DECEMBER 2017
www.entrepreneurinsight.com.my
AZIZAN OSMAN
Inspires young Entrepreneurs with his Midas Touch in training
DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
WIEF spotlights the business trends of the future
DANIAL MA OF VRDT GROUP CREATES MYCLICKS.COM-AN ONLINE
PLATFORM FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS DECEMBER 2017 RM7.50(WM) RM9.00(EM)
KDN PP 18181/04/2013 (033492)
SpecialThanks to YB Datuk Ahmad Maslan, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry & YB Dato’ Sri Jailani Johari, Deputy Minister of Communications & Multimedia FOR OFFICIATING THE EVENT
CONGRATULATIONS THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS 2017 TO THE RECIPIENTS OF
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//DATO’ SERI JAMES WONG TW //DATO’ SRI M. ANDY //DATO’ SRI NELSON KEE //DATO’ ANTHONY CHENG //DATO’ AZRAF AZMAN //DATO’ AZRIL MOHD. RADZI //DATO’ BILLY GOH //DATO’ COLIN TAN //DATO’ DR. NICHOLAS HO //DATO’ DR. JAY HO //DATO’ EDMUND YAP //DATO’ KIAN LIM //DATO’ KK SEE //DATO’ LAWRENCE LOW //DATO’ TIONG SU SWAN //DATO’ VINCE KEK //DATIN SRI JESSIE WONG //DATIN SHIREEN TAN //DATIN SOFIA LAU //AARON SIOW //AI PENG, LEE //ALLAN TAN //ALLEN TAN KEE LENG //ALVIN POH //ANCO GOH //AZIZAN OSMAN //AZRI ZAHIER AZMI //AZRUL HELMY HAFIZ //CATHERINE TEE //CHARLES THUNG VOON EE //CHRIS TAN //CYNTHIA TONG //DANIAL MA
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06/12/2017 9:29 AM
CONTENT
17
FRESH START-UP 32 | Discovering The Deemples App 8
30
At a loss in finding other golf players? Don’t fret - here’s how this application can assist you to find other like-minded golfers easily anytime, anywhere
COVER STORY
MAIN FEATURE
STRATEGY
08 | Empowering Women
22 | Disruptive Technologies will
36 | Employment Insurance Scheme
Mycliks.com is an online platform created for women Entrepreneurs aimed at providing them with more opportunities and success in the next five years via the E-Commerce platform
“Disruptive Change: Impact and Challenges” was discussed at the recently concluded World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) where Entrepreneur Insight was present at the event. Here are the findings
Entrepreneurs
disrupt the way we live
CORPORATE INSIGHT
ENTERPRISE OF THE MONTH
14 | V’Asia’s Visions: Far-sighted and
26 | Notable Extraordinaire in Beauty
Founder of Aura One Resources (M) Sdn Bhd Dato’ Azril Mohd. Radzi shares on his creative and innovative ideas on marketing V’Asia products to another higher level
Managing Director of Nouvelle Beauty Centre Rita Sosilawati speaks of taking the beautyline empire to a whole new level for all walks of life
Corporate
Line
ENTREPRENEUR OF THE MONTH
FEATURE
17 | From Rags to Raking In
30 | Social Media Outburst: The Next
Richworks International Founder and Trainer Azizan Osman was recently honoured by International Coach Guild Australia as a world-class Coach and his college being internationally recognised as witnessed by the team at Entrepreneur Insight in front of an energised crowd of 6,500 at his training session
Know-how to leverage on social media platforms for your business is the question which plays in entrepreneur’s mind now, and leveraging on Internet of Things or Branding in a bigger way
Recognition and Riches
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Dec 2017
Digital Drive
Vs. Human Resource Insurance
38 | The Consequences of Loan Defaulting
40 | The Ups and Downs of Airbnb FINANCE 42 | Seven Traits of
a Successful Investor
EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Dato’ KK Chua kkchua@propertyinsight.com.my Editor Yvonne Yoong yvonneyoong@propertyinsight.com.my Separating The Men From The Boys Beneath the shiny veneer of success, one just has to scratch beneath the surface and dig deeper to discover that more often than not, those who seem to have all the hallmarks of lucky breaks and pronounced success have equally gone through more than their fair share of challenges. And herein, lies the oxymoron that propels survivors forward and separates the men from the boys. Many successful people have been elevated to the level of the struggles and challenges they have undergone. Trainer Azizan Osman of Richworks International Sdn Bhd for one, has graduated from the initial hardships and sufferings he underwent previously. These include having slaved away day and night at an advertising agency which affected his first marriage to the point of divorce due to high stress levels. A defining moment came when he decided to quit his advertising job and rethink his strategy in life. Fast forward to today, and this Trainer-cum-Entrepreneur has a following spanning thousands. The team at Entrepreneur Insight witnessed first-hand his roaring success as they went backstage. Azizan took to stage in true celebrity fashion and had the over 6,500 frenzied people in the crowd hanging on to his every word and thundering applause every now and then. The energised crowd reacted to his promptings – be it to applaud, wave or stand on their seats - it didn’t matter what he asked of them – they reacted in a synchronised fashion. Indeed, Azizan who has since remarried - with his wife anticipating the birth of their next baby - has overcome the odds with a second chance in life granted to him. Humility before honour. Setbacks before success. Azizan has survived and lived to tell his tale. He has in a sense, graduated from the first half of his life to embrace overwhelming success. So much so that his achievements have not gone unnoticed as even the respected International Coach Guild Australia had two of its representatives fly in from Down Under to bestow him with the prestigious recognition of being a world-class international Coach and his company - as a world-class coaching school. Besides being the first in Malaysia and Asia to be honoured with both awards, Richworks as a company, is the first to be recognised in Malaysia, Asia while being the second company in the world to receive this award. What this means for students of his college which he established in a bid to give back to society is that they now have the opportunity of becoming recognised at the global level and stand to be counted amongst one of the most prestigious training schools in Malaysia with an international coach. Azizan reiterates that in order to succeed, one must understand one’s “Big Why”, which is the cornerstone reason underlining what one hopes to achieve on one’s entrepreneurial and life’s journey. Azizan has also set up a challenge for himself to impact and help as many of his clients to get as much meaningful results as possible with even the setting up of a college for this purpose in line with him giving back to society with his Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Incidentally, he was also the recipient of our recently concluded 100 Most Influential Young Entrepreneurs (100MIYE) that was held at The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur. 100MIYE receipients gathered at the glitzy night aptly themed “Opulence” which also saw award recipients from last year congregating under one roof. The grand ballroom was filled to capactity with 1,100 guest witnessing the ceremony and taking this photographs at the specially constructed giant mock up of Entrepreneur Insight for guests to assimilate appearing on the cover of the magazine. The Hublot booth too proved to be a hit with guest getting video clips of themselves posing for photographs. Till we meet next month, happy reading.
Writer Mages PV Lingam Felicia Soon
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Sales & marketing enquiries support@propertyinsight.com.my +6012 3788 683
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ENQUIRIES enquiries@propertyinsight.com.my Tel: 017 601 9938
Dato’ KK Chua Editor-In-Chief Entrepreneur Insight /Property Insight
On The Cover www.propertyinsight.com.my
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PropertyInsight DECEMBER 2017
Although every reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, neither the publisher, editors, writers nor employees or agents can be held liable for any errors, inaccuracies and/or omissions. The contents of this publication do not constitute investment advice. It is intended only to inform and illustrate. No reader should act on any information contained in this publication without first seeking appropriate professional advice that takes into account their personal circumstances. We shall not be responsible for any loss or damage, whether directly or indirectly, incidentally or consequently arising from or in connection with the contents of this publication and shall not accept any liability in relation thereto. The views by our contributors expressed here are their personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect Property Insight’s views. The publisher does not endorse any company, organisation, person, investment strategy or technique mentioned in this publication unless expressedly stated otherwise. The publisher does not endorse any advertisements or special advertising features in this publication, nor does the publisher endorse any advertiser(s) or their products/services unless expressedly stated to the contrary. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including photocopying and imaging without the prior written permission of the publisher.
