Highlighting the uncertainties that come with entrepreneurship, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng advised youths to learn about failing, and at the same time, learn about stepping up again to make a difference.
He was sharing this with about 300 youths, aged between 17 to 25, at the 11th nEbO Youth Entrepreneurship Symposium (YES) on 18 June 2016 at the PSB Academy City Campus in Marina Square.
“Entrepreneurial skills will be very useful because all the different attributes in being entrepreneurial also apply to any profession you may choose, not just in business. To be a successful entrepreneur, one never stops exploring new opportunities, discovering good ideas, evaluating them and eventually applying their skills into making ideas a reality,” he said.
The symposium, which was themed Start Real, Stay Relevant, gave 300 youths, aged between 17-25 from nEbO’s network, an opportunity to pick up useful entrepreneurship skills and knowledge.
The dialogues, workshops, pitch challenges and networking sessions will be structured over four days from today so that participants can get a better understanding on the basics of how to start a business, spot and adapt to trends, overcome challenges, and how to take advantage of opportunities locally and abroad.
What Youths Think
We hear what some of the youths had to say about choosing the entrepreneurial route.
“Entrepreneurship can take many forms, whether I am a founder or part of a business’ pioneering team. It can take many forms as a career, but what matters is the mindset of finding out new ways to value add to my customers, new ways of solving business problems and how to grow the business further. This is the mindset that will stay with me.” – David Chin, 25, YES alumni and Singapore Management University undergraduate
“YES is very educational and provided the platform for me to participate and network with more experienced individuals, allowing me to pick up a lot of valuable skills and experience from them. I don’t see myself as an entrepreneur yet, but I want to equip myself with the various skills, such as event organisation, management and the technical skills needed for a business.” – Carlos Andres, 23, YES alumni and national serviceman
“There are start-ups based on human resource solutions, such as consultancy firms. Those are areas that I would want to go into for my future business or career and help improve the human resource practices here. I would want to contribute in these areas because I am very interested in disruptive business models.” – Imrenjeet Kaur, 21, YES 2018 committee president and final year Republic Polytechnic student
