← Charles Tay For SME owners ·

Before you believe the uplift

A story I read about a website change that went badly, and what a Singapore owner can do when a vendor promises more sales.

As reported by a news agencyThe promiseOwner: a large rise in revenue
A staged way to test itCheck the promiseBasis in writing, sums at zero uplift
As reported by a news agencySigningThe story doesn’t say
A staged way to test itContract by stagesPay and exit tied to each stage
As reported by a news agencyTesting before launchThe story doesn’t say
A staged way to test itTest copy with staff (UAT)Written pass or fail: orders, URLs, ads
As reported by a news agencyLaunchOwner: sales dropped
A staged way to test itSmall share firstOld site keeps trading alongside
As reported by a news agencyPaid adsOwner: ads did not reach the site
A staged way to test itStep up only if measures holdConversion and sales against the old site
As reported by a news agencyGetting outOwner: the contract could not be ended
A staged way to test itA rehearsed way backOld site ready until the new one proves itself
Dashed: the story gives no detail. One side’s account, now in dispute.

the story, and its limits

A small online retailer overseas replaced a website that was working. The owner says the vendor promised a large rise in revenue and that a local agency did the work. By the owner’s account, sales dropped at launch, paid ads stopped leading to the site, the contract could not be ended, and the business did not recover.

It has since become a legal dispute and the vendor has not given its side. This is one person’s account, as reported, and I have left out who, where and the figures. The story doesn’t give the contract terms, the launch date, what was tested, who was responsible for the ad links, or how much moved at once. Other causes haven’t been ruled out.

I don’t know who is right, and I make no claim about any company. The rest of this page is what any owner can do, whoever is right in that case.

how not to handle a business promise

  • Mistake 1

    Treating a percentage as a result.

    ask in writing
    Where does the number come from? How many businesses, of what size, moving from what system, measured over what period, and compared with what?
    do instead
    Run your sums at zero uplift, with every cost counted: licence, build, staff time, sales lost during the switch and the cost of leaving. If the case only works with the uplift, don’t sign yet.
  • Mistake 2

    Letting the vendor be the only one who assesses the vendor.

    ask in writing
    Three customers of your size who moved from the system you use now. Then call them yourself and ask what went wrong.
    do instead
    Get a second opinion first. SME Centres give free one-to-one advice, including on digital solutions. IMDA’s SMEs Go Digital offers digital advisory help, free for first use if you qualify. Check the current terms.
  • Mistake 3

    Leaving the promise in the sales deck.

    ask in writing
    Will you put this figure in the contract, and what happens if we don’t reach it?
    do instead
    If it matters, make it a term with a remedy. Under Singapore’s Misrepresentation Act 1967 a false statement of fact that led you to sign can give you damages, and a clause excluding that liability must be reasonable. A forecast is harder. Statements of opinion or intention usually don’t count, unless the opinion wasn’t honestly held or came from someone claiming special skill. If the vendor won’t write it down, treat it as marketing.
  • Mistake 4

    Buying a bigger fix than the problem.

    If the worry is security or an ageing system, there may be smaller answers than a new platform.

    ask in writing
    What exactly is wrong with what we have, and what would it cost to fix only that?
    do instead
    Price the smallest fix first. CSA’s Cyber Essentials mark is a local yardstick for basic security.
  • Mistake 5

    Signing without knowing the price of leaving.

    ask in writing
    The length of the term, the cost of ending early, refunds if a stage fails, how you get your data and designs out, and who holds the domain and the ad accounts.
    do instead
    Pay by stage, and write the right to walk away at each stage into the contract. Check which country’s law governs. Singapore’s Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 lets a court test limits on liability in a supplier’s written standard terms for reasonableness. It controls those clauses only. It is no general fairness rule, and its main protections don’t apply if Singapore law governs only because the parties chose it.
  • Mistake 6

    Assuming someone owns the gaps.

    With a platform, an implementer and whoever runs your ads, a job like updating ad links can belong to nobody.

    ask in writing
    Who owns the redirect list, the ad links and the sales tracking?
    do instead
    Put one named person against each.

A grant doesn’t check the promise. EnterpriseSG’s PSG ended on 29 September 2026 and its EDGE Grant started on 30 September. Digital solutions under EDGE go through IMDA’s pre-approval. Pre-approval looks at the solution in general and says nothing about how it will do in your shop. Check the grant rules before you sign or pay anything, on BizSG.

how to run the change in stages

Written for an owner with no IT team. The percentages are starting points. Agree your own numbers in writing before go-live.

