Money & Me: ‘My pets are my biggest spending weakness’

Nerissa Low is the founder and chief executive of Liht Organics, a make-up line that is edible, organic, vegan and touted as cruelty-free. The Singaporean launched her make-up business in 2017 after spending years as a financial consultant.

Riding out the coronavirus pandemic was her biggest challenge but the support of her investors and staff encouraged her to keep things going, she says.

Ms Low, 39, lives between Singapore and Dubai. When in the UAE, she makes her home in Business Bay. She has two cats — or “fur kids”, as she likes to call them — Chowder and Mochi.

When did you start working and what was your salary?

I started my career in finance after I graduated from university and was in the same industry for about 17 years. It was purely commission-based and my income grew progressively as my portfolio grew.

At the peak of my career, at the age of about 25, I had an income of about Dh1.5 million ($408,441) per annum.

What did you learn from the experience?

That it is important to spend within your means! However, in tandem with this lesson, my career in financial planning also taught me the ability to focus on solutions rather than problems.

Instead of telling myself, “It can’t be done”, I ask myself, “How I can make more to make it happen?”

The beauty of being in control of your income is it allows us to create our own solutions, and it takes resourcefulness, discipline and creativity.

What mindset shift was required to be an entrepreneur?

As much as being a financial consultant is a sales job and is similar to running our own business in that we are in control of the income we earn, the job scope is only a fraction of entrepreneurship.

Starting our own business requires us to take on every role, from administration to human resources to operations to product development to fund-raising — just to name a few.

Why Liht?

When I started working, I had adult acne and had to take oral medication and steroid injections for a few years, but eventually stopped because they didn't work.

After I discovered I was allergic to chemicals in my skincare products, I switched to using only organic products and my skin cleared up within three months.

However, I couldn't find organic make-up that met my needs, so I decided to create my own line. I realised that if I had this problem, other women might have it too and need a similar solution.

I launched my company in 2017, I invested about Dh4 million of my own money. Initially, I self-funded the company for a few years until we were confident that the business was ready to take off.

We raised about Dh1.1 million for a repackaging project from friends, and then launched our first formal fund-raiser among private investors to enter the Middle East market, which incurred costs of about Dh7.34 million.

What lessons from your life as a financial adviser have you brought to your business?

Discipline, time management, resilience and financial management are some of the key lessons that I bring forward to Liht.

I am glad I had the prior knowledge and network for me to learn from as an initial head start to launching my own business.

What has been your greatest financial challenge?

It has to be during Covid-19, when we were bleeding through Dh734,500 a month in operating costs for our 27 retail outlets with no new revenue due to the lockdowns.

It was a constant challenge to find new capital to fund the company, but we were very lucky to have a group of very supportive investors who believed in the direction of the company and in my leadership to bring us back to the light.

I owe it to my investors and my key staff at that time for all their support and understanding, as well as the continued encouragement to keep things going.

How did the pandemic affect your personal finances?

Covid-19 definitely affected my finances. I did not draw any salary from the company during that time and I had to sell all my investments to keep the company afloat.

It was definitely a traumatic time for me as I have always had a successful career since I started working, so it was a huge lifestyle and mental shift for me.

What has been your proudest financial moment?

Where we are right now! Having pulled ourselves out of the Covid tunnel, I am proud to say that not only have we survived a global pandemic … we are on our way to a growth trajectory and expansion.

It has been one hell of a journey for sure, but I am grateful for the lessons and the support we have got to take us through.

What do you invest in?

Through my work and personally, I have experience with investing in property, stocks and shares — mostly blue chips — but also mutual funds, unit trusts, cryptocurrencies.

Is it expensive to have pets?

They are in Singapore and I have a foster carer looking after them — she is like an au pair for my fur kids.

And the way my fur kids are being treated, I think they are probably more expensive than human kids. They eat very well, you know — organic food, free-range eggs, non-antibiotic chicken, probiotics, all that stuff.

Do you set a budget for them?

I follow a simple rule: If you see the value, you don't see the cost. If you start seeing the cost, that's when you don't see the value.

So, when I first adopted my cat, he had a feline immunodeficiency virus. He was a stray and I spent like S$1,000 a month ($748.60) in vet bills to treat him. Now he doesn’t need those expensive treatments any more. So, we got his health back. And that is the value.

What finance tip you would give your 18-year-old self?

Take the risks and learn the lessons as early as possible when you have less to lose.

I made bad financial decisions when I was younger and lost hundreds. But if you do not take risks early, you could [potentially] lose hundreds of thousands in the future.

Are you a spender or a saver?

I was a spender in my finance days for sure, but these days I am definitely more a saver. There are only a few things I would be willing to spend on — and most of my money is spent on buying time, sanity and health.

What is your most cherished purchase?

I have to say I am not very hung up on material things, but if I had to choose one — it would have to be my paintings. I collect paintings from the different countries I go to, and I do feel sentimental towards them.