A Critical history of an entrepreneurial venture

Ravinther Kunju Raman

If we can sell our experiences

we all will become millionaires

April 1992

August 1992

October 1993

1st October 1993 - 4th June 2004

Career Path

MT/JE/EAMMAGM

GM

AD

ED

MD

93/94/95/96/97/98/99/00/01/02/03/04/05/06/07/08/09/10/11/12/13/14/15

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Sales Management

Sales Consultant

SalesCounsellor

Own Business

Overweight(83.5kg)

November 2003 – Chen Du, China

The World is my stage……

The idea and the resulting product/service offering, the value proposition

“ Human beings are capable of accomplishing much more than initially imagined if they are provided with

trainings and special know-how. And if these conditions are met, the person assigned will

exercised his or her abilities to the fullest if given the chance”

- K. Matsushita

Sell our experiences

CustomerCustomer Sales StaffSales Staff Your CompetitorYour Competitor

Your ProblemYour Problem

The Entrepreneur and the Team

Why ASK?

• Attitude-Skill-Knowledge• Ann/Ailyn/Aslyn-Sherryann-K.Ravinther• Ask-Seek-Knock

Corporate InformationCompany name ASK EDUCATION & TRAINING SDN BHD

(636057-A)

Date of Incorporation 5th December 2003

Commenced business operations

19th March 2004

Board of Directors Sherry Ann Daniel

Catherine Lim Ah Sham

Ravinther Kunju Raman

Company Secretary Leong Li Ling

(MAICSA 7028548)

Auditors JK Huan & Co.

Chartered Accountants

Principle banker RHB Bank Berhad

Registered office Pusat Perdagangan Puchong Prima, Puchong, Selangor

Principle place of business A-7-6, Tiara Faber, Jalan Desa Utama, Taman Desa, 58100 Kuala Lumpur

Specific Characteristics

• Lifestyle firm - set up primarily to undertake an activity that my wife and I enjoy

• Lean management – live simple life, more time with family & friends, work with like-minded people, constantly invest on ourselves to upgrade competencies through study and reproduce what we learn (prosumer)

• Market influence – focus on Electric & Electronic Industry

• Industry Independence - free from outside control in taking our principal decisions.

• Personal influence – in all decision making. Wife make general decisions and I make major decisions

• Close relationships with customers, investing our time rather than money. Many of our customers are our close friends

Principal Activity• The company is principally engaged in

providing training services and related business

Lecturing•Management CoursesTuition•Mathematics•Science•Statistics

Organizations•Effective Professional Selling Skills•Effective Telemarketing Skills•Effective Telephone Style•Effective Customer Service•Effective Supervisory Skills•Effective Communication Skills•Effective Team Building & Motivation

•Marketing Planning•HR Consultation

Individuals•Coaching•Counseling•One-on-one Executive Trainer•Career Coach

•Keynote Speeches•Organizing Seminars•Organizing Events•Master of Ceremonies•Game Show Host•Youth Programs•Children Camps•School Camps•Spokesperson•Seminars to promote Client•Moderator•Facilitator•Professional Speaker•Sports Carnival

Basic Management Objectives

• Recognizing our responsibilities as educationist, we will devote ourselves to serve others through Training and Development of Attitude, Skills and Knowledge, thereby touching and transforming lives positively World-wide.

Educationist

Training & Development

Attitude Skill Knowledge

Touching & Transforming

lives

Basic Business Philosophy

Our Vision• Serving everyone through Training and Development of Attitude, Skills and

Knowledge, thereby touching and transforming lives positively World-wide.

Our Mission Statement • We will challenge our ability as educationist and commit ourselves to

research, customize and deliver effective training programs that will assist individuals and organizations to achieve their goals.

Our Guiding Principles• H - Humble O - Optimistic P - Passionate E - Ethical

Our Motto• Personal happiness, creative fulfillment, professional success and freedom

from fear and a new promise of joy is for those who dare to ask. It is our responsibility as human being to ask others for help because anything is possible if we DARE TO ASK.

The value

proposition

Why

should you chooseASK EDUCATION & TRAININGas your training provider?

Imagineconsuming

attitude, skilland knowledgein a “CAPSULE”!

CA

PS

ULE

Cost-effectivenessWe deliver customized training solutions at a strategic cost to match your requirements

Academic foundationWe build our courses grounded in proven theories and based on research

Practical applicationWe teach our participants to apply learning that brings long term personal and professional development

Strategic design & development

We design and develop training solutions that match your organization’s strategic goals and meet your specific needs

Undivided attention

We assign two or more people to your training project from initial contact to research to course development to actual training. This gives us a very tight control over the quality of our training solutions

Learner centeredness

We put learners at the center of our training solutions and strive to bring the best out of them through promoting active participation. We apply teaching methodology that increases the rate of retention and the transfer of learning to the workplace.

Experienced trainersWe provide experienced trainers who know the industry and are committed to apply the skill sets that they teach.

