Publication: The Straits Times, p D2 & D3 Date: 25 July 2009 Headline: Seize the Day LA-' SMU

Some of the world's biggest companies like Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard were started during recessions. Experts and successful entrepreneur. talk about .-iW to be had during a dmSS6d momy,

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A MID the rows dgrase-black- ened car workshops at Sin M h g Autocare Complex is a &am, freshly painted work- shop o f f e r a t yn services

with a difference. yralue above others," reads the m l y

mveiled SigDboatd at Arrow Tyrss, which opened last month. A tiw battery check and a plush waiting room are among the bODuses rm offer.

The re=esslon may h v a fotced many businessts to donasixe and others to c h e but Arrow owners Alvin Boey a d Etban Li, bothlb, dscided that the h- turn is m opportunity worth exploiting.

Timy are among more than 32,600 new that nsrr registwed wltll the Accouuting and Corporate Regulatory Authority between Octokr and Nay, the ei@t months after the glob&l fimdal rnsls took hold h mid-Septemk.

This number is iust 3 Dsr Cent shv of

through Dtber means. Most draw funds from their cmm sav-

ings, or take loam from ftu& members. The b n w so& who trade on cobbled- together credit do so with tmpidati . When Mr Harish Nim, 50, started

global rr solutims flnn Bmerio hare in the thick of the Asian fin*nclnl crisis in 1997, he drew credit lines fmm six barb toraisescedmoney. Mr Nim says: "It was a fOOlhprdy h-

sion in hindsight, but Inhad no athtr avnwesofraisingcapItal.

And then there's the c h l h g e of find- i n g n e w ~ s s P h m ~ . r e ~ - ing tbeir belts.

MPny Wpe cake bouti ue Artisan Sweets &am Eileen ~ay.%ave found t b t the m a t powerful marketing tool I$ p o d old-fashioned word of mouth.

Artisan S e t s began as a home W- ing Wlness ?kt the Cullnnry Institute of America graduate, b e t known for her Whiau macmmm and croksants.

"I had a growing group of steady dl- ents, 90 per cent of whwn were tai-tais and professionals who were reces- sion- mof " saps Ms Tay, exphhhg h a consl9eoEe'h Setting up ahopnow.

m m S w e C t s ~ f t s ~ i n ~ -

Ms Tay expct8ArIjsm Sweets to be prof- itable in a year.

Another key challenge facing a start-up 19 the day-to-dpy reality of run- nhga--andketphgmtyeon dotlars h and dolkrs outut. "Everyone bas to keep pn eye on cash

flow," says entreprunewship lecturer T.S. Toh of N q w g Buslnsgs School, who cites smd ffms' adaptability h crirss as an advantage.

Emerlo's Mr Nim agme: "BeIn# flexi- ble is Important for g o d casb flow. Y w m a y n o t b a ~ m o n e y t i u t ~ c a s h f l o w m u s t b s & y t o s ~ . "

This is why Varl Office Systems, an office furniture comumv witb 28 staff

the mnuferiod a& sW@& t h e is s I11 a healthy appetite hete fm dXeDWlUlUShi~dE3Dite itie difficult em- - - no& climate,

As Uanchester Business School's entemrise lecher Mnrth Henerv mh it: nd&praneurship IS simply ~ l e ' k g j n g toaetha of two tbinrs. oDDortnolttea and enieTprkii indlvidds.' -

And new amities arise out of changes Illn recessions, he said.

In fact, some of the world's most s u c c e s s f u l ~ e a emmgd£torn r-- sions, including global Fl' company Hswlett-Packard, arimaticm firm Walt Msney Campany and software giant Microsoft.

For those wUlin# to leap Mo the fray, downturn mny offer benefits. Shgapore Management Uaiversity (SMU) Institute

mtlndqnb* -1 -I ~ X E ~ L P U ~ Ik*kynrdmm

*rrrl"dUr - ST PHOTO: KEWTM

of Inmvotion and mtrepm-& dkec- tor k a i Narasimbplu highlights three: a Fii, costs sre lower.

Arrow lyre$, for example, secured its S i n ~ w o r ~ i n A p r i l f o r 2 O p a csnt legs than the quoted price for a M- la-sipedspacebthe~~mebuWhglusta few months wlier.

They s a d Whet 20 psr cent on renovations, which cast $25,000, and Imwlgd to baFgain for Mer tban llf.d desls wtththe.lr suppHers.

'~pwhept=Ywhfnd*pai (Holdurn for 'the economy IS poor') when negolhtkg with our suppks, ond it belpsd**-Mrw.

As MI PhiILip teslk, chief executive of American smartphone soffwsre start-up ProOnGo, puts it: "Ewry&hg k mpfia- MS."

"If you aren't ' to get more for less, you a d w p d n n t a g c of the ecmoadc CrnditirnS," says tbe uni- w d t y of Chkago Booth Scbml of -4- nsss graduate. H Second, wmpetition Is redtmd as weaker bu- am forced to fold, and those which survive corns out stronger. R Third, good talent is more t d y avail- able as more workers lose jobs. and can k hired at more reasonable rat=. Bu& experts us quick to potnt orrt that

these a&- do not make entrepre- neurship an easy option.

Bushress start-ups often fail in both good times and bad. T&e, for exnmple. Mr Edwin Chan. 59, w h in the 1980s sup- plied chemical high-pressure clemms with fnupattmts to &Ips and shipyards.

