It is almost unbelievable that a 15 year-old teen has already determined his life path and has devoted all his energy and effort working towards it. What is more astonishing is that the path that this 15-year-old has chosen is, funeral service. 7 years later, Nicky, founder of Funeral Solutions Pte Ltd, stands tall and confident as a successful entrepreneur, as well as a life example of how far passion and determination is able to lead one to.

Company: FUNERAL SOLUTIONS PTE LTD Address: No. 1 Yishun St 23 #07-35 Ys 1 Building Website: http://www.funeralsolutions.com.sg Interview with Mr Nicky Teo Chin Li by Christina Gao Fangda on 03-Jun-2009. Student can be reached at finding_meteor@hotmail.com   Business Profile: Funeral Solutions offers a one-stop avenue to provide complete services for all religions. It also sells funeral products such as caskets, urns and offerings.   Interviewer's Comments: Of all the candidates that I have nominated so far, I feel that Nicky deserves the award the most. Not only because of his young age and unique line of business, but also his dare-to-dream attitude as well as his heart of gold. Moreover, with only an O' Level certificate, he has proven the true value of his worth as compared to the paper qualification.   1. What is the nature of your business? Funeral Solutions offers a one-stop avenue to provide complete services for all religions. We also sell funeral products such as caskets, urns and offerings.   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 have always wanted to do my own business, since I was a small kid. I want to be my own boss. My father owns a marine engineering company, while my mother is an accountant. My father is someone who is very low profile, he always emphasis that a business should not be big and merely being stable is sufficient. But there is a Chinese phrase, "Ming Li" which means fame and profit. Without fame, there will be no profit.   3. What are your reasons for choosing to do business in this particular industry? It was pure interest. When I was young, I was very intrigued by the funeral ceremonies held near my area, but my parent have always warned me to stay away and not even to look at them. Curiosity kills a cat; I have since then developed an interest in all these ceremonies and customs and began to scan newspapers for the obituary section to look for events being held near my area. Secondly, this industry requires a very low entry barrier, there is no certification required. And I realised that the local funeral industry is not very well developed in terms of the service standard. There is no fixed system of charging in many firms, some will charge $1800 for a coffin to customer A and charge the same coffin at $3800 to another customer. So I have decided to put up the prices online so that to standardise the price and effect some changes to the market price.   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. Initially, I started off as a service coordinator who helps the family members of the deceased to look for the suitable tenor, venue, florist and all other miscellaneous tasks. As I slowly gained my capital, I started my own company without taking a single cent from my parents.   5. What are some interesting stories you have about your first few customers/first few years in business? There was only a lady looked for me and wanted me to perform her deceased husband's funeral in the free-thinker's way. But as the process went by, she slowly switched the initial idea to a mix of all religion, including that of Taoist, Buddhist and the Free-thinker's way. There was also once I held an Indian's funeral in a Buddhist's way. The children of the deceased loved their father so much that they followed everything meticulously. I was very touched by their filial piety and decided to hold a memorial service for him without any charges.   6. What was the impact of these events? It was through these touching episodes that passion for my career grew. This is a calling which has made me learn a huge deal about life, from both the deceased and their families.   7. What are some of the challenges you faced when you first went into business? The most challenging barrier was the age. Many a times, clients would be sceptical about my age and experience. There was even once when I managed to clinch a deal, but when I visited the client, they were so shocked by my looks and age that they simply chased out.   8. How did you overcome these challenges? Please share some specific examples of the action you took to overcome the challenges. The only way is to prove to them that I can deliver what I promise, by providing quality services. For example, I have strict requirements on the attire of my employees and the way we speak. All employees are expected to be in white shirt, black pants and covered shoes. This is not to impress the clients, but to show respect to the deceased instead.   9. 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 wasn't such a day yet and I have never felt like giving up. Whenever the business is not good, I will always motivate myself that following month will be better. And fortunately it has always been the case.   10. When was the moment you realised the business would work and support you? There was a period of time when my younger siblings needed money to get themselves a laptop for Polytechnic studies. The realisation that I could not only support myself, but also able to provide financial independence to my family members, is extremely satisfying.   11. What are some of your proudest business achievements to date? And why are they so important and meaningful to you? Last year, I was featured on Channel U in one of their documentary shows, this gave me a huge sense of satisfaction because it provided me the chance and platform to spread the awareness about this line to the public.   12. How do you differentiate your business from your competitors? Please provide specific examples. We differentiate ourselves in terms of price, service quality, image and transparency. I do not "scare" the clients in buying many of the funeral products by saying that it is "compulsory" or if not the deceased will not be able to rest in peace. Instead, I provide my clients the choice of choosing. That is how I make funeral service simple, and yet never lose tradition. And through word of mouth, I am able to gain credibility as well as publicity. On top of that, we also provide personal service to the deceased's family guests during the chanting because usually the immediate family members are engaged in the chanting process.   13. What are some business ideas you have implemented that created great results in your business? We are the first company that has listed the price of all our service and products in order to provide full transparency to the clients to allow them to make an informed choice.   