Up till today, people still ask me about my book publishing journey. In the midst of building up my new business, I went through all my archives and found a lot of information.

Decided to do up this article, plucking some resources from my press release, radio interview with 98.7FM, TEDx presentation and other speeches and interviews I’ve done since the launch of the book.

I structured this article in an interview format, covering most of the questions I’ve been asked over the years. It feels kinda weird because while doing up this piece, I’m like asking myself these questions and answering them at the same time, re-enacting the scene when I was on national radio or being interviewed by a journalist.

In Chinese, we call it 自导自演；playing the interviewee and interviewer role. But I thought structuring it in this format can help you get the most value from my personal experience.

It’s really comical, come to think of it. Nonetheless, hope you enjoy the read and don’t let this image of my mini role-play distract you from the valuable content 😛

1) What’s your book about?

My book is entitled “The Instant Entrepreneur; 10 Surefire Strategies to Guarantee Your Startup’s Success”. In this book, besides sharing the story of my personal entrepreneurial journey, I’ve also included strategies acquired through my experience and three key factors on how individuals can succeed in any new venture they launch.

2) How long did it take to publish your book?

It took me a total of eighteen months from the point of conceiving the idea of book publishing to the actual physical print of it. I must say, the feeling is surreal to be holding the very book that you wrote in your own hands. Definitely an experience I’ll remember for life.

3) How old were you when started your book publishing journey?

I was only twenty-one years old when I started my book publishing journey.

4) Where did you get your inspiration to write?

Entrepreneurship was a topic that I was really interested and passionate about so getting inspired to write was the easiest part for me. All I had to do was meet up with entrepreneurs and I’m all charged up and ready to write! Most of the time, I get so much input and content from them that I don’t even know how to put them down into words!

5) Why did you choose to tackle such a huge topic like entrepreneurship?

I’ve always found the word “entrepreneurship” fascinating because even though it’s just one word, it means many things to different people.

To some, it means taking risks and doing something that hasn’t been done before. For others, entrepreneurship is a “last resort” thing; when all else fails, then I’ll look into entrepreneurship as my last option for survival.

On the other hand, “entrepreneurship” can be one of the most feared words in the dictionary. This word can mean leaving a comfort zone to risk everything and stepping up to take the lead. The idea of entrepreneurship shakes the sense of safety, security and stability, three words that most people lead their lives by.

I personally know a lot of people that fall into the last category. They’ve never even considered becoming an entrepreneur and the thought of pursuing entrepreneurship is insane. Every day, I hear statements like,

“I’m not a ‘business’ type of person”

“I’m not good in sales”

“I can’t talk very well”

“I want to get a good job to have a stable income”

“working for people in my ‘dream job’ is my passion”

It’s the fear that people had towards entrepreneurship that drove me to shed some light on this topic once and for all. This was the main motivation for me to write this book.

6) What’s some of the challenges faced on the course of writing this book?

I think the greatest challenge I’ve faced was the lack of credentials and experience. Many ask me, “Ranford, what are some of the successful businesses or ventures you’ve done?” and I do not have an answer for that.

We live in a very practical society, especially in Singapore. Throughout the course of working on this book, I’ve come across many people who dissuaded me to continue embarking on this project, citing things like, “you don’t have enough experience on the topic of entrepreneurship, what makes you think you can write about it” and “who’s going to read your book if you don’t have experience and credentials to back up what you’re writing?”

Many gave me their two cents’ worth to finish my national service first, proceed to get my degree, secure a job and work to learn the ropes from my employer on entrepreneurship. Observe how they do it for a few years before leaving and striking it out on my own.

If my business is successful, write about my success. If I didn’t make it, I can write about my failure.

I nearly agreed with their train of thought because it seems like the logical thing to do. To be honest, I was extremely discouraged by these responses and I almost bought into their logic but I’m glad I didn’t. If I did, I wouldn’t be here sharing with you my story today.

That’s why the advice was only worth “two cents”!

a) How then, did you manage to overcome them?

As an avid reader myself, there’s one book which helped me reframed my thoughts to overcome this obstacle. The book was “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.

