Be a Kid again!!

Written by Raymond Tay on September 4, 2010 – 10:49 am -

When I logged in Facebook, I was scanning my News Feed and I saw this video that was posted by my friend. It really surprised me and the animation is incredible & beautiful. The words are also very meaningful. Although it is not something new, I still love to read such inspiring reminders again. Check it out & be a KID again!!


Tags: , , ,
Posted in Business, Inspiration, Personal Success | No Comments »

What Makes A Young Champion?

Written by Raymond Tay on August 13, 2010 – 2:58 am -

I am very excited to share with you this marvelous event that I have attended on 7 & 8 August. This forum discussed about “What Makes A Young Champion?” and it is organised by National University of Singapore (NUS) and The University of Sydney, Center for The Mind @ NUS, University Cultural Centre. The delegates are students from Secondary Schools, Polytechnics and Junior Colleges. The Creator of this forum is Professor Allan Snyder, director of Center for The Mind. I am very impressed of the chosen speakers (a.k.a. Young Champions) and delighted to listen about their successful stories and how they view champions or life. Let me introduced some of them to you:

Bambang Reguna (aka Bams), Rock Star, 27
Indonesian

Bams is the lead singer of popular Indonesian band, Samsons, which has gained a wide-spread popularity due to their squeaky clean image. Apart from his musical inclinations, he is also the ambassador in Indonesia in the campaign against drugs and narcotics abuse and delicates time to many social causes.

 

Caroline Bird, Writer, 24
British

An up-and-coming young writer, Caroline has published two collections of poetry and six plays, garnering numerous prizes. Her work has been published regularly in PN Review, Poetry Review and The North magazine and has been broadcast on BBC Radio. In her spare time, Caroline conducts poetry workshops for other aspiring writers from primary and secondary schools in England.

Listen to her poem:

Johnny Strange, Mountaineer, 18
American

Climbing Antarctica’s Mount Vinson at twelve, Johnny became the youngest person to ever scale the Seven Summits on the seven continents. Advocating the message to stop genocide from the top of Mount Everest, Johnny combines his passion for climbing with calls for social change.

Leanna Archer, Entrepreneur, 14
American

At nine, Leanna founded her company, Leanna’s Inc, producing all-natural hair products, and she hasn’t looked back since. Today, Leanna’s Inc grosses over $600,000 a year and Leanna has been featured on numerous television shows including NBC’s The Today Show, Fox News and MSNBC. In her free time, Leanna also dedicates herself to social causes. In 2008, the Leanna Archer Foundation was set up to help provide schooling, food and other support to Haiti’s underprivileged children.




Louis Barnett, Chocolatier, 18
British

Having dropped out of school at eleven due to learning difficulties, Louis soon became a licensed chocolatier who was also the youngest supplier of both the Sainsbury’s and Waitrose supermarket chains at the age of fourteen. Since then, he has received Lord Carter Award for excellence in the food industry and also numerous nominations for showing promise as a young entrepreneur. An environmentalist, Louis is also actively involved in the conservation of the Chester Zoo’s Bornean Orangutan Conservation Programme.

Reese Fernandez, Social Entrepreneur, 25
Filipina

Reese Fernandez is the caring and enterprising co-founder of Rags2Riches, a social enterprise company that empowers woman who live in Manila’s Payatas waste dump by enabling them to sell their fashion products directly to retailers. These women have access to training in personal finance, health insurance and nutrition. Rags2Riches also provides mothers with the “Quality of Life” programme in which they can save a part of their income.

Besides the sharing from these Young Champions, there is also a showcase of the winning videos on “What Makes a Young Champion?”. I am happy to have a photo with one of the winners, Hannah Klassek, 19, Australian who created “Believe in Me“.

Take a look:

Ding Mingzhe, 20, Chinese, has also created a meaningful video, “A Frog’s Adventure“:

I love another video as well, by Phuong Anh Pham, 19, Vietnamese. Very touching. Title: “Marathon“.

Finally, below is a graphic representation of the entire event:

An amazing event for all esp. young people. Be inspired and be the next champion.


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Business, Community, Health & Fitness, Inspiration, Personal Success, Students, Wealth | 1 Comment »

Think Big, Focus One

Written by Raymond Tay on July 19, 2010 – 8:27 am -

This is my 2nd interview with another inspiring entrepreneur, Mr. JK Saravana, Founder & Chairman of Tantra Incorporated Pte Ltd. Get charged up and make your dreams into reality!!

Mr. Saravana, Chairman of Tantra Incorporated Pte Ltd

Mr. Saravana and Me

Here is a sample of my interview with Mr. Saravana:

Sypnosis on Nominee:

No one is born as an entrepreneur and everyone can be nurtured to be one. Mr. JK Saravana is the living example as he gained valuable experience and learnt to take risks from his enterprising parents. Starting a business at a young age created difficulties and barriers for him to stands tall among the senior competitors but he is determined and fought with hard work and creativity. He is also a serial entrepreneur who managed Cheeky Monkeys and is doing liquor distribution and import & export businesses.

Business Profile: 

Tantra Incorporated is a one-stop International Production house and Entertainment Company established in 2002. In the years of their existence they have established a unique and strong business network within the production and entertainment industry. The Company is well represented having successfully produced, managed and assisted top ranked projects.

