Every entrepreneur has a different story and started their journey for different reasons. Some of us became entrepreneurs because we have a strong passion to change things and solve problems. Others are forced in, simply because there weren’t any jobs available on the market.
My journey as an entrepreneur started when I was about ten years of age. Back then, at elementary school, I was getting just SGD$0.50 per day as an allowance. My family was poor and I didn’t have the cheek to ask for more. To survive, I shared food with my friends but always tried to eat more than my deserved share. I also borrowed money and soon enough got into debt. It was sad – but the situation forced me to think outside of the box. I needed to escape the cycle.
The solution? Together with my brother, we caught grasshoppers and sold them. It was an innovative business model (from a kids perspective, anyway) and it inspired other boys to hop onto this money-making bandwagon. We could sell each grasshopper for $0.50 to $2.00, depending on its size and the color of its legs. The red-legged ones could be sold for a lot more than the blue-legged ones. And when we improved our gear, we started catching spiders and praying mantis to increase our “range of products.”
As you might expect, our school was not pleased and eventually banned all kids from catching insects, putting an end to our business. It had been a fun ride though.
So that’s how I got my first taste of entrepreneurship. After that, I couldn’t really stop. It’s been pretty tough, but a lot of fun too.
So what’s your reason?
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