Some of you might have noticed that i have removed the “Lazy Serial Entrepreneur” tag line from my blog.

Not that i am not lazy anymore (although that is a good thing). Neither am i stopping my serial entrepreneurship endeavors. Its more that i’ve given up my juvenile aspirations of becoming “Entrepreneur of the Year”.

In a nutshell, i’d rather be rich than famous.

Complacency in The Comfort Zone

In the past 2 years that i’ve been working for others, i’ve gotten rather complacent.

Working for others meant that i had relinquished much of the responsibilities of a business owner. I’m no longer personally responsible for the well-being of the company.

I was content to draw a salary at the end of the month and live a comfortable lifestyle. I had relinquished much of my personal freedoms. My time is not my own. But its all right cos i’m content to sell 8 hours of my time in return for a consistent paycheck.

This reminds me of the Cashflow101 game i enjoyed playing so much. At the beginning of the game, we’re in the “Rat Race”. Going round in circles, we’ll shout “Paycheck!” whenever we pass the right square (much like a game of monopoly when we pass “Go”).

In essence, i was living from paycheck to paycheck.

And why not? It was a stress free living. My after hours can be dedicated to fun stuff like the social media scene, blogosphere activities and the Singapore PHP User Group.

The sad truth was that I had gotten into a comfort zone and i was becoming complacent.

Yanked Back Into Reality!

Somehow early this year, things took a turn - good things were happening in my off-hour activities.

A momentum was growing in the PHP User Group, pushing it toward a new level. Investors had taken an interest in Podfire.sg. Essentially, my passion for Podcasting and programming are becoming my day job.

All of a sudden, i am called to stretch beyond my comfort zone. My current self was unwilling to cross the Jordan river to the land flowing with milk and honey (ha!). A part of me was like the fearful scouts that came back from the promised land with bad news of giant philistines and impregnable fortresses.

Problem was that I had moved out of the business-owner mode for so long, that i had ceased to take ownership of things. I was inadvertently sabotaging myself with my mental block. The fear of failure still loomed over my previous business venture.

Time To Bite The Bullet

I think its time i snapped out of my dream and wake up. Things need to move forward and upwards. And at greater speeds. I need a new sense of urgency and immediacy.

I need to become a business-owner again. With the same hunger i had before.

Yes, its time to bite the bullet and move out of my comfort zone. Time to sever the umbilical cord and start living the life i am meant to live.

So… stay tuned for new developments…

In life, i’ve always strove to look forward, not backwards. As the mantra goes - “In life, we regret the things we didn’t do, more than the things we did.” However, there are some things that i did in my life that i’ve come to feel not so sure about.

I don’t regret them per se. Just feel that my life could have been very different had i chosen an alternative route.

1) Breaking up with Shuhui

My first serious relationship. I was young, hot-headed and stubborn at 20 years of age. Maybe i should have fought harder to keep it. Rather than walk away when our umpteenth fight outside her house in Jurong East. It was a long lonely walk back to the train station - and it still is.

My younger brother is married and expecting their first child next year. Perhaps i would have been happily married with kids by now had i fought harder to keep the relationship.

We were both hurt pretty bad from that breakup. She couldn’t find closure till 3 years after the breakup where we had a long chat over the phone. We have not spoken since. I am already over the relationship.

2) Skipping my NUS exams in favour of my part-time work - TWICE!

Many wonder why i never graduated from NUS Arts. The truth was that i skipped the exams 2 semesters in a row, in favour of my part time work at a web design firm. I was so foolish, putting my career before my studies. The company eventually folded, owing employee a shit load of unpaid salaries and CPF monies - which till this day, the employer is still paying in installments.

I regret not having taken my studies more seriously. I had let the grandiose ideal of “struggling high school dropout entrepreneur” syndrome get to me. Resulting in waste of time and money - and with nothing to show for it other than broken promises and an empty bank account.

3) Selling out my company so soon

In selling my company back in 2006, i had raised a white flag - i surrender. It resulted in me delegating my own fate to someone else, namely my employer. I had given up my freedom and lost my will to fight. I convinced myself that i had no fight in me anymore to upkeep the company i fought so hard to start.

As a start-up entrepreneur, the survival instinct is stronger. The urgency to deliver and to excel is greater. The desire to achieve success is much deeper. Going back to working for someone was an admission that i can’t do it, and truthfully, a sign of weakness on my part.

I just feel terrible everyday. I’m a blue collar worker now. Like a caged lion with no territory and I’ve lost my will to fight and to excel. What use is it to overachieve? Its a lousy feeling i dread everyday.

On hindsight, i should have taken CL’s advise and kept the company going. Cos if i dug deeper, i would have found the fight to move forward.

Conclusion

I’ll take a leaf from Sir Winston Churchill’s life journal - “Never, never, never give up. Ever.”

I’ve always preached about how important it is to have a team. Cos business is a team sport. My current team is impeccable and driven. And i feel i have frustrated them with my “caged lion” mentality. Its time to let the lion out of the cage again… to roam the landscape and reclaim its rightful territory.

Time to move into fifth gear. I am ready and i will not be afraid.

“It is tiring to build a business,” says blue-collar worker.

(I posted the original article here. Thanks to Lufeng for the translation.)

A lot of young people want to create their own businesses. But starting a business is no easy task. A survey of local startups found that 60% of local startups found high rental as the major obstacle, while others found rising material costs (37%), maintaining competitive prices (35%) and manpower (31%) as the main challenges.

Thus, some entrepreneurs have actually gone back to being employed. Michael Cheng of 31 years is one such individual.

