Lessons from industry stalwarts
Sharing of experiences and information to benefit small businesses
THERE are many lessons that one can learn from a successful entrepreneur, particularly one who is enjoying a good run not just in the local market but also in the global arena.
At the Star SMEBiz Think Tank, which is happening tomorrow, small business owners and potential entrepreneurs will be able to hear and learn from Adrian Ng, chief executive officer of security seals manufacturing business Mega Fortris (M) Sdn Bhd, who will be sharing his journey of overcoming challenges, tackling unexpected hurdles and adopting the right business strategy to succeed.
The company had an uneasy start in the late 1990s but today, has operations in over 20 countries with a team of about 700 people worldwide.
Ng reckons that Mega Fortris is currently among the top five security seal players in the world and aims to be at the top in the next three years. With the efforts and strategies that have been put in place by the management team, that dream, he says, is not out of reach.
Mega Fortris had bagged Malaysian Business of the Year at the Star Outstanding Business Awards (SOBA) 2016. The company also won Gold for Best Global Market and Best Innovation and Silver for Best Brand in the Above RM25mil revenue category. Meanwhile, Ng took home the Male Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Above RM25mil revenue category.
Apart from Ng, Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF) chief executive Datuk CM Vignaesvaran will also be at the seminar to talk about how SMEs can remain relevant in today’s digital age by up-skilling their talent.
With the advent of Industry 4.0, small businesses have been advised to look at reskilling and upskilling opportunities to ensure that their companies continue to be competitive in an environment of increased automation and productivity. This will also boost our human capital to another level and enable employees to earn higher wages amid better efficiencies.
Vignaesvaran notes that one of the concerns of employers is the cost of training their workers. At the seminar, SMEs will be able to learn about the resources available to them which they can tap into to fund their training needs to move forward.
Companies will also be able to learn more about funding options available to them with the launch of the new Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform (LEAP) on Bursa Malaysia.
Representatives from the local bourse will be giving a special talk at The Star SMEBiz Think Tank on opportunities to list on the platform.
LEAP aims to provide SMEs with an alternative and efficient fundraising platform and visibility through the capital market. It is designed to address the funding gap for SMEs and to make it easier for them to take their businesses to the next level through the capital market.
The platform also provides investors with a new investable asset class. Trading on LEAP is limited to sophisticated investors, namely accredited investors, high networth entities and high networth individuals.
There is a growing trend among stock exchanges around the world to provide a special market for SME fund-raising.
Bursa is the first stock exchange in Asean to launch a dedicated platform for SMEs.
Other speakers that will be featured at the event are Eco World Development Group Bhd president and chief executive officer Datuk Chang Khim Wah, Digi.com Bhd chief digital officer Praveen Rajan, AmBank business banking managing director Christopher Yap, Credit Guarantee Corp Malaysia Bhd senior vice-president of marketing and sales Wong Keet Loong, Malaysia External Trade Development Corp chief executive officer Dr Mohd Shahreen Zainooreen Madros and Etika Sdn Bhd vice-president of marketing Santharuban Thurai Sundaram.
The event will be held on Sept 5 at the Grand Ballroom in Eastin Hotel, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Entry fee is RM300 per person (excluding GST) and is HRDF claimable.
The Star SMEBiz Think Tank is organised by Star Media Group as an extension of SOBA 2017, which recognises and honours outstanding non-public listed companies and SMEs in various business aspects.
It is sponsored by AmBank, DiGi and HRDF with CGC as co-sponsor and Matrade as official trade promotion partner.
For enquiries, call The Star events business unit at 03-7967 1388 ext 1475 (Philip) and to register please log on to sites.thestar. com.my/thinktank.