Two’s a Company
Through the power of positive thinking, hard work and sheer determination, IDR Lokman Hakim Ahmad Subki and IDR Rabiatul Adawiyah Rasol of IDW Design & Build have led their business to thrive, not just survive the pandemic
Luck is the intersection of opportunity and preparation, so says Seneca, and for husband and wife team, IDR Lokman Hakim Ahmad Subki (Hakim) and IDR Rabiatul Adawiyah Rasol (Bee), the founders of IDW Design & Build, their remarkable success at a time where many SMES are folding is a culmination of 15 years of preparation. The young dynamic couple, who are now in their 30s, met while pursuing their interior design degrees at UITM and took on their first project at 21.
Since then, their business has flourished, a result of their shared passion for interior design and unflagging can-do attitude. Their career sparked while they were still students, when a friend recommended two adjacent semi-d house projects that needed to be transformed. Despite their inexperience, Hakim and Bee seized the opportunity. “Even though we didn’t have much experience, we said yes to everything because opportunity doesn’t knock twice,” reminisces Bee. “Yes, our mindset for that first project was to say yes, then find a way to execute,” adds Hakim. This attitude served them well because the client (who knew this was their maiden project) was pleased with the results.
They then started IDW Design & Build in 2007 but said frankly that they did not make the kind of progress they desired in the following seven years because they were scattered in their energies. Not only were they running IDW, they also opened a printing shop and lectured at UITM in the Architecture faculty. Their business started to bloom in 2014, when the couple chose the right Menthor to guide them in handling the business side of interior design by focusing on the right business model and client satisfaction.
Since this light bulb moment, the achievements they’ve gathered are impressive. From being the lead consultant of the KFC College comprising 80,000 sqft of commercial space, numerous commercial and residential projects and working on a 104-room resort in Perhentian Island, where their design intervention changed the owner’s mind of selling to continue running it, the couple truly live and breathe the IDW tagline of “transforming space and transforming life”.
IDW has also won Selangor state awards for interior design and undertaken projects in Mauritius and Brunei. Not to mention securing their IDR title from Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia as a professionally recognised firm in 2018 and appearing on multiple national TV makeover shows for interior design, which have been distributed regionally.
Coming from modest backgrounds, the duo is proud to have built their business from the ground up without any government grants. “We always imagine what our future selves would be like. Once we lock our vision 10 years from that moment, we plan and hold ourselves accountable to that future self,” enthuses Hakim. “We started when we were still
very young. An opportunity came and we grabbed it. We dived in straight away and what pushed us to succeed was not wanting to fail,” recalls Bee.
The couple’s deep passion for the transformative power of interior design continues to inspire their work entrepreneurial journey. “Even now after 15 years, the process of transforming a space excites us. Any new project is still thrilling—from starting the design process to handing over to the clients, the happiness and satisfaction we see makes us want to do it over again,” says Hakim.
As for maintaining a positive mindset, the couple are strong believers that ‘you are what you surround yourself with’. “I like to think of ourselves as a cup. Whatever you put into the cup becomes the value of the cup. If you put in tap water, it might not be as precious as if you put a quality liquid into it,” expounds Hakim. “In the same way, we need to always think positive things so we can attract positive energy and maintain our valuable cup of water.” Bee continues, “It’s important to be mindful of your circle of friends and who you network with because it will affect your mindset. We are also careful about what our mind consumes, whether it’s movies we watch or articles we read or what we see on social media. This all influences your energy and decisions. We don’t want to cloud our cup with bad energy.”
This positive outlook served them well during the pandemic where business was so blessed with abundance, they even doubled their staff from 22 to 42 and moved into a larger office. “Even from 2017, we had already prepared our mindset, which is when there’s a crisis, we rise up and push up,” says Hakim. “We communicated often and well with our team and I would say we improved the way we manage our projects and clients during this pandemic and learned how to work better together as a team. It was like a blessing in disguise.” “During this time, our Menthor also posed a question as to how we would manoeuvre the business if the MCO went on for more than a year and that’s when we decided to come up with a better company strategy and direction,” explains Bee. “One of it is the IDW Design Collection. This compendium of 200 designs which is accessible to everyone, comes complete with plans, drawing step-by-step construction guidelines to help those who want to do something to their house yet may not have the budget to do so.”
This is in line with the couple’s belief that good design should be for everyone. Also, IDW is in talks with developers to fulfil their ultimate goal of becoming the first interior design developer. This effort means that interior design costs are included in the price of the house, so that when home buyers make their purchase, they also choose a design based on their tastes. When the house is completed, they just move in with their bags. This innovation will also bundle the interior design costs in the loan and make buying a dream home more manageable.
As always, the couple’s ambitions are accompanied with steely determination and an indomitable positive attitude. Concludes Hakim: “We don’t believe there’s such a thing as an overnight success, but believe that hard work pays off. Whatever we do, if you are focused, persistent and have good intentions, you can achieve your greatness, it’s just a matter of time.”