Venture - A Supplement Of npTribune

This supplement that was created in July 2014 by second-year Mass Communication students from the School of Film & Media Studies

What Youths Think About Starting Up

Business Journeys Page 3

Page 2

The Future of Student Businesses Page 4

Venture

For students who are interested in starting a business

August 2014

A Supplement of npTribune

Start Up With Ngee Ann!

Many students are unaware about various grants and schemes that help student start-ups in Ngee Ann Poly.

Shintaro Tay shintaro.tribune@gmail.com A survey among 104 students found that only 20 per cent of them are aware of grants and schemes available for students.

In addition, most of them are also unaware of the school facilities that are available for budding entrepreneurs. From the results, only 36 per cent have heard of Entrepreneurs-Connect @ NP (EC@NP), only 16 per cent have heard of The Incubator and only 27 per cent have heard about CuBiz. The first place that budding student entrepreneurs should head to is EC@NP. Located at the first level of the School of Business & Accountancy’s building, it is a one-stop centre that provides mentorship as well as funding for all full-time students.

EC@NP has a group of consultants, consisting of experienced lecturers from the School of Business & Accountancy, that provide practical advice to students who do not know anything about setting up a business.

Students can approach EC@NP to apply for the school’s seed-funding grant, known as EnterpriZe. Under the grant, successful applicants will be provided with a co-funding of up to 70 per cent and a maximum of $3,000 for a business venture’s startup cost.

“We are looking into using the funds for marketing purposes, so it is more towards creating a good and strong website with a strong web presence as well as to use the money to … run some campaigns or promotions,” says Derek Toh, 18, second-year Business Studies student, who is applying for the EnterpriZe seed funding grant.

To qualify, students are required to prepare a business plan, which will then be assessed by an evaluation panel, who will look out for innovativeness and commercial viability.

“For Poshism I covered the funding through [the] generation of marketing collaterals, setting up the website, paying for a designer and mostly getting the name out there,” says Sarveen Chester, 22, a graduate with a diploma in Accountancy, who was a recipient of the EnterpriZe grant. Together with a fellow business partner, he co-founded Poshism, an online platform that incorporates a fashion journal and a fashion store into one.

“It helps you get what you want which is money, tactically, and also connects you with different networks in whatever way it can and it also gives you a platform to showcase what you have and also practice what you learnt in school … in a conducive and constructive manner where you do not lose… you win an experience with the people who are there to teach you, it helps you to warm up,” he added.

Besides EnterpriZe, students can also apply for two other government funds via EC@NP. By applying under EC@NP, students can bypass certain application processes for both of the following funds.

Firstly, there is the Standards, Productivity and Innovation

Sarveen Chester, 22, was able to cover the marketing costs of his start-up, Poshism, with the help of the school’s EnterpriZe seed-funding grant. (Photo: Shintaro Tay) Board (Spring Singapore)’s Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) Start-up Grant. Under this grant, Spring Singapore will match S$7 to every S$3 raised for up to $50,000.

Secondly, there is the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Youth Social Enterprise Programme (YSEP) fund, which is only for social enterprises. The fund will provide support for 80 per cent of the total starting up cost, to a maximum of $50, 000, as well as mentorship.

“If students apply through us, they don’t have to go through the preliminary rounds of interviews to be shortlisted. Once our panel from NP gives an in principle approval, ACE will look at the application and (the applicant) bypass the preliminary screening to be directly assessed by the ACE evaluation panel,” says Ms Tan Cheng Leng, 42, manager of EC@NP. Ms Tan went on to add that it is similar process for applying for the YSEP fund.

Besides EC@NP, students who simply require a place to sell their goods without having to be present to manage a store, can do so at Ngee Ann Polytechnic Consumer Cooperative Society Limited (Co-op)’s retail outlet at Block 5.

Known as the ‘CuBiz’, the Co-op offers a series of 16 acrylic showcase boxes for students to rent to sell their goods.

“Students can learn how to do business and earn a bit of income,” says Mdm Margaret Chan, 60, assistant manager of retail at Co-op. Mdm Chan also mentioned that most students sell IT and phone-related accessories. Each individual has their own coin bag for staff to place the money earned from the sale of the products.

