What is the nature of your business? (Business Profile)
We are a corporate caterer for Fortune 500 companies such as Citibank, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Pfizer, Temasek Holdings and many more. We handle their seminars, product launches, as well as their year end Dinner & Dance functions. We focus on up-market catering which involves paying attention to all the details and information that is needed to create a hotel feel but not at the hotel price. Of course, being an up-market caterer, we incorporate fresh flowers, freshly brewed coffee, service staff in different uniforms and also porcelain ware in our catering events. We are like a hotel on the move. This is the nature of our business. We are also looking into distribution business on complimentary products and we have a floral subsidiary under our company.

What made you embark on this venture choice?
After working for SingTel as a Global Account Manager for 3 years, I realised that it was time for me to move on, as I have always had a passion in the food & beverage industry. Since I was from the hospitality industry in America, it seems a natural choice to be in the service line. During that time, this was the best and easiest business to start out because high quality food and service is everyones main concern. Thus, I started Purple Sage together with a few partners.

How does your business work?
We have a customer relationship management (CRM) system. The moment we receive a phone call, we will be able to track all the past orders and enquiries of that customer. We will then start off by recommending menus such that it varies each time. If it is a bigger D&D, we will suggest the stall concept such as the Roti Prata stall, Teh Tarik stall or Satay stall; perhaps even a cabaret show or a jazz band. We will coordinate, bring in the tentages, so on and so forth as we are a one stop shop, SPO (Single Point of Contact). By doing these, we help to consolidate and coordinate the whole event for the customer. After that, we will pass the order to the operations department and other necessary parties who will coordinate and make arrangements for the event. A few days prior to the event, we will do a site survey to see how we can do the set up. When the actual day comes, our kitchen will do the cooking, then we will deliver and set up. At the event, we will have a manager in charge to make sure that everything goes on smoothly. Such details planned garner us the guests compliments on our high standard of service.

Did you have the capital to start the business or did you have to borrow from someone to get started?
Capital was at a bare minimum- we started with $100k. We did not have to borrow because most of us were quite established people at that time and we just have to come out with our own savings to start up this business. Although the money could only last for 6 months at that time, we were confident that we could sustain longer than that.

Do your parents have their own businesses too? Have they inspired you in one way or another?
No, they do not have their own business but they are go-getters. They have a vision and are clear of what they want. Also, they made an effort and started simply. They are hardworking people and that is what inspires me from a familys standpoint.

What was your childhood dream? When did you decide that you would strike out on your own instead of working for someone else?
My childhood dream was to own a boutique hotel and be the general manager for that hotel. I worked in Hyatt Hotel in the US for a while and I have always wanted to achieve all my goals before 30. Most of my other childhood dreams have been fulfilled: To work in Hyatt, I became a concierge there. To own a BMW, I managed that too. Judging from the way our business is growing, we are not far from the dream of owning a boutique hotel.

Why does someone decide to be on their own rather than join an existing company?
I guess it is satisfaction. If you happen to see the Chinese newspaper on my feature article today, I mentioned that no matter how hard you work, if you see a customer coming to you and say: Thank you for such a good event, its wonderful, its great, its a lovely event, everybody loves the food/set up, an excellent experience. That is the difference. Nothing beats the joy of someone calling you with a compliment. No matter how hard you work, it is worth it, at least you know you have worked hard for yourself and it is your own hard work.

Are there at any point in your life that you experienced a significant event (WW2, racial riots of the 1960s, the Economic Crisis of the 80s or 90s, SARS, new competition or shifts in market behaviour and trends) which affected or influenced you and your business that made you change the way you think and do your business?
Obviously, WW2 does not apply. Racial riots has not happened for a very long time. This, again does not apply. Economic crisis? Yes it happened a few times. That is the problem; food is something you should stick with. We started our business at a point where there was a bad economic crisis, in September 2002. It was a really bad time where a lot of people were willing to step out and take the plunge. For me to quit and start this, it was quite a risky move because the economy was not very stable yet. The economy started to pick up in 2003 and 2004. SARS happened in 2003 when we had just started our business only 4 months back. Yet, what changed was that we knew how to evolve and roll in the market and knew how to play the role by giving back to the society by offering complimentary food, making an effort to work with people, self checks on our staffs by taking their temperatures. We also made an effort to be careful by providing Vitamin C for everyone on a regular basis. Even up till today, we also do health checks and Purple Sage has a very good health care plan for our staff which includes dental plan.

