Everyone want to get rich fast! I once believed “You make a lot of money by starting a successful business.”
I wanted to start a business to make more money even though I was still working as a medical officer in government hospital.
Starting my first business!
My first venture into business was way back in 2004. I saw an opportunity of setting up a confinement centre in my housing area. Many post-partum ( delivery) women were looking for a place to rest and rejuvenate and confinement centres were mushrooming in Malaysia in early 2000s.
The Chinese believes that the most critical period for a woman in their lives is the one-month period after delivery.
Women after delivery have to be confined to their house for one month. They are barred from washing their hair, fed with the most nutritious meals in the world and hopefully gain 2-5 kg in weight!
It is not uncommon for the Chinese family to get a confinement lady during this period to serve the post-partum mother. The confinement lady has to cook 5 meals per day , takes care of the baby and even does massage for the mother.
Confinement centre was my first business!
Confinement lady was a new breed difficult to find back then. Almost all of them had gone across to Singapore to work. Post-partum mothers were getting more anxious because to get a confinement lady, paying higher salary was the only option!
I saw the huge potential of the business and started a confinement centre in my housing area. It was the second confinement centre in my neighborhood.
My centre was a big hit and it was a positive cash flow business from day 1! I made MYR5k profit the very first month.
I learned that for a business to thrive and successful,
- You have to let the customers know you are different! My centre was the only centre in my area providing weekly doctor visit. Of course, I was the doctor on duty and this extra service has proven to be the selling point of my confinement centre. My centre was charging MYR 2500 per month compared to market price of MYR1500-1700!
- You need a dedicated team. By providing customer-centre care, customers would definitely come back and recommend your service.
The centre lasted for 3 months even though I was making good money.
I was having various problems- finding dedicated staffs, arranging my schedule and answering phone calls from prospective clients.
My mum was the only cook for the confinement centre and she worked really hard to cook 5 meals a day!
I was wondering why on earth to earn that extra MYR5k per month and making everyone in the family to do extra works!
Starting my online side hustling
After my MRCP examination in 2005, I started my online blog and wrote my first medical book. The beauty of doing this, I was making money 24/7 but minus the headache!
Creating something from nothing ( by writing a few e-books about passing MRCP PACES) needed zero start-up money. You make recurring income by selling your ideas. Money flows to your account with just 1-2 clicks from your customers.
And the market is boundaryless! Customers came from from Malaysia, Singapore, United Kingdom, India, Middle East etc.
Owning American Companies instead
Now owning great Americans companies is my strategy! By investing in S&P500 index fund, I actually own a small percentage of all the 500 great American companies!
Why bother starting your own business and getting the headache? Just a few computer clicks and you can be the owner of these great companies!
