Cradle Exclusive Cohort 3 Roadshow featuring Hauz and Pomen
The pandemic has proven over and over again that digitalisation is no longer a choice but a must for both individuals and businesses.
In the MyDIGITAL blueprint, the digital economy is set to contribute 22.6% of Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and would also increase job opportunities by creating 500,000 jobs by the year 2025. To help grow the digital ecosystem, the Malaysian Government allocated RM 1 billion to the new Industry Digitalization Scheme to focus on the Industrial Revolution 4.0.
So what can you expect in a digitalised world of businesses?
In Cradle's Exclusive Cohort 3 Roadshow, founders of Hauz and Pomen share their experience of being part of the digital ecosystem. Having their business on a digital platform, these founders share their two cents on what it is like being digitalised and the help they got to expand their business further.
Going Digital
Pomen Co-founder, Syed Zulhilmi shared Pomen's early days as a business-to-consumer (B2C) app that connects drivers to the nearest workshops. Not too long after that, they were crowned winners in the Petronas FutureTech Accelerator Programme, and were sent to a global immersion programme hosted by 500 Startups in Silicon Valley.
With the new knowledge and seeing potential in the market, Syed and his co-founder Nizam, ventured into the business-to-business (B2B) space. However they came back right before the pandemic and were lurched into the Movement Control Order (MCO). Fortunately, as luck would have it, they were not steered away from the B2B path but towards it.
During the pandemic, the first inquiry came from Pizzahut to collaborate with Pomen. Following that, more inquiries came in and secured them a place in the B2B space. Now, they have over 800 workshops and their B2B direction is bringing in 80% of the revenue. They have also partnered with Petronas Auto Expert, Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia and Go Auto.
Founders of Hauz, Di-Yan Ho and Shah Fariq shared their experience in the digital space by helping businesses in the blue collar industry to digitalize and be cloud-based.
Di-Yan Ho spent 7 years in the construction industry in Singapore and later worked in Thailand only to realise the common problem that both places share. He noticed how the business could be losing money by overpaying workers for overtime hour that they did not put in. This is because it was hard to track the workers and the hours they put in.
Having noticed the same problem, both Shah and Di-Yan created Hauz, a cloud-based and data-driven Time Clock, Workforce & Operations Management solution that aids businesses to manage workers and track operations.
A Worthwhile Road Taken
Being in the digital platform is not without its challenges."Clients of large companies were easier to convince because they understood the need of an online platform whereas those who were much more conventional needed more persuasion but without a face-to-face conversation, it was harder to convince smaller businesses to change they work with a digital solution," Syed says.
Nizam chimed in on how another challenge faced was the unavailability of the person in charge to sign the necessary papers. Di-Yan Ho shared a similar sentiment on how payments were not made because the person in charge was not there to sign off.
“It is a matter on how to handle this digitally. For example, we integrated payment with Stripe for efficiency,” he says.
During the first MCO, Shah recalls how clients realise the need for digital solutions and would seek them out again as manual dealings were not practical anymore. As a result, Hauz grew by 140%.
The pandemic also brought about changes to their company. They had to release new features on the Hauz platform to accommodate the various sectors they serve. Moreover, a change in pricing range was also needed as they could not charge similar pricings for micro small-to-medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The Support in an Ecosystem
Having a business also means finding the right support to grow and thrive. Being the recipients of the CIP Ignite (II) funds from Cradle as well as being on the Scale Up programme, Di-Yan highlights the importance of the support and guidance.
When asked on what VC look for in companies, Gwen Sim from Quest Ventures urged to not only focus on the product but also look for leaders with a long-term vision.
Gwen further highlights the importance of retention rate as it says a lot about the product and the value of it. She also looks at how the teams solve problems. “Get out of your comfort zones and understand how to localise your business in different areas.”
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