Back then, he continued marketing his products even w k his customers could not pny. As a rasult, his company suf- fcrtd tigbt cash flow and was forced to fold in 1987. Dr Henery explain%, YBegatdless of

market state, it is e ~ ~ d to understand your customers' needs and achieve them io the most efficbt and andectke way."

In the words of management sage Peter DrucLer. "entrepreneurs innovate*. Take the Be-Driven guys. who boldly

started kbeir low-priced valet dtivhg servZcs hcn in gloomy February.

whaeothetvaletdrtPers~$60pet ride, Be-Driven b g e s o d y $38 btcnure the team, led by Mr Lyndcm Hung, 25, Mt Glerm Ha, 25, d Mr MeMn Llm, 25,

members. intduceci pip cuts, no-pay leave and r ~ c h m m t s in March to low- er overhend eosts when d e s dropped by q to 50 per cent tetwmen Wewmber und Mw.

But like mauy hardy mtreprenews. founder-director Raymond Toh. 38. is relentlesslp ~asfiive. ,. - -

'What entrepreneurs need to cmqwr most is kar. The opposite of that is faith, belief and cadideuce," preaches Mr Toh, u410 could &ad & a 10 oer cent emhi- bution to Verl's itart-ip capital of $30,000 in 1998 - a contribution he made using a ready credit line. Thy, Varl boasts an aunual tmm

of $7.8 d c m , d with June's sales fie- t l r e s l o d d n g u p . M r T o b f s ~ o f a similar turnover &we this year.

UDetennination and perseverance brad Mth. And It Ls thls spirit that win hclp you survive d w diff*ult times,' says an upbeat Mr Toh.

Just ask Mr Chaa. who*- aftes f&g in his chcrmcd cleaner busmcn - started hgw@ school Cmbrldge Institute in 1997, In a desperate bid to turn things arormd. h -8 of days when he did not have

emu& money to buy a h (Chinese W, he gmd on, determined to keep Msrtudtntshapgg.

fad they were able to keep overhead costs low.

And it is mvme off.

ery, thls m e w selling his five varieties of lobsters at up to 35 per cmt less than prim at supermarkets and other lobster fums. In additioa, ths former finaacial advis-

car battery &ecks and a mmfmtaMt wait- ing room equipped with sofa seats, PLr-mdthhy Pnd entextrfnment.

"We're takmg a very different ap- proach to this business. We want to br!dge the gap in customer servlee in the industry,' says Mr li.

But offering a good produd is just one part of the eqwtlon. Bushes$ owners need rtut-up money, a strong clutomu ~ E d g w d ~ R o w , s a g s S M U ' s P m - fes~or Nues-

With banlrr beaming more selsctive about lending, new ventures with neither credit history om m estrMtsbed reputa- tiom often ncad to raise start-up capital

~e-D& h b e n profitable from Us €itst month ofarationr, with staffdsiv- hg*bmb70c&aweeknrrw.

"When y w offer a premium s&e to the mat- at a ~ h e a p I price, &e win str*8," says Mr Hung. Dr Hepety ~grees t h t recessha lead

to chpn%ed s r p e c t a h in tha market. ' h tomsrs will become e w more dis- m, a to p et- -&for-.

For Mr Ryan S d , 29, owner of ~ f r r m T a i ~ L o b s t e r a n d F i s b -

et offers buy&$ free delivery for orders above $200.

He his bisd~~. I' Koh Ne Chmg, 46, kkp C&S down by d06 ewqthhg themselves, from lePdng their lobsters which they frrnn a hatch%ry t 0 e a t c h i n g t h e t r o w n ~ W u t d setting up a website to advertise their biness. mes bopas to get the edge by investing an extra $lO,OOO to offa free

Source: The Straits Times O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

Publication: The Straits Times, p D2 & D3 Date: 25 July 2009 Headline: Seize the Day

I rake seed m y , a deckion he thinks wa% f o o b d y in hinddgM ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG ' i '

C H a ~ N h r t r M ~ l K s d ~ R m E n n r k h u r i n t ~ ~ ~ o l t h r k h f i n n c l r l ~ k i n 1 9 9 7 . a d d ~ a r d t I I ~ f r a n s h ~ ~ t a

"I would go to the toilet and hide, or take the lift after classes, just to listen to what the students were saying," recounts Mr Chan, who would improve & classes after collecting feedback.

Cambridge is now an international brand that is expanding into Vietnam, China, South Korea and Australia, with revenue to the tune of $10 million a year. "As an entrepreneur, your mindset

must be right," he says. "What keeps you going is your attitude. You must never give up."

Still, the fact remains that firms in the first two years of business have a high fail- ure rate, says Associate Professor Toh.

But those who survive can move on "to fill the shoes of those competitors who have exited the market" and grow stronger because of it.

It is perhaps the vision of such success that spurred 700 people to sign up for the

Action Community fox Entrepreneurs' Bluesky Festival on "Growth Opportuni- ties in Difficult Times" held on July 10, A

up from 500 last year. Those attending learnt about cre-

ating opportunities from speakers such as non-profit Kauffman Foundation's vice-president A for entrepreneurship Bo Fish- back, and entertainment in- dustry leader Octopus Group's co -founder Elaine Teh.

When all is said and done, however, an aspiring entrepreneur who spots an opportunity must decide to go after it, a decision that in- volves risk, opportunity costs and full commitment. \

To the person standing on the ledge, VarI's Mr Toh offers , encouragement with a smile: "Close your eyes and jump in." 5. Adobe Systems Incorporated (1982j"'

Source: The Straits Times O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.