As an established production and entertainment company they are diversely active in their respective divisions – Tantra Films, Tantra Records, Tantra Television, Tantra Live,Tantra Advertising and the newly added wings to meet to the expanding market needs, Tantra Animation and Tantra Studios. They have specialized professionals working with different genres of divisions, with years of experience in their field.

My Comments & Thoughts about Nominee:

Not many entrepreneurs whom I met so far are able to build businesses within businesses and I can envision his dream of creating his own television and radio stations where he can integrate all of his subsidiaries and be self-sustainable. Think big, focus one. He targets not just Indians in Singapore, but the whole Indian population in the world.

Starting Up

1. What is the nature of your business?

My business revolves around the entertainment industry and is a one-stop media hub. We have 7 subsidiaries e.g. television, film, records and studio. We provide all the different services in the entertainment industry from marketing to programme, film and music productions. We have our own studio facilities and also offer rental services.

2. When and why did you decide to become an entrepreneur / take over your family business?

We began off as an Art of Entertainment company in 2002 and were doing events mostly. Before that, I was serving NS and working in Cheeky Monkeys. I was actually preparing to go for further studies after my NS, however my mother passed away at that time. Thus I had no choice but to survive (either to work or to do business) and also I had to take over my mother’s beauty salon business. However I couldn’t do much for it. You can say that I am a situational entrepreneur. Hence, I decided to work at the same time in Cheeky Monkeys as a cameraman and a crew boy. Soon, I was promoted to an executive producer. Then in 2004, I put in more effort in my event company and changed it into a production company. Both my parents definitely inspired me and my father was a business owner in entertainment industry too. At a very young age, I was nurtured and exposed to entrepreneurship and risk taking from my parents.

3. What are your reasons for choosing to do business in this particular industry?

My father has inspired me a lot because since young, I was helping my father and was part of management committee for the concerts which bring artists to perform in Singapore. I also love watching movies and thus decided to make movies.

4. How did you put together all the resources needed to start your business? For example: getting the start-up capital, hiring staff, doing sales and marketing, advertising, etc.

I started my business with just $15 and I believe a true businessman or entrepreneur does not require a huge funding but needs a lot of hard work, planning and being conservative in your spending. After a certain level, you need more funds to grow the business. For us, we are self-funded and what we earn we re-invest back into the business. Most of my staff was from my family and friends in the entertainment industry. Some of them I had to meet and interviewed and I will see whether they are driven, inspired to work and have dreams. I will also think of how I can help them.

5. What are some interesting stories you have about your first few customers/first few years in business?

It was really a hard time developing programmes for television. The industry is full of seniors, in their 40’s and many well-established companies. We were a group of young people, in our early 20’s and our competitors were feeling intimidated by our young team. At that time, whatever we did, people complained a lot by passing comments like “you are a bunch of rookies” or “not knowing what you are doing.” Therefore, it was very difficult to break away such connotations or stereotypes. We just fought against them and continue to work hard in our production. By showing our product output, the customers were convinced. As our deals grew more and more, and we are getting a bigger share of pie, my competitors become quiet.

Business Challenges

6. What are some of the challenges you faced when you first went into business?

The challenges were those connotations or stereotypes that I mentioned earlier.

7. How did you overcome these challenges? Please share some specific examples of the action you took to overcome the challenges.

We need to have perseverance, discipline and thick-skin. In order to secure our first deal, we had about 13 or 14 meetings with our customer and after that, we had over 20 meetings in the progress of making the programme. Discipline is doing the things you that you supposed to do but do not compromise the things you want. I played a lot and have fun after work. I believe in working hard and playing hard.

8. Can you remember your worst day in business or a time when you felt like giving up? What happened that made you feel that way and how did you triumph over it?

There were days of my team falling apart and having to fire someone who was very loyal and close to me. Failing to fire the person could jeopardise the whole team. I had to be thick-skinned and cannot be judgemental. I had to make a tough decision. The person had made a big financial mistake and caused a loss that we could not explain.

9. Can you share some of the lessons you learnt from overcoming your own business challenges that you think will help other businesses?

Finances’ decisions and planning forward (like 5 to 5 years) are very important. Also, planning of funds’ injection at the right time is equally crucial as too early can be disastrous or too late can put the company into a cash-trap. We have grown pretty fast in the years due to good planning. Even though we have progressed fast, I am quite restrictive in our growth and expansion. Growing to a level where it is within our capacity. If you can’t cope with it, it can cause you to collapse. Growth and expansion are two different issues. Growth is a healthy progress but expansion is a risk, like setting a business in a business or taking a new project.

Achievements

10. When was the moment you realised the business would work and support you?

Honestly, I have never just focusing on one business. I have a couple of other businesses such as Cheeky Monkeys, liquor distribution and import & export. But my core business is always this, Tantra. After the 4th year in operation, I realised this business is able to support me.

11. What are some of your proudest business achievements to date? And why are they so important and meaningful to you?

Every one of our programmes has either obtained an award or rated one of the best. My top three programmes are “Uncle Taxi” – a travel show, “Nilakanda” – First 3D Animation in Tamil, funded by MDA and “Chennai 600028” – a cricket movie in India. They are the milestones of our company.