14. Where or who do you get your business ideas from? By finding faults in this industry and look for ways that I can improve on it. As such, I managed to figure out my own niche market, strength as well as my differentiating factors.   15. How much have your business grown since you have started? In terms of $ revenue, customers base, number of employees and number of branches? (rate of growth in percentage or numbers) What do you see for your business in the next 2 to 5 years amid the current market condition in 2009, and does it include any plans for expansion? It is achieveing about 40% growth every year. The secret to our success is not about cost leadership, but more of the value-added services and personal commitment that we are able to provide. Not only we are running business but we are also"selling ourselves" to our clients. I am not looking into expansion because the nature of this industry does not need expansion. Instead, I hope to set up a funeral hub where regulations will set in to control the pricing and other regulatory systems. I also hope to see more awareness created to the public through education on the importance of funeral services and the rightful methods of doing so.   16. What does entrepreneurship mean to you? It is to sell and do something that is built genuinely based on your own idea. It is also about doing business in your own unique way by being the market leader who makes others your followers.   17. What are some entrepreneurship qualities that you have which has helped you come this far? My favourite Chinese phrases are "Zhuan" and "Yi Xin Bu Er", which simply mean concentration and the ability to be focused on what you are doing.   18. In your opinion, what other qualities does a person need in order to be successful in business? And why? (eg. Educational qualification, work experience, family influence, attitude, etc) None of the above, there is only one thing that matters the most: "yourself". You are responsible for whatever that has happened to you, be it success or failure. If you do not make an effort to constantly improve yourself, no matter how profitable the business is, it is doomed to fail. In the face of failure, you are the cause of everything, and of course, you are also the only one person to be held responsible rather than pointing fingers at the industry or the competitors.   19. In your opinion, what does it mean to have the 'spirit of enterprise'? "Jiao Ta Shi Di" (down to earth without cutting corners), "Xin Gan Qing Yuan" (be willing to accept successes and failures), "Mian Dui Xian Shi" (the ability to face reality). One has to be determined and committed to achieve your personal goal, and this is not in the sense of being successful or not.   20. Who or what motivates and inspires you? It was my aunt. Due to the busy schedule of my parents, I have been brought up by my aunt who even took care of my daily allowance. However, she was diagnosed with colon cancer when I was 15. Being a rebellious teenager, not only did I neglect her, I even quarrel with her wilfully and disobediently. My enlightenment came only when she passed away. Her funeral was the very first funeral that I have handled. It was a period of hectic and intense sadness. I realised that the reason for me to step into this career was because of her, and being who I am today is my way of repaying her kindness.   21. What are some of your business values and what would you like to pass down to others, particularly the younger generation? One must be able to fix a goal and make sure that he is able to deliver the promise, even in the face of adversity.   22. 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. When my competitors started to follow my business strategy and trying to improve themselves, I have gained the awareness of trying to outperform them. Also, due to the changing customer behaviour, today's service industry has to be more customer-oriented rather than making ourselves the sole decision maker when arranging funeral packages. On top of that, the branding of a company has become more important and thus I have been emphasising much on our service standard and publicity.   23. 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? Yes, it has become harder. The cost has risen with higher more tax and other expenses. And with more and more entrepreneurs entering into the market, it would be harder to compete.   24. What advice would you give young people who want to start their own business? Youngsters must put in more determination and effort in order to outperform the rest. Instead of merely being a trend follower, they should be a "self-follower" who listens to his own heart. Everyone wants to earn quick money, but many do that without a steadfast personal belief. It is because that I have this belief that my business strategy will sustain and last, it gives me the strength and determination to carry on. And being a challenger, I want to challenge myself to do something that other young people have never done before.   25. What is the most exciting part about being an entrepreneur? To me, it is that I can push myself beyond my limit and challenge my potential to the maximum. The sense of satisfaction and achievement that I gained from people's applauses upon doing a good job is most rewarding.   26. If given another choice and given that you have a much higher academic credential rather than just an O' Level Certificate, what will you choose to do? I have always been telling rest that, I will still be serving this line, even in my next life. This is my true calling. I find it such a meaningful job that I am willing to lower the profit to the minimum if the client is in a financial difficulty.   27. When you are old with your own child, would you want to pass your business to your child? No, unless he has the interest and passion in the industry. I will not want him to join this tough industry, if he wants to pursue a professional career, I will encourage him.   28. What is your personal opinion regarding the future of the funeral service industry? In today's society, youngsters will never see funeral service as their career choice. The reason for me to be rather outstanding in this line is not because that I am the best, but because that I am the only teenager. I can foresee that in the next few years, there will not be many young people joining the industry, and therefore we will still remain the market leader.   29. What other innovative business ideas do you have in mind? I am thinking of moving my business into another level, which is reflective of the sustainable development that everyone is concerning about. I have coordinated with the casket suppliers in Malaysia to order caskets from Japan which are made of recycled materials and compressed paper. Apart from doing a small part to the society, it could also help me to save cost.