How I Started A Business In Myanmar At Age 23

At age 23, Jeshua Soh, founder of J Rental Centre and Startup Media, got the idea to set up a third business—one that would be based in Myanmar and tap on the resources of Myanmar. Despite being a foreigner in the country, he pushed past language and geographical barriers and got it done within the year. We sat him down, picked his brain and found out how.

Q: Hello again, Jeshua! Now that we’ve heard all about the business you started at age 19, tell us more about the other one you started in Myanmar. What’s that business about? 

A: Crossworks is a staffing, HR and office space solution in Yangon, Myanmar. We help Singaporean companies who want to hire remote workers—such as graphic designers, video editors, social media, admin/accounting or tech development personnel—by offering a committed employee at a fraction of the cost, providing a conducive office and managing the HR matters. Our vision is to stop the brain drain in Myanmar through discovering, developing and deploying talent to work remotely and collaboratively. Our repatriate programme helps those working in Singapore and want to return to Myanmar keep their jobs while working remotely from our office in Yangon. Lastly, we offer seats in our co-working space to entrepreneurs and creatives in Yangon to develop and grow.

How did you get the idea to tap onto the resources of Myanmar? And on that note, how did you come to know of the resources of Myanmar?

I actually started Crossworks to hire people for my two companies in Singapore. One is a peer-to-peer rental platform for camera equipment, sound/lighting gear, creative spaces and event logistics (JRC.sg) while another is a media production outfit targeting startups and the ecosystem (Startupmedia.sg). Having tried hiring locals as well as freelancers from sites like Upwork and Fiver, the former proved challenging to hire suitable candidates while the latter was a stretch on our team’s energy to continuously re-explain certain processes due to high turnover rates and limited availability of freelance personnel. I first visited Myanmar back in 2013, when the country just started to open up, and immediately noticed the kindness of the people—which drew me back to visit repeatedly over the next few years and witness first hand how the country was rapidly changing and developing.

Since you’re not from Myanmar, what administrative processes did you have to go through to set up a business in the country? And how did you figure out the whole process of setting up a business in the country in the first place? Do you have a local partner you’re collaborating with?

Setting up a business [in Myanmar] was very similar to doing so in Singapore—with the new e-registration system that began last year, as well as with the British common law that is still largely practised in Myanmar (similar to Singapore). I believe that for many sectors, it has become tremendously more simple with the new government’s policy changes. I managed to figure it out and got the advice of some local friends and my employees. 

How do you deal with the differences in language? Did you learn to speak Burmese or do you use translators or collaborators?

There is not much of an issue since most people in the city speak basic English. Everyone at Crossworks is quite well above average in English proficiency and one of our goals is to train them to get even better, through office cultures like speaking English on certain days and with the communication between Singapore companies being done in English. I still can’t speak Burmese and am not sure if I’ll ever be able to.

How did you decide on the location of your first office? And how did you get to rent/buy the office and find contractors to renovate it?

Having been around Yangon city a lot, I knew that the landing place had to be in Yangon as it is the economic capital of the country where the largest international airport is and where most of the well educated people are. I also knew that I didn’t want an office near to the downtown area due to peak hour heavy traffic. We found a place in Bahan, near Myanmar Plaza, which has good accessibility for my employees to come to work from all corners of the city. It was bare and we had to start from scratch with the renovation (which was also a good opportunity to do what we wanted with the place).

What about staff? How did you find and hire your first employees, and what have you learned about managing Burmese employees since?

I asked a couple of friends whom I met and used social media and employment agencies to find my first few hires. I have learnt that priorities in Myanmar can be quite different from Singapore, but the need to focus on the individual’s aspirations and growth areas is the same. For example, working hours are more sticky in general as people want to spend time with friends and family, but the workforce is also generally very eager to learn and upgrade themselves. There needs to be a balance struck between training and development and getting work done, especially given the limited hours within the day.

How long, in total, did it take you to set up your business in Myanmar? Did you stay in Myanmar the whole time or did you come back to Singapore every now and then?

Setting up the legal entity took just 15 minutes, but getting all the groundwork laid probably took around 6 months and we’re still figuring out some things along the way. I travelled back and forth between Myanmar and Singapore.

