Part-time student Nazran launched an events management partnership with his friends. Overcoming initial financial difficulties, he transformed Cube into a profitable business.
Hard work, topped off with inspiration, has allowed 24-year-old Nazran Ahmad to succeed both as an entrepreneur and as a student.
This was not always the case. Nazran dropped out of Nanyang Polytechnic in 1999. Armed with just an ‘O’ level certificate, he found a job at Hewlett-Packard, where he stayed for two years.
The Awakening
He realized then that he did not want to be stuck in an entry-level job for the rest of his life. In 2002, Nazran went back to school. He completed his diploma part-time at Singapore Polytechnic while starting up his events management business.
“The only way to get the opportunity is to create it yourself.” Nazran shares why he started the business. “I believed I had so much potential – I just needed the chance to show it.”
Self-Registered Partnership
Cube Communications Pte Ltd was orginally a partnership formed by Nazran’s friends. They registered online using BizFile. “Partnerships offer much more flexibility,” Nazran shares. “We don't have to pay ourselves a monthly salary and we don’t have to make monthly contributions to CPF.”
Partnerships have to make monthly CPF contributions for the employees. Partners are not employees but "self-employed". For the self-employed, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) will compute the amount of CPF you have to pay when you file your income taxes. CPF Medisave contribution is compulsory only for those who earn S$6,000 or more every year (annual net trade income).
“There were some hard times, especially in the beginning. At one time, I was so broke that I borrowed an ez-link card to see clients!” he reveals. “My peers seemed to be doing well in their jobs and I wondered if I should just give up.”
The Turning Point
The turning point arrived in mid-2004. He started to attend networking sessions and bought a book on selling skills for small business owners. Soon, the projects rolled in - from launching condominiums to dating sessions for the Social Development Unit - and his confidence grew.
A large part of the company’s success is due to Nazran’s hands-on running of the business. A perfectionist by nature, he does whatever it takes to deliver the best possible service to his clients. He has three employees to assist him, but goes to great lengths to ensure he is personally involved in bigger events, from conceptualisation to execution.
Spending Wisely
Nazran and his partners are also extremely careful with money.
“It is very difficult for start-ups to get loans from banks,” he says. “When I set up Cube, I had to dip into my savings and got some friends to chip in. We had to buy equipment gradually because we just did not have the initial capital.”
To keep costs low, Nazran started out with a virtual office. Now that things are established, he is thinking of moving into a two-storey shop house – but only if he can find other entrepreneurs to share the space and cost.
Administration Matters
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