Some information on home-based businesses ... including home based baking businesses

HOME BASED SMALL SCALE BUSINESS SCHEME

Introduced in June 2003, the HDB Home Office Scheme is a government effort to nurture entrepreneurship. 

Owners or authorised occupiers or tenants can use their HDB flat or the living quarters of an HDB commercial-property address to register a business with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) as a home office.

Aside from registering with ACRA using your HDB address – you’d still need to seek approval from the HDB.

Apply at the Online Business Licensing Service website (https://licences.business.gov.sg). Approval is instant, if you meet the HDB’s conditions and your trade isn’t on the list of non-permissible businesses.

Examples of Home-based Activities that Can Be Allowed in Private and HDB Residential Premises

1. the resident who is at home doing office work using a computer, which is linked to the office main computer
2. the resident undertaking sewing work at home to supplement the household income
3. freelance artist/journalist/photographer/writer etc operating in his/her own home, without employing anyone and where business activities are not conducted within the premises
4. the resident baking cakes at home on a small scale for sale to his/her friends without turning the place into a bakery
5. the resident conducting private tuition for not more than 3 students at any one time
6. the resident undertaking hairdressing services to supplement household income, without employing any workers
7. the resident using a small part of the house for storage of goods which are for sale at the resident's own market stall, provided the storage does not exceed 10 cubic meter
8. the resident undertaking piecemeal work at his/her home from factory on work rate basis, to supplement household income.

Source:

https://www.ura.gov.sg/uol/guidelines/development-control/Home-Office-Scheme/Sections/FAQs/small-business-guidelines-for-setting-up-small-business-at-home.aspx

The Home Based Small Scale Business Scheme by HDB and URA allows residents to carry out activities in their HDB and private residential premises to supplement their income. Under this scheme, residents can prepare small quantities of food for sale to their friends and relatives without turning their residences into a commercial outlet. A licence is not required from NEA. Nonetheless, residents preparing food under the scheme can refer to these guidelines on good hygiene tips to adopt.

Good Food Hygiene Tips for residents preparing food under HDB/URA’s home-based

small scale business scheme

General

• The food prepared should be for friends and family only. Food should not be sold to

retail food outlets.

• All food preparation activities should be confined to the kitchen. Food should not be

prepared or stored in any other room including bedrooms and living rooms.

• Do not keep any pets (such as dogs, cats, etc.) that can roam freely in the house.

• Children and infants should not be allowed in the kitchen area during food

preparation.

• Do moderate your incoming orders and avoid taking orders of large quantity

• No commercial-grade cooking equipment should be installed. If you need more and

bigger equipment to accommodate to a larger number of clients, you should shift to a

proper food premises to operate. 

Source:

http://www.nea.gov.sg/public-health/food-hygiene

http://www.nea.gov.sg/docs/default-source/public-health/food-hygiene/guidelines.pdf

Chapter 6 - Setting up your Bazaar Business - So What?

So now you've read about Setting up your Bazaar Business...

Why?

Who?

What?

How?

Where?

We've come to... so what?

So what does it mean to you?

• For the risk loving,  increase in income derived from your business
• For risk adverse, you can offer to work part time for fixed rate income to bazaar entrepreneurs
• For the hobbyists/collectors - a chance for you to show off your collection, and join a community to make friends
• For artists providing caricature drawing, henna painting...etcetera a chance to show your skills and make some money 
• For parents who would like to impart to their children knowledge, experience, lessons in discipline, economics, and life skills...
• For consumer businesses, a cost-effective way to reach out to your existing and new customers...
• For aspiring entrepreneurs, do you have the willpower and discipline to execute your plans?
• ...etcetera

The above are just some points that we think, and feel. But ultimately the impact and effect does it have on YOU, is what you make it out to be. You will have questions that you need to find answers to, yourself.


There are so many 'so what' questions that will come into your minds.

We don't have all the answers for you, but we are sure all of us will be able to find answers to our own questions, solutions to overcome life's challenges.

Are you ready to test your business ideas?

