Viable Online Business Ideas in Singapore
Singapore's job market is not at its best right now due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. The decline in employment in 2020 was the largest in 20 years, according to the Ministry of Manpower.
Residents and non-residents were affected by the crisis, leaving them jobless and having no means of livelihood.
But every door closed by crisis leaves a window of opportunity. The time to generate pandemic-proof ideas has come, or at the very least, develop a resilient and robust plan.
First-time entrepreneurs in Singapore get access to a S$50,000 grant that will allow them to start their business. This grant is a 3-month venture building program that was an enhancement to the Startup SG Founder Program announced in August 2020 to help start-ups get their ideas up and running.
Back then, if you were planning to start your own small business in Singapore, you'd need to consider things like commercial real estate and employee management. But thanks to high-speed Internet connections, powerful mobile gadgets, and affordable desktops and laptops, running a business from home is a lot easier than it was ten years ago.
The Numbers Don't Lie
Digital tools have allowed business in Singapore to thrive even amidst the Pandemic. Singapore is among the top countries that embraced online business marketing developments. Let's take a look at some of the numbers:
Recent search statistics have shown that 55% of the population uses the Internet to search for products and services. To put it in perspective, that's about 3.2 million people.
A 2011 MasterCard Survey shows that 2 in 3 Singaporeans access the Internet to shop online.
A Nielsen survey in 2011 showed that of the 85% of Singaporeans who were active on social media, 69% of them used it to connect with brands and companies.
These numbers show that Singaporeans use websites, apps, and social media platforms to carry out business transactions online.
What Industries Are Thriving This Year?
Businesses in these industries have become resilient due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Now more than ever, Singaporeans recognize the need for these businesses to assist them in various aspects of their lives, from grocery shopping to utilities to marketing.
E-Commerce
Physical retail stores have come and gone with the Pandemic. After the Circuit Breaker Measures were implemented and lifted, physical stores were never the same. For one thing, the number of people entering any store or restaurant is still minimal, which may affect the store's potential sales. People don't like to wait in line for too long. But this problem wasn't permanent as stores made the transition to move everything online, allowing for a broader reach of consumers from all parts of the country.
By the end of May 2020, there was a 96% increase in Singapore's online sales because people were now adjusting to the new normal. They were now shopping for groceries, furniture, and even exercise equipment online.
Food Or Grocery Delivery
People will always pay for convenience, and the numbers don't lie here in Singapore.
Singapore's total food delivery revenue growth in 2020 increased to 35.67% from 27.52% in 2019.
And it's not only Singapore that's reporting this sudden increase too. Countries like the USA are also seeing a solid and steady rise in food and grocery delivery services after the Pandemic hit.
Companies such as GrabFood, Deliveroo, and FoodPanda may have control of the country, but it doesn't there's no room for more services. A ride-hailing app called TADA recently introduced a new program called TADA Fresh Market, which delivers fresh groceries from wet markets to your doorstep.
Food Tech
The F&B industry in Singapore may be struggling right now due to the rising costs of labour, retail, and overhead cost. Operating a physical food outlet right now is impractical due to the limited number of people. But innovations are making traction in Singapore to offset the losses caused by limited seating.
App developers are eager to create the next best food delivery app, and there are grants in Singapore that can help them do just that.
Digital Marketing
While the circuit breaker measures have ended in Singapore, the country still advised its people to stay at home as much as possible. This, in turn, affected the lives and livelihoods of influencers, who thrive off of events and gatherings. But it hasn't stopped them from doing their job because of apps such as SendJoy and Authentic Celebrity Experiences. These are apps that you can use to get famous people to make personalized video messages.
For example, Steven Lim, one of the most well-known influencers in the country, earns about S$20,000 a month making birthday shoutout videos.
And that's not all. Brands are using various platforms to promote their products and services now more than ever to continue to get their message across the Internet.
What Online Businesses Can You Set Up Right Now?
If you're thinking about starting your own small business, it's worth considering these options. Note that we did not include potential capital and income because these are separate from their commercial counterparts and that fees could vary from one person to another.
Another thing to note here is that these businesses only need one person to start with and are scalable when the need arises.
Social Media Marketing Agency
Social media platforms are used for connecting people to their friends and family, but it's also used by businesses worldwide to reach out to their potential customers.
