Home
Open post

Facebook ads are an impressively cost-effective tool when you realize just how many people you can potentially reach with your advertisements. An estimated 14.5 billion people log onto Facebook a day. 

The complex part of reaching such a broad audience is being able to classify users according to characteristics specific to your ideal customers. This, of course, begins with having a clear profile of who you think will be shopping for your product or service. 

Luckily, Facebook arms you with thousands of parameters to accurately distinguish each of your target audiences for laser-focused advertising. 

Types of Target Audiences

Facebook has a few significant categories of target audiences that each has their benefits depending on the kind of ad campaign you’re looking to launch. 

Here’s how you can get the most ROI from your budget by optimizing the hyper-precise features of Facebook Ads. 

Saved Audiences

A saved audience can also be called a core audience, and it’s comprised of targeted settings that you plan on using regularly. Essentially the group of characteristics that are at the common ground of your typical customer base.

When building your core audience, you can choose from a range of features such as demographics (age, location, gender, and language), interests (activities, hobbies), as well as behavior patterns (shopping habits, traveling, etc.)

It’s an excellent way for businesses who are still exploring their ideal target audience to collect data for future ads that includes insights into the current state of their market.

Lookalike Audiences

Once you know what your core audience looks like, a pivotal next step is to create a lookalike audience. Essentially, Facebook reduces the need to play the guessing game by utilizing its robust algorithm to find quite literally a lookalike audience that has relevant parameters to your existing core audience. 

How To Optimize Them 

Lookalike audiences are suitable for when you feel you’ve already exhausted your other options or if you want to create similar target audiences within different segments your past campaigns have excelled in. Meaning, if you happened to have a successful ad campaign run among people in their 20s, you can use lookalike ads to segment the audience further and find additional users ready to jump on the bandwagon. 

Choose whether you want to optimize your reach to a specific or broad audience, and Facebook will find you the top 1% of similar users in your target country, or the top 10% of that same pool of users, respectively. 

Custom Audiences

Custom audiences can be one of the trickier types of targeted audiences to navigate. It allows you to utilize behavioral data to target users who have had previous exposure and interaction with your brand by uploading your separate customer lists that include Facebook ID, email address, or phone number to reach specific accounts.

You can also pair it with Facebook tracking pixels, which you can use to track behavioral data directly from your website, such as sign-ups or items added to the cart, to benefit a future campaign. Upload your separate customer lists that include Facebook ID, email address, or phone number to reach specific accounts.

And of course, you can also include users who have interacted with your brand on the Facebook site itself, such as other ads you’ve run in the past or if they visited your Instagram account. 

How To Optimize Them

Custom audiences are a valuable tool to those companies that want to retarget previous customers to remind them of your products or service, if, for instance, it’s been a while since they’ve visited your site. Purchase additional behavior subcategories specific to your niche, or dive deep into Life Event Targeting to reach users who would benefit from your product or service during a significant time in their lives. 

Layered Targeting

Layered audiences are the ultimate and maybe most complicated facet of Facebook targeted ads. Layered targeting involves taking existing audiences and layering them with each other to create an ultra-specific group of users to advertise to. 

How To Optimize Them

The benefit of this is clear. The more you zero in, the more you can demonstrate that you’re able to tackle the specific needs of your customers with your product or service. For instance, if you sell dog food, surely you’d want to target individuals who just got a new dog, but you’d also like to advertise to existing dog owners who are in the market for a new dog food brand. You can then continue to get more specific with parameters such as dog breed, household type, etc. 

Facebook ads can be a refreshing way to approach pay-per-click advertising. It utilizes a completely customizable outreach system that lets you choose an audience that will be eager to buy from you as soon as your ad appears on their screens. If you’d like to know more about how you can receive the funding you need to employ Facebook ads as part of your marketing strategy, visit us at Jenfi and apply now to see if you qualify in as little as 24 hours!

Nicky Minh

CTO and co-founder

Open post

Why are financial statements vital information for investors?

A company’s financial statements give a good picture of a business’s economic accomplishments and a scope of what to expect in the future of their standing within their industry. 

“A company’s financial conditions are of major concern to investors and creditors. As sources of finance for your company operations, investors and creditors rely on financial reports to gauge conditions for both the safety and profitability of their investments,” says Way, investment writer for chron.com. 

Financial statements provide critical indicators of success for investors or creditors considering entering into a partnership with the companies in question. 

What information should investors focus on?