At that time, Napoleon Hill was nobody but he decided to learn from successful people and document everything. Today, he’s better known than some people that he initially learned from. On top of that, his knowledge has been passed down through the generations of over eighty years, leaving a lasting legacy to his name and publication.

In the same way, I saw myself doing what he did.It’s not so much to achieve personal success but to learn from the experiences of the successful.

This journey was definitely not an easy one, maybe because of the fact that I was young and this topic was way out of my league. However, I held on to the belief that “when one is committed, providence moves to”.

7) Eventually what’s your reply when people asked about your successes?

I usually share that I’m just a messenger, not the message. The purpose of writing this book is to learn more about entrepreneurship and from successful entrepreneurs. I’ll also add that I’m really passionate and interested on this topic as well. The objective was to consolidate what I’ve learned into a book and to share this knowledge with others.

8) How did you manage to contact the entrepreneurs you wanted to interview?

I just called them up and shared with them what I was doing. Surprisingly, many agreed to meet me despite their busy schedule. They were more than willing to take time to sit down, talk with me and share their story.

I think one of the main factors on the ease of securing interviews was the fact that started from the people I personally know first. At the end of each meeting, these entrepreneurs will usually share with me another two or three people that I should meet and learn from. Subsequently, I just kept meeting and learning from the people who have been referred to me.

9) Who influenced you to think about entrepreneurship at your age?

From a young age, I knew I didn’t want to work for somebody. Because of this, I constantly looked out for various opportunities to strike out on my own.

I attended many courses and seminars along the way and to distil it down to a few key people who have influenced me to think about entrepreneurship, I’ll say it’ll most probably be Robert Kiyosaki, Timothy Ferriss and John C. Maxwell. They were the ones who made me feel that despite my age, it’s possible to be an entrepreneur too.

My parents also played an important role in developing the entrepreneurial spirit in me. Knowing how I was like from young, they didn’t restrict me what I could or couldn’t do. They gave me the space I needed to explore what suited me best. Not only that, they are very supportive of what I do even though it doesn’t fit the mould of a typical “Singaporean son”. My family have been the strongest pillar encouraging this area of my life and I’m truly grateful. If not for them, I will not be who I am today.

10) What are your reasons for going into entrepreneurship?

As cliché as it sounds, entrepreneurship is about pursuing your passion and doing what you love. However, one must be able to make a living out of it as well. If not, it wouldn’t be called entrepreneurship, it’ll just be considered as a hobby.

On top of that, entrepreneurship is an excellent platform to create flexibility and control of my own life, which allows me to spend more time with my family, loved ones and the people I care for the most. Through this course, I’ll also get to widen my network and meet different people.

In the pursuit of entrepreneurship, I learn so much more about myself; what makes me happy and what makes me tick. Most of all, know who I am as a person.

I’ve to admit, it’s not an easy journey. Many entrepreneurs describe this as a “roller coaster ride” but I’m sure they’ll also tell you that once you hop on it, you’ll never want to get off as it feels almost like an adventure!

11) Who is your publisher?

I’m a self-published author.

a) Oh, what are the differences between self-publishing and going through a publisher?

That’s a very good question. Initially, I didn’t know the answer too but as I did my research, there are clear distinctions between both.

I always like to use the example of renovating a new house that you’ve just moved to. You have two options; one’s to hire an interior designer who’ll do all the work for you or two, sub-contract all your renovation works out to individual contractors to do it for you.

There are definitely pros and cons to each option. By hiring an interior designer, they’ll be your one-stop solution to all your renovation needs. You can have a peace of mind that everything will be handled by only one source and it’s easy to communicate and manage if any issues were to arise. However, the downside of this option is higher cost and you lose control on specific areas which you want to change as the interior designer is the main person in charge.

On the other hand, if you were to sub-contract all the renovation works to individual contractors, it’ll definitely be more cost efficient and you have complete control over individual areas of your house. But this comes with a huge price because you have to put in extra time and effort to co-ordinate and executive various tasks, not forgetting the assumption that each sub-contractor you hire has to be reliable! If not, you’ll be in for trouble…

Going through a publisher is like engaging an interior designer while self-publishing is like sub-contracting all your work; writing, editing, proofreading, book cover design, marketing and so on to individual vendors.

b) So which method is better?

