In order to encourage talented people to carry out their business idea in Singapore, STARTBOARD invited five outstanding speakers to share their own entrepreneurship experiences and insight concerning Singapore market, including founder of Qsearch-Shih En Chou, head of business,Taiwan of ZUZU Hospitality Solutions-Ivy Hsieh, former director of Economic Division, Taipei Representative Office in Singapore-Eugene Chen, world bakery champion-Wu Pao Chun, and vice chairman of International Affairs Committee, Taipei Bar Association-Raymond Yu.
Anyone Can Be a Successful Entrepreneur in Singapore
Raymond Yu, vice chairman of the International Affairs Committee, Taipei Bar Association, made an impressive opening with an inspiring remark. He convinced the audience that Singapore is the best market for business expanding due to law-abiding employees, friendly start-up ecosystem, and a supportive government. Once the business development becomes smooth in Singapore, so will it be in any other Southeast Asia countries.
From Baker to International Entrepreneur
World bakery champion, Pao Chun Wu, indicated that it was not until he won the world championship did the public change the poor impression on bakers. Aside from having good command in making bread, Mr. Wu also obtained a master degree in EMBA from the National University of Singapore in 2016. Combining these two skills perfectly, Mr. Wu successfully opened his own bakery, becoming a fabulous enterprise. On top that, he scheduled to launch a brand new joint bakery in Singapore with BreadTalk, the biggest chain bakery in Singapore, making Wu himself international.
Take the Singapore Government as a High-efficiency Commercial Company
Shih-En Chou, the founder of Qsearch, pointed out four advantages for starting an enterprise in Singapore, which is “superior geographic site”, “open banking services“, “tax exemption”, and “high-efficiency commercial government”. He illustrated how to set up a company in Singapore from 0 to 1 with the aid of the government contract project and Gebiz website (https://www.gebiz.gov.sg/). As a founder of a start-up company, Mr. Chou claimed that we should take the SG government as a commercial company because of their executing efficiency as well as their rapid response to the market.
However, there are still some threats and challenges. At the end of Shih-En’s speech, he put forward some questions which require further consideration before an entity leap to SG market, such as “How you protect your intelligence?”, “Do you have any competitive advantages to win the gov contract in the future?”, and etc, to give the audience’s an arm shot.
Localization is the Key to Thriving
Head of business, Taiwan of ZUZU Hospitality Solutions, Ivy Hsieh, brought forward another issue – “How can an SG start-up company made their own way to Taiwan?” Acting as a foreign entity, it was quite challenging to localize in Taiwan, especially for a hotel operating management consulting company like ZUZU. Ivy indicated that “relationship building”, “cultural differences”, and “language obstacles” were the three toughest trials for them to conquer while expanding to Taiwan, and the “invoice system” could be the example. Yet, via constant communication, continuously learning, and culture adoption, now ZUZU not only become stable in Taiwan, but they also expand their hold on Indonesia, Thailand, and other countries.
Taiwan is also a Best Start-up Site
Served as the Secretary of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines and the Former Director of Economic Division, Taipei Representative Office in Singapore, Eugene Chen is quite professional in the field of economic and trade negotiations and cross-cultural communication. Putting much emphasis on location, mighty support government, substantial amounts of external funds, strong industrial cluster, and a friendly fundraising and financial environment, Eugene assured that Taiwan is also the best birthplace for business.
(written by Shawn Hsu)