Unfair methods can't take you too far

Competition often surrounds us in many aspects of our lives. We all learned about competition since we were children. In kindergarten, teachers give out gold stars to teach us about competition. When we grow older, we compete with others to become part of the “in crowd”, to make the team, to become a popular person in school, to get into the best universities, and to get everyone’s dream job. But when it comes to the fiercest of all competitions, none is more so than in the business community. 

In every business, we are taught that markets are finite, and there might not be enough pie for everyone to share. The basic idea is that if we want to have more share of the pie, we must beat our competitors to it. And if we want to succeed in doing that, we’d better “get it while the getting’s good”. Sometimes, some people even take it as far as contemplating, “do things to others before they do to you”.

But does it have to be such a “dog eat dog” world for the real-estate business?

I have always been a competitive person and I have never tried to hide this fact. It is my true self, I must admit. Everyone who plays football with me knows this and they know that I always take my games, be it practice or competitive ones, very seriously. I think that being competitive is a very big part of all sports and also in the business world. 

In all competitive sports, there are sets of rules that every proper athlete tries their best to adhere to. Besides these rules there are also other factors that demand the athletes to go about the game in a fair, respectful, and honest manner; referees and true competitive spirit for example. But there are always some people who choose to adopt a different path by cheating, bribing, and even intentionally and unnecessarily hurting opponents. I am proud to say that it’s not my way. Maybe it’s the element of respect and courtesy that I have shared with my football friends and competitors that has led me to adopt a different path. 

On the business side, I strongly believe in healthy competition where everyone tries to bring in new ideas, new products, and new services to the market and let the consumers decide. I also believe that by working creatively alongside each other, it can often help us to grow and improve our industry collectively. It is a must that we have mutual respect for each other’s strengths and weaknesses. This is a very important notion that I have consistently shared with my colleagues and staff and make sure that everyone in our organisation understands the proper manner of doing business. 

Looking back over my 20 years of experience in the real-estate business, there have been many ups and downs and opportunities lost as well as the emergence of new markets and segments. It is always nice to see if someone comes up with some new product ideas or innovative construction method in order to just survive the pitfalls or capture these new opportunities. Especially when a true crisis hits the industry, I think that’s when we would see fundamental shifts in many aspects within the industry and that should lead to even more out-of-the-box approaches that in the end benefit the consumers. This is because everyone would have to try to win the consumers’ heart by coming up with new solutions and ideas. 

But the reality is harsh, and it is true that not everyone in the real-estate business has the right mindset and willingness as well as capacity to do it fairly and with respect to others and I have found that the “dog eat dog” concept might be the preferred method for some people. 

Why I have brought this issue up, you may ask. These “dog eat dog” things are common practice because we know that at the least, the salesperson of one brand can easily convince prospective buyers with false information, and this happens all the time. Well, I intend to raise the issue because I have recently found out that there have been mud-slinging cases that we are certain have been systematically orchestrated by some hired professionals. 

The cases we have found out are far worse than directly providing false information to certain prospects face to face but it involves an online campaign that can be spread by just a simple click of the mouse. I am not talking about complaints and hate campaign by disappointed customers that we normally see on the Web board, but I am talking about an intentional act of an organisation with the consent of its executives with nasty objectives in mind. I am not sure if other developers have faced similar kind of cowardly acts before but I am sure it is really happening and that is so sad.

I understand that although being competitive is often considered to be healthy, in some instances it can also be seen as detrimental by someone. But to resort to this kind of tactic is unimaginable for me and everyone in the industry that has adhered to a fair and honest way of doing business. In my opinion, however, I strongly believe in the simple philosophy that anyone who gains through under-handed methods is probably not going to be too successful in business in the long term. Generally my belief is that people eventually become recognised for who they truly are.