Starting A Business Is Easy, Sustaining One Is Not

From our involvement in the wholesale of computer spare parts and accessories, we have managed to establish robust and amicable relationships with manufacturers through the channels of local and foreign distributors. From there, we have been presented with the opportunity to get familiarized with manufacturing processes and even to participate in some of them for OEM ventures. One of the best examples was our successful creation of the Maxprint brand. We are the first company to have developed an advanced printer with fully-automated ink supply system (MISS), with an innovative outer flip-top clamshell container. For this, we were fully involved right from the mould of the container, to product processing. Furthermore, Maxprint was the only Malaysian ink brand to be featured and sold in Chinese e-marketplace Taobao and Tmall, impressively ranking amongst the top 3 in office machine sales record.

It has always been said that kick-starting a new business is easy while maintaining one is not. Our passage has not been all smooth sailing. The field of office equipment wholesale had been volatile thereafter, and we have to endure several huge challenges that include the downturn of the market, price wars, imitations and cash flow. While we attempted any and every means to salvage the business, it would not go any further, instead even experienced some sort of a decline.

Learn To Apply, Apply What’s Learned

From that point, it dawned on me that we were lacking something for certain. While I was scrambling for answers everywhere, I came across a person whom I am forever grateful to, my mentor, Tan Sri Dato‘ Seri Dato’ Paduka Prof Dr. Fng Ah Seng. The very first lesson from attending his class allowed me to pick up a valuable point - only education could grant you the breakthrough you have been seeking desperately for. I immediately realized the value of his academy, and decided to bring my team to learn from my mentor as well. Through his teachings, we got to know the way to success, the art of achieving it, and also effective leadership. His lessons were also an enlightenment to us in terms of getting to know ourselves, where we stood, and how to live a meaningful and full-fledged life. From another perspective, we also discover life’s values with a positive outlook into the future. Under Tan Sri’s guidance, the team has grown to be more cohesive, and it has also inspired us to go for vertical expansion, growing our business not just in breath but also in depth. From there, we learned that it was high time for us to evolve from retail to manufacturing, and hence it became the catalyst in our strive for business model transformation.

In 2016, we established the AHD brand retail outlet, as well as B2C security products, and smart home products directly to end users. We knew good products must come together with even greater service and installation team to attain total satisfaction from customers. Only with good reputation that a brand could continue to grow and prosper, and in that, only via retail that we could build strong sales and service team. By thoroughly familiarizing ourselves with solid customer service, installation procedures, as well as accumulated skills in sales derived from ample retail experience, it will present us with a solid opportunity to make the digital switch and thrive in our e-commerce business endeavours.

In 2018, we had engaged in a collaboration with a smart door lock manufacturer to launch our own product known as Abrain. We have also successfully designed and launched a double fingerprint access stainless steel smart door lock perfect for grille doors in Malaysia. A team of e-commerce experts were brought together to set up an online platform to tackle the sales of this product during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period with great success. Concurrently we have also prevailed in our attempt to gain exclusive distributorship for Lifesmart smart home products in Malaysia. At that point in time, we came to realize that Smart Curtain is indisputably an important component of smart home, especially when the number of windows in a modern household, especially large ones, is on the rise. A simplified Smart Curtain offering absolute convenience could be the answer to everyone’s needs.

Overcoming Adversities, Embrace Change

After conducting a ton of market research, factory visits, internships, learning and due diligence, we have finally set up our first smart curtain manufacturing plant in 2020. Our main products revolve around outdoor and indoor electric curtain systems.

For outdoor curtains, we take enormous pride in our self-developed ZIPGUIDE sunscreens, which was specially designed to overcome the extreme weather of Malaysia. The curtains are perfect for balconies, glass doors, and even outdoor pavilions. They are equipped with the capability to block or impede the overwhelming effect of wind, rain, dust and even to keep out mosquitoes. When the curtain is drawn, one would immediately feel its cooling effect. On top of that, there are also other types of outdoor electric curtains such as the relatively budget friendly WIREGUIDE blinds Outdoor Vertical Awning, the Roof Blind to be installed just above the louvers or skylights whereas the intelligent Skylight Blind is to be installed underneath them. Conversely, the retractable Smart Awning is for outdoor usage.

For indoors, we offer the Smart Honeycomb Blinds which we have self-developed, as an alternative to the electronic roller blinds. We have as well the newly launched “autonomic” FREEMOVE blinds, the PANELVIEW blinds which is dust and waterproof, or the DREAMLUX cloth-base blinds that could be adjusted at will for the desired level of brightness. Each smart curtain system comes with their own unique proposition and is premeditated to fulfil the requirements of a variety of interior design and home décor.