Business Strategies & Tips

12. How do you differentiate your business from your competitors? Please provide specific examples.

Our competitors are mostly seniors. We are young, creative and staying on the edge. We are always introducing and utilising the latest filming techniques or production technology. My creative and production teams are always trying to find out new or better ways to work. We keep ourselves updated and change our routines regularly. Be on top of the ball, not under the ball.

13. What are some business ideas you have implemented that created great results in your business?

Whatever we create, we always plan to use our contents for at least 5 to 10 years and to facilitate our growth. For example, when we have our own television station, we can re-use our contents and not relying on other production houses. It is like a re-cycling method within our company. Another business idea is finding the appropriate time to handover the leadership. In my example, I have just passed over the leadership to my new CEO who is younger and has more ideas even though my tenure is just 8 years. If I stay any longer, I might become an old person with old ideologies and won’t be able to produce creative programmes. This business is all about ideas and need to be refreshed. I think most of the bosses won’t never be able to let go as their businesses are getting to close to their hearts and always thinking they are the best person to run the companies. Fundamentally, it is always good to hand over to someone who is more capable but still be there to give guidance.

14. Where or who do you get your business ideas from?

Anything can inspire me. We work as a team and there are many brainstorming sessions. Once something strikes us, we will go ahead with the idea. To me, a simple drive can give me many ideas and I love imagination along the way. Even my daughter’s baby talk can give me idea like producing something similar to Sesame Street.

Future Plans

15. What do you see for your business in the next 5 years, and does it include any plans for expansion?

It is our forward integration. We are going to set up our own Television and Radio stations for the international market i.e. the whole Indian community, 25 million of them. As much as we produce all languages, I want to focus to be a niche as an Indian provider. However, all my contents will be in English but cater for the Indian population. As much as we have our ethnic or native languages, the common language has become English.

Personal Business Philosophy

16. What does entrepreneurship mean to you?

No one is born to be an entrepreneur; everyone is nurtured to be entrepreneur. Entrepreneur doesn’t mean only doing business. We have to be positively competitive and even students can be competitive by studying hard. But being an intrapreneur and entrepreneur are two different things. Entrepreneur uses his/her own money to start business but intrapreneur uses other people’ money and is focusing on climbing up the corporate ladder. Entrepreneurship is just not about money but also thinking about social, staff, growth or satisfaction.

17. What are some entrepreneurship qualities that you have which has helped you come this far?

The qualities are punctuality, discipline and the attitude of “work hard, play hard”.

18. In your opinion, what does it mean to have the “spirit of enterprise”?

The spirit of enterprise can be demonstrated at any age, any time and any place. You can be an entrepreneur at home by showing to your parents that you can handle yourself.

19. Who or what motivates and inspires you?

My family and friends motivate me and they are there for me when I am down or happy. My parents are the biggest inspiration for me to be into business.

20. What are some of your business values and what would you like to pass down to others, particularly the younger generation?

Punctuality and discipline. You need to have the discipline to be at the office at a particular time. Also, be sure to giving yourself deadlines. A true entrepreneur will complete any task within the shortest period of time and ask for more. 

21. Can you share some of the more significant events / incidents that affected or shaped your business philosophy and the way you conduct your business?

The first business I ever wanted to do is making a movie. It was supposed to be Singapore’s first Tamil movie. I was 22 years old and did not know what it takes to make a movie. We thought as long as we write a script and go to the government body, they will give us money. We spent 1½ years doing nothing except writing proposals and proposals. At the end of the day, we realised that it was a stupid thing we did. The whole world revolves around money. In order to produce a project, you have to have either your own money or the funding. A dream alone is not enough. You cannot just have a dream and expect anyone to help you. Thus we compromised and we produced a television programme which is lower graded than a movie. After making the money, we went to produce a movie. Our industry is good in a way, whether you are happy or sad, you have to watch T.V. Thus you can say that our industry is like recession-proof.

22. With the changes in the market today, do you think it has become harder or easier to succeed in business? Why do you say so?

There is no such thing as harder or easier. It is the amount of hard work you have to put in. It is always challenging to start and sustain. There are always new minds or new companies coming in. At the end of the day, you must be competitive. The problem is as you grow bigger, people expect more from you and your ideas have to become bigger as well. Your team have to grow bigger too and you have to read, surf, imagine, and dream more.

23. What advice would you give young people who want to start their own business?

Before you start a business, fundamentally evaluate yourself whether you want to be an entrepreneur and intrapreneur. Intrapreneur works within a company and gets a salary, and eventually promoted to become CEO or CFO. Entrepreneur starts off with your own money and at level zero. If you are the type of person who likes challenges, that’s both. If you like challenges, willing to lose money, still fight on and won’t break down or cry, then you can be an entrepreneur. At a young age, don’t wait until 25 or 26 years old, decide whether you want to work for yourself or others and then focus on that path.


Tags: , , ,
Posted in Business, Leadership & Management | 1 Comment »

Does Money Really Motivate You?

