It has been a crazy journey for me over the past three years, especially during the COVID-19 lockdown. I had a lot of time to reflect on the life I desired and what I needed to do to achieve that goal.

I used to work as a client project lead for a smaller agency and got to learn the ropes of managing clients, but over time it was not sustainable because I had to deal with the stress of managing my boss while also working long hours, and it took a huge mental toll on me. I badly wanted to upskill, but I also did not have the time to do so while working my full-time job.

It was a mindset shift that pushed me to take control of my own life and build toward the work-life balance that I wanted.

I tried the nine-to-five and hated it because I love my freedom of working wherever I want. My creativity certainly does not suit the corporate environment either, so I knew that I had to take things into my own hands.

Also Read: Dedoco: A founder’s journey to building next-gen digital trust technology

When I decided that I had enough and quit my job, I positioned myself as a digital marketing consultant and, over time, built my pool of freelance clients who would eventually refer me to more clients, but I eventually realised that there was a cap on how many clients I can manage as a solopreneur/freelancer because I do not have the time to juggle so many things concurrently. I am but one person with only 24 hours a day. That was when I decided to build my own team. 

It was very profitable being a solopreneur, but when I built my team, I slowly realised that I had to pay more expenses and, simultaneously, make sure I would bring in more revenue to support the business growth. It was a new set of problems that I had to work through, but I had to do it if I wanted to scale.

It was not an easy journey for me because the rigours of entrepreneurship demand sacrifices. I was working 24/7, wearing a dozen hats, and pushing myself to learn dry subjects I had never considered.

The mindset shift from freelancer to entrepreneur was the toughest, in my opinion, because I had to remodel my offerings and be comfortable delegating and increasing my pricing strategy.

Lessons I have learnt as an entrepreneur

Here are some lessons I have learned along the way in bootstrapping my company from the ground up:

• Concentrate. Try not to juggle too many things in one go.
• Understand dealing with setbacks is an ongoing process, and you will get better at handling failures over time.
• If you are an introvert and don’t like to network like me, try mastering other verticals like social media ads, Google ads, email marketing, influencer marketing and etc. Set up a solid funnel and drive leads you can convert into sales. Keep A/B testing and optimising one funnel if you are strapped for time. I see many businesses driving leads successfully by mastering one funnel, and they do it really well as opposed to creating multiple funnels and becoming a jack (or funnel) of all trades.
• Set up your SOPs, then delegate everything. I hate to break it to you, but you are not so special that the business cannot function without you. You should want the business to function without you because that indicates that you have built a business, and ‘you’ are not the business.

Also Read: From hobby to startup: Here’s my story as IKIGUIDE’s Co-Founder

• Learning is a continuous process. It never ends. So it is important to set aside time to build on your knowledge and skills. When I started building my agency, I fashioned myself as an autodidact and continuously scoured the web looking for answers to every question that I had, which led me to understand design thinking, marketing, and how to run a business. I believe you can learn anything online these days.
• Be a reasonable yet firm leader. I believe that if you are genuine and want the best for your employees, they will feel it. At the same time, when shit hits the fan, you need to be firm, you need to be direct so your employees have the structure they need to get the job done and learn and grow from their mistakes.
• Find a mentor. I cannot emphasise the importance of this enough. You need at least one person to bounce ideas off, gain new perspectives from, and also give you advice. He or she will be the one that impacts your career trajectory.
• Choose your network of friends wisely because they influence your decision-making process. And if you are an introvert like me, there is only so much time you can afford to socialise until the overstimulation and fatigue hit you. I like to spend my social time wisely and surround myself with entrepreneurs because of their spirit and resolve. I have realised over the years how big of an impact these people have on my life and how vital it is to surround myself with people who challenge and elevate me.

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There are many more remote work opportunities now than a few years ago. More companies are hiring remote workers, and employees now prefer to work from home at least a few days of the week rather than commuting to the office all of the time.

The sudden popularity of remote work in 2020 came with many advantages. Organisations gained 21 per cent more profit on average, and employees turned up for work more than they would in the office. It seems like a win-win for both sides — but, unfortunately, there is at least one glaring negative: the increase in successful cyberattacks on remote workers.

