TAF Retirees Have the Potential to Set an Example for Turkey in Entrepreneurship

What is the Spirit of Entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is the creation or acquisition of economic value. "Entrepreneurial Spirit" is necessary for entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial spirit is the ability of individuals to take risks by transforming opportunities into business ideas, to establish businesses and to focus on continuous development and renewal.

In practical terms, entrepreneurship is to initiate and sustain the production of goods and services by putting a business idea into practice with systematic thinking, thus creating an economic value from these goods and services. For the management of the process of creating this economic value, it is necessary to create an organisational structure, i.e. to establish and operate a company. A company is a partner- or sole proprietorship-oriented structure that requires a certain amount of capital and at the same time offers commercial activities, and its establishment and especially its operation requires a significant level of organisational and management knowledge and skills.

What is the Demographic and Intellectual Structure of TAF Retirees?

Almost every professional group will make the following determinations and evaluations for their retired colleagues from their own profession, but I will make rational, sociological, psychosociological, economic and idealistic determinations and evaluations for my own people (TAF retirees; officers, non-commissioned officers, specialised sergeants, civil servants, civilian workers), not in a chauvinistic manner, and I will also present my own suggestions.

What I mean by production is the production of goods and services, but my suggestions are focused on the production of goods, i.e. manufacturing activities, because I sincerely believe that manufacturing is more important and valuable for the future of our country and our children. At least, I believe that if the production of goods is more widespread and the production of services is less than the production of goods, the quality of our working world will increase. Because the fact that service sectors require relatively less investment costs compared to manufacturing sectors causes unrelated individuals and groups to turn to these sectors, this orientation causes both the quality of the service sector to decrease and the manufacturing sector to experience a lack of investors.

Although it is very unlikely that the suggestions I have mentioned in this article will be implemented, I think, "Let me throw a stone into the lake, at least I will make a ring and send a signal over the water". 

I am not much interested in social sciences, that is to say, I do not like or am not able to talk, I am more interested in the sciences (structural, aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, flight mechanics, mechanics, hydraulics, fuel, electricity, chemistry, petrochemistry, polymers, etc.) in my professional life. To be honest, I am a porter and I am proud and pleased to be a porter of my job. I am constantly striving to act with the principle of "Whatever you do, be the best at what you do". In summary; I take care that what I do defines me rather than what I say. In other words, I mean that it is more important that what we do is taken into consideration, not what we say.

Members of the Armed Forces can retire in a relatively shorter period of time than other civil servants due to the "Attrition Share".

Yes; Members of the Armed Forces are able to retire in a relatively shorter time than other civil servants due to the "Attrition Share". This is their most natural right, and this right exists in 25 countries of the world that I know, and probably also in countries that I do not know.

The Turkish Armed Forces (Air, Land, Naval, Gendarmerie, Coast Guard) is a well-established, capable and enormous organisation that attaches great importance to education, not only the academic education given in schools, but especially the education on the continent, which it attaches great importance to. For example, if we were to consider the Turkish Air Force as a civilian organisation, a private company, it would be by far the largest company in Turkey, and easily one of the Fortune 500 companies in the world. We can make a similar assessment for our other force commands. The most valuable capital of such an organisation is its people.

The intellectual accumulation of this very valuable capital consists of 4 years of military high school (5 years in recent years), intensive education equivalent to the curriculum of a science high school, at least one foreign language, an auxiliary foreign language, military training, physical training in at least one sports branch, combat physical training, infantry training, etc, High level academic education, military sciences education, sports branch education and combat physical training, etc. at the War Schools at the level of A level universities, followed by at least 1 year of class officer training, additional legal education in the Gendarmerie, etc., followed by training on the continent.

For non-commissioned officers, military high school level education in the Land and Naval Forces (industrial vocational or technical high school in the Air Force) is followed by non-commissioned officer class education at the associate degree university level, and then continental training. For example, in Aircraft Maintenance Non-Commissioned Officers, following two years of academic education and skills training in the relevant branches of aircraft maintenance non-commissioned officer at the Air Technical Schools Command, pre-technical and system training of the aircraft type (F-4, F-5, F-16, C-130, etc.) that they are responsible for in the unit to which they are assigned, followed by 3-stage GBE (On Duty Training), each lasting one year in the continent, when they are assigned from one aircraft type to another aircraft type (for example; from F-4 to F-16), the technical training of that aircraft is continued again.

