Interview with Dr Clemen Chiang Wen Yuan
1. What is the nature of your business? (Business Profile)
Freely runs a comprehensive series of practical, live workshops and seminars to provide active self-directed traders a complete and in-depth understanding of options trading and wealth management. It also conducts post-secondary training programs in the areas of options trading, business development, asset protection and financial management. The company is headquartered in Singapore and has operations in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong.
2. What made you embark on this venture choice?
It started off with my search for the perfect business model to help myself and other like-minded individuals fulfil the mission where "You can have a great passion to live, work and play freely". This model has key criteria in ten areas - product, price, place, promotion, people, performance, periodical, personal, portability, positioning.
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3. How does your business work?
The company is Asia's leading educational provider for options trading and wealth management. We are committed to helping individuals break free from the rat race and realize their dreams of financial freedom. Students are taught how to build and preserve wealth, start or manage a business and benefit from investing in financial markets through workshops or seminars. In addition to learning the necessary skills for personal wealth management, they learn how to take charge of their finances and channel their resources towards self-enrichment the Freely way.
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4. Did you have the capital to start the business or did you have to borrow from someone to get started?
I had built up my capital in a business that I started prior to starting Freely and it was sufficient to venture into my existing business.
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5. Do your parents have their own businesses too? Have they inspired you in one way or another?
Both my parents are not entrepreneurs. However, they have always encouraged me to be independent and to pursue my own dreams.
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6. What was your childhood dream? When did you decide that you would strike out on your own instead of working for someone else?
My childhood dream was to become a pilot. When I was eighteen, I achieved this dream when I attained a 'Private Pilot's License wing' from the 'Singapore Youth Flying Club'. However, I subsequently came to realize that I would not be able to make an impact on the lives of others as a pilot. To my own surprise on hindsight, I started to work for someone else and it made me realize how my life would be subject to the control of others as an employee. It also became apparent to me that as an employee, my ability to produce change was limited, something that I really wanted. Unsatisfied and driven by a desire to take charge of my own destiny, my entrepreneurial journey began.
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7. Why does someone decide to be on their own rather than join an existing company?
To me, this is a decision based on two key factors: fear and greed. For someone who is fearful, he would rather join an existing company because he/she desires that someone else will take charge. Conversely, for someone who is greedy, his desire to be in control will be the driving force to create change. This is the essence of entrepreneurship.
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8. Are there at any point in your life that you experienced a significant event (WW2, racial riots of the 1960s, the Economic Crisis of the 80s or 90s, SARS, new competition or shifts in market behaviour and trends) which affected or influenced you and your business that made you change the way you think and do your business?
It is definitely the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. Even though we were so far away from Ground Zero, my heart was with the people who died under the evil acts of violence. It also significantly shaped the way I think about my business. That is, what is a product that I can still make money with despite fluctuations in the economic cycle? The answer is options trading.
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9. What are some of the challenges in starting a business from scratch? (Modify question to what are some of the challenges in maintaining a family business if applicable.)
I believe it's the people factor. When you have just started out and the business is small, the people whom you hire tend to take advantage of you. Why? It's because they think that they are capturing the market for you and they ought to be rewarded beyond their existing capacity. It creates a gap between expectations and capabilities. From the perspectives of other customers or suppliers, they tend to look down at small start-ups. Thus, it's during this initial phase that the entrepreneur walks through the baptism of fire. The lack of money should also never be a question because there are many avenues to raise the money needed to start the business.
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10. Who/What motivates you?
I make a simple prayer everyday, "Dear Lord, have I maximized my talents for you today?" This desire to bring out the best within myself motivates me.
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11. Tell me about the first few customers and the first few years of business.
For my first business deal, I had to borrow $10,000 from a very close friend to buy the inventories for a customer. After we had completed all the installation works, the customer refused to pay us. I was furious because we knew that we had completed an honest day's work and yet the customer gave all kinds of excuses not to pay us. I literally sat in front of the customer and tears began to roll down my eyes uncontrollably. Upon witnessing this, the customer finally relented. This experience taught me a very important lesson - always collect cash payment upfront first. I also learnt that it is good for a business to be cash rich at all times.
