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Staff post about: John Ilhan Become an Author

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Something happened to Ilhan in his early business days that would forever leave its mark with the young entrepreneur; his first $100,000 cheque had gotten stolen, and the experience left Ilhan more than just bitter. "It was part of a property settlement, the first $100,000 cheque I had ever drawn that to me was like millions," explained Ilhan. "I wasn't insured because I trusted them. That just killed me. I learned you can't trust everyone.''

After that, he said, he learned never to trust anyone in business, something that would leave an indelible mark on his company and the corporate culture he created.

"I was very naïve when I started; I learnt the hard way," he said. "I do trust people, and when you build a relationship, it becomes more of a handshake. But a really serious, big decision - it has got to be on paper. Look at Telstra and us at the moment. Even though it is on paper, it is still being disputed."

Crazy John's used to be Telstra's second-biggest reseller, but Ilhan would later break their longstanding relationship after the two companies became engaged in a lengthy and bitter legal case. Ilhan claimed Telstra owed him $43 million in trailing commissions, but Telstra, naturally, disagreed, and were willing to take the time and money to fight it out in the courts.

What did Ilhan take away from the experience? "Try and build a business that is not just reliant on one supplier," he said. "Don't make yourself so niche that somebody else can just come along and cut off your legs."

To that end, Ilhan made it a priority to keep abreast of new technologies, potential new partnerships, and new ideas in the industry. He never wanted to be caught off guard again. Instead, he always wanted to be on the leading edge, and to be able to withstand the unexpected shocks that might come.

He thus made it a practice to travel to one new place in the world every year with his family, learning not only about the culture, but about their business ideas and practices, especially as it related to telecommunications. "[My wife] will go to the Prada shop and I will go to the mobile phone shop," he once joked.

Ilhan also learned the value of trust, or the lack thereof, which is why he put so much effort into earning people's trust himself as a salesman.

"I think my people skills were always better than my selling skills," he said. "People trust me and I repaid that by doing the right thing by them. So they stayed with me."

Ilhan learned that trust was the one thing that could either bring people together or tear them apart; it was the basis of all relationships, business and personal.

Ilhan's values, such as the importance he placed on earning people's trust, stemmed from his deep religious views, and his close family ties, he said. In fact, he once said that he could have been much wealthier if it was not for his beliefs.

"I'm not saying I'm an angel," he said. "But I could have made a lot more money."

Still, he stuck to them.

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