Remote work and cyberattacks

A cyberattack is any activity that intends to destroy or steal information stored on a network, particularly from devices like laptops, phones, servers, and other electronic devices that could endanger a business’s reputation and operation if compromised.

Just as remote work created opportunities and advantages for businesses and workers, it also created risks like cyberattacks that companies and their employees need to work together to address.

Also Read: Why firms need a multi-layered approach to cybersecurity

In fact, 43 per cent of remote employees inadvertently allow cyberattacks on themselves or their employer. As a result, businesses are encouraged to develop a cybersecurity policy to prevent potential cyberattacks during remote work.

Nine tips for creating a remote work cybersecurity policy

A cybersecurity policy contains a set of guidelines and rules that monitor the access and usage of an organisation’s information technology systems.

To make sure your data is protected and that there is accountability if it is compromised, you, as a business owner with remote employees, must introduce an effective cybersecurity policy. Below are nine tips for creating a cybersecurity policy for remote work.

Educate employees on cybersecurity

Your employees need to know about cybersecurity and all it entails. This is why it is important to introduce regular training sessions in order to update employees on the latest trends and how to avoid falling victim to a cyberattack.

Provide approved work software

When you provide your remote workers with dedicated, work-only software, it means you know what you’re getting when it comes to cybersecurity precautions and built-in safeguards. This will limit potential dangers like accidental loss of, or damage to, company data or risking computer viruses from using unauthorised software.

Encourage two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication (2FA) ensures authorised verification on a second device before access to information is granted. 2FA is easy and smart and requires little effort to enable. Having your remote workers turn on 2FA for their devices doubles your company’s security and consequently protects your data more thoroughly.

Remind employees to auto-update devices

A regular system update is an excellent way to prevent cyberattacks. Companies should ensure remote employees set up automatic updates for their company-issued and personal devices. Updated devices are beneficial to both organisations and their employees.

For example, data accessed on an employee’s personal device may leak company intellectual property if the operating system is out-of-date. Employees must show equal care in updating their work-related and personal devices.

Use a template

The best way to formulate, communicate about, and enforce a cybersecurity policy is to use a template. Templates ensure your policies are readily available and can be updated at any time. You can easily send a cybersecurity policy template to a remote worker you just hired instead of writing new ones every time.

Here is an outline to create a remote work cybersecurity policy:

• Purpose: This states the reason for a remote work policy.
• Scope: This provides details on the parties involved in the policy.
• Policy details: Contains everything about the policy. From remote access control to data protection and remote system management, this is where you’ll find the main content and everything employees need to know about the policy. You might have different templates for different roles, or you might use this section to describe all roles and how data-handling procedures change accordingly.
• Violations: Provides details about disciplinary actions the company would take if its policy is violated.
• Definitions: This contains descriptions of keywords in the policy.
• Related documents: This names and provides links to other policy-related documents that add further context to the organisation’s remote work policy.
• Approval and ownership: This is where the policy author and organisation members add their signatures to signal their understanding and approval of the document.
• Revision history: This section lists the changes that have been made to the policy since its first publication.

Keep it simple

Less is more. The easier it is to understand a policy, the more employees will comply with it. A simple and easy-to-read policy will result in a faster onboarding process because the reader will begin implementing the content and may not have a reason to ask for clarity because it is simple and easy to read.

Also Read: Strengthening cybersecurity measures in the face of Web 3.0

Advice on the use of VPNs

You can ensure cybersecurity in remote work through the use of a virtual private network (VPN). VPNs protect your device’s data and prevent websites from collecting information based on your location because they encrypt all your internet traffic. Urge your remote workers to install a VPN on their computers.

Encourage the use of antivirus software

You can quickly detect and prevent viruses from spreading through your devices by installing antivirus software. Encouraging your employees to do the same will ensure company-wide safety from cyberattacks.

Create a sense of urgency

As an organisation, you must emphasise how vital a cybersecurity policy is to your workers, no matter where they report from. Even big companies have fallen victim to the malicious activities of cyber criminals, and it is essential that you make active efforts to prevent the same thing from repeating itself at your company.

Secure your company

Remote work is here to stay. As such, companies need to keep up with the challenges that come with it. From ensuring systems and software are up-to-date to installing VPNs to protect data, cybersecurity is essential and requires the collaborative work of employers and employees alike.