Let's take a look at some interesting numbers from Statista:
2.5 million people in Singapore use Instagram as of January 2021
4.5 million people in Singapore use Facebook as of January 2021
1.5 million people in Singapore use Twitter as of January 2021
Imagine if a business could tap into a fraction of these users for their products and services. Your primary goal is to help companies get their social media profiles and content up and running by establishing a social media marketing agency.
Through these social media platforms, you will be marketing their company as a whole and interacting with their customers.
And social media marketing goes beyond just posting videos and memes. Experts in social media marketing will also use paid ads to get their message across to these users. You'll have a substantial edge over your competitors if you have prior experience setting up marketing campaigns, advertising budgets, and brand development.
To make it easy for you, you'll find many training courses out there online to help you establish your SMMA.
What's The Business Approach?
The key to doing this business is keeping your client on a subscription basis. You set up packages that will cover various aspects of social media, such as:
Posting on their social media accounts
Interacting with their customers on their accounts
Preparing paid ad campaigns
These packages will cover how often you'll handle their social media accounts per month. For example, you can charge this money to create X number of posts in a month.
Subscription-based payments are cheaper to present to businesses, especially small businesses that have not yet created a marketing budget.
On top of that, these packages are flexible because you can always customize the contents based on what the customer needs (and their budget).
Copywriting Service Provider
Do you happen to be good at writing and making sales pitches? If so, then another business idea that you can consider is being a copywriting service provider. This is a business in high demand by both online companies and brick and mortar businesses because they still believe in the traditional ways of reaching out to their customers through emails and direct content for websites.
Copywriting also encompasses newsletters, advertisements, and other forms of communication to spread brand awareness. If you have a degree in communications, marketing, advertising, or even English, this is an excellent opportunity.
What's The Business Approach?
Like a social media marketing agency, a subscription-based service is ideal here if you're looking to push content for your clients consistently.
You can charge a monthly fee for X number of articles for all intents and purposes (i.e. email marketing, blog content, video and audio scripts, website information, and so on).
You can also charge on a per-piece basis, but it's not as consistent as a subscription model. It will be a cheaper alternative for companies who have no idea how much content they need but still want to get the ball rolling on having new content on their website.
Medical Transcriptionist Service Provider
The medical field will always have room for medical transcriptionists. Not only is this a tremendous work-at-home opportunity, but with the right strategy, you could turn it into an entire business operation and manage a team of transcriptionists.
For the unfamiliar, a medical transcriptionist's job is to listen to audio (sometimes video) files and transcribe them into text. These files can be anything and will take a few hours to transcribe completely. People who have experience in general transcription and healthcare, specifically medical jargon and processes, are great for setting up this kind of business.
The only downside here is that you'll need to purchase specific equipment to make this work. One of them is a transcription foot pedal. This is a nifty gadget that will allow you to pause, play, and stop audio files using your foot. A good quality pedal could cost you anywhere between S$150 and S$200. You'll also need to secure good quality headsets, which are within the same price range as the foot pedals.
The scalability of this service is difficult because you will want to secure your clients first. The number of clients you have will dictate just how many people you'll need to work for the company.
What's The Business Approach?
The best approach here would be to charge per file and base it on industry standards. One disadvantage is that you can't overcharge or undercharge transcription services because the rates are public and competitive.
E-Commerce Store
E-commerce has grown since the Pandemic began. People have started buying stuff online, from clothes to gadgets to groceries! And they're not even worried about paying the delivery fees.
If you're lucky enough to have a physical store before the Pandemic began, transitioning to an e-commerce platform would be the most practical thing to do because you can continue to operate without worrying about commercial space rental. However, you do have to worry about physical inventory and logistics, if ever.
But if you don't have a physical store, you don't need to fret because you can also do what people call dropshipping.
This is a business model that allows you to operate as a middleman between the supplier and the customer. Think of the business as a fulfilment centre of sorts.
The premise is simple.
You host the products on your site like you would with any traditional e-commerce store.
The customer buys the products through your store.
The store relays the order to the supplier.
Supplier packs and ships out the products ordered.
Payment is done through the website and goes through the supplier.
You split the profits between the supplier for the sales made.
Much like medical transcription, there are online courses to help you start your dropshipping business, but the legit ones are costly.
What's The Business Approach?
The approach here has been laid out above. Your best bet is to run a dropshipping business model if you don't want to deal with physical inventory.
But if you already have a business selling physical products, you might want to set up your e-commerce website. You can start from scratch or work with existing platforms such as WordPress or Shopify.
PPC Ad Management
Businesses will always need individuals to run advertising campaigns for them, especially since the majority, if not all, of their customers, are now online.