www.entrepreneurinsight.com.my
Danial MA
Chief Executive Officer, VRDT Group of Companies
ENTREPRENEUR OF THE MONTH
CELEBRITY COACH AZIZAN OSMAN Inspires young Entrepreneurs with his Midas Touch in training
DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
WIEF spotlights the business trends of the future
DANIAL MA OF VRDT GROUP CREATES MYCLICKS.COM-AN ONLINE
PLATFORM FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS DECEMBER 2017 RM7.50(WM) RM9.00(EM)
KDN PP 18181/04/2013 (033492)
Dec 2017
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NEWS & EVENTS
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Dec 2017
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NEWS & EVENTS
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EMPOWERING WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS Mycliks.com is an online platform created for women Entrepreneurs aimed at providing them with more opportunities and success in the next five years via the E-Commerce platform By: FELICIA SOON
D
anial MA, Chief Executive Officer of VRDT Group of Companies may be young but he already has a longterm goal of what he envisions he wants to achieve for his business. Having been involved in various industries including Food and Beverage (F&B) and technology for the last eight to nine years, a lesser known fact about him revolves around his humble beginnings. He modestly shares that there is nothing special about his background. Instead, he describes himself as growing up as a kid in an unknown village who struggled to blend in and yet kept on moving ahead on his journey independently without much help from those around him. “I am who I am today because of the struggles I’ve overcome. It took me some measure of self-motivation and the encouragement of my father who is my all-time hero to overcome adversity and continue on my entrepreneurial journey,” he shares. Expressing his admiration for his father, being the leader of the family who although is not a businessman nor leader of any organisation, is still attentive to the needs of those around him. “He gave us the freedom to explore and trained us to become disciplined individuals at the same time. There can be thousands of great leaders out there but this is the leader whom I have looked up to and admired since my childhood days. I’ve learnt a lot from him from the way he has brought me up and communicated with me,” says Danial.
NO ONE STRAIGHT PATH Danial opines that nobody is born an
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HT PATH
Entrepreneur. Different people he says, take different paths to achieve success and there is no specific instruction carved in stone for becoming a successful Entrepreneur. “When I started out, there were a number of things I decided to set right for myself first which was having the right mindset with the right goals. Secondly, I had to be honest with myself as I knew that the path that I have chosen is tough and difficult. “Thirdly, I knew this would require many sacrifices instead of being lavished with appreciation. Lastly, I started thinking on how I should develop the ideas and give 101% commitment to all of the above three steps. That was how I started my journey from ground zero. The journey hasn’t ended and there is still a long more way to go.” Danial acknowledges that we are not living in an era whereby adaptability is one of the most essential qualities to possess in running any business and dealing with customers. “It is all about the readiness to embrace change and having an aptitude for rolling with the punches and inspiring other people around us,” he affirms. RAISING THE BAR Having been in the business world for the past eight years – venturing into various fields such as media and production, F&B as well as finance and construction, he established his company VRDT as one of his projects with the intention to challenge his own potential. “Initially, I started VRDT as a capital investment project with the intention of investing aggressively in properties
and business shares via its subsidies and parent companies in Germany and India,” he shares. During these three years, the project’s success was awe-inspiring in elevating the business to an unexpected higher level which confirmed his gut feel that the business potential was huge. “I saw the business potential irrespective of limitations prevalent globally that inspired me to merge all my other businesses under VRDT. My journey never ends though and I am more excited to see my future and what it has in store for me,” he enthuses. The vision of the company is to ensure that investments are made profitable and to seek further business opportunities that extend across various sectors. “The uniqueness of VRDT is that we are aggressive but for the right reasons in embarking on correct decisions without a second thought. “My job has never been about making people happy because I can’t double my Investors and Shareholders money by making them comfortable,” he says shedding light on the philosophy behind his company’s operations. Instead, Danial says his job revolves around causing people to think. “Sometimes, people hate me for my strict rules and decisions. However, there are the results to show for it as VRDT has snowballed within a short period and grown into a company with impressive achievements because of these elements. “Therefore, I strongly persist in following the same pattern and will follow this until I step down as the CEO of the company someday in the future.”
PLANNING AHEAD VRDT has a five-year business plan forecast which include bringing VRDT to an initial public offering status (IPO) status. “Today, I have accomplished 60% of my projections in a shorter period instead of the original five-year duration plan. This includes the preparation and progress of listing one of VRDT’s parent companies which is VRDT Holdings Incorporated, a US-based company in California on the Nasdaq Stock Market - an American stock exchange in early 2018,” he says. “We are looking at successful trading in Nasdaq between March and April of 2018,” he reiterates. Danial says he never measures his success in terms of money or cash value but instead, his proudest moment in VRDT lies with the talented Entrepreneurs and professionals whom he has managed to train up utilising this system. “I value the positive changes that I’ve brought to the people around me. Through VRDT, I’ve managed to bring transformation into many people’s lives which has changed their lifestyle and equipped them with a sense of discipline, positive attitude and the willpower to succeed. These are some of the accomplishments that make me proud and I would say they constitute our company’s key accomplishments,” Danial shares. CAPITALISING ON MYCLIKS.COM VIA THE E-COMMERCE PLATFORM “The future idea that we are working on right now after conducting extensive research is to create an E-commerce platform that can connect the world
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with just one click. We named this website as Mycliks.com which will be a marketplace where you will be able to get everything from machine-made to handmade products. The purpose of this online platform is to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) run by Entrepreneurs to introduce their products and services on a global scale.” Danial stresses however that the primary objective of Mycliks.com is to focus on the rural community and women’s economic development. “The aim is to promote rural products at a global level and create a rural product hub that will in turn, generate more income opportunities for women to improve their living standards. “In addition to this, I would like to focus on economic development for women by creating more job opportunities for them via Mycliks.com with the hopes of encouraging more women Entrepreneurs to join and benefit from this online portal,” says Danial. The initial plan for Mycliks.com was to promote handmade and rural products not just in Malaysia - but also encompassing 16 other Asian countries. “The idea of concentrating on economic development for women was inspired by a female friend of mine who triggered me to do something for this community. “Mycliks.com will provide many things like skill training, business education, funding options via micro-sections, sharing sessions and many others. My vision is to show and tell the world that all genders are equal and a woman
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can stand independently even during her struggles and difficulties. There are many successful women out there but the number is not large enough. Hence, I aim to utilise the mycliks.com platform to create more successful women in the next five years,” he shares. Mycliks.com he adds is envisioned to open the door for women Entrepreneurs to develop their respective self-economy with many benefits made available on this platform. “When we refer to the women economy, it doesn’t focus on only the Entrepreneur but also the general community as we are looking at increasing the expenditure ratio or buying power of women with easy and fast methods of shopping. “Mycliks.com is platform which will be focusing on rural products ranging from handmade to many products available within the rural sector. The objective is, to promote the quality and uniqueness of Malaysia’s rural product to tje international market,” he enthuses. To date, there are thousands of rural products which are comparable or some which are even better in quality as compared to urban products. However according to Danial, the awareness or insufficient knowledge concerning this platform has caused the products to be hidden from the general market. As such, the vision for Mycliks. com is to bring rural products including handmade items into limelight. This will in turn, benefit the next generation in terms of having a better future that will also directly contribute to the economic growth of our nation .
Danial further encourages all aspiring Entrepreneurs who may or may not have the funding or business execution already in place to visit Mycliks.com as this online platform will provide everything there is to know about establishing a business. The group of women Myclicks.com focuses on comes from all categories ranging from single mothers to warzone affected women in other countries. Danial adds that with the official launch of Mycliks.com in January 2018, Entrepreneurs will be able to benefit from the E-Commerce platform with the offerings especially tailored to women Entrepreneurs. IMPORTANCE OF STAYING RELEVANT The challenges faced by VRDT he says is to stay relevant in the industry by ensuring there is value added to the services offered while tackling the challenge of changing the mindset of rural Entrepreneurs. Fostering a spirit of trade in women and creating more awareness of Mycliks.com among them in the rural areas will help to develop a better understanding of the online portal for the benefit of the community. “Today, the E-Commerce industry in Malaysia has evolved to become the leading choice for shopping among consumers over the last few years,” he opines advising those who wish to explore opportunities at Mycliks.com to leverage on this useful platform and gain more information from it. “Mycliks.com is a commercial platform whereby you can get lots of information
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“
My long-term vision is to help Malaysia become one of the most recognisable countries in the world with the increase of women’s economic growth in Malaysia and in the other 16 Asian countries that we are exploring right now. Based on our own findings, women will control USD20 trillion (RM83.2 trillion) in consumer spending and USD13 trillion (RM 54.08 trillion) in earnings. So, let’s see if Mycliks can contribute further by increasing the numbers” – Danial MA
from the website. I believe that money can be made anywhere in the world therefore ,it is important for us to give the best to the consumers and Entrepreneurs out there that will commemorate with their efforts and talents,” says Danial. This savvy businessman has taken accountable measures to ensure that his company performs at its fullest potential and beyond. The dedicated team consistently monitors the current market situation by analysing the demand and needs of the general public. They also brainstorm together for innovative and creative ideas that will set the trend for E-Commerce. Above all else, the company strongly emphasises on establishing and extending honesty, sincerity and trust to customers, employees, Investors, shareholders and colleagues. CREATING HIS LEGACY Danial further shares that sometimes, failure can be the pathway to success as told from his personal experience. “My biggest disappointment is that I wasn’t able to follow my dream of being a professional racing driver. I injured my lower back as a teenager during my school days and was never able to move around as fluidly as before. “Even though I was disappointed at the time, I realise now that if I had taken that direction, I would not have advanced my business career to what it is today,” he reflects.
