Creative Technology founder and one of Singapore’s greatest entrepreneurs, Sim Wong Hoo, has some advice for budding entrepreneurs.

“Don’t get married”.

The 63-year-old grinned at this writer’s shocked expression and explained that entrepreneurs need to be focused and committed, and having mortgages and the like will be a distraction.

“Once you have family and commitment, you can’t afford to take the risks. I can take risks because I have no family. In the early days, I survived on $200 a month,” he told Yahoo Finance Singapore in a recent interview at the company’s headquarters in Jurong.

Wearing one of his favourite T-shirts, he added he lived a simple life and ate whatever food his mother put in front of him. “My advice is always to stay lean so that if you fall down, you can pick yourself up,” he said.

He is living proof of his own adage. His steely determination and single-mindedness let him bounce back from the tough times the company has faced in the past 38 years.

Sim said entrepreneurs need to take risks or “nothing happens”.

“You need to face the consequences of your mistakes and learn from your mistakes. If you don’t make mistakes, you won’t learn anything, and you won’t grow up,” he said.

Sim is also against rote learning, which was a feature of the Singapore education system during his time.

In his first book “Chaotic Thoughts From The Old Millennium” published in December 1999, he coined and popularised the term “No U-turn Syndrome (NUTS)” which is used to describe the stereotypical Singaporean mindset where people won’t take action unless they get permission from a higher authority.

Sim observed that in Singapore drivers only do a U-turn if a sign allowing it is present, whereas in other countries drivers don’t do a U-turn only if there is a sign that prohibits them from doing so. The “no rule = no do” phenomenon paralyses people and inhibits creativity and initiative, he said.

“If you need mentoring, don’t be an entrepreneur,” Sim said.

The bachelor added that he is open to sharing his stories and experiences, but he draws the line at telling people what to do.

“Entrepreneurs need to make mistakes and figure out things themselves. Yes, they need information. I can give you the light, but I am not telling you how to go, which direction to go,” Sim said.

He also noted that it doesn’t help entrepreneurs if the government is overprotective and makes the place too safe and “finely” managed.

The government needs to give entrepreneurs, who are competing with the big foreign companies and government-linked companies, more opportunities and not just grants, Sim said.

In his 1999 book, Sim wrote, “Innovate means to create things out of nothing, it means moving into unchartered territories where there are no rules.

“How can you innovate when you have to get approval of somebody who looks at a rule-book first?”