Business

[ksl]

I find it quite amazing that, there are so many opportunities around, that young people are so limited in their creative thoughts, and blinded by their own illusions of business opportunities, without doing proper research.

For example down on the Seiyu floor, where all the pushcarts are. I bumped into two girls selling badges! I was quite amazed, the numbers flashing through my mind of how many they must sell just to pay the rent!

I'm certainly the rent was around 6000$ a month she said! I was wondering if these young ladies actually did their calculations of how many badges, they would have to sell, to pay the rent, never mind make any profit.

Are badges really a fast moving product? And look at the area, the Japanese Ice Cream Tea is renting, is it really viable!

I would like to point out, that may be the Japnese Tea is a franchise, and that a feasibility study would have been highly likely, under the rules of the franchise.

A business plan would have been drawn up, showing the likely time frame, for the Ice cream business to breakeven, after all, it would have to build on a loyal customer base.

My point is, that before anyone jumps in, to do a business, I must stress the crucial facts of the business plan, it must be realistic, so please get someone with a business background to take a look at the plan, a second opinion or even a 3rd opinion, is required to reduce your risks of failure.

What we have financially, is normally through blood, sweat and tears! If it isn't, think double carefully!

Becuase the money may have to be repaid! Causing the blood, sweat and tears, either way, you get a sharp learned lesson, to think twice about the illussions of fashion. Just my thoughts for today!

[Strong Eagle]

I must say that I do wonder about the viability of some of the small businesses that are set up in Singapore. On the other hand, I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the Singapore folks willing to step out and risk going out on their own as independent business people and/or entrepreneurs.

I don't have any hard numbers or evidence to back it up but it seems that a far larger percentage of Singaporeans are willing to run their own business, as opposed to the US.

[jpatokal]

I don't have any hard numbers or evidence to back it up but it seems that a far larger percentage of Singaporeans are willing to run their own business, as opposed to the US.

Really? I think ksl hit the nail on the head by saying that while there are some Singaporean entrepreneurs, the amount of creativity involved seems to be near-zero, and very few if any of these have potential to expand into larger businesses. Even the posts here are all the same: I want to open a hawker stall, I want to open a drink stall, I want to sell accessories from a push cart, I want to sell accessories via the Internet... where's the differentiation?

Then again, people with solid business plans usually don't post about them on Internet forums...

[Strong Eagle]

JP - I don't think that it is a given that a business must expand... if people are content making the living they are, they are not working for "the man" then more power to them. I've set a growth limit on my company... I simply don't want the aggravation of a large company.

[sundaymorningstaple]

SE, I tend to agree with you insofar as a businessman's aim is to make a living while not being the puppet of another in the process (someone else signing his paycheck). What I do question is your statement regarding a growth limit. Why? If it expands to the extend that it becomes an aggravation then sell at a tidy profit with a management contract in hand or walk away and start anew with a nice capital gain in your pocket... or both better yet!

[Strong Eagle]

SE, I tend to agree with you insofar as a businessman's aim is to make a living while not being the puppet of another in the process (someone else signing his paycheck). What I do question is your statement regarding a growth limit. Why? If it expands to the extend that it becomes an aggravation then sell at a tidy profit with a management contract in hand or walk away and start anew with a nice capital gain in your pocket... or both better yet!

Well, you're right, SMS. I only want to manage my company to about a maximum of 40 project managers, with high quality accounts. My exit strategy is to sell at 40 people and corresponding revenue, or, if I've got a really strong candidate who wants to grow the business, I'll cut him/her in and become passive in the business.

I agree with JP in that I wonder if some of the folks starting a new business know what they want it to look like in five or ten years, or if they have defined an exit strategy. I disagree with JP in that I believe it is perfectly reasonable to start small and stay small if that is what a person wants.

[jpatokal]

I agree with JP in that I wonder if some of the folks starting a new business know what they want it to look like in five or ten years, or if they have defined an exit strategy. I disagree with JP in that I believe it is perfectly reasonable to start small and stay small if that is what a person wants.

Actually, I think we agree on everything except the definition of "small". Unless you hit on a magic recipe for chicken rice/Hello Kitty stickers laced with legal crack, a hawker stall or accessory cart is never going to grow out of the hand-to-month "mom and pop" size. If you're talking 40 employees and defined exit strategies, then you've already grown "large" in my book, and are certainly much larger than the average Singaporean small business.

I've often heard local companies criticized for the very Chinese tendency to keep everything in the family. This can work well for the first generation of a manageably small outfit, but it effectively kills any hope of expansion and tends to bellyflop by the time the third generation of clueless/uninterested spoiled little grandkids rolls around.