Chasing after the rewards, but it's all a very painful experience

Norman Cheung, chief executive officer of Boxful, believes that competition is a good thing, and the self-storage business holds great promise as Hong Kong apartments continue to shrink in size. PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY

Boxful Chief Executive Officer Normal Cheung had been in the financial industry for eight years, having worked for UBS Investment Bank and PwC, before launching his startup.

"It's a great and invaluable experience having worked at a large financial institution. I would not trade that experience for anything else even though I had to work very long hours. But, the great thing is that you do learn a lot, including corporate finance and accounting, which is critical for anyone running his or her own business."

"But after the experience, I decided that it's time to try something new, a new challenge," he says.

"I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur," says Cheung, adding that many of the most successful people in the world are entrepreneurs, so, he thought, why not give it a shot?

The challenge, curiosity and thrill of being an entrepreneur attract him, he says.

"It's thrilling and exciting knowing that you are working on something you feel passionate about and you truly believe in."

But, starting a business just for the sake of doing it could be a quite painful experience, he cautions. 

"When you have an idea, talk to as many people as you can and get more feedback from people in the industry, which could potentially save you months or years going down a wrong path."

"Don't be afraid that your ideas will be stolen as there are plenty of ideas out there, but it's the execution that makes the difference. Also, don't give up so easily just because some people don't buy into your ideas."

"When we came up with the plan to get Boxful off the ground, I talked to about 10 people, and half of them didn't like the idea," the entrepreneur recalls.

In terms of management, Cheung reckons that people are always the most critical assets.

He works about 12 to 15 hours each day, checks his emails after dinner and does some strategic thinking.