Open For Business

Sweatspa is a wellness spa whose journey started 9 years ago. Now, Sweatspa has 5 outlets with its most recent outlet in Bukit Jalil opening just a few months ago. In a bid to grow this much bigger, Sweatspa also recently acquired their franchise licence, something we will explore in more detail.Beyond their consumer facing retail business and their upcoming franchising, Sweatspa also offers installation services for those seeking personal saunas at home and has a commercial solutions arm for those looking to start their own sauna business or for those looking to enhance their existing businesses in adjacent industries such as fitness, healthcare, and wellness sectors.  On this episode of Open for Business,  you will learn about SweatSpa’s origin and growth story, how it markets itself and acquires customers, and most importantly, plans to leverage the new franchise licence to accelerate the growth. All this with Sabrina Tang, Founder of Sweatspa.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pilgrim is an Indian-based, all natural, vegan, direct-to-consumer (D2C) skincare startup brand that has caught the attention of some prominent investors. Just two months ago, Vertex Ventures, Fireside Ventures and Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office, were part of Pilgrim’s $20 million Series B funding round, which will help them accelerate the company’s growth in India.Having generated $9.59 million in revenue in the last financial year, the company is expecting 3X growth to hit around $30 million in the next financial year, and another 2X growth to achieve $60-70 million the year after. It is also expecting to hit profitability next year.All that and more in this conversation with Anurag Kedia, the co-founder of Pilgrim. We explore Pilgrim’s origins and growth story, insights into how to build a consumer beauty brand while optimising your marketing budget, as well as future plans including the path to profitability and IPO thoughts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're joined by Lim Kar Aik, Group CEO of Revenue Monster Group, to discuss the journey of WeTix, Malaysia's leading ticket aggregator. We explore their innovative partnerships with cinema chains and e-wallet services like WeChat Pay, their expansion beyond movies to include a range of entertainment options, and how these strategic moves are shaping the future of digital ticketing in Malaysia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In line with World Children’s Day, we’re taking a focus at a key part of a child’s life - education, more specifically the business of children’s education.Managing a portfolio of childhood education businesses, Jigna Doshi says she’s committed to the 'whole child' concept, balancing a child's academic, physical, social, and personal development through her range of services. In today's Open for Business, you will discover the story behind the establishment of her education businesses, the challenges of managing multiple ventures in the ever-evolving landscape of childhood education, and what her long-term game plan is. In the studio today is Jigna Doshi, Founder and CEO of Eduguru Childcare Services, but also Toddler Town International Preschool, Enso International Academy, and Lion City Preschool.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The beauty and personal care industry in Malaysia is big business - garnering a revenue of around $2.68 billion in 2022 based on Statista data. With so many beauty companies vying for the top spot, how does more recent market entrant Une Olive en Provence stand out here? Well, apparently by transforming the century-old kitchen essential – olive oil – into a much desired skincare product. Hailing exclusively from the farm in Provence, France, Une Olive en Provence utilises extra Virgin Olive Oil as a key component of its various cosmetics products. However, is that enough to make it stand out in a fiercely competitive cosmetics market, especially in a market where consumer sentiment is estimated to be at its lowest since the lockdown days of the second quarter of 2021?Today on Open for Business, you will learn about the rationale behind importing this high-priced product into Malaysia, its brand positioning and marketing strategy, as well as insights into the intricacies of operating a distributorship here in Malaysia, with Seah Jhen Pei, Director of Une Olive Malaysia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While we often pay attention to the hot and sexy tech startups of the world or the big established name brands and their shelves of products that we use on a daily basis, it’s important to remember that there are plenty of lucrative businesses out there that we’ve never heard of. – Consumers might know Durex, but how many know that homegrown Karex is the biggest condom manufacturer in the world?Malaysia has many of these kinds of businesses, big and small, and one of them is our guest today – People & Global, an Original Equipment Manufacturer or OEM of wet wipes, a product category that garnered a lot of attention in the last few years as hygiene and sanitisation became key during the pandemic.By some estimates, the wet wipes business was a 4 billion US dollar market in 2022. That’s a sizable market for a narrow product that we take for granted on a regular basis, and it’s expected to continue to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 7.8% up to 2033.Founded in 2003, this OEM caters to both local and international markets, they produce a diverse range of hygiene products such as wet wipes and sanitary napkins to prominent clients like Watson's, Shell, Mydin, Petronas, and more. On this episode of Open for Business, you will learn why today’s guest Patrick Wong, Founder and Managing Director, People & Global entered this business of all things, the intricate workings of this 20 year old homegrown wet wipes OEM, how profitable wet wipes manufacturing can be, and whether People & Global can be more than just an OEM through its own brand Wetty.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we’re in conversation with Professor Andrew Wong, CEO of E3 Hubs Sdn. Bhd, a man with over a quarter of a century in entrepreneurship, and an advocate for the development of and nurturing of SMEs and startups. In a world still reeling from the impact of a global pandemic, businesses across Malaysia are navigating through the challenges of inflation and political volatility, searching for a foothold to stabilise and grow. E3 Hubs stands as a beacon of support for these businesses, providing incubation, mentorship and a thriving community network aimed at business upscaling. From leading MAD Incubator, which played a pivotal role in the growth of numerous tech startups, to steering E3 Hubs towards its goal of empowering 50,000 members, Andrew’s journey is one of resilience, innovation and an unyielding commitment to the entrepreneurial spirit. Let’s explore the insights and experience of a man who’s at the forefront of fostering entrepreneurial success in Malaysia’s dynamic business landscape.Image Credit: LinkedIn | Andrew WongSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The F&B business is tough, whether here in Malaysia or abroad. There’s always a constant churn of old restaurants closing down and new ones taking their place. That said, there are those that last the test of time and navigate the industry for decades.Today on the show, we speak to Australian chef, author, television presenter, and restaurateur – David Thompson to get a better sense for the business of F&B and why he’s personally focused on Thai cuisine.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Online shopping is such a convenience. You can buy food and groceries on Grab, buy diapers on Lazada, and shop for clothes from your favourite fashion brands, but does this consumer behaviour extend to furniture as well? That is something that today’s guest has banked on with her ecommerce business - Mojomore, a subsidiary of HVAC OEM manufacturing company TCW Group.Founded back in 2020, Mojomore is an online furniture store selling Home & Living products made from industrial reclaimed metal and wants to be one of the top Home & Living products providers, but how realistic is that considering how competitive this space is online and without without a major physical presence for people to touch and feel their products?We explore this, along with the journey so far, and how lucrative this business is with Mojomore Founder, Tan Wei Yi.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No matter how good a learning app is, it will struggle to compete against Roblox and YouTube Kids.In today's digital era, children have increasingly easy access to a wide array of technologies and parents are finding themselves faced with the dual challenge of maintaining discipline over their kids' screen time and ensuring that the content they're engaging with is both age-appropriate and educational – essentially the need to strike a balance between encouraging tech-savviness in a child and protecting a child's well-being and development.The young parents-of-two faced that exact problem, and decided to pull together a team of experts to build an app called Carrots&Cake that focuses on improving the quality of kids' screen time based on a science-based approach by allowing parents to limit the time spent on different apps in the hopes that this will allow children to have balanced usage between educational and entertainment apps. On this episode of Open For Business, you will learn how the co-founders of Carrots&Cake, Meredith DePaolo and Hamel Shah, are trying to address this pressing concern, why this is a business and not just a feature, and how they plan to monetise in order to make this a sustainable business.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.