Setting up your Bazaar Business - Chapter 5 - WHERE do you want to conduct your bazaar business?

Ok, so we had slacked off in our our blog after chapter 4 to focus on operating our fleas. And we think it's paying off .

But no worries, we'll eventually complete our series of 6 chapters, and you can have a complete read.

And oh yes, if you haven't had a copy of our ebook (published last year) on how to run a bazaarr business yet, just drop friends@tgifbazaars.com an email to request for it.


Chapter 5 - Where ?

There are so many venues you can sell your wares at, or organisers to sell with - just google for Bazaars and Flea Markets in Singapore and you'll get a list of them us.

There are venues with high existing organic footfall, and there are the venues with events-driven footfall (we call this event-centric bazaars), and there are the venues with potentially high footfall. Even then, we've seen merchants achieve ZERO sales because their products weren't suitable, particularly for events (unless you have a non-sales objective, which is usually marketing or branding).

We've also come across this term 'buying power' - which really is a spin from the term 'Purchasing Power' that industry folks use a lot.  So we always get a lot of questions on 'what's the buying power?'

If we could, we'd create an index and quote you that index (and if P = IV here, then the buying power would be quoted in watts).  The TRUTH is, you will never know until you try out that venue.

As entrepreneurs, you will have multiple objectives to accomplish - sales target, marketing, branding...etcetera and you will find that your business objectives will take turns being to top priority, and you're reacting

We know that - it's happening to us.  And being a small business ourselves we sometimes find ourselves in reactionary more than planning modes.

But make sure you have a master plan, and keep that your rotating priorities aligned to your master plan.

So, you've got to do a bit of homework yourselves before you decide where. Google's a good source of information, but we would encourage you to study the venue ahead of time!

And let's not forget the online arena.

You can sell your wares through social media such as carousell, shoppe, instagram create your own blogshop, or leverage online e-commerce platforms such as Ownashop,com, q100, shopify or other website cum e-commerce enabled platforms such as weebly, wix...etcetera.

And you got to understand the constraints you are working under, particularly the legal ones:

Know the Lemon Law / Consumer laws of Singapore
Know the NEA restrictions and guidelines (if you're selling food)
Know the HDB / URA Home Baker Scheme and who you can sell to (sell only to friends).


The successful entrepreneurs we know of adopt online / offline strategies and tactics to sell.
Online to generate demand, conduct pre-sales, and offline (participating in bazaars and flea markets) for transaction purposes and incremental exposure to physical human traffic.

Last but not least, work with a credible organiser.

See you in Chapter 6!

The Team

Setting up your Bazaar Business - Chapter 4 - HOW ? (Repost from Facebook)

First published : 13 March 2014 at 20:31

Chapter 4 – HOW?

A quick recap…

In chapter 1, you would have asked yourself WHY you would want to participate in a bazaar or flea market.

In chapter 2, you would have asked yourself WHO you want to sell your things to.

In chapter 3, you asked yourself WHAT do you want to sell?

In chapter 4, we will touch on HOW you would sell it.

All of us take on the role of shoppers when we walk or search around to buy things. Sometimes we buy an with objective, sometimes we buy on impulse, sometimes we just think it makes sense a complementary item to what you’ve just picked out.

How many times have you ended up buying things you don’t really need, and realized the only reason you went into the shop was because it was attractive?  What about those extra dozen pairs of socks the sales assistant convinced you to buy when you buy that pair of shoes?

That’s right, you’ve just discovered some of the tactics used to sell, and you fell for them unwittingly!

So here are some suggestions on HOW you can sell your wares. There are many ways but we will suggest 3.

