Preacher-entrepreneur

Let me share another interesting vignette on a personality I met during my recent Indonesian research sojourn. His name is Abdullah Gymnastiar. To many locals, he is simply A.A. Gym. (A.A. means big or elder brother in the west Java city of Bandung). This 41-year-old entrepreneur happens to also be regarded as the most influential Islamic preacher in Indonesia.

Rather than talk to us in the office, A.A. invited the research team to walk with him in the community where he preaches and where his enterprise is also located. Residents we met along the way greeted him and called out his name. While walking, he would pick up trash on the street and throw them in the waste bins. It was at that juncture that I realized what made the community different–its cleanliness. There were no dirty canals, no filth or stench. A beautiful sight.

A former red light district where A.A. started his preaching, the place is now a veritable showcase for Islam: a clean environment with disciplined, creative, and happy people. It was evident that A.A. wanted the research team to experience the impact of his work first hand.

We first visited a two-storey structure where a cooperative owned by the residents operated a village convenience store and a book/school supplies store behind which a concessionaire sold religious books. A.A. proudly explained that this was one of his enterprises and that it was renting space from the cooperative.

At this juncture, I started asking a long list of question pertinent to his practice of Islamic values in his enterprises.

His initial response was quite candid: "There is no contradiction between being a good Moslem and a good entrepreneur. Mohammed was an entrepreneur and a professional. When he was young, Mohammed was a good entrepreneur. He encouraged all Moslems to become entrepreneurs."

When further prodded to explain how he conducted his business, A.A. shared this story.

Once, a Moslem brother approached A.A. for alms to buy food for his family. When asked about disposable assets, the former admitted owning a prayer carpet which A.A. offered to help sell at a public auction.

After getting a good price for the item, A.A. turned over the proceeds to the carpet owner with explicit instructions to use two-thirds of the money to buy food for his family and one-third to buy a set of tools. He told him to use the tools to make something and that he would help sell the product. His admonition was to use the tools for self-improvement. He emphasized that Moslems must always strive to improve themselves and that improving oneself was something that Mohammed encouraged.

When asked about his own enterprises, he said that all of them start with MQ, i.e., management qalbu or heart management. A.A.’s publishing company called MW Media produces multi-media materials on the art of self-improvement which are being sold in the rented space at the cooperative building. Even the objective of MQ Media is consistent with the Islamic principle of self-improvement.

A.A’s other enterprises are MQ TV, MQ Radio, MQ Electronics, and MQ Fashions, which are involved in television show production and radio station operations as well as the production of a complete range of garments and head coverings for women.

Running parallel to these is a foundation that focuses on the replication of their development achievements in Bandung. It supports community activities that improve the lives of the people in a given area. It operates a lodging house for visitors and has other income-generating low-risk enterprises. Their funds come from the proceeds of the seminars on heart management, which are conducted both as public seminars or as in-company trainings. In addition, people in the community donate part of their savings to the foundation.

Basically, the foundation’s coverage has been limited to three areas, namely, Bandung, Djarkarta, and the Batam Islands. The logic of this tri-location is that Bandung is A.A.’s home town, Djarkarta is the center of Indonesia, and the Batam Islands serve as the link to Singapore and Malaysia.

According to A.A., the foundation will use its heart management programs to support several champions who will start their own areas outside these three venues and replicate the Bandung model.

I further asked A.A. how the boundaries of the foundation’s work and his private businesses are defined. His candid response is that the foundation is not expected to support the economic needs of his family nor that preaching could do the same. He put up the enterprises to support the economic needs of his family, emphasizing however that low-risk activities belong to the foundation while his personal enterprises are into higher-risk ventures.

Intrigued as I was by the way A.A. conducted business, we got to talk further about his pricing policies. His concept of price is different. Basic price represents the full cost of the product and/or service. For example, a traded product has a cost of acquisition. This cost component belongs to the source of the product. Another cost component is rental. This belongs to the owner of the building. Then, too, another cost involves labor and management. These costs belong to other people. In essence, basic price includes costs that belong to other people and not to the entrepreneur. This is what is meant by selling at basic price. If the buyer wants to pay a higher than the basic price, it will be welcome. But it cannot be lower than the basic price. The components of the basic price does not belong to the entrepreneur.

When asked whether it was all right if the buyer only paid the basic price, his response was in the affirmative. His explanation was perhaps next time he/she would have more money to give (over the basic price), stressing the importance of long-term relationships over single economic transactions.

But if the person would only keep paying the basic price, A.A. stressed that the person would have to consider his/her relationship with Allah as well. He reiterated that a true Moslem would help others improve since it is part of the performance of good deeds. Goods deeds, in turn, determine one’s fate after death. In short, paying more than basic price is considered a good deed because it helps others improve themselves.

A.A. Gym is another example of a person who is able to practice enlightened entrepreneurship or what we have termed last week as spiritual entrepreneurship. Again, this only goes to show that one can practice his/her religion even while undertaking entrepreneurial activities.

This illustration puts to shame church-going and presumably God-fearing entrepreneurs who do not practice their religious values in their entrepreneurial ventures. It is a sham to see religious values only demonstrated in church activities. Enlightened or spiritual entrepreneurs fuse their religious values seamlessly in multiple involvements. We have seen how it can be done. Definitely, it can be tried!

(Alejandrino Ferreria is the dean of the Asian Center for Entrepreneurship of the Asian Institute of Management. For further comments and inquiries, you may contact him at: [email protected]. Published "Entrepreneur’s Helpline" columns can be viewed on the AIM website at http//: www.aim.edu.ph).