I won’t be able to comment which method is better as it really boils down to individual preferences.

12) What’s the most fulfilling part about your journey writing this book?

It’s the sense of accomplishment once the book is complete and printed. I’ve to tell you, writing a book was not as easy as I expected it to be. Before I plunged into this book project, I thought to myself, “How hard can writing a book be?” I’ve written so many twenty page reports in school so writing a book should be as easy as doing that for five to six times, slapping it all together and sending it for print.

I was soooo wrong.

There are 101 things to do besides that! As I chose the self-publishing route, that makes it 1001 thing instead! It was through this entire book project where I got to learn first-hand the experience of publishing my very own book and I’ve also learned three words from this process, “IT IS DIFICULT”.

So think twice if you really want to publish a book of your own.

Having said that, being able to finish what I’ve started despite its difficulty was the best part of writing a book of my own. This book is now something I look to whenever the going gets tough. I know that if I completed something like this, I can complete anything in life. Also, it’s nice to share my experiences with aspiring authors to inspire them that if I can do it, they can too.

13) What advice will you give other young aspiring writers who want to get published?

“Start now, don’t wait any longer.” If you have plans to publish a book, just take the necessary action to get your content out as soon as you can.

A good tip that I can give based on my experience is to do a mock up of your book cover, the table of contents and a preview chapter. Next, go out there and start taking pre-orders. Once you’ve made your first sale, you’re now forced to finish your book in order to deliver.This was exactly what happened to me when I first started.

With the pure intention of testing out my idea to see if anyone will be interested to read my book, I went out boldly and asked for pre-orders. To my surprise, people actually paid me money because they were interested to read my story. That was when I started to get serious with my book project.

I didn’t want to disappoint the people who supported and believed in me so I took this as a commitment to them to finish what I’ve promised.

14) Do you have plans to write another book? If yes, what will the new book be about?

Yes, I intend to publish two books this year.

The first one is for my new business, Storyaire. I’ll be sharing why storytelling is the business of the future and how individuals or organisations can ride on this wave to communicate more effectively to their clients.

The second book will be a community publication on motivation and inspiration. Your smile is the greatest gift of all so what better way to end 2017 with some nuggets of encouragement and kick start a brand new year? For this project, we’ll be gathering photographers, designers and writers to contribute to this publication and all profits from the sale of this book will be donated to charity.

— End of Interview —

There you have it, a summary of my eighteen month book publishing journey condensed into less than 3,000 words for your reading pleasure 🙂

Hope you find what I’ve shared useful and if you have any questions that I didn’t cover in this article, feel free to ask me in the comments section below or drop me a message here or through any of my social media platforms.

I’ll include a short synopsis of the book and how you can get it below. Let me promote it one last time, okkk? HAHA

Cheers and hope to hear from you soon 😉

The Instant Entrepreneur
10 Surefire Strategies to Guarantee Your Startup’s Success

What you will get out of this book:

The Instant Entrepreneur will debunk all the myths of entrepreneurship for you once and for all. Not only that, this book will also teach you:

• The True Definition of Entrepreneurship

• Major Differences Between an Entrepreneur and a Business Owner

• Ten Strategies That Will Turn You Into an Instant Entrepreneur

• Three Key Factors That Will Determine Your Success in Any New Venture Launched

and be blown away by how simple these concepts and strategies can be applied.

Let the author take you on a journey to learn about entrepreneurship in a way that you have never seen it before… Enjoy the ride!

Website: http://instantentrepreneurs.com/
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/TheInstantEntrepreneur/

Had the privilege of being on 938LIVE for a radio interview with Keith de Souza, sharing on his show about the beginning of an entrepreneur’s journey.

Joining me is Lujian and Aurora, two of my business associates I brought along to share their journey as well.

Lujian is a first year student at a local Polytechnic and the President of Alp while Aurora just left the corporate world to pursue starting her very own Social Enterprise.

