| Company: |
HEULAB PTE LTD |
| Address: |
21 Science Park Road #03-24/27 The Aquarius Singapore Science Park Ii |
| Website: |
http://www.heulab.com/ |
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| Interview with Mr Rakesh Kumar Gupta And Mr Lim Soon Jinn |
| by Kriti Arora on 04-Mar-2009. Student can be reached at kriti.arora.2005@smu.edu.sg |
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| Business Profile: |
| Heulab Pte Ltd is a Microsoft Global Partner, leading independent Learning Software Development Specialist catering to the education sector. HeuLab started off as a start-up, developing and delivering its own innovative yet practical educational software applications for all levels. Founded in year 2002 and to date, HeuLab has established a strong regional presence and a global clientele. Their customers include prestigious learning institutions in Australia, Indonesia, Middle East, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and United States. |
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| Interviewer's Comments: |
| Rakesh and Soon Jinn are men of remarkable mettle who strongly believe in what they are doing. I am impressed not just by their wealth of technical knowledge, but also their uncanny ability to identify and seize business opportunities based on global demands and trends. Indeed, they are people who embody the true meaning of the Spirit of Enterprise. |
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| 1. What is the nature of your business? |
| We are a software development company, but extending beyond that to deliver enriching educational experiences through innovative use of technology for students and teachers. |
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| 2. When and why did you decide to become an entrepreneur / take over your family business? NOTE: If it is not a family business, ask: Do your parents have their own businesses too? Have they inspired you in one way or another? (Select appropriate question according to the entrepreneur being interviewed.) |
| We were classmates at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, and it was our dream since then to own a software company. We had an entrepreneurial spirit since then, as we ventured into small projects for pocket-money at that time. After graduating from college, I (Soon Jinn) was working at PSA as a System Analyst. One day Rakesh called me and suggested starting a business again. However, being a Computer Science student, I had no idea about writing business plans or dealing with investors. We downloaded business plan templates from the web and it was then that we started planning the directions of our proposed start-up.
My parents were very upset because of my decision of giving up a stable job and embarking on a risky venture with Rakesh. My mom even called Rakesh and asked him why he was misleading my son. (Laughs). However, now they have accepted this decision and are very supportive. |
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| 3. What are your reasons for choosing to do business in this particular industry? |
| Initially, our business plan did not focus on the education sector; it was to provide a human resource system. However, things did not go well as it was difficult for us to compete with well-established companies dealing with HR systems. Because of that, we did all kinds of projects to keep ourselves afloat. During that time, it was even hard for us to pay our employees. Our big break came in 2004 when Microsoft, Crescent Girls School and Infocomm Development Authority asked us to develop applications to help in enhancing the teaching and learning environment at the school, under a program called Bagpack.net. We undertook the project and the results were great, with project gaining a lot of media attention as well. This project helped us define a new direction for our company. |
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| 4. How did you put together all the resources needed to start your business? For example: getting the start-up capital, hiring staff, doing sales and marketing, advertising, etc. |
| We approached EDB Singapore for funding and they agreed to invest through the SEED's funding where where the government matches up to a dollar for every dollar raised from third party investors. We started with half a million funding as paid-up capital which was invested not in our business plan, but in our values and strong beliefs. |
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| 5. How many employees do you currently have and how do you motivate them? |
| We began by hiring a couple of friends, who had faith in us and were willing to work for us. During the first few years of our business, we faced difficulties even paying them regularly. However, all of us are a committed and persistent group of individuals and we never give up. We are a very people-oriented business and everyone plays a crucial role in running this company. We believe in intrinsic motivation and do not motivate our staff by paying extra-ordinarily high salaries. We do so by sharing our directions, progress and future plans with them to make them understand that we are not their bosses, just other employees of this company doing a different job. We believe that a comfortable work environment is the key to staff satisfaction and commitment. Currently we have around 50 employees and the number seems to be growing every year. |
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| 6. What are some interesting stories you have about your first few customers/first few years in business? |
| When we first started, we would get excited when customers would show interest in our product. But what we have realized is that only once we have provided the service and received the revenue, is the deal closed. We were quite green in this area in the beginning. It has been a very interesting journey as we have been doing all kinds of businesses from SMS getaways to designing websites. As entrepreneurs we have learnt to do everything ourselves. But we are also realizing the importance of letting go and empowering our staff with different responsibilities. Since the business is expanding, we have understood the importance of transferring knowledge to our employees. |
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| 7. What were the initial difficulties and challenges you faced in this industry? |
| In the beginning, our products were still identified as new and there was hesitance on the part of corporate customers to risk choosing our relatively new offerings. But our partnership with Microsoft, IDA, and Crescent Girls School provided us with references and helped us overcome this difficulty.
