Holding up half the sky: Page 3 of 3

Anna Gong, chief executive officer of Singapore-based Perx Technologies, a mobile customer engagement and loyalty software company

According to Gong (pic above), one of the driving factors that inspired her to become an entrepreneur is to solve problems that are not being addressed, as well as making a positive impact on business and the community.

Gong thinks that there isn’t much of a challenge being female these days. Having said that, she did face her share of challenges.

“Maybe for females when we make a bold decision and people see it as too aggressive, right? There’s still that stigma, but if a man takes a similar bold move, then it’s a good idea. So, being a woman and a risk taker sometimes can go against you but my personal challenges - fundraising and pivoting the business to B2B, where everyone tells you that it’s risky and quite a bold move to do so and trying to juggle in getting the right investors and talents to create and help you grow the business, and then the company at a pace you want to grow.”

She adds: “You just have to take a chance and being in a startup everyday feels like a risky roller coaster ride so, I think for us the challenges is the same, growing and developing a company, hiring, fundraising. They’re all the same challenges, for female or male.”

What about role models? Gong says she admires a number of self-made entrepreneurs, such as Richard Branson, Oprah and Elon Musk. “It sounds a bit cliché, but I do admire Oprah because of her resilience, determination and spirituality to give back to the community.”

Commenting on the toughest thing she has had to do as an entrepreneurs, Gong says: “I would have to say leadership at first, I had to make some uncomfortable but necessary changes and switch from a completely different direction around every structure and resources on branding, culture and DNA. I think hiring the right talents is quite crucial to ensure success so, hiring the right fit did not come easy to me. I made some mistakes in hiring brand talents from branding companies and processing, it didn't work out.” However, she quickly acknowledged the issue and moved on, she says.

What lessons has she learned from her entrepreneurial journey? “As an entrepreneur, you shouldn't be afraid to work hard and grow as a CEO and founder. I'm fully convinced of having a potential to be the global leader of mobile customer engagement. I also make sure that every move that I make is a step closer to our vision,” she says.

She adds: “I learned to hire slow and fire fast in the process and I learned to reach out to my peers and towards other resources that we could tap on to for help. In entrepreneurship, it is not your own journey. It's with people around you and the people in your team that contribute to our success.”

Gong advises women entrepreneurs to take risks. “I think there's a law because of our gender, often times we are cornered into a wall and so forth. We're known to be multitaskers. We're known to deliver help or by juggling so many things. Stop talking yourself out of starting something. There's always a saying that to start something follow your passion and dreams.

“Passion equals entrepreneurship overall and I believe that and if you're excited or proud of your business idea, your passion speaks for itself, especially when you're standing in front of investors and board of directors to present your business idea, that energy and excitement will resonate and that could get very infectious. But most importantly, never be afraid to ask for help and pick out mentors along the way to guide you,” she advises.

Robin Lim, CEO and co-founder of Singapore-based healthy snacks firm Made Real

According to Lim (pic above), she was exposed to business and entrepreneurship from a very young age. “My mum is a business woman and growing up she always encouraged my sister and I to get involved in her fashion company. From business trips, factory visits, being a sales girl on the shop floor and even packing inventory. Through all these experiences I developed a passion for entrepreneurship,” she explains.

What were the early challenges she faced as a female entrepreneur? “Any entrepreneur, young, old, men or women face countless challenges. That's just part of the job - to solve problems. The one challenge that is unique to female entrepreneurs would be a self-limiting mindset. Our own perception that we are somehow less capable because we are women,” she says.

She names her mother as a role model. “My mum has definitely been a key role model in my journey. From a young age she taught me the hard and soft skills required to be an entrepreneur, but more importantly, she showed me how to follow my passions (hers was fashion),” she says.

When asked about the toughest decisions she’s had to make as an entrepreneur, Lim says it would have to be the sacrifices made in choosing the path of entrepreneurship.

“Roslyn, my co-founder, and I embarked on this journey slightly earlier than most of our peers. As the startup started to command more of our time and attention, we were faced with the difficult decision between pursuing our undergraduate degree and focusing on the startup. We've decided to take a leave from university to focus on the startup, and that definitely took some courage.”

On what she has learned from her journey so far, Lim believes that anything is possible. “This experience has definitely given me a lot more confidence in myself and my capabilities. Through all the challenges I've learned that I am a lot stronger than I thought, and that I am capable of a lot more than I thought.

“This bring us back to the question on early challenges and a self-limiting mindset. Beyond the skills that I have picked up, I have grown tremendously as an individual. Everything from learning how to manage expectations, how to manage stress, how to motivate and inspire people who work with me. It has been the greatest lesson of my life.”

Her advice to women entrepreneurs? “Have a business partner you can trust - when the going gets tough, it helps to have someone on the same journey as you,” says Lim.

She adds that support from your friends, family and significant other are possibly the most important factors for success. “Life as an entrepreneur is a roller coaster, it's emotionally, mentally and physically exhausting. These people pick you up on bad days, but above that they give you a purpose to push on,” she concludes.

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