From this radio interview, I hope you can gain some insights to what it’s like starting out 🙂

Keith de Souza: Home base coming up in just a little while, we delve into the realm of non-profits and find out why social entrepreneurs are taking the road less travelled.

It’s coming up in about two minutes and these are all Singapore created, originated and hopefully, like we say, non-profits not to make profits but they can, and they do! So we’re going to find out from three social entrepreneurs this morning how they got into the world of non-profits. Stay with us, up in two minutes.

(Traffic Update and Commercials)

Keith de Souza: This is home base on 938 LIVE and we are speaking with three social entrepreneurs this morning about their foray into the world of non-profits; why did they choose the road less travelled in this day and age?

Joining us this morning is Ranford Neo, Founder of Storyaire. We are also joined by Lujian, he is the founder of Alp and we’ve got a very lovely lady, Aurora Kuang. She is in the process of starting her own Social Enterprise. We’re going to find out what that is… We’ve got a snippet, environmental! But let’s speak with Ranford. Ranford, Lujian and Aurora, a very good morning….

All: Good morning Keith!

Keith de Souza: Let’s talk about Storyaire first.

Ranford Neo: Sure. First of all, I want to thank you so much for having me back on your show again, it’s really great.

Keith de Souza: It’s my pleasure.

Ranford Neo: Storyaire came about through this idea that I actually published my book about three to four years ago…

Keith de Souza: At the age of 21?

Ranford Neo: Yeah, that’s right! Up till today people still ask me, “Ranford, why did you publish your book? What inspired you to do that?” And I share with them it’s because at that time, I was really passionate about entrepreneurship.

So I said, “Hey, why not kill two birds with one stone?” Write a book about it and I get to learn about entrepreneurship. At the same time, boost my credibility as a published author. That’s where it all came about.

Storytelling – What makes us unique as humans is our ability to tell stories and what better way to communicate and connect with each other than telling a story? I mean, all of us enjoy listening to a good story now and then, right?

Keith de Souza: Indeed. So, I have to ask you… You have been in this business for a while right now, are you making money or not?

Ranford Neo: I’m still starting out. Making money… Usually my strategy is, and I don’t mind sharing with your listeners an insider tip and it’s this thing called, making money with no money.

So how do you actually do that? How do you actually make money with no money? It’s usually though this thing called sponsorships; get people to come in to support you first. Maybe through preorders and then from there, develop your idea.

Keith de Souza: So isn’t it difficult? Making money with no money? When you are starting out with no track record, how do you do something like that?

Ranford Neo: That’s a very good question and I get that question all the time. I think it’s about this thing called testing your idea. People always say, “Ready, Aim, Fire” but I always believe you have to, “Ready, Fire, Aim”. Put yourself out there, throw your ideas out there and don’t be afraid of people rejecting you, giving you the “No’s” because it refines your ideas.

I believe that people always put their money where their mouth is. I don’t mean to be crude but when they actually listen to your idea and believe in what you are doing, they will definitely pay you first. This is the concept of “Sell First, Buy Later” that has worked perfect for me.

Keith de Souza: You know what’s very inspiring this morning is that all of you are extremely young, taking the road less travelled and willing to take the risk. Let’s speak with Lujian. Lujian is the President of Alp, it’s an investment portal I believe, correct me if I’m wrong Lujian.

Lujian: It’s not really a portal it’s a leaning platform for us to share information with the public and our readers. Information ranging from basic investment knowledge to a more in depth analysis in terms of the stock market; companies that we feel are worth buying and investing in.

We wanted to change the conventional way of how education is being carried out and how people learn about investment. Usually, you go for a one-time seminar or courses…

Keith de Souza: and someone hooks you in…

Lujian: Yup… and the learning stops there. So what we feel is that learning is a journey, not a destination. We want to grow together with our readers. We really look to teach readers, people who have no idea about investment at all. Start from the basics and really bring our readers along as we progress and grow with them.

Keith de Souza: I’ve seen your website, lots of sponsorship on it as well but when we talk about information, why did you decide to go on the investment information route, given the fact that we are bombarded on a daily basis by information? Do you sieve out the wheat from the chaff, more or less?