First impression is important – the moment the shopper walks past your booth, it is inevitable that he or she will form an impression of your booth.  What this means to you:

 1. Your booth has to be attractive:

• Merchandise neatly and nicely displayed. It makes lot of sense for you use portable display racks, shelves, stands or mannequins, no clutter, no messy display
• You may source for battery operated LED lights or Christmas lights at Sim Lim Square or Tower (if your organizer is able to provide power points, then you might consider getting spot lights from IKEA. 
• Also consider using a black velvet cloth to overlay the table, and shine a spotlight on it (can be yellow or warm white) – it will enhance the classiness of your products.
• If you have a power point, do consider playing some music, that will help attract

2. Friendly body language:

• No one appreciates a long and sullen looking face – it sends a negative signal that you are in a bad mood and do not welcome the shoppers’ presence.  We have a recent experience where we visited a flea market and the shopkeeper was wearing this frown.  She had a good range of t-shirts with wonderful designs, but unfortunately her body language had turned potential customers away.  She probably didn’t realize it herself, but it already did damage.
• Thus it is imperative to have a friendly body language when you are convincing people why they should spend their money with you.  Start by wearing a smile, and you can follow up by dressing attractively (some Facebook pages of flea market organisers are filled with eye candy for both male and female followers.
• Make your customers feel you are engaging them instead of attending to their queries. Chat with them to find out more about them – you might get some useful clues, such as they could be shopping for a gift, for themselves, what their purchasing power is like. Suggest complementary products: for example if you are selling necklaces, you might want to suggest matching bracelets to go along. If you happen to run of stock but you KNOW have stock of the items they want but they’re in your storeroom somewhere, get hold of their contact numbers or email address to follow up.
• Also remember never to lose your cool. The customer may not always be right but they are the ones who are going to put pocket in your money. So no matter how irritating they can seem to be, never ever lose your cool with them
• Dress well

 3. Personal brand

• What is your personal brand?  Simply put, it is how you project your identity to those around you. You could be known as the class joker, or the class philosopher back in school… etc. Why not extend your personal  brand into your business? Brand your business with a catchy name that reflects your personality – e.g. ‘The Clown’s Den’ or ‘Cynical Creations’ or maybe ‘The Perfectionist’.
• This would allow you to be better known by your customers, suppliers and fellow entrepreneurs

The above are some proven and tested ways that some of our most successful vendors have used. We hope that you can invest some time and efforts to develop your own unique style of selling.

In Chapter 5, we will share some thoughts on WHERE you want to do it, and chapter 6, SO WHAT?

An original article by TGIF Bazaars

Setting up your Bazaar Business - Chapter 3 WHAT (do you want to sell) ? (Repost from Facebook)

First published : 26 February 2014 at 21:11

In Chapter 1, we explored some of the reasons WHY you want to set up a bazaar business.

Namely;

a)       Get rid of things that take up storage space, such as:
b)       Try out Entrepreneurship
c)       Strengthen your business
d)       Sell and showcase your artisan crafts and products
e)       Test market a new product you are launching
f)        Educate your children
g)       To raise funds for your cause

In Chapter 2, we explored some of the thinking behind WHO do you want to sell to?

Some examples:

• Families with kids
• Teenagers (14 to 18)
• Young adults (21 and above)
• Middle agers
• Courting or married couples without kids
• Single professionals
• Hobbyists such as toy collectors
• Ladies

This chapter we shall think about ‘What’ do you want to sell?

First and foremost, every bazaar and flea market organizer in Singapore has a wish-list for their merchandise mix. Some organizers are very strict in their curating, some are more liberal, and others are... ah well you can basically send anything you want to.

But, really … do you? Can you?

ONE)

First, you need to be sure that what you are selling is permitted by the authorities – please do a google search, and you’d also be as surprised as us! You actually need a permit from the police to sell some 2nd hand goods.

http://www.spf.gov.sg/licence/frameset_SD.html


SECONDHAND GOODS DEALERS

Regulation of Secondhand Goods Dealers
 1. Under the Secondhand Goods Dealers Act, Cap 288A, all dealers, excluding pawnbrokers who are licensed under the Pawnbrokers’ Act, who deal in the following secondhand goods (henceforth referred to as “scheduled goods”) would be regulated, regardless of whether such dealing takes place at a shopfront, via a makeshift stall or over the Internet:

1. Cameras, video-graphic and photographic equipment including lenses;
2. Computers including Tablet Personal Computers, Laptops, Palmtops, Personal Digital Assistants and computer accessories;
3. Handphones, Personal Digital Assistant Handphones and Smartphones;
4. Compact Disc players and Moving Picture Experts Group-1 Audio Layer 3 players and Moving Picture Experts Group-1 Audio Layer 4 players;
5. Jewellery set with precious stones including but not limited to diamonds, jade, rubies, sapphires and emeralds;
6. Jewellery made from platinum, gold and white gold without precious stones;
7. Pawn tickets;
8. Watches;
9. Cables and wires made of copper;
10. Items (in whole or parts) that are made of copper, stainless steel, aluminium, steel or brass or a composite of such metals, and that are used or intended to be used as fittings or installations that form part of, or are attached to, any building, road, sidewalk, amenity or other place (whether public or private), including but not limited to the following:
    1. bicycle racks;
    2. drain covers;
    3. dry risers;
    4. earth bars;
    5. fencings;
    6. frames or other parts of a door or window;
    7. grills;
    8. hydrants;
    9. lightning conductors;
    10. manhole covers;
    11. meters;
    12. over-ground boxes;
    13. park benches;
    14. pipes;
    15. railings;
    16. rubbish bins or parts thereof;
    17. signs or signposts;
    18. sinks;
    19. television aerials; or
    20. water taps; or
    21. Scraps of copper, stainless steel, aluminium, steel or brass or any composite of such metals, whether in the form of bars, rods, sheets, turnings or parts of disassembled items or articles, or otherwise, but excluding scraps derived from drink cans or household utensils or articles.

2. Dealers who do not deal in any of the above scheduled goods will not be regulated under the Secondhand Goods Dealers Act.
Privacy Statement       Terms and Conditions
 COPYRIGHT © 2006 SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

As you can see, pre-loved clothes and handbags are not in the list, (that explains why we see a lot of these being sold at flea markets and bazaars :-)  ).

TWO)

Items that infringe on copyright and trademarks

http://bit.ly/1euFJqe

A.      What is copyright?

1. What is protected by copyright?
2. What is not protected by copyright?
3. Copyright and registered designs
4. Rights of a copyright owner
5. Term of protection
6. Legislation governing copyright

Copyright protects works like novels, computer programmes, plays, sheet music and paintings. Generally, the author of a copyright work has the right to reproduce, publish, perform, communicate and adapt his work. These exclusive rights form the bundle of rights that we call copyright and enable the owner to control the commercial exploitation of his work.

What is protected by copyright?
Copyright protects the expression of ideas (e.g. words and illustrations). Ideas alone are not protected.
The following may be protected under copyright law:

• Literary works (e.g., written works, source codes of computer programs)
• Dramatic works (e.g.,. scripts for films and dramas)
• Musical works (e.g., melodies)
• Artistic works (e.g., paintings, photographs)
• Published editions of the above works
• Sound recordings
• Films
• Television and radio broadcasts
• Cable programmes
• Performances

What is not protected by copyright?
Subject matter not protected by copyright include:

• Ideas or concepts
• Discoveries
• Procedures
• Methods
• Works or other subject matter that have not be made in a tangible form in a recording or writing
• Subject matter that is not of original authorship

Copyright and registered designs
When an artistic work, such as a drawing or a sculpture, is applied to a product and industrially produced (i.e. more than 50 copies of the products are produced), the copyright protection will no longer cover that artistic work. It may be protected as a registered design under the Registered Designs Act (Cap. 266), if the registration criteria are met.
For more information on registered design and its registration criteria, please see Registered Designs.

Rights of a copyright owner

Literary, dramatic and musical works

Authors enjoy the exclusive rights to:

• reproduce the work;
• publish the work;
• perform the work in public;
• communicate the work to the public; and
• make an adaptation of the work.

Artistic works
Artists enjoy the exclusive right to:

• reproduce the work;
• publish the work; and
• communicate the work to the public.