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Instead, he has taken adversity positively in his stride and has never once regretted having undergone this incident as he believes that fate knows better than him in determining his destiny. “My management style is simple. For me, my people don’t need a boss but they need a leader from the management level who is doing the right thing for the benefit of everyone. Hence, I consider myself as the leader of my organisation for my employees,” he adds. Danial says that leadership cannot be taught but can be learnt from experience. However, the one characteristic that every leader should possess he says is the ability to create new leaders who will also motivate others. “When you are a leader, you mean everything to the people around you. People will blame you for the wrong decisions and directions that have gone amiss and will never appreciate you for the right choices which will become a regular thing in your life. “I never struggle to be a leader as I knew that the day I choose this path, I was meant to sacrifice a lot more rather than receive appreciation. Most importantly, I believe in being straightforward. Leadership is all about solving problems – yours and other people’s as well. The day your people stop bringing their challenges to you is the day you end being their leader. It is either they have lost confidence in you or assume you don’t care for them. Both ways, it’s a failure
and this will be the last thing I ever want on my journey,” says Danial. In any organisation, the most important operational responsibility lies with designing and implementing the architecture of the communication structure for the company. In the event where well-designed communication is lacking - information and ideas will stagnate which will lead to businesses starting to degenerate into a dangerous place to work. “A standard rule, what we should always try to take heed of is how to detect and fix any problem at the lowest value stage possible when it is still not too late,” he shares. Danial adds that the one thing he sincerely wishes all his employees perceive about him is his good intentions. “And my intention is this: It is to win at all cost but only if it results in equal benefits for my team. ‘“I truly mean that and often wish that my team will understand me more, having understood my intention. Of course, being the leader of the organisation, I can’t please everyone all the time but I want all my employees to be able to achieve success and reach their fullest potential,” he relates. FUTURE ASPIRATIONS The company’s goal is to make VRDT and Mycliks.com known globally and deliver their promises to Stakeholders and Investors both at the same time.
“My “My long-term long-term vision vision is is to to help help Malaysia Malaysia become become one one of of the the most most recognisable recognisable countries countries in in the the world. world. II intend intend to to achieve achieve this this with with the the increase increase of of women’s women’s economic economic growth growth in in Malaysia Malaysia and and in in the the other other 16 16 Asian Asian countries countries that that we we are are exploring exploring right right now. now. “Based “Based on on our our own own findings, findings, women women will will control control USD20 USD20 trillion trillion (RM83.2 (RM83.2 trillion) trillion) in in consumer consumer spending spending and and USD13 USD13 trillion trillion (RM (RM 54.08 54.08 trillion) trillion) in in earnings. earnings. So, So, let’s let’s see see ifif Mycliks.com Mycliks.com can can contribute contribute further further by by increasing increasing the the numbers,” numbers,” says says Danial. Danial. Success Success continuity continuity also also depends depends on on having having aa clear clear vision vision that that is is essential essential each each business business or or organisation organisation he he explains. explains. Besides Besides this, this, strategic strategic planning planning is is also also critically critically important important as as itit is is crucial crucial to to achieve achieve the the vision vision with with the the least least amount amount of of risks risks and and in in the the most most economical economical and and efficient efficient manner manner possible. possible. This This he he adds adds is is dependable dependable on on analytical analytical thinking thinking of of corrective corrective actions actions and and preventive preventive actions actions for for the the business business during during the the course course of of its its existence. existence. “Improvement “Improvement is is the the key key to to survival survival for for any any business business as as well well as as the the need need to to keep keep on on going going with with the the best best options options that that we we have,” have,” he he opines. opines. The The financial financial model model for for Mycliks.com Mycliks.com has has shown shown potential potential for for consistent consistent growth growth for for the the brand brand over over the the next next five five years. years. The The company company is is targeting targeting USD26.9 USD26.9 million million (RM111.9 (RM111.9 million) million) in in annual annual gross gross revenue revenue with with aa net net profit profit of of USD877, USD877, 000 000 (RM3.65 (RM3.65 million) million) or or approximately approximately 3.26% 3.26% of of gross gross revenue revenue by by its its fifth fifth year. year. Henceforth, Henceforth, the the management management expects expects that that Investors Investors will will be be able able to to cash cash out out on on their their investment investment in in the the company company when when itit generates generates sufficient sufficient profits profits to to repay repay them them by by the the end end of of its its fifth fifth year. year.
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CORPORATE INSIGHT
V’ASIA’S VISIONS: FAR-SIGHTED AND CORPORATE
Founder of Aura One Resources (M) Sdn Bhd Dato’ Azril Mohd Radzi shares on his creative and innovative ideas on marketing V’Asia products to another higher level BY MAGES PV LINGAM
B
eauty does come with a price and it doesn’t stop there for entrepreneur Dato’ Azril Mohd. Radzi Founder of Aura One Resources (M) Sdn Bhd attached with the popular brand V’Asia Cosmetics and Healthcare. He was concerned being an overweight and felt his appearance was not impressive. A sudden thought appeared to him when he was studying in University Kuala Lumpur in 2008. These concerns pushed Azril to talk to his friend who was involved in foodtechnology and requested him for a sample of food supplements on weightloss and basking on smoother looks. A graduate of Aircraft Engineering, Azril consumed the food supplement with fruits base on himself for the next six months and was overwhelmed with the outcome and results. He was only 21 years old and testified to commercialise the product. The supplement was none other than Orange and Apple Fibre with Collagen. Now, at 31, Azril owns two manufacturing factories in Nilai with about 96 workers and 40 staff operating 11 sub-companies under their corporate office. “Our raw materials are brought from overseas like Thailand, but the main product would be formulated and manufactured here. We are active in research and development whereby our main supplement called Platinum Drink V’Asia took about one year to formulate and consist more than 65 herbs, nutrients and ingredients vital for maintaining good health,” says Azril. Under the V’Asia brand, Azril has over 150 range of organic and natural based fruits for women and men,
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endorsed under the Ministry of Health and carries trademark for sales and marketing purposes. “We fully indulged in marketing V’Asia products in 2009 with a single level concept meanwhile in 2012 started to dwell in cosmetics and skincare developing our own line of creams, lipsticks, compact powder, foundation and eyeliner,” adds Azril. Besides that, Prestige Herbs which is also a subsidiary company, has an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) capabilities catering for new entrepreneurs who would like to build and market their own brands or products. “V’Asia has over 100 stockists’ and 8000 distributors’ nationwide, Myanmar, Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia. We practise the single level concept whereby the clients deal directly with the distributors and stockist with less cost instead. We are able to maintain and sustain our business this way longer,” says Azril. V’Asia is the top leading product now in the market, and the branding is significantly popular among its loyal customers who keep coming back for them. Azril says if the product doesn’t work or non-appropriate then the consumers would also ignore them, so he feels that branding of the product and their marketing strategy seems to attract a larger customer base. Azril doesn’t deny he did face some challenges although its all depends on how the marketing and planning is undertaken by his team. Firstly, he noticed many local consumers preferred the companies where the founders carry a tagline or personalised branding instead. Most of the beauty business are
used to using materialistic or fame to get their clienteles. But Azril who concentrates on products branding to sustain the quality and affordability of the product having apt marketing plans which he is confidant would scale up his revenues and return of investments. About 300,000 units of V’Asia products are manufactured monthly but in complete 60 of their main items are popular especially the Platinum drink, Collagen Hair Tonic, anti-oxidant drinks and more.
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CORPORATE INSIGHT
He started his company via selffunding and not from banks or grants. Event though he started off on a smaller way by rolling on his savings from the past, but he is blessed with a business mindset and aware on projections and forecasting’s of sales which has tremendously helped in this line. Being educated is also an advantage when it comes to management and communication skills. To foster an amiable relationship among his thousands of distributors and hundreds of stockists and staff, Azril organises an annual gala event to award and recognise their hardwork and sacrifices based on their sales targets and clientele base. “Well, I have no mentors. I am a self-motivator. I read books on biographies and see the levels of achievements and success from their experiences and content. Though, I admire Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary as he is a reclusive businessman, who was a high school dropout, Al-Bukhary came from a modest family and started out as a rice trader into a billionaire now. This is kind of story which inspires me deeply,� opines Azril. He feels that money is not the ultimate but satisfaction that his business is flourishing and testimonies deriving from the products fulfils his heart. Azril spends widely on social media like Facebook and Media Prima where the corporate company spent over RM10 million on media advertisements whereby another RM2 million for Astro programmes last year. Though he targets the low to medium customer base, but he feels being innovative and creative in his entrepreneurial journey has made his products viable and in demand.
