Our First "Revenue"

When we first got the keys to the Teamwork Unlocked office, it was still in renovation mode. There was dust on the floor, walls waiting for paint, and a thousand things to do before we could welcome a client.

While we were clearing things up, I spotted this coin. Five cents.

We kept it...our first “revenue.” If you break it down, that’s about eight seconds of rent in Singapore. Picking up money off the ground is not exactly a sustainable business model, but it made us laugh. Since then, we’ve had a paying customers and even companies who enjoyed our demo workshops so much they insisted on paying for them. That was our real first revenue, but I keep coming back to this coin because it captures what the journey has felt like.

Building something new isn’t about the big contracts you hope will come one day. It’s about the tiny markers along the way, the small wins and the reminders that you’re moving forward, even if it’s only inch by inch or in our case, cent by cent.

That five cents doesn’t keep the lights on, but it’s proof of something bigger: that value shows up in unexpected places, and that momentum can start small.

Eight seconds of rent, but also the first sign we were in business.