What about now? How often do you go to Myanmar to run the business? And where do you sleep when you’re there? 

I usually go to Myanmar once or twice a month and stay in hotels when I’m travelling.

What do you do with your non-work hours when in Myanmar? Do you have friends there now? 

I spend a good amount of time visiting other states and am working on a series of videos to show people another side of Myanmar that the media rarely focuses on. As of June 2019, we launched HEAR Myanmar as a Facebook Channel (fb.com/hear.mm). I also enjoy meeting other start-ups and trying different local foods if I’m not out travelling/filming.

What advice do you have for foreigners hoping to start businesses in Myanmar too?

Do something that is win-win and be in it for the long game. There have been way too many case studies of one-sided investments which, in my opinion, are short-sighted and sometimes even outright exploitation. As many things are just getting started in this country, I believe that one needs to be ready to keep sowing seeds instead of eagerly waiting for the harvest.

Can you map out a recommended path for foreigners wanting to start businesses in Myanmar?

It starts with what you want to do, and who you know. There are many things that can be found online now, but it is still not a complete and fully accurate picture so being on the ground and talking to potential partners/customers will always be a plus.

Which key things/people/situations enable you to do business in Myanmar, in your opinion?

I thank God for the opportunity to have visited Myanmar, started my business and seen the needs of both Singaporean companies as well as Myanmar as a country—the former having a tight labour market and the latter very much in need of opportunities to stop the brain drain of the country’s best and brightest talent. Being a school drop-out myself, I have actually learnt the importance of learning (ironically), whether in or outside of school. 

How did successfully setting up a business in Myanmar change you as a person? Or did it not change you?

It has reaffirmed my believe that people are not just a statistic or a ‘resource’. Every person who sends in a CV is seeking a career and has a whole life ahead of him/her. Even though we get hundreds of applicants and go through stacks of people, it’s truly life upon life that needs to be developed and I hope that neither myself nor any of my team members lose this perspective. 

If you could go back and replay your whole process of setting up Crossworks in Myanmar all over again, what would you do differently?

I guess I would have liked to have spent more time being around during the early days to experience the ups and downs of daily operations when the company was still in its nascent stage. 

Which 3 objects/people are most necessary for you when you’re in Myanmar?

My longyi (traditional costume), phone and camera. These are what I bring around most often.

Of all the objects you’ve ever bought/received for the purpose of setting up your business in Myanmar, which has been most useful? Why?

It’s not exactly an object, but my business is heavily reliant on the internet. Remote working can’t happen effectively without good communication and connectedness between the employer and employee, and the internet is a real enabler and the reason which we are able to do a lot of things in Myanmar that was once not possible.

Now that you’ve spent quite a bit of time in Myanmar, do you have any local idols—people from Myanmar you look up to or who inspire you? If so, who are they and why do they make you feel the way you feel?

I am very inspired by the Myanmar people as a whole. Having a less than ideal history (as many would consider), the people are family-oriented, eager to learn and very kind-hearted. I feel that while a lot of countries in Southeast Asia had a head start in terms of development, Myanmar is now able to take advantage of the lessons that history has taught us and the opportunity to learn from [its neighbouring countries’] successes and failures in its own push for development.

Lastly, what’s the worst advice you’ve been given, or have heard people giving, with regards to doing business in Myanmar? And what’s the best?

Haven’t really gotten any bad advice, but a hilarious comment I’ve heard about doing business in Myanmar is that everyone is corrupt and you’ve got to bribe people everywhere in order to get things done. This was from someone who had never been to the country, and I’m very thankful that it isn’t true. 

Jeshua is presently busy with running his four brands—Crossworks / JRC.sg / startupmedia.sg / HEAR Myanmar—but will chat with you if you drop him a message using the comment box below. You can also find out more about his remote-hiring programme here.

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Other Answers by Jeshua Soh:
How I Started A Rental Service At 19 With $0 and Grew It Into A Full-Fledged Peer-to-Peer Business By 23
Why I Chose To Drop Out Of School In Year 5 Of The Integrated Programme

Photographs courtesy and copyright of Jeshua Soh. Interviewer: Sy
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