BFM :: Open For Business

About this podcast

Featuring personal business stories of entrepreneurs, from early stage start-ups, all the way to billionaire octogenarians in Malaysia and abroad, Open for Business is a valuable resource of shared experiences for the SME industry. The occasional business coach makes an appearance for a different perspective on business concerns.

BFM :: Open For Business

Episodes

2021
Waste Not, Want Not
Malaysia’s 2020 ranking on sustainable development goals in consumption and production patterns showed no trend information; clearly, significant challenges still remain. Chelsea Chee, founder of Maeko - a company dedicated to tackle the issue of food waste - shares her thoughts on whether we are able to achieve SDG12 by 2030.
March 5, 2021
19 min
Vegan Food Made With Love
Why are more and more people switching to a plant-based diet? A few years ago it might have been considered a fad, a blip on the radar, a passing phase. Not so much in 2020 and 2021. In a Rakuten survey of Malaysian consumers, 60.67% stated that they had consumed plant-based alternatives to animal-based food products. On the back of these numbers, Foodbae decided to make the comfort food you love, plant-based.
March 4, 2021
27 min
Taking High-Top Steps Down Ox Street
The global sneaker resale market stood at $6 billion in late 2020 and is only doing better with time. But why are sneakers so valuable? How do you fight against counterfeit products? Giving us a glimpse into the world of sneaker resale is Gijs Verheijke, founder and CEO of Ox Street, an online sneaker resale platform dedicated to authenticity.
March 3, 2021
24 min
Measuring The Growth Of Healthmetrics
It’s clear that digitalisation has been significantly sped up for many industries previously lacking in online or software-based solutions over the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Leading the way is holistic digital solutions provider Healthmetrics for both the healthcare and HR sectors, and to provide an update on how far they’ve come is Max Thum, head of revenue.
March 2, 2021
25 min
9 Fast Cash Generators for Businesses
“Cash flow is king,” as the saying goes; this is one of the most important areas of concern for businesses as we navigate a post-MCO economy. Jeevan Sahadevan provides 9 tips and tricks to maintaining, improving, and ultimately smashing your cash flow goals for your company.
March 1, 2021
25 min
Breathe. Love. Heal. Hustle.
Jasmine Ho, co-founded The Ohmbox to give a platform for people to learn and share on different modalities of healing. The Ohmbox is a monthly themed subscription box which contains various products and services for subscribers, to embark on their healing journey. Jasmine shares the idea and concept of The Ohmbox.
February 26, 2021
18 min
Onboarding Made Easy
Let's face it — there are still many SMEs that are struggling to fully embrace the digital world. Business recovery will be derailed for many, and those who have yet to pivot online will truly struggle. Aiming to help merchants without prior eCommerce experience to shift their businesses online, EasyStore entered the industry as a solutions provider that allows for brick and mortar SMEs around the region to digitise through the platform’s simplified, convenient and cost-effective features.
February 25, 2021
24 min
Eating (Re)Fresh
Samad Shariff, country director for Subway Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Macau, discusses how Subway’s been driving this region to keep eating fresh throughout the pandemic as well as why their franchising model has been such a success for over two decades.
February 24, 2021
23 min
The Pace of Proptech in 2021
True to its name, Speedhome continues to accelerate and grow through the pandemic. But that doesn’t mean the company isn’t facing its own challenges. We speak to Wong Whei Meng, CEO of Speedhome, about the property scene in 2021, using technology to create better customer experiences, and his plans to expand even more in the coming months.
February 23, 2021
25 min
Failing Forward: Born Global
Many entrepreneurs take the "usual" route of starting in Malaysia, establishing themselves locally, then slowly going overseas. With the Malaysian population being small compared to other domestic markets, and in this current pandemic, this thinking needs to change. On this episode of Failing Forward, Thomas Yip of Radica Software talks to us about how he developed and sold his product to the export market from Day 1, and some of the lessons he’s learned from being “born global”.
February 22, 2021
31 min
The Evolution of Print
The IBR Asia Group has created branding and promotional campaigns for over 100 Malaysian and international companies, government offices and agencies and Heads of States since its inception in 1997. Founder Dato Beatrice Nirmala shares the evolution of The IBR Asia Group as a print and publication company.
