By Elizabeth Wilmot

His clients were bracing themselves for bad times by cutting their budgets and that was all it took to send his business into a downward spiral.

Since January this year, Mr Chesper Pang, director of Generis CJP, a firm offering legal consultancy and non-legal project management services, has seen regional sales dropping by 50 per cent.

He has had to close his Thailand and Indonesia branch offices and just last month, two of six staff had to be laid off from his Singapore branch.

The articulate entrepreneur, 38, said the credit crunch spooked many of his clients.

'They are afraid to spend,' says Mr Pang, who graduated in law from the University of London in 1995.

A former litigator in commercial and intellectual property law, he started Generis CJP in 2005 and, in just one year, managed to open branches in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and India, investing about $10,000 in each location.

The company specialises in localising foreign commercial agreements, and develops ministerial conferences as well as meetings and speeches for clients' projects in Singapore and the rest of Asia.

The business employed 12 partners and 34 staff and, before the sub-prime mortgage crisis exploded in January, was enjoying a 'relatively healthy annual regional profit of between $100,000 and $250,000'.

The ensuing chaos has forced him to make some very hard and, at times, unpleasant decisions.

Besides retrenching, he has had to cut the salaries of his remaining staff - who were earning between US$1,500 and US$5,000 (S$2,200 and S$7,400) - by 25 to 50 per cent.

'I had to let go of staff I loved working with and who have become friends. Seeing their disappointment from losing their jobs was definitely more painful than the fall in business revenue. I felt responsible,' he says, regretfully.

Mr Pang, who is single, says his personal life has also been affected.

He recently bought a $750,000 home, which is being renovated.

'The financial crisis came during the start of the renovations, and renovation is not a cheap exercise,' says Mr Pang, who has to pay $2,600 each month to service his mortgage.

He has given up business-class travel and dinners at high-end restaurants, and now opts for public transport instead of taxis.

'I will give myself one financial year to see if I continue to suffer losses,' he says.

If things do not improve by then, he will consider three options: lay off more staff, fold up his firm, or move his business to emerging markets where costs are lower.

He hopes the Government will help ailing businesses like his.

'The simple economic theory prevails. Reduce tax burdens to release disposable income and encourage spending. This will encourage the flow of liquidity in the system to regenerate income.'

Meanwhile, he is trying his best to stay calm and focused.

'Having a cool head for clearer decision-making is essential. I will be as inclusive as I can be by involving my staff in the decision-making process, so that we remain charged mentally, moving forward,' he says.

'I remain very optimistic.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Oct 18, 2008.