Starting a business in Singapore

As of the previous blog entry, I highlighted the second article from the Straits Times which gives a brief outline on how you can start a business. I thought that it’s what you need. You can refer to the full article Steps to take when starting a business (Straits Times, needs online subscription) to get the whole idea.

I have condensed the article into 4 step approach and break down the sub-steps which you need to take (together with some warnings as well). Here is my four step guide to help you to set up business in Singapore. They are pretty brief but they will lead you to the sites which you need to do the register work there. Do talk to people in the industry first before getting your idea out into the market.

0. Definite things you must do
a. Whatever you do, think it through before you start. Make sure you have the groundwork before you start.
b. Here are the three ingredients: first, do your groundwork before anything else. Next, do market research, ensure there is demand for your product or service and finally, do pay attention to the details. Minimise your overheads as far as possible.
c. Build your network. You have to surround yourself with the correct team and investors who will support you all the way. Everyone in this network will do their best to help your business to work and they must share your vision of the business.

1. Register your business
a. Submit your application to BizFile online.
b. Special licences are required if the business is in the area of finance, banking, food and beverages, manufacturing of controlled items, for example, beer, cigrattes or optical discs.
c. Your application is referred to by the appropriate authorities, in which the process will take two weeks to two months to decide whether application is approved or rejected.
d. Then you pay $50 to be registered for sole proprietorship and another $15 for name approval fee.

2. Find your funding for the business or Bootstrap
a. Here is my advice to you: Don’t think of raising money first. Think of a smart way to bootstrap your business, how you can generate revenue through working with your clients.
b. If your business requires cash, here are the sources: 3Fs (Friends, Family and Fools), business angels and venture capitalists. You can find money through government grants, for example, Economic Development Board (EDB) Deals Portal matches companies seeking venture capital to investors. You can also try the Seeds program, which will total up to S$300,000.
c. An important rule to remember: there is no difference in raising $1000 and $100K. If you want to fundraise, make sure that you are doing it in a discrete manner, i.e. raise and close $100K deal all at one go, instead of draining your energy continuously doing it everyday.

3. Register the domain
a. You need to get up a website started. You can register a domain name on websites such as Network Solutions, Net Firms , Domain Direct or Web Hosting, but I prefer Aplus.
b. Then you need to find a web host, a server that will host your website on the Internet so it is accessible to the public. Usually, the site where you register your domain will also offer web hosting.
c. If you want to offer online services, a good idea is to get certification that your website is trustworthy. One way is to get the TrustSg certificate.

From then on, you can start to formulate your marketing, logistics (supply and distribution) and also fundraising plans.

Technorati Tags: Entrepreneurship, Singapore, Business, Start-Ups

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