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ENTREPRENEUR OF THE MONTH
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ENTREPRENEUR OF THE MONTH
UP, CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH AZIZAN OSMAN Entrepreneur Insight presents some excerpts of its exclusive interview with this popular celebrity Coach.
YOUR LIFE READS LIKE A MOVIE SCRIPT AND YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE THAT MIDAS TOUCH. HAVING GONE THROUGH ALL THAT YOU HAVE – ALL THE DIFFICULTIES AND CHALLENGES IN THE 90S WHEN PEOPLE WERE QUESTIONING YOUR QUALIFICATIONS AND YOUR METHOD OF TEACHING – HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THESE OBSTACLES AND CHALLENGES? When you are teaching about business, qualification is not the main issue. Because if you are looking to learn from the best and you say you need to learn from the most intelligent people in business, then you should learn from people who have a PHD in business or MBA but who have never run businesses. Most of the people that I’ve met – the Millionaires and Billionaires – they don’t have exact qualifications in business and I for one, don’t have a PHD in business. I think that what is great and what really works in my process of teaching and transforming people in getting results in business really revolves around my experience, skills and my understanding of how to simplify the business and make it work. I have an exact set of formula as I have been doing this for many years. I know what are the right buttons to press and what are the right things to do.
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YOUR ADVICE TO YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS? Many young Entrepreneurs start their businesses without understanding the market, their products or the problems that they are trying to solve with their products. They need to know who needs their products, what the issue is and how big the market is in which they want to venture into. When we run our advertising campaigns and come up with marketing strategies, we are clear about this. You don’t want to run a business just because you love the product. Yes, you may love the product but will it be something relevant to others? There are many huge brands that previously existed but now they are gone because companies don’t improve and innovate the businesses. Young Entrepreneurs need to identify their clients and the problems they are trying to solve by way of the products.
THE SECRET BEHIND YOUR MIDAS TOUCH? I think the key thing is - I specialise in helping people to create huge marketing growth – that’s my strength. I’ve got clients – my students whom I coach who have grown their businesses from only RM10,000 a month three years ago and
now, they are making RM3.1 million a month. How could that happen? Because of the understanding of the formula, market and by analysing the problem and in trying to solve the unique value proposition that you have as compared to other people’s market - so that’s the key. If you want to start a business – you must first understand who your customer really is who needs your products. The rest deals with how you penetrate the market with the right marketing campaign and strategy. Today, you have a lot of options and can look for low cost strategies. There’s Facebook and Instagram so there are many ways of reaching the market today in a huge way so my advice is three things. Number one – find a great mentor – somebody who is already successful in his or her field and you must have the willingness to learn from them. Absorb like a sponge because when you are doing something without knowing the right way of doing it, you are wasting time. Number two - find the right strategy and go for its proven success strategy. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. You don’t have to waste your time and can just follow and copy other people’s approach and then innovate to make it better.
Number three – You must have huge, huge, huge perseverance and commitment because the biggest thing in business is the challenge of not being focused. Most people start businesses but they are not focused. They try and do A and then they say B is better - and they move into B and see that C is better... They then move into C so they are not focused in whatever they are doing so that is the key – the three things.
help enough other people get what they want.” If you want a business because you desire to be rich – you better change that purpose. Don’t run a business because you want to be rich first. You want to be rich of course but what is the key reason why you want to run the business - and it should be to serve others. When you are helping enough other people, eventually you will get rich. That’s how it works – the more you give, the more you get.
WHO ARE YOUR ROLE MODELS AND WHY?
ARCHITECT FRANK GEHRY SAID “BUILD FIRST, AND THE AWARDS WILL COME”. IS THAT WHY YOU HAVE YOUR OWN COLLEGE AND YOUR INSPIRATION IS TO COACH THE NEXT GENERATION OF YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS AS PART OF YOUR CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) BACK TO SOCIETY?
I have had the chance to have lunch with Richard Brandson so he’s one of my role models because of the impact that he wants to have on the world. That’s something that I really admire. I admire and am very close to Tony Robbins because I love the way he inspires, impacts and gives value to other people. The effort and hard work that he puts in to add value to other people and transform other people’s lives are admirable. I also admire Robin Sharma and had the chance to be mentored by him closely. I love the way he connects the balance of life in terms of spirituality, work and wealth besides understanding one’s purpose of doing anything in life. This relates to unleashing one’s spiritual journey in also adding value to other people. I think that’s the three key people whom I admire. Until today, I’m a person who will learn a lot from different mentors who are the best in the world. I’ve learnt from Jay Conrad Levinson who founded the Guerilla Marketing strategy by spending time in his house in Orlando, the US for three days – that’s how committed I am. I want to learn from other people so I think that’s the key.
COMMON IDEAL THAT THEY SHARE? Serving people. Serve people if you want to build a big business. The purpose must be to serve others. If you want to create anything in life – you need to serve people. I love this phrase by Zig Ziglar – I didn’t understand this phrase last time but now I’m really starting to understand it – “You will get all you want in life, if you
The business college was something that we started about three years ago and the reason why we started it is because I could foresee that one day, I’m not going to be able to do this business forever. My vision is to build the next level of young Entrepreneurs. We are running this college now for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) leavers. The idea is for them to be in a college environment to learn the academic side of the business but we also have the application side of the business whereby we have the programme so they must start their respective businesses immediately when they are in college.
YOU SPOKE ABOUT BEING RELEVANT. SO, HOW DO YOU STAY RELEVANT IN THE INDUSTRY? I think the number one thing in any business is you can’t be complacent meaning you have to be willing to adapt to the world on a daily basis. Change is constant. Change is something that happens every day, every second. So if you are not willing to change and improve yourself, then you are going to be irrelevant so I think innovation and a sense of constantly updating yourself and learning about the best technology available now in the world is important. I think that is the key to success. My key to success would be learning from other successful people and businesses. I invest a lot of money travelling around
the world to meet and spend time with successful people either in different industries or with the trainer, teacher or mentor in another field in ordere to learn from them.
YOUR PLANS FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? We are expanding internationally. I just got invitation from Australia to be a partner in running large programmes and events there. They looked at our numbers and saw how we run our projects and events here and are really serious about launching Richworks Australia so that will be our immediate goal. Apart from that, we will be expanding into Indonesia which is another goal because being a country, we can speak in Bahasa Malaysia and Indonesia is not much different from us. I think we can add value there and help more people to bring up their economy. These are the two countries we are looking at apart from the Asia expansion plan that we are planning. We are now building our virtual online course programme for Richworks Academy that will allow people to learn from us for free and is available in Bahasa Malaysia. Our next plan is to translate this into 45 different languages so that will be our direction for the next five years which is to promote virtual learning for the global market.
YOUR GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT SO FAR? My greatest accomplishment would be having mentored a group of 151 Entrepreneurs for the past three years and the massive results that we have already created only from this small business owner. The total sales for these 151 business owners last year was around RM350 million but this year - up until September, we have achieved close to RM850 million growth this year right from the little over RM350 million last year. It’s a massive difference and growth. That is something that I am proud of. The ability to mentor companies and build upon 300 per cent growth or 3,000 per cent growth is something that is not easy to do for one company but we did that for 151 companies.
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Special Feature
DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES WILL DISRUPT THE WAY WE LIVE
‘‘Disruptive Change: Impact and Challenges” was discussed at the recently concluded World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) where Entrepreneur Insight was present at the event. Here are the findings:BY FELICIA SOON
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ho would have thought that technology could play such a huge role in changing the way we live. Just take the examples of GRAB and UBER and you can see how technology has literally changed the way people travel. In addition, China is now using drones to deliver groceries right to one’s doorstep. Hence, it can be seen that rapid digital technology advancements have even changed the way groceries are delivered today. Therefore, it can be said that the future is ours to imagine. At the recently concluded 13th edition of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) that was held at the Borneo Convention Centre in Kuching, Sarawak, around 2,500 participants comprising world leaders and Captains of Industries converged together at the forum. The topics addressed included the impact and challenges of disruptive changes across the breadth of industries, technology and politics with the aim of building a sustainable businesses landscape for all. Furthermore, a total of 16 Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) agreements amounting to an estimated value of USD$2.5billion (RM10.2 billion) were sealed at this year’s 13th WIEF, of which nine hailed from international organisations. The MoUs exchanged this year was one of the largest in WIEF’s history. The agreements were signed with organisations within the technology, halal food and energy sectors, to name a few. In the last five years, WIEF has facilitated trade deals from diverse industry sectors from both Muslim and non-Muslim nations amounting to some USD13 billion (RM53.04 billion).