Besides supporting current students, the school is also supportive towards graduates who are in the process of starting up a full-time business. Graduates looking for a working environment to kick-start their businesses can do so at The Incubator@NP. The Incubator, created last year, is equipped with facilities like a hot-desking area, private rooms, meeting rooms as well as a conference room. At The Incubator, which is located at Block 31, graduates can carry out their businesses, and at the same time, be mentored and trained by school lecturers.

“Office space is very important, because occasionally we have employers coming in so it is very important to work in a space where you can guide alongside each other to communicate,” says Koh Kai Xin, 21, co-founder of Slide Comet, a slide design specialist company, that utilizes the office space at the Incubator. (Find out about the various grants on page 2)

FACILITIES FOR START-UPS Entrepreneurs-Connect@NP

CuBiz

The Incubator@NP

Description: The Entrepreneurs-Connect@NP is a one-stop place for students to receive guidance from a group of consultants, as well as, to apply for various funds which are available for current full-time students.

Description: Known as the ‘CuBiz’, the Co-op offers a series of 16 acrylic showcase boxes for students to rent to sell their goods. It only costs $20 for co-op members and $30 for NP students that are not members of co-op.

Description: The incubator is an office facilty for graduates that are ready to kickstart their business. It is equipped with facilities like a hot-desking area, private rooms, meeting rooms and well as a conference room.

Location: Block 72, #01-10 Opening Hours: Mon-Thur 8:30-6:00pm, Fri 8:30-5:30pm

Location: Co-Op@5, Block 5, Level 1 Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30-6:30pm

Location: Blk 31, #01:13-15 Opening Hours: Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm

Venture of npTribune| npTribune| August August 2014 2014 22 Venture -- aa Supplement Suppliment of

FACTSHEET

What do students think about starting a business? npTribune conducted a poll among 116 youths to find out more about how they view entrepreneurship.

Do you know of any young entrepreneurs?

How would you run your business?

Physical Store

Home Based

Online

Yes

Other

No

3%

28%

61% 8%

Humility Ambition Responsibility Perseverance Bar

Sincerity

Mind Map

Determination

Creative Agency Web Design Studio Clothing Store Cafe

What business would you open?

Mind Map What values do you think an entrepreneur should have?

Jamming Studio Food Shack Art Store

Honesty Integrity Passion Leadership Risk-Taker Wisdom Integrity Resilience Decisiveness Social Responsibility

Cafe incorporating food & art

Creativity

Camera Gear Illustration by Shintaro Tay and Raphael Ong

GRANTS FOR START-UPS EnterpriZe Scheme [NP] Description: The EnterpriZe scheme grant aims to provide funding to promising students who have a good business idea.

Amount: Co-funding of up to 70 per cent and a maximum of $3,000 for a business venture’s start-up cost.

How to Qualify: Students are required to submit a business proposal to the Entrepreneurs-Connect@NP (EC@NP). Thereafter, the business proposals will be assesed for innovativeness and commercial viability.

Action Community For Entrepreneurship (ACE) Start-up Grant [Spring Singapore] Description: The ACE Startups grant aims to provide funding support to entrepreneurial Singaporeans who want to take their first step in starting up differentiated businesses.

Amount: ACE will match $7 to every $3 raised by the entrepreneur for up to $50,000.

How to Qualify: Students can apply directly via the Entrepreneurs-Connect@NP (EC@NP).

Youth Social Enterprise Programme [Ministry for Social & Family Development] Description: The YSEP for start-ups provides funding support to youths in developing and implementing their social enterprise start-ups within the social services sector. This programme is only applicable for social entrises.

Amount: 80% of the total projected capital and operating expenditure in the first year, capped at $50, 000 How to Qualify: Students can apply directly via the Entrepreneurs-Connect@NP (EC@NP).

