Singaporean Entrepreneurs

We often associate energy with teenagers and young adults, so seeing the kind of energy that Ms. Norma Sit exudes makes you wonder if she has been able to keep back the hands of time. In her former life, she was CEO of QB Pte Ltd (Ez-Link Cards), worked in the Economic Development Board (EDB), and even planned routes for Singapore Airlines.

In her reincarnation today, she is very much the entrepreneur, having started several social enterprises:Kinderart, RED ART & Liveworks (all of which help children and teenagers find, understand, and realise their dreams) as well as a nail-polish business (distributed via Guardian stores).

Despite her incredibly busy schedule, she took time out to talk to some business students from the Philippines who were visiting Singapore to share her journey and the “secrets” to her success. Here are just some points raised in her talk which made a deep impression in the students:

(1) Loneliness & Length of Journey
(2) Ideas, Passion & Sheer Work
(3) People will Appear

An entrepreneur cannot share his/her burden, especially during the start-up stages. Even though others may be around to support whether, physically, psychologically or financially, the fact is there will be many moments of doubt, worry, and uncertainty that only the entrepreneur can bare. You must have the passion, the grit, and the vision to see through the dark moments. You must understand the length of the journey you have to take- so that you will stay the course.

Ideas are everywhere. They are a dime a dozen. Passion is good. But at the end of the day, it is the SHEER WORK that matters. When there is no one else who can do the job, you have to be willing to do it, whether it is to deliver the goods yourself, drive the truck, big or small, when the job has to be done, the buck stops with the entrepreneur. There is no cushion or buffer as in the corporate world where there may be many departments, and protocols, and a CEO can simply fire someone who cannot get the job done. For an entrepreneur, the job MUST get done, and he/she must find the way.

People will appear. Amazingly enough, if you put in the effort and stay the course, people will come. Especially for social enterprises which are even tougher than commercial enterprises because of its dual objectives (profit + meeting social cause), as people see the effort being put in, word will travel, and people will come to help.

Her last message was this: “Live Life & Find Your K2″
What does this mean? Google “K2″ to find out!
Click on Norma’s image above to go to her company’s website.