To start the company, Lim invested an initial capital of S$80,000 from his own savings, adding that he does not come from a well-to do family. At first, he balanced running the company with his day job as a banker. Two years into the business, he decided to focus on Everyday Curtains full-time. “I asked myself what I truly wanted to do and I found it more fulfilling to solve a problem,” Lim said on the appeal of entrepreneurship.
Still, leaving the stable world of banking was a daunting decision. “In banking, everything is very structured. Your entire career is planned out for you,” the married father of a newborn reflected. “But in entrepreneurship, there are constant crises and problems to solve. There’s no rulebook to follow.”
INNOVATING IN A TRADITIONAL INDUSTRY
The curtains industry is a long-established one, and Lim admits that getting started was challenging – from sourcing the right suppliers to understanding the intricacies of curtain-making. “The older generation doesn’t readily share their knowledge, so you have to stay humble and ask the right questions,” Lim explained. Over time, however, they came to recognise his sincerity.
In a legacy industry, where incumbent players have been around for decades and innovation is often slow, Lim is determined to do things differently – particularly by introducing more environmentally conscious practices. “Depending on their composition, curtains can be difficult to recycle. Polyester, in particular, is especially hard to repurpose,” said Lim.
