Virtual Office Singapore has been awarded with the Hitwise Top 10 Award, which recognises websites from over 160 industries that are leaders in their industry and brings with it the benefit of using the Hitwise Top 10 Award shield.
Smile,
From now (26 Feb 08) till end of March, Virtual Office Singapore will be giving away $100 Les Amis dining voucher to 3 lucky subscribers for our virtual office service.
Yes, you hear it right. Les Amis, one of those chi-chi, fine dining restaurant where you could impress your clients with some great gourmet.
I always believe that to develop a long-lasting business relationship, one needs to build around eating and drinking. It's just part of life. And dining and wining in such a fantastic french cuisine establishment like Les Amis will surely make a difference.
*By the way, Freedom Group is no way affiliated with Les Amis (but we would love to).
Smile,
Hi Everyone. I guess that I have not written on this corporate blog for 48 days.
First and foremost, I am still living and kicking. And will be celebrating 5th Birthday of Virtual Office Singapore really soon! Yes, we have been around for 5 long years and probably be still around for a few more decades!
For 2007, we have seen major stuffs happening around us. Oil pricing shooting sky-high. Property market is great for Singapore and terrible for United States. Commondities are gaining up, posting above-par growth for its producers.
Well, I'm worried.
I'm not sure why Singapore is gearing itself at such a premium. Our currency seems to become stronger than usual which means we could buy more things, but vice versa our stuffs become more expensive to be bought. Our property prices are booming at multiples, because of the purchases from some players of which I believe a handful of them may have been speculating. If the demand is factual, good for them and big money for the developers. If it's not, we may have too much property gluts that are purchased during the hot en-bloc period and if nobody buys, who is going to pay for the investment? Of course, we are aiming for 6 million people and this increase in population may create demand for these new supply of assets, provided we attract the right people into Singapore and also not letting our "aging population" suffer from this aggressive growth. But if this neverending musical chairs stop, things will start to be messy.
I guess that everyone has a comments on sub-prime and I have mine too. I'm not an economist nor a real estate specialist and probably know a little more than that 70 years old uncle who sits in the kopi tiam discussing about world politics. Anyway, I feel that the sub-prime matters is over-rated. Yes, the bankers are lending far too much money to people with far too much risk. And if these people are unable to pay, the bankers would have to lose money and these people would have no place to stay, and the US Government is not going have homeless because that's bad politics during election period.
The solution which I feel is pretty simple. Get some investors to buy-out these "home owners" instead of the banks. Pay 50 cents for every dollar owned, for the house and the land upon. Rent out these property back to these home owners for 5-10 years before selling it back to them. Rebalance the load for each home owner, so that the home owners switch their homes for a smaller ones, lessen their mortage payment without losing a place to stay. In this case, banks would receive back some investment and pay a "lesson fee" of not doing stupid things again; home owners would also learn not to borrow more than what they could pay for; and government would have these home owners have their home.
Back to Singapore, I believe that the next 6 months would be a crucial period where the global economy starts to adjust itself and adapt to the correct market-force structure. The hiccups will gradually grow lesser and I hope that would-be entrepreneurs would take this opportunities to explore and exploit the current market situation. One area is to help the aging population to be prepared for a more expensive Singapore and another would be to bring services and products to the incoming population that Singapore Government expects. If Singapore Government wants something to be done, it usually is able to, so population of 6 million is not an empty expectation.
Smile,
In regards to the Business Times article - "Private banks are growing cautious about taking on staff in Singapore, with headquarters hit by massive writedowns from the subprime crisis in the United States.".
For the past few months, Singapore has been upswing over its office space and rental prices have been doubled during this period. As rental forms about 10% of the overall business costs, double of rental will results in a 10% increase and this is bad news to those companies that have razor-thin margins.
Within this short period, Singapore seems to run out of office spaces which I heard was due to the influx of financial & professional firms coming into Singapore. While this creates tremendous amount of jobs and provide our government new revenue through land sales, it has also lifted the cost of business due to heighten investment sentiments.
As such, most local Singapore companies have no choice but to abandon their once-cherished CBD offices, exiled to cheaper alternatives off-skirt of the financial district, as every square feet of their corporate premises cost twice or thrice more.
While this Business Times article might not be a good news to property developer, I believe that the previous strings of news about CBD offices bouncing back to a more logical pricing, have been great news to companies that took a hit in their reserve to maintain its customer-friendly central location.
Still, market moves like waves and even though it seeks equilibrium, every news (whether positive or negative) will add a shock into this fabric of economy. And while the market is moving down, suddenly things becomes positive for other industries to tap onto.