Published editions of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works
The publisher has the exclusive right to make a reproduction of the edition.
Sound recordings
The producer of a sound recording enjoys the exclusive rights to:

• make a copy of the sound recording;
• rent out the sound recording;
• publish the sound recording if it is unpublished; and
• make available to the public a sound recording by means or as part of a digital audio transmission.*

* Where the sound recording is made available to the public through a non-interactive digital audio transmission, the producer of the recording shall be entitled to equitable remuneration. This remuneration can be agreed between the parties or determined by the Copyright Tribunal.

Films
The producer of a film enjoys the exclusive rights to:

• make a copy of the film;
• cause the film to be seen in public; and
• communicate the film to the public.

Television and radio broadcasts
The broadcaster enjoys the exclusive rights to:

• make a recording of the broadcast;
• rebroadcast;
• communicate the broadcast to the public; and
• cause the broadcast to be seen or heard by a paying audience.

Cable programmes
The producer of the cable programme enjoys the exclusive rights to:

• make a recording of the cable programme;
• communicate the cable programme to the public; and
• cause the cable programme to be seen or heard by a paying audience.

Performances
The performer has the right to authorise the following uses:

• allow the performance to be seen and heard, or seen or heard, live in public;
• make a direct or indirect sound recording of his live performance;
• make available a recording of the performance to the public in such a way that the recording may be accessed by any person from a place and at a time chosen by him;
• sell, rent, offer for sale, distribute or import such recordings for these purposes;
• publish a recording of a performance (if not previously published); and
• communication of the live performance to the public (including broadcasting, internet dissemination and inclusion of the performance in a cable programme).

"Communicate" means to transmit by electronic means a work or other subject matter, whether or not it is sent in response to a request, and includes:

1. broadcasting;
2. inclusion in a cable programme; and
3. the making available of the work or other subject matter in such a way that the work or subject matter may be accessed by any person from a place and at a time chosen by him (e.g. access over the internet).

Term of protection
The duration varies according to the type of copyright work concerned.

Literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works
70 years from the end of the year in which the author died.
If the work is published after the death of the author, it lasts for 70 years, from the end of the year in which the work was first published.

Published editions of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works (layout)
25 years from the end of the year in which the edition was first published.

Sound recordings and films
70 years from the end of the year in which the sound recording or film was first published.

Broadcasts and cable programmes
50 years from the end of the year of making the broadcast or cable programme.

Performances
70 years from the end of the year of the performance.


Legislation governing copyright

The Copyright Act (Cap. 63) and its subsidiary legislation form the legislation governing copyright law in Singapore.
The latest legislation updates can be viewed here.
Questions? Write to us at ipos_ced@ipos.gov.sg
Last updated on 30-Dec-2013

B. What is Trademark Infringement?

http://bit.ly/1k7WPCd
Meaning of infringing goods, material or articles and counterfeit goods or trade mark

3.  —(1)  For the purposes of this Act —
(a) “infringing goods”, “infringing material” and “infringing articles” shall be construed in accordance with subsections (2), (3)and (4), respectively; and
(b) “counterfeit goods” and “counterfeit trade mark” shall be construed in accordance with subsections (5) and (6), respectively.

[20/2004]

(2)  Goods are “infringing goods”, in relation to a registered trade mark, if they or their packaging bears a sign identical with or similar to that mark and —

(a) the application of the sign to the goods or their packaging was an infringement of the registered trade mark;
(b) the goods are proposed to be imported into Singapore and the application of the sign in Singapore to them or their packaging would be an infringement of the registered trade mark; or
(c) the sign has otherwise been used in relation to the goods in such a way as to infringe the registered trade mark.

(3)  Material is “infringing material”, in relation to a registered trade mark, if it bears a sign identical with or similar to that mark and either —
(a) it is used for labelling or packaging goods, as a business paper, or for advertising goods or services, in such a way as to infringe the registered trade mark; or
(b) it is intended to be so used and such use would infringe the registered trade mark.

