Growing up, Zames Chew thought he would follow the traditional path of working a white-collar job at a tech giant like Google. Yet, life had a different blueprint for the 26-year-old Singaporean entrepreneur.
Today, Zames, alongside his 24-year-old brother and co-founder, Amos Chew, runs Repair.sg, a Singapore-based handyman service that generated 1.7 million Singapore dollars, approximately 1.3 million US dollars, in 2024, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. The company, which started as a teenage side hustle, is on track to bring in about 2.3 million US dollars in 2025 and now employs over 20 people.
“When I was younger, my dream was always to work in big tech,” Zames recalls. But in early 2016, he stumbled upon a gap in the market. “Our parents were looking for a service provider to fix something around the house. I was just browsing online and realized there was nowhere to find reliable service providers back then. So I thought, let me put together a website and see what happens.”
At just 16, Zames invested 30 Singapore dollars, around 23 US dollars, to buy a domain name, enlisted his father’s help to register the business, and Repair.sg was born. Nearly a decade later, what started as a blue-collar side hustle by two brothers has grown into a thriving enterprise.
The Chew brothers’ affinity for hands-on work dates back to their childhood. “My brother and I would do everything together, building Legos, assembling PCs, taking things apart,” Zames recalls. “We have always dreamed of working together as adults.” Their teenage side hustle soon became a reality. For the first three years, while still in school, they balanced classes with business responsibilities, taking on jobs themselves, fixing lights, repairing furniture, and learning the trade on the go. “A lot of people do not realize there is education and licensing behind some of the services we provide. It goes beyond just picking up a screwdriver or hammer,” Zames notes.
Despite the small scale and limited experience, the brothers pressed on. “For the first seven years, up until early 2024, the business was basically on the brink of death most of the time. We were young and were not very good business owners,” he admits. Early days involved responding to customers at all hours, taking on any job that came their way, and navigating challenging clients. “We just took whatever came our way because we believed the societal belief that we were lower or less respected, so we were grateful for anything we got,” Zames reflects.
It was not until 2021, when they decided to turn Repair.sg from a hobby into a full-scale business and forwent university to focus entirely on it, that the company began scaling rapidly.
The Chew brothers are part of a growing wave of Gen Zers choosing blue-collar trades over traditional white-collar careers. However, the path has not been without pushback. “Growing up, our parents warned us that manual labor jobs were undesirable. Do not you want to sit in an office with aircon? they asked,” Zames recalls. Customers were also skeptical. “They would tell us to our faces, You guys are kids. You should be studying, not doing this work. It was implied that this was work for people who did not make it in life,” he adds.
For a long time, the brothers even kept their business a secret. “We were insecure about what we did because the negativity affected us. But now, I have realized the value of our work for customers and, most importantly, the joy of working alongside my brother,” Zames says.
Today, Zames is optimistic about the future of blue-collar industries. He observes an increasing number of young people entering trades, some leaving white-collar jobs in search of fulfillment. “Many of them are happier than they ever were,” he notes. Reflecting on his journey, Zames concludes, “I am glad I did not listen to anyone else. If I were stuck in an air-conditioned office five days a week, I would not experience the happiness, fulfillment, and joy I feel running this business with my brother today.”
