Andrew's extensive experience in the MICE industry enabled him to have huge networks from people of all industries which helped him when he entered the dating and matchmaking industry. In 2005, he was appointed the role of Managing Agent for Romancing Singapore by SDU, to lead a new era of private-led initiative in this industry.

Company: IDEAMART (S) PTE LTD Address: 140 Robinson Road, #06-06 Chow House Website: http://www.romancingsingapore.com/ Interview with Mr Andrew Chow by Victor Tan Suan Howe on 21-May-2008. Student can be reached at VICT0003@ntu.edu.sg   Business Profile: Since 1994, IdeaMart(S) has been the leading exhibition service provider for exhibition project management services, from conceptualization to installation using portable architecture and technology. In 2005, IdeaMart won the first ever tender to manage Romancing Singapore as a lifestyle platform solely embraced by the private sector.   Interviewer's Comments: Andrew strikes me as a passionate, visionary and philosophical entrepreneur, who is dead-set to create a new thrilling era for the dating industry, which has been a taboo subject for a long time. I could feel his excitement and sincerity as he shares his vision and mission and charts a roadmap of true love for any single that looks for him.   1. What is the nature of your business? The name of my company is Ideamart Pte Ltd, and my business started 14 years ago(1994) and I was then in the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibition) industry. The company was founded by my partner, Mr Andy Lai whom I regarded as my mentor and me. We created a platform, a business marketplace, where we facilitated business transaction and business networking. In Feb 2005, I started to spin off into other areas, to dating and social networking. In a sense, my dating and matchmaking business is similar to my MICE business, as we can be regarded as a corporate facilitator and matchmaker.. Today, I am more involved in my dating and matchmaking business, and spend 85% of my time in my dating and matchmaking business, and 15% in my MICE business   2. When and why did you decide to become an entrepreneur / take over your family business? NOTE: If it is not a family business, ask: Do your parents have their own businesses too? Have they inspired you in one way or another? (Select appropriate question according to the entrepreneur being interviewed.) I decided to become one when I was 26, finishing my first term as an army regular. My parents own a small shoe business. They have taught me some good values in doing business like integrity and on-time delivery.   3. What are your reasons for choosing to do business in this particular industry? MICE is a very interesting industry which can link to all industries. The networking opportunities are plentiful and experiences that I have accumulated are very diverse and complete. In 2005, we venture into dating industry business using our lessons learned from "corporate match-making" in our MICE industry. The concept is about the same, but the approach will have to be more of a personal human touch. We were awarded to manage Romancing Singapore as a private sector initiative which created originally as a government campaign. We have successfully transformed the campaign into a private-sector brand which singles at large can identify our unique service with. In my dating and matchmaking business, you can say it was initially an unintentional foray, as I initially took a project in the dating and matchmaking industry in my MICE business, but when I saw such huge potential and excitement in this industry, I decided to spin off to this industry and I never look back since then. In fact, I have a huge calling for this sector, and I also believe that the market potential is still largely untapped. As long as you are single and available, preferentially of age group 21-55, if you are earnest about looking for a partner, you can be my customer   4. How did you put together all the resources needed to start your business? For example: getting the start-up capital, hiring staff, doing sales and marketing, advertising, etc. I take over the business from my first business mentor where I work as a staff and later promoted to become a director. It was already an on-going business and I simply take it to the next level. I use my family saving to buy out my mentor's shares. For my dating business, I do not need a lot of staff. The actual running of the event itself is not very resource straining. One people can handle 40-50 customers The actual work is little compared to the marketing and preparation you need to do. For example, in your wedding, you can plan for one year for only one day for your wedding. Most importantly, we had to bring in the right people.   