Entrepreneurship: Don’t do it for the money

Entrepreneurship: Don’t do it for the money

Tuesday, Mar 25, 2014

Jessica Cheam

The Straits Times

SINGAPORE – A recent commentary on entrepreneurship by Nominated MP Laurence Lien for The Straits Times caught my attention.

He had called for a new mindset in Singapore to nurture entrepreneurship. Several observations he made struck a chord, including how we should change the way we nurture our young to challenge conventions and how we could do more to provide both physical and social support for entrepreneurs.

In this space a couple of weeks ago, my colleague Jonathan Kwok wrote a column titled “Can’t start your own firm? Invest in someone else’s”, in which he urged regular wage workers to buy shares in companies to grow their money. Some friends, he said, have taken the high-risk, high-return route of setting up their own firms.

While some of them are from rich families who can support them, in reality, most people do not have the same appetite for risk, he observed.

Reading both columns, I found myself contemplating the trials and tribulations of an entrepreneur’s journey. What is it that enables an individual – rich or poor – to take the plunge into the unknown to start his own business?

Sometimes, I think the most difficult investment choice we all have to make is whether to follow the conventional path of pursuing a stable career in a large company, or to take the risk to start something of our own – to invest in yourself, a belief or a passion.

The latter prospect is perhaps more alluring to the young and savvy because of the possibilities afforded by the amount of time they have ahead of them.

After almost a decade as a journalist at this newspaper, I left full-time employment a few months ago to join my husband in running our own business.

He had started his entrepreneurial journey earlier, having got a taste of it after co-owning a small media and events outfit years ago. After he sold his shares, he decided to take on a passion project that I had started (but didn’t quite know what to do with) and grow it into a business.

The years that followed were undeniably tough.

We were a social enterprise in a niche space – providing content and marketing services for Asia’s sustainable business community. But the concept was only in the nascent stage in the region; companies either did not care about it or thought that anything to do with the environment should be done for free, therefore revenues were unpredictable and slow to grow.

I left him largely to it while I focused on my career but I had a ringside seat on his journey, which was characterised by sheer hard work, loneliness and stress, for little or no wages. There was no rich family to bankroll us either.

There were times when we wanted to chuck it all in. But each time when it came down to it, we decided to fight on, mindful that 90 per cent of new businesses shut within the first three years – and what would set us apart would be the simple fact that we would not quit even if it seemed the far easier option.

Eventually, I chose to join him. Many people thought I took this option so I could have more time to look after our young son, but in reality I made a tough choice to leave a job I loved so that I could work on a passion project of mine, and it certainly did not make life easier.

I suddenly had to deal with issues I had never faced before as a comfortable employee in a big firm – fluctuating wages owing to unpredictable sales, the lack of benefits and insurance coverage, and a lot of introspection about what I was doing.

Few understood why I made that choice – including my parents, my peers, my colleagues – and the remarks that followed (“You must be so free now!” “Isn’t it great to be your own boss?” and “Can make money or not?”) showed how little the average person understands about what it means to be an entrepreneur and the wider societal lack of sensitivity to the profession.

In my experience, being an entrepreneur involves (and this list is not exhaustive):

-Long hours at work – covering all roles from being a boss, to sweeping the floor, managing an office, doing administrative and HR tasks, conducting sales, customer service, credit control, all in addition to delivering your product or service.

-Low wages during the initial period – paying yourself a minimum (or nothing) so the company survives, and paying your staff more than yourself.

-Constant obsession about your business – you think about it when you eat, drink, sleep or go to the toilet.

-Heavy responsibilities – bearing the stress of the business making enough money to pay everyone’s wages, and worrying about the safety of the initial investment you put in.

Sometimes, you can persist but still fail. But the key is to try again, even if you fail once more.

Now, here is the more cheerful part of the journey.

Because we kept going at it, slowly but surely, as we established ourselves as the leading provider in our space, the business turned a corner and started to thrive. The most rewarding part is the exhilarating feeling that you created something out of nothing, that you did not quit when the going was tough, and the job satisfaction you get knowing that your business makes a difference.

It also affords you something that eludes most people – freedom. Although this freedom is limited in that you will always have huge responsibilities, you do not have to ask anyone to take annual leave; you can decide today to launch a new service or product if you choose to; and you are a master of your own time – meaning you can set your own working hours to better suit your life.

It also offers flexibility in what you would like to pursue. For example, I chose to continue writing for selected publications, because I can and wanted to.

Still, budding entrepreneurs should be prepared for emotional upheaval. Some days you can feel invincible, like nothing is impossible, but many other days, you can feel achingly lonely, because in most small companies, there are few around you who can be your sounding board, and no one is there to give you direction.

This is why support is so important, and being part of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, as Mr Lien pointed out, is crucial in nurturing entrepreneurs. At our office at Block 71 in Ayer Rajah industrial estate, being among like-minded start-ups has made the journey a less isolating experience.

On March 12, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Teo Ser Luck launched an expanded version of Block 71 – to involve two more blocks – called JTC LaunchPad@one-north, which the Government hopes will make Singapore the regional hub for start-ups.

It is also encouraging that there are plans for greater private-sector involvement for start-ups so as to give them better access to resources such as financing, networks and expertise. The Action Community for Entrepreneurship, established in 2003, recently announced it will undergo a revamp and help lead this entrepreneurship push.

Then there are other considerations: Entrepreneurs have to force themselves to be financially prudent. You have to think hard about what you can afford to invest in your business (both time and money) versus how much you need to allocate for yourself, your family and other investments.

For those reading this and contemplating the entrepreneur route, I would offer one bit of advice – do not do it for the money; it is definitely easier getting rich pursuing a high-flying career with an established company.

Do it only if you believe in something, if you are tenacious about it, and if you like breaking the rules.

For those who have friends or family looking to set up shop on their own, do not frown on the path less trodden – it is already difficult enough. The life of an entrepreneur might be the road less travelled but it should also be celebrated, for no business today would exist if not for that first step into the unknown.