  1. 1. Promise

    Do this
    Get the basis of the number in writing. Run the sums at zero uplift
    Who
    Owner
    Pass before moving on
    The case works without the uplift
    What the story says
    A large rise was promised. Basis not given

  2. 2. Contract

    Do this
    Payments and exit rights tied to stages 4 to 7. One named owner for redirects, ads and tracking
    Who
    Owner, lawyer
    Pass before moving on
    Those terms are signed
    What the story says
    Owner says the contract couldn’t be ended. Terms not given

  3. 3. Baseline

    Do this
    Record 8 weeks of visits, conversion and sales by channel. List every old URL and every live ad
    Who
    Whoever runs marketing
    Pass before moving on
    Both lists are complete
    What the story says
    Not given

  4. 4. Test copy (UAT)

    Do this
    Staff place real orders on a private copy: new buyer, repeat buyer, discount, refund, phone, delivery email. Use made-up customers and the payment provider’s test mode
    Who
    Sales, finance and packing staff, not the builder
    Pass before moving on
    Every item on the written list passes. Every old URL lands on the right page. Every ad lands on the right page. A test order shows up in your tracking
    What the story says
    Owner says ads stopped leading to the site. Testing not given

  5. 5. Side by side

    Do this
    Old site keeps trading. New site stays hidden from search and takes only staff and a few friendly customers’ orders. Stock is counted in both
    Who
    Owner, packing staff
    Pass before moving on
    Two weeks of orders reconcile with no lost order
    What the story says
    Not given

  6. 6. Small share

    Do this
    One product line, or about 10% of ad budget, goes to the new site
    Who
    Whoever runs marketing
    Pass before moving on
    Two full weeks: conversion and sales per visit within 10% of the old site for the same products
    What the story says
    Owner says sales dropped at launch. How much moved at once isn’t given

  7. 7. Step up

    Do this
    25%, 50%, then all traffic. Same test at each step. A fall past the line means back to the last step
    Who
    Owner decides
    Pass before moving on
    Measure holds at every step
    What the story says
    Not given

  8. 8. Close

    Do this
    Switch search to the new site with permanent redirects. Keep the old site ready to return to until the new one has proved itself. Final payment only now
    Who
    Owner, implementer
    Pass before moving on
    A rehearsed return to the old site worked
    What the story says
    Not given

Way back. Practise it at stage 5. Write down who does it, how long it takes and what happens to orders taken during the switch.

About search. Google’s site-move guidance says small and medium sites should move all URLs at once and expect a temporary ranking dip, and that redirects should stay at least a year. So use ads and product lines for the staged part, and do the search move once, at stage 8. A short dip in search alone isn’t a fail. Ads are the part you can test straight away.

what is different in Singapore

Don’t assume a general fairness rule. Singapore’s Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act covers business-to-consumer dealings only, so a business buyer’s routes are the contract, the Misrepresentation Act and the Unfair Contract Terms Act.

Customer data moves too. The PDPA still applies during a migration, in the version current at 9 November 2026. Protect the data while it moves (s 24). Stop keeping the old copy once it is no longer needed for legal or business purposes (s 25). If the new platform sends data overseas, it must get protection comparable to the PDPA (s 26). A vendor processing data for you must protect it and tell you of a breach without undue delay, and you stay responsible. If a breach affects 500 or more people or is likely to cause significant harm, you have three calendar days after deciding it is notifiable to tell PDPC. PDPC publishes sample contract clauses.

If it goes wrong. Small Claims Tribunals take claims up to S$20,000, or S$30,000 if both sides agree, which won’t cover a large loss. Singapore Mediation Centre handles commercial disputes, with fees that depend on the amount at stake. If the company itself is in trouble, MinLaw’s Simplified Insolvency Programme 2.0 (from 29 January 2026) is open to companies with liabilities of up to S$2 million. Get advice early.

Singapore sources, checked 9 Nov 2026

Written 9 Nov 2026. Prompted by a news story I read, which gave one side’s account. Names and details are left out, and I make no claim about any company. The lessons are my own view. I’m not a lawyer and this isn’t legal advice. Not affiliated with any agency or organisation mentioned.