Instead of the global private bankers locating its Fontainebleau-like offices into exclusive Raffles Boulevard, we probably see upcoming regional companies that wish to take advantage of this current slack and wait for the sentiments to rebound back. These companies will likely to create more jobs in the middle-market segments, than the top-tier financial sectors.
In short, it's not a bad thing that these A380 first-class travellers aren't coming in after all.
Smile,
Hello. It has been a long time since I'm wrote on this blog. As some of you might know, I'm busy with setting up a new company that dealing in car rentals, with some close buddies. I'm also busy managing a local community basketball team. Busy busy busy.
Anyway, Virtual Office Singapore will be launching something new this month. It's called StarterPack and it is for entrepreneurs to try out our services, before subscribing to our longer contracts.
StarterPack is really useful for any startups because it's low price and packed with useful features from our Business Class package! Personally, I believe that StarterPack will fundamentally change the virtual office market, because it lower the risk for entrepreneur by offering bite-size package.
And to sweeten the deal, you might stand to win Apple's iPod shuffle (worth $138). However, only the first 300 StarterPack customers that signs up during the month of November would be eligible for this contest. So don't hesitate and lost this chance... SIGN UP NOW!
Cheers,
Hi Guys... It's October and this is last quarter of the year 2007. Well, Virtual Office Singapore™ has something special for all of you...
For every 12 months of service that you have signed up, we will throw in an additional 1 month free-of-charge! Don't wait. Sign Up Now!
For last month's Tikam Tikam Promotions, here's the list of our winners:
Winner: Daiman Brown (Sxxxx542B)
Winner: Helene Garcia (Sxxxx552F)
Winner: Yeo Chee Hoe (Sxxxx441F)
Winner: Stephen Nicholas Melhuish (Sxxxx203X)
Thank you everyone for their warm support and have a blessed autumn!
Cheers,
About a week ago, I was chatting with my staffs and they suggested to have a tikam tikam. Well, not exactly tikam tikam but the prizes are better than plastic toy figurines. This is how this monthly special promotion works:
Each week, we will draw out a lucky winner to win our weekly prize. However, if you sign up but didn't win at the first week, you get another chance to win our 2nd week prize. Same for 3rd and 4th. Hence, the faster you sign up with us, the more chances for you to win!
All winners will be annouced online and prizes to be collected at our office. So good luck!
Cheers,
Good morning. I think this is one of the earliest blog I made and I guess that this is the most meaningful of all. First and foremost, let me welcome Mr. Andy Xu who will be joining our technology department. Secondly, our my dear staff - Ms. Florence De Cruz, will be awaiting to give birth to a baby girl somewhere these two weeks (or so), hence wishing her good health and happiness.
Cheers,
Good afternoon. Let me wish all Singaporean a Happy National Day.
Today is 8th August 2007 (8/8/2007) and I think that it's a great time to start a business. After all, 8 has always been a lucky number and right now, the economy is undergoing some serious shifting. What this means is that while the stock market has dipped because of CDO, what's go down must come up too. Also, by the time your business starts, it's year-end where consumerism will begin too. Double-bonus.
Anyway, we have just have went through 2 important events within the past 2 weeks. First, let me once again wish our staff and her hubby, Karen (aka Giggles) & Kevin, a happy & blissful marriage. Second, we have just organized our company chalet at Downtown East, with everyone there with their spouses & boyfriends (yeah, there's no male staffs as of yet). It's always bring me a smile when I see this "one big family" and how they have grown with this 4 years old company.
We will likely be expanding soon and is seeking experienced people (customers service, info-technology, marketing & communication, office administration, finance & HR, and service operations) to join us. Do send me your resume.
PS: I can't imagine how we are going organize our corporate chalet next year, when our family extend to 50+ people inclusive of their spouses, boyfriends & girlfriends, kids and maids.
Cheers,
Want to know more about virtual offices? Here's a great clip by CNBC on how virtual office works.
By the way, due to overwhelming response to our special 25% discount for our packages, we decided to extend this promotion till 31st July 2007. We thanks all customers for their warm support and that they recommend all of their friends of this special offer. We really appreciate it!
Hi. I believe that you're looking for a virtual office provider and trying to figure - "Should I use Virtual Office Singapore or whatever cheaper alternatives?".
Well, I think it's better to visit the offices of each and every provider. Do some comparison - staff strength, office location, years of experience, etc. While cost maybe of a concern, some providers cut corners so that they could provide rock-bottom prices so be careful.
