2018 is just around the corner and some of you may already be thinking about your New Year’s resolutions.
We spoke with Tian Qiuyan, co-founder of Hive Up, an experienced individual in the wealth management sector with more than 5 years of working experience at Goldman Sachs- and co-founder of DynaOptics – Chan Li Han, a graduate of Stanford University and former Singapore national tennis player– about their approach towards goal setting for businesses and ways to ensure that they actually stick with these new resolutions throughout the entire year.
Thank You for Giving Us a Chance to Interview You. Let’s Start With the Over-arching Goal for Your Company for 2018. What Is It and Why Did You Decide to Pursue It?
Quiyan: Next year, we aim to venture our full force into the market. This would involve getting everyone to know about us and what Hive Up is all about – Empowerment. We seek to advance the financial knowledge of individuals, their current financial standing and also help people to decide the next steps in terms of their current financial planning, which certainly aligns with our personal beliefs and brand vision of providing agnostic wealth planning services to the public as we believe that there is currently a bottleneck out there.
Li Han (DynaOptics): The goal for next year would be to pursue mobile and manufacturing partners. We decided on this goal because we believe it’s a milestone that will create one of the biggest value additions to the technologically savvy market.
Make sure you meet both company goals as well as personal goals.
That’s Great! So Let’s Talk About the Whole Goal Setting Process. How Do You Go About Doing It? Is Your Team Actively Involved in the Process?
Quiyan: I would say that my team is actively involved in the whole brainstorming process. The ultimate decision would rest on the core management team, but everyone in the team plays an important role to make it happen
Li Han (DynaOptics): Of course! We devise a common goal of where we need to be, then we collectively agree on the strategy needed to achieve these goals. We then detail these onto a weekly plan.
How Do You Ensure You Keep Your Goals on Track Throughout the Year?
Quiyan: Awesome team members! We constantly regroup and meet to discuss if goals are realistic and manageable.
Li Han (DynaOptics): We maintain very constant communication, especially with regards to progress. We set clear targets which are very detailed and concise. As we do have quite a few remote team members, we schedule meetings twice a week to discuss everyone’s progress, address goals and make changes as necessary.
We constantly regroup and meet to discuss if goals are realistic and manageable.
What Do You Think Is the Key Ingredient to Keeping Your Team Motivated and Involved in the Process?
Quiyan: Awesome team members! We constantly regroup and meet to discuss if goals are realistic and manageable.
Li Han (DynaOptics): We maintain very constant communication, especially with regards to progress. We set clear targets which are very detailed and concise. As we do have quite a few remote team members, we schedule meetings twice a week to discuss everyone’s progress, address goals and make changes as necessary. It’s equally important to set clear goals so your team knows what’s expected of them and where they are heading towards.
So for the Final Question, What Advice Would You Give to Aspiring Entrepreneurs of 2018?
Quiyan: Don’t be afraid to fail. To know that there is no shame in failing and owning your failure. The world is kinder than you think. I would also mention that being an entrepreneur is not for everyone. However, this doesn’t mean that it should stop you from trying.
Li Han (DynaOptics): Make sure you meet both company goals as well as personal goals. Also, if you have investors or board members involved in this journey with you, it’s important to declare your goals to them and make yourself accountable.
Great! Thank you for your time. We believe readers can gain some good insights from here.
Company Backgrounds:
DynaOptics is bringing to market an optical zoom system that is housed entirely within the slim profile of today’s mobile phones. By re-thinking the conventional zoom system — the movement of lenses along the optical axis — they have designed a system able to achieve the performance and manufacturability of today’s lens systems, without its bulky footprint.