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“There may be the convergence of many disruptive forces at the moment - across politics, technology and rising protectionism. But, these forces similarly provide an opportunity for growth and cooperation,” says Chairman of WIEF Tun Dato’ Musa Hitam in his opening speech. “There has never been a more exciting time for us to cooperate across political boundaries and across business verticals to uncover new ways of working and devise
solutions for the challenges today and to innovate ahead of the curve. “In such an environment, we need to ensure that we learn everything, positives as well as negatives, so that the end objectives of human survival and ensuring the good life for humanity are achieved.” Other illustrious speakers included Apple Co-Founder Incorporated Steve Wozniak who spoke on disruptive changes facing the technology industry today.
CREATING A NICHE IN THE MARKET In today’s world, you can use technology for video calls and to send out voice notes via your smartphone. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many other mobile applications are serving consumers better to make their communication easier, faster and more convenient. Likewise, there are many cameras functions on our smartphones through which one can
record special memories and upload them to share with friends instantly. Hence, technology has also changed consumers’ entertainment experience. Speaking at the forum, Apple Incorporated’s Wozniak shares that if you don’t have the passion to create or to design things by a certain age, then the idea is not going to come to you simply because you want to force it out. “Everything starts at a very early age but we don’t go to young children and say this is what you should do or need to learn. They need to discover their talents on their own. “Alternatively, you may want to be involved in startups but you don’t just go in and succeed just like that. Instead, you must be willing to work hard at something that is fun and meaningful to you,” he says. According to Wozniak, every time one creates a new solution for something, one’s mind is improved. “Ask yourself, ‘Can I be better than when I first started?’. For example:- ‘Can I rewrite this software using a different approach that is newer and simpler?’ “Try to be great. Try to build things that people can’t do. Try to make them faster, better or be able to do more things. As your development increases, your skills will also increase and you will know it when you get an idea that the world will go for and support your invention,” he adds. KEEPING AHEAD OF THE TREND Wozniak adds that he likes products that are reliable. “I like to know that when I buy it, it is going to work and even if it doesn’t do something that others are capable of delivering, it can still be counted on always. Today, Apple is very dependent on
promoting a lot of brand-making products in the consumer world. But, we learnt that sometimes, when it comes down to consumers’ needs, other products from different companies other than Apple might be the solution for them. “For instance, as much as I hate the Personal Computer (PC), I had to log on the PC to develop software for certain Microsoft Processors. The individualisation that Apple is the savior of the world is more like a can-do saying. “In fact, (the late) Steve Jobs admitted that he didn’t have any computer experience and he only had ideas of what he wanted to see. I find that Macbook Pro is not even powerful enough to run Oculus Virtual Reality (VR). To do so, we need a PC to run a VR system that needs a powerful processor and graphics to operate as well and Apple doesn’t have this solution yet even within its high-end range of notebooks and computers,” he relates. In summary, he says that people may be resilient to change but overtime, they must be able to accept these changes as they are vital for economic growth. “We need to keep abreast with new emerging technologies for instance, blockchain technology and its impact on international trade,” he concludes. OPPORTUNITIES VIA BLOCKCHAIN Blockchain Technology represents the next age of the internet. Today, using this technology, exchange of cross-border information like emails directly from sender to recipient is possible. In the world of tomorrow represented by the age of Blockchain Technology, anything of value can be sent via digital currencies.
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“These include money, titles, deeds, music, art, scientific discoveries, intellectual property and many more,” says South Africa Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) Blockchain Lead Farzam Ehsani. “This provides the strongest case yet for international trade since Blockchain Technology has the potential of establishing a framework whereby suppliers can deal safely and directly with buyers,” he says. Blockchain Technology is now used in many industries for data verification and storage but the next wave of working with data will almost certainly centre on the combination of Blockchain Technology and Big Data, combined with better methods of data interpretation. This he says, will help individuals and companies make informative decisions which will drive the new paradigm in development. As the world is moving into an era of automated production and data exchange in digital technologies, he anticipates that the jobs of tomorrow will be data-driven and knowledge-based. This will necessitate a disruptive change in industrial knowledge and manpower requirements today. The launch of the inaugural WIEF alumni network also underscores WIEF’s commitment in enabling the global community to stay connected. This alumni
network brings together around 17,000 members who will all be connected on a single digital platform. This will assist members to network and collaborate seamlessly across borders while putting the keypoints of the forum discussions into action. This marks the first time the World Islamic Economic Foundation is aggregating the untapped power of its global network to advance its agenda of driving cooperation between Muslim and non-Muslim nations - set against a backdrop of disruptive change. The 13th WIEF conference outperformed its previous events by attracting leaders and delegates from over 77 countries – the most diverse representation of the global community in the history of the forum. The launch of its inaugural alumni network thus capitalises on the growing global relevance of the platform. Enabling communities was the third pillar in the forum’s agenda. To this end, the forum organised a combination of targeted activities for a variety of communities. MOCAfest is the Forum’s dedicated platform for showcasing the arts and culture of local communities. It stepped things up with an even wider programme of musical and artistic performances as well as exclsusive fashion
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Try to be great. Try to build things that people can’t do. Try to make them faster, better or be able to do more things” - Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak
capsules from local designers. As a strong proponent of the community of women business leaders beyond the forum, the topic of developing entrepreneurship in women was discussed including exploring what the right support structure would be and how to accelerate access to funding. Last but not least, the forum included a hands-on live pitch session for startups to raise funds directly with Venture Capitalists and Investors.
WIEF ANNOUNCES NETWORK TO CONNECT 17,000 ALUMNI MEMBERS ACROSS 150 COUNTRIES TO DRIVE ALWAYS-ON COLLABORATIONS Thi network serves to connect Captains of Industries and professionals across the diverse sectors of technology, Islamic finance, logistics, tourism and Halal food
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WIEF’s inaugural network is aimed at bringing past and current forum attendees together to work through the challenges and tap into opportunities resulting from the wave of disruptive change that will continue to shape the economy and politics.
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Over the past 13 editions, the forum has been credited with commercial collaborations worth over USD15.5 billion (RM63.24 billion). This has been pivotal in accelerating the growth of Islamic finance and has brought world leaders and Captains of Industries together across Muslim and non-Muslim nations to open up new opportunities in the food, logistics and tourism industries.
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In addition, the World Islamic Economic Foundation organises year-round events to support young leaders, women Entrepreneurs and the broader startup space through its WIEF Young Leaders Network (WYN), the WIEF Education Trust and the WIEF Businesswomen Network (WBN). As such, the WIEF alumni network will unite participants of the 13 WIEF editions, members of WYN and WBN as well as those who have been a part of the Foundation’s year-round activities which include highlights like the WIEF Roundtable Series.
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The WIEF alumni network enables members to connect to any alumni in any part of the world – oceans away or just in the vicinity, alumni by-sector to have greater access to its ongoing activities and member-exclusive privileges for all WIEF events via an app tailored for this network.
Dec 2017
COMMENTS FROM SPEAKERS AND DELEGATES AT THE 13TH WORLD ISLAMIC ECONOMIC FORUM (WIEF) Datu Laura Lee
Jeffrey Lo
Deputy State Financial Secretary of Sarawak
Engineer and Chief Architect of Cisco Systems Incorporated in San Jose, California, the US The WIEF is certainly an excellent forum for people to come and brainstorm with each other about business, technical issues and the revolution of the world. It is also great that there is also a lot of participation from the Muslim communities as well as the Non-Muslim communities. Hence, I am indeed looking forward to seeing a lot of exciting outcomes from this forum.
Jeffrey Lo
Marc Prensky
Founder and Executive Director of Global Future Education Foundation and Institute, the US Datu Laura Lee It is a very good idea to have this convention and I hope that people will put together more projects that will benefit the Islamic youth in terms of getting Internet access for rural schools and helping them to rise up in this world. As my field is Education, I hope that this will improve their living conditions. I think the way to improve education is to focus on each individual kid and to figure out who they are, what are they good at, what they care about and what they love. We should do more of that instead of focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) or other types of education.