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12. Please tell me some stories of your best day in business or your proudest achievement to date.
This would have to be 20 February 2006 when my wife Nicole and I held our wedding ceremony. We invited all the people who had helped us in one way or another in our life's journey. During our speech on stage, we thanked every single one of them present because they had helped to shape us to become who we are today. This is our proudest moment and it begins a new chapter of our lives. Another memorable moment happened during the last day of a Live Freely seminar. One of our students stood up at the end of the seminar and offered a public prayer of blessing for me. Everyone present, irregardless of religion, joined in and prayed together for me.
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13. Do you recall your worst day in business? Have you ever felt like giving up?
My worst day in business was my very first business deal. It was the first time I ever cried in front of a customer. However, it made me even more determined to succeed as an entrepreneur. 'Giving up' does not exist in my dictionary anymore today.
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14. When was the moment you realised the business would work and support you?
It was the moment when I discovered that what I was making on a monthly basis was equivalent to what my peers were making on an annual basis.
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15. What are some of the things you have had to overcome to succeed?
I always believe the greatest enemy is I. Nothing in this world could stop me other than my own limitation of vision. As a result, I have to constantly focus on my vision and not get distracted by other business opportunities and other ideas for example. This is an art.
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16. What are some qualities that you feel you possess which differentiate you from someone who works for others?
It boils down to three qualities: preparation, perseverance and passion.
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17. To succeed in business, what qualities are essential? What are some of the secrets in making a successful business?
Preparation is about getting yourself equipped with the latest available information to make an informed business decision. Perseverance is about going through the roller coaster rides in a business cycle. However, through the supernatural law of nature, the market will always reward those who hang in there long enough. Passion is about pursuing excellence in everything that you do. The secret to it all boils down to lots of hard work.
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18. Who or what inspires you?
I am very inspired by our Prime Minister, and especially by what he said in his National Day Rally Speech in 2005, "So the city must reflect the spirit of our people, be well conceived, vigorously executed, restrained but high quality, every aspect thought through, constantly being improved and remade in search of excellence. It will be a city in our image, a sparkling jewel, a home for all of us to be proud of, a home that will belong to all of us."
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19. Have you ever thought of expanding the business in some way or in multiple locations? How and where?
To date, we have business interests in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Hong Kong. Moving forward, we intend to expand our faculty size so that we may reach out to territories within a 7-hour flight radius of Singapore.
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20. What aspects of expansion would you like to see for your enterprise?
We are focusing on the entire spectrum of wealth education. It comprises of wealth creation, wealth management and wealth preservation.
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21. In your opinion, how would you define entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship is having a unique product or service that has a competitive and sustainable advantage.
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22. To what extent does one?s educational level help or hinder entrepreneurial-ship?
Education aids in developing the thinking process. It can help to develop a desire in some people to create change. Ultimately, however, it is having a 'fire deep in one’s belly' that matters most.
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23. As we try to select the final 41 entrepreneurs, what qualities would you think a person should have to inspire others?
I feel that an entrepreneur should not be measured by how much he has, but by how much he has given. It is better to give than to receive. The yardstick would therefore be how much the entrepreneur gives back to society.
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24. What are some of your own values in doing business and what do you like to pass down to others, particularly the younger generation?
Touch your heart, feel your heart, and speak from your heart. Integrity is the heart of business.
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25. What advice would you give young people who want to start their own business?
Go for it. No one is stopping you other than yourself. Take the step of faith!
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26. Please help me make a three-line summary of this interview after the basic information: your name, name of your business and kind of business. These three lines will highlight the interview for those who will be reading the summaries prior to reading the entire interview.
Dr Clemen Chiang provides insight, intelligence and education for both new and experienced investors. Under this leadership, Freely has grown to become one of Asia's leading and most sophisticated education providers for active self-directed investors.
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27. Personal Comment
Dr Clemen Chiang is truly a very inspiring entrepreneur whom I have learnt a great deal from. He has had a powerful and positive impact on many lives and is someone whom I have great respect for.
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Interviewed by Elijah-james Ke Rushan on 2006-03-15. Student can be reached at
[email protected]
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