Though her company's website is not ready, she has already got potential clients knocking on her door.
Such is the power of networking, said Ms Helen Lim, 62, who started human resource consultancy Silver Spring last December.

The company, run together with five partners, aims to provide people, particularly those over 40, with career counselling advice and help them find employment, especially if they have been retrenched or are facing retirement.

Her partners come from backgrounds ranging from finance and information technology to sales and supply-chain management.

Ms Lim herself is a former human resource director who has worked in large multinationals and public sector firms. The economics graduate from Monash University took an early retirement in 2005.

She said: 'We wanted to continue to build something and leave a legacy that creates opportunities not just for ourselves but also for others around our age.' Her partners are aged between 45 and 64.

Referring to their company name, she said: 'We want to help our clients put the bounce back in their lives.'

And though the company has no plans to establish a physical office, she and her partners have been meeting at least once a week since March, either at the Singapore Recreation Club or over coffee with clients.

'Once people become aware of your passion, it's quite interesting how people support you in whatever ways they can. That is the power of word-of-mouth advertising,' she said.

So far, she has counselled about 20 clients one-on-one. They plan to have fortnightly meetings with up to 20 people per session.

Support groups for retrenched people are also in the pipeline, she said. She charges about $100 an hour for consultations.

She also attends monthly networking sessions held by the International Coaching Federation in Singapore.

'Corporate life has been good and it has also given us that wealth of experience that we can now share with people,' Ms Lim said.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.