A business’ financial statement is akin to a school report card. It lists pertinent information on how well or poorly a company is doing. But when scrutinizing a financial statement, it’s essential to pay special attention to the following details:

Sales

All earnings made by the company you’re investigating will be the most crucial piece of information you consider. Sales data lets your know whether a company is in growth or decline, making it essential to determine its worth as an investor.  

To determine if the business in question sees an upward trend, “—you need to add up the data in each of the past four quarters, as well as the same quarter in the previous period, to calculate the change,” says Matt Krantz of USA Today. 

Debt load

A company’s ability to cover expenses and meet payroll during slow periods is just one reason investors should look at a company’s debt load. But most importantly, if a business were to go out of business, equity holders will be left behind as debt holders get preference for getting their money back on leftover balances. 

Examine said company’s income statement and balance sheet to determine if there’s ample cash flow to cover a company’s debt payments and to identify any other potential problems a company may face in the future. 

Trends in Cash flow

For an investor, seeing leftover cash in the bank on a financial statement is encouraging. It is a good sign that, should unexpected obstacles arise, the business is covered on the financial end. It’s also reassuring to see that if a fresh new earning opportunity were to come up, this business has ample funds to jump right in and boost its cash flow tenfold. 

“Cash is money in hand, not the result of accounting measurements and judgment calls, as is the case with earnings and net income. When a company’s net income is much higher than cash flow, investors want to be aware and find out why,” adds Krantz. 

Customer Acquisition Cost

Customer acquisition cost describes how much money it takes to onboard a brand new customer. This number can vary greatly depending on whether the business you’re inquiring about is a newcomer to the scene versus a seasoned player. New companies tend to have more new customers, while established companies tend to balance new and repeat customers more. 

A method for figuring out customer acquisition cost is to divide the amount spent on marketing by their number of new customers. This is a critical component of a promising investment venture, as a company whose product may seem profitable in production may be a hard sell out in the market. 

Dennis Najjar of The Balance Small Business mentions, “This problem can occur with super-niche areas where it’s hard to spread the word about your product or in hyper-competitive areas where advertising competition is fierce.” 

How do you obtain statements in Singapore?

Under the Companies Act, all businesses and branches of foreign companies based in Singapore must report their financial statements prepared according to Singapore Financial Reporting Standards. 

Each financial statement includes the following information:

  • Report of Directors and Statement by Directors
  • Independent Auditor’s Report (if applicable)
  • Statement of Comprehensive Income (Profit and Loss statement)
  • Statement of Financial Position (Balance sheet)
  • Cash Flow Statement
  • Statement of Shareholder’s Equity
  • Corresponding Notes to Financial Statements

These statements can be found on the Accounting and Regulatory Authority (ACRA) website at www.acra.gov.sg. 

Nicky Minh

CTO and co-founder

Open post

I think many people can agree that Singapore embodies the phrase “small but mighty,” and when it comes to e-commerce, there is no exception. Singapore boasts a young, tech-savvy population and some of the fastest internet in the world, being almost three times the speed of the global average, according to JP Morgan.

This powerful combination bodes well for the future of e-commerce in Singapore and Southeast Asia. With the Singaporean government making efforts to make shopping online a more effortless endeavor by providing 24/7 access to public parcel lockers, there’s no doubt e-commerce will continue to dominate for years to come.

Clearly, the time is now to dive into this rapidly growing market, so stick around to find out how you can open an e-commerce business of your own.

Perform Market Research in Your Niche

If you have a product idea in mind already, that’s great! If you’re still trying to figure out how you can break into e-commerce with a fresh product and moderate competition, doing a little research into your preferred niche will likely give you the confidence you need to launch a profitable online store.

The best way to do this is to start with knowing your niche inside and out. X-cart suggests you scrutinize groups of forums in your niche to get your information straight from the horse’s mouth, your potential future customers.

You can also look at trending products on popular shipping platforms such as Amazon or opt for third-party product research tools to get the metrics on trending products in your market.

Choose Your Business Model

Once you feel comfortable in your niche, you have to begin defining who your ideal customers are. A significant part of this is simply choosing one of the many options for conducting sales in use today.

Business to Business, or B2B

This refers to a company that sells to other companies, such as wholesalers to retailers.

Consumer to Consumer, or C2C

With this model, consumers might re-sell products they’ve purchased from other retailers they’ve never used, previously used, or even modified.

Business to Consumer, or B2C

One of the more widely used business models in e-commerce, B2C companies sell their products or services directly to their customers without any 3rd party involvement.

