Knowing when to pull the plug is crucial to living to fight another day: S’pore entrepreneurs

SINGAPORE - Knowing when to pull the plug is crucial to living to fight another day for an entrepreneur, as it helps to cut losses before they spiral out of control.

Business owners should also avoid jumping on every opportunity that comes along, without doing their research and assessing viability first.

These were some of the lessons local entrepreneurs shared from navigating a challenging operating environment during a panel discussion following CIMB’s launch of a new credit card targeted at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Speaking at Hilton Singapore Orchard on Sept 16, Mediacorp artiste Ben Yeo, who is also a food and beverage entrepreneur, said: “Don’t be too emotional. You just have to think what’s the best for your business and let it go if you have to.”

Mr Yeo owns several F&B establishments, such as fish soup stall Tan Xiang Sliced Fish Soup and wet market-themed kopitiam Tan Xiang Chai Chee in Chai Chee Lane.

Earlier in 2025, he had to make the decision to shutter high-end modern Chinese restaurant Tan Xiang Yuan after two years, as the venture was not making a profit, among other challenges.

Mr Ahmad Syarif, co-founder of F&B brands Chulop! and Boms & Buns, said a trait of a good entrepreneur is knowing when to exit a failing business.

He said he was having some cash-flow issues with a previous F&B venture specialising in grilled cheese sandwiches and desserts. He had to “pull the brake before the ship sank even further”.

Mr Yeo and Mr Syarif are no strangers to the challenges of running an F&B business, which could face day-to-day difficulties such as rising costs and finding the right labour.

Mr Syarif also cautioned against being too excited whenever an opportunity arises, having made that mistake before.

“When an opportunity arises, you have the excitement, which is very great because you have the tenacity and the fire… but the practicality, the logic has to be put in place,” he said.

“Find the ‘why’ more than the ‘what’. Why are you selling this? Why do you want to do this? Don’t be too engrossed with what you are selling, the service you are providing, that you forget the ‘why’,” he added.

For Ms Desleen Yeo, the founder and designer of fashion label YeoMama Batik, gut instinct plays a part in her exploration of business opportunities.

She said: “Sometimes, everything just seems perfect… but something in you is saying that something’s not right, and you cannot verbalise what that feeling or that thought is. And I’ll say, to always trust that feeling, be it in finding a new location, in hiring new staff. That feeling that founders have inside them is a very accurate instinct.”

But she added: “Of course, I don’t follow my gut instinct blindly. You still have to make a practical assessment, such as market fit, any potential risk and most importantly, realistically, what the team can handle at the moment.”

Even in challenging times, there are opportunities.

Both Mr Yeo and Ms Yeo are looking into expanding and plan to tap the new CIMB Founders Card, which offers features such as zero-interest cash flow for up to 114 days and zero foreign exchange fees, to fund their expansions.

Mr Yeo aims to grow Tan Xiang Sliced Fish Soup to 20 stalls by 2026.

When asked why he is opening new stalls, he said that while consumers tend to spend less and visit restaurants less frequently when times are bad, fish soup is an everyday, more affordable food option.

Mr Yeo told The Straits Times that he could tap CIMB’s card for funds to open a new stall, without having to meet tight repayment deadlines. “For small stalls like this, if your business is good, you can break even within three months.”

“The cash flow is the most important part of doing business. Without the cash flow, you can’t operate, even when you have a very great opportunity,” he added.

Ms Yeo noted that the economy is soft in 2025, which impacts retail sales. “We really have to keep ourselves afloat… see how we can drive sales. So we are a bit more cautious in our spending as well, because we don’t want to stretch the company too thin.”

She is expanding her retail footprint by exploring opportunities in shopping malls, complementing the brand’s online presence, its studio at Oxley Bizhub and prior pop-up ventures in Kuala Lumpur.

Ms Yeo might use the card to pay for some of the upfront costs related to opening a new store and focus on growing sales, while knowing that she has up to 114 days to repay.

“We, as a seasonal business, really go by the quarter and a peak period lasts three months, or 90 days. To have more than 90 days to repay, it means a lot,” said Ms Yeo.

The zero foreign exchange fees can also help her save costs when she buys supplies from overseas, such as fabrics from Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Mr Syarif opened three new outlets in 2025 and does not have immediate plans to open another one.

He plans to use the CIMB card for day-to-day needs such as printing packaging in bulk, so that he can lower his unit cost per packaging. “When you need that cash flow, you know you have it, and you know that you have that luxury or flexibility to ease you off a little bit,” he said.

CIMB said many SMEs face financing challenges due to irregular income patterns, limited credit histories and lack of collateral, making traditional loans hard to access. Business owners who are Singapore residents or Malaysians could qualify for the card with a minimum annual income of $30,000.

CIMB Singapore’s head of consumer banking and digital Merlyn Tsai said: “For sole proprietors and SME owners, what truly matters is financial flexibility and easy access to capital to support growth.”