Tan Studio Pte Ltd

Address: 4 Chiku Road
Singapore 429418

Contact: +65 6247 7558

Operating Hours: 10.00am – 8.00pm Daily

Leaping away from his previous trade of handphone sales after his National Service, Mr. Tan found himself in a pit hole where he had to learn everything from scratch if he were to start a business. Despite that, nothing could stop him from investing in his interest. “When I was younger, my dad used to have his own construction company,” he adds, “whatever we needed at home, he would do it by himself. That was where my interest started too – when I helped him out.”

That also led to the inception of Tan Studio Pte Ltd more than 2 years ago. Having just tied the knot at that time, Mr. Tan realised that if he wanted to take the risk to start his own business, he should not wait until a kid comes along. Hence, with the support of his family, he began small, getting customers mainly through referrals. Gradually, these days, customers also stream in from social media platforms and web portals.

In a service industry like interior design, establishing trust is crucial to long-term partnership. With Tan Studio, trust means not incurring additional costs to their clients. “For example, something like the door latch,” Mr. Tan elaborates, “if there is no need for our clients to get it from us, I will tell them to go and get it from Ikea and we will install it for them. It’d be way cheaper than if we were to do it for them.”

Even amidst hard times, Tan Studio continues to stick by this principle of transparency to honour the trust their clients have placed in them. “I have overheads, so there is a need to always have customers,” says Mr. Tan. “Thankfully, from day 1 until now, we are still doing okay.”

Moving towards expansion, Tan Studio is currently planning to take over another unit. This is also in line with Mr. Tan’s goal for Tan Studio to own their own commercial property in order to reduce overhead costs and allow for the establishment of a one-stop solution for customers, including both interior and exterior design. “I have roped my brother into the business, because. I am used to interior design, but my brother does the exterior, like exterior construction and painting, so I think it would be good to collaborate with him,” explains Mr. Tan. With many of his relatives in the construction and design trade, he also foresees further collaboration with them in time to come.

Individually, even as Mr. Tan enjoys the flexibility of being able to manage his own time in this line of work, he also realises that discipline is important. He strives towards providing the best welfare for his employees, noting the willingness of his employees to go the extra mile as evidence of his success. He treasures the mutual respect with his employees.

As a grounded person, Mr. Tan’s suggestion to young entrepreneurs is simply two words – “bite through.” He shares his own story: “There were times I wanted to throw in the towel over the past two years. But I decided to bite through and plan ahead, and in the end it turned out okay. No matter what hardships you are facing, you have to face it. There is no point avoiding the problem, because it will come back to haunt you later on.”