Consumer to Business, or C2B

This model has gained significant popularity in recent years with the rise of influencer marketing, which involves internet personalities selling advertising space to companies.

Find the E-commerce Platform That Suits You Best

E-commerce platforms are arguably the most straightforward way of setting up your online store, and Singapore is home to some of the leading websites dominating e-commerce today. Platforms are attractive mainly in part due to their convenient integrated customer retention features.

Qoo10

  • Free to register your store
  • Live chat feature for customers to communicate directly with sellers
  • Sales Manager feature tracks all orders, product listings, and shipping

Lazada

  • High user traffic in Southeast Asia
  • In-house shipping assistance with any of their warehouses in Hong Kong, China, or Singapore
  • Comprehensive courses on effective marketing with Lazada Academy

Shopify

  • Mobile-ready
  • Fully customizable store-front
  • Powerful SEO features to get your store noticed

Carousell

  • Can sell used items
  • Cash-on-delivery payment option
  • Two-way reviews and rating system

Develop Your Reliable Marketing Plan

Now that you’ve set up shop, you have to think about how you’re going to get the word out that you’re open for business.

There is an array of options for driving traffic to your store that converts into sales, and choosing the right ones depends on your brand voice and your sales goals. These can include pay-per-click ads, social media, or sponsored content.

But the very first step, according to internet marketing expert Darren DeMatas on ecommerceCEO, is to create an email list through the use of an opt-in freebie on your website. He says, “Running a giveaway is my go-to marketing tactic to get traffic and subscribers quickly. Giveaways have the added benefit of increasing your brand presence and product visibility. Building an email list gives you a group of warm leads to work with, making the sales process much easier”.

No matter which marketing route you choose to take, finding the funding necessary to run these campaigns is the next vital step to launching your online business. With Jenfi, you can find out if you qualify for a loan in as little as 24 hours! Visit Jenfi, and fill out our fast and secure online application to get up to $200,000 to start marketing your business the right way.

Nicky Minh

CTO and co-founder

4 Powerful Email Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses

Open post

What is email marketing?

Email marketing is an incredibly compelling digital marketing strategy that involves sending emails to your prospective or existing customers to gain a steady flow of new acquisitions or solidify relationships you already have. 

It’s an excellent way to boost sales and remains one of the best ways to nurture leads and customer loyalty. 

What are the benefits?

Email marketing for small and big businesses alike comes with many benefits that may turn you toward incorporating it into your strategy if you haven’t already. 

Firstly, email marketing is decidedly cost-effective, providing up to $40 on ROI for every $1 spent. And according to Smart Insights, that’s over two times more than other marketing channels making it the top choice for customer outreach. 

Emails provide consistent engagement with your customers, reaching them at their inbox; one of the virtual locations your loyal fans may be frequenting the most daily. It’s also an excellent way to collect important demographic and behavioral data for further personalization in your email outreach, product recommendations, and user experience updates to your websites and social media channels. 

Overall, email marketing strategies allow you to grow your brand by making you identifiable and giving you an edge over your competitors. 

4 Email marketing strategies

1. Segment your market

Not all audiences are the same, and it’s crucial to observe your customer base as multiple segments within the same pool instead of just one unified group. Now, you don’t have to narrow things down to the basics such as age, education level, or genders though they can certainly help. 

Maria Mora, vice president of creative and content strategy at Big Sea says, “Break lists up depending on where your contacts are in the buyer’s journey, and segment based on what you know about them.” This makes it exponentially easier to deliver and track metrics on targeted trigger emails. 

Here’s a handy list for your reference:

  • Purchase history (frequency of making purchases, product preferences, purchases made during sales)
  • Demographics (age, gender, location)
  • Email engagement (click vs. no click open)

2. Decide on what kind of email you’re going to send

Just as your customers aren’t all the same, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to emails either. There’s a wide variety of options for email marketing, and knowing what they are and how they function is integral to designing your perfect email campaign. 

  • Newsletters: Contain a report of recent news or activity within your business and is a popular way to keep your customers in the loop
  • Promotional: Are composed of special discounts or exclusive offers meant to persuade purchases
  • Seasonal: Seasonal emails are great for providing updates for sales or other news coinciding with upcoming holidays or seasons
  • Transactional: Focus solely on providing information concerning a transaction that occurred on your site but can be a great branding tool
  • Loyalty: Remind customers of their rewards, or notify them of VIP discounts to thank them for sticking around 
  • Drip: Automated emails sent after a specific action, whether its a cart reminder, an email confirmation, or a product suggestion email

3. Personalize as much as possible

A well-personalized email can mean the difference between a customer opening an email versus instantly sending it to their trash bin. Based on whatever data you collected from your market segmentation, the more personal you make your emails, the more likely customers are to open and engage with them.

