Mr.Tan Yew Kiat is the Founder and Managing managing Director of bYSI, one of Singapore's leading fashion brand.

Company: BYSI INTERNATIONAL PTE LTD Address: 9 Kaki Bukit Place Singapore Website: http://www.bysi.com/ Interview with Mr. Tan Yew Kiat by Ng Ee Von on 07-Apr-2009. Student can be reached at eevonng@gmail.com   Business Profile: Boosting a chain of 12 stores in Singapore and another 14 located around South-east Asia, bYSI has won many accolades, among them, the Singapore Prestige Brand Award (SPBA) 2007, for Established Brand, and the SPBA 2008 - Citibusiness Regional Brand Award.   Interviewer's Comments: For a man who has tailored an incredible home-grown fashion brand, Mr. Tan Yew Kiat is the humble entrepreneur-next-door who inspires by action.   1. What is the nature of your business? To retail bYSI, ladies apparel brand.   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.) It was in 1997 when I decided to strike out on my own. I had the passion to start my own business after learning the trade from others for three years. Of course my parents are a source of inspiration; although they did not run their own business, my mum was working in ladies apparel business.   3. What are your reasons for choosing to do business in this particular industry? Women like to dress themselves up and appear in different outfits every day. Hence, I see this business opportunity as a lasting and enduring one.   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. I borrowed 30,000 from my parents as my start-up capital. I even had to source out my own suppliers and find a good retail location. When I opened my first retail store, I did almost everything myself as I could not afford to hire any full-time staff.   5. Did you spend on advertising and marketing in the early days of your entrepreneurship? I would say that I had no budget for this at all. At the beginning, marketing efforts were mainly done through direct sales towards the end consumers and providing really good sales service to customers especially on regular customers who had been supporting us.   6. What are some interesting stories you have about your first few customers/first few years in business? The first few years of business were actually quite tough because our brand is not recognised yet. Moreover, you will face all types of customers in the retail business. There were even customers who would throw the clothes at your face! Such issues do happen. It could be a colour run fault or the clothing is not supposed to be machine washed. Most importantly, we should take a step back and hear what people say. In the retail forefront, customer service is critical.   7. Do you agree that the customer is always right? I would say that the customer is right 80% of the time. Yet even if we do not agree with them, we have to position as if we do. In all circumstances, you cannot lose your cool. Rather trying to change the customer and sour our relationship with them, we should win them over with even better services.   8. What are some of the challenges you faced when you first went into business? I needed more exclusive products for the brand to kick off. Also, I could not afford to manufacture the apparels in factories as there were not enough orders. It was also hard for me to get good locations for opening retail stores as landlords did not recognised bYSI. That was a big obstacle as they were not confident enough to offer me any strategic locations which are essential in helping my business to grow.   9. How did you overcome these challenges? Sheer hard work. There are absolutely no shortcuts in the fashion business. Things turned rosy only after bYSI achieved good sales turnover. People started to gain confidence in our business model. I made it a point to invest into bYSI retail stores every three years by giving it a facelift because the constant store upgrades reflects our trendy brand image.   10. Can you remember your worst day in business or a time when you felt like giving up? What happened that made you feel that way and how did you triumph over it? SARS was the worst period I have had encountered but I never thought of giving up my business. I think that there is a solution for every tight situation. Straight after the SARS outbreak, the Great Singapore Sale was launched. I rode on the opportunity to rebound sales. Things can be worked out when you are open to creative ideas.   11. Can you share some of the lessons you learnt from overcoming your own business challenges that you think will help other businesses? The biggest lesson I have learnt is that we need to accept changes and react faster than the environment. Be proactive!   12. How can we be proactive in the fashion industry? We can do so by making sure our products and pricing keep up with changing trends.   13. When was the moment you realised that the business would work and support you? I realised the full potential of my business at the seventh year of my entrepreneurship when my branding efforts bore fruits and sales became strong.   14. What are some of your proudest business achievements to date? And why are they so important and meaningful to you? Seriously, I think there is nothing for me to be proud. I think an entrepreneur should be prudent about their achievements. If I have to say so, I think that building up the bYSI brand with my team into a regional fashion retail player is my proudest achievements to date.   15. How do you differentiate your business from your competitors? Please provide specific examples. We are actually pitting ourselves against fast fashion international brands like Zara and Mango. As Singapore is our home ground, delivery takes shorter times and we can afford to change seasons faster than them. Also, our pricing is more competitive. In fact, bYSI provides more value for money as most fast fashion apparel designs does not vary much.   16. What are some business ideas you have implemented that created great results in your business? I think the branding efforts in the past three years had really caused bYSI to grow. Branding bYSI is the most critical implementation up to date. It is a step forward for my business.   17. Where or who do you get your business ideas from? I learn from other entrepreneurs around the world. I like to keep myself updated with what the others are doing and talking to older entrepreneurs. I enjoy learning from t heir experience. As such I can make better decisions. I think continual learning and sharing is essential for any entrepreneur to grow with his or her business.   18. What do you see for your business in the next 5 years, and does it include any plans for expansion? Of course! There should be no stop to expanding any businesses. After establishing bYSI as a stronger regional player, I believe it is time for us to step into the international platform. I would like bring bYSI to chic ladies around the world.   19. What does entrepreneurship means to you? Entrepreneurship = a lot of responsibilities. As an entrepreneur, all responsibilities fall on me to lead and decide the course of my business. For every decision I make, I need to take responsibility for it and consider the intensity of contribution I want to make. I have to consider the sacrifices that I am willing to give for my brand and my team. I must be aware of the growth I wan to enjoy with my people. I believe that entrepreneurship has to be shared within the company lest it would not be able to grow.   20. What are some entrepreneurship qualities that you have which has helped you come this far? Daring to make decisions, open-mindedness and having loads of luck! Many times, I had to be at the right place at the right time to grasp the right opportunities.   21. In your opinion, what other qualities does a person need in order to be successful in business? And why? (e.g. Educational qualification, work experience, family influence, attitude, etc) It is good to have all of the qualities you mentioned but I guess having the right attitude is the most important. One should have a forward-looking and proactive attitude.   22. In your opinion, what does it mean to have the Spirit of enterprise? Having the spirit of enterprise = daring to fail, accept it, learn from it and stand up again!   23. Who or what motivates and inspires you? My team at BYSI is my biggest source of motivation and inspiration. Their never-give-up attitude has supported me in spearheading BYSI into the global market.   24. With the changes in the market today, do you think it has become harder or easier to succeed in business? Why do you say so? I think with the changes in the market today, it is one of the best times for budding entrepreneurs to enter the market. When a crisis occurs, people will be more susceptible to innovation. Thus, this opens up opportunities for more creative ideas. Moreover, the Singapore government provides ample support to make the environment conducive for entrepreneurship start up.