While most 13-year-olds are busy with homework or hanging out with friends, one Singaporean teen is juggling website updates, inventory checks and orders — all for her side hustle.
Meet Eleora Liang, the pint-sized boss of A Little Ripple, an online store for pickleball paddles that she runs out of her family’s home in Ipoh, where she’s homeschooled.
“Sometimes I use work as an excuse to skip homework,” Eleora, who used to attend South View Primary School, admits with a laugh.
“I’ll tell my mum, ‘I need to update the website.’ She usually says okay.”
Back in 2021, Eleora’s parents, who are in their 40s, decided to “escape the rat race” in Singapore and go on what they call a road trip, spending time in Thailand and Malaysia. They lived in Chiang Mai for two years before moving to Ipoh. They have not decided where their next stop will be.
Homeschooling gave Eleora the time to explore her passions — violin and, unexpectedly, business.
As part of her project in 2022, her mum, a former math tutor, encouraged her to start a small venture so she could learn life skills.
The first attempt — selling stationery — didn’t take off, so they pivoted to pickleball paddles, then a buzzy new sport in Asia
Eleora borrowed S$2K from her parents to get started and by January 2024, she was selling pickleball paddles, made in China and Vietnam, on her website and Carousell.