Also, since we are pretty small, people always wonder whether we'll be around next year before choosing our product. Nonetheless, we are growing; we are getting more references and testimony which has taken us to the next level. |
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| 8. When you tie-up with schools, how does your revenue system work? |
| We do not expect schools to give us a price comparable to a private institution like banks. When we approach a school, we actually give them the entire didactic side of how technology can enhance the way they are doing things in the classroom. After looking at that, we would go by a per-seat license on each of our products. Since are customers have been loyal to us for quite long, now, we have started to tap on the recurring subscription model which allows our customers to use maintenance, support and up gradation services through a subscription fee. |
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| 9. What are some of your proudest business achievements to date? And why are they so important and meaningful to you? |
| When we started Heulab, there were times we wanted to dissolve it. It was then that we realized the importance of not giving up and a never-say-die attitude. There were two reasons that kept us going. We give jobs to people, and motivate them to start their own businesses as well. This way, we are also making Singapore proud; a country that is totally dependant on its knowledge resource. There is a definite need of entrepreneurs in Singapore who can internationalize their products to compete with giants like China and India. In fact, the success of Heulab was featured in Bill Gates' keynote speech at the Government Leader's forum in greater China last year. These are a couple of things that make us feel we have achieved something. The best part is that our workers are happy. They strongly believe in Heulab's vision and values and consider themselves to be an integral part of the company. In fact, we have been able to assure them of job stability at Heulab, in a difficult time like this. |
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| 10. What are some business ideas you have implemented that created great results in your business? |
| One of our most successful ideas has been partnerships and relationships that we have been established. You do not win deals with just good products or because you are the cheapest. Good business relationships are what make you successful. For example, we have great partnerships with IDA, Singtel, Fujitsu, HP and different schools from over the world. |
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| 11. Which has been the hardest market to actually crack between Australia, Japan, Brunei and US? |
| US because it is too big and too far. Though US is one country, every state has different systems regarding licenses and permits. We have to go through a central cluster head to establish us as vendors and introduce us to different schools. The US incorporates a long sales cycle, which has been the biggest hurdle for us. |
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| 12. Is this a fiercely competitive business you are in? How do you overcome this competition? |
| Every industry is competitive. But it's always about how we differentiate ourselves. Though we have positioned our products very differently, we still face competition due to limited funds available to schools. Schools often face dilemma while choosing what to buy with only limited funds available to them. For example they could have a choice between buying computers or a learning trip. This is when we face competition. To overcome this competition, we have developed a simple strategy of bundling different software and selling them as one product. When people purchase software, they do not use every part of it; they only use the essentials. So we studied the essentials of each software and put them together. This has helped us add more value to our products as well. |
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| 13. How has the recent financial crisis affected your business? |
| We lost 25% immediately because of exchange rate. We have an office in Australia as well. When we first opened business there, we were making revenue with an exchange rate of 1.3 when we consolidated back to Singapore. But now the exchange rate has fallen to less than even 1 dollar. This has definitely impacted our business. However, in other areas, we are not facing any problems. Since education is one sector that is continuing to grow with a lot of countries realizing the importance of spending on this particular sector, we don't face too much risk. |
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| 14. What do you see for your business in the next 5 years, and does it include any plans for expansion? |
| Since education is not restricted only to schools and training institutes in the military, we are focusing on enhancing the learning environment in companies by moving into the area of corporate training. But there are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to expansion; some of them being resources and stakeholders. Our aim is to become the number one learning solutions company for everyone. |
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| 15. With your successful partnership with Microsoft since 2004, has there ever been a thought about Microsoft buying HeuLab? |
| Yes, but we are still too small. Microsoft named Heulab its Best Independent Software Vendor in 2005 and 2008. Microsoft also recognized it as a Global and Gold certified partner. There has been some interest from the Microsoft side. But so far nothing concrete. We feel we need to grow further in order to be able to consider this opportunity. |
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| 16. Rakesh, how was the experience being honored 2007 Singapore Indian Young Entrepreneur and also the Young IT Professional award very recently? |
| I didn't expect to win the awards. It was a great feeling as I finally got the recognition that I deserved. After all the years of hard work, the awards reaffirmed that whatever I have done has been liked. |
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| 17. What does entrepreneurship mean to you and In your opinion, what other qualities does a person need in order to be successful in business? And why? (Educational qualification, work experience, attitude) |
| A lot of people would say passion; but to us, what really drives passion is commitment. We have to accept that running a business is harder every day, but there should be no turning back. Incorporating one's passion into their everyday life, can actually kill the passion. Commitment is what keeps it going. |
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| 18. Where or who do you get your business ideas or inspiration from? |
| Travelling, networking and interacting with people all over the world gives us ideas to run this business. We never implement something in one go; we always try it out first and implement only if it is successful. "You will not die from starvation; you will die from indigestion." This is why we believe in delivering quality work as opposed to taking on too many projects and not being able to fully commit to each one. |
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| 19. In your opinion, what does it mean to have the 'spirit of enterprise'? |
| First we have to fulfill our personal dream, then we have to look ahead and fulfill dreams of our families and friends; then our staff, stakeholders, then our country and finally the world.
We live in a system that we cannot change so easily, so we should start by changing ourselves and then move ahead. That according to us is the spirit of enterprise. |
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| 20. In your opinion, do you think that age constitutes a challenge for young entrepreneurs? |
| We believe that it's not a question of age, but of gaining people's trust. In order to do that, you must prove yourself. You must wait for the right opportunity, and when it comes, prove yourself as that will establish a long-lasting impression on other people. |
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| 21. What are the three important lessons you believe that young entrepreneurs of today should learn through your experience? |
| 1) Patience - You must not rush and wait for the right opportunity
2) Look beyond yourself - It has collectively been everyone i.e. staff, investors, customers etc working together that has made Heulab a success
3) Belief - You have to have a strong belief in yourself. Define your core values, but also refine business plans according to changing markets |
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| 22. A final word? |
| We will not give up. We are working very hard and we know that there's still a long way to go. |
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