Danee Hazama
Professional photographer from Tahiti, French Polynesia
Marc Prensky
Calvin Yeo
Media and Communications Manager of Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak This event saw a presentation on Disruptive Change: Impact and Challenges which is abreast of what we should embrace in terms of this disruptive change in today’s modern world. Everyone should be prepared to adopt new technologies of the fourth industrial revolution now hence, I feel it is timely that all the speakers are talking about disruptive change and its impacts on modern civilisation. We just have to be ready for all these changes that is happening today.
Everything will go online. The world is under disruptive changes because of technology advancement so it really affects how we live our life and how we do business. As you can see, with the introduction of Alibaba in China, this trend is also effecting onsumer behaviour in making purchases online rather than buying items from retail shops. In the Financial sector, Financial technology (Fintech) will be the next big thing to come. So, this forum is very timely as the speakers are sharing on the disruptive changes that is happening in the digital economy and we as the Government, have to know how to prepare ourselves to meet the future and ensure that the steps taken towards it are in tandem with what is happening globally.
Danee Hazama
This is my first time here for this forum and I think it is a wonderful concept of bringing together the business people, Investors and Artists all together in one arena not only for business networking but also for bridging the cultural gap among others. We are going to see a lot more technology as far as robotics and sustainable energy are concerned. However, we are running out of a lot of things and we need to do something about environmental pollution. We need to do more green things with the earth in order to protect and sustain the environment. Mother Nature is also rich in natural resources and can provide us with many things. We just have to pay attention and utilise it well to our advantage.
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ENTERPRISE OF THE MONTH
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Feature
SOCIAL MEDIA OUTBURST:
THE NEXT DIGITAL DRIVE Know-how to leverage on social media platforms for your business is the question which plays in entreprenuer’s mind now, and leveraging on Internet of Things or Branding in a bigger way By: MAGES PV LINGAM
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nternet of Things (IoT) and Financial Technology (FINTECH) has become the next trending phenomena happening in the social media realm. Small and medium Enterprises (SMEs) and multinational corporations (MNCs) have started leveraging on big data propelling to increase revenues and visibility throughout the Western and Eastern countries. Nevertheless, the race doesn’t stop there. Some enterprises and companies are geared up to pull up their socks and
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trigger into their technologies people to consider capitalising social media branding. Property Insight (PI) had inputs and feedbacks from two notable tech-media experts Havas Media Group CEO Andreas Vogiatzakis (AV) and Brand 360 Degree Sdn Bhd Executive Director Julia Koh (JK) on the social media outbursts for the coming year.
global media platforms which are greatly used by the mainstream industry now. AV: Facebook and YouTube are still the highest used however content sites such as Says, meanwhile RojakLah is rapidly catching up. Video in general is leading its way. More specifically, Buzzfeed style videos, listicles (top 10 things you don’t know about X), Instastories (but has yet to be proven effective or not).
PI: Please share some of the trending
PI: What are the challenges and risks
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involved or faced by the entrepreneurs or business people using these platforms? AV: A great challenge is how to curate the messaging and content that resonates with the audience. The objective of the entrepreneur is not entirely met through the way the platforms is utilised. As most times, it’s brand-driven that taps into products and consumers are not able to resonate with. Another challenge faced is the uncertainly towards the effectiveness of new platforms vs the older/proven ones, what’s is a value or a “like?” or a “read?” Thus, how to count it and benchmark it against increase in website traffic, increase in sales, increase in footfall towards the store and more. PI: Please share what are the strategies to counter these challenges? AV: Some strategies to address this are: To fine tune the communication approach to be consumer-centric rather than product-centric so consumers/audience
will have reasons to believe and reasons to purchase and engage with. The content tone and manner plus look and feel should be authentic and personable. The right media platforms to be used for campaigns or always on marketing initiatives - the most relevant top three for effectiveness rather than more than three media platforms that can be used. Targeting strategy should be considered as well to ensure we are talking to the right group of audience. PI: Please share on insight or views on leveraging via branding to increase the viewers hits or utilization of such platforms to enhance or add values. AV: Viewers don’t really care as much about the brand as they care about after the readings or views on their articles or videos, what value it brings to them? Did it make them laugh, happy, emotional or touched? Whether is it shareable or not is the number one question. Therefore, ideally for branding, there should be a balance of communication platform mix. The most relevant offline medium with the top three digital mediums to ride the campaign or hero content along with other digital medias to support and amplify the messaging to reach audiences. Brands should start considering integrated plans without isolating offline or digital. It should be a mixture as it adds the best value not only to the brand but also to consumers. PI: Please share some of the popular social media platforms available and trending. JK: Facebook and Instagram remain Malaysians’ favourite social media platforms. WhatsApp is also a very active platform, especially for news and general information. Not surprisingly, these are also mobile-first platforms.
Andreas Vogiatzakis
entrepreneurs or business people using this platform? JK: Businesses are always worried about negative reviews and comments, and that it might adversely affect their business. But customers are realistic people, they don’t expect 100% positive comments all the time. What is more important is for the business to show how they respond to negative comments and what improvements undertaken after listening to the feedback. This is more of an opportunity to show on a lighter side that the business has a caring and empathic, sometimes even funny approach to it. PI: Finally, please share on insight or views on leveraging to increase the viewers hits or utilization of such platforms to enhance or add values. JK: Facebook Groups and live videos are gaining traction for having good engagement levels. This is because it leverages on the primary use of Facebook; to facilitate communication and keeping in touch with people. Brands that create content specific for groups and communities can see better engagement rates.
PI: What are the challenges/ risks involved or faced by the
Julia Koh Dec 2017
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FRESH STARTUP
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FRESH STARTUP
“
The Deemples app allows golfers to widen their network, make more friends and build more connections. And, for all you know, form new business deals and partnerships off the course - David Wong
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13-14 JAN 2018 /MVEC 10am -7pm
For booth & sponsorships enquiries:
marketing@entrepreneurinsight.com.my 012 378 8683 / www.klihe.my
Presented by
Property Strategy
EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE SCHEME VS. HUMAN RESOURCE INSURANCE BY iHR CONSULTING
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cross the globe, employee rights far outnumber the rights of employers. Employees have rights for payment of wages, maternity protection, other benefits (working hours, overtime, etc.) and termination and layoff benefits. Malaysia is not an exception to this ideology. To further make the legislative landscape greener to the employee population, the Malaysian Government has on 26th October 2017 passed the Employment Insurance System (EIS) Bill 2017 in the Dewan Rakyat. The Bill, when it becomes effective from 1st January 2018 (mooted with contributions to begin in 2019), would further burden the employers to contribute for temporary financial assistance to employees in the event they are retrenched or opt to take the VSS scheme. Employers are again encouraged to participate in an insurance scheme, of which they are not a beneficiary. The 12.7 million workforce has the Government to protect them, the corporate companies have well capable Human Resource and Legal practitioners in their payroll to manage their requirements. The more than 650,000 SMEs in Malaysia, who contribute towards a huge quantum of the country’s socioeconomic development, are left to struggle independently in managing their Human Resources. Due to the limited resources of capital, technology and
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EIS
knowledge, many SMEs classify the HR legalities, technicalities, requirements and procedures at the bottom of their priority list. Hence, employers are constantly in a HR risk circle, among the various risks that they have to manage in business. If the HR risk is not well managed and mitigated, it will lead to a financial burden which would cost a fortune, and damage the reputation of the company. The SMEs bosses often subscribe to the popular HR business mantra – ‘Be Slow to hire and Quick to fire’. With smouldering dissatisfaction towards their employees’ productivity, employers may find themselves falling at the wrong end of a lawsuit; if they
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HR INSURANC
do not take appropriate steps and precautions prior to decision making. Section 20 of the Malaysian Industrial Relations Act 1967 (“IRA 1967”) provides that an employee who claims he has been unfairly dismissed may make a representation to the Director General for Industrial Relations (“Representation”) within 60 days from the date of his dismissal. The potential exposure to an employer in an unfair dismissal case can be significant and could drain hundreds of thousands of Ringgit. THE TOTAL PAYMENT (INCLUDING EX GRATIA) AWARDED AGAINST BUSINESSES IN 2016 EXCEEDED RM 55 MILLION. Unfortunately, most small and medium enterprises (SMEs) generally do not put emphasis on good human resource (HR) practices as it is quite costly. Lack of good HR practices exposes these very SMEs to serious financial implications from employment disputes. Taking into consideration of this niche exposure and risk, we at iHR Consulting Sdn. Bhd. are concerned of the wellbeing of the more than 650,000 SMEs in Malaysia. Our goal is to mould the SMEs in Malaysia to reflect good and professional HR practices, without having to employ HR practitioners or executives in their payroll. This directly reduces their operational employment cost. We provide SMEs with greater direct assistance in all employment related matters, and with this, SMEs will have quality time and the opportunity to focus on their core business and revenue growth. At the same time, our HR Insurance protects SMEs against significant financial exposure relating to Industrial Relations Court lawsuits. i HR Consulting Sdn, Bhd. will take the responsibility to provide SMEs with professional HR services comprising the HR, IR and Payroll advisory, HR documentation, ongoing people management, learning and development as well as Human Resource Insurance. All these provided to the SMEs at a fraction of the cost that may be spent on other conventional HR management and compensation system.
