More Small Businesses Closing Down

[makapaaa]

Yet the Familee was hiking fees and tariffs like there is no tomorrow!

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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - More Small Businesses Closing Down</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>

Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">SGNEWSALTE <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">7:54 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 2) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>5482.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>

I will be worried if there are no businesses closing.


Pls, dont rely on me and my govt for your problems, you die your business!
​

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_327867.html
More firms closing down <!--10 min-->
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR></TR><TR></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : start --></TD></TR><TR></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Jessica Lim </TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->
OVER 130 Singapore small business closed down last year, a nearly 25 per cent jump over 2007 and the highest number since the dotcom bust seven years ago, according to new Government statistics. The deepening recession has apparently claimed everything from fruit stalls to shoe shops, and experts say more small companies - which usually have little margin for error - are poised to wind up in the coming months.
Almost 40 per cent of the 131 small business that shut in 2008 went belly up from September through December, numbers from the Ministry of Law revealed.
The late year surge - which accompanied the onset of the recession - pushed failings above the total for 2007. It marked the first annual increase since the dotcom bust of 2002, when over 260 businesses bit the dust.
No details were provided on which sectors were worst hit or the reason for the increase, but experts said it is a sign that the recession is taking hold.
The downturn began in earnest in September after stock markets around the world crashed, and the local housing and export markets withered.
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[makapaaa]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">chorut <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">8:55 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (2 of 3) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>5482.2 in reply to 5482.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>The government has always believed in a market driven economy- They think the more people they bring in the better and merrier. So all and sundry comes in and they all hope to cut a piece of the pie here, in golden age Singapore.....now where is the golden age? .
BUT hello there are limitations to this sort of thinking-! Everyday ain't a Sunday! Once you get a bad downturn - your locals suffer the most..they can't just back up and leave like the foreigners.
Instead of a production based economy we become more of a consumption based type economy.
In investments too much emphasis has been given to the so call" external wings-well what sort of wings have we invested in? Some ABC nursery school o fa milkman costing hundred of millions - all down the drain- wouldn't it have been more prudent ( even if it was to be lost ) to be invested in help local enteprise expand ?
And becuase everything is market driven - rents continually go up ...as long as there are always new suckers who can occupy the malls and pay an even higher rent than th elast tenant- to the point that in the process businesses are killed and murdered...but it's ok - the REITs and the landlords benefit.........temporarily.
Other costs continual rise - namely salaries of CEO and mangers in GLCS as well as civil service- oh yes the "benchmarking " phenonmena -such a boost to one's ego and the bank accounts -way out of proportions - no thanks to so called "remuneration 'con'-sultants"
Sometimes I hope this downturn really LAST A LONGER TIME to teach those who are GREED-driven a bloody damn good lesson ! Unfortunately the innoncent poor also suffers in tandem!


<HR SIZE=1>Edited 1/18/2009 12:11 pm by chorut</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[lifeafter41]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">chorut <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">8:55 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (2 of 3) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>5482.2 in reply to 5482.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>The government has always believed in a market driven economy- They think the more people they bring in the better and merrier. So all and sundry comes in and they all hope to cut a piece of the pie here, in golden age Singapore.....now where is the golden age? .
BUT hello there are limitations to this sort of thinking-! Everyday ain't a Sunday! Once you get a bad downturn - your locals suffer the most..they can't just back up and leave like the foreigners.
Instead of a production based economy we become more of a consumption based type economy.
In investments too much emphasis has been given to the so call" external wings-well what sort of wings have we invested in? Some ABC nursery school o fa milkman costing hundred of millions - all down the drain- wouldn't it have been more prudent ( even if it was to be lost ) to be invested in help local enteprise expand ?
And becuase everything is market driven - rents continually go up ...as long as there are always new suckers who can occupy the malls and pay an even higher rent than th elast tenant- to the point that in the process businesses are killed and murdered...but it's ok - the REITs and the landlords benefit.........temporarily.
Other costs continual rise - namely salaries of CEO and mangers in GLCS as well as civil service- oh yes the "benchmarking " phenonmena -such a boost to one's ego and the bank accounts -way out of proportions - no thanks to so called "remuneration 'con'-sultants"
Sometimes I hope this downturn really LAST A LONGER TIME to teach those who are GREED-driven a bloody damn good lesson ! Unfortunately the innoncent poor also suffers in tandem!


<HR SIZE=1>Edited 1/18/2009 12:11 pm by chorut</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

I have always understand that REITs is just another financial terms coined to squeeze more money out of the tenants and in turn, the shoppers or ordinary people.

Simple maths dictates that the higher the rentals it is, the higher one have to pay for the prices for the goods or services. As for the CEOs of these companies, I can just say that it is good and easy money to be making.

 

[makapaaa]

And who are major shareholders of these REITS? No prize for guessing it right!

 

[Conan the Barbarian]

There will be a steady stream of people taking up the leases at high
rental rates as more get retrenched and decided to be an "entrepreuner"
Most will subsequently be replaced by more of the same.

The only way is to stop patronizing places where the bulk of the money
goes to rental and let the course of natural selection take place.

 

[timyoung]

Singapore economy is very fragile. Even the highly paid ministers will not have a perfect solution to it. Then why are they paid so much? Oh forget, it is to prevent corruption, not to solve problems.

 

[silverfox@]

There will be a steady stream of people taking up the leases at high
rental rates as more get retrenched and decided to be an "entrepreuner"
Most will subsequently be replaced by more of the same.

The only way is to stop patronizing places where the bulk of the money
goes to rental and let the course of natural selection take place.

Yes, there are more people venturing into biz due to retrenchment. The problem now is leases are not dropping much. Existing tenants are not getting better rates even in this situation.

