Category Archives: Singapore

Singapore’s Ikeda Spa Chooses PayrollHero

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Ikeda Spa Singapore

Singapore’s first Japanese day spa, Ikeda Spa has moved their time, attendance and payroll needs to PayrollHero’s Singapore payroll platform. Co-founder Eric Tan said “I choose PayrollHero for my spa chain as I have stores across Singapore and I was in need of a complete, end to end solution that not only helped manage my time and attendance but my payroll. PayrollHero’s tool was exactly what I need. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to other business owners in Singapore”.

PayrollHero’s platform is built with specific tools for multi-location restaurant and retail chains like Ikeda Spa. Want to learn more? Reach out anytime.

16 Entrepreneur Interviews for you to Learn How To Do Business in S.E. Asia

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southeast asia entrepreneur advice

BPO

BPO Executive: Stefan Vermeulen, CEO of D&V Philippines

Executive Interview: Horst von Wendorff from VKWInc.com

Executive Interview: Nicholas Sinclair, President of the Outsourced Accountant

Certified Profile: Clare Matchett, ServiceSeeking Manila

Executive Interview: Simon Meers, Managing Director, Wint & Kidd Inc (Philippines)

Restaurant

Restaurant Executive: Karla Campos, CEO of Dell’s Foodhall

Restaurant / Retail Executive: Claudine Chan-Cobankiat, Kichitora of Tokyo and Qrius

Executive Interview: Russell Yu, IKI Concepts – a Singapore restauranteur talks about bringing his brands into the Philippines and is unique take on attracting talent.

Restaurant Executive: Adrien Desbaillets, President SaladStop! – a Singapore chain talks about opening in the Philippines and his restaurant expansion.

Restaurant Executive: Andrew Masigan, The Advent Manila Hospitality Group – a Philippine restauranteur talks about his experience growing restaurants in Manila.

Carlo Buenaflor, the CEO of Bigg’s, Inc. Carlo operates 15 restaurants in the Bicol area of the Philippines and is the honorary consul of Spain in the Bicol Region of the Philippines.

Retail

Joey Qua, CEO, Collezione-c2.com with 25 branches nationwide and a growing restaurant business.

Eileen Grey, The Picture Company a 9 location retail chain in the Philippines

General

Executive Interview: Rob Nixon, CEO & Founder of PANALITIX

Executive Interview: Mike O’Hagan of Mike’s Manila Tours

David Elefant: Doing Business in the Philippines

Carlos Celdran on the Philippine Business Environment

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Watch Our Singapore Payroll In Action

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Would you like to see our Singapore payroll platform run a payroll? Rohit in our Singapore office put together a quick video to show you how easy it is to run a payroll for your Singapore based business. Check it out below:

Want to learn more about our Singapore payroll platform? Reach out and one of our team would be pleased to get on a call with you to discuss your needs.

Deepavali | Singapore Holiday

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Singapore Holidays

“Diwali or Divali (also known as Deepavali, Tihar and the “festival of lights“) is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in autumn every year.[5][6] The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness.[7][8][9] The festival preparations and rituals typically extend over a five-day period, but the main festival night of Diwali coincides with the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika. In the Gregorian calendar, Diwali falls between mid-October and mid-November.” *wikipedia

 

Hari Raya Haji | Singapore Holiday

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Singapore Holiday

“Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى‎ ʿīd al-aḍḥā [ʕiːd ælˈʔɑdˤħæ] meaning “Festival of the sacrifice”), also called the Feast of the Sacrifice (Turkish: Kurban Bayramı; Bosnian: Kurban Bajram; Persian: عید قربان‎, Eid-e qorban), the “Major Festival”,[1] the “Greater Eid“, Baqr’Eid (Urdu: بقر عید‎), or Tabaski (West Africa), is the second of two religious holidays celebrated by Muslimsworldwide each year. It honors the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his promised son, Ishmael (Ismail)a, as an act of submission to God’s command, before God then intervened, through His angel Gabriel (Jibra’il) and informs him that his sacrifice has already been accepted. The meat from the sacrificed animal is preferred to be divided into three parts. The family retains one third of the share; another third is given to relatives, friends and neighbors; and the remaining third is given to the poor and needy.” *wikipedia

 

Changes to Singapore Employment Act – Issue Itemised Payslips and Key Employment Terms to Employees

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As we noted back in April, Singapore will be requiring all employees to issue itemised payslips to all employees by April 2016.