5. You mentioned earlier you were in the MICE industry, and later you penetrated into the Dating and Romance industry. Are they related? In my MICE business, we deal with corporate clients, as corporate facilitators and matchmakers. In my dating and matchmaking business, I am now dealing with singles, retail clients as a retail facilitator and matchmaker. In fact, I would say that being in the dating and matchmaking business is more challenging as now I have to deal with personal expectation and emotions. In the past, in MICE, I deal with relations with vendors, suppliers, and partners. Now, in the dating and matchmaking industry, I have to deal with human emotions as well as media. Dealing with the media is a huge challenge, as you cannot control them. However, media is a very powerful tool to business if you can manage carefully. The mileage gained from the media is stretched further than any advertising dollar can give you. In addition, in my dating and matchmaking business, I place more emphasis on branding and managing Public Relations, especially when the media is involved, whereas for MICE, the equivalent emphasis is more towards marketing. When I mean branding, I mean creating brands, or services mainly targeted at the various types of groups, such as Good Looking singles, Religious singles, etc where these brands are only for their respective niches. In fact, today I am better known as a matchmaker than a MICE businessman. Although I am still well known in the MICE industry, people do not care how you start well but rather how well you are doing now.   6. What are some interesting stories you have about your first few customers/first few years in business? When Ideamart first started, although I am one of the founders, I actually look upon my partner, Mr Andy Lai as my mentor, and I always seen myself "working for him". I was still green then, and Mr Andy gave me a lot of valuable information and lessons on being an Entrepreneur. I learnt a lot from him, and we went through hard times together, for example the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis in my 3rd year. And at the end of 1998, when the economy is recovering and we are also improving, Mr Andy wanted to focus on his other businesses. That was then I decided to buy over his share. Therefore, you can take it as I am taking over a company I was working for. Around year 2000 when China joined the WTO, everybody started to look into China for cheaper goods. This was then I made one of my biggest decision in life without my mentor participation. I wanted to address the premium market, people who prefer premium quality goods with more QC and standards. Therefore, I went for the top 20% of the market, while leaving the rest of the 80% to my competitors. As a result, I had a better margin but a lower turnover. I learnt then that in my line of business, margin is more important than volume.   7. What was your childhood dream? When did you decide that you would strike out on your own instead of working for someone else? I actually dreamed to become a doctor when I was very young. I find that saving lives and making a difference in the society is something very satisfying. I decided to become an Entrepreneur after finishing my regular term in the army at 26.   8. How different is it being your own boss compared to working in the army or a company In the army, I learnt basic rigid structure, learnt to obey ranks and files. The system in army is a good training for me. However, I recognized some of the fundamental weakness of the army system. For example, when I started out, avoid making mistakes like blind obedience to orders, etc. Therefore, one of the major difference being your own boss, is you have to be very flexible, but in the army, you have to be very regimented and obedient. In a big company, you have all the policies in place, for example staff policies, sales, production, distribution channels. All the system administration and policies are in place. You are just one of the people in the company that makes these systems work. However as an Entrepreneur, you have to start from scratch, and create these systems. This is one of the greatest challenges of Entrepreneurship. You need to be visionary, to start from scratch. You also need to be hands on. That is why many people after working for a long time for people, who come out on their own to be their own boss, thought that since they are able to earn $300,000 a year in their company, they should have no problems earning enough to support themselves. However, many of them are shocked that they could not even make $30,000. This is because none of the proper infrastructure are in place yet.   9. What are some of the challenges you faced when you first went into business? The challenges was not to have my mentor to guide me anymore, I am on my own since 1998.There are a lot of decisions in the past where I can seek an opinion or consensus. Now it is all up to me. In my dating business, the first huge challenge is to break the social stigma of singles social events. People had negative mindsets about singles, and the phrase towards these social events organized by SDU and SDS are for "single and desperate" people. In fact, it is a taboo for many people, and even they attended such events, no one likes to talk about them.   10. How did you overcome these challenges? Please share some specific examples of the action you took to overcome the challenges. Credit (MICE). In my MICE business, credit line from the bank was an issue as previously the bank has granted credit facilities to the company based on goodwill of my mentor. After I took over the company, I had to use my personal saving to back up the credit facilities, By doing so, that seriously affected my company's cash flow. I had to shorten my terms to my customers and negotiate suppliers and vendors for a longer credit term. Social Stigma (Dating Biz). To overcome the social stigma in my dating and matchmaking business initially, I introduced creative dating angles for media stories. The