Written by Raymond Tay on June 24, 2010 – 6:51 am -

I have come across this new theory of motivation regarding to monetary rewards previously. It really surprised me and changed my views about motivating people and getting the creativity out from individuals. This video put it in a very creative & interesting manner (letting us becoming kids again). I find that the 3 Factors that Lead to Better Performance & Personal Satisfaction are extremely useful:

  • AUTONOMY
  • MASTERY
  • PURPOSE


Tags: , ,
Posted in Business, Leadership & Management, New Ideas | No Comments »

An Enterprising & Visionary Leader

Written by Raymond Tay on June 17, 2010 – 11:48 pm -

This year I have the privilege and honour again to interview some of the outstanding entrepreneurs and nominate them to receive the “Spirit of Enterprise” award. I have managed to get in touch with Mr. Vinod Menon, CEO of MindWave Solutions Pte Ltd and gained valuable insights about business & life. 

Mr. Vinod, CEO of MindWave Solutions

Mr. Vinod and his wife, Mrs. Nayak (COO of MindWave)

Mr. Vinod and Me

Sypnosis on Nominee:

At the age of 12, Mr. Vinod Menon had already begun his entrepreneurship journey by promoting and distributing Science magazines in his school. With his passion, vast knowledge and wide experience in IT, he is able to grow his company very quickly in terms of revenue and expansion within a few years and be the finalist of Emerging Enterprise 2010. He treats his people as assets and launched an internal employees’ club, “Wave Riders” for his staff to relax, improve and bond together. He believes every one of us needs to be open for suggestions, flexible and hardworking in order to succeed.

Business Profile: 

MindWave Solutions Pte Ltd is a successful and growing IT Service Management organization. Established in early 2005, MindWave was headquartered in Singapore and has grown with offices in Malaysia and Australia. MindWave’s IT Services encompass the selection, development and implementation of IT solutions to meet every client’s business requirements. Their business offerings include Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Business Process Management (BPM) services and solutions. In further enhancing its credentials, MindWave achieved its ISO 9001:2000 certification which highlights its ability to offer consistent and quality services. In addition, we were also awarded the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Malaysia Status in 2007, by the Malaysian Government, as recognition for the innovative services and solutions that it provides. In 2009, MindWave attained the Infocomm Singapore status conferred by the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF), Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore. MindWave is also the TOP FINALISTS for EMERGING ENTERPRISE AWARDS 2010 by Spring and OCBC.

My Comments & Thoughts about Nominee:

Mr. Vinod is a visionary leader and an outstanding role model of a hard worker!! He was very friendly, approachable and open during our interview. I have learnt about the importance of staying current and flexible in business in order to be competitive in the dynamic market. I like the strong positive learning attitude that he possesses and his belief of something valuable that he can learn from anyone regardless of age, gender, race, etc.

Starting Up

1. What is the nature of your business?

Our business is about software development and system integration services. We provide software application services to our clients. During our meeting with the clients, we will have our requirement/ specification team to understand the clients’ requirements and our domain experts to find out their business needs. After that, we will meet and map their needs into software applications.

2. When and why did you decide to become an entrepreneur / take over your family business?  

I started my first business at the age of 12. I was distributing Science magazines to other children and I began with 3 subscriptions. Within three years, the number of subscriptions rose to 160 and that business was taken over by my teacher as I graduated from my school. That happened in India. Thus I think I have the spirit of enterprise since young. I came to Singapore in 2000 and was working for large technology companies. I was also studying MBA in NTU. After gaining the necessary experience, I ventured out on my own in 2005.

3. What are your reasons for choosing to do business in this particular industry?

I was studying IT and have passion towards IT. My working experience was also in IT industry and therefore putting what I have learnt into this business.

4. How did you put together all the resources needed to start your business? For example: getting the start-up capital, hiring staff, doing sales and marketing, advertising, etc.

Basically, I put in my own savings ($25,000) to start the business, together with my wife. At the beginning, it was just both of us but now we have 150 staff in three countries, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. 

5. What are some interesting stories you have about your first few customers/first few years in business?

Being the first business it was very important for us and we aimed for some of the bigger names to accept our IT services. Fortunately, we got many opportunities and still are getting to work with them as early as in our inception days. They trusted us and we deliver the required flawlessly and thus gained their trust. Of course, we made profits but they were really low.

Business Challenges

6. What are some of the challenges you faced when you first went into business?

Getting the first customer is always the hardest. However, once you did well for your first customer, it will be easier for you to reach out to your second customer as you gain more credibility. With this dynamic IT industry, firstly, we need to understand that people are our assets and it is all about brains, logic and programming skills, etc. Hence, one of the challenges is about attracting talent and then further retaining them. Secondly, technology is moving so fast that you have to be on the top of everything to keep abreast with the latest movements in the IT world. Being an SME with limited financial resources, it is a major challenge to keep up with the latest as this can be a pretty expensive affair so you have to be really strategic about what you are going to invest in and what you are going to leave out for the rest.

7. How did you overcome these challenges? Please share some specific examples of the action you took to overcome the challenges.

In order to keep up with the technology, we always have a “Third Eye” watching the industry by looking into the current trends and new advanced technology. All our senior management is well-versed in the market and technology. Once we discover a new business opportunity, we will move our team towards it. As for our ways of attracting and retaining staff, we have a very competent HR team with right kind of skills and expertise. They help us to retain our staff and they created internal training programmes, grooming programmes and internal employees’ club. Our employees’ club is managed by the employees for the employees and is known as “Wave Riders”. They organised a series of events like outings, personal development workshops, knowledge-sharing sessions or just going out for food. They decide what to do and the company will sponsor their events. We value our people. Our aim is to make MindWave a enjoyable place to work in.

