The Differentiation Strategy
From S$500, one engagement. Delivered in 3–7 days from a 30-minute call. If ObserveCo does not identify the client's best differentiator, the client does not pay.
Press & media
Everything you need to write about ObserveCo.
ObserveCo is a differentiation strategy consultancy for Singapore small businesses, founded by author Sean Foo. Below: the facts and their sources, the founder, the books, and four story angles. If you are on deadline, the contact block is at the bottom and email is fastest.
The numbers we quote, and where they come from.
Every figure below is a published statistic from a named source, not an ObserveCo estimate. You can check each one independently at origin.
50%
of new Singapore businesses do not survive five years.
ACRA — Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority213
new businesses register in Singapore every day — roughly one every seven minutes.
ACRA, 202555%
of Singapore SME decision-makers cite getting and keeping customers as a top concern.
QBE 2025 — survey of 600 Singapore SME decision-makers36%
cite stiff market competition as their single number one concern — ahead of every other business worry.
OCBC, 4Q202539% → 50%
of Singapore SMEs citing increasing competition, 2024 to 2025.
QBE 202525,000
enterprises a year receive free one-to-one advice from Enterprise Singapore's SME Centres.
Enterprise SingaporeThe founder.
Sean Foo — founder
Sean Foo spent 15 years in consulting and 18 in startups before founding ObserveCo, which studies a Singapore small business's real competitors and hands the owner the one differentiator most likely to win. He is the author of two books on the same subject, both carrying National Library Board (NLB) Singapore ISBNs, and the method he sells is the one he wrote down in them.
- Stuart Wright Well ConsultancyDominated all offshore complex wells in Australia
- AlgoMerchantSingapore's first AI robo-investing solution
- Aurora Energy ResearchEurope's largest dedicated power analytics provider
- AuthorSmall Island, Crowded Market and How a Small Business Gets Chosen — NLB Singapore ISBNs
What the business does, in plain terms.
Most small businesses can describe what they sell. Fewer can say why a customer should pick them over a named alternative. ObserveCo produces that answer as a document: the real competitive set, every viable differentiator tested against the client's own market, the open position, the traps, a positioning statement, and a 90-day roadmap.
Differentiation Watch
S$300–400 per quarter. A quarterly re-run of the competitive analysis, new-entrant alerts, and a refreshed recommendation as the market moves.
The books.
Two titles, published September 2026, both with NLB Singapore ISBNs. They are the credential behind the consultancy — and the reason a journalist can verify the method without taking ObserveCo's word for it.
Small Island, Crowded Market
What every Singapore business owner should know about the ground they compete on.
ISBN 978-981-94-7829-3
How a Small Business Gets Chosen
Lessons from established Singapore brands.
ISBN 978-981-94-7828-6Four angles, if you are looking for one.
Each of these is a story ObserveCo can support with data, a named case, or an interview. Take one, or take a piece of one.
The S$500 strategy
Strategy consulting has always been priced for companies that can afford a six-figure engagement. One Singapore consultancy sells the same analytical output, for one small business at a time, from S$500 — and puts a no-result-no-fee guarantee on it. What breaks when you strip the deck, the team and the timeline out of strategy work?
Half of them are gone in five years
ACRA's own numbers: about half of new Singapore businesses do not reach their fifth year, while 213 more register every day. The usual explanations are cash flow and demand. The argument here is narrower and more uncomfortable — many of them were never differentiated, so there was never a reason to pick them twice.
Two books, one question
A Singapore founder wrote two books — one mapping the ground small businesses compete on, one on how a small business gets chosen — then built a consultancy on the method inside them. A founder profile on why he wrote them, what the research found, and what he got wrong in his own startups first.
Where does a small business show up in an AI answer?
More buyers now begin with an AI assistant rather than a search box. ObserveCo has tested what those assistants say about businesses in its own category, and what they leave out. An honest, first-person angle on being absent from the answer — and what it takes to be cited at all.
Contact.
Interviews, data requests, comment, or a review copy — email is fastest, and it reaches Sean directly.
Email — preferred for deadlines
sean.foo@observeco.com
Include your outlet and deadline. If you need a specific figure checked, say which one and it will be sourced or withdrawn.
WhatsApp — urgent only
+65 9155 0120
Based in Singapore. Available for in-person interviews and studio recordings.
Images and assets
Free to use with credit to ObserveCo. Right-click to download, or request higher resolution by email.