From Singapore Ministry of Manpower:

  1. From 1st April 2016, employers will be required to issue itemised payslips and Key Employment Terms (KETs) to their employees. This will enable employees to better understand their regular salary components, as well as employment terms and benefits. This will also help employers prevent misunderstandings and minimise disputes at the workplace. For more details on the requirements,  you may refer to www.mom.gov.sg/ea-amendments.
  2. Employers can find resources and guidance to help them implement the changes here:  http://www.mom.gov.sg/ea-assistance.

Singapore Payslips Singapore Payslips

Changi’s Terminal 4: A Traveler’s Escapade

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singapore airport restaurantsSingapore’s Changi Airport is building its fourth terminal which is scheduled to open in 2017. Terminal 4, now 70% complete, will see 16 million passengers through the year. That’s an estimated total of 82 million passengers once T4 operates in full swing. We are super excited to see what Changi has in store for us, considering Terminals 1-3 have movie theaters, a butterfly garden, a 4 storey tall slide (a.k.a the tallest slide in Singapore) and who knows what else.

T4 will be a two storey building and 190, 000 square meters: the size of around 27 football pitches. This S$1.82 billion project is not just exciting for passengers. It is a massive opportunity for retailers and F&B outlets as well. With 17,000 square meters floor space devoted solely towards retail, there is plenty to look forward to. Changi has announced that the retail space will offer the most innovative design, offering customers a differentiated shopping experience.

In fact, everything about Terminal 4 is about giving commuters an enhanced experience at the airport. It starts with increasing productivity through its FAST@Changi concept. Fast And Seamless Travel (FAST) will reduce the need for manpower and increase the speed of check-in and immigration procedures. To facilitate this, Changi will have self check-in, self baggage tagging and automated baggage drop terminals. Facial recognition and biometric technology will reduce the number of security guards employed for manual visual checks at multiple checkpoints. If we haven’t said it enough before, here is another example of how technology is reducing the need for labour, saving time and money, all in one go.

Imagine entering an airport and walking straight to your gate without having to constantly pull out your boarding pass and passport to clear security checkpoints. Or if you’re anything like me, imagine all the extra time you’ve now got at duty free stores because you took just a couple of minutes checking in!

This is exactly what retail and F&B outlets are looking forward to. The FAST concept gets 16 million passengers through the doors of Terminal 4. It also gives these passengers more time on the retail floor to shop and dine. While designing the new concept, Changi switched on its ridiculously client focused side and implemented recommendations from the public on the theme. The design shows off Singapore’s local culture and heritage. The Peranakan-inspired storefront facades are just an example of what the walk – through concept at T4 will look like.

With a year and a half left till T4 opens, we know the retail space is dedicated to 80 outlets. It is still too early to tell which brands will be occupying the space. The amount of traffic that these stores will face in the initial period depends on the number of airlines that T4 will service. Changi has announced 6 airlines that will have access to T4: Cathay Pacific, AirAsia Berhad, Thai AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia, Vietnam Airlines and Korean Air. In the year 2014, these 6 airlines added a total of 7 million passengers to the airport. A few more airlines will join these 6, resulting in an estimated 10 million passengers in the first year of operations. We’re looking forward to more updates on T4 and will keep you updated about the retail and F&B world inside T4!

Recap: Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce SME Conference

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I had the honour to speak at the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce event the other day at Suntec City in the heart of Singapore. This annual event organized by the chamber is the largest conference for SMEs with over 5000 registered attendees.