8. Can you remember your worst day in business or a time when you felt like giving up? What happened that made you feel that way and how did you triumph over it?

Not really. We are very optimistic about our business and from day 1, our company has been growing. Our growth rate is above benchmark and industry standards. Until now, so far ‘touch wood’, everything is fine. It is a smooth journey but of course, there are a lot of challenges such as customer complaints and financial issues. There is not a day when I feel like giving up because of the passion we have in this business.

9. Can you share some of the lessons you learnt from overcoming your own business challenges that you think will help other businesses?

Maybe it was dealing with one of our major customers. The problem was a technical issue in one of the on going projects and our key staff responsible for that account left our company abruptly without a proper handover. At the end of the day, the customer wants to get the work done by the company and doesn’t really expect it from one employee in the company. The staff who left us had the domain expertise and the relevant knowledge on that customer.. This experience was a major setback for us early enough in our growth stage. We had to manage the crisis by getting another suitable person to handle the project, even though it was not a profitable business. We still had to uphold our reputation and make sure that the client is not disappointed. Fortunately, we managed the situation well and this client continues to be our client till date.  It was a great learning experience and every since we have focussed a lot on some strategic redundancy which is needed within the staff.

Achievements

10. When was the moment you realised the business would work and support you?

It was when we reached the breakeven point for our business and it happened during the middle of our 1st year. Very quickly, our business became stable and started to grow.

11. What are some of your proudest business achievements to date? And why are they so important and meaningful to you?

One of them was when we secured one of the premium company as our client in 2nd year. Ar the beginning, we took up small assignments from them and later end up managing more and more critical projects like software infrastructure, outsourcing and almost everything that is related to IT. This shows how the trust was built along the way step by step. We are  very proud of our team and to say that this client now contributes to 17% of our total business revenue.

Second one, was again when we started our Malaysia Office in 2nd year as well. It was great to see ourselves in Malaysia and growing there. Being a Singapore based company it was thrilling experience to set up in a different country and have that kind of diversity in operating the same business with a different flavour.

Lastly and the most recent one was being shortlisted as one of the top 15 Finalists for the Singapore Emerging Enterprise 2010 over 400 plus companies in Singapore. The excitement was largely felt by each and everyone associated for this one. Our clients, suppliers, employees, well wishers everyone should their support and we are all very grateful to them.

Business Strategies & Tips

12. How do you differentiate your business from your competitors? Please provide specific examples.

We look into building long term relationships with our clients and there is always a certain amount of proactiveness with which we work with our clients. Some of our competitors we feel may only look into very short term as the technology is changing rapidly and the business cycles are also becoming very short. We differentiate ourselves by aligning our expertise towards what customers need and helping them to achieve their competitive advantages. On one side, we serve our customers and on the other side, we study our customers’ industries and check out the latest trends in their industries. This enables us to bring in the relevant expertise and services to the table. Alignment is the key.

13. What are some business ideas you have implemented that created great results in your business?

Every time when we faced some challenges, we will try to come out with solutions and implement them. If it is working fine, then we continue to use it. If not, we will change it. When we were starting our business in Malaysia, we always had the challenge of how to bring the latest technology from Singapore to Malaysia. Singapore is considered to be blessed with all the cutting edge in technology. We advise our customers to upgrade themselves from time to time or need basis. This has worked very well for our Malaysian clients and they truly appreciate and value our suggestion.

14. Where or who do you get your business ideas from?

We get ideas from our team, my wife and experienced people from the market. Also, I have been reading books and magazines which provides me with the current trends in the market.

Future Plans

15. What do you see for your business in the next 5 years, and does it include any plans for expansion?

We are striving to become the leading IT services’ provider in the Asia Pacific. Now, we have expanded into 3 countries and we are planning to venture into Indonesia. In the next 5 years, we aim to be one of the best IT company that anyone would look for in the Region. We have some expansion plans on the horizon. Since our industry is dynamic, our plans need to adjust depending on situations/ market environment. In the previous year, we were thinking of going Indonesia first and next Vietnam.

Personal Business Philosophy

16. What does entrepreneurship mean to you?

In simple words, just being open for suggestions/feedback and being flexible. Having the ability to listen, learn and apply.

17. What are some entrepreneurship qualities that you have which has helped you come this far?

I am always flexible and if I am struck with something, I try to find out the solutions and discuss with people around me. At the end of the day, I conclude something and if my intuition says this is good, I will go ahead.

18. In your opinion, what other qualities does a person need in order to be successful in business? And why? (e.g. Educational qualification, work experience, family influence, attitude, etc)

Everyone should have a positive learning attitude. Even today, I am learning something new. If you think that you are a successful businessman who have learnt enough or made enough money, you will not be able to grow. So you have to be ambitious and expand your learning attitude. And you should be open for suggestions.

19. In your opinion, what does it mean to have the “spirit of enterprise”?

I strongly believe in motivating people to look for the right opportunities. It is also about giving guidelines and directions for entrepreneurs-to-be, my staff, my friends and anyone who meets me.

