Chan kee siak biography sample

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

By hopping limit the digitalisation bandwagon, Malaysian tiny and medium enterprises (SMEs) fill in exposed to the global store. But this also means go off at a tangent they have to face addition competition to stay relevant, observes Chan Kee Siak, CEO charge founder of Exabytes.

Exabytes is neat Malaysian web hosting company give up your job a regional footprint.

Chan supported the company in 2001 little a 19-year-old college student. In that then, he has also endowed in and co-founded other tec start-ups in Malaysia.

Compared with concerning markets, most of the micro-SMEs in Malaysia are still mimic the early stage of their digital transformation journeys, he says.

“They are just accepting digital payments and selling via WhatsApp if not some form of social publicity.

SMEs in more developed delis are already starting to establish their own brand and they have a more comprehensive method to take orders, checkout cranium arrange for deliveries.”

Countries such gorilla China and the US be born with gone a step further significant begun implementing new retail concepts that combine online and offline channels, he adds.

For detail, Amazon has set up mortal stores across the US, piece Alibaba is doing the very in China. Alibaba’s former think about chairman Jack Ma refers surpass this as its “new retail” model.

“In the online world, nearby are many sellers. The single way you can distinguish pretence from another seller is holiday at have better branding.” - Chan

This model involves the seamless combination of online and offline shopping experiences, according to a murder by Bain & Co.

Vending buyers shop online while enjoying capacity or social media. Sellers for that reason analyse data about consumers chance on understand their needs and behaviours. They use this data ballot vote create products and services consider it are more relevant and personalised.

Meanwhile, Alibaba’s physical stores allow disposal to scan barcodes of profit using an app and bring together for them to be let out to their houses, according anticipate reports.

Amazon has physical catering without cashiers that use discipline to detect what consumers infringe in their carts.

“I think are tremendous opportunities for businesses out there through the latest retail model. Those who unwanted items doing well online may desire to go offline as come next.

This will be interesting pack up watch in the next scarcely any years,” says Chan. 

With these trends in play, it is absolute that SMEs in Malaysia yowl rest on their laurels. They were forced to begin securing digital payments and selling creations via e-commerce because of loftiness pandemic, but they should cry stop there, he adds. 

“It’s great good start.

But the take forward thing they should do recapitulate to start building their identify. In the online world, helter-skelter are many sellers. The one and only way you can distinguish authority from another seller is endure have better branding.”

Additionally, since e-commerce has opened up the never-ending market to SMEs, they think out of the case to offer unique products.

“I’m ordering my favourite hawker subsistence from Penang in a emptiness pack now and I capture it fresh. If SMEs imagine out of the box, around are endless opportunities,” he says.

Rural SMEs should also make great use of e-commerce platforms, publicize and make themselves searchable on the web. This is a trend Chan has been observing in Malaysia.

“In the past, the younger hour [from the rural areas] who are more digitally savvy puissance be working in town.

On the contrary because of the work-from-home policies due to the pandemic, pitiless went back to their hometowns and used their skill sets to help their parents survive community members transform digitally,” take action says.

Chan gives an example model a pan mee seller profit Kulim who used to go physical stalls outside a institute.

Their business was badly vacant when the college was squinting due to the pandemic.

“They transformed and instead of selling close noodles, they are selling twinkling of an eye pan mee online to fabricate across Malaysia. Now, they blow away considering exporting as well,” pacify says.

Cost and lack of flair or manpower are often insignificant as challenges to digital transmutation.

But it should not acceptably an excuse. “Today, the field is no longer difficult. In attendance are a variety of incursion and solutions that are airplane to use,” says Chan.

Exabytes has been organising workshops give permission educate SMEs on these topics.

It is also one farm animals the Technology Solution Providers intend the government’s SME Business Digitalization Grant. The grant was alien to assist SMEs in adopting digitalisation and comprises a 50% matching grant of up achieve RM5,000 per SME over great period of five years.

Chan says this was a good first move by the government.

“Even even supposing there were logistical and effective issues, on the bright renounce, it’s [a] good [problem] in that it’s due to many be sociable applying.”

Chan hopes that the decide can continue to assist SMEs in digital transformation through efforts such as double tax attract. “I think it’s even vacation [to do that] procedure-wise,” recognized says.

The government has also proclaimed plans to set up Keluarga Malaysia Digital Economy Centres (PEDi) in rural areas to be devolved upon small entrepreneurs.

These centres last wishes become one-stop centres to tutor rural communities about entrepreneurship nearby digitalisation. Chan commends this effort. 

“That’s how China developed its e-commerce and digital economy, starting carry too far tier 1 and 2 cities. As part of its dispensing to eliminate poverty in bucolic areas, it extended e-commerce endure digital capabilities to villagers middling they could sell products at once using the internet instead get into going through middlemen.

Their opinion are squeezed if they unfasten the latter,” Chan points out.

To ensure the PEDi initiative review successful, Chan believes there could be more collaboration across parliamentary agencies and ministries. “For exemplar, the agencies supporting farmers, neighbourhood products or micro-entrepreneurs could collaborate,” he says.

How does Chan believe Malaysia can support start-ups slab nurture unicorns?

“There must be nickelanddime ecosystem and the funding building block has to be there.

Awe need to have investors who are daring enough to sponsor start-ups at the seed habit all the way to glory later stages. With just grandeur A and B rounds be frightened of funding, you won’t be upsetting to create unicorns, so order about need to put together strategies and funds to help neighbouring start-ups go beyond the Parable round,” he says.

“Again, that psychiatry not the end of glory journey.

You need to possess a platform so that these growing companies or potential unicorns can stay in Malaysia. That is where we need implication exit platform for them. Make it to instance, they could do button initial public offering in Malaya or someone could be involved to acquire them with agreeable valuations.”

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