media is always very interested in new and unusual concepts. When the media and press talk about it often, my comments through the interviews will serve as an encouragement to many singles who are seeking for the one but are just too shy to come out of their comfort zone of meeting new people   11. You mentioned that you faced considerable challenges during the Asian Financial Crisis. What about the 911 incident in 2001 and the SARS period in 2003? What are the challenges you faced and how did you overcome them? Asian Financial crisis was my first big hit. My partner and I just had to scale down our operations. Fortunately, we did not do export business so the crisis was still manageable for us although we did had some losses. In 2000, I concentrated instead in importing premium supplies for customers who want quality. That strategy works well for me to handle 911. A lot of business then suffered in their business volume and turnover. Fortunately for me, i was still managing about the same as i chose to go for small turnover with higher margin In 2003, my MICE business is again affected and I made considerable financial losses. However, after I rode through SARS, I realized diversification of business is very important. Therefore in 2005, I chose to spin off a project by the government into the dating business.   12. Can you remember your worst day in business or a time when you felt like giving up? What happened that made you feel that way and how did you triumph over it? There are always down periods which any entrepreneur will feel discouraged. I learn to move away from the problem and stop engaging it continuously in order to gain a fresh perspective on the solution. Sometimes doing something totally different when you have a crisis can give you a 2nd wind.   13. Can you share some of the lessons you learnt from overcoming your own business challenges that you think will help other businesses? Always know your core competencies and your strength, assess the market environment especially the competitors and the changing demand of the customers. Then decide on the more appropriate to differentiate yourself The process of doing business is always full of ups and downs. A good Entrepreneur is one who can adjust appropriately to fit to the current market situation and condition.   14. What do you think about the education of Entrepreneurs? Can Entrepreneurship be taught? I think the whole education of Entrepreneurship consist of the element of coaching and learning. You must know things in theory. This is where formal education and schools come in. You learn in business schools the fundamentals of business. Of course, there are people who argue Entrepreneurship cannot be taught and "You either have it or you don't". To me, I feel Entrepreneurship can be taught, provided you have a good mentor. However, even with books and good mentors, they can only teach you 20%. The rest of the 80% you have to learn through yourself and that is through managing a real business.   15. How important does the role of Mentors play in a successful Entrepreneur? A mentor is someone who has probably went through the path that you are currently in now, and have great knowledge and experience in what you are facing now. Therefore, he can give you great advice, which is very important for young starters. He can also impart the basics of doing business, and also share his mistakes he made then to the young starters. More importantly, over the course of time, the mentor is able to tell you how well you are progressing, and objectively tell you the mistakes you are making, and advise accordingly. This is very important, as if you make a mistake, and do not correct it, over time it could be ingrained and etched in you and it would be very hard to change. Many aspiring Entrepreneurs or even amateur business people, who although have the financial resources and networks, could not succeed because they lack a very important ingredient. They are short of a mentor, a coach to coach them to help them whip up the successful dish. As you move on to different phases, you probably need different mentors, as not all mentors had walked totally the same path as you as you grow your business. In fact, I would like to bring in this concept of mentorship, and would want to build a community, sustainable self-help groups However, there will not be "forever coach". In my case, my mentor was with me for the first 5 years, and after that, I went on my own. Indeed, although I have other mentors, however, there are many I could not publicly acknowledge. Why would anyone mentor you if he does not know you well? Therefore, I actually secretly acknowledge these mentors secretly, and tried to absorb as much as possible from them. This is a 2 way thing. You want to learn, you also have to give. Therefore, this is where networking and partnership comes. Entrepreneurs can ride through business networks to give and learn from each other successes and failures.   