Malaysia boleh 💪
Malaysia is integral to Singapore's economy. It is bound by land, culture & history. It is close. SG-KL is 1 hr flight, SG-JB is 1 hr car ride. Malaysia is exciting. It is our next channel. Boleh!
👋 Hola! Welcome to Out of Singapore. I am Shantanu and I build businesses from Singapore. This city can be amazingly beautiful. Today I am at Jewel in the Changi airport. I didn’t plan to write from here, but the beautiful waterfall was difficult to let go. Instead of going home, here I am, writing to you 😻
Setting up and running a business is not difficult. I was scared of being a “business man” few years earlier. By 2022, I was the only one of the MBA class at NTU to venture into entrepreneurship. Call it fear of uncertainty or something else, entrepreneurship scares people. I am helping myself to start and scale businesses, and in the process, I hope I will inspire a few more to start.
I was in Kuala Lumpur this week to meet the local team. It was my third time in the city. KL has grown on me 😻
Dec’22 - Came here for 1 week when I didn’t have a home in SG. Didn’t know anyone, found streets and restaurants to be barren. The whole place seemed weird. It looked designed for tourists but there were no tourists.
May’23 - Came to celebrate a friend's bachelors in style. We did have fun. I still found the city to be amazingly empty. Nevertheless, I had fun.
Oct’23 - Came to work with the KL office. Felt at home. Worked, ate, and lived like a local. This trip has brought me close to the city. I appreciate it a lot more now.
Before I jump into today’s discussion, tell me about your favorite city in this part of the world?
Let’s get started with today’s topic. We will go through in 3 sections
How are we building the Malaysia business?
How will we scale the market?
Why is Malaysia important?
#1 Localized marketing and execution for speed
We have done well in SG. I give credit to being on the ground. When consumers ask - “are you made in Singapore?”, we proudly claim “yes, yes”. We have been quick to test a few sales channels and found some winning ones. Have we been as successful in the US? Absolutely not. It has become a second priority.
For the skincare brand, we had to choose our priority between SG, Malaysia and US. Right now, SG (1) and Malaysia (2) are the priority. Over the next 1 year, these markets will be fighting against each other to scale faster. Whoever wins, the final winner will be the brand.
Initially we were planning to run everything from Singapore. But we have shifted our approach to let the regional team have more control one execution. Here is what we are doing
1 a) Local team has priority over decision making
To ensure the local team is fully self sufficient, the supporting partners are mostly local. These are uniquely Malaysian initiatives.
We have a full-service local team in KL.
Our marketing agency partners are local.
We are investing in building local content.
We are launching local artist collaborations.
1 b) Leverage Singapore base, capability, and learnings
Production is centralized in SG. Finished goods are distributed from main production facility to KL.
Supply chain takes advantage of SG. Large goods are brought into SG and then dispatched by road to KL.
3PL from the start - No more in-house processing of orders. Right now, we are split between using the SG warehouse partner vs local KL partner.
We have identified channels to focus on - brand dot com, Tiktok shop, and Shopee.
Given the success of livestreams, we are investing on livestream creators and setup from the get go.
PR is being supported by Singapore and US publications. This will drive credibility in Malaysia.
#2 How will we scale?
This is the start. We will definitely be moderately successful. However, can we become a wild sensation in the market. I will keep my fingers crossed. Here is what I am looking at things unwrapping -
Start will be slow. Consumers and advertising will take the first 2-4 months to get familiar before conversions start.
Pure numbers - I hope to reach 7-10K USD in 5 months. If everything goes well, we may cross 50K USD monthly revenue in 2024 itself.
We will blow up the brand in the minds of the consumers. Investment will be omni channel, across all sales channels and marketing channels.
We will build a strong line of brand ambassadors, that would include celebrities and creators.
#3 Laid back Malaysia is growing fast
Singapore has a limited market to play with. Brands need a bigger market to be viable. Malaysia is the easiest choice for Singapore brands. Here are some reasons -
Market - MY skincare market is 2x the size of SG. MY is growing almost 2x faster as well. (source for SG, source for MY)
Landmass - MY is 450 times the size of SG.
Demography - MY has 33 mn people vs 5 mn in SG. Average Malaysian is 8 years younger than a Singaporean (30 years vs 38 years).
Future - MY is growing faster, with 6x more people, the market size would be a few times of Singapore.
Kiasu Singapore - A small place, everyone knows each other, fierce competition and banal marketing. Malaysia gives you space to play with your marketing. (Singaporeans, please don’t cancel me 🥺)
KL is major international hub. It provides exposure to millions of tourists travelling to the city. More on this in next section.
Strong cultural ties between SG and MY. The land border at Johor Bahru sees 350K people crossing daily between the countries. This would have positive effect in building market share in both countries.
We cannot talk about Malaysia without talking about the massive Klang valley (Kuala Lumpur).
Kuala Lumpur is a major major hub
KL often gets lost in the shadows of Singapore. But look at these facts
International visitors - In 2019, 13.8 million in KL vs 14.6 million in Singapore.
KL airport is massive- It handled 44 mn passengers vs Singapore Changi’s 67 mn in 2019.
The infrastructure is amazing - Possibly the most number of multi-level roadways I have seen in any city, significantly more than SG. KL is a car city while SG is a train city (I like trains better)
KL skyline is crazy - I would let pictures speak for me. Petronas towers, Merdeka tower, Exchange 106, Menara and the list goes on.
KL public transport is bizzare and massive. They are expanding fast.
In short, if you build a successful brand in Singapore, it makes sense to go across the border and sell in Malaysia. You cannot do something similar in Indonesia, Vietnam or Taiwan. Hence, Malaysia boleh!
I am so glad to write this week’s edition on a laptop. It lets me do so much more. I can do quick search and number check. It’s writing freedom.
While I didn’t run this week, I worked out a lot. I made the Airbnb and later the hotel room a gym every morning. I get so pumped up every morning post work out. Ready to take on all challenges that life throws at me. The only failure - my tummy. Maybe I should stop snacking for savories every evening. 🤭
Thank you again for reading till the end. Ask me for free coffee any time! You make my day by being an absolutely delightful reader 🤗. Please help me spread this newsletter by sharing with your wonderful friends. I will be so grateful.
Jisoo - I will let you shoot me. Do it now, you the bundle of sweetness!
Hahaha, have happy week ahead! I wish the best 💪