If we were to mention only the main titles of the education and training processes of the armed forces personnel here, we would be writing an encyclopaedia, not an article.

In short, both the academic and vocational education and training levels of Turkish Armed Forces personnel enable them to have a very high intellectual accumulation with what they add throughout their careers. It is very difficult to measure and describe the knowledge and skills that their experience adds to them, and what their experience adds to them is much more valuable.

Dynamics of the Demographic Structure of TAF Retirees (Advantages)

1. High level of academic education and knowledge,

2. Higher vocational training,

3. High operational experience,

4. Courage and self-sacrifice in protecting and defending one's country, nation and comrades-in-arms at the cost of one's life, 

5. To be able to organise, organise and establish organisations (institutions, organisations) quickly and efficiently.

The Weakest Areas (Disadvantages) of TAF Retirees 

1. Since their military student and professional lives were spent in an environment "almost closed to civilian society", they were very unfamiliar with the behaviours, actions, attitudes and norms of civilian life, which are unique, full of unknowns, volatile/ slippery, unreliable and unreliable (we can consider the Gendarmerie class as an exception to this),

2. They have almost no knowledge of trade, they are very unfamiliar with the norms of commercial life in terms of customs, traditions, payment and receivables, etc., and frankly, they are very susceptible to being deceived, defrauded and abused,

3. They do not understand the mathematics of trade,

4. The fact that they always put idealism ahead of pragmatism.

When we take these advantages and disadvantages into consideration and the aim is "entrepreneurship", it would not be wrong to conclude that retired military personnel are more suitable for civilian industrial life but not for civilian commercial life. However, it is necessary to know and accept that even if you are going to be engaged in industry, you have to know and apply commerce very well, it is not possible in theory and especially in practice to completely separate the two.

The disadvantages we have listed are for those who retire after serving in the armed forces for many years.

When they leave the Turkish Armed Forces, there are many Turkish Armed Forces personnel who enter the industrial and commercial life both as professional employees and as employers. In other words, we should not be too afraid of business life, which we are unfamiliar with.

Entering into commercial life with entrepreneurial motivation is basically a process, activity and art of "taking risks and managing this risk". Expecting a return from an initiative that you do not take risk will only be a dream. To put it theoretically; we can also say that "the expected returns of assets are compatible with their systematic risks", in other words; there is a positive linear relationship between expected return and risk, the higher the risk of the asset, the higher the expected return will be".

What are the biggest and most important advantages of TAF Pensioners in the process of transforming their capacities into production?

Access to Financing, Capacity and Ability to Collect/Create Financing

The most important and necessary inputs for the success of enterprises are financing, human, machinery and environment (market, building, business environment, country agenda etc.). Unfortunately, the most vital input among these is financing, i.e. money. In line with the above-mentioned dynamics of TAF retirees, I believe that they can access and provide the necessary and sufficient financing for an enterprise more rapidly and efficiently than many investor groups. 

Are TAF retirees very wealthy? How will they be able to raise finance so quickly? 

No, TAF retirees are not a very wealthy group. After all, they are all retired civil servants and labourers. However, when there is a need for financing, they have the natural ability to organise quickly, join forces and provide a serious source of financing. In fact, they do this for charity, but why can't they do it for the financing of a business model?

What is the model you propose for the business initiative of TAF retirees? What is it like?

First of all, I should add that TSK Retirees is the definition of a group. For example, most of us are military high school graduates, but not all military high school graduates continued their careers in the armed forces. There are many of our comrades in arms who entered civilian life after graduating from military high school, who entered civilian life during the war schools, or who entered civilian life after becoming officers or non-commissioned officers.

Proposed Management and Organisation/Organisation Model:

1000 comrades-in-arms establish a joint stock company. Let each shareholder risk his/her 4-month salary as capital. However, if this risk will affect your life very negatively, do not do it.

You can do this; your military high school and/or military academy classmates, junior and senior officers, officer and non-commissioned officer comrades, civil servants and civilian labour colleagues will enable you to bring this group together. You can even increase the number. But be careful not to have less than 1000 shareholders. It is useful that the shareholding ratios are equal 1/1000. In this way, you will eliminate the distinction between high shareholders and low shareholders.

