Entrepreneurship - Future-proofing the Little Red Dot's Economy

It has been almost two years since I last blogged. A lot has happened since then - I left my job in the Army after 13 years in Jan 2012, and forayed bravely into the uncertain world of entrepreneurship with a radical startup, Tell My Friends. 

2 years - what a roller coaster ride of highs and lows! Emotionally it was liberating when I first started out - making decisions on things that I never had the opportunity to do so. It brought me to many places - Malaysia, Xiamen, Bangkok, New York, Austin TX. Lately it has hit a new low - an unpleasant end to a joint partnership in F&B, a standstill in my startup's development and growth due to a lack of funds and resources - and financially, I am dry.But now that I have some time on my hands before the next lap, I shall share my thoughts on why I still want to be an entrepreneur, in the bigger scheme of things.

Mention "Entrepreneurship" and most people will think,"Towkay" or "Boss", living the good life. It is, in fact, the opposite, at least for the first few years. Is entrepreneurship a career choice? In my 2 years of exploring and experiencing it for myself, I can tell you it is not. Entrepreneurship is the individual's ability to bring to life creative and innovative ideas. It is having the perseverance and persistence to see things through, from paper to execution. It is the resilience to take failure in stride and bounce back and thrive in the face of adversity. It is the "can-do" and "never-say-die" attitude. 

And Singapore needs this for our near future. 

Most people compare Singapore with Hong Kong. The formula for success for these two Asian Tigers are different. Singapore thrives on excellent central planning and Government Control, while Hong Kong has the vibrant and hungry drive to find opportunity in chaos. Such a stark difference in the cities' DNA. Singaporeans are in fact in a perilous state - the lack of drive and ability to take risk to venture out on our own is largely created by our efficient PAP-led government. It is not a bad thing - I'm not slamming our leaders, don't be mistaken. In fact, our success is our own folly. However, the ground noises can be heard - the people want less control and more autonomy. But are we prepared for it? Come 2016, if Facebook-addicted Singaporeans have their way, we could wake up to a Singapore without the Men-In-White. Not because the Opposition is good, but just because we are sick and tired of the PAP. Whatever the outcome may be, one thing is clear - our economy cannot remain a national enterprise. There's only so many jobs the government can create, and looking at the need to increase our market size to over 6 million, there will be immigrants in the form of skilled, semi skilled and unskilled labour competing for jobs. The key words here - "COMPETING FOR JOBS." 

Let me share with you my experience as a F&B manager (for a short three months). Nothing beats working at Ground Zero of any business to understand the deep issues. Not many Singaporeans are willing to work 10 hour shifts in the kitchen for less than $2000 a month, but there are tons of Malaysians that would. Singaporeans choose their jobs based on convenience and proximity to home or public transport that doesn't take more than 45 mins. Malaysians will take a bus from JB to Kranji MRT or ride their motorcycles daily to work anywhere in Singapore, nevermind if it takes 90 mins of daily commute, twice a day. Singaporeans won't want to work as a waiter or service staff because it is demeaning and low-status, while Philipinos and Malaysians would take that job anytime, even if it pays less than $2000 a month. I've encountered young students who would agree to work at the bar serving drinks, but would refuse to serve food at the restaurant. Simply put - Singaporeans work within our comfort zones...venturing out of this zone is undesirable and out of the question. We all want cushy jobs and high salaries. We don't want to work too hard for that extra dollar. I've offered jobs to Singaporeans in need like single parents. Only one took up the offer. The rest immediately rejected when they found the location too inconvenient to get to, or the pay is too low, even though I allowed them to bring their kids to work.

 

We need to start preparing our youth now to face the challenges of the future. I'm talking about as near as 5 to 10 years from now. We have lost our competitive edge as a work force, because the Singaporean Employee is expensive yet averse to hardship. We need to start with character development and resilience building to complement our existing education system. In other words, we should start training our youths to be entrepreneurs NOW.

It's not about teaching them how to set up a company and banking facilities. All these can come later when they are ready to run businesses. It's about character development and letting them have the experience of what it takes to be an entrepreneur, what failure feels like, how challenging it is to make a decision that requires risk taking, and working with others in a team.  Just as we choose scholars from the cream of the crop of A levels to be first-class civil servants, we should similarly identify and groom natural entrepreneurs from the academically mediocre and even failures to be the next Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. After all, they were all dropouts!  

It is the Entrepreneur that creates jobs for the economy. It is the Intrapreneur that drive changes and new businesses for corporate organisations. Both share similar traits : Being creative, analytical and innovative, AND taking action. Never say die, always can do!

Consistent with my post and self-declaration as an entrepreneur, I'm focussing my next project on training our NexGen entrepreneurs - starting from schools. I'm writing this as I gather my thoughts and course materials, and instructional design. If all goes well, I'll be on the road next year preparing our youth for our future, and I hope one of them makes it as the next Sim Wong Woo. It's been almost 30 years since we shook the world!