Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Speaking at the Bandirma September 17^th University Conference Hall, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that entrepreneurship starts with a dream. Stating that Christopher Columbus could not discover America if it were not imagination, Hisarcıklıoğlu urged young people to imagine without boundaries. Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that dreams and goals can only be reached by working hard. Hisarcıklıoğlu said that although there are many good ideas and dreams, 32 out of every 100 people are targeting entrepreneurship while only 10 of them act upon it. “If you do not move, you will live with your dreams! Nothing happens without work.”

Noting that one of the necessities for entrepreneurship is to bravery and risk taking, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Cowards can’t be entrepreneurs. This job is actually risk-taking and risk management. 60% of the 150 billion USD in exports are made by SMEs. We have courage in our mettle. If we did not have courage, we wouldn’t have come out of Central Asia and come here. We have ore; the ingenuity is working it.”

- Those who don’t give up win

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that there are failures as well as success in life: “The difference between the people who have achieved success and others is that they go on through failure without giving up. Forbes magazine research indicates that the common feature of successful entrepreneurs is that those who are not afraid of failing succeed. Actually, that's what it is.

Another rule is to innovate. It was a rule that you used to do business in the past: Do what your neighbor is doing. In Kayseri, they said do whatever the person driving Mercedes is doing. Now the rule is exactly the opposite: You need to do what nobody else is doing. This is the age of invention. Inventing is a different way of looking at the world. 80% of successful entrepreneurs in the world do not find anything new but do an existing thing better.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu underlined the fact that a very good idea is more important than capital. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Look, friends, your last worry is capital. It was a big question in our youth. Now it's out of the question. So if you have a good idea, there will be people willing to pay you.”