Summary

A 25-year-old entrepreneur details their multifaceted role in their startup, encompassing directorship, design, marketing, administration, counseling, website development, accounting, and janitorial duties.

Abstract

The author, at 25, has achieved the title of Director in their own startup company, a goal they set a mere six years prior. They describe the journey of wearing multiple hats within the company, including educating through art classes, providing counseling services, executing marketing strategies, designing promotional materials, developing the company website, managing administrative tasks, handling accounting, and performing janitorial work. The narrative underscores the challenges and rewards of startup culture, emphasizing the importance of courage, determination, and continuous learning to overcome the heavy workload and achieve success.

Opinions

The author views their directorship not just as a title but as a manifestation of obligations, courage, and determination.
Teaching art, particularly to students with special needs, is seen as a highly rewarding aspect of their work.
The author values creating a secure space for their clients, especially teenagers and young adults.
Marketing is considered essential, with innovation and creativity being key to standing out in a competitive business environment.
Self-reliance in design and website development is praised, with gratitude expressed towards user-friendly technology and tutorials.
Administrative tasks are acknowledged as time-consuming yet critical, especially when equipped with relevant experience.
Accounting is described as an important but disliked duty due to the meticulous nature of financial record-keeping.
The author humorously considers janitorial work as a main role, emphasizing the practicality of self-cleaning to save on expenses.
The ease of company registration in Hong Kong is noted, but the true challenge lies in the commitment to all responsibilities.
The author believes that freedom at work, the pursuit of dreams, and the ability to handle heavy workloads are supported by courage, determination, and wise decision-making.
A growth mindset and lifelong learning are deemed essential for entrepreneurial success.

I am 25 and I am a Director, Designer, Marketing Specialist, Administrator and Janitor in my Startup Company

When I was nineteen, and first worked for an enterprise, I held the internal directory and scanned through my colleagues’ titles. I spotted those with manager or director titles and secretly made a wish, hoping that I can attain that title within ten years.

I Did It in 2021 when I was 25

I started my company last year. In the official documents, I am a director of the company. This seems like a fantasy, but till this point, I realise that a title is nothing but obligations, courage, and determination.

When I first became the co-founder of my new startup company, it was the time I uncovered my potential the most, as there were only a few of us who needed to deal with everything. While sharing my roles in my company, you may also figure out what skills you may need if you are planning to be a boss of a startup company.

I am a/an…

Educator

One of our key businesses is offering different extra-curricular activities or experiential classes. I have my own art classes occasionally, so I am responsible for designing, preparing, and delivering the classes.

Teaching is probably one of the most fruitful rewards from my daily immutable work, especially when I got a chance to serve some special target groups. It was a coincidence that I got a chance to deliver Pastel Nagomi art lessons to students with impaired hearing. It was a challenging one as I don’t know any sign language. We could only communicate with body language but they still completed a very nice piece of art, which is so impressive.

Counsellor

I am also a freelance counsellor who will take up cases referred by psychiatrists or friends. So you will see me meeting clients in my company. As my clients were mostly teenagers or young adults, my vision is also to provide a secure place for them to hang out and connect. That was also a critical reason driving me to have my own small place for my business. Although the unit we rent was not a spacious one, nor a luxury one, it is a cozy little base for us and for teens to gather and talk.

Marketing Specialist

Increasing your popularity and promoting your company is always essential for businesses. Especially in the highly competitive business environment nowadays, you need to be innovative and creative to attract the attention of your customers. As a startup company, we work so hard on showcasing our company’s strengths and work, hoping to have more business opportunities. We have been participating in exhibitions and fairs, trying to connect with others and promote ourselves.

There was a lot of preparation work before an exhibition, we have been busy for an entire month last November for the largest scaled exhibition that we have ever participated in. From the coordination and communication work with the organiser to designing advertising materials, that was a tough month. Although we were all exhausted after it, we learnt a lot and met a lot of new friends.

Designer

To minimise the overall startup cost, our team did our own design work, such as name cards, website graphics, leaflets, Instagram promotion graphics and more. It was my first attempt to explore designing tools like Adobe Illustration, and tons of buttons in the interface made me dizzy. I never felt that grateful to YouTube and to those content creators who provided simple tutorial videos for a rookie like me.

Website Developer

Most of the time, when my friends realised that the website was built by ourselves, they were shocked. In the past, developing a website means coding. However, with the latest technology developments and kind-hearted people who care about IT fools like me, there were more and more very user-friendly website builders launched, like Wix, where we built our website. The platform provides step-by-step guidelines on how to optimise your site, with nice graphics and templates for you to enrich your pages.

While designing our website, I learnt how to connect the website with the domain you purchased, and also what SEO is. With all the hard work, it was really satisfying when finally I can push the publish button and launch our website. When I first search it through google and view it as an audience, you can tell how rewarding it was.

Administrator

I handled issues like company registration, opening the bank account, setting accounts for various bills, etc. I would say administrative stuff was the most time-consuming work but relatively critical. As I worked in HR in the past, I am not new to all those startup administrative issues. As the only one equipped with such a skill set, I am the one mainly managing these issues among my team.

Accountant

As a limited company in Hong Kong, the daily transactions should be clearly recorded for audit and taxation purposes. That’s also one of the most important duties but the one I hate most. I hate working on numbers and excels with tons of formulas, though our transaction records are kept in a minimalist approach.

Finally, Janitor…

I always jokingly tell my friends that my main role in the company is actually cleaning and vacuuming. As no one would like to spend hundreds of dollars on cleaning services but rather spend those on essential business investments, we did our own cleaning duties. So, you will probably see me cleaning up the place on weekends, usually once a week, sometimes on alternate weeks when I am procrastinating.

In Hong Kong, you can register a company with less than HKD300, which means you can then become a director. It is easy to be a boss or own a company, but not easy to be determined enough to take up all the responsibilities.

As a startup company owner/entrepreneur, you get the freedom at work and the opportunity to pursue your dream, but you need to bear the heavy workload. What support you and lead you to success in your own business is courage, determination and wisdom in decision making. A growth mindset and lifelong learning are also essential for an entrepreneur.

Only those who keep exploring, improving and trying may attain their ultimate goals and success.

Hope you enjoy the journey of learning and growing in 2022!