“One thing we saw an instant bump in open rates from was when we put the email coming from the owner’s name instead of the company name,” said Jeff Moriarty of marketing and web development at Moriarty’s Gem Art. 

And if you can manage to tack on your recipients’ names to each email, then you’re pretty much winning the game. You can do this automatically with the use of CRM software, which you can easily fund with us at Jenfi along with other necessary marketing expenses to guarantee long-term business growth. Visit us today to see if you qualify!

4. Track Your Metrics

Now that you’ve gone through the trouble of doing market research and segmentation, as well as email writing and designing, you can start track to track your results as soon as you hit send. 

This is the only way you can rule out what works and what doesn’t, so you can further streamline your marketing strategies and save time the next time you send out a campaign. 

Take note of: 

  • Email opening rates
  • Unsubscribes
  • Links they clicked on

Now that you know what every successful marketing campaign entails pair these email marketing strategies with any future email campaigns you put out to watch your sales soar in 2021 and beyond. 

Nicky Minh

CTO and co-founder

5 Customer Retention Strategies For Start-Up Growth

Open post

There’s a specific excitement felt by businesses seasoned or new when it comes to the acquisition of new customers. Oftentimes this “new customer smell” is so  alluring that business owners forget that not only is it cheaper on average to market to a loyal customer, it also results in greater ROI with Bellycard’s customer loyalty survey reporting, “almost 30% of SMBs estimated that 71-90% of their customers visited more than once last year.”

With the rising costs of marketing for acquisition, start-up business owners should begin prioritizing the following fail-safe customer retention strategies to secure customer loyalty — the real key to business growth in 2021 and beyond.

Customer Loyalty Programs

One of the most tried and true ways of achieving customer retention is through the use of customer loyalty programs. Having a loyalty program honors your customers that have stuck around by providing special discounts, exclusive offers, or even gifts.

Loyalty programs are a form of positive reinforcement that rewards your customers the more they shop from or engage with your brand. They’re also a small reminder that you care enough about them that you’d like to repay them for their continued support.

Referrals or “Evangelism”

If you’re looking for a clever way to get your loyal customers involved in the marketing process, referral programs are an excellent way to knock out your two customer retention and new customer acquisition birds with one stone.

The strategy involves offering an incentive for both your customer and the friend they invite to shop from you, typically with an exclusive discount. Take the MeUndies model, for example. An increasingly popular underwear brand, much of its growth has relied on its referral program offering returning customers $20 off their next purchase, and 20% for their friend.

Customer Feedback Loop

According to SuperOffice, there seems to be a gap between the 80% of companies who believe they’re delivering exceptional customer service as opposed to the 8% of customers who would agree.

An important behind-the-scenes tactic for improving customer retention rates is to actively listen to your customer feedback. Surveys are the most concrete way of opening this line of communication with your pool of customers. With surveys, you can obtain a wealth of information including data on customer behavior, or get transparent suggestions as to what shoppers are seeking in their customer experience.

Pair this with targeted emails reassuring your customers that you’re taking their constructive criticism to heart. This will help you build a solid foundation of trust.

Keep it Convenient

It’s a no-brainer to mention that keeping your customer experience as convenient as possible will keep customer loyalty at a high. This plays into obtaining that sacred data from your feedback loop.

If you can streamline your checkout processes to make the final purchase as smooth as possible, customers are going to keep coming back if only for the simplicity of the transaction. Yes, it matters that much! Many companies have turned to the mobile sphere for this, offering easy checkout right in the palm of their hands.

As counter-intuitive as it may seem, finding a way for your customers to get in and out in a flash is the way to go.

Outreach Personalization

A symptom of the email marketing craze is that customers tend to see business emails as spam as opposed to anything that offers value. However, personalizing those outreaches offers an opportunity to insert audience-appropriate personality, as well as content that coincides with their preferences and purchase history.

Econsultancy research data points to an overall higher impact ROI with these specially personalized emails, as a matter of fact.

Emails aren’t the only way to achieve this though, another effective method of personalized outreach can mean communicating with your customer base on social media channels they frequent.

Loyal customers are a sure-fire way to experience growth within your business, and keep the cash flowing so your business can stay afloat without worry. These customer retention strategies are just another fancy way of saying that you need to build trust and relationships with your customer base to truly be successful. After all, a rockstar is nothing without his fans, and that analogy rings true for businesses everywhere.

