Richard with Bill Clinton

For 25 years Richard Tan has been successfully running a business he says that he got into by accident. Established in 1992, Singapore-headquartered Success Resources has grown to become the world’s leading provider of educational resources, seminars, and workshops. Today, it is the largest global aggregator of motivational speaking and personal development events, as well as wealth-creation and retention seminars. Richard believes that education and learning experiences transcend the boundaries of the classroom and in the course of 27 years the company has positively impacted over 10 million lives across 35 countries. 

“I studied engineering at Singapore Polytechnic and was working for an American oil company. When things are going well, they treat you great. When things go bad, they don’t treat you so good. In the early 90s oil prices plunged and so they let go a large number of people. Some of my friends were very upset. I wasn’t. We had worked very hard for them, working long hours, working weekends and holidays. I was glad that I was finally getting a holiday.” 

Once the holiday was over, Richard needed something to do so he accepted an offer to organize an event for a company. He did it so well he decided that this was something he could do and be successful at. He never went back to the oil fields. 

Along with his wife Veronica they began organizing educational events, the prime events centred around business and making money. “When you grow up you learn about making money from your parents. If your parents are good at making money, they pass that knowledge on to you. If they are not, they may be good people, but they don’t teach you how to make money. Through our seminars you can learn those skills in just three days.”

The National Achievers Congress (NAC 2019) is an opportunity for like-minded learners and innovators to pursue the strategies, processes, as well as mindset necessary to excel in today’s dynamic and fast-paced business environment. At these events, participants receive exclusive access to global businesses and entrepreneurial superstars delivering game-changing strategies while learning to hone the skills needed for personal and corporate success. 

“For a quarter of a century the National Achievers Congress has blazed a trail in communicating world-beating strategies to excel both in business and in entrepreneurship,” Richard added. At the Congress recently held in Singapore Gary Vaynerchuk, (pictured below right) a serial entrepreneur and the Chairman of VaynerX, a communications parent company, as well as the CEO and Co-Founder of VaynerMedia, a full-service digital agency servicing Fortune 500 clients, was one of the speakers. His fifth book was “Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Business and Influence-and How You Can, Too”. Success Resources bring in top people in their field who pass their knowledge on to the audience. For those who attend Success Resources seminars it is all about changing your approach to life. It is not simply to sit and listen to inspiring stories. 

“A story that best illustrates what we are trying to do is about two fathers. One is a very good man, he enjoys learning, he works hard, and he helps his family, passing on his knowledge and experience. The other is a criminal, he drinks and uses drugs. In short, not a good man. Studies have shown that the family of the first man become good people, good sons and daughters who have the same values and are successful at what they do. So this one person has a ripple effect helping to create a better world. The family of the other man turns out like him. They become criminals, abuse drugs and do not do very well in life. We feel that if we can reach one person and change their life it could have an impact for generations, and so we are helping change the world.” 

One of the world’s most successful businessman is Warren Buffet. At Success Resources’ Investomania Mary Buffett, the former daughter-in-law of Warren Buffett and author of Buffettology: The Previously Unexplained Techniques That Have Made Warren Buffett The World’s Most Famous Investor (1999) shared her insights at Singapore Expo in April 2019.

Investomania is a one-day event specially designed to provide attendees with the knowledge, appreciation and competitive edge to profit from investments and trading. “The focus of Investomania,” Richard explains, “is to help people bridge both value investing (Warren Buffett strategies) and technical trading in order to enable them to make informed investment decisions that could affect the rest of their lives. Regardless of whether you are new to investing or experienced, Investomania has something to offer you and promises to take your game to the next level.” 

Richard continues: “Millionaire Mind Intensive Singapore, one of Success Resources’ most enduringly popular seminars, is a weekend-long event that offers participants the chance to not only learn how to create wealth, but also know how to “reset” their “money blueprint” with extraordinary, proven results – permanently!”                                                 

During the past 25 years Richard and Veronica have grown their company into the largest of its kind in the world. The have about 200 employees in offices throughout the world. Though Richard is a successful businessman he doesn’t speak at his own events. “No, I don’t speak for business reasons, but I do speak for fun. I speak at dinners, at schools, public speaking events, but not for seminars of this type.”                                                                                                                                                                               

Most of Success Resource speakers are highly regarded, some of them iconic in their fields. Was there someone in Richard’s life he would point to as being a role model? “I wouldn’t say there is one person who has greatly influenced me,” he responds. “I have learned from everyone. I learned from many different sources.” As his office is lined with large bookshelves filled with books, many of them motivational, it is obvious that he has had an eclectic education in this field.

“When I wanted to expand the business, I did what many Singaporeans do, I went first to Malaysia. Then I went to countries around the Asean region. They all speak the same language and our business culture is much the same, so it is a good      area to grow in.                                                                                                           

The past 25 years have seen a great deal of economic and social turmoil, but Success Resources has remained stable through the economic ups and downs. “When times are good people feel good, they have the money to attend the seminars we do. When they are not doing so well, they feel they need to shake things up, do something different and learn new skills; so attendance remains strong. 

“Where we do lose money is when external events that have little to do with the economy affect us. We had an event planned in Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers attacked the airport. All our speakers backed out. They wouldn’t go to Sri Lanka. The same thing happened in Bali after the first Bali bombing occurred and many Australians were killed. My Australian speaker wouldn’t go. I told him he had a contract and we had a commitment to the attendees. ‘My father asked me not to go,’ he responded. ‘He doesn’t want to lose his only son.’ These are the type of things that have impacted us. 

Richard is looking forward to the coming year. Though the number of events he will do in 2019 will be about the same as he has done in recent years, about 500 events, he says this will be his best year for revenue. People love his events and they will continue to pack out venues throughout the world in ever growing numbers.

For more information visit www.successresources.com

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