Funding model

• Own funding– Sold house to finance business– Paid-up capital of RM100,000

The Business & Revenue Model of the venture, business strategy

Low-cost leadership

Differentiation

Cost-based focusDifferentiation based focus

Tar

get M

arke

t Industry-wide(Broad)

Specific Niche or segment (Narrow)

Defined by Cost Defined by Distinctiveness

Competitive Advantage

Differentiation based focus

• Aim at a specific and typically small niche– SME > Consumer Electronics– Specialize the firm’s activities in ways that other

broader-line firms cannot perform as well– Affordable cost at superior value– Focus on repeat buyers ( we are knowledgeable

about the firm’s offering and less price sensitive)

• Specialized distinctive competence– research, customize and deliver effective training

programs

SU

PP

OR

T A

CT

IVIT

IES

Infrastructure(finance, accounting, legal affairs, information systems & payroll)

Acquire capital, perform accounting, legal and administrative tasks for each activity

Human

Resource

Management

Treat employees as special team members ( working for themselves) ; emphasize reward systems that promote innovation or quality

Technology

Development

Training tools, software and hardware support, e-learning; refinement of high quality delivery ; emphasis on excellence; world class quality

Procurement Selective purchasing from numerous sources

PRIMARY ACTIVITIES

AnalyzeHigh emphasis to understand customer needs

Design & DevelopProprietary processes; patent protection; license

ImplementationExtra care in training delivery

Reputation & referral strategy

EvaluationHigh emphasis on treating customer as special individuals; fast and courteous special services

InboundLogistics

Operations OutboundLogistics

Marketing/Sales

Service

VALUE CHAIN ANALYSISCompetitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance

The Business & Revenue Model of the venture, business strategy

Direct55%

Partner45%

Sme88%

Corporate12%

The Business & Revenue Model of the venture, business strategy

CE45%

Others55%

The Business & Revenue Model of the venture, business strategy

Consultation29%

Training57%

Event management14%

The Business & Revenue Model of the venture, business strategy

Analysis: analyze the venture’s development

cycle and its current position by looking at • Initial condition at the time of founding the

venture ( the industry, economy, the venture)• Major events during the venture’s development

and the actions taken by the entrepreneur.• Are there events in the venture’s life cycle that

have influenced the venture’s development? (events related to the entrepreneur, venture or to the market)

• Feedback loops and causal relationship between the events and the decisions, actions taken by the entrepreneur)

Initial condition at the time of founding the venture

The IndustryIn Malaysia, the emphasis on the development of human capital was recorded in the Ninth Malaysian Plan 2006-2010 where RM4.45 billion was spent under the Eight Malaysian Plan and RM4.79 billion was allocated for training

The EconomySMEs are important engine of growth

Almost 99% of businesses in Malaysia32% of GDP, provide jobs to 5.6 million employees. The market for my services is growing at an unprecedented rate.

In 2004 and 2005, year-end training business increased 25% each year. There were 600 training providers in Klang Valley.

The Venture I plan to provide a complete training and consultancy service CE industry.

I intend to upgrade CE staff competency and assist to bridge the gap between principal and dealers

Working with Training partners

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

50

100

150

200

250

300

-50

Incorporation5 Dec

Commence Business19 Mac

46k

88k 96k

155k

205k

-29k -37k -38k

7k 21k

Legend

Sales TurnoverProfit

‘000 (RM)

Year

Sales and Profit Chart versus years in business

Joined team4 Jun

Acquire higher qualificationMaster of Instructional Technology

Master of Management

AdditionalConsultant

StrategicPartnershipAdvice

1

Advice3

Advice 1: Increase sales, control expenditures and start making profitAdvice 2: Build Strategic PartnershipAdvice 3: Pay Service Tax

Advice2

Venture’s development & the actions taken based on feedback loops

Rank Strategies Details

1 Referrals Request the referral

Repeat the request

Reward referrals

Reciprocate

2 Client relations Bond the client to my professional practice emotionally (how I treat them)

3 Personal Selling Relationship Selling

4 Public Speaking Toastmasters, Malaysian Institute of Management

5 Internet www.askravinther.com

6 Social/business networks Facebook, linkedn, Matrade

Marketing Strategies

Reflections

• Lesson learned:– We can sell experience and make a living– We can earn relatively higher income by working for ourselves

compared to working for others– We can enjoy a greater balance in work-family life when we do

our own business– We must observe our surroundings to find a need and filling it,

thus we will be in business – We must respect business ecology and practice prudency,

believe in value systems to co-exist and co-prosper – There is enough business to do; learn to share and do not be

greedy.– Increase sales turnover, control expenses and make profit for

company

Reflections

• New insights:– Do I want to grow my business?

• Premises, staffing, number of training days• Expand beyond core > CE • Bring in outside investors• Strategic partnership - merger with other training

providers• Obtain SME financing

DARE TO ASK