6 years ago, Michael was a fresh arts graduate with no paper qualifications in IT. This made it hard for him to enter the IT industry. Thus Michael embarked on the journey of entrepreneurship. He setup a web hosting company in 2002 and a web design company in 2004.

An entrepreneur may have to work everyday of the week

In the nascent stages of setting up the second company, the biggest problem faced by Michael was office space. Initially, he wanted to setup office in the city area but this was hindered by high rental. Thus he negotiated with a friend to have free office space in exchange for web design and maintenance services.

Michael had just graduated at that time, and thought that being one’s own boss meant more flexibility in time management. However, this could not be further from the truth.

“The first company was a partnership with a friend. After I left this company and setup a second company on my own, I had to shoulder all the web design and programming myself. To handle all the incoming projects, I had to work almost every day for two years without taking any holiday.”

Recalling his days as an entrepreneur, the current events manager at an MNC expressed that there was never a need to worry about a lack of business, as all his clients were his friends. However, Michael professed that having friends as clients was a double edged sword.

“They will help you to make referrals. However, some of them will ask for “friendship” prices. I did not dare to haggle over the price and could only accede to their request. The prices I had to quote were sometimes lower than the prevailing market rates, and was close to my cost price.”

Plan to Fail

As the business expanded, Michael was able to hire 3 staff and rented a new office.

“Monthly operating cost therefore increased. However, the timeliness of payment by client decreased, and some clients even had problems paying. The company faced a cashflow problem, hovering between profit and loss.”

At that time, the company was worth $20,000. Micheal estimated that the company could be in the red in 2 months. After deep thought, he decided to sell off the company in early 2006.

“It was a very painful decision. But I realised that other than financial issues, I had work endlessly for two years, often feeling isolated and helpless, as well as mental and physical fatigue.”

Some may view Michael who failed as an entrepreneur. But having a contingency for failure makes it easier to let go and make a courages and rational decision, without affecting existing customers.

Michael said, “Every entrepreneur would hope that their company can be successful. But reality and ambition can clash. If the business cannot perform, there is a need to consider the next step, whether to persevere, or to stop the company from bleeding, and start anew?”

Being a boss is harder than being an employee

Micheal’s tiring of life as an entrepreneur, and subsequently becoming an employee, is mirrored in Zhang Hui Qing of 30 years.

Hui Qing started 2 fashion accessories store with a good friend from 2004 to 2007. The first shop was situated at Beach Road. Due to low rental, they were able to break even within 6 months.

Prior to being an entrepreneur, Hui Qing was a civil servant. She worked 7 days a week and often felt burnt out. But she frankly felt that being an entrepreneur was even more tiring.

“Many people think that doing business is less tiring, but that can’t be further from the truth…… We have to stay for long hours in the store, and sometimes have to arrange goods till 4am in the morning. Even when we are not in the store, our mind is constantly thinking about the business.

“But those 3 years were fulfilling, and we learnt a lot of new things, so we have no regrets. But I realised that running a business reduced the time I have to spend with my family. My family also made a lot of sacrifices for me. So I think it is time that I make the sacrifice for them.”

Eventually, Hui Qing and her business partner sold the business and return to their 9 to 5 working lives.

Entrepreneurship relies on passion and a great team

Even though Michael and Hui Qing are currently employees, both unanimously said that they may return to entrepreneurship in the future.

Both of them have learnt valuable lessons during their stint as entrepreneurs. Hui Qing advised aspiring young entrepreneurs, “If you are passionate and have faith in what you want to do, then have the courage to try.”

Besides passion, Michael also emphasized that an outstanding team was important for a startup.

“A team can not only share the work, but can also have more variety of ideas and opinions, as well as share weal and woe together. As a startup has limited resources, it is important to focus on the team’s expertise, and outsource other aspects of the work to other companies. If I had outsourced the accounting work, then cashflow problems in my previous company may have been avoided.”

Although i was glad to have been interviewed for this article, but i can’t help but feel a little sad that i gave up on my passion so easily. On hindsight, if i had held on for a few months more, i would have seen the light at the end of the tunnel… and i would have retained my freedom and energy level. But i guess that’s a blog post for another day. Do check back soon for more posts.

Heh… this is a long delayed and urgent request for anyone who has a copy of the Kopi Kat Klan’s 2nd Singlish album - “We Are Back”.

Buyer is an avid collector and supporter of local talents (especially local music and movies). Will pay good money for a working CD or cassette tape from anyone who has.

The album is soooo rare… that no one seems to have an album art i could use here. Its is a funky yellow colour by the way.

The Kopi Kat Klan used to run around with Siva Choy but decided to go on their own for the 2nd album.

Siva Choy

Anyways, if you haven’t heard of them - just google it. Here’s their classic song “Why u so like dat” from their first album.

For more samples of their songs… look here, here and here.

Email me at mike@miccheng.com if you have.

24 May 2008 @ 11am - Somewhere in Singapore… a legion of bloggers and social media activists gathered…

Event: Social Media Breakfast 2

Address:
Cafe Domus
124 Owen Road
Singapore

Oh… watch out for the interview we did for Daryl Tay, Sheylara and Derrick Kwa for Geek Goddess Show (Episode 4 - due out in 4 June)

Disclaimer: This is a home video of our little social gathering. Its meant to be fun and casual. Anyone who felt offended by any of the footage - that it was against human decency and human rights - is highly regretted. Well… there’s only one explanation - cos it IS IRREVERENTLY SO! Enjoy!