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E-commerce technology is evolving at a fast pace post-pandemic. The reason is most people avoid stepping into crowded areas to ensure their health and safety.

Among the countries facing a surge in e-commerce industries, Singapore is on the top list. The reasons behind this growth are constantly evolving innovation and technology.

This growth is due to the many benefits that e-commerce provides, including lower costs, convenience, and access to a larger range of products.

In the coming years, e-commerce will continue to be a popular option in Singapore. With the growing economy, more and more people are looking to purchase goods and services online. This is good news for businesses, as online sales have seen an increase in recent years.

Additionally, the rise of social media platforms has made it easier for customers to connect with businesses and learn more about their products and services.

It leads the pathway to various home-led and global brands to explore areas of improvement and enhance their productivity.

This article discusses the growth of e-commerce in Singapore and what the future holds. It also covers challenges, opportunities, and import and export regulations. It should prove to be useful to businesses and entrepreneurs looking to expand their businesses.

Growth of e-commerce in Singapore

According to a recent survey by JP Morgan, most Singaporeans now prefer to shop online. Most of them buy merchandise from international online stores.

This rapid growth in e-commerce is accompanied by the increasing popularity of cashless payment options. According to the WorldPay Global Payments Report (2021), nearly half of consumers in Singapore choose credit cards. Similarly, nearly twenty per cent of them prefer digital wallets to traditional bank transfers.

In addition, 90 per cent of Singaporeans are regular internet users. They spend approximately eight hours online daily on average. This is good news for businesses, as e-commerce has made it easier for consumers to purchase. However, it is important to note that the country is not yet at a saturation point in e-commerce adoption.

Also Read: How e-commerce brands can tap into the US$600 billion social commerce market potential

E-commerce is expected to grow by a factor of four in Singapore by 2022. The country’s high internet and mobile penetration make it an excellent location for e-commerce.

It also has a large and affluent population. This means many consumers are willing to make purchases online, including high-ticket items.

Opportunities

The opportunities for e-commerce in Singapore are huge, and factors are aligned to make this growth explosive in the years to come. This US$10 billion opportunity will allow Singaporean companies to tap into a rapidly growing market.

With high internet and mobile penetration, Singapore is a prime candidate for e-commerce businesses. Its large population is fluent in both English and Chinese and is ready to make large purchases online.

Furthermore, the city’s small size means that shipping costs are low, and the infrastructure in Singapore is fast facilitating nationwide delivery. Singaporeans are also used to receiving next-day delivery from local businesses, making online purchases easy.

Infrastructure

With its strategic location, Singapore is an attractive e-commerce market. Most locals speak English and Chinese, and the country’s infrastructure supports fast deliveries of goods from anywhere in the world.

As a result, Singapore is the perfect location for international brands and businesses to expand their reach.

Singapore has high internet penetration, with ninety per cent of the population using the internet at least once daily. The country also has a large and affluent population, with many consumers having a high disposable income.

Import regulations

Import regulations for e-commerce in Singapore are set to change significantly in 2022, allowing more flexibility to companies and entrepreneurs.

Currently, only certain types of goods can be imported into Singapore, and they must be from an approved country. The legislation differentiates between “prohibited” goods and “controlled” products. The former may be imported only under specific conditions, such as being derived from endangered wildlife.

Currently, Singapore’s e-commerce market is one of the most advanced in Southeast Asia. In addition to having a large and growing middle class, the country is an essential hub for transport within the Asia-Pacific region.

The bottom line

The future of the e-commerce technology trends in Singapore looks bright with the continued growth of online stores and the increase in demand for quality products. The country is well poised to become a leading player in the industry, thanks to its forward-thinking policies and infrastructure.

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Vietnam-based electric motorbike startup Dat Bike today announced a US$8 million funding round led by Singapore-based Jungle Ventures.

GSR Ventures and Delivery Hero Ventures also participated in the round, along with Wavemaker Partners and Innoven Capital. This brings the total funds raised by the company to US$16.5 million.

Dat Bike intends to use the fresh funds towards building and improving tech and product; hiring across sales, support, R&D and product teams to manage growing volumes; and investing in capacity building in its factories.

The company also announced plans to expand beyond Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang, to other Tier 1 cities in Vietnam such as Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Nha Trang, Binh Duong, and Can Tho in the coming months.