16. When was the moment you realised the business would work and support you? I think every businessman will set out to think the business will be self-sufficient and supporting. I never allow myself to have any safety net.   17. What are some of your proudest business achievements to date? And why are they so important and meaningful to you? In 2000, my MICE company was ranked worldwide as the 5th best due to our excellent services, networks and track records. In my Dating and Matchmaking business, I was also proud that in 2005 when the Government wanted to give up ownership and responsibility in their industry to the private sector, I was awarded the tender to manage Romancing Singapore and the private sector pioneer to drive and lead this falling industry to greater heights. We went to create milestones events such as Dating@Sea, a 3-day event which included speed dating, treasure hunts, seminar on relationship management for the singles. We also had other popular dating concept such as Love in a Capsule, First Impression, Table For Six (T46), and Night Around Singapore Car Rally (NASCAR)that changed many Singaporeans mindsets towards social networking events. I am also very proud that NLB have identified RomancingSingapore websites, information and events to archive in their database. This shows that what I do has a place towards Singapore history, culture and future.   18. How do you differentiate your business from your competitors? Please provide specific examples. As I mentioned earlier, for my MICE business, I focus on importing premium supplies for customers who want quality, concentrating on margin instead of volume. For my dating business, I created various brands for the various target groups. I can have a supermarket-type service that anybody can come in, for example by registering in our website, www.romancingsingapore.com. I also have boutique services for more specialised group of people, people who can better afford. I also have brands such as Table For Six (T46), Loveboat.sg, First Impression, Beulah, Goodlooks.sg, Highfliers.sg, couples.sg, Two To Tango to target the niche areas. For people who are less-networking savvy, I can arrange a table for six for you. I can also be flexible enough, such that I can have up to 3 tables, and the guys can swap tables. At the end of the day, 9 guys get to know 9 ladies and vice-versa. For the more networking savvy, I can arrange huge events like Night Around Singapore Car Rally (NASCAR), of 5-6 hours for say 150 people. However for such big events, there is a huge tendency whereby although people get to know each other quantitatively, but there is no quality. This resulted many guys forgetting the names of the ladies they met, and also vice-versa for the ladies on the guys names. Therefore, I can arrange for events stretching over a longer period, such as Dating@Sea, where we combine travel with social networking for 2 full days or more. People will have the chance to meet 120 other like-minded singles. There will be ample time for quality interaction, and bonding, which require some warm-up time. If you do not want too big or too small a crowd, and would want some excitement and personal feedback, I can introduce First impression, which combine speed dating concept with feedback elements. You will be able to talk to each participant of the opposite sex, and at the end of the day, not only everybody get to know everyone, each will also receive a personalised private feedback report, which would not be easy to get from the participants. For really niche customer base, I have brands that cater only to Christians or brands that cater only to "good-looking" people. Most Christians would want to marry someone who is the same faith as him/her. Similarly, most good-looking people would also like to meet people who are good-looking. In my line of business, I have to think long and future steps as I actually met with competitors "copying" my products and services. Therefore I always need to be able to come out with new innovate methods continually. In fact when people copy me, I am happy as this shows that what I am doing is right. I also ensured that I continually do new things, innovate to meet customer demands and create unidentified needs in my range of products and services. By doing so, my customer base will continue to follow me. I like to stress that continuity is very important, especially in my line of business.   19. What are some business ideas you have implemented that created great results in your business? We have many well documented events, such as Cruises, First Impression, Love in a Capsule, Car rallies in the day and night, that generated huge media interest as well as helped people to open up to themselves and others. For example, our Dating@Sea event was a huge success. Not only there was huge media coverage, it is also one of the most important milestones in Singapore dating and matchmaking industry. This event is made happen by 4 competing agencies! Everybody got their fair share of media coverage which improves their business, and most importantly, we are encouraged by the overwhelming response and mindset change by Singaporeans. Another good example is "Love in a Capsule", where we brought in a refreshing idea of meeting people, and to create a unique dating experience. This event is jointly organized by us and Cliquewise, participants paid $199 each for a ride on the Singapore Flyer, followed by a Chinese-Western dinner at Labrador Villa. Therefore who says a "blind date" should be boring? This not only provides a refreshing approach to meeting new people of the opposite sex, but also allows the participants to take scenic pictures, and clink champagne glasses while enjoying the glittering night view from the 42-storey high observation wheel, the world's tallest, and Singapore's pride! Our recent "survivor-style" dating competition, First Impression, received much publicity and compliments too, by the public, media and even my competitors! We had overwhelming demands for more of such competitions in future. Instead of personally marketing my services, getting my participants as spokeman is also a great idea. For example , Ms Joyce Tia, a Chief Financial Officer to speak to the media; she was the rated Most Popular lady along the guys for 2 consecutive rounds. This hugely helps in building trust and awareness in my business. In fact, in Joyce's case, this is a 4 parties win-win case, because it benefited Joyce, my business, media, as well as Joyce makeup-artist's company. Of course with branding, you need to screen, to bring the "right people".For example, I set a standard for clients interested in my "Good-looking" brand.   20. I have read much about the success of 2 of your events, "Ready Steady Shop", "First Impressions". In fact, there was a interesting debate , both in the media as well as in the internet. Can you elaborate on the events and the rationale in them? Ready, Steady, Shop is an event organized by us and supported by the Social Development Unit (SDU) and Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to create platforms for social interaction opportunities for the fun-loving and adventurous. This event is targeted to add a new dimension to late night shopping, by incorporating a quintessentially unique component of a team shopping race spanning 5 shopping malls in Orchard Road. Ready, Steady, Shop is not only an escapade that enables singles to expand their social network while having fun. In "First Impression", indeed many people, including the media regarded it as the "most extreme" dating event in Singapore's 4-year-old modern private sector driven dating industry. In this competition, there are a few rounds. In round 1, singles chat with each other for 8 minutes in a round-robin fashion, as in the norm in speed dating. Both men and women are tasked to rate and score each other based on 1) First Impression and 2) Personality. Participants ranked in the top 50% will advance to the next round to meet top 50% of other groups. All results and feedback will be e-mailed to each participant 2 days after the event. The voting continues throughout rounds 2 and 3 until the final 6 (3 men and 3 women) are determined, after which they will enjoy a free fine-dining activity together as a reward for surviving till the end. This is a competitive dating concept, which I like to stress, not with others but you yourself. I emphasized again that the secret is being the right partner rather than looking for the right partner. This event offers the personal feedback element into speed dating, something which we all needed but seldom obtained. We want people to think and possibly reflect and avoid making the same mistakes over and over again in dating. How did I get this business idea? Singles complain about the quality of events in the market, which tend to be formulaic and monotonous. My concept will help weed out insincere or undesirable personalities. The natural selection process will raise the quality of participants, thereby raising the quality of our events. The elimination process is always on the person mind whenever it comes to dating. Some are totally shocked to see their low scores, which did not reflect the positive body language shown (or so they thought) and the friendly conversation exchanged during the speed dating. This proves a point that the unseen feedback is often different, different from what you think. But all is not lost for those eliminated. They will still be notified on the mutual matches and their contract details as a consolation prize. And if they want to improve in their grooming and etiquette in order to excel in future dating events, we also can offer professional coaching and personal development services to them. In fact, I received praises even from my competitors, for example Ms Claire Chiang, a well-established business women and Ms Violet Lim of Lunch Actually.   21. Where or who do you get your business ideas from? I find that the best time to relax and have about new business idea is during bathing. Ideas are generated not when u are thinking about it. It usually comes as a concept or idea when you are very relaxed.   22. To succeed in business, what qualities are essential? What are some of the secrets in making a successful business? Innovation. Sometimes innovation does not necessarily mean we must keep doing new things. For example, different chefs and cook the same dish in many ways, or when given the same ingredients, can cook different types of dishes. Therefore, to innovate, we can also look at doing old things in new ways, to innovate something done many times. Most importantly, to keep a customer for life, you have to continually innovate to keep up to their changing demands as well as the market trend. You also have to create demands and educate them along the way. Creating your own customer base and market is also important. For example , in my business, I have my own marketplace of customers, a portal for 10,000 people where I have critical information and databases. Database is the 2nd most important thing to small business, next to cash. A lot of people start without the database and information of their customers, which led to their failure. Having good relationship with