My Journey To Entrepreneurship

Posted on February 11, 2008
Filed Under Category01: Entrepreneurship, Category02: Net-Preneurship, Category03: Intra-Preneurship | Leave a Comment

Sorry to you all that I have failed to write in my blog for sometimes. I have been very busy and have been travelling and working overtime a lot after I had got the new job. Now for you- I have a true story to tell…

I started this blog in July 2006 during my tenure in a Multi-National firm. The reason I started this blog was I realized that my employee-life-cycle could be ending soon. The story was ….I was hit by a retrenchment on year Dec 2005 after working for a smartcard information security firm which was a Medium Size MNC. It was a high paying job as Regional Sales Director (Internally is VP position!!) for the Asia Pacific region. On June 2005, I was informed that there would be downsizing exercise and I could be affected and the Asia Pacific office would be shutting down.

I had done some soul searching before I found a job in a month (luckily) via an executive search firm. I was employed by another MNC, a printing technology corporation. I was paid the same even with a small territory (South East Asian countries) to look after. Because it was a much larger MNC (US$2b per year). Unfortunately the history repeated, the General Manager who was located and based in Malaysia (KL), did not like my presence because I was not hired by him. I was hired by the HQ due to my position was strategic and the role was to build new business.

Overall, the company was going down due to digital replacement and people play politics a lot in this company to take charge of businesses that yield still lots of revenue. And one day, due to lack of investment and focus, the HQ decided to shut down the new business. Again, I was retrenched on Dec 2006. My last day in this office was on Feb 2007. Only consolidation was that the company gave me more than 6 months salary plus a 3 months stay in an Executive Placement firm for them to take good care of me… like teaching me how to look for jobs and write good resume. Financially, I was ok, because I had saved enough to get by and I had enough investment to yield me dividends monthly. In fact, I was already writing blogs on entrepreneurship. I knew that being an employee does not mean job security. The job will go one day and I must start to think of my next steps.

There were many questions gathered in my mind, like, do we need a job to have income? I started to think of part-time entrepreneurship. I got the idea that if I can build something part-time, it will let me transit to entrepreneurship without loosing a steady income. Why? Because I am not a full- fledge entrepreneur. I couldn’t take too much risk. I have to reconfirm my theory that building a ‘second income’ is possible while holding on a day job. I thought Internet Marketing is a great way to do this… so I attended many Internet Marketing seminars during my free time since July 2006. I was able to meet with Gurus of Internet Marketing during those seminars and my part-time Internet Marketing business took off ! OK. Internet Marketing is a great way for working people with day job to try out entrepreneurship or net-preneurship because you can do it anywhere and at night after office hours. In fact, I travel a lot and always do this at night in Hotel I stay. I began doing this all the time instead of spending hours at night at pubs which my colleague do. I love what I am doing and enjoy it. Thanks to internet.

Back to trying to get full time job…Since I lost my job end of last year, I have been thinking seriously about whether I should continue working in Multi-National or change my career path. I remembered, I wrote into many job advertisements and came closer to being employed by a Singapore government run company (some called it Quasi Government). However, after a series of interviews by the people inside, one of the hirer, who was in his fifties, rejected me and told my head hunter that I was too old for him. He wanted someone aged 30+. It was a sorrowful moment for me because I knew that the Singapore government was promoting hiring senior personnel. I now realized what is said in the media does not mean it will happen easily. Singapore has a long way to go to change their hiring culture. The government may be sincere in promoting hiring seniors, but the people at the ground may not.

Now back to the current job I’m in. I wouldn’t say it is a job. It is like a mission for me to get into a position that I can perform a Supportive Role to an Entrepreneur. I was practicing what I have been profiled by Wealth Dynamics. (Click this to read my previous blogpost )
While the local employers taught I am too old (at 40+), this European entrepreneur, who lived in Singapore for more than 10 years, thought I am still a ‘spring chicken’. He wanted to tap onto my skills and experiences to bring his new startup to newer heights.

Fast forward-10 months. I am now reviewing my strategies going forward. According to my Wealth Profile, I need to support an entrepreneur and to own a share of the company. The following is a part of what my wealth dynamic report said:

“The Supporter is outgoing, loyal, reliable and a fantastic net worker. With a blaze frequency, their value is in the heat of the moment – the relationships they create and the wealth of energy, enthusiasm and time they can offer. By linking these resources to a wealth creator, supporters can create much greater wealth than they could on their own. Many supporters go through the entire process and then fall down on the final one. They end up delivering fantastic value but have nothing to show for it but their salary. Steve Ballmer didn’t become wealthy from his salary. He became wealthy from his shares in Bill’s company. Similarly, you must secure a cash flow linked to the success of the wealth creator.”

This would be my wealth strategy. I hope I would be able to own a share of the company and prove that Roger Hamilton’s Wealth Dynamics works for me.

Share and Enjoy: