Business or Education? (Bisnis atau Pendidikan?)

Hello! This is me and my friend, Ayano chan (say hello to Ayano! :D) We went to the 52th Meidaisai (Meidai is the abbreviation for Nagoya Daigaku based on the Kanji reading, and sai means festival) on June 4th, 2011. Ayano's fave indie band, called rega would do the live performance in Toyoda Hall at 5 p.m. Beforehand, we ' visited one of my colleagues coffee shop, most of the reason cuz I have promised him to pay a visit.

Hi! Ini saya dan teman saya, Ayano^^ (Say Hi to Ayano! :D) Hari Minggu, 4 Juni 2011 yg lalu, kami mengunjungi Meidaisaiyang ke 52 (Meidaisai adalah istilah untuk Nagoya University Festival). Band indie favorit Ayano, rega bakal manggung di Toyoda Hall jam 5 sore hari itu. Sebelumnya kami mampir dulu di salah satu Coffee Shop milik teman kuliah.Sebagian besar alasannya adalah karena saya pernah berjanji untuk bertandang ke kedainya.

Seattle Espress Logo : His Figure

His coffee shop name is Craig's Coffee, as u can guess easily, the owner name is Craig. One of my colleagues,  Harris Craig, raised in California. After getting his MBA at one of University in there, he took a gut and flied to Japan, building his own business step by step since 12 years ago with initial investment just 80,000yen. His core line is Coffee, but as I observed in his cafe, there are also complementary product such as brownies (recommended! I & Ayano had one, and very satisfied with our so chocolate Brownie-Vanila Ice ^o^), another drinks, herbs tea and many more. As u can see in his website, his place is quite large and pleasant to have a chit chat or doing a task in a group with affordable price.

Nama kafe-nya: Craig's Coffee, seperti bisa ditebak, nama pemiliknya adalah Craig. Salah satu teman saya di kampus, dibesarkan di California, Craig Harris. Setelah mendapat gelar MBA di salah satu Universitas di California, dia memutuskan untuk memulai bisnis di Jepang, usaha yang bergerak di industri Food& Beverages (Kopi) yg dirintisnya sejak 12 tahun yang lalu dengan modal awal hanya 80,000 yen. Selain kopi, ia juga menyediakan berbagai produk komplementer seperti Brownies (Recommended! :D) Teh Herbal, serta masih banyak lagi. Seperti yang Anda dapat cek di websitenya, tempatnya cukup luas dan nyaman untuk ngobrol atau mengerjakan tugas kelompok dengan harga yang terjangkau.

Ok, Actually the point that I want to discuss is about the way of his thinking toward the importance of education. Believe it or not, despite of his tight schedule and the fact that he already got a Master Degree, he took another one at Nagoya University. Besides expanding his networking, he also said that he really wants to get knowledge update so he can learn how to add value into his business. Thing that made me surprised, is his plan to take further education, which is Doctoral Degree in Business after completing his Master. This is a rare way of thinking of an entrepreneur. He told me that learning is one way to have fun, college is the place where he can relax and express himself. His passion is stunned me.

Ok, Sebenarnya poin yang ingin saya diskusikan adalah mengenai pola pikir beliau mengenai pentingnya pendidikan. Percaya atau tidak, walaupun dia sangat sibuk (dan dia memang sibuk karena ikut turun tangan melayani konsumen ketika pengunjung benar - benar padat) dan faktanya bahwa dia sebenarnya sudah meraih gelar master, sekarang dia masih mengambil program master di Nagoya University. Selain memang memperluas jaringan, salah satu alasannya adalah dia ingin meng-update pengetahuannya dan belajar untuk menciptakan nilai tambah untuk bisnisnya. Hal yang membuat saya agak kaget adalah keinginannya untuk mengambil gelar Doktor setelah lulus program Master. Dia bilang, belajar adalah salah satu jalan bersenang - senang, kampus adalah tempat dimana dia bisa relaks dan mengekpresikan diri. Tekad dan kemauannya membuat saya kagum.

Some people think that if u can produce enough money, why should u go to school? U can't learn business at the school, it's a waste, and u better to invest your money in another profitable financial instrument. Even me, I still think that for building career outside academic area, doctoral degree isn't necessary, so u have to think thoroughly when u want to take further study cuz it will consume time and money. But his words is just knocking me, my narrow way of thinking and make it open. So for u an entrepreneur or entrepreneur-wanna be, there is nothing wrong to take further education for your own personal investment. Your human asset is much more important than your entire financial asset, you have to invest more in it. Why did I choose this kind of thing to be posted in this blog, because I think that Experience is the best teacher in the world. Everyone can be my teacher, including my friend surround me. So why should u choose between business or education? Just grab them both! ^o^

Sebagian orang berpikir, apabila mereka sudah bisa menghasilkan cukup uang, untuk apa sekolah lagi? Karena bisnis tidak akan dapat dipelajari di sekolah dan lebih baik untuk menginvestasikan uang pada instrumen keuangan lain yang lebih menguntungkan. Bahkan saya, masih berpikir bahwa gelar doktor terlalu jauh apabila ingin membangun karir di luar bidang akademik, sehingga harus dipikirkan dengan matang apabila ingin mengambil pendidikan lebih lanjut, karena akan memakan waktu dan biaya. Tetapi kata - kata beliau membuat saya sadar, bahwa tidak ada yang salah untuk mengambil pendidikan lebih lanjut untuk investasi pribadi. Nilai individual kita sebagai manusia jauh lebih berharga daripada semua harta yang kita miliki. Kenapa saya menyertakan postingan ini di blog, karena saya pikir, pengalaman adalah guru terbaik di dunia. Dan guru saya bisa siapa saja, termasuk teman - teman di sekeliling saya. Jadi apabila Anda bingung untuk memilih antara bisnis atau pendidikan, kenapa harus memilih, ambil saja keduanya!^o^

Finally we should over our little conversation cuz the live would perform immediately. I am sure, everybody has his own weakness, also Mr.Craig, but 4 thumbs up for his passion, courage and humbleness. Hopefully his business will stay run smoothly, therefore he can retire in 3 more years and spend the rest of his life in his dream house in Venice, Italia :D

Oops, I think we're a bit too close at the picture, it's because I forgot bringing my pocket camera, so we should gather close in order to be taken by my cell phone camera m_m

Akhirnya, percakapan sore itu harus diakhiri karena sebentar lagi pertunjukan band-nya akan dimulai. Saya yakin, semua orang punya kekurangannya masing - masing, begitu juga dengan Mr. Craig, tapi saya mengacungkan 4 jempol untuk tekad dan kegigihannya, keberaniannya serta kerendahan hatinya. Semoga bisnisnya akan berjalan lancar sehingga dia bisa pensiun dalam waktu 3 tahun mendatang dan tinggal di rumah impiannya di Venice, Italia. 

Saya rasa foto kami terlalu dekat...ini karena saya lupa membawa kamera saku saya, sehingga kami harus merapat sehingga bisa terambil oleh kamera hp saya m_m

One more thing, that"s very kind of him that we got a present from his shop! Thank you very much! His favorite toffee (flavored coffee) :D

Satu lagi, dengan murah hati, dia memberikan kami hadiah salah satu produknya. Terima kasih banyak! Ini adalah flavored coffee favoritnya, Toffee :D

Pardon me for our-not so neat-living room =p
(cheers! Me & Ayano^^)