What are some of the challenges in starting a business from scratch? (Modify question to what are some of the challenges in maintaining a family business if applicable.)
Financing was a major challange. We started out with only $100k and that was tough for us. We had only 4 staffs and could barely make it through the first 6 months. However, someone did an event of $35 000 and gave us a cash cheque. That company actually helped us to propel to where we were the following 6 months. We grew from year to year and today, we have increased from 5 staff to 40 staff, from $500,000 of sales turnover in the first year to a $3.2 million turnover today. We started off with an office space of 1,200 square feet. Today we are sitting in a 7,000 square feet office. 3 years ago, we did not have any marketing staff and now we have 4 marketing staffs. Financing was hard and that was the first major problem. The second thing that was the most difficult were sceptics as many people thought it was impossible to do this business. The other thing that was difficult was to be able to get your team behind you to make the whole solution work. Those were the challenges that I encountered.

Who/What motivates you?
In my other interviews, I would say Howard Schultz of Starbucks. But now as I think back, he is more of a person who inspires me than to motivate me. But what motivates me now is that my team is growing. I like to see my team growing, that is what motivates me.

Tell me about the first few customers and the first few years of business.
One of the first few customers that we have, and hope will keep coming back to us are Microsoft, Asian Civilisation Museum, Far East Organisation and Temasek Holdings etc. We are a very strong supporter of Hewlett Packard- Purple Sage uses Hewlett Packards office equipments and computers. They have in return supported us in the first few years of our business and have even written an article in Entrepreneur Magazine on how we have computerised our work flows by using their equipment. At the same time, Volvo, since the beginning, is one of our best pay masters because they will pay us on time whenever we do an event for them and that really helped us a lot. Microsoft is also one of our biggest supporters. We have customised our menus to their taste and know the different requirements of their various departments. That was how we started and they are now our regular customers. Of course, there were also wedding couples and families who have contributed to our growth.

Please tell me some stories of your best day in business or your proudest achievement to date.
The proudest moment was when we made it past the very first year. Currently, we are now in our 3rd year of our business. From a companys standpoint, the proudest moment was when we handled one NTU alumni event with around 1,200 people. We managed to do an excellent catering event that included halal and vegetarian food. Purple Sage has also been contributing to the society by supporting events like the Bike n Blade Charity 2005 and also some churches and charity work. One of the achievements that I am proud of is being a member of the Entrepreneur Organisation (Previously known as Young Entrepreneur Organisation (YEO)), which only accepts Entrepreneurs nominated by its members, based on a set of stringent criteria to qualify, such as his companys annual turnover, etc.

Do you recall your worst day in business? Have you ever felt like giving up?
Being an entrepreneur, we will always feel like giving up on the days which are overwhelming. We used to handle everything ourselves- we do the accounts, we do the pest control, I used to even clean the toilets! Now, I have to figure out on how to provide for more toilets as the office has more female staff. When there is a lot of movement in the office, I will have to become the security person who checks on the safety of the wires etc. It adds pressure being the only person at the top. The moment when you feel like giving up is when you have people who do not believe in your vision, when your partners move off and your team mates move away. These are the worst days that an entrepreneur can have.

When was the moment you realised the business would work and support you?
This will probably be when customers come back to us after an event or when you are rejecting quite a fair bit of sales enquiries every month. Some of our customers will even book two to three weeks in advance before an event and sometimes even two to three months before in order to block the date. That is when you know that the model works, that everybody is happy and that the business is going to continue.

What are some of the things you have had to overcome to succeed?
Sceptics are one of the hardest things. Being pessimistic and not being able to focus and believe in what you can do is the hardest to overcome. If you dont believe in yourself or your team, you will have a problem. To my team: I thank them for who they are and because they are still here, they still believe.

What are some qualities that you feel you possess which differentiate you from someone who works for others?
As an individual, it is my networking and peoples skill as these are the factors that have allowed us to be able to cross into different areas/ arenas to get business and be able to do joint ventures or work as partners. But if you look at it as a whole for the company, what we possess are different; we have a very unique marketing approach, a very young and vibrant, never-say-die kind of attitude. When we do marketing or when we go out, we will give our best and work together. If we have to roll up our sleeves and work, we will do it together and thats the spirit. We moved our office together, we presented a large scale wedding workshop as a whole team and this energy is what we have that differentiates us from others.

To succeed in business, what qualities are essential? What are some of the secrets in making a successful business?
One word to share with you is persevere. This is the word that I always passed on to my staffs. Tough things do not last, but tough people do. The essentials in business are to stay focus, to have a clear vision, to persevere, to trust and believe in your team and finally social responsibility as we have to contribute back to the society.

