"It's not personal, It's strictly business."

Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, immortalized these words in the film 'Godfather'.

And this was what I learnt in the organization and execution of my 'tango summer workshops' project, which took place this year July.

I was due for a school vacation, visiting my lovely little country, Singapore, for the month of July.

I thought to myself in April, that when I am back holidaying in Singapore for the month of July, I would very much like to have my very own dance space where I could have the tango music that I enjoy, instead of the current offerings of Singapore. Also, I could take this chance to share with the Singapore tango community what I've experienced and learnt from the Buenos Aires tango scene.

Between April and June, what started out as a little project between me and my three-man Singapore team (Valerie, Su-Lyn and How Meng) snowballed into something rather ambitious. In the end we organized and conducted about 40 hours worth of group classes and practicas; 3 milongas and I gave private lessons almost daily, sometimes up to four privates per day.

In the month of July, the participation rate of the tango workshops registered up to over 50 people per class and our first milonga had a participation rate of up to over 70 people.

It was a huge success, due to many factors; the timing of the economy, the fact that I was coming from BsAs, the supportiveness of the local tango community, etc...

Two things I've learnt or made aware of. Firstly, that if you want to make it profitable, then it has to be run like a business. Or at least with the same methods and ideals that a well organized business would respect.

And if it's business, then its nothing personal. Especially when it comes to human relationships. Infighting exists amongst every social community, even in our little tango community; which could hardly muster thirty regular dancers.

And disappointingly so far, the internal disagreements, about music, about dancing styles, about business competition; has stunted the growth of our tango community.

But they forgot that to really optimize the participation rate, to attract and retain more students, to make the milongas vibrant and successful; you need cooperation, mutual planning and advertising, and most of all, a good vibe from all sides.

Now when ego comes in the way, and when everyone thinks he is right and the other party is wrong, cooperation is easier said than done. Maybe even myself would be hindered by my personal ego and opinions.

But I learnt to transcend these feelings by upholding this mantle, 'Its not personal, its just business.' To look past personal grudges for the sake of business; to get down and dirty for the sake of business; to smile through anger for the sake of business.

As I am not wise enough sometimes to do the above, just for the sake of the greater good of humanity; But for the sake of business and the success of the tango-summer project, I would do whatever it takes.

(Not to be confused with the idea of profits, because its not about the money; money is just one of the indicator of a successful business.)

The second thing I learnt is that I am not yet ready to do business. Its not my calling. Over time, this project evolved to be also about proving to myself that if I want to, I can do it. I have enough capabilities to make the money if I want to, to do make a successful business.

But capabilities is one thing, desire and determination are other important factors which make up the rest. And for business and money making, I do not have the appetite or passion, not just yet.

Like so many things in my life, I just need to know the fact that 'I can do it'. Maybe do it once, then its time to move on.

Thales, the famous ancient greek philosopher, did a good piece of business; With his philosphical mind, he predicted the weather and the good harvest of olives, and he brought all the olive presses beforehand at a low price and made a huge profit when the demand came in.

But he did that just to demonstrate to his fellow milesians that one could use intelligence to enrich oneself.
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It was just for fun, because I never thought myself of being a business oriented person; when I wrote the concept paper for the tango-summer project, I put down 'To earn a profit of 3000SGD (around 2000USD).'

Why 3000SGD? Because that was the price of a return ticket from Singapore to Buenos Aires. (Also it was to impress my 'business consultant' Jean-Michel. :) )

In the end, I earned enough to cover the return trip and then some... heh heh heh ;)