Entreprenuership in Singapore. Why not?!

I met up with MK (an old secondary school pal whom I have not met for a long time) yesterday at Mr Tea situated at SMU’s School of Information System. We had an interesting Men’s chat about personal life. As usual, men’s topic is always about money and business.

MK shared with me his plan of setting up a concept café at some private estate region in a central part of Singapore. His target market segment is the more affluent individuals who have the time and money to spend on more luxurious services and products.

All the items displayed in his café will be very unique arts pieces ranging from artistic portrait to uniquely-designed utensils which will be constantly updated to maintain the “freshness” of the café. If the customers like any of the items, they can buy it directly from the café.

I feel that his idea is very creative yet very viable as long as it is the correct location and the window dressing of the café place is beautifully done. I ask, “Why not? Go ahead and start your business.” For those who have heard many of such business conversations, I am sure you will know what kind of replies my old pal gave during the conversation. “No capital”, “no time” etc.

I am sure MK is just one of my many friends who want to start his own business. Many said that Singaporeans lack creativity and entrepreneurial spirit but I tend to see otherwise. Singaporeans lack the courage and determination to leave their comfort zone and pursue their dreams. I think we really need to do something to create awareness for Singapore’s entrepreneurship scene.

A couple of days ago, I received an email from Blog2u regarding on this campaign called “Why not?” organized by ACE (Action Community for Entrepreneurship). It is a contest that serves to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in Singapore. Participants in this contest can submit new ideas on how to (i) increase Singapore’s attractiveness as a place for business, (ii) nurture entrepreneurs of tomorrow or (iii) encourage innovative and competitive businesses. Contestant will simply explain their “Why not” ideas in less than 100 words and submit their entries online at this site: http://www.ace.sg/acewhynot/webpages/whynotform.aspx by 17July 2008. There will be more than $2000/- worth of prizes to be won in this contest. Visit the official site of ACE at http://www.ace.sg/


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Personally, I feel that Singapore government agencies are making good effort in building an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Singapore. I believe that we should be supportive of such initiatives.