customers, media, and with strategic partners, the synergistic partnerships you formed with "friendly competitors", are also essential. A important lesson I learnt in business is how important EQ is, to know how to manage these types of relationships. A company's EQ can been seen in its trust in its staff. If a company does not trust his staff and pass on important responsibilities to them, it is also likely that the company does not trust its clients. The Entrepreneur should also influence and lead the industry. In my line of work, it means changing mindset. I use the power of media to influence and change people mindset. The media is a very good tool, as people regard it as an objective tool and therefore believe the media more than whatever marketing flyers or banners I can produce. When you do mass marketing by conventional means such as mass emails and flyers, typically only 0.01-0.1% will respond to you. However, we should instead work backwards. We should first find out how many people I target to that, say 50 people, then work for you. To able to market effectively, you first need to have the right information and databases so that you would not waste much resources "shooting everywhere".   23. You mentioned the importance of forming alliance with strategic partners in your business success. Can you build up on this? Indeed, one of the successes is able to work with your competitors to have more links, and alliances for the greater good. For example, in one of my events, Dating@Sea, my company and 4 competitors in the dating industry come together to do one event. The idea of alliance is to help each other. I always believe that there is no such thing as direct competition, only strategic alliance. This is because every business is fundamentally different if you look at their business model, as they serve different groups. Therefore, there is always something we can work together with our competitors. When I mean strategic alliance, I do not mean long term alliance, but more towards short term alliance that can be forged and broken. In forming alliance, you should look to ally with a company that can give you the most benefit. One of the key to forming successful alliance is to give first, and then you receive. It is like sowing and reaping. You have to throw seeds and sow them before you reap the results. I tell competitor what I can give (offer) first and before I tell them what I really want from them. For example, for the Dating@Sea event, I told all the competitors and offered them to work together with me, as when the event is made big and the media came, every company will get PR benefits. Similarly, in dating, many singles in my opinion do not want to find a partner, but rather someone who can solve their problems or do their chores. For example, some guys want to find a woman to help him wash clothes, do housework, wash cars etc. Therefore, I have a role here to educate and pass on values to customers, and tell them the difference between finding a partner and finding someone just for the sake of solving your problems. However, when you forge alliance, you will only be able to initiate and forge alliance when you are the stronger party or you have something unique to offer. Therefore, you have to establish something first before you can forge alliance. You need to have a unique selling point, and to drive upon the point that "you need me more than I need you". If it is the other way around, then it would not be successful. Nowadays alliances are very common in every industry. For example, SIA in the airline industry, and Singtel in the telecommunications industry.   24. Do you have mechanism to monitor and progress your business growth and successes? Indeed, I think having a report card is very important that can monitor the business progress, successes and areas to improve, especially if the report card is objective. In my industry, I use the media as my report card. It provides as objective view, as they take the views from everyone, including my competitors. In addition, once the media recognize you as the main authority in this industry, if they need information, they look for you. If you manage the media well, the media can be a great spokesperson for you, in addition to being a great report card. I always believe in using concepts, as they not only provide convenient frameworks, but also are easier to coach if you are a mentor. I always applied the ERS principles in my business, and they indeed helped a lot in my success. E stands for experience, and it includes the amount of experience and know-how in the industry you are in, and also the lessons you learnt as a businessman or Entrepreneur. R stands for the resources you currently have. S stands for the situation you are in. This ERS concept works very well for me to conceptualize my ideas and make them into business.   