Yesterday I discovered that in Singapore, any regular profit generating activity not done under your real name has to be undertaken as a registered company. This is true for all such activities, no matter how much profit the activity generates. My Redbubble store is considered a regular profit making activity, and it does not operate under my name.

In the year since August 2024, the Redbubble store has generated ~SG$15.00 of profit. Yep – 15 bucks. So if I want to continue, I have to establish a company. This is relatively easy and inexpensive to do. I simply need to register a new company with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) of Singapore.

No problem here. I would essentially be a sole proprietor of the store. There is no audit requirement and no requirement to submit annual financial statements. I simply have to add the revenue to my tax form every year. As long as I don’t make over $1 million a year, my life should remain uncomplicated by GST matters. At $15 per year, I think I’m pretty safe!

Me acting as sole proprietor of a business introduces a potential conflict of commitment with respect to work. I need to write up a conflict of interest management plan. This plan will need to be approved, then I can move to register a company. I will then need to make annual declarations in relation to my role as a sole proprietor of the company. This is all quite manageable.

What does this mean in the short term?

It means the ChemScrapes store is closed until further notice. I’ll take the opportunity to reflect, and consider how I want it to be run. $15 a year suggests something is not quite right with the current endeavour. So I will be attempting to do some market research through ChemScrapes social media channels. If you are reading this, please also feel free to leave thoughts below in the comments section about the types of merch that would speak to you (greeting cards? mugs? stickers? t-shirts?).

Interested to see where this leads :).