Open For Business

One of the strangest boons that the MCO has given us is the catalyst for many industries to finally go through with plans for digital innovation and transformation. The property sector, for example, was in sore need of reinvention, which was the idea behind LoanPlus, an online platform designed to streamline mortgage and other housing loan processes. We had LoanPlus co-founder, Jared Lim, on the line to discuss his thoughts on the proptech industry and their performance throughout the past couple of months.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When your business relies on face-to-face interaction to collect data and research, it can be a little tricky when you’re not allowed to be ‘face-to-face’. How does a market research company deal with this challenge during the MCO, and how will they adapt to these challenges when it comes to the new normal?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Both the events and travel industry have been hit hard as a result of the pandemic. So what happens to companies that deal in both travel and events at the same time? How does a company pivot when both its core industries have taken significant damage because of global lockdowns?  To expand on this, we got in touch with Yeoh Siew Hoon, the editorial director of Northstar Travel Group Asia and the founder of WiT (Web in Travel), a multi-location event that gathers the biggest innovators in the travel-tech scene on the same stage, every year. However, this year Siew Hoon and her team will have to figure out how to take all the content that was designed for a live platform and deliver it online instead.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People not being outdoors has posed a huge issue for Spectrum Outdoor Marketing, as they provide outdoor advertising like LED billboards. We had managing director, Henry Low, give us a little insight on how an outdoor marketing company has been navigating the previous few months.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mulah is originally a homegrown customer relationship management company, with Mulah Rewards as an additional loyalty rewards program started in 2017. With many of their clients being primarily from the F&B industry, Mulah had to find an alternative use for the structure they’d put into place for their CRM. We managed to get co-founder Nicholas Kai to explain more about how they turned their rewards program into a contact tracing solution for their clients, which you can access at https://www.covid19registry.com.my/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Table distancing. Body temperature scanning. Contact tracing. Hyper-sanitizing. Dining at restaurants post-Movement Control Order is definitely not the experience we remember it to be. Storehub Chieftain Fong Wai Hong joins us to discuss the new normal for F&B businesses, quick wins to keep your customers comfortable at your outlet and strategies to keep cash flow steady in case another lockdown is on the horizon.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BookXcess is known for 3 things - discounted books, signature outlets, and its annual Big Bad Wolf massive book sale. In fact, it’s the largest book sale in the world. But with COVID-19 throwing everyone a curveball, companies like BookXcess need to figure out how to navigate this new world in which social distancing is the norm. We speak to Andrew Yap, co-founder of BookXcess, about aggressive marketing strategies, going online, and the idea that the pandemic may have forced them to grow into a stronger company. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many food operators facing shutdowns have turned to digital delivery platforms to help them sustain their businesses. However, many of these delivery platforms like Grab require a merchants to pay a certain fee to use their services. Sean Goh, the Managing Director and Country Head for Grab Malaysia, joined us on Voice of SMEs to talk about this hot topic of discussion.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cashless payments have seen a steady rise in both consumer adoption and also with merchants, especially since the government initiated the e-Tunai campaign from earlier this year in January. Cashless payments are becoming the new norm, and competition within the cashless payment ecosystem itself is seeing a rise. One of them is TNG Digital's eWallet. Their Chief Executive Officer, Ignatius Ong, joined us on the show today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Extraordinary Endeavor, we hear from the CEO of Mudah.my, Gaurav Bhasin, answering questions about marketing and product market fit during this time of crisis. Our entrepreneurs today asking the questions are Zare from Trapo and Julie Ng from Vase.AI, part of the ScaleUp Endeavor program.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.