At Virtual Office Singapore, we take pride in taking care of our customers. Our team of nice people are deeply passionate about good service. Here are some information about us:
While we're trying hard to promote the quality and value of virtual office industry, some providers go all out to slash prices and provide half hearted services, hurting the industry as a whole.
As a customer, I suggest that you take whatever is being written on websites with a pinch a salt. Seriously, visit the providers and compare. Ask to meet the staffs. Remember that there is no free lunch in the world. You get what you pay. Choose the one that give you the confidence of a long-term good service.
Sincerely,
It has been almost a month since I have posted a corporate blog. Been extremely busy with things. Learning how to drive. Involved in a startup and gearing for expansion into Greater China. Being invited as a partner & director in a venture capital firm. Reading up on being a VC. Attending opening events. Writing up new softwares. Busy? Yeah.
I guess that it's sorta of funny to be from a position of an entrepreneur to a position of helping an entrepreneur. Seriously though, I'm still under 30 years old and only passed with a secondary school education. Other than having a passion for building things, I have simply no clue how to be a VC. The only thing I know about building businesses is to developing ideas through simplicity, quickly get positive cash-flow and build up a good management team. And to build a sustaining business, it's about constantly innovating through people, products & processes, while disciplining the operations & finance.
A couple of weeks ago, I received a call from a friend asking whether if I'm keen to come in to help him manage a regional investment fund. He wanted me to join because I have "been there. done that." with my virtual office business which has a good reputation for being well-managed and well-known.
What was interesting is that these leading VCs were all in a loss, during the early days of the venture capital industry. They invest because they believe in the idea and the people behind it. There was not much of a 100-pages business plans (there is still a business plan but a concise one). To them, it's all about treating entrepreneurs as customers, putting money into them and helping them to grow. And that's what I want to be in.
Anyway, I would be really glad if anyone of you, or anyone that you know, is looking to raise funds. Feel free to contact me. Currently, I'm looking at startups that engage into online services delivering business solutions. Send me your business plans (how to write? visit Sequoia Capital website). It will be also good if the founders are street-wise, flexible and all-rounded.
Anyway, that's all for now. I wish you a good mid-year holidays and remember to spend time with your loved ones. Because they are always the best investment for life.
Startingly Yours,
For the benefit of customers, Virtual Office Singapore decided to beefen up our security systems and has contracted Cisco Security to help us protect our office against the threats of burglary and theft.
Comprising an intrusion detection systems complete with 24-hour alarm monitoring service, it helps to meet the security requirements for our customers. Coupled with the building security management, customers can be reassured and has a peace of mind knowing that their mails are in safe hands.
While some virtual office providers may offer cheap solutions, often they compromised on the quality of service. Only at Virtual Office Singapore, we constantly invest in customers experience and ensure that a high percentage of our revenue is poured back into service improvements.
3 more days before it becomes a month since I have written a corporate blog. Sorry...
Seriously, I have been overwhelmed by many things these days. Not a day passed that my eye bags are not tagging along my cheeks. Well, things have been busy as we are (as usual) restructuring our entire company.
From prospective customers, I understood that there are two virtual office providers closing down yet again. I suspect that they finally realised that operating a virtual office will not make them dream multimillionaires.
I plead customers to choose their provider wisely. There are so much more factors to consider - service quality, location, supporting staffs, etc. Never be penny-wise, pound-foolish. And all of those warranties, guarantees and whatever, are not much of a use. Because if the provider wishes to fly-by-night, it will.
Anyway, check out the following interesting websites:
Watching You Watching Over Me,
Yesterday, I had lunch with a friend who happens to be the Chief Operating Officer of one of the largest property developer in Singapore and probably Asia-Pacific. When we were going back to office, I popped a question and hoping that I could learn from a business sage and took a surprise. I asked "What is a good company?", in perspectively on what makes a good company. He said.
"Yours."
I was taken back by this reply. Seriously, for a man who helps to run one of the most complex organisations in the Asia-Pacific, with big-names properties and billion dollars turnovers, I thought that his reply is either out of courtesy or maybe he is intoxicated by his love for kopi-o.
"Well, this is the first time I ever saw a company with so much passionate staffs. Everyone is happy and smiling."
Ok. Wow... Never thought I will heard that. Cool. Still, we carry on discussing on some philos about people management and how good company should spend time taking care of its key assets - people. Still, I was so delighted over his comments that once I reached Robinson Road, I quickly bought boatload of ice milo, ice teh and ice kopi (including sweet buttery slices of bread) for all of my staffs.
