My two years of experience in Singapore Management University had always given me the impression that courses are just confined to project work, class participation, assignments and final exams. However, this turned out to be wrong during the first lesson of Technology and Entrepreneurship course.
The instructor, Pamela Lim, had required students to establish their own businesses. Since this was not stated in the course outline, I became quite pessimistic about taking this course. I was strongly persuaded by my peers to switch to Entrepreneurship and business creation course. However, I still decided to adhere to this course as I had the inner feeling that I will certainly acquire some important benefits. This certainly turned out to be true and I consider myself to be very fortunate to having accepted this module.
Initially, I had always been quite a risk adverse person. Therefore, although admiring successful Indian business tycoons such as Dhirubhai Ambani, Laxmi Mittal, setting up my very own business was not my passion. The prime reason was my reluctance to embrace the risks and huge responsibilities associated with establishing the business.
This view indeed changed in the past 12 weeks. In fact, at present, I feel that being an entrepreneur is extremely exciting and challenging (much better than doing paper work for our employers). This is because, entrepreneurs are able to relax on their liberty constraints and be flexible in making decisions.
Despite the risks involved, a sheer combination of diligence and perseverance can lead us to the attainment of substantial revenue and profits. Indeed, it is sometimes enjoyable to embrace certain challenges or be a risk seeker as it gives us the opportunity to gauge our performance.
Moreover, I have also learnt the importance of successful team management. As entrepreneurs, it is crucial to realize the presence of competitors and recruit only the best people to sustain in this race. This was attained through working with my group (LoboLobo.com). I learnt a lot while drafting real business plans, sharing and modifying one another’s ideas.
Next, learning the actual procedures attaining funds for the seed round from bootstrapping, personal sources, venture capital or angel investors have the legal requirements such as the NDA( to maintain the confidentiality of ideas) have indeed helped me a lot. The financial fund schemes in Singapore for young start up entrepreneurs (students) such as YES Startup (organized by Spring) also seem to be very useful.
Frankly speaking, I had always thought of relying on bank loans to fund business. But now, since I am interested in setting up an online textiles business, I want to work first to raise enough cash to fund instead of borrowing loans at hefty interests.
Therefore, in conclusion, I feel that this course has benefited me tremendously as it gave me the opportunity to experience being a real entrepreneur. The valuable tips provided by Pamela Lim will be unforgettable. I also learnt the best way of becoming a successful entrepreneur lies in having a passion for it. This will motivate us to work hardly and smartly. Entrepreneurship allows us to be more prudent and also broaden social network.
In conclusion, I will certainly recommend this course to my friends who are extremely eager to become start up entrepreneurs.
Reema Shah
