Picture the hyper-dense urban corridors of Southeast Asia, and a stark paradox has emerged where physical proximity does not equate to social or economic cohesion. Despite living in some of the most concentrated residential environments globally, urbanites continue to navigate a fragmented landscape where community support and essential services remain inaccessible due to high commercial overheads and inefficient discovery platforms.
This “disconnected density” has reached a critical point, particularly as the region faces the dual pressures of rising operational costs for small businesses and an increasing demand for localised, resilient infrastructure that supports a rapidly evolving workforce.
We discuss the quiet “professionalisation” of Singapore’s home services market
To see what solutions are available, we take a look at the service Better Things, which is positioning itself as the vanguard of this hyper-local shift, aggressively moving to integrate residents, underutilised spaces, and service providers into a single, high-trust ecosystem. By transforming dormant residential assets into vibrant hubs for fitness, education, and creative services, the platform has doubled down on a model that removes the traditional barriers of high rental costs and customer acquisition.
The company is transitioning the concept of the “15-minute city” from a planning theory into a functional commercial reality, starting with a robust presence in Singapore and a strategic roadmap targeting the cross-border potential of Johor.
We explore the platform’s ability to synchronise trust across residents, providers, and hosts, a complex “triple-win” that traditional marketplaces often fail to achieve. Through its “Build and Found” programme, the company is effectively de-risking micro-entrepreneurship by providing the underlying infrastructure for skills to be monetised exactly where people live. We have Jeanette Wu, Founder of Better Things, share her insights into the future of localised work, the challenges of scaling trust in shared environments, and why they believe the home is the next great frontier for wellbeing and flexible enterprise.
Congrats on the launch of the platform. Could you share what gaps you’re aiming to fill?
Thank you, we’re excited about it as well. At its core, Better Things was built to address a disconnect that many urban communities experience today. We live in dense residential environments, yet help and support still feel fragmented and inaccessible.
This disconnect is shaped by two structural challenges. Shared spaces within residential buildings are often underutilised, while many skilled individuals, from fitness instructors to playgroup facilitators to creatives, face barriers due to high rental costs and the overhead of acquiring customers.
Better Things brings these elements together. We connect residents, spaces, and providers into a single ecosystem, enabling services and experiences to happen within the neighbourhood itself.
What we’re addressing goes beyond convenience. It’s about building the underlying infrastructure for neighbourhood-based experiences that support wellbeing, lifelong learning, and micro-entrepreneurship, starting from where people already live.
Could you explain a bit more about the “future of work” and how this platform is creating change?
The future of work is becoming more flexible and more localised. More people are choosing to monetise their skills or build portfolio careers, and there is also a growing group with ideas for experiences they want to bring to life, but no clear channels to get started. The systems around them haven’t quite caught up. Commercial leases, high marketing costs, and fragmented discovery platforms make it difficult for independent operators to begin and sustain themselves.
Better Things is designed to lower these barriers. It enables individuals to turn their skills, ideas, and passions into income without needing a permanent space or significant upfront investment. Providers can access demand within their own neighbourhoods, while also reaching residents across Singapore, and residents gain access to services that are integrated into their daily lives.
There’s also a social layer to this shift. When services and experiences happen in shared settings, people come together. When it happens regularly, familiarity builds, and communities start to take shape, where neighbours know and support one another. This is where the future of work is heading, toward models that are more flexible, more community-driven, and better integrated into everyday life, where earning, learning, and connection can coexist in the same environment.
How are you acquiring customers and providers? What has been the biggest hurdle in building supply and demand so far?
We’re growing both sides of the marketplace through communities rather than traditional top-down acquisition.
On the demand side, we partner with residential developments and community stakeholders, introducing programming directly within neighbourhoods. Once residents experience a session locally, adoption tends to grow through word of mouth because participation feels personal and convenient.
On the supply side, providers come through referrals, local networks, and our Build and Found programme, which supports micro-entrepreneurs looking for accessible ways to grow their services.
The biggest challenge and also the most interesting one is synchronising trust across three groups simultaneously: residents, providers, and hosts. Unlike typical marketplaces, we’re operating in shared residential environments, so safety, expectations, and community standards matter deeply.
Where are you planning on expanding next, and why?
We’re focused on expanding in cities with dense residential living and strong community potential. Singapore remains our core market, while Johor is a natural extension due to existing demand and cross-border communities.
More broadly, we’re looking at urban environments facing similar challenges around social connection, ageing populations, and rising costs for small businesses.
What’s next for Better Things?
Our next phase is to deepen recurring neighbourhood experiences so participation becomes part of everyday life. We’re also working on improving the matching between the providers, spaces and communities while supporting micro-entrepreneurs to grow sustainably.
In the long run, we aim for Better Things to become a platform for community living, where home supports connection, wellbeing and flexible work!