Who or what inspires you?
I would go back to Starbucks. I know Starbucks because I was an American graduate- I was there when they grew. The CEO Howard Schultz said pour your heart into it, have passion and that is what we do, we must have the passion. They are one of the few companies in the world that have the most comprehensive health care program for their staff and also stock options. We are not listed yet, so no stock options, but we have a very comprehensive health care scheme too. We also plan a lot of work-life events here to attain a balanced work and social life working environment. The other person is Richard Branson. He treats his staffs right before he treats his customers. And I believe in treating my staffs right too, with respect, space and empowerment.

Have you ever thought of expanding the business in some way or in multiple locations? How and where?
We have already expanded into Shanghai in February. Our Shanghai office will start rolling by the end of this year. We have also been talking to other people in the region, like in Malaysia and also the Middle Eastern countries to see where else can we explore catering. Expansion is definitely the right way to go and we are always looking forward to move into our next level.

What aspects of expansion would you like to see for your enterprise?
We import and export environmental-friendly disposable tableware from Japan; it is biodegradable and could disintegrate back into the ground within two months. We bring in premium tea bags with better quality and our flower shop also does hampers for our customers. All these are part of our organic growth, so instead of buying flowers from other florists, we provide flowers for our own events. Being an entrepreneur, I explore into other areas that are related to our business.

In your opinion, how would you define entrepreneurship?
My key words are: Perseverance, hard work, passion, having a vision and believing in yourself.

To what extent does ones educational level help or hinder entrepreneurial-ship?
Well, you are asking a person who had only an N-level and was at one point of time being considered as a reject (although I was fortunate enough to study abroad and get my degree there). I do not think that ones educational level would hinder entrepreneurship, but it will surely help if you have a good education. But, that does not mean you will need it, neither do I encourage anybody to quit school. If you have it, it will help you to propel and think at a different angle. If you do not have it, you have to be street smart and learn from the streets. It may just take you longer. However, a degree may not necessarily propel you faster. Most of the entrepreneurs in this world, like Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Dell Computers or like myself (not that I am comparing with them because they are in a different league) they do not complete their education. What makes them different is that they have a passion. You may have the best education but if you do not believe in what you do nor work hard for it, you will not get to where you want to be. It goes back to Question 21, it is related.

As we try to select the final 41 entrepreneurs, what qualities would you think a person should have to inspire others?
The quality that I would want to see in the people should not be limited to only the 41 entrepreneurs, it should be in anyone. Everybody should have a passion, truly believe in themselves and that they can do something for themselves. For myself, I have given a lot of speeches and talks to EM3 students, normal stream students and CDCA talks through Youth Xplore. As an entrepreneur, we must have passion in what we do, to believe in oneself, have a focus and go for it. After that, when you reach the right level, you must give back to the society. Sharing this story is not for glory, sharing this story is to inspire others who read it. If they think that they can make it, put their efforts into it! Thats the key.

What are some of your own values in doing business and what do you like to pass down to others, particularly the younger generation?
Passion. Because when you have passion in what you do, you will never get tired of it. Whenever I come back from a holiday or a business trip, I do not dread Monday work; in fact, I look forward to Monday work. Integrity, responsibility and a sense of ownership is very important too. If you want to be an entrepreneur, you will have to manage yourself right first before you can manage your business and others. You must have that fighting spirit, the spirit of enterprise, that is. You must have the go-getter spirit by being able to walk out of your comfort zone and be different, to be creative, to create value, and create something out of nothing. One of the things that I have learnt as I grow my business is to treat others with respect and that competition is good. Compete fairly, work hard but never say that you are always the best.

What advice would you give young people who want to start their own business?
Have a vision, believe in yourself, believe in your products, take calculated risks, have that go-getter spirit and if you are at the right age, go for it. No venture, no gain.

Student Interviewer's Personal Comment
Transforming his passion and dreams into reality? Leaving his job by walking out from his comfort zone and created something out of nothing. Mr. Tony Seow, the Managing Director of Purple Sage did it all. When I stepped into Purple Sage, I was amazed at how his staff took pride in their work. They showed me around, explained the details and painted a clearer picture of the organization. Throughout this write-up, Tony has shared with us so many valuable business tips for all of us to learn. Tony also mentioned to me that in whatever I do, persevere. Tough things do not last, but tough people do.The essentials in business are to stay focus, have a clear vision, perseverance, the will, believing in your team, trust and social responsibility. I have benefited greatly from the many advices he gave me and I believe many more others will be inspired by reading his story.