The first time… you start a business

Today, the Straits Times published two articles on starting a business in Singapore. The first describes the experiences of student entrepreneurs and the next one gives you a brief guide to how you can get a business started.

The first time… you start a business (Straits Times, 20 March 2006). Let me just quote the first three paragraphs from the article:

“STARTING a business while still a college student is a difficult proposition – but it can be done.

The upshot: You could be well on your way to a stable financial life by the time you graduate.

The downside: It is not easy, and you will have to make sacrifices. It is difficult to keep your grades respectable while focusing a great deal of energy on your business.”

I thought that the first three paragraphs put the entire thing into perspective. There are a lot of sacrifices that one has to made to get a business started, and it is not easy to maintain both studies and business at the same time. Most Singaporean students are risk adverse, i.e. they will diversify their portfolio so that they won’t make a loss in the process. However, this gives them a drawback when they want to start a business. If you start thinking of an exit strategy from the beginning, you are in big trouble. The key is to have a plan B and if your startup fail, just go back and start again. You only fail if you stop trying.

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