It will take a while for the crunch to settle in and then when the big boys starts to shake will we see some movements southwards:o

 

[myfoot123]

I thought pap said more foreigners mean more jobs created for Singaporean. Now we saw the reverse, this bunch of expensive ministers have no foresight. Singapore current situation is worst than other countries is because of all the wrong policies a bunch of useless multimillion dollar ministers have created. In the end who suffered and who became rich?

 

[congo9]

There will be a steady stream of people taking up the leases at high
rental rates as more get retrenched and decided to be an "entrepreuner"
Most will subsequently be replaced by more of the same.

The only way is to stop patronizing places where the bulk of the money
goes to rental and let the course of natural selection take place

Hahah ...... good point. But it seems to be a bad decison to go into business becasue you are a retrenched ! It take another kind of mindset to become a self employed ! If you fail in business, then you in more deep shit !

You go into business because you have a good business plan and concept. Not because you are a RETRENCHED

 

[R4g3]

those that cannot take it have closed, while some of them trying to earn a little from CNY hoping that it will get better.

But after CNY, alot of things might go dead and even those businesses who wants to close will still have to hold on to the lease if not the penalty is quite heavy.

Some landlord will forfeit your 2-3 mths deposit, while some will make sure you hold until there is another tenant which they also dont know when will that be, at the same time forfeit your deposit.

I have heard of some landlords insist that you pay all the rental until the end of your lease even though you are moving out. Since this tenant still have to pay all the rent until end of contract even though he moves out, might as well he hold on to the unit, keep it closed in order to save on utilities and staff. Better then benefiting the landlord by returning them to rent out to someone else.

But the landlord send him a letter that 1 of the clause in the contract, tenants have to keep their unit open for business from 10am-10pm daily, so he still have to keep the unit open for business.

I know the landlord will not let him off easily because it is a 3100 ft2 unit at the dead corner of a service mall. He already told the landlord he wanted to give up, but the landlord could not find anyone to take the unit for the pas 1 year.

And the landlord is some GLC, the one that snatch provision store business. lol

 

[Angelo]

wow.....what a sucker

 

[pia]

Hahah ...... good point. But it seems to be a bad decison to go into business becasue you are a retrenched ! It take another kind of mindset to become a self employed ! If you fail in business, then you in more deep shit !

You go into business because you have a good business plan and concept. Not because you are a RETRENCHED

It is what I term "double jeopardy" which happens during all recessions.

Highly paid professionals with savings in hand, but can't get a similar paying job deciding to go into business to maintain their high profile. Not senior executive, no problem, now you can call yourself boss. Basically a denial phase.

As you said, going into business for the wrong reason, and most will lose what they have, and end up worse off.:(

 

[eeoror88]

KNN .... most of the small SMEs all fly by night operators !!

 

[Echo_O]

Every Recession is a time for a "cleanup" of unviable businesses.

 

[jw5]

It is what I term "double jeopardy" which happens during all recessions.

Highly paid professionals with savings in hand, but can't get a similar paying job deciding to go into business to maintain their high profile. Not senior executive, no problem, now you can call yourself boss. Basically a denial phase.

As you said, going into business for the wrong reason, and most will lose what they have, and end up worse off.:(

In that case, would you suggest that the retrenched executive lies low until things get better?
Or should he branch into another field?

 

[pia]

In that case, would you suggest that the retrenched executive lies low until things get better?
Or should he branch into another field?

No lah.. just an observation only. But a few of these jumped to the business boat before even trying for another job, which probably is what they are best at. Like I said, denial stage, fear of rejection or realisation that their qualifications and experience are a dime a dozen.

I suppose the only suggestion I can offer is.. go into business if it is something you've always contemplated... and this may be the opportune time to shake away the yoke of employment...not because you are jobless.

 

[jw5]

No lah.. just an observation only. But a few of these jumped to the business boat before even trying for another job, which probably is what they are best at. Like I said, denial stage, fear of rejection or realisation that their qualifications and experience are a dime a dozen.

I suppose the only suggestion I can offer is.. go into business if it is something you've always contemplated... and this may be the opportune time to shake away the yoke of employment...not because you are jobless.

I would not recommending doing a business if that is always what they contemplated.
Rather, since there is an enormous credit squeeze, they should only go into a business if the following factors are present:
-- They have enough spare cash.
-- They have done a robust business plan and can ascertain that there is a certain demand for what they intend to do or sell.
-- They have certain expertise, knowledge or competitive advantage in what they want to do or sell.

 

[pia]

I would not recommending doing a business if that is always what they contemplated.
Rather, since there is an enormous credit squeeze, they should only go into a business if the following factors are present:
-- They have enough spare cash.
-- They have done a robust business plan and can ascertain that there is a certain demand for what they intend to do or sell.
-- They have certain expertise, knowledge or competitive advantage in what they want to do or sell.

I tend to believe PASSION is the key ingredient for a successful business. Successful startups can happen without the criteria you listed, which often is more an inertia than not.

 

[peasantJUDGE]

I tend to believe PASSION is the key ingredient for a successful business. Successful startups can happen without the criteria you listed, which often is more an inertia than not.

Agree with you. A startup must usually go through lots of downs initially, such as working 12-16 hour days, extreme tight cashflow, high competition from established companies, difficulty in employing staff (S'poreans only want to work in big MNCs which promise multi-month bonuses and signing-on fees), burnt Sundays, and many other challenges. Without passion, the entrepreuner will not be able to go through the difficult early phase. People who only work comfortable hours and for good pay will never be able to tahan such working conditions.

 

[jolininc]

being different and creative will make the business successful as well.