25. You are regarded as a Industry leader in the matchmaking business since 2005 by the government. What do you see the challenges this industry would face in the future and how profitable do you think this industry can be? The first challenge is the "service quality gap" which still is present as SDU has been in the business since 1984. No one company will be able to fill SDU's and SDS shoes within a short time. The second challenge would be the increased cost of love. In the past, SDU and SDS are less profit driven being government agencies. However, as the responsibility now falls in the hands of the private industry, profits become a important factor in every agencies. Therefore, to avoid passing these costs directly to consumers, to maintain affordability, we price events at different levels to cater to different customer base and needs. In fact, I personally like to organize group social events, as firstly the participants are able to meet more people, and secondly due to economies of scale, we are able to charge lower price tags as compared to personalised matching. The third challenge would be to sustain the singles interest and attention span. There are pressures on all the dating agencies to be creative and innovate to keep their customers interest, and what worked five years ago may not work now. Therefore, new innovate methods must be continually created and introduced. I think every business in this industry can be profitable in the long run as a whole as long as each player defines its niche and be creative in the services they offer. While I do agree that with such a small population in Singapore, with more players coming in, the market can be getting more and more saturated. However, do note that the base of customers and demand does increase too. However, each business has to be innovative, and provide additional range of services to meet, satisfy and be flexible to meet current customer needs. In addition, we also can create needs for customers, for example, my cycle (add here) Therefore, even with increasing competition, I believe that as long as your products and services continue to be unique, and you can keep coming out new products to offer to people, you can still do well   26. What are the advantages you see with the matchmaking responsibilities falling in the hands of the private industry as compared to the Government-led SDU and SDS? Pushing the private sector to step into SDU and SDS shoes will encourage a broader diversification of services for the singles market, especially for those who are 30 and above, including people who are divorced or widowed. In the past, SDU, SDS and other agencies seem to prefer to handle the "quick and easy" younger population. In fact, I feel that no one is every too old to look for love. As long as they believe there is someone special out there for them, they should always keep seeking.   27. What do you see for your business in the next 5 years, and does it include any plans for expansion? Do you also have plans to penetrate overseas markets? In the next five years, I will still be focusing on the local market as I feel there are still a lot of untapped potential to develop the local market. If I were to penetrate overseas market, it will be by ways of Strategic Alliance. Currently, I am actually launching a couple website, www.couple.sg. My mission is to have a customer for life. Being in the industry for some time, I observe that romance can be divided into 5 stages. 1) Dating 2) Just Married (double income, no kids) 3) Young parents (with children from new born to Primary School) 4) Mature Parents (with children from secondary to University graduation) 5) Golden Years (with kids have grown to working adults, get married) Currently, my efforts are targeted into the first stage, Dating . Therefore, my this couple website, www.couple.sg, is targeted at the second stage, "Just Married stage". However, I will not stop in stages 1 and 2. My vision, is when the customer comes to me, I will keep him and her for life, throughout these 5 stages of romance. I have plans to create a community, a sustainable self-help groups community among these five stages of people. Now, each of these groups of people have their own unique set of problems. I mentioned earlier that mentors are very important to a aspiring Entrepreneur. Similarly, I also strongly feel that mentorship, and the idea of "going forward" is also very important in romance. For example, a stage 3 young parent can get essential advice from a stage 4 mature parent or a stage 5 Golden years parent when he or she faced problems with their young kids. In addition, I am also building up databases. We all know that accurate information is hard to come by, and data mining is a very big and hectic job for any business. For example, if your kid is 21 years old, I know I do not need to mail you if I need to find couples with kids 0-5 years old to form a playgroup. Therefore by doing so, I am narrowing the scope of marketing. If I do this successfully, I can sell this information to the appropriate businesses. I have come to a stage where I like to compound and crystallize all my thoughts, experiences, failures, and I like to coach and be a mentor to people. I like to share with people, both aspiring Entrepreneurs and seasoned business people alike my story and journey. I would be happy if I can help motivate these people to build new grounds. I also like to engage more youths, and would like them to manage my business if they are suitable. I give them the bait and let them discover themselves. If I want to make this happen, I need to use the media thoroughly. For example, I can regularly contribute articles on "how to maintain a relationship".   