It's good, you should come to our school!
Ya, and what and embarrass myself in public?
Good afternoon and welcome to Coffee with Claressa
I'm Claressa Monteiro
James Pang
our Founder and
Managing Director of My Drum School
in the studio with us today, talking about,
My Drum School which started out in 2007
in a small studio apartment
It has since expanded and now comprises of
4 centres and 1 headquarters
Having won 8 national awards
including Top 10 Fastest Growing Corporations
and Best In Drumming
- Good afternoon, welcome to the show!
Hello!
- So how did you do it?
- I mean, you know, take us back to the beginning
- what made you open the drum school?
Sure.
Actually, I just graduated for about 8 months
I was in a corporate job
and I didn't really find a purpose in my job
and all along I wanted to do something that that was related to music
- So what did you study in school?
I studies Business in
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
I graduated with First Class Honors
I had all my scholarships
I was on the Dean's List
Top of the cohort and I was acutally
aimed to be a high-flyer in academics
But I had a good job at one of the Big 4
but after 8 months, I just couldn't find
- it didn't feel right
Ya, it didn't feel right and it was like
there must be something more to work
- But were you a drummer?
I was already a drummer
I learnt drums at a very late age actually
at the age of 17
but prior to that I learnt an array of instruments
at the age of 4
I started learning music
But once I hit the drums at 17
- You found it!
Yes!
I found it
Something clicked
it was like
This is what I need to do for the rest of
my life. But of course, you know
life goes on,
you get your university degree and all, so
I really started thinking about it after I graduated
- Ok, so you were always passionate about music
- when you learnt the drums yourself
- you realized that this was it
Yup - But you continued to do the university degree
- you did very well in school
- and you tried to pursue the Singapore dream,
- right?
- realizing that wasn't the dream
- So then you 'married' your education
- with your passion, and started the school
Yes, that was in 2007
- And how difficult was that really?
Actually for a start, it was very tough
because I never knew that I wanted to start
a small business
In fact, in business school, I've always try
to avoid the subjects of "Entrepreneurship"
or "Managing A Small Business"
because I've never thought that this is what I want to do
- Right
So started at a small studio
Basically, I just sound proof one of my rooms at home
and I started teaching drums from there
I had about just 10 students
- Right, and how did you reach them, initially?
It was just friends, and just word of mouth I play in churches so just friends from different
various churches just come together
"Do you want to learn drums?"
More of like trying to help me out help me find whether
if this is something that can be sustainable
So it started from there
It was really tough because it was just myself
and I had to learn every aspect of the business
- and you had to run it yourself Yes, I had to run it
I had to teach - You have to do your accounts
- You have to do chase for payments Ya, I had to set up my own website
because it was so costly and
so I had to put my IT skills to good use
So for the first 5 years
I was managing my own website
doing marketing,
giving out flyers
promoting the brand
as well as writing the curriculum of the school
- Ok
- So that actually sounds quite challenging and yet
- you did it!
Yes, 10 years later..
- Did you have a
- as you were going along
- was there a sense of achievement or
- was there a great deal of frustration
- was there any point in time, you thought
- "I can't do this anymore, forget about it!"
No, never - Never?
Ya, I think the fun thing about running your own business
being an entrepreneur is you've got to like problems
you've got to like challanges So that is something that really
sort of excited me
Every time I hit a brick wall
it's like, "how do I overcome this?"
When there's a new challenge, "what new skills do I have to learn?"
So it was always exciting I've always woke up everyday
meeting new people
working with new people,
hiring people
meeting new students and it has been 11 years
and, yup, it's good!
- Alright
- We are talking to James Pang,
- Founder and
Managing Director of My Drum School
- Ok, fast forward a little bit - not quite to current day,
- but you started in one room of your apartment
Yup
- You had, what you said about 10 students Yup
- and really it was word of mouth, friends,
- what was the first point after that humble
beginning - that you realized "Hey, I actually am on
- to something, this could be a viable business"
Actually, my dream was really small
that's why I called it "My Drum School"
It's supposed to be something small,
just personal
it's like, it's mine but I had 50 students
- at which point did you have 50?
