Growing up, Zames Chew thought he would land a white-collar role at a tech giant like Google. Today, the 26-year-old runs Repair.sg, a Singapore-based handyman service, alongside his 24-year-old brother and co-founder, Amos Chew.
In 2024, Repair.sg brought in 1.7 million Singapore dollars (around $1.3 million), according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.
“When I was younger, my dream was always to work in big tech,” Chew said. But in early 2016, he spotted a gap in the market.
“Our parents were looking for a service provider to fix something around the house,” he said. “I was just looking online, and … there [seemed] to be nowhere to find service providers [online] back in the day. So I was like … let me put together a website and see what happens from there.”
At just 16, Chew spent 30 Singapore dollars (about $23) on a domain, got help from his father to register the business, and Repair.sg was born.
Almost a decade later, what began as a side hustle has grown into a team of more than 20 employees, on track to generate about $2.3 million in 2025, according to CNBC Make It.
From Teenage Side Hustle to Full-Time Startup
Chew and his brother were hands-on from the start.
“My brother and I would do everything together. That means building Legos, building PCs, taking things apart,” he said. “[We] have always been building projects together, and it has [been] our dream to … work together when we became adults.”
During the first three years, the brothers juggled schoolwork with the fledgling business. They spent evenings and weekends building skills, acquiring licenses, and taking on most jobs themselves—from replacing lights to fixing furniture.
“For the first seven years, up until perhaps even early 2024, [the business] was basically at the brink of death most of the time,” Chew said. “We were young and weren’t very good business owners.”
The early years required persistence. “[Maybe] expectations were completely different, or perhaps they were just really cheap and it was a pain for us, or … they were not very nice people,” Chew said. “We just took whatever came our way because we kind of believed the societal belief that we were lower than the rest or not as respected, so we were kind of just grateful for whatever we got.”
The turning point came in 2021, when the brothers committed to scaling Repair.sg full time and decided to forgo university to focus on the business.
Redefining Blue-Collar Work for Gen Z
The Chews are part of a wave of Gen Zers choosing hands-on, blue-collar industries over traditional white-collar jobs.
“Growing up, our parents always [told] us things like: ‘If you don’t study hard, you’re going to end up doing a manual labor job, and it’s going to be awful. Don’t you want to sit in an office with aircon?’” Chew said.
“[And] when we started speaking [with customers] … they would tell us to our face: ’You guys are kids. You guys should be studying in school and not doing this kind of work. This is for people that quote, unquote, don’t make it in life,’” he added.
For years, the brothers kept Repair.sg under wraps, wary of stigma.
“We were always very insecure about what we did, because while we did enjoy it, the negativity did get to us. So we made it a point to not publicize that we were doing this,” Chew said.
Now, they embrace the work and the value it provides to customers. “I’m happy that I didn’t listen to anyone else and [kept going], because if I were forced to sit in an air conditioned office five days a week, typing away at a computer, I don’t think I would experience the same amount of happiness, fulfillment, joy that I do running this business with my brother today,” Chew said.
He sees a broader trend: more young people are choosing hands-on trades over traditional office jobs. “A lot of them are happier than they ever were,” he said.
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