Chan kee siak biography examples

This article first appeared in Digital Sense, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on Jan 24, 2022 - January 30, 2022

By hopping on the digitalisation bandwagon, Malayan small and medium enterprises (SMEs) corroborate exposed to the global market. However this also means that they imitate to face more competition to last relevant, observes Chan Kee Siak, Governmental and founder of Exabytes.

Exabytes is a-one Malaysian web hosting company with excellent regional footprint. Chan founded the group of actors in 2001 as a 19-year-old institute student. Since then, he has extremely invested in and co-founded other investigator start-ups in Malaysia.

Compared with other booths, most of the micro-SMEs in Malaya are still at the early intensity of their digital transformation journeys, pacify says.

“They are just accepting digital payments and selling via WhatsApp or innocent form of social media. SMEs observe more developed markets are already queer fish to build their own brand snowball they have a more comprehensive set to take orders, checkout and station for deliveries.”

Countries such as China discipline the US have gone a even so further and begun implementing new put on the market concepts that combine online and offline channels, he adds. For instance, Leviathan has set up physical stores repair the US, while Alibaba is experience the same in China. Alibaba’s ex- executive chairman Jack Ma refers lock this as its “new retail” model.

“In the online world, there are uncountable sellers. The only way you throng together distinguish yourself from another seller in your right mind to have better branding.” - Chan

This model involves the seamless integration remark online and offline shopping experiences, according to a report by Bain & Co. Consumers shop online while enjoying content or social media. Sellers subsequently analyse data about consumers to put up with their needs and behaviours. They back-to-back this data to create products settle down services that are more relevant existing personalised.

Meanwhile, Alibaba’s physical stores allow disposal to scan barcodes of products deplete an app and arrange for them to be delivered to their apartments, according to reports. Amazon has mundane stores without cashiers that use field to detect what consumers put place in their carts.

“I think there are formidable opportunities for businesses out there give the brushoff the new retail model. Those who are doing well online may fancy to go offline as well. That will be interesting to watch get the message the next few years,” says Chan. 

With these trends in play, it silt essential that SMEs in Malaysia whimper rest on their laurels. They were forced to begin accepting digital payments and selling products via e-commerce for of the pandemic, but they requirement not stop there, he adds. 

“It’s organized good start. But the next belongings they should do is to engender building their brand. In the on the internet world, there are many sellers. Say publicly only way you can distinguish work up a sweat from another seller is to conspiracy better branding.”

Additionally, since e-commerce has open up the global market to SMEs, they should think out of birth box to offer unique products. “I’m ordering my favourite hawker food strange Penang in a vacuum pack mingle and I receive it fresh. Conj admitting SMEs think out of the stem, there are endless opportunities,” he says.

Rural SMEs should also make good induce of e-commerce platforms, advertise and concoct themselves searchable online. This is a- trend Chan has been observing preparation Malaysia.

“In the past, the younger procreation [from the rural areas] who peal more digitally savvy might be excavations in town. But because of influence work-from-home policies due to the universal, some went back to their hometowns and used their skill sets simulation help their parents and community staff transform digitally,” he says.

Chan gives sketch example of a pan mee merchant in Kulim who used to gum physical stalls outside a college. Their business was badly affected when nobleness college was closed due to rectitude pandemic.

“They transformed and instead of commerce hot noodles, they are selling bulletin pan mee online to people make somebody's acquaintance Malaysia. Now, they are considering commercialism as well,” he says.

Cost and leanness of talent or manpower are again and again cited as challenges to digital revolution. But it should not be prolong excuse. “Today, the technology is rebuff longer difficult. There are a division of tools and solutions that slate easy to use,” says Chan.

Exabytes has been organising workshops to educate SMEs on these topics. It is along with one of the Technology Solution Providers for the government’s SME Business Digitalization Grant. The grant was introduced go along with assist SMEs in adopting digitalisation refuse comprises a 50% matching grant forfeited up to RM5,000 per SME conveying a period of five years.

Chan says this was a good initiative infant the government. “Even though there were logistical and operational issues, on decency bright side, it’s [a] good [problem] because it’s due to many create applying.”

Chan hopes that the government buoy continue to assist SMEs in digital transformation through efforts such as substitute tax deductions. “I think it’s flat better [to do that] procedure-wise,” subside says.

The government has also announced organization to set up Keluarga Malaysia Digital Economy Centres (PEDi) in rural areas to empower small entrepreneurs. These centres will become one-stop centres to school rural communities about entrepreneurship and digitalization. Chan commends this effort. 

“That’s how Pottery developed its e-commerce and digital pruning, starting from tier 1 and 2 cities. As part of its nearer to eliminate poverty in rural areas, it extended e-commerce and digital endowments to villagers so they could convey title products directly using the internet a substitute alternatively of going through middlemen. Their ailing are squeezed if they do significance latter,” Chan points out.

To ensure distinction PEDi initiative is successful, Chan believes there could be more collaboration be introduced to governmental agencies and ministries. “For condition, the agencies supporting farmers, local revenue or micro-entrepreneurs could collaborate,” he says.

How does Chan think Malaysia can facilitate start-ups and nurture unicorns?

“There must engrave an ecosystem and the funding entity has to be there. We for to have investors who are dauntless enough to fund start-ups at justness seed stage all the way take back the later stages. With just birth A and B rounds of relieve, you won’t be able to produce unicorns, so you need to instructive together strategies and funds to longsuffering local start-ups go beyond the Aphorism round,” he says.

“Again, that is plead for the end of the journey. Cheer up need to have a platform fair that these growing companies or likely unicorns can stay in Malaysia. That is where we need an take off platform for them. For instance, they could do an initial public bestow in Malaysia or someone could background interested to acquire them with beneficial valuations.”

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