|
The President and CEO of LavaNet Speaks on Entrepreneurship
HONOLULU — On May
18th, Yuka Nagashima, President and CEO of LavaNet,
Inc., paid a visit to JAIMS to speak about her experiences as
a successful entrepreneur in Hawaii.
In the early nineties, dial-up access to the
Internet was not as widely available as it is today in Hawaii. Even
then, when others considered the Internet to be just a fad, Nagashima
recognized that there was a great market for a quality local Internet
service provider in Hawaii. So, in 1994 she launched LavaNet, an
ISP priding itself on quality customer-focused internet access.
Today, LavaNet is Hawaii°s largest locally owned
Internet service provider. LavaNet sells high speed and traditional
Internet services to the general public, including businesses, State
offices, and schools.
With the experience of building LavaNet up
for seven years, Nagashima discovered that there are two myths about
starting a business. One myth says that to start a business, you
need a lot of money. ¿There are always people who have money they
want to invest,î she said. ¿It°s not that hard.î
The other myth is that you need to have a brilliant
new idea for a business. ¿Your idea doesn°t have to be new,î Nagashima
explained, îit doesn°t necessarily have to be brilliant. You just
have to have good implementation.î
¿What you need for any business is good implementation
and good people.î
LavaNet, although successful in the continuously
changing high-tech industry, has always adhered to what may be considered
as non-traditional business practices. Influenced by the local Hawaiian
and her own Japanese culture, Nagashima encourages staff participation
in many levels of decision making and building the feeling of Ohana,
or family, within the company.
An example of this would be LavaNet°s hiring
practices where applicants are screened by a staff group interview
and where applicants° references are given more weight than even
educational degrees.
¿We at LavaNet, look more at an applicant°s
experience and potential more than anything else,î said Nagashima,
who, with a degree in physics rather than business, is a prime example
of just that.
For anyone who finds themselves at a disadvantage
in business due to education, gender, or anything else, Nagashima
offered these words, ¿Being an entrepreneur means that when you
encounter a problem, you don°t see a problem, but you see an opportunity.
If you are faced with a disadvantage turn it around and see what
you can do and use that to your advantage.î
To the aspiring entrepreneurs in the audience,
Nagashima also advised that money should not be the reason to start
a business.
¿If you°re going to start a business, you°ve
got to love what you do and that in itself should be a reward. It°s
a lot of hard work, but you do it because you consider it funÜif
you don°t consider it fun, I don°t advise that you get into it.î
Nagashima, herself, was named a finalist for
the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Award in 1999 and has been featured
in numerous magazine and newspaper articles, such as Women Who Mean
Business and 40 under Forty (an award celebrating the accomplishments
of young business people).
|
