Should students plunge into entrepreneurship right after graduation?
November 10, 2011 by Terence LEE
David Yim, founder of Udders Ice-Cream, arrived in khaki shorts and sneakers.
“I dress like this at work all the time. We have a very relaxed atmosphere,” he told everyone.
He realized some in the audience didn’t know what udders were.
“You know… cow tits,” he quipped, after struggling for a while to find the right word. The audience roared.
That was just one of the highlights at Entrepreneurs Unplugged, a panel discussion organized by Startup@Singapore, an annual business plan competition. The event is part of this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week.
The panel couldn’t be more diverse.
Rounding up the group is Ben Tan of Hauslab D&B, who looked just the right amount of classy and casual in his blazer, Tong Yee of School of Thought, who wears his heart on his sleeve, and Geoffrey Kung of REVERSE Cooperative, an anti-entrepreneur who’s also the oldest of the group.
The panel is moderated by Albert Teo, associate professor of the National University of Singapore Business School.
With the room full of curious, laptop-hugging students, one of the major questions raised was whether a person should jump straight into entrepreneurship right after graduation.
The panelists agreed that there is no right answer.
Yee said, shoulders and arms raised in bewilderment: “It could go either way. It’s like asking someone: ‘Should I marry my first love or wait a few more years?’ How do you answer that?”
Perhaps their experiences could give some insight. Both Yee and David were teachers before they started their businesses.
“Working first has given me a strong perspective. Because I’ve worked in the public sector, I know how to be a better service provider,” said Yee, “so it helps to work first, gain experience.”
Yee’s first social enterprise was School of Thought, a tuition center that teaches GP, Literature and English. School of Thought is part of a grouping called the Thought Collective.
David had a colorful story to share about why he transited from teaching to enterpreneur-ing.
“I realized I couldn’t work under anybody anymore,” he told the audience, “I developed strong beliefs on how people should be treated and how things should be done.”
Once, his school principal had a meeting with the teachers to tell them their top three weaknesses.
“I was told that I’m too playful. The principal expected good teachers to be serious and stern-faced. But I do have high standards for my work, because I have fun while I’m at it.”
That was why he made sure that Udders’ number one brand value is to be cheeky.
“I can be who I want to be, do things the way I think is right,” he said.
Geoffrey too was an employee, until he was retrenched at 55. Unable to secure a job in the IT industry, he studied to get the right qualifications to enter the banking industry instead. But he was already beyond the cut-off age for entering a bank at the startup career level.
“I remember going for the interview without telling them my age, and the receptionist told me, ‘Uncle, you’re at the wrong place.’”
Unable to secure the job, he decided that he could start a company and secure outsourced work from the bank as a sub-contractor.
But he found that he wasn’t really a competitive person. So he decided to start REVERSE cooperative instead, which is an organization that provides elderly with more work and play opportunities.
Ben, on the other hand, knew that he wasn’t going to work for anybody right from the start. He understood early on that he was a creative person with an independent streak.
“When I was younger, I would grab a cookbook, look at the pictures, and I could bake and cook. Floral arrangements came naturally for me. I’d just grab a few flowers and stick them together, and people will say, ‘wow, that’s interesting’.”
He even went on to help out at a friend’s flower shop, gave classes and did arrangements for a hotel. While in the Army, he did extra work as a wedding coordinator, “the whole shebang,” he calls it.
But as traditional Asian parents often do, Ben’s parents told him to give up all these things and find a proper job. He did not cave in.
Today, Hauslab designs homes, corporate offices, hotels, clubs, and restaurants to suit the clients’ tastes. He is even working on creating a 3D walkthrough room to help customers visualize their designs.
After some thought, he had this advice to give: “Work for two or three years in the industry you want to start your business in. Learn the technical language and lingo, but more importantly, get valuable contacts.”
He added that it is important to learn how to submit to authority and be humble. “At 25, I thought I knew everything, but I learnt my lesson later on.”
Photo: From left — Albert Teo, David Yim, Ben Tan, Tong Yee, Geoffrey Kung. Courtesy of Startup@Singapore.
This event is part of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2011.
SGE is proud to be the Official Online Media partner for GEW 2011.