Each shareholder will be on an equal level, the hierarchy in your military life will not be involved, only comradeship in arms/teammateship/friendship of fate will be the basis. Although it may seem very difficult, it is not difficult at all. If you are hesitant, do not establish this group at all or do not be a member of such a group.

What is difficult is a reasonable and logical business idea in a suitable sector and a good business plan for the implementation of this business idea. These are done, you are at the level of education and knowledge that can do these things perfectly, but you should definitely examine the adequacy of your experience.

Most important of all, this group of 1000 shareholders should be willing and eager to put the determined business model into practice with a maximum of 10 comrades-in-arms who they believe can manage the company. There is no need for more. These 1000 shareholders may not take part in the management at all and entrust the establishment and operation process of the company to 10 professionals, but it will not be easy for them to entrust their 4 pensions to 10 people who are not from their world.

Since we envisage a company with 1000 shareholders, it is more appropriate for it to be a joint stock company. In this case, a "board of directors" with a chairman (chairman), a professional departmental management team under the leadership of the general manager who will carry out direct execution under the board of directors; general manager (CEO), production manager, finance and accounting manager, sales and marketing manager, purchasing and factory manager would be appropriate. I consider that a shareholder group of 10 people will be sufficient for both the board of directors and the general manager. If the shareholders do not like the current management, they will organise an emergency shareholders' meeting to dismiss them. Although the management team is also shareholders, they will be subject to the control of the majority due to professionalism.

The most difficult issue in this management model will be the 10 people you will choose to manage the company among your own comrades-in-arms. The 10 people selected should also receive a salary in line with the average market conditions. Do not fall into the eagerness that we will manage our company with groups of 10 people each in turn from 1000 people, such a management structure will not work. 

Your capital will be approximately 100.000.000 ₺ or 4.000.000 $. This is a very good capital for many business models in many sectors.

With this investment capital; when we run the mathematical model of the business plan of a difficult and costly business example (machining with CNCs), moreover, when we determine all inputs at the worst possible levels; we can see that we make a profit at the end of 4 years.  Each business idea and its business model will have its own special mathematics. However, in a difficult, costly and highly competitive industry, the mathematical model (simulation) carried out for a machining company at an average scale, that is, at the SME level, is a good reference for many business models. 

My suggestion is to analyse many sectors and the jobs that can be done in those sectors, but to examine the agriculture and forestry sector in a very special and in-depth way. In this sector; it would be more logical to turn to business models where rent and raw materials will have "zero" cost. It is of great benefit to consult the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry through the Provincial Directorates of Agriculture and Provincial Directorates on these issues.

In the year you make a profit, you will obtain the value of your investment of 4 salaries at a rate including and slightly above the inflation rate, that is, you will earn more than the income you will earn by investing your 4-month salary in a time deposit account in the bank. This income will continue to increase in the years following the year you make a profit. After about 7 years, you will have a continuous monthly income that is half the value of your current pension. All these are indexed to the well-chosen business model of your company and the good management of this model.

Your capital is strong. With this capital structure, you can establish and run many businesses with your equity, but do not hesitate to use bank and banker money. Remember, "banks only and only try to sell money to those who do not need money". Banks will demand "collateral" from you for every loan you will receive. You have the capacity to offer them the most valuable collateral in the world; "cash blockage". Block a part of your capital against the loan, and as you pay your instalments, the blockage will be released as much as the amount you pay. Do not use a very valuable proportion at all and keep it as a reserve. In this way, you will not need cash support from anyone, any institution or organisation. This means tremendous freedom and peace of mind in business life.

Now we can write down the evaluations we have made above as golden rules.

GOLDEN RULES

Golden Rule 1. CASH IS THE IMPERATOR

Please Remember. Cash is not the king, cash is the emperor. It really is. As much as possible, let your COMPANY ESTABLISHMENT CAPITAL BE WELL ABOVE WHAT IS REQUIRED.

Your income will decrease in proportion to not taking too much risk with your capital, but instead of rising fast (good) and falling fast (bad), you will go for the long haul by stepping firmly on the ground (slowly but cautiously). Be a long-distance marathon runner, not a short-distance sprinter. In this case, your peace of mind will be higher.

Make your purchases in cash, earn while buying. You will be the "favourite" buyer of the market. Your suppliers will be at your door in the morning. Do not be "cheated" by your suppliers. Let your lawyer and gendarme comrades-in-arms be active and active in these matters. They are more resistant to this kind of work due to their profession. They can also smell the scammer...

