One Sneak Peek Into An Impact-Driven Entrepreneurship Journey

From signals to startups, this national serviceman is building a better future for all of us.

19 year-old Jonathan Quek is currently serving his national service as a signaler at Stagmont Camp, but that’s not all he does. 

He enjoys starting and running his own ventures, the latest being Globespeech, a social organisation that aims to combat isolation amongst youths through promoting social intelligence and interpersonal skills. 

During Junior College, he started Aljomarketing, a digital agency that aids fitness brands with their marketing efforts and helps them scale their brands. 

He also participated in the Youth Action Challenge under National Youth Council with his seniors, where they created an app for people to calculate their grocery budget. 

He took the time to share about his foray into entrepreneurship, his future plans, and his advice for fellow young founders like himself. 

Read on to find out more! 

1. What led him to become an entrepreneur

“In school, I have always been a recalcitrant individual and was very rebellious. I didn’t conform much to the norm, and I would often try to look out for the things that I can do differently. 

I always wanted to decide my own path since young, and my first dabble into entrepreneurship was in Junior College, when I started my ad agency, Aljomarketing. It was very fun and a great learning experience, and then I stopped to study for my A Levels. Subsequently, I started to work for and build social organisations as it would not be allowed for me to work for profit while I am serving National Service.” 

2. Misconceptions of Entrepreneurship

“When I first got started, it was glorified. People only show the positive part of it — that you are your ‘own boss’ and that you have no one to report to. That is true, but you have to take responsibility for everything that happens. When things go south, you get all the blame; when things go well, the credit goes to your team.

There is also luck involved. For example, how much prior resources do you have before embarking on this journey? Some people have prior connections or they have been in this space for a period of time. Both luck and circumstances will play a part in your success.” 

3. His motivations

“For Aljomarketing, it was specific to fitness because I was already in that space. I play sports competitively and have done so since primary school. So if I were to start anything, it would definitely have to be fitness related. I needed a business that was scalable and that you can do online because of school. I had no marketing experience beforehand, but had a friend who did. When you know what the users want, it will be easier for you. In my case, I am a user of fitness products myself, although there were many technicalities involved that I was not prepared for. 

I built Globespeech because I believe that an issue that most youths are facing right now is isolation from others. One of the reasons for this is the spread of technology, which reduces the need for us to go out and interact face-to-face with other people. You can buy most things online without having to interact with the sellers. Amongst my friends in Junior College, many were really smart but not very good at socialising. There was something off about the way that we spend so much time studying hard skills but so little time practising other important skills like connecting with people. These people had a hard time sharing their ideas and opinions so they found it hard to have connections. This organisation is about running programmes to teach youths socialising and about communication skills. I don’t really know where this would go. I have thought about targeting future programs towards the elderly as well.

For Leo Club Legacy, I was pulled in by my senior from Junior College, who was also the President of the club. He got me interested in leading the club as a member of the board, so I ended up becoming the treasurer. I enjoy doing things related to finance and economics and knew a lot of the other board members in Leo as they were already my friends.”

4. Time management as a Student Entrepreneur

“I don’t really know how other people manage their time, but to me, with school, as long as you are consistent with studying, work doesn’t really pile up. Having a strong foundation when you are young is good. When I was young, my English was horrendous, so in Junior College, I spent the most amount of time learning English. And knowing Math well will lay a great foundation for all your other subjects as the way you think about a science question and the way you think about a math question is very similar. I used a similar thought process for Economics as well. Please take note that I can only speak about life in Junior College as I have not yet entered university. 

With regards to my external involvements, I really enjoy participating in these clubs and building these organisations. When you really enjoy doing something, you will naturally spend more time on it. you need to do something that you really enjoy. If you have to force yourself, you will find it hard to do it. Your mind will be switched off and somewhere else. When you enjoy doing something, you will naturally think about it. Your mind will naturally go to the idea. You will adopt responsibility and get closer to the goals that you set up to achieve.”

Connect with Jonathan here: linkedin.com/in/jonathanquekbusiness

Follow our telegram channel: https://t.me/onesneakpeekinto

And that is all for today’s One Sneak Peek Into.

Stay tuned for more insights from our interview series as we continue to explore the stories of trailblazers breaking barriers and redefining success.