At 1 year later
- oh wow
I had 40 on the waiting list I had to close my website down
because I was just turning people down None of my students wanted to quit
- And you taught all 50?
Ya, I taught all 50
- You must have been exhausted
Actually, it's not that bad because I get to wake up about 10am
- Ok, ok Because most of them have schools
- right
- Start late, finish late
Ya, I was teaching for about 6 days a week
At that time, I wasn't married
but my then-girlfriend said that
"You should really consider this, go out and"
She was wise, because she's now my wife
- Ok, now very wise
Yeah, and that really pushed me out.
That was in 2009
- Ok, so in 2009 you went out and you opened
- your first proper space
Correct
- And how many students did you have at that point?
At that point, I remembered I hired 4 teachers
- 4?
Straight off the back 4 part-timers, they joined me
A few months later, I got my first full-time staff
She's still with me today, she's the Head of Human Resources
So we had about 200 students in total every week
- That's actually quite a rapid development
- quite a rapid growth, you went from
It is - You went from 0 to 10
- 10 to 50 - 50 to about 200
Yup, correct - In the span of
the first 3 years - The first 3 years, ok
- Now we move forward a little bit more Yup
- From that 3 years, to the next 3 years
- Cause now you've got 4 centres
- When did these 4
- tell us how you rolled those out?
Yup, I think the challenging one was the 2nd centre
because we have never done it before
we were already hitting our capacity of 200+ students
So that was in 2012 that we had to expand
a 2nd centre
So it's like, "how do we find teachers?"
"how do we restructure the company in a way that
we can sustain 2 different centres
and keep the standards of the school?"
- Right So that was difficult, our 2nd branch was
in Ang Mo Kio
It's still there today, Jubilee Square
- Ok And that was the difficult point
but after that, after the 2nd centre
We did open a 3rd centre in Katong Shopping Centre
2014
And then in 2016, we opened one in Buona Vista
That was much easier because
we already know how it's done
The brand was already reputable,
established and sustainable
so people actually saw our business
and want to come and work here
- So when in the business development
- did it become a case of
- you know, word of mouth,
you didn't have to worry about advertising or whatever
- Do you still advertise?
It's a bit tricky because for
the first couple of years
we did zero advertising so it was all word of mouth
if you go to google, you can easily find us
on the top 5 searches of anything
We have never paid anything
But there are still a lot of people walking in
Just last year, we had like 999 enquiries
so that is about 3 per day
- Right
you know, of people who wants enquiring to learn drums
- So now we fast forward all the way to present day
- You've enrolled more than 3,400 students
- You've got 45 employees
- Is the wife now your Financial Controller or something?
Erm, not really She's looking after my 4 children
- Wow!
- 4 Centres and 4 children!
1 centre per child
- You seem to like this number
- What is the current profile of your students?
I think they really range from 5 years old
all the way to my oldest student, is about 72
- Right So, we do have a very mix demographic
In fact, we also do take in
some children with special needs
- Ok So we have children with like
mild autism, ADHD,
we have older folks who have like
they are recovering from stroke
they have difficulty in movement where
all these things are recommended by doctors
So, it is a wide range of people
We have hobbyist, all the way
to people who are
semi-professional musicians
- Sure
- What do think is the reason
why people gravitate drumming?
- I mean, a lot of people who actually take drumming lessons
- and I know this for a fact,
some of my friends do the same thing
Ok - have no interest in being professional musicians
- but they personally feel that drumming is quite
- cathartic, right therapeutic Yes
- So, do you agree with that?
- Why do you think so many people
want to learn drums?