Shareholders other than those who manage and grow the company will continue their normal lives and activities, except for observing and supervising the company.

Golden Rule 2. Your company must be profit orientated.

Companies must make a profit. Remember, you have established a company, not an "almshouse". As a shareholder; you will not put pressure on the company to make aid, charity, charity. You should make your charity and benevolence from your own personal savings as you do in your normal life (aids to the needy, earthquake victims as circuit mates, etc.).

Golden Rule 3. Manage the maths. Create synergy. Remember "He who manages the maths manages the system".

Create synergy, as comrades-in-arms, you are among the social masses most likely to create synergy. Synergy means (identity, power). Synergy is creating power.

Let's look at the mathematical model of the subject:

A. A group of shareholders; Strong in the machine = 2,

B. A group of shareholders; Let financing be strong= 2,

C. A group of shareholders; let strong= 2 in Human Resources,

D. A group of shareholders; let strong= 2 in the Internal Market Market Network,

E. A group of shareholders; let strong= 2 in the External Market Network,

When we consider that these shareholders establish separate companies independently of each other, i.e. without creating synergies with each other, the sum of their values shows a quantitative distribution, i.e. 2+2+2+2+2+2+2=10.

In case these shareholders merge as a single company and create synergy with their assets and act as a single organisation, their values will be qualitatively (exponentially) distributed, i.e. 25 (two over five) = 32.

Let us compare this with 210 (two over ten) = 1024 as opposed to 2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2=20. We will be able to better perceive the enormous power of synergy.

Please remember, every system you set up has a mathematical model, you must manage this mathematics because; "He who Manages Mathematics Manages the System".

Creating this mathematics on your own will make you weak and fragile, you should prefer to create synergy.

You will be advised in every environment: "Do not establish partnerships, partnership does not work in our culture". It may be culturally correct, but trade itself is a very foreign phenomenon that has entered our culture in the last century. However, we should conduct trade according to universal culture, not according to our own culture. Your circuit mate/ comrade-in-arms also advises you to establish a company with your partners, not alone. Join forces". Our proverb "Let it be less but mine" is invalid in global trade. Instead of establishing a company with a capital of 100.000 TL and owning 1/1 of it; establish a company with a capital of 100.000.000 TL and become a 1/1000 shareholder, you will have a more profitable and peaceful trade.

Golden Rule 4. Do not work with the trader. Reach directly to the final customer

You will not work with the trader. Sell directly to the end customer. No intermediaries. You will be crushed.

While you make yourself dependent on the trader and continuously invest in other main functions (e.g. manufacturing), transfer resources and effort, the trader will endeavour to expand his market network, to create a barrier between you and your end customer, and after a while, he will cut the link between you and the end customer and take it under control. You are the one who creates the good or service, you are the one who makes the difficult and valuable investment, so you should set the price, this is the universal norm. The producer also determines the price of the goods and services it produces, not the intermediary. In our culture, the price of the product is usually determined by the intermediary (merchant). If you can cut out the intermediary and reach the end user directly, both your company and your customer will win. 

This is a model that requires high intelligence and experience. You have the knowledge to create this model. As for your skills, you can test yourself or have yourself tested (it would be naive to claim that we are skilful in commercial matters). Find an expert group and let them subject you to a test with the warning "You At The Corner" (This is the Mathematical Aphorism of the Kuleli-84 Circuit, inherited to us from a late teacher who was a maths guru. It dictates that the analysis and synthesis of the system should be done by the person/persons in the centre of gravity, that these people will learn and apply mathematics whether they want to or not, otherwise they should not establish a system-system).

Golden Rule 5. Grow Horizontally, not Vertically

Prefer horizontal growth rather than vertical growth. If you grow vertically, you will grow like a tall pole, but you will also fall like a pole. So, friends, what is "Vertical-Horizontal Growth"? Do I have to explain everything in an article? We have friends who are specialised in these subjects, who have become professors, who we studied together at Kuleli Military High School, go and ask them, they will give you their opinions and suggestions for free. You can also ask your Uncle Google. There is a Kuleli-84/138th term graduate, who is currently the dean of a university, who graduated from KHO and US Naval Academy Postgrade, who strongly recommended this horizontal growth technique to me at the time, and I have seen that he was right. So, did I listen to my circuit mate? "Do what the imam says and not what he does". Otherwise; "your business will go wrong." A systematic in which inputs, process, outputs and feedback are inconsistent comes into play, and the consequences have to be endured. Therefore, it is necessary to go calculated and bookish from the very beginning.

