Entrepreneur Jack H. M. Wong Shares Knowledge & Inspiration Taken From Robert Kiyosaki’s Books
Jack H. M. Wong is an entrepreneur, founder of a consulting business, and author.
Originally from Hong Kong, his background is in accounting and law: Jack spent 17 years working as an Associate Director at PriceWaterHouseCoopers and as a tax attorney in Baker McKenzie law firm in Singapore.
At 42, Jack reached a dead end in the corporate world and decided to dive into entrepreneurship, despite the negative voices around him who told him he’s too old for this and he’s not going to make enough money to support himself. In June 2011, Jack finally took a leap and started his own consulting business. Over the last 7 years, he has assisted those with an entrepreneurial mindset to gain clarity with their mission and vision in their business, but also to improve their sales process and create business processes that help them free their time to focus on other important matters.
His mission is to help people make life-transforming changes, and his message to those stuck in the rat race is straightforward: anyone can start a business, anyhow, anywhere and anytime.
Jack holds an MBA from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, a Master of Laws from the National University of Singapore, and Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce from Murdoch University, Australia.
He wrote the books “Cracking the Entrepreneur Code” (released in 2015), “Creating Customers For Life” and “Essentials of Expatriate Tax”.
From our book-talk you’ll learn more about his favorite books, the ones that left deep marks on him and he even re-read them a few times, what business mistakes he made, and common myths in his field.
What’s your favorite book and why? Business and non-business, if possible.
“Why the Rich Are Getting Richer” by Robert Kiyosaki, and it is a non-business book.
The reason why this is my favorite book is that it is an advanced version of Rich Dad Poor Dad which explains in further details how the rich are getting richer by understanding the tax system and real financial education.
Was there a moment, specifically, when something you read in a book helped you? Can you tell me about it?
When I chanced upon “Why the Rich Are Getting Richer“, I finally understand why I have been running my own tax consulting practice for such a long time. The global tax system is set up to benefit the rich people because they are the ones who contribute to the growth of the economy by putting investments into the economy as well as creating job opportunities.
Similar to Kiyosaki’s personal tax advisor, Tom Wheelwright, I am also on the mission to explain to my audiences in Asia about the tax system and why rich people are getting richer. I confirm my life purpose after reading this book a few times.
What books had the biggest impact on you? (perhaps changed the way you see things, dramatically changed your career path)
“Second Chance” – a book written by Robert Kiyosaki in 2014/2015 has also created a huge impact on me in that by having the real financial education, we, the human being, have the power to choose what we want in our lives. We work not because we have but we choose to and that’s the key. In the end, the word is “Choice!”
What five books would you recommend to youngsters interested in your professional path? Why? (no number limit here)
- Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki
- Second Chance – Robert Kiyosaki
- Why the Rich Are Getting Richer – Robert Kiyosaki
- The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience – Carmine Gallo
- The Little Voice Mastery – Blair Singer
Tell us more about your reading habits. How often do you read? What format do you prefer? Do you have any favorite places?
Typically I will buy a basket of books via online bookshop once every quarter and I do finish reading one book before moving on to another book. In selecting the books to read, I adopt the advices from my business coaches and most likely, I read the books they are reading as well so that I know I am on the right track.
I personally prefer physical books as I do maintain a library in my study room with already more than 400 books.
How do you make time for reading?
I devote a period of “time-out” to focus on reading a few chapters of a book. It’s all about time management.
Do you take notes or have any other technique for conquering the torrent of information?
I like to put ideas from the books I read on a flip chart, which I can use for my own research and teaching.
How do you choose what books to read next?
In selecting the books to read, I adopt the advices from my business coaches and most likely, I read the books they are reading as well so that I know I am on the right track.
What book are you currently reading and what are you expecting to gain from it?
“Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products” by Nir Eyal
The book discusses how entrepreneurs can create an irresistible offer which people cannot say “No”!
What do you think are three common mistakes made by entrepreneurs? Do you have an example of a mistake you made while building your business?
OMG, of course. I planned to run an event in 2015 and my partners promised that they would be able to fill the room with 120 people. I trusted them and thus I did not follow up until 2 days before the commencement of the event and they said to me that they were not able to do that. Eventually, I lost USD4,000 for renting the venue for 2 days and yet the event was called off.
Three common mistakes made by entrepreneurs:
1. Fear of asking for money – perhaps the schools do not teach us how to sell and ask for money, from my experience, a lot of entrepreneurs are afraid of selling their products or services or making an offer to their clients. When sales equal income, no sales means that the business won’t last very long.
2. Fear of taking calculated risks – again, the schools have taught us not to make mistakes or else we would be punished, from my experience, some entrepreneurs want to be ready, aim and then fire (i.e. take action). But by doing this, what happens is that the entrepreneurs could have been late in taking actions and the opportunities are gone. In the worst case scenario, there may not be even a second opportunity,
3. Fear of asking for help from experienced people – once again, the schools have taught us to work alone and do not seek help from other people or else it is called cheating. However, we all have only 24 hours a day. Imagine we can simply ask for help from someone who has the real-life experience in solving the problems we are facing. How does this help us shorten our learning curve?
What common myths related to your industry do you encounter on a day-to-day basis?
In my consulting business, clients do not ask for help in advance. They prefer to stay in denials until the challenges they are facing are so painful that finally, they have no choice but to ask for help. Many times, it may be too late for us to rescue the case.
Another thing is that consultants do not see their value-add to their clients and have chosen to compete with each other based on price. These consultants’ services thus have turned into commodities and at the same time, they complain about not making enough revenue. So, the question is whether we should compete based on price or other factors.
What is something you believe that nearly no one agrees with you on? (Peter Thiel’s favorite question)
“Consultants are born to solve unique problems and thus, they should be proud of themselves for being expensive!”
Links where you can follow Jack H. M. Wong or find out more about his projects:
- JackHMWong.com
- CrackingEntrepreneurCode.com
- Connect with Jack on Twitter | LinkedIn
All books mentioned by Jack H. M. Wong in this interview:
- Why the Rich Are Getting Richer by Robert Kiyosaki
- Second Chance: for Your Money, Your Life and Our World by Robert Kiyosaki
- Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
- The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience by Carmine Gallo
- Little Voice Mastery: How to Win the War Between Your Ears in 30 Seconds or Less and Have an Extraordinary Life! by Blair Singer
- Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal
