What owners say once the tools are in place.
These are written accounts from business owners in Singapore who have worked with us. We have kept them honest — including the ones that note what took longer than expected.
Back to Home85+
Businesses helped
4.8
Average satisfaction (out of 5)
3+
Years of practice
92%
Clients who continued beyond first service
In their own words
Wei Ling Ong
Owner, artisan bakery · Tiong Bahru
The Surface Reading was worth every dollar. Ravi spent the morning with me going through how the bakery handles orders and enquiries on WhatsApp. By lunchtime I had a clear picture of two things that were taking unreasonable amounts of my time. One of them, we addressed in the integration the following month. The other turned out to be something I just needed to stop doing myself.
May 2025
Raj Nair
Director, small accounting firm · Tanjong Pagar
I had spoken to a couple of larger consultancies before finding Teratai Works. The difference was that they told me what two or three things were actually relevant for a firm of our size — instead of presenting everything they could theoretically offer. The integration took slightly longer than the three-week estimate, closer to four, but Siti kept us informed throughout and the tools have been running without issue since April.
April 2025
Lim Hui Shan
Founder, tutoring centre · Buona Vista
We run a tutoring centre with six part-time teachers and about eighty students. Parent enquiries and schedule changes used to eat up an embarrassing amount of my evenings. The assistant Siti set up handles the routine questions through our WhatsApp line, flags anything that needs a personal reply, and has genuinely given me two or three hours back each week. Aaron does a tidy quarterly report.
May 2025
Amirul Karim
Owner, photography studio · Kampong Glam
I was sceptical at first. As a sole proprietor who is also the photographer, editor, and admin, I was not sure there was enough repetitive work to justify it. The Surface Reading changed that view. Ravi pointed to enquiry handling and gallery delivery follow-ups as the two areas most worth addressing. Both are sorted now, and I have not regretted the retainer.
May 2025
Tan Ming Yee
Manager, boutique hotel · Chinatown
The team handled the integration carefully and the documentation they produced was clear enough that our new front desk staff could understand it without needing to be walked through it again. My only note would be that the initial scoping call could cover pricing expectations earlier — but the final cost matched what was quoted, so that is a process comment rather than a complaint.
April 2025
Priya Lakshmanan
Principal, HR consultancy · One Raffles Place
Working with a small, focused team was the right fit for our firm. We did not want a large agency that would route us through junior consultants every time we had a question. Ravi has been consistent throughout, the quarterly summaries Aaron sends are genuinely useful, and the tools have settled into our workflow quietly — which is exactly what we wanted.
May 2025
Three client journeys in more detail
Tiong Bahru artisan bakery
Surface Reading → Beneath the Surface Integration
Challenge
The owner was spending 2–3 hours daily handling WhatsApp order enquiries, custom cake requests, and delivery logistics — all manually, with no filtering of routine questions.
Solution
We set up a WhatsApp assistant to handle routine FAQs and order forms, routing custom requests and complaints to the owner directly. Configuration took two and a half weeks.
Outcome
About 60% of incoming WhatsApp messages are now handled without manual input. The owner estimates saving 90 minutes on weekdays. Custom enquiries receive a more considered reply.
"I was not expecting to get that time back so quickly. It took a few weeks to feel natural, but by week six it was just part of how we work." — Wei Ling
Buona Vista tutoring centre
Beneath the Surface → Still Water Retainer
Challenge
Parent enquiries about schedules, fees, and class availability arrived at all hours across WhatsApp, email, and Instagram. The owner was the single point of response for all of them.
Solution
A combined assistant for WhatsApp and email, configured to answer schedule and fee queries, pass availability requests to a shared calendar, and flag enquiries requiring personal attention.
Outcome
Routine parent queries are answered within minutes rather than hours. The owner now reviews a daily digest of items needing a personal reply, rather than checking multiple channels continuously.
"The setup took about three and a half weeks rather than three, but that was partly because we had more message types than we anticipated. Worth it." — Hui Shan
Tanjong Pagar accounting firm
Surface Reading → Beneath the Surface Integration
Challenge
New client onboarding required staff to manually compile documents, draft standard engagement letters, and follow up on outstanding signatures — all repetitive steps that consumed billable time.
Solution
A document assembly and follow-up assistant was connected to their existing practice management system, generating standard letters and sending reminders on a schedule.
Outcome
Onboarding administration time reduced by roughly 40% per new client. Staff reported the follow-up reminders as the highest-value change — signatures that used to take a week now typically arrive in two days.
"The team told me upfront the integration would take three to four weeks. It was four. I appreciated that they flagged it early rather than surprising us at the end." — Raj
Speak with us directly
We are available weekdays, and happy to speak with any Singapore small business considering AI tools.
Phone
+65 6692 4318Address
71 Robinson Road, #13-06, Singapore 068895
Hours
Mon–Fri 9am–6pm
Sat 10am–1pm
Professional standing
SME Centre Referral Partner
Recognised since May 2024 through an Enterprise Singapore–affiliated SME Centre.
SIATP Associate Member
Associate member of the Singapore IT Advisory and Technology Practitioners network.
4.8 / 5 satisfaction
From post-engagement surveys conducted January to April 2025.
PDPA-aware practice
All tool recommendations and integrations are reviewed for alignment with Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act.
Starting with a Surface Reading is low-risk.
For S$180, you get a working session and a written summary you can use independently. There is no obligation to go further — and the accounts above suggest the reading is useful on its own.