20. Who or what motivates and inspires you?

Actually, everyone around me motivates and inspires me. I try to look at individuals (regardless of age, gender, culture, etc) in a multi-dimension way and see what I can learn from them. I always admire great entrepreneurs like Mr. Richard Branson of Virgin or Mr. Tony Fernandes (who turned Air Asia from a 27 cents company to a $600 million Airline in few years).

21. What are some of your business values and what would you like to pass down to others, particularly the younger generation?

When we look into Y-generation, the values of being hardworking and loyal is changing or diminishing over time from my personal experience. There is a huge gap between X-generation and Y-generation. I would like to see my own generation to be more responsible and learn to speak for their language so that we can get work done for this new generation. Since, I have worked with both generations (with more exposure to people in Y-generation) I can safely say that there is a bit of tact involved in get things done by them. At the same time, they are the new workforce that we are going to have and we need to coach and groom them and value their creativity.

22. Can you share some of the more significant events / incidents that affected or shaped your business philosophy and the way you conduct your business? I.e. SARS, new competition or shifts in market behaviour and trends, etc.

In the recent financial crisis when we were in our 3rd year, for any start-up companies, it was a challenge to be in that period. The strategies that we used to do were not acceptable or applicable during that time. We started adjusting our business model, revenue model, services and deliverables, etc. We had also learnt to give services at a lower cost but as a long-term solution. Fortunately, we were growing at a rate of approx. 40% in our revenue. It was an opportunity for any low-cost companies or carriers. You just have to change your selling strategy based on low-cost but you look at long-term and overall business. In addition, for example, during recession period, it gave us business opportunities such as more people like need quick fix solutions or more companies tried flexi working hours or models which gave us the opportunities to tweak the systems or sometimes even more modifications to their IT infrastructure or set up some newer applications for them to easily being able to work remotely.

23. With the changes in the market today, do you think it has become harder or easier to succeed in business? Why do you say so?

In our technology business, as long as we stay current, we will succeed so that’s the easier part. It is harder because new technology keeps coming up, and we have to upgrade our expertise.

24. What advice would you give young people who want to start their own business?

It is about the attitude of learning and you just have to be honest and hold high moral values. Be hardworking, sincere and focussed and success shall follow you. Success has different meanings for different individuals. My definition of success might not be the same as yours. I have this favourite quote from an English poet, “Miles to go before I sleep.” It means having to travel a lot (like accomplishing something first) before going to bed. This has been a great influence on me personally. I am always looking and learning to see what I have learnt new before I go to sleep every single day.


Tags: , ,
Posted in Business, Leadership & Management, Personal Success | 2 Comments »

Fighting Spirit of East Asia’s Richest Man

Written by Raymond Tay on April 7, 2010 – 2:29 am -

I always enjoy learning from successful people and like to widen my horizon by discovering new persceptives. So I found out one of the Asia’s Wealthiest People, Li Ka-shing (nickname: “Superman”) who is ranked 16th richest man in the world by Forbes in 2009. He started with nothing and did not have a chance to go to school but was self-educated.

Dr. Li founded Cheung Kong Holdings (in real estate, life sciences, hotels, telecom., IT, etc.) and acquired Hutchison Whampoa Limited (owner of the world’s biggest port). I began watching a series of interviews on him and I’m totally immersed into it. He is a humble, determined, optimistic, approachable and visionary leader. He is like the Chinese “Warren Buffett” who invests a lot when the times are bad and people are losing confidence in the market. There are many valuable life, management and business insights that we can learn from.  Here are some golden quotes from Dr. Li:

  • “Simply speaking, you are the commander in chief, the head of a group of armies, you can never be better with a machine gun than a machine-gunner or better than a gunner at operating a cannon. But as a commander, you don’t do these things. Your job is mapping out strategy.”
  • “When I started my business, I almost certainly did not rely on luck. I relied on work, hard work and ability to make money.
  • “You need to be interested in your business. If you are interested in your business, you bound to do well.”
  • “Something that seems to be a loss can often turn out to be a gain.”
  • “The secret of management is simply identifying and making use of talent. But you must in principle make them feel they belong and like you first.”
  • If the university were destroyed by a bomb tomorrow or demolised by an accident, I would have it rebuilt.”

Dr Li Ka-shing (on the left) with Singapore Minister Mentor, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew

In 2002, his foundation and Hutchison Whampoa Limited has given S$19.5 million gift to SMU (one of the universities in our country) for the endowment of the library and scholarships to support scholars from Hong Kong and China. SMU’s library was named after him.

An incredible man for us to respect and model!!


Tags: , , ,
Posted in Business, Leadership & Management, Wealth | 3 Comments »

An Interview by Penny’s Daybook

Written by Raymond Tay on February 3, 2010 – 1:33 am -

One of our friends, Adine Chin, a freelance writer/copywriter & a creative writing teacher has contacted us for an interview about Leader’s Wheel and ourselves to feature in her “Inspiring Entrepreneurs” story in their Penny’s Daybook. We are happy to complete her interview and hopefully inspire people who needs some encouragement to take the first step in starting a biz. Below is the interview (answered by Raymond & Keith):

1. In 3 words, tell us what Leader’s Wheel is all about.

Moulding Tomorrow’s Leaders.