Venture Venture EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Natalie Low Low Jia Jia Wen Wen Natalie SUB-EDITOR SUB-EDITOR Raphael Michael Ong Ong Raphael Michael DESIGNER DESIGNER Shintaro Tay Tay Chin Chin Hoe Hoe Shintaro EDITORIAL CONSULTANT CONSULTANT EDITORIAL Mrs Sng-Fun Poh Yoke Yoke Mrs Sng-Fun Poh LECTURER-IN-CHARGE LECTURER-IN-CHARGE Ms Foo Foo Yueh Yueh Peng Peng Ms

Venture - a Supplement of npTribune| August 2014 3

SPECIAL BUSINESSES STARTED BY THE YOUTH These are some featured businesses that are started up by either freshly graduated students, or even students still in school. Check them out!

Salad Affaire

Cupplets, a café and bakery, started because of its founders, Samantha and Ernest’s love for baking.

(Photo: School of Business & Accountancy Alumni Relations)

Newcomer Salad Affaire opened its doors to Ngee Ann Polytechnic only this year. They pride themselves in serving good quality ingredients at low prices. Started by childhood friends Darrell Van, Kristian Tung and Jag Goh, Salad Affaire’s popularity is increasing among Ngee Ann Polytechnic students, as they are able to build their own custom salads without it costing more than $5. You can find Salad Affaire at Makan Place, Blk 51 in Ngee Ann Polytechic.

Open For Business To create a successful business, it requires one to have learning experiences, Natalie Low finds out more.

Natalie Low Jia Wen natalie.tribune@gmail.com Every business begins with an idea. However, the journey of setting up a business is very different for everybody.

For Cupplets, a café based in Ngee Ann Polytechnic owned by ex-students Samantha Quek Zhi Yin and Tan Wee Kiat Ernest, it got started because it was an area that the owners were familiar with: Food.

“Passion came later,” says Ms Quek. As ex-students from the Business and Accountancy faculty of Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Ms Quek and Mr Tan found that the experience they had working with food back when they were students helped them in opening Cupplets.

The couple helped to run The Hotdog Stand, located at OurSpace, back when they were students. Although they have stated that running a café is very different from running a kiosk.

They also said that because of the learning experiences they had from back when they were students, they decided to try something other than hot dogs and hamburgers and try baking instead and found themselves having the passion to want to open up Cupplets.

Ms Quek encourages those who wish to start up a business to try something that does not require high financial risk. One option could be to start online.

“Financial-wise, you have to calculate the dollars and cents.

It becomes difficult whether people will come in and enter that door and purchase something.”

She notes that when thinking of starting a business, independency plays a big role. It is crucial that one thinks of the practicality of opening a business. When one opens a business, they are their own bosses so they must plan everything out and think about their budget.

Newcomer, Salad Affaire, opened up only earlier this year by university undergrads Darrell Van, Kristian Tung and Jag Goh. Childhood friends, they wanted to do something together and decided to open a business.

They did their research, looked around at what the market needed and realized that “healthy food at affordable prices were lacking in tertiary schools”.

“There were a lot of bumps, but I don’t call them mistakes.

Instead, I call them learning points,” says Mr Van.

For this group of friends who had no prior experience of handling a business before, they had a lot of homework to do.

One important thing that Mr Van said is to have the “Entrepreneurial spirit” because having a successful business is to be able to “tell people what to do, and what not to do.”

For Salad Affaire, their goal was to prove to people that healthy eating was something they yearned for. They wanted to innovate the way people eat salad. As Mr Van says, one must “rewrite the rules of the game, not abide by them”.

Mr Van noted that one thing that helped build up their company was the words of encouragement and acts of kindness by

their friends and family because as more people offer to help out in their company, the more it helps them believe in their dreams.

For Ms Amanda Yong, owner of fashion online store Kaizo, being daring is an important aspect to starting up a business.

“They need to step out of their comfort zones and actually try,” Ms Yong says, “A lot of youths have very good ideas but don’t think of the various platforms they can use to set up their business.”

One learning experience that stood out for Ms Yong’s company was the rebranding. They were previously known as Kissmybones but when they felt the branding was not going the way they wanted, they decided to change it. She notes that after rebranding their store to what it is today, response has been good.

She warns that while one should take risks while doing their business, it is important to take calculated risks and not go through with decisions blindly.

Another way of starting up a business is to start without the business section in mind first. For Justin Lee, John Tay and Lim Jing Ying, it started out with a want to help the needy children in China.

