Empowering Businesses to Stay Ahead
With the theme for this year’s Canon Think Big Entrepreneur Convention being ‘Business Solutions – Updated’, the event attracted close to 500 business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs eager to learn about solutions to issues affecting businesses both big and small.
The convention was held on 13 Sept 2012 at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel and kicked into high gear right from the start with an inspiring opening address from Fly Entertainment founder and Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) Steering Committee Member, Irene Ang. The speakers that followed were equally impressive:
Leslie Loh, MD of Red Dot Ventures and Board Member of Spring Singapore, talked about the importance of proper brand positioning when raising business capital
Having recently sold his company, System Access, for S$120 million, Leslie was responsible for growing it from a one-man operation into a publically listed MNC.
He began his talk by introducing the five basic types of investors (the angel investor, venture capital firm, private equity firm, pre-IPO investor and strategic buyer), then went on to elaborate what each type of investor was looking for and how to attract them.
Leslie ended his talk with useful tips on how a company could raise capital during its different stages of growth (from idea inception until the time it takes to internationalise the business).
Dr. Wilson Chew, CEO of StragiCom, shared several ways businesses can prevent declining productivity
The second speaker, Dr. Chew, an active participant in the international business forum and author of over 80 business articles, tackled the issue of optimising company productivity.
Stressing on how it wasn’t enough for a company to adopt the latest technologies, he mentioned that it was also vital to change the mindset of its employees. This is because only by aligning employee behaviour with company goals, would then a company be able to ensure delivery of its promise to its customers.
Robert Gaxiola, co-founder of Mangham Gaxiola, offered insight into what constitutes effective brand communication
Being an award winner and having ample advertising experience, co-founder of Mangham Gaxiola, Robert Gaxiola was perfectly suited to offer tips on how to develop more effective marketing collateral.
By showing examples of what he thought were good and bad ads, Robert pointed out that companies who succeed in their communication efforts tend to “dress” themselves with messages that fit.
He also added that while adhering to company guidelines was vital, care must be taken to avoid over restricting the creative agency so as to prevent ads from looking virtually identical.
(Above, from right to left): Stefano Poli (President of the European Chamber of Commerce, Singapore), Chan Chong Beng (President of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises), Kenny Yap (Qian Hu Chairman and Group MD) and CIMB CEO and leading economist Song Seng Wun.
Panel discussion on the effects of the Eurozone on Singapore companies
The final event, a panel discussion chaired by Business Times Associate Editor Vikram Khanna, attempted to address the one thing on most business owners’ mind when it came to the Eurozone financial crisis – was it going to worsen or is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
The panel consisted of industry leaders. Although general consensus on the panel agreed that consumer confidence was shaken, Singapore businesses could look into the possibility of partnering with European small businesses to help bring their products to emerging Southeast Asian markets.
A showcase of the latest Canon business solutions
In addition to these insightful talks, attendees were also introduced to cutting-edge Canon business solutions including the World’s Shortest Throw Interactive Projector (the LV-8235 UST) as well as the latest all-in-one imageCLASS laser printers, and their ability to take businesses to the next level.
This impressive mix of both “hardware” (the latest Canon business solutions) and “software” (speakers expertise) made the Canon Think Big Entrepreneur Convention 2012 nothing short of a big success.