As to those who wanna know what I did... it's simple. Just do it with sincerity. Just do it for fun. Just do it because you wanna show appreciate. Just do it and don't be stingy. Treat your people like adults. Embrace their personality. Have fun in the office. Don't anyhow scold and scold. Take money as last priority and welfare as first. Have dinner outing together. Birthday parties. Company trip to oversea. Be extra nice during festive seasons, Valentine's Day, Christmas, etc. Celebrate for nothing, for the fun of it. Supportive whether doing school projects at office, taking extra leaves for emergencies. Providing staff loans, stock-options (in future), etc.
In short, being an entrepreneurs come in stages - First, manage your business and grow it. Second, with enough business, go systemized it and get good people to help running it. Third, with people and good system, learn to synergize them together. Fourth, take care of your people because doing so, they will take care of your business.
I'm so happy and proud of my people. And knowing that others recognised our passion through our staffs, is probably the nicest compliments a boss could have.
Bowing Down Japanese Style,
Hi! How are you? As promised before, I try to add a blog every fortnight. Since Chinese New Year, I have been rather busy with things and I guess that life of a SME owner is far more hectic.
In anticipation for further growth, we have been restructuring our business and recently added an additional member into our Pacific Centennial Group family - Ms. Karen Siah, previous from the Benchmark Electronics, a $1.5 billion dollar NYSE-listed firm. Bringing her experiences managing corporate finances for Benchmark, Karen will be heading our Finance & Administration, solidify our commitment towards being a professionally managed service provider.
Also, Ms. Shirlene Tan, previously heading our sales division has been promoted as the General Manager of Pacific Centennial Group, leading the company in its business development and operation. For the past 2 years, Shirlene has been an instrumental member of the Group, of which she has spearheaded the inception of Call Answering Division while consistently managing our customers service and suppliers coordiantion.
All in all, there are major shifts in our management team and I have appointed two experienced managers - Ms. Nina Kosasih and Ms. Florence De Cruz to head our service quality and sales & marketing divisions.
Within the next few months, we have earmarked a few exciting projects to enhance the total customer experience and have partnered with leading well-known industry players to provide top-quality solutions, fulfilling the ever-increasing customers' expectation.
We will also be looking out for passionate young people, talented management trainees and experienced old-hands, to join our one big happy family. Hence, feel free to drop your resume to me.
I guess we're not small anymore. In about 3 months time, we will be officially 4 years old. 4 years of struggling and working hard for our customers. Constantly investing into people and technologies, our Group has been leading the virtual office industry and is proud to have served more than 3,000 clients from over 50 countries. Here is something which I find amazing - after some rough calculation, I have estimated that the gross revenue of all my clients would be in the ballpark of probably $800 billion (including several major Fortune 500 companies, banks and MNCs). Whew!
Still, we still stay humble to our roots of providing value-for-money solutions. Whether if you're a billion dollar company, a student or a retiree, Pacific Centennial Group has always provided quality service without an expensive price tag. Our reliable virtual office services have been pegged purposefully between the cheapest and the most expensive in the market. Personally, I don't like to compromise for a dollar saved. However, I also don't like to pay a single cent more. If I want a service, I don't just look for good deals. I look for "perfect deals" - affordable prices for quality services. Period.
Lastly, Pacific Centennial Group has been in discussion with other like-minded virtual office providers, trying our best to improve the service quality of the overall industry. With some fellow CEOs, we are coming out industrywide initiative to curb problems that we commonly faced, coming out new ideas and helping one another. Personally, I guess this maybe because we have gradually matured and acknowledged that there are certain issues that could be solved by industry teamwork of fellow competitors.
This blog has taken about 40 minutes to write and I enjoy every single moment of it because I guess I love to use this corporate blog to share with all my faithful readers, things that happen in my company and my personal thoughts. On behalf of all staffs and myself, I would like to once again thanks all stakeholders of Pacific Centennial Group for the success it enjoys - clients, partners, friends and family members.
Bowing Down Japanese Style,
I know that I have shown this video about 2 years ago. What makes it really special that it still lingers in my mind, is that this Apple Computer (or Apple Inc, as it is known now) commercial speaks what being different is all about and that is also what an entrepreneurship is about too.
You, the entrepreneur, is truly someone special. You have an idea to change something. Make something. Do something. And while many may not agree with you, you see something that nobody else sees and that's what the greats call vision. And to be the true leader in your industry, you are challenging the very norms because you know that if you do the same things that everyone else do, you will be the same level as everyone else.
