In love with Singapore and exploring all it has to offer, Severine Male set up KiddoTrip for families to discover the best of the city.
We love entrepreneurs and small business owners at Honeycombers, which is why we’ve created Launchpad, a comprehensive digital networking platform (with IRL benefits, too) that encourages connection, business support and community. It’s a privilege and pleasure to learn from so many talented and inspiring folks, so we’ve decided to share the love by interviewing some of the lovely Launchpad members. Looking for inspiration? Check out how Severine Male, the founder of KiddoTrip, gets it done like a boss.
What is your backstory and why did you decide to launch your business?
I followed my husband to Singapore in 2019. When I arrived, I started working as a volunteer on the site of the French Association. With this, I discovered the guided tours of Singapore. I fell in love with the city; during weekends, I’d bring my children and my husband to the same places to show them around and learn about the culture and history.
This is how I had the idea to create my company, KiddoTrip. We create self-guided tours for families with an audio guide for parents and activity books for children. I’d wanted to start a business for a while; with Covid, we couldn’t travel as much, so it was a good time to create a new type of activity for families in Singapore.
What has been your biggest challenge so far and how did you overcome it?
With the change in regulations in Singapore, I knew I’d lose my work visa in May 2022, so I decided to join an incubator program to obtain an entrepreneur visa. This incubator allowed me to take a break from the development of the company and rethink the product and strategy.
How do you stay motivated and energised?
Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey at first – full of doubts and challenges. Here are 3 tricks I use:
1. Keep in mind why you’re doing it: the personal reasons (for me, they’re freedom and flexibility) and the professional reasons (for me, it’s quality family time and raising children). Read them regularly to keep your motivation high even when you face challenges.
2. Surround yourself with positive people. Join communities of entrepreneurs. They bring motivation and energy when you’re going through a tough time, and you can give back when it’s a good time for you. I love Launchpad’s Monday ‘Lift Off’ call for this.
3. Put processes in place. If you have clear objectives and a to-do list, when your motivation is low, you still know what to do and can avoid procrastination.
Favourite place to work?
If the kids are at school, I love to work at home. My desk is by the window, where I can see flowers and greenery. Otherwise, I’ll be in a cafe where the air-conditioning isn’t too strong and pastries are good for a snack.
Can you share a work ‘mantra’ that you use?
This is the mantra that I keep repeating to myself, but still have trouble applying: better done than perfect. As solo entrepreneurs, our time is limited and we can’t afford to be a perfectionist.
One thing you can keep talking about for hours?
Travel! I like to travel everywhere to discover new places and new cultures, and to meet new people. My dream with my husband is to travel around the world. I don’t know if we can take a year off to do this with school and work. But I hope that living in different places will allow us to discover and go around the world.
Your go-to self-care activity?
My me-time is for sport. I used to love running for one hour twice a week at MacRitchie Reservoir while listening to podcasts. I can’t do it anymore with my knees, but I love walking, climbing, and doing yoga. At home, I take more time to read. My goal is to shut down the computer at 10pm and read on the patio, but I fail most of the time.
One piece of advice to your younger self?
Don’t be shy! Dare to ask, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by people’s answers. Dare to try. You can’t fail if you don’t try, but you can’t succeed either! Stop worrying about what people think and do what you love.
Get in touch with Severine Male online.
Launchpad is a comprehensive digital networking platform (with IRL benefits, too) that encourages connection, business support and community. It is designed to make the entrepreneurial journey not only easier, and more successful, but also a whole lot more fun. We offer almost daily activities for members to connect, along with weekly masterclasses, member networking roulette, small-business mentoring and media profiles on Honeycombers. Check it out and join us!