COMPARISON BETWEEN HR INSURANCE AND EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE SCHEME (EIS) The EIS requires both an employer and an employee to contribute 0.4% of the total salary to PERKESO. This contribution is supposed to compensate employees during the unemployment period upon retrenchment or VSS. Our Human Resource Insurance is a twist. By having Tune Protect to underwrite our solution, we are providing coverage for employers instead of employees, against any wrongful dismissal claims by an employee in Industrial Relations Court up to the value of RM 1 Million, including legal fees. The HR Insurance scheme of ours helps to reduce the financial burden of SMEs that may possibly incur from legal suits from employees or other claims due to accusations of wrongful dismissal by said party in Industrial Relations Court. Participating in a scheme such as HR Insurance to protect your business and having peace of mind to concentrate on building your business makes good business sense. To know more, contact iHR Consulting on +60322873500, email: ihrnet@ihrnet. com or visit our website: www.ihrnet. com
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Strategy
THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOAN DEFAULTING Defaulting on loan payments and failing to pay your credit card debts can have terrible consequences. When you default on your loan, the lender may take legal proceedings against you
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f the loan is a car loan, the lender will repossess and sell the car. If it is a housing loan, the lender will foreclose on your property and sell it by public auction. If there is still a shortfall after the collateral is sold, the lender will then take action against you (and/or your guarantors, if any) to recover the balance. In the example of unsecured loans like credit cards and personal loans, the lender has a number of options to execute legal judgement it has obtained to recover its debts. These include writ of seizure and sale, garnishee proceedings, judgement debtor summons and bankruptcy proceedings on the borrower (and/or guarantors, if any).
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Currently, bankruptcy proceedings can only be initiated if the debt amount is RM50, 000 and above. If you are made a bankrupt, there are many things which you are legally restricted from doing, some of which are as follow:• Holding any public office without the approval of the Director-General of Insolvency (DGI) • Pursuing any court action without the permission of the DirectorGeneral of Insolvency (DGI) • Leaving the country without the court’s or Director-General of Insolvency’s (DGI) approval • Being a Company Director, carrying out your own business or being involved in the management of a company without the court’s or
•
• •
Director-General of Insolvency’s (DGI) approval Being an employee of a company that is owned by your spouse or close relatives and their spouses Being a Committee Member of any registered body Obtain a crediting of RM1,000 or more from a Creditor without informing him of your bankruptcy status
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU HAVE UNMANAGEABLE DEBTS? If you have unmanageable debts, please consider the 3As principle:1. 1st A is Acknowledge 2. 2nd A is Analyse 3. 3rd A is Act
4. The following are the three steps that you can adopt in overcoming your unmanageable debts:-
1 2 3
ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE UNMANAGEABLE DEBTS
•
ANALYSE YOUR SITUATION TO ACCESS YOUR FINANCIAL STANDING
•
ACT BY TAKING IMMEDIATE CORRECTIVE ACTIONS
•
•
• •
• • • • •
About The Contributor
Do not be in denial. Admit that you have a problem, especially if you are experiencing some of the signs discussed in the earlier article Stop incurring any new debts. This includes paying for good and services using your credit card Organise your loan statements to gauge exactly how much you owe Compare your total debt repayments to your income Prioritise the repayments of your debts. Pay off overdue loans and debts with higher interest rates first Develop a budget if you have not done one yet. Your budget needs to include monthly loan repayments which should be the first item on your list of expenses Consider using your savings or liquidating investment assets to reduce your debt Reduce your expenses Find ways to increase your income for example by taking on a part-time job Renegotiate the terms of your loans with your lenders and work out a repayment plan to suit your cash flow Seek the advice of the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency or Agensi Kaunseling & Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK)
These are some of the organisations that you may go to if you need assistance or advice. However, remember that you have to take proactive steps to resolve your problems including talking to your lender.
AGENSI KAUNSELING DAN PENGURUSAN KREDIT (AKPK)
An agency set up by Bank Negara Malaysia with a mission to “make prudent financial management a way of life” for all Malaysians. AKPK’s role is to equip Malaysians with good money management skills so they can live their lives with manageable debts. AKPK provides three main services free of charge for individuals to help to publicly better manage their finances namely:1. Financial education programmes to educate the public on the proper use of credit and basic money management skills as well as to provide them with tips on how to use credit responsibly. 2. Credit counselling to assist individuals with an in-depth evaluation of their problems and how these may be resolved. 3. Debt Management Programme (DMP) through which AKPK works with individuals to develop personalised debt repayment plans while consulting their credit providers to restructure or reschedule their loan(s) in line with their cash flow. To be eligible for the Debt Management Programme (DMP), individuals must meet the following criteria:• Be unable to manage their own debts • Have loan exposure of less than RM2 million • Have positive net income after meeting their basic expenses • Not being under any advanced legal action • Not a bankrupt
Dr Desmond Chong Kok Fei is a Trainer & Head of the Financial Education Department, Agensi Kaunseling & Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK). He has over 25 years working experience in marketing and management
CONCLUSION
If you are always facing financial stress, always remember the 3As principle and discuss your situation with your partner, family members or friends. Always monitor your cash flow and never overcommit yourself financially. Good money management skills will certainly help to maintain a good relationship with your spouse, family members and friends. At last, let us make prudent financial management a way of life. Checklist for good money management:• Do you know all of your current loans’ outstanding balances? • Are you able to comfortably pay all your monthly repayments on time? • Have you skipped or missed paying any of your bills? • Have you discussed your financial position with your spouse or family members? • Do you have a copy of your latest Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS) report?
Dec 2017
39
Property Strategy
THE UPS AND DOWNS OF AIRBNB sq ft though, the revenue from Airbnb is hardly attractive.
