If you have been pondering the question of whether you should quit your job to focus full-time on your startup, you better not flaunt this privilege around. In this downturn economy, some would kill to retain their job. With this in mind, you might want to reconsider that $64,000 dollar question, perhaps chuck away the thought and head back to your cubicle. But if you’re serious about breaking away to do your own thing, then here are some pros and cons to quitting your job, and some considerations you must keep in mind when doing so. Read more
Nokia’s global developer program, Forum Nokia, organized a global mobile developer contest that seeks to create mobile applications and services that help build a better world. Nearly 1,000 developers answered the call and 11 finalists were announced. Nokia will award up to USD 150,000 in cash and prizes to the ultimate winners, in addition to helping the winning developers distribute their mobile applications worldwide. Read more
What a simple yet brilliant idea.
It is almost a certainty that everyone has at least one friend who might have a personal hygiene problem, either because of poor habits or natural physical disposition. It would not be presumptuous to state that the choice to highlight these personal issues to such a friend is fraught with perils – a pinch, a smack, the dissolution of a friendship or worse the culpable body part being rubbed onto the messenger. Read more
For small startups of only two or three people, a physical office space might just be a luxury and not a necessity. Why spend a good few hundred a month when you can recreate the productivity of an office without spending the money? Here are some tips on how to do without an office. Read more
To all who celebrate this coming of the Ox year, let’s hope for a more bullish year for all. The team at SGE would like to thank all our readers and partners for your emails, messages and comments. We do hope to continue to hear from you. Link up with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, FriendFeed and sign up for our newsletter.
We hope you have found inspiration from our interviews with local entrepreneurs, and gained insights from our articles. In this downturn economy, as many more entrepreneurs are struggling with cashflow and survival, we hope to be able to bring their stories to you and give them the recognition they deserve. Happy Chinese New Year.
Photo courtesy of beggs.
Want to live out your superhero fantasy? Now you can with Phokki’s photo styling services. Funded by the Nanyang Technological University, Phokki is a local startup that won the national business plan competition Start-Up@Singapore last year, represented Singapore in the GlobalTiC competition in Taiwan, and has been featured in a few international press since. What Phokki offers is premium photo-art services at a mere 20% of the usual price (usually costs 100-200 USD).
What you do first is to choose a theme from amongst: Illustration (hand-drawn), Caricature, Vector Pop Art, Manga Art (be your own Final Fantasy), Mix and Blend (look like a movie star), Photo Retouch (remove scars and tattoos!) and Photo Restore (give old photos new life). Then choose a particular style under that theme, upload your photo, enter your email address, pay via credit card and voilà!
The process seems simple enough and you can provide more details for the artists to take note of while styling your photo. The price seems reasonable enough (anywhere from USD 5-25) and would probably be one of the better personal gifts around. In time to come, Phokki will be offering merchandise with your new artwork that you can purchase.
Till 31st Jan only, Phokki is offering all readers 60% off for Valentine’s Day. But as a special treat for readers of SGEntrepreneurs, the team at Phokki has extended a special offer. The first 20 members who leave a comment here will be able to get an additional 40% off their photos, on the discounted 60% price (so for a USD 20 item, you pay only USD 4.80!). This offer is only valid till 31st Jan. After that, you will only be able to get 50% off. I’ll drop those first 20 an email with the special discount code.
Is Intrapreneurship an oxymoron? Can one apply entrepreneurial skills within the confines of a large organization? CEO Unplugged allowed us to gain an insight into the minds of Mr Michael Yap (Deputy CEO, MDA), Mr Richard Eu (Group CEO, Eu Yan Sang International Ltd) and moderator Prof Wong Poh Kam (NUS and BAF Spectrum) and hear their thoughts on intrapreneurship. Read more
She’s only 20, but runs two businesses. The other saw her chain of One.99 stores go from 14 million turnover to bust within a short span of time. Meet Diana Sabrain of Physique Makeover and Sexyfemalemarketing, and Nanz Chong of the One.99 chain. Read more
The announcements for the budget are finally out. From the Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in his Budget statement today, the Singapore government will spend S$20.5 billion to help businesses and workers. The aim is to ensure that .The major announcements include the following:
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