Do check out the video and write to me. Let me know what truly inspires you.
"Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."
Think Different,
PS: Thank Diana (my 1st employee) for being there. I guess that I haven't thank you enough for what you have contributed to the company and the entire industry as a whole. While certain things change with time, what never change is the beautiful environment and family culture that you had personified within the company. You're truly the special one and we will remember you always.
How time flies... It's Chinese New Year again. It's the Year of the Pig and from all of the staffs and management of Virtual Office Singapore, we wish you a wonderful year ahead. May you be wealthy & healthy for this year... Here's a nice YouTube clip of "Virtues Of Harmony" cast signing a cantonese new year song (it's not the latest but still very cool).
Think Different,
Looking for a place to advertise your products or services? Or want to post job offers? Or announce that latest event that your company is hosting this weekend? Or simply want to change house or that old car?
Go to www.mangosearch.com.
MangoSearch.com is a community project sponsored by Pacific Centennial Group, to provide a place for advertisers to post their ads. We know it's expensive to book an ad on the Straits Times Classifieds and any other advertising medium, so MangoSearch.com is totally free-of-charge and no hassles registration! And what's more...
From now till April 07, MangoSearch.com is going to give away Starbucks vouchers to 2 lucky users weekly. And if you ad is the one that has the most views for that month, you stand to win yourself a cool $100 vouchers from either Courts, Zara or Robinson.
MangoSearch.com is totally different and you must visit to feel the differences! And go on... Post An Ad Now!
Think Different,
Hitwise Top 10 Winner (Oct - Dec 07)
Fri, 29 Feb 08 | 12.20 PM
CEO Peter Tan
March Promotion
Tue, 26 Feb 08 | 3.20 AM
CEO Peter Tan
2008. New Year.
Thu, 17 Jan 08 | 7.20 AM
CEO Peter Tan
Thoughts
Fri, 30 Nov 07 | 1.40 PM
CEO Peter Tan
November StarterPack
Thu, 1 Nov 07 | 5.40 AM
CEO Peter Tan
October Autumn Special
Mon, 1 Oct 07 | 5.40 AM
Week 1: Hoseki LCD Calendar Alarm Clock
Week 2: Carrefour SGD$50 Gift Voucher
Week 3: Sandisk Titanium 4GB USB Flash Drive
Week 4: Lexmark Wireless Color Printer
CEO Peter Tan
Tikam Tikam
Sat, 1 Sep 07 | 3.50 AM
Remember the good old days (really old days) where there is this tikam board at your neighbourhood "mahmah" shop? You just pay 50 cents and get to see what's your reward. Well, it's pretty nostalgic and was plain fun (or waste of money, from my parents' point of view) to win balloons or some fancy toys.
CEO Peter Tan
Welcome & Warm Wishes
Mon, 13 Aug 07 | 7.30 AM
CEO Peter Tan
Happy National Day 
Wed, 8 Aug 07 | 11.30 AM
CEO Peter Tan
CNBC Report on Virtual Office
Sun, 15 Jul 07 | 11.30 PM
Compare...
Wed, 6 Jun 07 | 7.30 AM
Peter Tan
Chief Executive
Busy Busy Busy
Tue, 29 May 07 | 3.00 PM
To gear myself as a role of a VC, I think I have no choice but to read up. Luckily, I love to read and have been all-devouring of books of CEOs, marketing, business development, finance, etc. There is this book by Udayan Gupta - Done Deals, which talks about the venture capital industry through first-person accounts from fame VCs - Eugene Kleiner, Arthur Rock, John Doerr, Don Valentine, Larry Sonsini, Robert Kagle, Geoffrey Yang, Lionel Pincus and more.
Peter Tan
Chief Executive
Security Improvement
Thu, 3 May 07 | 2.00 PM
Joost
Fri, 13 Apr 07 | 3.00 AM
Peter Tan
Chief Executive
Sweet Compliments
Thu, 16 Mar 07 | 2.30 AM
Peter Tan
Chief Executive
Thank you!
Thu, 8 Mar 07 | 2.30 AM
Peter Tan
Chief Executive
Think Different
Mon, 21 Feb 07 | 8.55 AM
Peter Tan
Chief Executive
Happy Chinese New Year!!!
Wed, 7 Feb 07 | 1.40 PM
Peter Tan
Chief Executive
MangoSearch.com
Thu, 1 Feb 07 | 7.10 PM
Peter Tan
Chief Executive