After doing some research, they decided that they did not want to start a charity because that did not provide a stable amount of money to help the children. Instead, they decided to start their own online social enterprise store called Soule, where for every pair of slippers one purchases, they will donate a pair to a child in need in China. This meant a more consistent way of helping the children.

The path to building up this company was not an easy one for this trio. Since they started this company when they were 17 years old, they hesitated since they were still studying.

“Many people did not take us seriously because we were so young,” says Mr John Tay.

One thing Mr Tay has learnt is to always stay committed to your vision. “Many people will try to tell you what to do, but you have to learn from the right people.”

Despite a bumpy start – they had a problem with the first batch of slippers – they stayed humble, learned from their mistakes, got advise from others and did not give up and now they are running a business that has captured the attention of many people in Singapore.

‘‘

In business, one must re-write the rules of the game, not abide by them.”

Mr Darell Van Owner, Salad Affaire

Cupplets Café + Bakery Having had so much experience with food since they were in polytechnic, partners Samantha Quek and Ernest Tan decided to turn to baking and discovered their passion to run a café.

The café dedicated to selling coffee and baked treats calls itself home at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, located at the poolside.

Kaizo Fueled by her love for fashion, Amanda Yong started Kissmybones with a friend. However, a year later, they felt the need for change. After going through some major rebranding, they launched Kaizo – a Japanese word to mean ‘reorganize’. They believe in helping girls become the most beautiful they can be with their apparels and accessories. Check them out at www. kaizo.tictail.com.

Soule After a trip to China, Justine Lee felt compelled to help the children in need. Feeling that a charity just would not cut it, he got his friends John Tay and Lim Jing Ying to help him start up Soule – a social enterprise business that sells shoes.

If you buy one pair from them, they would give one pair to child in need. These young entrepreneurs started at a tender age of 17 and have been making headlines ever since. You can help support them at www.soule.com.sg.

Venture - a Supplement of npTribune| August 2014 4

FAST FORWARD

Joel Chan, co-founder of EchoKit Camping Solutions, that provides customisable shirts, army bags, badges, and stickers, is planning for the future of his company.

Mr Michael Tan, a lecturer from the School of Business and Accountancy, is involved in the organisation of the First Step! Bazaar. (Photos: Raphael Ong)

A New Chapter

Youth entrepreneurship entering a blossoming new chapter with vastly changing trends, new technologies and ideas, but what lies ahead? Raphael Ong reports.

‘‘

I believe the way to maturity is definitely a lot in cost control, in how they manage finances.”

Hong Wei Ting Founder, To-gather Café

Raphael Ong Ming En raphael.tribune@gmail.com A recent survey involving 116 Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) students has found that 70 per cent of them would consider starting a business in the future.

Ranging from cafés, to jamming studios and more, these are just some of the businesses that we might be seeing from the youth in the near future.

For example, Nadia Amalina, a third-year Arts Business Management student, would start a business offering letterpress services. “I think letterpress serves something special, it serves this sort of personal touch to the print or the work,” says Nadia.

Katherine Tan, second-year Tourism and Resort Management student considering to start a photo booth business says flexibility draws her to starting a business. “Flexible timing – you can get your own timing,” she says, “you can choose how many jobs you want per month and how much you want to earn.”

Some students, like Charlene Ng, want to start businesses to impact and benefit the lives of others. The second year Accountancy student is considering starting a business named The Lighter, that provides motivational speaking and training, teaching them character and confidence building skills.

“I think it’s very meaningful because you get to peek into people’s lives,” says Charlene, “and one thing that I realised is that I enjoy impacting people’s lives.”

Dr HS Khoo, a university professor teaching in a business school, is optimistic about these findings. “I think it’s very good that students are enthusiastic or willing to go and do it [start a business]. In fact, if the country doesn’t have people who want to create and start business like that, then we have a problem,” says Dr. Khoo, “it has to constantly create new things.”

These remarks may be good news for Singapore and its young entrepreneurs as they learn the ropes in the world of business – but just what is in store in the future of the businesses of current youth entrepreneurs?

