Here are the Singaporeans who started up overseas

Singapore is described as a very comfortable place to live in and do business. But with a small domestic market of 5.5 million people, it is difficult for Singaporean entrepreneurs to fully develop their business potential.

Thus, they will look to venturing abroad to seek growth. But venturing overseas is fraught with new challenges and facing the unknown. How does one prepare for this new adventure? I asked five young Singaporeans, who have taken the bold step of building their business overseas, for their insights.

Oversaturated market in Singapore, opportunities abound elsewhere

Competition is intense in Singapore in many industries. But what might not work in Singapore, there are other markets out there where the opportunity is ripe for the taking.

Training and development consultancy in the Philippines

“The training market is saturated in Singapore, operating here was being like a tiny fish in an overcrowded pond,” points out Michelle Leong, Managing Director of TenTen. Her company is a People Management and Strategic Business Consultancy that provides services ranging from corporate trainings and youth development programs to brand consulting and providing business solutions.

She looked out into the Philippines and after doing her market study, she realised that the training market was under developed in Iloilo City in the Philippines, especially in the area of leadership and management training programs. With her local Filipino partner, she started a branch office to capitalise on the opportunity.

Higher education financing in Malaysia

“Singaporeans are comforted to know that there are many financing and funding options for students in the major universities such as NUS, NTU and SMU. However, this is not the same in other countries of Southeast Asia,” observed Syakir Hashim. His co-founder, Tengku Syamil, who studied in Malaysia, noticed the lack of higher education financing among his peers.

This caused the duo to research further and to discover that the lack of funding had deprived students from potentially advancing their studies.

To resolve this issue, the team started Skolafund, a web platform that enables undergraduates to crowdsource their scholarships from friends, families, corporates and foundations. Their mission were to match deserving underprivileged undergrads with funders.

Social media app in the US

Paul Yang founded Lomotif, a social video app now used by millions worldwide. It is a new form of video expression which surrounds shareable and reusable clips. Paul boast that two videos are created every second on Lomotif.

It was by strategic positioning that Lomotif decided not to stay in Singapore. The sheer market size and early adoption of consumer apps was the reason he took the jump to the US.

Challenges operating in a foreign market

Keeping the fighting spirit going

Advice to Singaporeans venturing overseas

Ending thoughts