If you want to get an edge on the most state-of-the-art CRM software, or additional customer loyalty marketing strategies to make customer retention your top priority starting now, visit us over at Jenfi to see if you qualify for the funding you need!

Nicky Minh

CTO and co-founder

Half of Small Businesses Struggle With Financing

Open post

It is getting harder and harder these days to obtain adequate capital as a small business owner. Only half of SMEs were even eligible for financing last year.

In most cases, the lack of cash flow and low annual sales volume lead to automatic disqualification for the small business loan applicant.

If your business generates less than $300,000 in revenue and you have less than a $100,000 cash balance, you may need to seek alternative financing options as your likelihood of obtaining business credit is low.

Click here for the original story from the Singapore Business Review.

Nicky Minh

CTO and co-founder

Is the Google Small Business Tool Worth Using?

Open post

Google has launched Google for Small Business with the goal of enabling small business owners to leverage more digital tools to grow their business. Apparently over half of small business owners are unaware that these tools even exist.

The website prompts you to fill out basic information about your business, such as your company name and website, and ask you questions about your goals: growing your online presence, getting more customers, among others.

After submitting the responses, you get a personalised step-by-step plan. For example, Google may encourage you to use Adwords to boost your presence and start a YouTube video channel to attract an organic audience. You also get tips on how to improve your search results.

Useful or not? Your mileage may vary depending on how familiar you are already with Google’s suite of products. Although it’s Google centric, it’s a great place to start for newcomers and you may end up learning something new. It’s encouraging to see Google continuing to invest in initiatives for small businesses.

Get started today.

Nicky Minh

CTO and co-founder

3 Ways to Advertise Without Spending Any Money

Open post

Marketing is the lifeblood for growth for many small businesses. Yet, many owners throw everything at the wall - flyers, social media, commercials - often overspending by a significant margin without the commensurate return on marketing.

The key is finding the right channels that can deliver consistent and positive return on investment (eg. the amount you amount you generate for every dollar of marketing you spend).

But what about advertising your business for free? Getting additional customers without any incremental cost will actually make your overall business more cost effective as your blended marketing cost comes down. And lowering the overall cost of your marketing will allow you to do even more.

Here are some ways to market your business without breaking the bank:

1. Publicity

This is often associated with expensive PR campaigns to generate attention. But did you know you can actually generate free publicity with the right media outlets?

Publications such as The Straits Times are constantly sourcing relevant topics and content for their readers. The best way to get some initial exposure is to follow the writers that cover your industry and to reach out to them when you have something interesting to share.

Try sponsoring a content for your existing customers enticing them to fill out a customer survey, one that you think will provide insightful feedback. You can share the results with your favorite media outlets. Publications love these kind of surveys and will help you share it with their readers in a meaningful way.

2. Community service

People love businesses that are active participants in the community and have a genuine interest in making a positive impact on those around them. Word of mouth comes naturally to organisations that are actively involved.

Why not get involved today with something you are personally passionate about? There’s a wide range of volunteering opportunities available in Singapore. Consider a team event with your staff to do some volunteering together. This is a great opportunity for them to get together and share a common mission in helping the community.

Depending on your budget, you can also consider donating a portion of your sales to a charitable organisation.

3. Guest speaking

guest-speaker-jenfi.jpg

This is one of the most underlooked opportunities to advertise your business. Events organisers are constantly on the lookout for interesting people from diverse backgrounds to feature as their guest speaker.

Look for events that have attendees from your target audience. Participating regularly will allow you to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry and provide additional social validation of your business. In fact, what often happens is once you become a guest speaker, you often get more invitations from other event organisers as they know you are willing to participate.

You are now ready to start looking for opportunities to generate free exposure for your business. As a small business owner, you carry the vision of your brand with you. Stay passionate and make sure you go the extra mile when engaging with those who want to learn more about your brand at these venues. You never know, they may become your best advocates tomorrow.

Nicky Minh

CTO and co-founder

The 5 Biggest Money Mistakes Small Business Owners Make

Open post

Small business owners are known to be scrappy and have the tenacity to weather any kind of storms. While some failures are fairly minor and can be quickly course corrected, making a huge making a huge financial mistake can create an unexpected drag to cash flow, hurting your ability to pay off vendors on time or even make payroll. In some cases, even the most promising business can be brought down with accumulated debt making it even harder to around things around.

