You may have seen this sweet before. It was created by my grandfather. I only knew more about this when he passed, that he used to be a businessman and even owned the first caltex petrol station in Singapore. I admired his work ethic, and thought that it was pretty cool to created something that still exists beyond his lifetime.
I was in my 2nd year in business school then, and I started to dabble into entrepreneurship. I customised bicycles, sold sunglasses, and did a lot of buying and selling. I intentionally took modules that were linked to entrepreneurship, even though they didn’t meet my university core requirements. By then, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur.
I sold many items, but one stuck to me. Literally. It was nail polish. My ex-girlfriend (now wife) wanted to ship in 1 bottle of nail polish, but the dangerous goods tax was very expensive. It was the same cost to ship in 1 bottle or 800 bottles. So I decided to ship 800 in.
Before long, I was desperate. Too many bottles lying around at home. So I went door to door, to far east plaza, to neighbourhood salons...It might seem a bit weird that a young undergrad (then) like me was selling nail polish, but it didn’t bother me, I knew I had to make it work.
Fast forward to 8 years later, I’ve started and am still running my own nail polish brand, called Nail Deck. We specialize in customisation. We have an app that allows you to order any specific colour, a lacquer kit that allows you to create your own colours, and customised collections (our most recent one is called Hawker Culture, with colours inspired by local delights like bandung, teh, and chicken rice)
I’ve grown to love colours. I take pride in mixing and matching them for my customers. In the past, when I painted my nails, people around me will ask ‘what’s wrong with me?’. Now, I don’t leave the house without my nails painted. And if they aren’t painted, people will ask ‘what’s wrong with me?’
It wasn’t always easy. There was a period where we had grown to a team of 5 full timers and 5 interns. I had great ambition. We were working on a machine that could immediately dispense any nail polish colour you want. We were pitching to investors and raising money. I promised my team a lot, and they stuck by me.
But things didn't work out. The ambition had caused me to overestimate our growth, and we were bleeding cash. Over Chinese New Year, I invited everyone to dinner. They were all in good spirits. Then, I broke the news to them, that I would have to let them go. The mood turned completely, and it was a horrible feeling for me, something I don't ever want to do again. I would say that was the lowest point in my business.
Yet, through it I’ve learnt important lessons- that ambition has to be balanced with strategy and prudence. Dreams are great, but a clear plan is also necessary. Especially when you’re dealing with people’s feelings and hopes.
After that incident, I felt like shutting everything down and moving on. But my wife stopped me. She said: “If you quit now, all the weekends you spent working on business (that we could’ve otherwise spent together) would have gone to waste”. So I didn’t quit.
At a critical moment, I secured a deal from a big corporate client, which reignited the business. I’d been working on for over a year, which reinforced my belief in persistence and hanging on a bit longer.
I like where I am now. Some people ask: why don’t you raise money and go global? If I do that, I will have less time with my family. I’ve got an adorable boy that I love spending time with. I can spend 2 hours flying a toy aeroplane with him around the house. It seems stupid but at the end of day when he says to me “Dada, I had so much fun today”, it gives me joy that money can’t buy.
At this stage, time is more valuable to me. You can make money, but not time. Money can be gained, but time can only be lost. I’m happy that choosing this path of entrepreneurship has given me this luxury of choice.
