“Entrepreneurship is a trap.”
That’s the best piece of advice I’ve given to anyone wanting to “try their hand” at entrepreneurship in Singapore. In the last few years, I’ve worked in both the corporate and startup world.
These are my findings.
School and tuition classes dominated my childhood, vying closely as my first and second homes, academic excellence was the foundation to set me for a traditional path of success. A hyper-competitive mindset and being results-oriented were the two cornerstones that never failed me. Until entrepreneurship came into my life.
Dabbling with entrepreneurship, working in the comfort
Someone once told me that if I was willing to work so hard for someone, why not do it for myself? That tipping point drove me to “try my hand” with entrepreneurship. We eagerly started two businesses while I was still studying in university.
They were fun experiences, but we did not go far with them. There were no consequences if we failed and we were comfortable with that.
Make it personal, have skin in the game
During a night out, my friend Ryan (now my partner-in-crime) and I were engaging in Singapore’s national past time – complaining. As we worked through our usual topics with work, and relationships, the haze became a big sticking point.
We both had respiratory problems. We hated it and surely, there were many others suffering too. It was motivating enough for us to develop a prototype of a paint that could purify the air and eliminate VOCs affordably.
We put our skin in the game and became our own guinea pigs, testing the paint in our own homes first. They worked, and we breathed easier, in more ways than one. The third time was indeed the charm.
Committing to entrepreneurship, working through discomfort
The thing about the corporate ladder is no matter how hard certain parts of the climb are, you can see the rungs clearly. My first two half-hearted attempts at entrepreneurship had humbled me to the effort that was required, I went in half-committed, and didn’t get half the results. I got nothing.
I was on a good career path and had to give it up. Everyday, I had to resist the siren’s call with the easy way back to my corporate nest when things got hard, having a choice to quit turned out to be one of my biggest hurdles.
Also Read: How to know if entrepreneurship is right for you
However, we were making some progress. Our friends and neighbours that have used the paint gave us great reviews. This time we could go far, and we didn’t want to fail. That was my true tipping point as an entrepreneur, being uncomfortable and knowing that I couldn’t take the easy way out. I embraced the entrepreneurship life and it revealed to me the good, the bad, and the realities of the situation.
The good
At my last corporate job, there was a hierarchy in place, and that meant limited access to different levels of people. The latitude shifted up and down; the levels of conversations I had were dependent on the rank and role of both myself and the people I wanted to get in touch with. Being a startup founder, I found myself being able to speak on an even playing field, even if I was on a lower playing field as a growing startup.
Flexibility and autonomy opened up a world of possibilities. It was a refreshing change of pace where the red tape and long decision-making processes were cut short. We could make decisions as quickly as market forces changed, taking that ownership every day is an exhilarating feeling. Even that is an understatement.
The satisfaction of building something with our own hands. From the beginning when we saw what we had as a concept get developed, seeing the initial wave of validation, to opening our doors commercially.
Best of all was knowing that we could turn our complaints into a legitimate business idea. My advice to all future Singaporean entrepreneurs is not to just complain but monetise your complaints.
The bad
Many of the benefits of the structures and hierarchies in our old life had to be either relearned or self-taught to fit the challenges and needs of our company. What was the growth structure of our company going to be like?
Could we be releasing our product too early, or too late? Are we expanding too fast? Are these the right partners that can bring us to the next level? This process never ends, and we had to be like the Timex watch that “takes a licking and keeps on ticking”.
I kissed work-life balance or integration goodbye and said hello to constantly having work on my mind. Granted, I’m slightly OCD, so that does work to my advantage.
Unfortunately, I find this approach necessary to stay on top of things. Ironically, the red tape that we found liberating could be the safety net preventing us from over-extending ourselves.
Also read: Why you shouldn’t become an entrepreneur
The circle of friends that I used to have has shrunk considerably. Though I know that is an inevitable part of life as we get older, I have lost more friends than I would have liked to, as a result of my choice to be an entrepreneur.
Mealtimes and time spent after hours with people become mostly work- and business-driven. It is a lonely path, and though I have to accept it, I don’t think I’ll ever get truly used to it.
The realities
The amount of work you put in compared to the gains you get can be discouraging. Some days, sometimes it feels like nothing works until it does. I have learned to quietly celebrate every little victory, and to take every loss as part of the process.
In Singaporean society, there still is the stigma of entrepreneurs who fail, leaving many sceptical. Yet the romantic lure of entrepreneurship has turned it into a trend, and the statistics show that we are being overcrowded with pointless startups.
Don’t get into this journey because it is trendy; it is paramount to know the difference you can make.
To the aspiring entrepreneur fresh out of school with a head full of dreams, and the disillusioned corporate worker who thinks that the grass is greener on the other side -it isn’t.
Entrepreneurship will almost never work for you if you choose to dabble. Fail often, fail fast. If this is the path for you, it’ll be one of the best decisions you’ve made. If you’re just in it for the view, there is no shame in being a speed climber on the corporate ladder.
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