discussion was: ‘Our management at the Himasta will end in a few months (the younger students will replace us), but this Department has not ever made any action. But frankly, I also have no idea what to do, because there were nothing to learn from the previous generation, and indeed because before our times, the Department of Entrepreneurship did not exist.’

‘However, I want this department continues its management to the next organization, to spread the passion of entrepreneurship itself. Because as far as I know, ‘being an entrepreneur’ is not a popular trend in the statistics campus, only few students want to trade. Even the successful graduates work as professional or bureaucrats, instead of being entrepreneur.’

Then I continued the discussion, ‘I have a vision that this department will be a place where the students of statistics Unpad can study business, and from this department, we will have a lot entrepreneur, who will come to alumni reunions or college seminars with titles as entrepreneurs, to share the motivation for their friends to become a trader or a businessman. As Indonesia has too many job seekers, it has few employers.’

Then the discussion settled one thing to do: the entrepreneurship department was going to buy a glass counter shelf, like the one used by someone who sells phone services. It would be placed in the lobby of statistics campus and used by Himasta to sell universities accessories, at least to the students of the faculty. Sadly, until the end of management, I and my team could not collect Rp600,000 to buy the counter. But before the younger student replaced me, I asked one member of the department to take the head position (I forgot his name) and to actualize the counter purchase. Fortunately, I felt the younger student I chose got excited when I was discussing how the counter could be the legacy the younger generations would remember the management of Himasta bought the counter in 2006.

Soon after that, they finally brought the counter to the campus and become the place for the organization members to sell accessories, stickers, mugs, etc.

Time passed. Several years later, the Department of Entrepreneurship invited me to give seminar and share motivation to the students at the statistics faculty of Unpad Jatinangor. And of course, I accepted the offer gladly, and I did not even tell them about the stock market at all but I shared my story as a small entrepreneur when I was studying. And in April this year, Ikatan Alumni Stat Unpad held a grand reunion in Bumi Sangkuriang, Bandung, where I attended the event. Then, I saw a glass counter with a board named 'the Entrepreneur Department of Himasta', which sold any campus accessories.

A mug with the logo of Himasta. Its price is only Rp20.000 (about US$ 1.5). I felt a bit dissapointed, because if the price had been Rp50.000 (US$ 3.5), they would have gained more profit. After all, the buyers are their seniors.

Thus, my vision the department of entrepreneur becoming the place for statistics students to study business, finally it becomes true. And I don’t know if there is a correlation or not, although my generation (I am the student of 2003), there are only two or three alumni who became entrepreneur (most of them work as government employees), but in the younger generations, the entrepreneurs increase. While I was giving a seminar in my value some time ago, I met a student of 2005 Unpad who became a successful owner of baby and toddler’s needs shops. Then he wanted to invest some of his earning to invest in the instrument of stock.

Okay, what is the main point of this discussion?

As the title above, we do not discuss the entrepreneurship, but the importance of a vision. The story above is an example how a vision made several years ago, eventually becomes true. When I have not put most of my time in stock market in 2009, I had been told that it was important to have a long-term vision, to give us any description what we will do for the next year's from now, and what contribution that we have to give to the people.

And its correlation with the stock investment is if you have a vision in the meaning of having an ability to see far ahead in the future, then you get two advantages. First, you may see what you become in the future, and it is important. By having a view or goal about ‘what I will become’ in yourself for the next 10 years, then the activities that you do will lead you to reach the goal (and this is what is called mission). And if you want to become a successful investor, then you have to know what you need to do. You need to start investing from now, keep practicing, keep learning, and have a time write and take a note of important matters that you practice when you invest (to be read and studied by you later, do you think why does Grandpa Warren writes annual letters every year?). And focus studying the investment techniques and methods you decide to have, whether it is value investing or another. Read more about following article: Investor’s Intrinsic Value.

But if you don not have any vision mentioned above, it means that you don’t have any purpose or goal. And if you don’t have any goal, then you don’t know what you have to do. Now imagine if you are a football player, but you do not know how to score a goal: Then where you are going to kick the ball?

Note: The next section of the article (the Importance of Investor’s Vision, Part 2), you can read it here.

Original article was written (in Indonesian Language) in June 5, 2016. For inquiries, please contact the author by email, teguh.idx@gmail.com.