2. Which clear, or perhaps, unexpected path in life led you to what you’re doing now?

It was a long journey that led us to discover what we love to do. During our secondary school’s days and continued volunteering service in St. John Ambulance Brigade (SJAB), we had been trained to be a leader and empowered to develop our juniors into leaders as well. Through this CCA, we had many opportunities to attend many leadership courses and after that, we were given the chance to take upon various key roles (like Platoon Commander, Training Officer, Support Officer, Cadet Officer, Finance Officer) to serve, learn and lead. You can say that SJAB shaped our character and destiny.

3. To train leaders, you’ve got to be one too. So tell us how things were when you guys were trying to build this idea from scratch and how you managed to pull through.

Certainly, you must be a leader first before train others to be. A common phrase is “Lead by Example.” Once we are very clear what we are going to do, everything will seem possible. As we have created leadership programmes before, it was not too difficult to continue to use the useful contents to teach young leaders-to-be. Of course, there are many unknowns when starting a business (e.g. knowing how to register a biz, designing website, and contacting the schools). But when you love what you do and focus on your end intention (which is helping & changing young souls), you will continue to take small steps and overcome all obstacles to reach your goals.

4. Before building Leader’s Wheel, how different/similar were your personal goals as compared to now?

I think for majority of us, when we are young, we dream of many different careers (like doctor, lawyer, policeman, prison officer, businessman) as we are not too certain of what we want to do. Thus indeed it was very different for me compared to now. Fortunately, I would say I am lucky to find my passion early in life so I will not be hitting too many walls along.

5. Tell us, what’s the ONE thing (besides leadership, of course) that will cause an individual to stand out from the crowd?

I think it is our “FOCUS” in life or “CLARITY” of our destiny. As many people are not very sure what they want to do, so they will just follow the crowd or listen to their parents, teachers, professors or schools. Thus, it is vital for an individual to be certain of what he/she wants to achieve in life and work towards their goals accordingly.

6. How would you encourage/inspire individuals who want to pursue their ambitions of owning a business, or just pursing unconventional interests?

You can say “easy and/or difficult”. It is easy to inspire people who are clear of their personal direction and difficult to help someone to discover their interests (as it is a personal thing). One thing we would highlight is that not all of us need to be entrepreneur, as you need certain personalities to be one and the world cannot operate if all of us become a business owner (as there is no employees to hire). There is a wonderful mandarin quote: “Every occupation will create its scholars and talents”.


7. How do each of you overcome challenges and prove naysayers wrong?

Perseverance is the key to success. If you do not believe in yourself and what you are doing and chose to give up at the earliest opportunity when facing any problems, you will never succeed in life. Thus, instead of running away from problems, we chose to face our challenges bravely and adjust our strategies accordingly to overcome the challenges faced.

8. What’re the best and worst things about doing what you’re doing now?

The best thing is that we are able to do the things we like and have a passion for as our career. Many a times, people are grumbling about their jobs (e.g. mundane work, unfriendly colleagues) and just work for the sake of money. But for us, we are glad that we have an opportunity to do what we like and have a sustainable income at the same time. The worst thing will be not being accepted by the schools. We treat rejections as reality of life and if we ask enough people, someone will say, “Yes!”.

9. What inspires you?

Personally, I am a person who thrives under adversity. Thus for me, my inspiration comes from sportsmen who have come back successfully after overcoming their personal challenges accordingly because these people have many qualities which I can learn and tap from. One such example is Lance Armstrong who did not quit competing in cycling races even though he was diagnosed with his testicular cancer.

10. What’s one thing we really, really must know about the team at Leader’s Wheel?

In Leader’s Wheel, we are forward looking. We are constantly seeking improvements in all aspects of our company and lives. We look for various avenues to enrich and better equipped ourselves so that we are able to face any challenges ahead.

11. What’s one experience that has touched you the most in your line of work since Leader’s Wheel?

The experience that has touched me the most must be the industry visit I had arranged with one of our partners. They are a non-profit organization which provides job placement service for people with disabilities (PWD). By reaching out to the PWD and assisting them in achieving independence, dignity and integration into the mainstream of society, this experience of working closely with the PWD have truly touched me. I am more determined to bring the awareness of this organisation to the students we are teaching.

12. What are you looking forward to in 2010 (personally and also for Leader’s Wheel)?

Personally, I am looking at being able to share my knowledge with more people; students in particular, as I had always believe that the students can achieve higher well-being with valuable advices and knowledge. As for Leader’s Wheel, we aim to reach out to more schools and enriched the lives of 10,000 students by the end of 2010. (Currently, we have moulded 2,116 and still counting…)

13. As promised, our theme for Feburary’s “Red Hot” and we want you to complete our tiny fill in the blanks section!

My idea image of something “Red Hot” (‘chilli/curry aren’t allowed) is the fire in each of us.

If I weren’t managing Leader’s Wheel, I’d be an educator and be volunteering to develop youth.

If I had to make my way through the crazy Lunar New Year traffic, I’d rather listen to my favourite music and my role models’ speeches to cool down.

I’d like to exercise right now with my buddy.