One of them, Joel Chan, co-founder of EchoKit Camping

Solutions, a company that provides services to run camps and events, has plans for the future of the business.

EchoKit Camping Solutions, a student business set up in April, is working towards dominating the NP army bags market and have a presence in Nanyang Polyechnic, Temasek Polytechnic and Singapore Polytechnic in the near future. “We plan to venture into this niche industry and offer these kind of bags [army bags] and basically bring all of our products to the students during camps and events,” says Joel, a second-year Business Studies student.

Sustainability is often a concern when it comes to youth entrepreneurship, but Joel believes that it all “boils down to marketing and advertising – getting the word out.”

Joel says, “while keeping the cost low, we are trying to offer these services, from us, to the students, not really from the sense of a profit making opportunity, but rather bringing the products to students so that we maintain our vision whereby our products would be echoing back to them in days to come.”

To-gather Café, another youth business set up by recently graduated Business Studies student Hong Wei Ting, hopes to expand to more locations in Singapore to offer the same kind of ambience in the future.

Thinking towards the future, “sustainability comes by on the owner’s effort to always come up with something different,” says Wei Ting, aside from raising points like the importance of creativity and innovation for the café’s sustainability, “but I believe the way to maturity is definitely a lot in cost control, in how they manage finances.”

Justin Tan, founder of another youth business, Calesvol Pictures, a film production company currently focusing on event videography, feels the same about his company’s finances. “Being thrifty and knowing where to spend is important. You won’t want to burn through your startup money unnecessarily,” says Justin, a newly graduated Film, Sound, Video student.

“THE SKY’S THE LIMIT!”

The future of Calesvol Pictures lies in “creating a company that is autonomously creating reliable and quality content,” says Justin, “if and when this is achieved, we can move on towards the goal of creating big budget films.”

Founder of companies eVantage Technology, eVantage HR and The Doodle People, Mr Lim Soo Meng, provides insight for the future of youth businesses and how to sustain and mature them. “The bottom line is to be realistic on your numbers,” says Mr Lim, “so you need to know some numbers, look at your P&L (profit and loss), your balance sheet, and be logical about it.”

Intimidating as it seems, the future of youth entrepreneurship is being made here in Ngee Ann Polytechnic with “First Step! Bazaar”, a project within the Business Studies module “Enterprise Creation and Development”.

“This bazaar is really a first step towards entrepreneurship in which they actually get to use their funds – a small token of money to run a business,” says Mr Nicholas Tan, a lecturer from the School of Business and Accountancy.

Jaslin Tan, a Year 2 student who took part in the “First Step!

Bazaar”, found that it gave her a lot of experience for the future: “we know what to do, what not to do for our business,” says Jaslin, “and you get a first hand experience of everything, unlike a business plan.”

“It’s going to be tough – because to start, to innovate, requires hard work and patience and also time, because coming up with something that is sort of a breakthrough requires time, and sometimes time is against you” says Dr Khoo about the future of youth businesses.

The landscape of youth businesses is entering a time where “everybody is trying to go into a field,” says Benjamin Chee, founder of two student businesses including a corporate gifts company Qutiezhu, “and those that can really make it are those who can innovate.”

Thinking of starting up a business in the future? Here are some pros and cons that you should consider before you enter the world of youth entrepreneurship!

Pros

Cons

A Headstart: As a young student, you will be able to make friends and gain connections. Being younger also gives one more room for error, Justin believes, saying, “you have much more energy and lesser things to lose, which gives you a huge advantage as you can afford to fail multiple times.”

Really Tough: As a young business owner, you spend less time on your studies, you spend less time with your family, as well as relationships,” says young businessman Joel Chan. There are countless challenges one has to face on a day to day basis, from keeping operations in check to ensuring customer satisfaction.

A Young Spirit: You can bring something new and different into the world of business - one that is not bounded by social norms or standards. “When you’re on your own [running a business], I think the sky’s the limit,” says Mr. Lawrence Tang, CEO of Co+Nut+ink.

Lack of Client Confidence: “If you deal with people they may see you as ‘oh, you are so young, what do you know?’” says Mr Tan. Clients may lack confidence in you, and might even choose an older competitor over you – so it depends on how you can gain their trust.