Singapore SME Resources, a partial listing which I will update as and when I come across anything interesting which may prove useful and I have personally looked at and recommend, to start ups and SMEs in Singapore.
Government Resources
Singapore has an SME centre, to review next time I am there and, like HK is pushing it’s credentials as a regional/global hub for start-ups and SME.
‘The one-stop SME Centre provide services including business diagnosis, information on government schemes and capability workshops.’ This centre is mainly geared towards brick and mortar businesses and is under the umbrella of the Singapore manufacturing federation. It runs events and will guide you towards understanding government incentive schemes.
Spring is a government body to help grow businesses including startups. It’s an over-engineered site, like government, is a bit difficult to understand, and is part promotion and part self-promotion, but you can find useful resources including tax incentives, loans, grants and seed capital for start-ups and SME – the Singapore government provides matching funding in many cases for start-ups and SMEs
http://www.spring.gov.sg/Pages/Home.aspx
Grants / Loans /Direct Gov’t assistance
See Spring site above.
HR outsource grants for temporary period
Professional Services
Note : Accountants, lawyers, tax advisors, company secretaries. These are too numerous to mention and each have pros and cons. Contact us if feel the need for a confidential recommendation.
Legal Services
There are 1000’s of lawyers in Asia, some good, some bad, some with high fees and others with very high fees, and often they are needed for very complicated transactions and issues, but on the other hand, often they may not be and its possible the work such as opening companies and basic contracts can either be done yourselves or with very basic service providers who charge very low fees. Look around and read. Basic contracts etc for example can be found at template libraries and legal tech companies (including legalese in Singapore and Dragon Law in Hong Kong and Singapore) are building easy to use templates for business contracts  such as confidentiality agreements, Shareholder agreements, NDA’s, employment agreements etc, ready for Hong Kong or Singapore jurisdictions. These could reduce legal fees dramatically. Dragonlaw also does company incorporation and visas at very low fees.
If you need help finding a good law firm we are happy to provide recommendations if you advise the issue.
Co-working spaces
My favourite currently, if you are close to Chinatown, is Working Capitol, Keong Saik Road
FundingÂ
Ask me….
but really, too many to mention. And horses for courses. There are loans from fintechs, there are VCs, there are banks, there are family offices. Equity crowdfunding is not legally allowed yet in HK or Singapore.
Start up Choice / Entering the market ? Hong Kong or Singapore
As an aside, if you are entering Asia markets and are trying to decide between Hong Kong or Singapore the general consensus of opinion is that Hong Kong has a major advantage if you are looking to enter China at some point, but, and possibly as a result of that, Singapore government provides much more support to start-ups and SME entries including government financial support
Similar applies to holding companies – if you plan to do a lot of business with China, set it up in HK, but if plan working with Asean or wider choose Singapore – as HK does not have many double tax treaties. But seek advice, there may be differences depending on the type of industry you are in, and these things change all the time, eg
Good article on comparative advantages HK v SG
Have I missed anything (well clearly a lot so far…) but any additional category needed please contact us at cfo@cfocounsel.asia
SME News Asia
If you are interested in the support we can provide SMEs learn more at CFO Counsel Asia
Further reading :Â