F
our years ago, when Airbnb had yet to become a household name in Malaysia and when the word “Home Sharing” was still a newly-minted word, a relatively small number of hosts were enjoying fantastic profits. Back then, it was not uncommon to make three to foours times more than a long-term rent. These hosts thrived and stories of their success were propagated throughout the property investment community. They were Ambassadors for Airbnb and played an important role in growing this market. Fast-forward to today, and the word Airbnb is on the tip of every property
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investor’s tongue. In a market that is still reeling from the effects of supply imbalances and low oil prices, the promise of high returns from vacation rentals is too good to resist. Many property investors are now looking to Airbnb as an alternative. However, things are changing. Competition is intense and profits are declining. Take Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur for example. Average daily rates are RM207 with an average occupancy of 51%. This gives an average monthly revenue of around RM3,000. In a location where property prices are between RM1,500 to RM2,500 per
LOW PRICES The Airbnb platform unfortunately is designed in a way that encourages lower prices. Airbnb introduced a feature called smart-pricing not too long ago. The smart pricing feature is designed to help hosts have variable prices that capture seasonality and occupancy factors. By lowering prices during off-peak periods and increasing them during peak periods, smart-pricing is supposed to help hosts increase occupancy and maximise profits. However in practice, the smart-pricing feature does not do this. For many of my apartments, Airbnb’s smart-pricing feature recommends base prices that are sometimes three times below what they ought to be. New hosts who follow these pricing tips will find themselves unprofitable very quickly. This coupled with other “nudges” from Airbnb to lower prices have alienated many of the early hosts who provided fantastic service to guests and who were proud Ambassadors of Airbnb. Many multi-listing hosts in Malaysia who were once exclusively on Airbnb now use more than one Online Travel Agency (OTA) like Agoda, Booking.com, and Expedia. A significant number are finding prices to be more favourable there. I believe that in the long run, Airbnb will see its market share drop or stagnate if it does not correct this flaw and design for a win-win situation between host and guest. TRANSIENT HOSTS
There is a relatively big gap in the property market in terms of matching tenants with properties for rent. Many locations, especially in the major cities around Malaysia are in a glut situation. Declining occupancy rates and the relatively low cost barrier to entry are driving many property owners to Airbnb. There is an eco-system built around Airbnb that is supporting the economy in very significant ways. Amongst the key players in this eco-system are property owners and operators. Operators do not own the Airbnb properties but act instead on behalf of the owners, to list these properties on Airbnb for a percentage of the booking revenue. Unfortunately, a sizeable number of these operators and owners are what I call Transient Hosts. Motivated by the promise of high returns, they list their properties on Airbnb and quickly find that filling up their calendars is not as easy as they expected it to be. In a knee-jerk effort to raise their occupancy, most of them begin to reduce prices. This phenomenon is a downward spiral as each Host tries to out-price the other. Profits decline and eventually losses set in. Eventually, these Hosts will not be able to sustain and soon find themselves looking for long-term tenants. THE QUALITY FACTOR Fortunately, price is not the only factor to do well on the Airbnb platform. To increase occupancy on Airbnb, one needs to have the highest visibility possible. Potential guests need to see your listings in order to book it. I have seen listings that are not that great in terms of interior design and looks but are doing extremely well. This is because they have high visibility. According to Airbnb, listings are primarily prioritised in the search results according to the things that guests care about. It is all about the propensity for your listing to get booked. The factors that persuade a potential guest to book would include:• •
Photos Reviews
• • •
Descriptions Ease of booking Pricing As you can see, there are many other factors besides price. Hosts who take the time to engage professional photography, write great descriptions, turn on instant book (a feature that allows guests to book their listings without requiring pre-approval from you), and make their guests happy will be able to influence their search rankings and increase visibility. Such hosts do not have to rely on hitting rock-bottom prices. They can instead focus on providing an end-to-end experience by matching the listings with services rendered. CELEBRATING TOURIST ARRIVALS Airbnb in Malaysia is supported by robust growth in tourism. Despite declining profits on the surface, this is a gold mine for good Hosts and Airbnb. The year 2015 saw 25.7 million tourist arrivals. The cumulative average growth rate of tourism for the 10 years prior is about 6.25%. Extrapolating this growth rate on top of 2015 to 2020, there were nearly 35 million tourist arrivals (the Government is targeting 36 million by 2020) in the next 5 years. That is a staggering 10 million additional tourists in five years. This presents a huge opportunity for Airbnb and its Hosts alike as it indicates healthy occupancies and profits. If Airbnb facilitates a system that does not encourage lower prices but instead focuses on teaching Hosts how to provide better experiences, the whole eco-system will evolve into an even more significant contributor to the property market and economy as a whole. The glut situation in the property market can be eased, Property Owners can get higher returns, and the income of Operators and third party Service Providers can be more sustainable. In the location where I operate, it does not take a trained eye to observe Airbnb’s contribution to the local economy. Here, we have over 60 hosts with hundreds of Airbnb apartments and literally hundreds of tourists arriving everyday. These tourists eat and shop at
About The Contributor
Ikhram is a successful Vacation Rental Entrepreneur with a strong knowledge of property markets. He is also an Author, Keynote Speaker, Trainer and Blogger
the mall next door, use UBER and GRAB to travel around the city and engage in so many other services that sustain the livelihoods of many locals. In a study conducted by Sociometrica on Airbnb’s contribution to the Italian economy, it was found that Airbnb contributed 3.4 billion Euros (RM16.39 billion) to the economy and supported the equivalent of nearly 100,000 jobs. Italy gets about 50 million tourist arrivals anually. CONCLUSION Despite arguments for and against the Airbnb platform, one thing is for certain which is the sharing economy, of which Airbnb is here to stay. While it was very profitable to be operating on the Airbnb platform about four to five years ago - the increase in the number of Hosts and some flaws in Airbnb’s design are promoting a decline in daily rates and profits. Airbnb runs the risk of alienating its best Hosts and slowing down its growth rate if this continues. Airbnb Hosts should invest in learning how to increase their visibility without engaging in price wars. This will result in better profits and a healthy eco-system. Fortunately, Airbnb’s system also rewards Hosts who know what pleases guests and increases bookings. The robust growth in tourism will continue to fuel the rise of Airbnb and present tremendous opportunities for Hosts.
Dec 2017
41
Finance
SEVEN TRAITS OF A SUCCESSFUL INVESTOR
W
e often hear people say that investing is something difficult and that they are afraid of it therefore, they would rather choose to be safe. Then, we also have people who opine that they have no problems with investing their money. The real issue here is that both groups of people are not lying, so why is the subject matter of investing sounding like a taboo to someone else when it is just a norm to another person? I guess the biggest risk towards any investment or what we are doing in life is the extent of understanding the person has towards one subject. If you are able to understand to a reasonable level of
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what you are investing in, you will then be able to know it better and make a decision that has more quality in it, and live with it peacefully. I do not really know what is the set of traits a successful Investor has, but i think there is a set of traits that if one were to follow and do, one will have a positive outcome for one’s investment.
1. DON’T BE AFRAID TO SAY “I DON’T KNOW”
If someone were to introduce to you some new product or scheme or even some funds, don’t be shy to say, “I don’t know”. While I understand people may have a tendency to “save face” - it
is perfectly okay to admit it when we don’t know about certain things. Do not attempt to look smart in front of the other person or towards your own inner self and ignore the fact that you do not understand something. Just be willing to ask the question as this will lower down the unknown risk.
2. EXERCISE DUE DILIGENCE
In order to make sure we treat our money and our future fairly, before investing in something, make sure we do our due diligence in terms of proper homework beforehand. Due diligence means “reasonable steps taken to learn
About The Contributor
and uncover something we are buying or selling, or in this case, investing”. There can be multiple things we need to pay attention to during our due diligence on some investment proposals such as the sourcing of income or profits. For instance, how is income or profit derived and produced? Who handles the money? Is there a Trustee involved? What are the costs involved and is there some other channels with lower cost? What are the risks? Is the scheme regulated? How or is there a defined exit strategy? What is the extent of liquidity and how long is the liquidity period? Does the investment allow you to exit anytime and may be considered good in liquidity? However, if the money only reaches you six months from now, anything could have happened within that 6 months period.
3. DEBTS, DEBTS, DEBTS
If you want to optimise your investment and your wealth, one thing a sound person will do is of course, to clear off any short-term debt especially credit card debt before initiating any investment. This is because your credit card debt will slap you with an interest rate of 15% 18% per annum, and the effective rate is higher than the rate quoted due to the compounding effect. And, if you are not careful, late payment charges will come into the picture and there will also be interest on late payment charges, and we will have a debt snowball now. Therefore, if you think you have some free money to invest, you should “invest” into your plastic card’s outstanding account before you invest in
any financial instruments and assets. You are indirectly “investing” into something that can give you a guaranteed 15 - 18% return by doing this. It just simply does not make sense for us to forgo this and invest into something else unless you have found something that can give you a stable and guaranteed return of 25%, which of course you will not find. So, clear off the debt before you think of investing your money.
4. HAVE EMERGENCY CASH
It is important to have emergency cash or a buffer fund. The size of your emergency fund is literally the strength of your “holding power”. If you invest into something without emergency funds at hand, chances are, when you have some unexpected spending or emergencies, you will have to liquidate your investment no matter whether it is at a positive or negative territory. To avoid this situation, you may have to force yourself to exit so be sure you have established an emergency savings fund before you invest. This is the base that can help to lower down your risk of losing capital.
5. DON’T BE OVER-LOYAL TO ONE ASSET CLASS
Each asset class has its own peak time, and asset classes have different levels of correlation. During a stock market crisis, fixed income instruments may provide some stabilising support, and vice versa. A successful investment will involve a strategic asset allocation that suits the time frame and risk tolerance of the Investor. With asset allocation,
Kevin K.M. Neoh is a Licensed Financial Planner by the Securities Commissions Malaysia and Bank Negara Malaysia
we are actually managing the risks that come inherently with each asset class, and this will help to provide a consistent long-term portfolio return.
6. INVEST REGULARLY, NOT ONCE IN AWHILE
Set a structured savings programme for yourself so that you get to invest your cash flow surplus regularly. This will produce a better impact on your wealth as compared to only investing once in a while when you receive your bonus or when you have the cash. A structured RM100 a month savings programme will ensure you save RM 1,200 in a year, no matter what happens. Be sure to channel the savings into some investing instrument but do not leave it in a cash account, or worse still, allow it to end up in an insurance savings plan which can produce an unfair and low IRR (Internal Rate of Return) which, on the contrary to popular belief, can be quite risky.
7. MASTER YOUR EMOTIONS AND NOT BE ENSLAVED BY IT
We must accept that there is no way to get rid of emotions especially when it comes to investments. Be aware of this and see the big picture and remember the reason for investing and its goal. Don’t stop investing during market correction or crisis periods as it is proven that the one who masters emotions will be rewarded when the dust has settled.
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