28. The idea of mentorship and creating a self help community is very interesting. What are the problems you think you may face in this project The biggest challenge is, as the one initiating this, you as the gatekeeper and facilitator. You have to be around for quite some time, at least 2 years. When you first start up, everyone is like a piece of charcoal. You are the fire-starter. And you have to be around for sometime, before the charcoal can start to heat up and glow.   29. What do you think makes a good leader? A good leader in business must not only be a visionary, he must also be able to coach others and shorten their learning curves. The idea is to ensure you can duplicate yourself in the shortest time possible so that the leader will also have the motivation to go to the next level himself before others catch up with him too quickly.   30. What are the problems you face with your staff and how did you overcome them? How did you source for talents to work for you? How did you retain them? I think it is the motivation of the staff to see the big picture that they are a integral part of the company. Besides monetary rewards and other incentive, timely encouragement is important to ensure they know they are on the right path. In my dating business, I will only recruit people I have observed and seen them in action. There is really very little time to train someone from nothing. Poaching is rather accepted in dating business though the industry is small.   31. What does entrepreneurship mean to you? What does it mean to have the "spirit of enterprise"? Entrepreneurship is a pioneering profession. Entrepreneurship is not only to have a dream but a building road map to fulfil that dream. Having a good idea is not enough. If we cannot sell it to the right people at the right time and in the right way, it will always remain as a dream but the reality belongs to someone else. To have the "spirit of enterprise" means you know you are always learning and teaching others. It is something very hard even for many businessmen to do. Precious lessons learnt are usually kept like treasure for future personal reference. If these lessons can somehow be documented and knowledge transferred to young budding entrepreneur, this will be true Spirit of Enterprise.   32. In your opinion, what other qualities does a person need in order to be successful in business? And why? (e.g. Educational qualification, work experience, family influence, attitude, etc) Teach-ability is very important. Education, work experience, attitude and family all play a part. However, if a person fails to be teachable and have a humble spirit, he is bound to fail. No body can say they know everything about business. There are always new things or lessons we can draw from everyday life.   33. Who or what motivates and inspires you? Success to me is always a moving target. I am energized by the journey and not really the destination. I envision a destination and how to get there. By the time I get there, I would already by thinking of the next destination in terms of business. So the journey from one destination to another motivates and inspires me.   34. What are some of your business values and what would you like to pass down to others, particularly the younger generation? Would you advise young people to work in a company first before setting their own business? Dare to be different but not outrageous. Learn from others mistakes. Yes, I would advise young people to work in a company first as that is always a good training ground for a person to see the big picture of business. The company they work for can be a good substitute initially for a business mentor in life   35. Can you share some of the more significant events / incidents that affected or shaped your business philosophy and the way you conduct your business? I.e. SARS, new competition or shifts in market behaviour and trends, etc. In 2005, the change of government direction to want the private sector to be more active in the match making business, had given me a new business opportunity. The lesson I learnt is the knowledge and experience gained from one industry can always be transposed to another industry. SARS affected many big industries and the cycle slowed down significantly. However, the dating industry is less susceptible to unexpected events. It also allows more creativity and opportunities to excel.   36. With the changes in the market today, do you think it has become harder or easier to succeed in business? Why do you say so? There is more competition now as there is more awareness of entrepreneurship. It is harder to succeed but it is also easier to enter into a business now with all the government schemes and grant. The banks are also more aggressive in granting loans and credit lines. In a nutshell, competition has increased due to an increase in availability of resources.   37. What do you think are the main hindrances and obstacles to nurturing the spirit of Entrepreneurship? Lack of mentorship, and only cases of success are glorified but cases of business failure are seldom reviewed for lesson learnt. Success and failure are both good examples of lessons learnt   38. As we try to select the top 43 honourees of the year, what are the winning qualities should we look out for? The winner should not only be an example to the youth or budding entrepreneurs. He should also be respected by other businessmen to be someone who can forge strategic alliance even among friendly competitors. He must be someone who can balance everyone's objectives and still be able to steer the alliance to the right direction and result in a win-win situation.