Lujian: Yes. How we actually started was because a group of us came together and we really felt that we should start investing at a young age but realised that a common problem was that we don’t have a reliable source of information.

That’s when we decided to try it out ourselves. We actually went on to invest on our own, to really test out our theories. We look into the stock market, analyse on companies that we felt are worth buying. All the report and analysis that are created and published by us are all made by us.

Based on our last year’s record, we actually invested on our own, about six stocks and we have not made a lost so far. That’s why we felt that we want to share this information with everyone so everyone can have a better understanding in terms of which companies are worth buying.

Keith de Souza: We want to find out about your investment strategies in just a moment but let’s speak with Aurora Kuang. Aurora, you are the baby in all of this, you’re taking fledging steps into Social Entrepreneurship. What motivated that decision and what’s the progress?

Aurora Kuang: I’ve actually already worked for a few years, changing from manufacturing to healthcare and the education industry. Every switch, every time I will always ask a common question, “What is the meaning of the job? What impact can I bring, what kind of differences can I bring to others?” It comes to a point where I myself, am also a regular volunteer, both in Singapore and Malaysia.

It exposed me a lot to the outside world and I start to realise that there’s a lot that can be done, both in terms of environment and to the community, to the urban poor including the special needs and the handicapped.

As per last year, I think Stephen Hawkings has been repeatedly stating that as there is further progress in science and technology, it brings new ways that things can go wrong. Right now, we’re actually in a critical moment whereby we have technology that can destroy the planet that we live in without the ability and the capability to escape.

I felt that everyone has a part to play, no matter how small it is. Therefore, I decided that I want to start a Social Enterprise, involving in both environmental; bringing in products and services that will integrate into people’s lifestyle, becomes a good habit and at the same time, create opportunities for the urban poor.

Keith de Souza: So have you got a company up and running already or is it still in the progress?

Aurora Kuang: It’s still in the progress. My team and I thought of a name for the company known as Avoca, which is Evoke, Provoke and Advocate. It kind of combines together to create this name. It’s not finalised yet so we are open to ideas to make it even better. We are also open to ideas to what people wish to see and to be done.

Keith de Souza: So what would the business plan be and who would you be marketing to? If you’re going to make lifestyle, if I were to adopt it, why and how?

Aurora Kuang: Any environmental products like plates and cups actually…

Keith de Souza: So no paper plates, no plastics plates, no Styrofoam?!

Aurora Kuang: Yes, yes! We’re actually looking into that and something that’s biodegradable…

Keith de Souza: And of course this would be marketed not only to Singaporeans because Singaporeans we don’t bury our trash, we burn it!

Aurora Kuang: That is actually another issue because by burning, we are increasing carbon dioxide level. Worldwide right now, we are having the climate change issue, global warming issue… Carbon dioxide level is still constantly increasing. By actually burning, we are still “contributing” in that sense.

Keith de Souza: Our number is 66911938 if you want to get in on the conversation. We’re talking with three social entrepreneurs this morning. Ranford Neo, the man behind Storyaire, we are also speaking with Lujian, he is the President of Alp. They are providing investors with little or no knowledge the way and means in order to get started. Lujian, do you charge for your services?

Lujian: So as of now we don’t because we don’t want people to have the barrier with our readers thinking if we are reliable, whether our source of information is credible. We want to reach out to as many people as possible with this information on starting to invest early, how to invest and what are ways and means around it.

We really don’t want charge and put that barrier between ourselves and our readers. We want to release information that are accurate as well as free to the general public.

Keith de Souza: So are you still just tracking six companies?

Lujian: That was last year. We have some other plans for this year. We are also looking to diversify ourselves towards more of the business connections.

Keith de Souza: What would differentiate your portal from say, other proprietary “value-investor portals”? Because everyone is using this term now, “value investing” these days and you know, “Invest for the long-term, invest in the value of the company…” How different is your company?

Lujian: Okay. First of all, I would say that we are not aiming to earn from our readers so in that sense, we don’t gain anything in terms of giving you the wrong information. The second thing is that whatever we say on our Facebook and website, we actually really go on and do ourselves so we actually try it out.

