On 30 June 2021, Business China (BC) jointly organised the inaugural BC-SMC Young Business Leaders Seminar with the Singapore Mentorship Committee (SMC). Budding entrepreneurs and co-founders of Reshape Sports, Mr Dong Haoran and Mr Zhao Hongwei were invited as guest speakers to share their insights on the seminar’s theme “Experience Sharing: New Generation Entrepreneurship”.
In this virtual seminar, both Dong and Zhao candidly shared their business idea, which was born from observing a niche need in the market. Now operating their second outlet, Reshape is a tuition centre that provides students with academic support and mentoring, while offering fitness facilities in the same space. Mr Dong shared that his biggest motivation to start his entrepreneurship journey at a young age is the freedom to chase his dream.
Both speakers agreed that the biggest challenge of starting a business was finding the right business partner, who shared similar goals and values. Dong felt that start-ups needed more generalist talents, rather than highly trained specialists. Zhao urged fellow entrepreneurs to strike a balance between persevering through a potential project and aborting a fruitless pursuit. Also, he emphasised the importance of effective communication between partners as a key factor in building a business.
During the Q&A segment moderated by the Founder and Chairman of Spring Maternity, Mr Tey Soon Heng, the audience raised pertinent questions such as difficulties faced by young business leaders, the impact of COVID-19 on businesses as well as the differences between the entrepreneurial environment in Singapore and China.
On the question of how to kick-start an entrepreneurial journey in the pandemic, Mr Zhao Hongwei shared that if he could restart his business, he would avoid projects that were asset-heavy. Rather, he would choose to start projects with lighter assets, higher flexibility, that cater closely to the needs of the youth. As for the question on criteria to be an entrepreneur, the guest speakers agreed that abilities to face failure bravely and integrate resources were two of the most important characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.
The hour-long sharing session was conducted in Mandarin, with close to 44 participants; comprising Business China members (young business leaders, senior executives of corporates and working professionals), youths, members of SMC as well as members of the public.
Jointly organised with Singapore Mentorship Committee, the BC-SMC Young Business Leaders Seminar aims to inspire local young business leaders and youths to adopt a positive and innovative mindset towards entrepreneurship as well as to inspire enterprise diversity among the local young business leaders and youths.
Read more about Reshape Space in the Straits Times.