February 19, 2021
22 min
Splashing Out On PCs For Education
Currently, the lack of devices for virtual learning in Malaysia is staggeringly low, showing that a majority of schools are greatly unequipped from a hardware perspective to ensure the continuation of learning from home. Realizing this gap in available resources, Rentwise started Digital Learning Empowerment Programme (DLEP) in 2009 with the aim of bridging the digital divide in Malaysia’s education system. Rentwise has embarked on another DLEP initiative in partnership with Malaysia’s largest bottled water producer, Spritzer. This collaboration sees a total of 16 PCs that will be donated to Hua Lian High School in Taiping, Perak worth RM 33,500.
February 18, 2021
21 min
Eating Ethically
The popularity of plant-based diets has been on the rise recently due to a dramatic shift in consumer needs towards more healthy-based lifestyles, diets and improved food safety. In 2017, Fauzi Hussein started a vegan Tex-Mex restaurant, Sala, to cater to that target market.
February 17, 2021
22 min
Hollywood, Made in Malaysia
We may call it “Hollywood magic”, but for the people at Base Production in Kuala Lumpur, it’s all in a day’s work. We speak to Sailash Kumar, Dato Azmir, and Aravindkumar Ganesan about the business of visual effects, working on big projects like ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ and most recently, The Mandalorian, and how Malaysia is quickly becoming a new VFX hub in Southeast Asia for major studios from all around the world.
February 16, 2021
32 min
MICE Online
The events industry has been one of the sectors struggling the most with the shift into the digital space; Feyond Teh, General Manager of Innogen, discusses Innogen’s new product, InnVirtual, and how they’re attempting to bring the MICE industry online.
February 15, 2021
18 min
Beauty & The Byte
There are many POS solutions available for retail, but there aren’t many available for the beauty and medical industry. Technical Lead of Aoikumo, Kevin Nair saw an opportunity and decided to do something about it. Aoikumo is an All-in-One cloud-based POS system targeted towards the Spa, Beauty and Aesthetics industry. It manages every aspect of the business such as keeping track of customer's appointments and spending, inventory, commissions and sales.
February 11, 2021
26 min
Another Way To Fly
What was only for public demonstrations and stunt shows, flyboard, a recreational water sport device, is now made available for the public. Raja Aris Dzulkifli, co-founder of Flyboard Malaysia, is providing that experience at Marina Putrajaya to all, and aims to expand this sports venture to other destinations within Malaysia.
February 10, 2021
23 min
A Neighborhood Cinema’s Curtain Call
It’s Open For Business, with a twist. We speak to Jovy Low, co-founder of Amenic Film Space, about shutting down business for good due to the pandemic. What are some of the things he learned along the way? What finally caused Amenic to close shop? And what would it take to bounce back, if ever, in the future? This may be Amenic’s finale, but there are lessons about passion, perseverance, and doing things the right way that other businesses can learn from the little neighborhood cinema that could.
February 9, 2021
28 min
A New Dream With Ice Cream
Not all of us have found something sweet to rely on over the course of the MCO, but for Darren Tan, co-founder of the Ice Dream Café, he had the perfect pandemic pivot. He discusses shifting their brick and mortar café into an online ice cream delivery service and how it brought them back from the brink.
February 8, 2021
19 min
German Education Malaysian Grounds
The education sector has seen drastic changes in a short period of time, with students from red zones not allowed to go back to colleges or universities and almost 300 schools forced to be closed down. Private institutions have voiced out their concerns of struggling with virtual learning, particularly on the topic of not being able to travel to schools and facing the risk of closing down. Joining us is Jonathan Lau, CEO of German Educare, sharing his effort to address these issues.
February 5, 2021
22 min

BFM :: Open For Business

About this podcast

Categories

About this podcast

Categories

BFM :: Open For Business

Episodes

Waste Not, Want Not

Vegan Food Made With Love

Taking High-Top Steps Down Ox Street

Measuring The Growth Of Healthmetrics

9 Fast Cash Generators for Businesses

Breathe. Love. Heal. Hustle.

Onboarding Made Easy

Eating (Re)Fresh

The Pace of Proptech in 2021

Failing Forward: Born Global

The Evolution of Print

Splashing Out On PCs For Education

Eating Ethically

Hollywood, Made in Malaysia

MICE Online

Beauty & The Byte

Another Way To Fly

A Neighborhood Cinema’s Curtain Call

A New Dream With Ice Cream

German Education Malaysian Grounds