Exercising and living keep me refreshed.

Our Recent Assembly Talks @ East View Primary School on Goal Setting:


Tags: , , ,
Posted in Business, Inspiration, Leadership & Management, Personal Success, Students | 2 Comments »

Getting Inspiration to Keep Moving

Written by Raymond Tay on January 10, 2010 – 12:27 am -

I always have a strong interest to read/listen/watch any valuable materials that give inspiration & ideas to make my life better. If you share this common interest with me, I welcome you to visit my blog regularly. Today, when I did a search on “wealth“, this man appears again and certainly, he’ll consistently be the one being top of the list. Hopefully, you can guess correctly. None other than Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft. If you think you are introvert and don’t believe that you can make a difference, he’s the Richest Introvert Man in the World. I enjoy listening to him and see how he uses his passion & determination to grow Microsoft. Personally, I think it’s not just about setting a software company at the right time but you love what you are doing and continuously seek improvements. That’s really the key of success. One more thing: ”He empowers people and train up leaders!!” A wealth quote that I can relate to him is “If you want to help the poor, don’t be like them.“ Can a poor person help a poor person? Of course can, but it will be very tough. You need to help yourself first, get wealthy and then you can be help more people. Watch the video and keep moving:


Michael Dell is in the video too. =)


Tags: , , ,
Posted in Business, Leadership & Management, Wealth | No Comments »

Time to Set Compelling Goals for 2010

Written by Raymond Tay on January 3, 2010 – 4:24 am -

Every year without fail, I’ll find time to sit down and write down my goals for the new year. With computer/laptop nowadays, I can easily search and select several empowering pictures for my Vision Wallpaper (instead of a real board) and I think it’s good enough (esp. I need to face my laptop daily). My vision wallpaper will act as a reminder for me to focus and continue to stay motivated & hopeful to reach my goals.

You can follow me or choose the most practical way for yourself. As usual, I have set goals for all aspects of my life (e.g. relationship, financial, business, health and other personal development goals). I encourage you to do so too and not to neglect any areas of your life as we’ll not feel fulfilled if there’s still an area that you are not happy about. My favourite words are “To Be A Complete Human!!”

I believe most of you already know the importance & benefits of goal setting (if you don’t, can drop me some comments) and thus I’ll not elucidate over here.

Have you heard of the 1953 Yale Goal Study? I have read this study in a couple of books and curious whether it really exists. To my surprise, after spending some time in researching, I saw my articles stating that it’s actually a fiction or myth and there are even like-minded people went to ask Tony Robbins/Zig Ziglar/ Yale University about the evidence of this study. It seems like no one can provide the facts or reports. Quite disappointed but still enjoyed the story.

Interestingly, there was a “Written Goal Study“ by Gail Matthews, from Dominican University. This study consisted of 267 participants from  United States, Belgium, England, India, Australia and Japan and they were made up of entrepreneurs, educators, healthcare professionals, artists, attorneys, bankers, marketers, human services providers, managers, vice presidents, directors of non-profits, etc.

The participants were randomly assigned into these 5 groups:

  • Group 1- Unwritten Goal (thinking about what they wanted to accomplish over the next 4 weeks)
  • Group 2- Written Goal
  • Group 3- Written Goal & Action Commitments
  • Group 4- Written Goal, Action Commitments to a Friend
  • Group 5- Written Goal, Action Commitments & Progress Reports to a Friend

The results of this study concluded that:

  1. The positive effect of accountability was supported: those who sent weekly progress reports to their friend accomplished significantly more than those who had unwritten goals, wrote their goals, formulated action commitments or sent those action commitments to a friend.
  2. There was support for the role of public commitment: those who sent their commitments to a friend accomplished significantly more than those who wrote action commitments or did not write their goals.
  3. The positive effect of written goals was supported: Those who wrote their goals accomplished significantly more than those who did not write their goals.

Now there’s this substantial research to support the impact of written goals. As expected, we have been told and understand the Power of Goals. So why wait if you haven’t start to write down your goals? It’s free anyway and nothing to lose. =)

Also, Performance is maximized even when the goal is not achieved!

Take ACTION now!!

“Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success.“ – David Joseph Schwartz

“You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals.” – Booker T. Washington


Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Business, Health & Fitness, Leadership & Management, Personal Success, Relationship, Wealth | 1 Comment »

Wanting to Write On Your Wall?

Written by Raymond Tay on December 29, 2009 – 11:12 am -

This business idea is really creative and solves our writing problem (esp. those who love to vandalize walls). My room has a whiteboard and I’ve almost stopped writing anything on it. Cz if I leave the writing too long, I’ll have a hard time to erase it. Just put a few reminders & posters only. After seeing this, I almost have the urge to purchase this paint and start transforming my entire 4 walls. I think this paint is much better quality than my whiteboard. As an educator, I feel connected with the teaching tools and I believe it can spur the creativity & innovation in many people.

IdeaPaint is created by three Babson College graduates and it dries to create a surface that any dry-erase marker can wipe it clean. Presently, this paint sells for $3.50 to $4.00 per square foot of coating. Any simple idea can turn out to be a profitable biz idea!!


Tags: , , ,
Posted in Business, New Ideas | 3 Comments »
« Older Entries