Keith de Souza: So you do first and then report on it?

Lujian: Sometimes it like that, sometimes we do it simultaneously. That gives our readers a chance to know that the people who are giving the information are doing it as well. We’re taking the risk at the same time when we tell our readers to take the risk.

Ranford Neo: Keith, may I jump in? So just to add on, because I personally know the founder of Alp, I think the big picture… I was very drawn in by their vision, about connecting business, inspiring people. So aside from just an investment portal, where people get all the news and updates, which is very common place, especially for the Singapore market, theirs is about connecting. There’s an entrepreneurship arm, an investment arm. At the end of the day, it’s about connecting people in South East Asia.

For me, I see them as the next, you know, Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn, all rolled into one company! So I was like “Wow, watch out for these guys man, the young guys… They are going to be the next Mark Zuckerbergs of Asia!”

Keith de Souza: Fingers crossed, they might even get bought out and they can live on a yacht somewhere. Speaking about social entrepreneurship this morning with Ranford Neo, Ranford is the man behind Storyaire. Lujian is the president of Alp and Aurora Kuang, in the process of starting an environmental related business.

We’ll come back, talk to Ranford, Lujian and Aurora in just a moment after an update of what’s happening in the world and on the roads of Singapore. Stay with us.

(News and Traffic Update)

Keith de Souza: Back into home base on 938LIVE speaking this morning with social entrepreneurs Ranford Neo, the man behind Storyaire, Lujian, he is the President of Alp and Aurora Kuang is in the process of starting all of this. Aurora, can I ask you why you decided to go the road less travelled… What do your parents have to say about all this?

Aurora Kuang: Because it’s a road less travelled and is pretty unconventional so I would say that emotional support is also very important from family and friends. They didn’t stop me from doing it, especially because I have been regularly volunteering, they already saw that I’m a person that looks into the meaning and making a difference.

Keith de Souza: What did mum and dad have to say, Lujian?

Lujian: As I’m only a poly student, I didn’t dare to tell them at first and it was only some time when they asked me where am I going and what are you so busy with that I realised I can’t keep this from them anymore.

I actually told them and surprisingly, they are very supportive because they think that pursuing what you want to do, making that small little difference, following our dream and creating that difference with just your own effort, it’s actually a good thing to do, especially people who are at my age. They really want to support me and get me going with what I’m doing.

Keith de Souza: I’ve been ignoring Ranford, I apologise…

Ranford Neo: No worries Keith, the limelight is on the both of them today!

Keith de Souza: Indeed. Well, Ranford was in last week, he was a volunteer with Craftpreneurs. And let’s talk, was it a success last week?

Ranford Neo: Oh yes, it was great! I mean, thanks so much for having us. We had Dr Maliki, a lion dance and lots of lots of nice pictures. It was really great, we even had The Straits Times, they picked up the story and the Malay papers, they also picked up the story and did a feature.

Keith de Souza: So let’s talk about Storyaire. If someone tells you “I want to make a business out of storytelling”, did anyone say, “Pardon my colloquialism, manner?”

Ranford Neo: I haven’t got that question yet but usually I’m the one who tell them this. I’d say “Okay, that’s the reason why I actually launch my personal website and Facebook page last month because I’m going to be the human guinea pig of what I’m going to teach.”

So whatever that I’m going teach in the future; how do you craft your story; to build your individual brand or cooperate brand, I’ll be the one who make all the mistakes and share with you what works and what doesn’t work.

Keith de Souza: So, would I be wrong to say, basically your business is also a public speaking platform?

 Ranford Neo: That’s right. It’s more about getting to share the message that means the most to you; the message that’s closest to your heart to your audience. At the same time, bring the people you want to work with together and repel the people you don’t want to work with. So that’s the power of a story!

Keith de Souza: They say, opposite attract. Is that what you are doing, or are you trying to get rid of the opposites?

 Ranford Neo: Get rid? I would say people that you don’t want to work with. I don’t know, actually I’m not sure. It’s more like who you can work with, the chemistry, who can resonate with the message.