Besides being the best instrument - oh! ok
I think scientifically, right,
it's proven that it's very therapeutic
reason being because, it's very in the present
You know, other instruments, you have to take
a few weeks to play your first song
your first chord
to understand the scale of music
You have to be musical
But drumming is something that
once you can get into the beat
once you can get into the rhythm
- You feel it Ya, you feel it
it does something to your body
You find yourself nodding along
tapping your feet
And it just does something to your brain
which it's very different from other instruments
- I can't disagree with that, because I actually
- enjoy just sort of crashing and banging on drums
- once in a while, not that I can drum particularly
- Well, but, that's not the point really
It's good, you should come to our school!
- Ya, and what and embarrass myself in public?
- Are these classes affordable?
I would say that we price ourselves
from middle to higher range of schools
basically because we really put a lot of value
in what we are trying to do
the equipment that we bring in
the teachers, the talent that we bring in
so we believe that it is something that
the middle income would be able to afford
- Right Our fees range from $150 all the way to $250
a month - That's not that bad?
Ya, depending on whether you want half an hour
or 45 minutes
Yup, usually it's quite a wide range
- Ok
- So would you say or would you recommend
- drumming for kids who
- or parents of kids who are
- stress out from exams and studying
- do you think it's a good outlet them
- to sort of get frustration out of their system
- and yet have some fun and learn something new?
Yup, definitely
I think it really does help you relief and
reduce your stress
We have a lot of people coming, even adults
20% of our students are actually
working adults that they find
they come after work
we are opened until 10pm
- Ok So a lot of them just come and they just play
on the drums they feel better
Some of them go to the extent of
taking exams.
Drum exams
- Right So they get their grades
because they want to progress and
they want to feel that they are moving forward
So it is definitely something that
will help you relief your stress.
- Ok, so what is in the future for
My Drum School?
We are still looking to expand - Ok
- More units means more children, you know?
I think 4 one by one
We are still looking at more areas in Singapore - Ok
I mean, so far, we have target our centres to be in
the North, the Central, the East,
and the West
but I feel that there are still a lot of people
in the far East and the North-East of Singapore
that prefer somewhere more convenient
- Sure
So we are looking to expand
We are also looking to hire more people
as we expand
So I think Singapore
Ya, there's still a lot of demand
there's still a lot of plans in the making
for us
- Ok so that is My Drum School
- What about you?
- What is your future?
- Are you going to pick up a new hobby,
or maybe a new instrument?
Start a new business?
For myself,
I've grown to understand that
it's not just inspiring the students in my school
But part of my role,
as the Managing Director
and Founder,
is also to inspire the teachers
that have actually switched careers to join me
A lot of fresh graduates that we have
these are degree holders
these are people with music degrees
And I come to find that actually
I still have a greater purpose here in MDS
I want to really grow the culture and to help
make a sustainable career for all these individuals
So as of now, I still have a lot of plans
in MDS - Ok
Definitely my 4 children are keeping me very busy
So yah, we'll see how it goes
- We'll see how it goes
- Before I let you go
- Tell us, your website back up now
- You said you closed it down for a while
cause it was overwhleming
Oh, that was many years ago
- So now it's back up, what is it?
It's www.mydrumschool.com
- and if somebody is listening to this and
- is interested to either sign up
for themselves or for their kids
- how do they go about it?
You can just go to our website,
and you just click on
"Contact Us"
there will be a form there
or on the first page of the website
there's a number where you can click,
and you can call us - Alright
Thank you so much for coming
and talking to us
and Congratulations
I mean the whole of August and you being the first one
But the whole of August
we are paying tribute to local business owners
in tribute to National Day as well
And we hope to be able to bring you back and
you can talk about world domination then
Thank you so much
- thank you for coming on Money FM89.3
-Cool Yes!
- That was easy!
Thank you so much - Is that the wife over there?
Er, no.
That's my first staff, that's Jenny - Oh that's the first staff, the Head of HR
Head of HR, yeah - Ok
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