Meet Chen Xia Ling, a visionary solopreneur in Singapore and China. Her career spans over thirty years, transitioning from a CFO role at global financial institutions like Aviva, AXA, and Alliance to a portfolio career. Xia Ling is also a qualified accountant, CFA, and accredited board director who offers strategic guidance to startups and SMEs.
As a fractional CFO and advisor, she provides invaluable support for companies navigating growth and transformation. Xia Ling is also a mentor and coach, empowering the younger generation and advancing women’s financial literacy. Her expertise spans insurance, asset management, real estate, and services.
In this interview, Chen Xia Ling shares insights into the challenges and opportunities of running a business in Singapore.
Highlights
Q&A with Chen Xia Ling, a Visionary Solopreneur
Q: What inspired you to start your business, and how did you identify the market need?
A: After 30 years in the corporate world, I value autonomy, flexibility, and impact beyond a full-time role. I’ve been a CFO for the last two decades, working with global financial institutions, Chinese enterprises, PE-funded startups, and local SMEs. My strategic capabilities, experience, and critical thinking are valuable to startups and SMEs. These businesses face various stages, including building, scaling, transforming, pivoting, and exiting.
Smaller businesses often lack in-house resources and capabilities and operate in fluid environments. That’s where a seasoned fractional CFO can help. As an affordable and flexible advisor, I guide owners in steering their businesses with confidence and planning.
Q: Can you describe a typical day in your life as an entrepreneur?
A: The good part of being a solopreneur is that I don’t have a typical day. Variety and flexibility are two words that characterize my work life now.
Currently, my portfolio includes acting as fractional CFO to business owners in the insurance, fintech, and services sectors and serving as independent directors at regulated and listed companies in Singapore and China.
I also enjoy mentoring the younger generation and supporting women’s financial literacy and empowerment by coaching and sharing economic and investment knowledge.
Q: What has been your biggest challenge in running an SME in Singapore, and how did you overcome it?
A: I intentionally embarked on my portfolio career after a 30-year corporate career. From a full-time CFO to a fractional CFO-cum-board director, I turned my expertise and strengths into offerings for an extended and varied career. I don’t have to worry about high operating costs, cashflows, resource constraints, etc., which are some of the bigger challenges constantly confronting SMEs.
Q: How has your business adapted to your country or region’s unique cultural and economic landscape?
A: Singapore is a financial and business hub that is well-connected with the world. In addition, it has a vibrant startup ecosystem. Entrepreneurs with great business ideas and businesses looking to enter new markets frequently use Singapore as a base and launch pad.
This provides a ready context for highly skilled fractional services such as fractional CFO/CHRO/CMO, as the latter offers a flexible plug-and-play solution to quickly bridge the gap in specific experiences and expertise, which would normally take months to find in a traditional employment model.
Q: What’s your most important lesson about managing a team in the Singapore business context?
A: As a portfolio careerist, I am fortunate not to manage a team myself now. Nevertheless, I work with my clients’ teams to advise, guide, and coach them in delivering CFO services.
As with any team management, it is always essential to maintain effective communication and engagement with team members to achieve common goals. The rise of hybrid work arrangements does pose additional challenges to effective team management. Further, younger generations that enter the workforce desire different management styles and work lives, all of which demand adaptations and keeping pace with changes.
Q: How do you balance traditional business practices with innovation in your industry?
A: In this rapidly changing world where we experience non-stop evolutions and disruptions across economic, technological, social, and geopolitical fronts, businesses, big and small, must constantly balance what they need today to survive and what they need tomorrow to stay relevant and thrive. The same applies to individuals, myself included.
To stay current and widen my perspectives, I constantly read up on business and finance, learn, and acquire knowledge in emerging fields such as AI, ESG, etc. Continuous learning is both a routine and a passion of mine.
Q: What role has technology played in your business growth, and how do you see it shaping your future?
A: We live in a digital/AI age with ready access to information and technology to make our work more convenient and productive. As such, I find myself very effective working as a fractional CFO. I could leverage my specific experience and expertise to provide valuable perspectives and help solve important business issues. Further, many online platforms such as LinkedIn and communities exist to help raise awareness, spread word of mouth, and connect supply-demand.
I am optimistic that more entrepreneurs, SMEs, and investors will embrace fractional CFOs. These professionals serve as strategic and financial advisors in various situations. Moreover, SMEs with limited talent can greatly benefit from a fractional CFO. They can coach and guide finance teams that often lack strategic experience. Consequently, this approach helps businesses handle transformative changes effectively.
Furthermore, C-Suite-as-a-Service could be the future of work. It offers a win-win model where highly skilled executives become accessible to multiple companies. This knowledge-based shared economy allows for greater flexibility. As a result, executives are not exclusively tied to one employer.
Q: Can you share a pivotal moment that changed the trajectory of your business?
A: I am approaching the one-year anniversary of my portfolio career. I am still building it and waiting for the pivotal moment.
Q: How do you approach networking and building business relationships in your local market?
A: I have associated with a few professional communities for networking, support, and inspiration. Being on one’s own could feel lonely and isolated at times. Therefore, it is important to find your ‘tribe” to support one another by sharing stories, making new friends, getting advice, etc. The good thing is there are many communities out there. With the help of online platforms and social media, you can easily find like-minded people to connect with.
Q: What advice would you give aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start an SME in Singapore?
A: An entrepreneurial journey is an exhilarating and highly challenging one. Before you take the plunge, do your homework thoroughly and realistically. Once you decide to worry more about the chances you miss when you don’t even try than worrying about failures, go for it!
Inspiring Change: Lessons for the Next Generation
Chen Xia Ling’s journey offers a compelling glimpse into the future of flexible and strategic business leadership. Her insights underscore the critical importance of adaptability and continuous learning in navigating today’s fast-paced business world.
Indeed, entrepreneurs can glean valuable lessons from her networking approach, which skillfully leverages communities and enthusiastically embraces innovative business models. Moreover, she masterfully balances traditional practices with technology, demonstrating a dynamic and forward-thinking mindset.
For aspiring entrepreneurs, Xia Ling provides sage advice: conduct thorough research and seize opportunities when they arise. Ultimately, her story serves as a powerful testament to the transformative power of autonomy and lifelong learning in forging a successful career.
