What are the CHALLENGES faced by START-UPS & HOW to OVERCOME them????

If I am not wrong, cafes around Raffles MRT are usually not crowded during weekday evening. Their target group are lunch crowd and executive meetup during office hours.

Rising Star Posts: 161 Reputation: 2 Join date: 2009-06-28

Please keep me posted of the meet up..
Surely I can arrange something with them & offer some exclusives for us..

As to why they are offering us spaces, we just need to know what's in for them & tap on those to get them coming..
& I happen to know that trick of making them tick..

Surely you know a bit ofmy background & expertise, SSUP Admin?

We kinda stray from the main topic..
Shall we stick to the CHALLENGES?

Certainly we can stick back to the topic.

Example of a challenge: getting a SSuF meetup.

How to overcome: Find someone who has done it before, or at least knows how to do it in theory.

Same with business problems. That's why people work in teams. One person in the team will know something the others do not.

If the whole team doesn't know how to do something, they can outsource.
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Its Forum Creator here! afro

Hope you all enjoy the forum! Let's learn, contribute and grow, SG entrepreneurs.

Rising Star Posts: 161 Reputation: 2 Join date: 2009-06-28

Sometimes the blind prefer to be led by the blínd..

Because they believe that they are NOT blind, but often blinded by egos, fears & proscranation..

I seen businesses die because they refuse to open up within themselves..
also to people, outside the team, who they knew can help, but just refuse their help..

My friend has just converted sole proprietor business to Pte Ltd.
Many teething problems that could put her off if not for her passion to make business. She has sales order coming in. But have not got enough admin, HR, account support. Could these be the problems that cause many start-ups to wither ?

Rising Star Posts: 161 Reputation: 2 Join date: 2009-06-28

There are usually these few concerns of a business that are needed to be addressed:

Accountings..
Adminstration..
Finances..
Human Resources..
Management..
Marketing & Business Development..
Operations..
Research & Development..
Sales..
Sourcing & Purchasing..

The perfect scenario is to have a system(s) to guide through these areas..
Due to the lack of resources, in my opinion, the first few sectors to work on & systemize will be the Sales & Marketing portion once the basic layout is done..
These will provide the resources to explore & enhance the other aspects..

Just like owning a car, you need to be prepared to maintain it. Some of the functions mention by Inle can be computerized. I started using accounting software that helps me with sales quotation, invoicing, accounting etc by myself. I manage to learn accounting concepts through the software and now I am a consultant for it as a business itself. If you know how to utilise computer, many functions can be computerised. Marketing itself can be done online (if applicable) as SSuF Admin is an expert to that. Payroll can be automated by software (these days Singtel has the module as Software as a Service).

My IT arm provides many computerization of functions which all SMEs will need. But I am not here to sell my services, but to share that indeed all these functions can be automated, though not fully, at least it can help you maintain minimum resources as far as possible. But do bear in mind not to overspend on infrastructure during startup as resources is scarce...

Rising Star Posts: 161 Reputation: 2 Join date: 2009-06-28

Automation is the key so that your business runs even when you are not around..
To achieve that will be an advance stage in businesses that many fail to reach..

Accounting is one of the most boring aspect that I will rather have the computer to do it even I learnt Accounting before..
I think MYOB software can be used for Accounting & Payroll if I am not mistaken..

I am more into building the foundation for sales and marketing through ideas and strategies so that it can run automatically with little reviews to achíeve profitable results in the long run..
And I help SMEs to work on that currently..
That, to me, is the most Creative and Exciting part after Management of the business..

Btw I will like to meet amcpl1 very much..
Seem that he is rather knowledgeable and defintely can learn something from him..

Is he that old? The oldest business owner I know is nearing 70..

Thanks, Inle... Definitely not that old... But I guess might be one of the oldest.

Bingo! I am an MYOB consultant for 12 years and also a distributor of another New Zealand Accounting software Moneyworks for Asia including Singapore.

Old school of thoughts are not that suitable for current economy. So don't be affected by what we always claims... experience. The government is right in focusing on young enterprenuer as we are the stubborn lot. That is why I am trying to learning from the team more than the other way...

Sorry to disappoint you...

Rising Star Posts: 161 Reputation: 2 Join date: 2009-06-28

Hahahahaaaa..

Good to know that you are learning all the time despite your age (if not 70s, 60s maybe)?

I am not aware that MYOB software has been here for so long already..
Good that I learnt something today..

These challenges kinda "force" us to learn and explore continuously..

We shall play the guess how old amcpl1 is game. Hint: he's not 60.

A lot of the start-up problems like accounting can be outsourced to companies like amcpl1's.

The only thing the start-up absolutely must worry about and find solutions for is sales. That's the first step I guess.
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Its Forum Creator here! afro

Hope you all enjoy the forum! Let's learn, contribute and grow, SG entrepreneurs.

That is what I am still facing... Sales and marketing... I am looking for marketing ideas which I may need to consult Inle as he sounds very experience.

Another problem is getting good employees, which I have still finding... Low budget yet want good staff... I am trying out worklife program to let my staff enjoy some flexible working and hopefully with good worklife program, can employ and maintain good staff.