It is also preparing to launch its latest model shortly.

Also Read: Dat Bike bags US$2.6M pre-Series A to bring more electric motorbikes to Vietnam

Dat Bike is a technology startup whose mission is to drive the mass adoption of green transportation in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. In a press statement, the company said that it is recognized by the Vietnam Ministry of Transportation as the first domestically-made electric bike.

Founded in 2019 by Son Nguyen, a software engineer from Silicon Valley, Dat Bike was built with a vision to drive mass adoption of green transportation and transform Vietnam’s vehicle market from petrol to electric.

Since its launch, the startup said that it has received an “overwhelming” response and increased revenue by 10x in the last 12 months.

It has opened three official stores in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang, with more stores in the pipeline.

Son Nguyen, founder and CEO of Dat Bike said, “We are incredibly proud of the progress we have made so far, and we continue to strive to make electric vehicle performance at par and better than gasoline. With the fresh funds, we will be able to invest in building top-of-the-line manufacturing capabilities, scale production efficiently, and continuously improve our products for our consumers in Vietnam and beyond.”

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Image Credit: Dat Bike

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Everyone is searching for the right job, and every business is looking for the right employee. The quest seems never-ending, and no one seems happy, at least for long!

The ramification of constantly shifting socio-economic conditions is leading to the ongoing phenomenon of The Great Resignation. More and more people are waking up in the morning and dreading going to their job, even if it is virtual.

Do we need a change?

While the answer is not straightforward, one crucial change in society is that we have started valuing emotional wellness more than ever in our modern history.

The need to lead a happy and fulfilling life is not just a prerequisite for the people of first-world countries but also for the citizens of developing nations, which is the key contributor to global workforce needs.

Improved quality of life and better access to education, healthcare, and financial benefits in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Latin America have caused a shift in expectations even for relatively younger job seekers. Job satisfaction and security rank as high as the salary to be the critical factors in selecting a job.

Most regions have a significant talent crunch, resulting in highly competitive talent acquisition practices. Even in one of the most developed economies in SEA, Singapore, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), there were 242 job vacancies per 100 unemployed persons in March 2022.

Also Read: X0PA AI bags US$4.2M Series A to scale its SaaS recruitment solutions

This gap keeps increasing each quarter as more employers are now willing to hire in the new normal of COVID-19 resilience.

Several challenges exist in the current recruitment process, and solution providers are fragmented. A typical recruitment funnel starts with sourcing candidates, screening applications, and interviewing and selecting candidates whose credentials and references get checked before offering the job.

Most employers have adopted the funnel framework to determine the best candidate and not someone who will successfully fit and enrich the team.

Sourcing

Consider a modern-day employer who has a vacancy. The company either writes the job description knowing the attributes of a suitable candidate or copies from one of the templates representing the often popular yet unrealistic industry standards. There is always a risk of using non-inclusive language that creates gender and racial biases right at the beginning.

Now to reach out to qualified candidates, the employer must do the following:

• Post on the career page
• Post on social media – Meta and LinkedIn
• Post on various job sites
• Contact headhunters
• Post on specialised platforms like AngelList, Glassdoor, etc.
• Reach out to internal employees for referrals or internal applications

Except for the career site and employee referrals, all other methods are intermediaries between the employer and the job seekers. The recruiter more often has to pay to avail of services that will help them reach the most suitable talents.

In this endeavour, these platforms apply the methods of microtargeting and behavioural targeting to identify qualified candidates, thus restricting access to the broader demographics to apply for the job.

Screening

If the employer is lucky or has spent enough money and time, there are now choices to make from a considerable pool of applications. These resumes may or may not be pre-screened, so the recruitment team must spend significant hours scouring these applications and finding the desired candidates who are qualified for the interview.

Alternatively, hiring techs like applicant tracking systems can help the employer have a more organised approach, and machine learning technique-based predictive tools can recommend the best fit.

Although everything comes at a cost, it will stretch the hiring budget to the limits to implement these technologies. There are also pitfalls of a steeper learning curve and synchronising multiple solution providers to build a seamless process flow.

Interviewing

This is the trickiest step of all. Due to the lack of a standard approach, a candidate’s experience gets negatively impacted if the interview process is lengthy and unorganised.