(4)  “Infringing articles”, in relation to a registered trade mark, means articles —
(a) which are used for making copies of a sign identical with or similar to that mark; and
(b) which a person has in his possession, custody or control, knowing or having reason to believe that they have been or are to be used to produce infringing goods or material.
[20/2004]
(5)  Goods are “counterfeit goods”, in relation to a registered trade mark, if —
(a) they are infringing goods in relation to that mark; and
(b) the sign borne by them or their packaging is a counterfeit trade mark.
[20/2004]

(6)  A sign is a “counterfeit trade mark”, in relation to a registered trade mark, if the sign —
(a) is identical with or so nearly resembling the registered trade mark as to be calculated to deceive; and
(b) is applied to goods or services —
(i) without the express or implied consent (conditional or otherwise) of the proprietor of the registered trade mark;     and
(ii) to falsely represent the goods or services to be the genuine goods or actual services of the proprietor or a      licensee of the registered trade mark.
[UK Trade Marks Act 1994, s. 17]

THREE)

Edible items

If you wish to sell food items at bazaars and flea markets in Singapore, please check with the respective organisers on the items you wish to sell. Any good organiser will would be able to advise you accordingly, for they would have to first acquire the right permits and licensing for their event to have food for sale.

Food safety in Singapore is governed by the National Environmental Agency (NEA) and the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA)

1. The AVA is the authority that covers food importation into Singapore. If you are in the business of importing foodstuff to distribute in Singapore you would be very familiar with the requirements:  http://bit.ly/1hQLtlP
2. If you are in the business of making foodstuff for sale, take note: http://bit.ly/1dwVptf
3. If you are in the business of selling foodstuff at the bazaar, it would be to your advantage to know that your supplier is licensed to supply with you foodstuff that is safe, and the delicious snacks and ice cream they produced have been subject to both the AVA and NEA’s approval

1. It is also good for consumers to know that the foodstuff they buy from you are also subject to: http://bit.ly/1hwvC7H

Four)

Market consideration

Last but not least, A FEW IMPORTANT question you MUST ask yourself running a bazaar booth business:

Do I want to sell what I want to sell, or do I want to sell what people want to buy?
Do people want to buy what I am selling at prices that they are willing to pay, and I am willing to sell at?
Do the nature of my products allow for repeated sales to the same customers?
Do I want to compete with other vendors or are there ways for us to help one another out?
Do the bazaars have good organisers who can help me succeed in my business?
Am I willing to invest effort, time and resources to make my bazaar business a success?



In Chapter 4, we will share some thoughts on ‘How’ do you want to sell your wares?

Stay tuned!

An original article by TGIF Bazaars

Setting up your Bazaar Business - Chapter 2 - WHO? (Repost from Facebook)

First published: 16 February 2014 at 16:21

Chapter 2

In Chapter 1, we explored some of the reasons WHY you want to set up a bazaar business.

Namely;

a)       Get rid of things that take up storage space, such as:
b)       Try out Entrepreneurship
c)       Strengthen your business
d)       Sell and showcase your artisan crafts and products
e)       Test market a new product you are launching
f)        Educate your children
g)       To raise funds for your cause

Some other out of the box reasons could be that you’re a large corporation looking to expand brand presence through corporate sponsorship of our bazaar… for that you may write to us separately 8)

The next question to ask yourself after discovering your own answers to WHY, is to ask yourself…

2. WHO do you want to sell your things to?

The most common answers we received are: ‘To anyone who wants to buy.’  True.  We totally agree, but would like to offer our point of view that our vendors’ approaches can be more strategic and targeted.

Visualize this:

You have a booth in a flea market or bazaar that has fantastic human traffic. You see a lot of people walking around and browsing but nobody seems to be buying from your booth.  You see your neighboring booths making endless transactions.  You look at them and ponder what the secrets to their success are?

As you carry on observing them, the first thing you notice is that a lot of yuppie-looking couples huddling around the booths and the chatter you hear from them are questions regarding the products. As you study your neighbor’s products you realize that they are selling products for pet dogs.

And you also hear the vendor talking about their blogshop or online shop in between the chatters.

And then suddenly you realize that the yuppies are actually your neighbour’s blog shop followers or customers, who have come to visit the vendor at the bazaar to feel and see for themselves the line of products for their pet dogs.