Businesses online need to find a way to stand out from their competitors, so they go with PPC or pay per click advertising.
PPC is an online marketing tool that allows companies to display ads and pay a certain amount when the ad is clicked on. It's simple and straightforward, but it takes a lot of research, planning, and testing. If you do it right, you'll be able to pitch PPC campaigns to local businesses in Singapore.
What's The Business Approach?
As an ad manager, you can go about it by charging on a per-campaign basis. Unless the company you're working with has a huge marketing budget, it doesn't make sense to launch PPC ads now and then.
But suppose you have other deliverables to include in your business, such as market analysis, competitor analysis, and keyword research. In that case, it might make sense to adopt a subscription-based model (or have your client hire you as a retainer).
Graphic Design Business
Graphic designers who lost their jobs during the Pandemic can also set up their own home-based graphic design business. The demand for graphic design is high because companies are willing to spend money on professionally-designed logos, advertisements, and even images for optimized websites.
High-end designs will often require high-end software application subscriptions, so there will be a minimal investment. Your PC will also need to be equipped with the proper hardware so you can operate this software softly.
What's The Business Approach?
Similar to a copywriting or medical transcription service, graphic design is more reliant on a per-project basis. The advantage here is that you can take on multiple clients and projects at any given time (as long as you're capable of managing them all) to keep the cash flow going.
The downside here is that there's not going to be any consistency here, so you're going to have to locate new clients as soon as you complete obligations with your old ones.
Web Development Agency
Companies who are looking to transition online will need their websites. Building a website and maintaining them can be expensive ventures. It can be costly for smaller companies to have their in-house developers, so that's why third-party developers.
Establishing your web development agency will allow you to tap into the small brick and mortar stores that want to develop their online presence.
Web development agencies are not limited to building a website from scratch. They can also tap into clients who want to improve their current website or maintain their websites.
What's The Business Approach?
A web development agency is a mix of a subscription-based business model and an ad-hoc business model. Companies looking to build their website from scratch often suggest a retainer-based (subscription) package so that the developers can include website maintenance and updates for many months.
Ad-hoc web development isn't exactly uncommon either in the industry. Some companies want their website built, and they'll go on from there. Some companies will also have their websites already, so they hire web developers to add more features.
SEO Agency
The key to getting found by Google and other search engines is to make sure that your website is optimized for it. This is where SEO or search engine optimization comes in.
SEO is the process of optimizing your website based on search engine guidelines to have a presence in the search engines. By maximizing guidelines, websites can move their way up the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) to get to page 1.
When people find your website on the first page of Google, you get traffic. You get traffic; you can convert them into leads and then convert them into sales.
SEO is not as technical as it sounds but similar to PPC; it takes time, research, and some skill.
What's The Business Approach?
The ideal approach here is to set up a subscription-based model where you can get companies to hire your agency to develop the SEO strategies for their website until they get their desired results.
It all boils down to what you have to offer for your business model to convince them to keep you in their company for months.
Bookkeeping Service Provider
Businesses need to keep track of their finances. Just because they're operating minimally right now doesn't mean the Singaporean government is lax when it comes to taxes and fees.
Just like with web developers, smaller companies will find it challenging to keep in-house bookkeepers. That's why they often work with CSPs (Corporate Service Provider) who offer bookkeeping services.
If you have prior experience and knowledge in bookkeeping, you could consider starting your bookkeeping service. It's also essential you're a CPA (certified public accountant) to add to your credibility. You can check with other qualifications required for accountants in Singapore.
Another thing to consider here is the scalability because you'll need additional requirements for company registration in Singapore.
Be sure to check with ACRA on what you need to incorporate into your business. You can also get in touch with us here at Piloto Asia if you need assistance with setting up your Public Accountancy firm.
What's The Business Approach?
Companies that can't hire bookkeepers in-house can use your services and keep you as a retainer. This means that you're not going to work with them full-time, but only when needed. This should give you some form of consistency in terms of income because you can take in multiple clients at any given time.
Closing
The new normal is here, and businesses will have to adjust to it. People are doing everything online, and there's no guarantee that companies will be hiring people to grow their businesses at this time.
Singapore is making it possible for entrepreneurs to start their businesses thanks to the grants and other funding sources made available to them. It takes time to build and grow your business from scratch, even if you have the experience and capital. But that should not discourage you. The growing pains of starting a business will always be there. What's not always going to be there is the opportunity to create one.