Will you rent a car from a company that checks your driving license and asks you to take a driving test? The answer is no. So, despite having adequate qualifications and experience, if a candidate feels challenged during the interview process, a social media outcry might impact employer branding, an acute concern in a tight job market.

Artificial intelligence-based advanced assessment platforms collect and analyse data and even implement innovative assessment approaches to standardise the process and save time. However, the model’s ability to set thresholds, auto-reject candidates, and reward others, has often lacked independent validation.

Selection

In the final moment of negotiation, both the employers and the applicant want to establish favourable terms, leading to an offer that often gets predicted by the employer to increase the chance of acceptance by the candidate.

Also Read: Ethical implications of using AI in hiring

However, a large organisation seldom goes beyond the benchmark of previous offers or perceived market standards, widening the racial salary gaps based on gender and race. Smaller enterprises generally lack salary benchmark information and are under pressure to increase offer acceptance chances and not to lose the candidate to the competitors.

They either make very high salary offers to entice the candidate or can have a restricted offer due to a lack of budget. High salary disparity within a small employee base can spark early discontent and attrition.

Do we have a solution?

We expect the businesses would have identified solutions and adapted to address the problem by now, but unfortunately, the recruitment process has changed very little in the last 75 years.

Now one may debate that the process has evolved over the period. With the advent of the internet and technological progress, many heavy-lifting steps and decision-making have been outsourced to specialised platforms or automated to improve efficiency and accuracy.

Today’s large-scale recruitment processes are sourcing candidates through multiple platforms, machine learning algorithms facilitate candidate assessment and selection decisions, and process management software reduce hiring cost and improve quality.

However, on average, it still takes several weeks or even months for most organisations to recruit. A study by LinkedIn’s Economic Graph team shows that it takes more than 40 days for candidates to get hired in most job functions.

Also Read: Hiring a VP of Engineering if you’re an early stage startup: Dos and dont’s

Implementation of advanced hiring tech that improves process efficiency does not fit into the budget of most startups and SMEs, leading to a large job market that is still unorganised and inefficient. Probably it is time not to improve the efficiency of the current process but to change it completely.

How can web3 solve this problem?

As the Web3 foundations are getting laid, it is evident that the decentralised web will transform the recruitment process. The technology providers will have the Web3 infrastructure to implement solutions that will change the recruitment process forever.

Think about a global candidate pool whose credentials like education, past experiences, and skills-sets are pre-verified and genuine. These credentials are automatically updated, removing the challenges of multiple versions and outdated resumes.

The tech platforms in the current era are trying to monopolise the market and commoditize data. In contrast, web3 service providers can only charge for the tech infrastructure and cannot manipulate the process for their profitability.

For example, Decentralised Apps (DApp) powered by decentralised computing techniques, blockchain, and other distributed ledger systems can operate autonomously without any human intervention or ownership.

The fundamental characteristic of Web3 is to build a safer and more trusted internet where individuals can control their digital identity. Self-sovereign identity (SSI) gives individuals complete control of their data so that no sensitive data gets stored in the centralised database that can be stolen or manipulated.

Credentials or identity proofs are integral to human life, from passports to educational certificates. An absence of credentials can deprive someone of access to healthcare, employment, and even citizenship.

It is not different when a job seeker is looking for a job —transfer and verification of proofs of candidates’ identity, education, past employment, and skills take a considerable amount of time. Although most employers rely on third-party tech or services to perform this task on their behalf, there are significant risks of delay, inaccuracy, and data breaches during this process.

Web3 can provide a verifiable credential ecosystem where a holder of a credential (a candidate with an education certificate) can share a zero-knowledge proof presentation to a verifier (an employer seeking proof of the candidate) without sharing the original credential.

The cryptographically verifiable data can be tamper-evident and prove the authorship if the employer trusts the issuer (the university issuing educational certificates). So, without sharing the actual degree certificates, the job seeker can prove to be a degree holder from a trusted university and qualified for a particular job opportunity.

There will be a large pool of verified candidates if there are more and more trusted issuers of verifiable credentials, such as universities, employers, and organisations.

A time might come when an employer can skip several iterations of screening and background checks by directly offering a job interview to a candidate.

The technology can create a global passwordless standard where individuals can own their data and get seamless access to financial, educational, employment, and travel services by instantly and securely authenticating their identity.

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