Singapore Chinese Chamber of CommerceThe theme for the conference was “The new SME. Think Creatively. Act Innovatively”. The concept was all about helping Singapore’s small and medium enterprises think outside the box when it comes to their challenges. Singapore’s SME sector has challenges around finding and retaining talent, growing outside the country and using technology to take businesses to the next level.

The session I was a part of was broken down with four speakers and then a panel session with a question and answer period moderated by Mr. Stephen Lim the CEO of SQL View and involving questions from the audience.

The first speaker up was Dr. Christopher Holmes, the Managing Director of IDC Insights Asia Pacific. Christopher opened the day with his talk titled “Digitization: Disruptor and Transformer” that included stats about where SMEs are going and how technology is changing the face of business.

Next up was Jenny Jang, the Manager of International Business Development for Jiransoft. Jenny’s talk, “Internet of Things, Jiransoft’s Perspective” was all about the internet of things and how devices are getting smarter and smarter. Interestingly, her slides predicted that we are all on our way to carrying around 7 connected smart devices. (think Apple Watch, iPhone, Kindle, Laptop, etc)

Unlocking value through an Innovation EcosystemI was up next with the simple task of telling my story. Myself and my business partner Michael Stephenson has been in business together since 2000 and our journey has seen us start four businesses, selling two of them and brought us to the Philippines, Singapore and into the payroll space. The point of my story was to showcase how thinking outside the box can push you on unexpected journeys and I included a bit about my wife’s accidental business and how she has embraced change.

Wrapping up the speaking section of the day was Mr. Law Chee Keong, Director for Apigee. Chee Keong’s talk, titled “Unlocking value through an Innovation Ecosystem” wrapped up the 3 previous talks with more stats about the future, how the internet of things would continue to change our lives and how SMEs can and need to think about what their businesses will look like in the future.

To wrap up, Stephen Lim, myself and the three other speakers sat down on the stage to take some questions and chat about SMEs.

The day finished off with a VIP dinner at the Singapore flyer hosted by the owner of the flyer, Mr. Wu Hsioh Kwang and the President of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commence Mr. Thomas Chua Kee Seng. As part of the dinner, we were treated to a showing of 47 Hill Street, “a show that brings SCCCI history to life, a true reflection on Singapore’s history”. It is worth checking out and gives some great background on the founding of Singapore and the chamber.

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How Technology is Disrupting Traditional Wait Staff

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shin minoriWe recently did a post on restaurant technology in Singapore where we spoke about how restaurants are adopting technology to deal with the labour crunch. Apps like TradeGecko are helping companies manage inventory, Chope automates the concept of reserving tables and Perx is redefining loyalty cards in the form of an app. Restaurants like Shin Minori and Coastes are adapting to the changing environment by using electronic menus instead of waiters who take orders from customers.

Shin Minori

This restaurant, known for its Japanese buffet, introduced its eMenu in August 2014. Tablets on every table allow customers to order sushi dishes from the buffet. The idea was to reduce waiting time for dishes. emenu__1438286009_50.140.175.122On a busy day, this is especially helpful because no time is wasted on waiters who are busy with other tables. Customers can order as they please and take their time deciding what they want to eat. By using eMenus, the restaurant has reduced labour costs by keeping only food runners to serve food.

Shin Minori also used the introduction of their new eMenus along with a brand new ala-carte buffet menu as marketing tools to rope in customers. And it worked. Food bloggers who reviewed Shin Minori were impressed with the ease of ordering and even mentioned the eMenus on their blogs.

IMG_2609Coastes

Coastes, another restaurant in Singapore, has taken ordering food to the next level. With a neat app, that runs on both Android and iOS, customers can log in their credit card details and order food. Cashless payment options remove the hassle of waiters running back and forth with checks. Only food runners are required to deliver food to customers. The entire system is faster, simpler and more cost efficient.

Coastes and Shin Minori are a few among many restaurants that are bringing down costs by installing electronic menus. Fish and Co is another restaurant chain across Singapore that uses iPads on every table so that customers can order food instantly.

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