You realize that the amount of time your neighbor spends at the bazaar has a greater return for him.

What was it that your neighbor knew that you did not?

Your neighbor knew the persona of the customers he was selling to. He understood his target audience well enough so that helped him to more effectively.

His target audience is yuppies, aged probably around 25 to 35, with good spending power, probably has at least a pet dog or two in the family, and willing to travel within Singapore to visit his booth to buy his products.

So Who are you selling to?


Some examples:

• Families with kids
• Teenagers (14 to 18)
• Young adults (21 and above)
• Middle agers
• Courting or married couples without kids
• Single professionals
• Hobbyists such as toy collectors
• Ladies
• ...etc

You will need to do some research and observation yourself (e.g. population demographics, economic performance of Singapore, and salary surveys or purchasing power) to help you make a more targeted approach.

In some flea markets or bazaars, the organiser would have already provided some idea of the operating environment.

However, having made informed strategies and decisions do not guarantee you days of great sales - there other many other factors involved, and in the end it all boils down to the shoppers decision making process.



In chapter 3, we will explore ‘What’ do you want to sell?


An original article by TGIF Bazaars.
Please feel free to ‘like and share’, add us to your favorites, and check back with us often for updates!

Setting up your Bazaar Business - Chapter 1 - WHY? (Repost from Facebook)

First published : 12 February 2014 at 18:12

Chapter 1 – Why ?

If you think you’ve understood what a bazaar or flea market is, and developed an interest in participating in one, then read on…

The first few questions we think you should ask yourselves and find out answers to if you want to start a bazaar booth business are:

1) WHY do you want to do it?

The most obvious bottom-line answer from famous internet search engines, and often propagated by flea market organizers is ‘because you have something to sell’.   But of course!

The real question to find an answer to is really:  What are your objectives that you want to achieve?

Some of the answers could be:

a)       To get rid of things that take up storage space, such as:

1. Your old clothes that are still in good condition
2. Gifts you received but couldn’t find a use for them
3. Excess souvenirs you bought for friends during your overseas trips

b)       To give Entrepreneurship a go!

1. Perhaps you’re looking at a switch from being full time employee to becoming an entrepreneur;
2. Or a full time home maker looking at ways to monetize some of your free time;

c)       “What do you mean by my objectives? I do this for a living!”

1. You could be an online / blogshop owner who sees the bazaar as being a perfect complement to your online platform;
2. Or perhaps you be following and participating in roadshows, flea markets, bazaars on a full time basis as your occupation

d)       To sell and showcase your artisan crafts and products

1. You have unique handmade crafts that are best introduced to the market through a bazaar environment

e)       To test market a new product you are launching

1. You are a corporation and have new products that you wish to test at low cost before you invest further into producing them
2. You would like to conduct consumer research
3. You have products that are ready to go to market and bazaars is the most appropriate sales channel

 f)        To educate your children

1. You are parents and want to show the ropes of entrepreneurship to your young children and equip them with useful life skills

g)       To raise funds for your cause

1. You are a VWO or social enterprise and wish to raise funds for your cause by selling things

So you see, there can be many reasons why anyone would want to sell things in a bazaar!

Thus the VERY VERY first question you should ask yourself really is ‘What are my objectives of taking part in a bazaar?’

Once you have discovered the answer for yourself and you will probably some time and so some soul searching to ponder over this, then get ready and move on to chapter 2,  which will be released in due time.

So what are YOUR reasons?

 An original article by TGIF Bazaars.
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Setting up your own Bazaar Business - Preface: What is a bazaar and how is it different from a flea market? (Repost from Facebook)

First published: 10 February 2014 at 23:15

What is a bazaar and how is it different from a flea market ?

(Before you read on, you will get a million and one answers when you search for this online, but here’s our point of view).

Fundamentally, they are the same as both the bazaar and flea market are physical spaces where buyers transact and interact with sellers.

The principle of buyers-transacting-with-sellers is also identical to that of retail malls, shopping centres, supermarkets, markets or shops - the seller offers a product or service in exchange for money

Some buyers pay in cash, other pay with credit or debit cards.

