Picking up momentum

 I took a few days break after tying the loose ends in the SOE. My aunt offered me a position at her company, this was just as well as I needed some cash to fund advertising fees when I am marketing properties for my clients; if I become an a formal property agent. I chose to work at her company as it was a good opportunity to learn how SMEs functions and the salary was above market rate.

 

Her company deals with distributing drugs and poisons to local clinics, polyclinics and hospitals. My job would be to process the daily orders, consolidate daily sales and pack the goods. The role of the data entry clerk was quite simple after I am familiar with the job description and the functions of my colleagues.

 

Besides my eight-to-five day job, I also took night classes concurrently; so as to become a real estate agent. I joined ERA and took the ESST and Diploma in Real Estate, as a result; my average day will end at 11pm. This period was very physically and mentally demanding but I had learnt a lot about pharmaceutical business and the property market during this one month.

 

Despite the hectic schedule, I found it very fulfilling as everything had gone according to plan; my next goal is to juggle my real estate commitments with my studies when school reopens and make 20k worth of commission monthly so as to be in line with my goal to become the best rookie and subsequently, the youngest millionaire in Singapore at 25.

 

 

P.S. I happen to have 3 quotes which inspired me greatly during this period, they are:

 

-See what others do not see, do what others do not do, sacrifice will no longer be a sacrifice

 

-The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary- May Smith

 

-Tough times do not last, only tough ppl do

 

Spirit Of Enterprise

After my exams were officially over, the next task that awaited me was the Spirit of Enterprise. The spirit of enterprise is meant to allow the republic to show appreciation for the various entrepreneurs whose role had contributed to the Singapore success story.

 

As a student interviewer, my role was to locate and interview theses entrepreneurs from various industries. Naturally, my initial choices came from previous pleasant encounters. I had thus chosen to nominate Ice3 café which sells tasty dessert (with accolades to it), Cambridge institute where I had picked up the Japanese language, Jill Lowe international who specialize in image creation and a couple more; but only Mr. Edwin Chan and Mr. Philip Wong graciously agree to participate in this process.

 

The entire interview process was very enjoyable as I got to interview with 2 successful entrepreneurs and listen to their struggles, personal philosophy, and their vision for the future.

 

The thing that I found in common with these individuals and previously interviewed entrepreneurs was that they were once at the brink of failure or had failed before, but they didn’t just stop there. What they had chose to do was to pick themselves up, learn from there mistakes and persevere instead. They usually had a difficult childhood or had experienced a significant event in their life which brought them out of their comfort zone; as a result, they also take failure or risk very positively.

 

Although I was remunerated financially for my service, I had gained an alternate form of intangible remuneration. I managed to see beyond the illusion most people aspire; having a stable job with a fixed pay. This is in fact so insecure due to influx of cheaper foreign talents, inflation and volatility of business cyclics. This had reinforced me on the path I want to take, to strike it big in the property market as a real estate agent and eventually develop my career in the financial industry so as to enjoy my financial freedom with my close ones.

Spirit Of Enterprise

 

 

“You’re Fired!”

I am finally back after one and a half month; many things happen during this period. Firstly, I managed to clear this semester exams although my grades were not exactly fantastic. Next would be my involvement in Spirit of Enterprise project in which I would have to interview entrepreneurs about their success stories. Last but not least, I commenced my real estate courses and formally enter the property market. I would elaborate about these interesting events later.

The few interesting things that happened to me, between my 8^th April post and last paper on 9^th May.

 

Part 3: The Apprentice

 

Meanwhile, I am addicted on the Apprentice; namely the first, fifth, sixth and seventh seasons.

 

What I really like about the Apprentice are the different colorful characters, clash in personalities between projects and the board with Mr Trump and Ivanka in it.

 

Season one apprentice Bill Ranric has very good business acumen, quick mental reflexes and often thinks out of the box. These qualities were expressed when forming a formidable team for the final showdown against Kwame, locating the lost advertisement when all hope seems lost and putting advertisements on the rickshaws for additional revenue. However, I would have to give credit to Omarossa as she left a deeper impression on me due to her devious nature and caustic personality.

 

Season five apprentice Sean is a ladies man and someone who had excellent EQ in additional to his great sense of fashion. However, Lee really impressed me because he had customized and employed marketing strategies which flustered their opponents and lead his team to victory in several episodes. He seemed like a master strategist and is the underdog, taking into account his young age.

 

Season six apprentice is really someone I would love to take EQ lessons from. Stefanie managed to win this game without being project manager or being invited to the board room. She is also capable of making very good presentation which I believed brought her team to victory more than once.

 

Celebrity Apprentice is extremely entertaining compared to its’ predecessors. From the Piers-Omarossa feud to the Piers-Steven vendetta, its entertainment value is immense; not to mention 13 full board room session of Ivanka.

 

After writing this blog a month after watching this show, I have the irresistible urge to go through it once again- that is if I can make the time. There are many thing that I had learnt from the various apprentices in this show like handling interpersonal conflicts, utilizing team mates forte, thinking creatively and perhaps use them in similar situations. The corporate world is indeed full of surprises and i cannot wait to make my mark there.