Here are 5 major financial pitfalls to avoid when running your small business:

1. Combining your personal and business expenses

Failing to separate your personal expenditures from your business expenditures creates significant complications not convenience. Accounting and tax reporting also becomes more complicated down the road.

This would also mean that you do not have a limited liability entity to protect your personal assets from business creditors.

It is highly recommended that you open a separate business bank account to managing your small business finances. Consider a reputable professional organisation such as Corporate Services to assist you with your company incorporation in Singapore.

2. Not planning for future tax liability

All companies in Singapore are liable to pay corporate tax under the Corporate Tax Act.

Also, if your small business generates over S$1 million in turnover, you will need to be GST-registered as well. Be sure to check the IRAS website for the latest business tax information.

3. Incurring credit card expenses

credit-card

This is particularly dangerous if you plan to incur credit card expenses without clear visibility on future revenue, exposing you to huge credit card bills. The convenience of credit cards make them all the more tempting to use but the financial damage from compounding expenses and interest charges is significant.

Consider using a debit card if you need a card payment option as this allows you to avoid leveraging your financial position unnecessarily.

4. Not having a clear budget

Doing the heavy lifting on building up some form of financial forecast for your own business is prudent. When times are tough, a detailed budget gives you visibility to where you can trim costs. You will become more financially disciplined and accountable to your shareholders (even if it’s just yourself).

As a bonus, keeping your financial plan up to date will also give you flexibility to raise capital as this is a key deliverable and requirement to any successful capital raise.

5. Not funding your business properly

Some entrepreneurs are die-hard bootstrappers (self-funding your business without external capital). This is prudent in some cases but also a drag in situations where the business needs larger amounts of capital to take advantage of the right opportunities.

In some instances, going into debt is a prudent way to accelerate growth, especially if the funds are poured into positive return opportunities. Raising debt also gives you ample cash to navigate downturns as opposed having too low of a cash balance which may affect proper business decision making.

With these financial insights on money mistakes, you will be more equipped to navigate around avoidable financial mistakes that others have made.

Nicky Minh

CTO and co-founder

How to Be Self-Employed

Open post

Over 223 thousand residents in Singapore consider themselves self-employed with more increasing every day. Structural changes in today’s economy is making the move possible. Whether you are making the leap to self-employment from your current employer or looking to start something on your own straight out of university graduation, here are some key things to do before you make the plunge.

Interview yourself

While being your own boss means you can throw your CV in the rubbish bin, you would be inadequately prepared for the real challenges of running your own business if you do not ask yourself these 3 key introspective questions.

Are you able to work alone?

Especially in the early days when things are tough, you will be constantly second-guessing whether you are doing the right thing or not.

Do you offer something where there is a demand?

Supply and demand are in balance even in the self-employment market. You need to assess whether you have something to offer with your self-employed occupation. It never hurts to sharpen your own skill set by spending a few years at someone else’s small business so you gain the confidence and experience that’s needed.

Can you handle rejection?
Having thick skin is crucial as you will face rejection, whether you are raising funds from investors or selling to customers. Turn every rejection into an opportunity to gather feedback and learn more about how you can improve.

Prepare for a rainy day

Becoming self-employed means you abandon the comfort of a steady paycheck from an employer. While everyone hopes that things go according to plan, real business work is often volatile with ups and downs in cash flow coming into your pocket. Be sure to calculate a realistic budget for yourself, that covers both your personal expenditures as well as business ones. Do not cut your budget too drastically, otherwise, your personal satisfaction and quality of life may deteriorate if you go from eating out to making ramen for yourself every meal.

Look to set aside a minimum of 6 months of cash before you even consider moving to self-employment.

Do your homework

You need to understand everything when you are on your own, from business licenses to tax filings.

At a bare minimum, understand how business taxes work. IRAS offers a start-up kit for new sole-proprietorship and partnerships.

If you are a foreigner, be extra careful not to flout the rules on manpower regulations. Freelance work is only applicable to Singaporeans and Singapore permanent residents. If you wish to set up something on your own, you will need to apply for an Entrepass or set up a local company (requires at least one director who is an ordinary resident of Singapore).

Being your own boss is extremely rewarding.Taking the first step is always the hardest part but rest assured you’re in good company. This is the reason why the number of people seeking self-employment keeps increasing.

So start now by interviewing yourself, preparing for a rainy day, and doing your homework.

Nicky Minh

CTO and co-founder

Posts navigation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

How fast can your business grow with growth funding?

Scroll to top