I think that is what storytelling is all about. I think in this information age, people are no longer fighting for information acquisition but are facing information overload. So how do you sort out all this information? By telling your story and capturing the hearts of your audience.

Keith de Souza: Where did you draw your inspiration from? Is it from daily life, on how people say, “I’ve got a bunch of employees who are unmotivated and how do I get to get rid of all of them? Or do I start a fire under their chairs?”

Ranford Neo: I think where do I get my inspiration from is daily life, that’s one. At the same time, I’m probably more creative by nature so I usually see things from a different perspective.

So how do I inspire, coming back to your question, to inspire people who are unmotivated? Two ways; at the end of the day, I believe in this philosophy called “live and let live”. So I do my best and of course, you have to do the rest. I do my best to be myself and the best version of myself, I’m also human, but at the end of the day, the ball is back in your courts man, it’s your life, you have to face your own consequences.

Keith de Souza: Indeed. I’m being a bit remiss talking about Alp and of course with Aurora Kuang as well. Lujian, their company vision is to Connect Businesses and Inspire People. They have a website, it is thealpnews.com. They also have a facebook page, head over to facebook and search “Alp Corporation”.

Aurora has Facebook as well, all you have to do is search “Aurora Kuang”. We want to find out from Aurora what challenges have you faced so far? What obstacles have been put in your way? Acceptance, perhaps?

Aurora Kuang: Yes, firstly it’s about acceptance and secondly, we are also looking into an economic downturn period. In terms of financial support, funding are kind of challenging at this moment. Thirdly, we are looking into a dual impact social enterprise right now. Other than making it sustainable, we also have to ensure that the social needs are met. Next we have to look into the expandability and scalability.

Keith de Souza: What about Aurora’s needs? To live, to eat, you know, to pay the rent… Pay the mobile phone bill?!

Aurora Kuang: I guess that will have to be worked out along the way…

Keith de Souza: I mean, I think you are a very brave lady to take the foray into something like this. How long do you think before you can be set and up and running and how long are you going to tap on your own savings?

Aurora Kuang: Maybe about a year?

Keith de Souza: Are you getting outside help for the business at the moment?

Aurora Kuang: Currently, I’m looking into writing in for grants because the government does have some schemes to help social enterprise to get the startup running, especially if they meet social needs.

Keith de Souza: Same question to you Lujian, putting food on the table, how difficult has that been thus far?

Lujian: We have been going on for about almost two years now. The initial phase was pretty difficult for us in terms of how do we sustain ourselves. There are costs everywhere. We started to diversify ourselves and find more sponsorships and other ways to get up and running.

Keith de Souza: A question for all of you, have you ever tried crowd funding?

 Ranford Neo: Crowd funding? I did that for my book. Actually not really crowd funding, this is what we call crowd sourcing. Preorders, sponsorships… It works. But I think in terms of crowd funding, your question is more towards something like a kick-starter. For me personally, no. I’m not too sure about the both of them.

Keith de Souza: We would like to talk with you a whole lot more but I don’t know where the time has gone… If you want more information on Alp, all you have to do is to hit Lujian up at “Alp Corp” at facebook.com, their website is thealpnews.com, lots of investor news and of course if you want to take part in their activities, you can do so.

You can search for Aurora on facebook as well and see if her vision and yours match, perhaps you can help her on her way. Ranford, the man behind Storyaire, wish you all the best, you seem to be doing great at the moment.

Ranford Neo: Your listeners can find me at my website, ranfordneo.com…

Keith de Souza: And of course if you can’t find Ranford then just go to Craftpreneurs at Tanjong Katong, OneKM and knock on the door and say, “I want to find Ranford!”

We are out of time this morning for home base I’m Keith de Souza. Ranford, Lujian and Aurora, thank you so much for making it in, hope you come back and talk to us again. Aurora, come back and talk to us when everything up and running!

All: Thank you Keith!

Keith de Souza: This is home base at 938LIVE, I’m Keith de Souza.

(End of Radio Interview)

There you have it, the beginning of an entrepreneur’s journey 😉

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#1: Have a clear definition of what entrepreneurship means to you

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#5: Make your potential customers choose you over your competition

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I’ll see you on the other side 😉