Almost half a year into my small venture with my dedicated team and its been going well so far. I’ve been very lucky to have met quite a number of people whom are now business partners of 24seven. Its amazing how things fall into place on their own. When we started, I had a long list of leads I want to call and catch up with. But when we started till date, I have yet managed to go through even one-quarter of that list. Our namecards got passed around and thanks to good karma and relationship forged way before I started, contacts were also passed around. And its amazing how much these relationship eventually turn around. One thing for everyone out there, don’t underestimate the power of good karma, and never avoid building relationship with that new comer in a company. You’ll never know when he or she will get promoted and become the one who makes the decisions. Or he may know someone whom may one day be your business partner.

Good relationships though important, it is only the first step to the many great things that may come. You will need to have good referrals and credentials to back you up in the business world. Especially when you are small and starting up, the big corporations may know who you are, but in order to sign the confirmation, they need to make sure your company is reliable and has a team who can execute the work effectively.

One thing that my team lacks, is credentials from related field of work. With no PR nor corporate communications experience, we struggled when we present to new clients whom we have no past relationship with. And generating our first list of credentials is tough. But I’m glad we’re getting there. Slowly but surely. Thanks to all those who are giving us the chance to prove ourselves.

Another thing which my previous boss taught me, and something which I’d experienced myself not no ago, its that knowing big names from high up in the corporate leader may sound amazing and great. They may be the one who sign on the pay check for that deal, but the decision is made together with his team and the people executing and managing the campaigns. Knowing that big name may make it easier when the executives proposed something and mentioned your name. But that’s that. Unless of course, that big shot high up there is your Dad, than the story changes.

If you are starting up, or planning to, go get your credentials and referrals accumulated. Start paying forward and grab any opportunity that comes your way with real interests and passion. Don’t do it because you have to, do it because you want to!

Some thoughts from the @.@ panda entrepreneur.

If you’re wondering what’s happening to Claudia lately, than this post is for you!

Before I share my story, let me introduce a new banner (section) to the already messy blog…

Yap! That’s right! This is where I will share about my experience, pain, sorrow, excitement, journey, happiness, story and so on with you (whoever you are). Since I’m only a couple of months into my journey as an entrepreneur, I’m sure this section will be an extensive collection of experiences and stories that perhaps one day, someone somewhere might be keen to help me publish it into a book! Than I might become the next Guy Kawasaki? *blank stare at myself*

Right, so why is Claudia, the already panda, becoming even more like a panda with double punch on the eyes? That’s because starting up is NOT easy! If you read anywhere telling you how easy it is to start your own business, its all bull shitake (ref to @guykawasaki)! Especially the part where you start forming your team, getting your developers and the non-developers in sync to work on the big picture, setting up the accounts, settling down in the office, building up your leads, meeting people, pitching ideals, sending that first service order and so much more!!

That’s what I’d been doing for the past one month, almost 24hours 7 days a week! That causes me to lose my radiance and adding more darkness to my already dark panda eyes. As witnessed by my team who are seeing me turn more and more chao lao as the days passes! I think I might look like this even before I’m 60!

But I’ve to admit, no other job will ever beat the kind of excitement and rush one gets for starting up on its own! And I’m very grateful to have a great team to work with. And also am very blessed to have met the many angels and saints that I’ve befriend. All your support and encouragement means a lot to me and my team.

If you’re interested to find out the real life experience of an entrepreneur who’s thirsty for survival and hunger for success, than come back for more from Claud the Entrepreneur (aka CTE!! How interesting!). The journey on CTE is never a smooth going one. There might be breakdowns along the way, jam that goes on and on during peak hours, the occasional slow moving traffic and time at night where you see speeding cabs and vehicles dashing to who-knows-where for who-knows-what.

I will be back (whenever I can) to share bite size stories with you. Till than, look out for a few to-be-typed and published reviews. Hope I can squeeze time out between work and rest over the weekend to get these reviews out.

It has been quite an eventful year for my career. The journey can be seen like a roller coaster ride and with a super dip at the end of the ride.

The graph above shows clearly my state of being in the year 2008.

This roller coaster ride has been the toughest and most tiring ride for the past 10 years of my life. From my first career which has been feeding me well (very well in certain months with bonuses), to a not-as-well-feeding career and finally to one that has been nice but isn’t feeding me well enough during the time of my life.

But now, at the end of the year (where I used to be able to afford go for holidays, buy nice gifts for christmas and spend good money on myself), I’m in such a bad state that I’ve to find means to sell off things I own which is in sell able conditions and live off Abang’s income (which I’m feeling very guilty and trying hard not to).