In today’s world, buying and selling can also take place online – that’s another whole school of thought and literature behind it  – BUT, there are some things that keep people going back to malls and shops : (depending on the product) shoppers still want to look, feel, smell or taste the merchandise before they decide to buy.

There are also many other reasons behind why people want to sell online – lower cost of business, global reach of target audience, convenient as it can be home-based, orders can be received 24 hours… Certainly, we can save this discussion for another time.

So ultimately what makes each of the above physical spaces unique from one another is theonsite experience – what people (both buyers and sellers) hear, feel, see, smell, feel, think and DO!

Thus this heavily influenced by many factors such as:

• Environment – ambience, look and feel of the place, how it is set up;
• Product display – whether they are attractively displayed ;
• Overall offerings such as merchandise, activity, recreational mixes to the shopper;
• last but not least, human factors such as the mood and personalities of the people

Some sources on the internet would say that the origins of flea markets are where you can find treasures amongst clothes infested with fleas (hence the term flea market), and other used, unwanted thrashed items.

The modern day flea market (Sungei road excluded) however, has evolved to also include artisan handicrafts, collectible items, bags, cheap costume jewellery, fashion and accessories…to name a few.  Good quality pre-loved items can also be found at such fleas.

So what makes a bazaar different from a flea market in Singapore?

The simplest answer really is :  it is firstly the overall experience and secondly, the merchandise mix.

Experience this for yourselves 8)







An original article by TGIF Bazaars

Bad times ahead? Start a small business!

There are so many reports that winter is coming, metaphorically speaking.

For those who are employed, you may be worrying about job security.

For those who are newly unemployed, you may have challenges finding new jobs.

For those who are skeptical about online internet marketing schemes or direct sales rewards schemes that require you to have a minimum spend per month, you have every reason to be so.

Why not start your own, back to basics small business?

Buy and sell at flea markets!

All you need is :

a. To be a Singapore Citizen or PR
b. Be owner of a Singapore Registered Business

Be familiar with internet search engines, such as google, bing! etc..

And you're ready to rock and roll!

What can you sell?

- Preloved clothes that you don't use any more, but still in good condition.
- Stuff that you can make and sell
- Stuff that you buy, add value, and then sell at a profit
- ... possibilities are limited only by imagination and policies (ahem!).

Be adventurous... start googling for 'bazaars' or 'flea markets' in Singapore to check out the bustling scene!

The Future of Us Exhibition

It's about 100 days since we started running our snacks kiosks at The Future Of Us Exhibition, that incidentally is the grand finale to the #SG50 celebrations.

We're honoured to have been part of the opening at the Marina Bay Countdown 2015 that welcomed SG50, and the closing at The Future of Us Exhibition at Gardens By the Bay.

'Singapore Snacks' at The Future of Us was a steep learning curve for us. We had thought it was easy to put together food kiosks that had to meet certain socio-cultural, requirements and also our profit objective.

We were wrong.

The brainstorming (occasionally known as fantasizing) part is easy. Procurement, signing contracts with suppliers for this 100 day event is easy. The most difficult part is the human factor.

Human factors include ourselves, our staff, people we work with, our customers and also their customers. We've had to deal with both internal and external complaints and feedback, not to mention our own energy levels during the lull periods. We've also had to deal with gaps in both internal and external communications - this happens when there are many people involved..

'You say, I say, who confirm? So don't do...'


It was a struggle - our team had to drag ourselves to work every day and put on happy faces when we sell ice-cream, hot dogs, curry puffs, steam corn kernels,drinks and buns. The only days when we took time off was when we were not in the right physical state to handle food for sales.


Thankfully, all this will come to an end tomorrow, as we see the light at the end of the tunnel (hooray!)


Secretly, we're patting ourselves on our back. After all, we did survive this 100 day event, whilst running our regular weekend, fortnight, and other special editions, and even managed to negotiate for maybe a couple of new sites, revamped our website, restructured our business and create new partnerships.

And we've become pretty good at running a hot dog stand too! ;)