Vertical and Horizontal Growth

Golden Rule 6. Aim first for material value and then for both material and spiritual benefit

Establish and manage your company with the norms of pragmatism, not idealism. As I mentioned above and emphasised again here; "companies have to make profit in order to survive". If you do not care about material gain and aim only for spiritual benefit; that company will not survive.

"Ideally, of course, you should have both! Without one, you are either a rich depressive or a penniless romantic! Balance is important." (This is an aphoristic observation belonging to my Kuleli-84 circuit mate nicknamed OKI. It is also obvious that the saying is fixed by experience).

Golden Rule 7. Your diploma collections are not very important today, it is important to be able to apply what is in them.

Maybe, for our time, for our generation, a diploma was very important. Or we believed that we could improve ourselves through continuous education and training. But we have seen, we know and now we understand better that it is more important and valid to do something instead of knowing many things. 

I know craftsmen who earn much higher wages than engineers in the industrial sector, because those engineers only offer you a diploma, they cannot offer you the jobs covered by the courses in the content of their diplomas/transcripts. In this case, if you are a business owner, will you pay a salary to the diploma or will you pay a salary to those who can carry out one or more operations in your company and produce products for you?

A friend of mine, a Kuleli-84 graduate who graduated from one of Turkey's most distinguished universities (Boğaziçi University) in a difficult branch of engineering, had a double master's degree from an elite US university, spent his professional life abroad, and came to his homeland only for family visits, insistently emphasised this issue and gave an example through a football star.

Yes, we may have read a lot, but what we have read has actually provided us with a "data mining" infrastructure. We should use this infrastructure to "do, produce (goods and/or services), create" something. We have these features in abundance. Imagine that you can and have formed the group of 1000 people I have suggested; let's see how many lawyers, health professionals, engineers, business managers, pilots, technologists, technicians, technicians, tacticians, strategists, economists, economists, econometricians, etc. will come out of this group? 

Golden Rule 8. Never be afraid to try something new

TAF Retirees who have never tried or even considered entrepreneurship; "Never be afraid to try something new because life will become boring when you stay within the limits of what you already know".

You have a tremendous spirit of friendship, even comradeship, which belongs to very few professional groups, and the ability to organise very quickly and with a large number of people for the sake of common goals, and you have exhibited this ability in many environments. You can also exhibit this ability in commercial life.

I can offer you hundreds of examples similar to the model I have proposed here from Gebze, the Industrial Capital of Turkey. A holding company founded by 100 accountant colleagues, a large manufacturing company founded by a few lathe-levelling friends that designs and manufactures machines abroad, companies founded by school friends, etc.

There are also companies established by TAF retirees.

However, what I recommend is a model that does not have a great financial risk.

Golden Rule 9. Size matters

Remember friends "Size does matter/Size does matter..." Size is also important in trade.

Many of you will state that the most difficult issue in the entrepreneurship business model summarised here is to bring together 1000 investors from TAF Pensioners. Wrong, you have the capacity to do this. With a common mind, you can find a suitable business idea in a suitable sector. The most difficult issue here is to identify and select ten of your comrades-in-arms who can establish and operate the organisation (company) that can transform your investment capital into goods or services.

Conclusion

This article is addressed to my Kuleli-84 and HvHO-88 circuit mates based on our sincerity. A potential group target has been defined in terms of "TAF Retirees". However, this expression is for all our officers, non-commissioned officers, civil servants, civil servants, civil labourers, weapons, team and fateful friends who have transferred from TAF to civilian life. Please do not misunderstand our readers in civilian life; there are many entrepreneurs in this group who establish and run their own businesses, create employment and generate added value. This article is a message of suggestion for those who have not yet turned to entrepreneurship. 

I believe that TAF retirees, who have a high capacity and ability to bring together the criteria for entrepreneurship, can set an example for Turkey in entrepreneurship by creating permanent institutions that create added value, and that these examples will become widespread and will encourage and guide other retired groups and even working groups.

In this way, it is obvious that groups that have been able to meet their physiological, security, social and prestige needs at the minimum common level will also meet their self-realisation needs through such initiatives, and will provide production-based added value to themselves and their relatives, and thus to the society, while they are alive and after they die.