My spirit has been very badly shaken by the huge downfall financially and this has affected my personal life and well being. I don’t know how much more I can continue to let the blue line go on down like that. The longer this down line go, the harder and longer it will be for me to make a come back in that area. But I hope with the ever energized me filled with enthusiasm and creativity, the come back financially will be accelerated significantly.

To sum up my career journey in 2008 – It was a bittersweet experience.

My Career Resolution for 2009
To establish my company and grow its brand in the local social media scene. To be able to afford a decent office for my team and to expand out of Singapore by 2010.

PS: If you would like to help contribute to Claudia’s Pocket Money Fund, you can send a cheque to be, transfer to my DBS account or pass cold hard cash when you see me. OR! You can hope on over to my garage sale to see if there’s anything that will be useful for you. Help me clear my stash and also contribute to Claudia’s Pocket Money Fund. Thank you very much!

Everything seem to be falling in place so timely.

Last week I sent out my first ever farewell email to my friends and partners whom entered or had crossed my path while I was with Yebber. It was a great 16 months journey with Yebber and I have made many great friends and great mentors. I’m very grateful to have everyone of you in my life. In one way or another, each and everyone of you have taught me things that you may not realize. Really, thank you very much for your guidance and support.

The past months had been one of the biggest change to my life. I have, somehow, become a very tiny community personality ‘somebody’ to the social media scene in Singapore. I know I’m just a tiny small fly in the huge world out there, but no matter how small one is, I believe anyone who has the passion and is willing to work hard, anyone can become someone one day. And I hope that I will become that someone one day.

Since I sent out the email last week, I’m very surprised and happy to hear from many of you. You’d given me the push and motivation I needed. Some of you gave me very good advices and even opportunities that I had never expected. There are also many asking “So what’s next for you Claud?“. I didn’t know how to tell you cause I wasn’t ready then.

Tonight I had my farewell dinner with my colleagues from Yebber and it was great seeing them again. It’s been few months since we sat at the same table for a meal together. And thanks for the beautiful gift where I’ll display many beautiful memories in.

After I reached home from dinner, my partner told me the site is up. The timing was perfect! We’d wanted to push it out earlier this week, but due to some changes and configurations, we had to delay it. Although its just a tiny bit of it that’s live now, but I believe in taking baby steps. So yap… here’s what I will be working on…

After more than a decade of “I want to start my own business!“, I’m finally taking the step to really doing it! And there are many many baby steps to take!

“What? Claudia are you crazy? You’re 640% broke with no savings! Nothing at all! How are you going to pay your bill and meals?!!” that’s my twin screaming at me from the inside.

To me, this will be an even bigger motivation for me to make this work. I’m giving myself a stronger push than I would if I had the money. When I don’t have the money, I do things the poor people way. And that’s putting in lots of hard work and time and effort to making it work! So Claudia’s going to Make it work!

If anyone one reading this has spare cash to share, and you’re feeling the festive season of giving, my bank and paypal accounts are always open for your donations. Every cent helps. If you’re short on cash (like me), your moral support are most welcome too! Call me for a chat or help me hook up with your friends, family, partners or anyone whom you think might be keen with business opportunities. Let me first thank you all for your support! Thank you!

You can find out more about my business over at 24seven’s official blog or follow 24seven on twitter for updates.

*Gambatte Claudia and team!*

(This post was supposed to be up by 2359 on 11 Dec. But I took 3.5hr to write this short post! So published date ended up on 12 Dec. >.<)

It has been a mind boggling period for me. For the past one month, too many things clouded my mind. It was like standing on the top of a hill and unsure of whether to climb down from the left, right, front or just fall backwards down the hill. The direction that I’m going to take determines quite a lot of what will happen to me in the months and maybe even years to come. It wasn’t as easy as I thought. [Photo taken in 2005 at Paragon]

For the past few experiences I had, deciding on the direction to take was almost clear cut. Usually there will either be a guide showing me the way, or there will be directional sign on the hill. But this time, there wasn’t any of these, and the cause the hill is too high, the road down was blurred by the clouds below my feet. No matter how strong the wind blows, the cloud simply refused to clear.

I know I had to pick a way down this hill. And because I was the one who had chosen it, I have to continue the journey no matter how many rocks or stones that come in my way. I just hope that there will not be too huge a rock that totally blocks my journey down and forces me to climb back up the same hill again.

If you’re one of the few who understands what I am describing, wish me luck. If you don’t and happened to read this, wish me luck too. I need plenty of luck for my journey down this hill and hopefully up an even higher hill.

Preparing to start on my journey down soon… and this is almost how I feel now…

Feeling caged up but wanting to fly
[Photo taken in 2005 at Changi Airport]