Start-ups often fail on lack of experience, too much ambition
Many first-time bosses lack experience and are too ambitious, which explains why so many start-ups fail.
Many first-time bosses lack experience and are too ambitious, which explains why so many start-ups fail.
Candy Cheung Fai-har, a former air hostess who founded jewellery retailer Celebre Asia Pacific, said failure was normal.
She became a boss for the first time in 2008 when she opened her first shop in Tsim Sha Tsui. She later expanded to three more shops - in Yuen Long, Tsuen Wan and Causeway Bay.
"Over-expansion, a lack of risk management knowledge and rising rents resulted in my first failure, with all four shops closing down in 2012," she said.
Cheung did not give up easily though. After borrowing money through the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation's microfinance scheme, she restarted her business last year, with a new shop opening under the same brand in Yuen Long. This time around, it's been a success.
Over-expansion, a lack of risk management knowledge and rising rents resulted in my first failure
"I think my experience can tell two things. First, it is usual for the first-time boss to fail. Second, a retry is usually a success as long as you learn from your mistakes," she said at her shop, which sells jewellery made from gem-quality synthetic diamonds.