The pandemic is changing life for every person on the planet; and business owners now face “sink or swim”. The disruption has exposed existing weaknesses dramatically, forcing companies to execute structural changes faster than planned, and bringing risk to businesses that was hitherto completely unforeseen. Winners are leveraging e-commerce, social media and online services, adapting, surviving and even thriving.
HKUST is a haven for young business stars swimming in these troubled waters and achieving greatness. We are a proven nesting ground for nascent entrepreneurs bringing their brilliant ideas from ground up. In this issue, we had the exclusive chance to talk to three alumni entrepreneurs to understand their story and background, and how they rose from HKUST to fight against the pandemic, altering their own businesses along the way to adapt, survive, and even manage to thrive amidst the chaos.
Forging a new market: Tony Wong, SHOPLINE
HKUST professors made me examine things from different perspectives. It is important to always embrace challenges and keep being inspired.
Tony Wong (2012 MSc Information Systems Management) is the Co-founder and CEO of SHOPLINE. The organization formed in Hong Kong in 2013, rising from a three-person team to 2,000 staff across Asia, and an international team in ten cities. The company offers Asia's biggest smart commerce platform, with more than 350,000 merchants starting their online platforms with SHOPLINE, hailing from the likes of Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Mainland, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Tony grew up in Venezuela, and has lived across the world, including Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. SHOPLINE started when Tony met his co-founder at a start-up event in 2013, sharing a passion for solving the problems small and mid-sized enterprises face in digitizing their business. Following that meeting, they launched SHOPLINE, which provides crucial elements such as centralized inventory, social e-commerce operation, advertising, marketing strategy design, and order management systems, all carried out via drag-and-drop design tools and consultancy. SHOPLINE also offers crucial data on customer purchases and behavior, which is gold in today’s information driven business environment.
"At the beginning, I had the right technical background (before software Tony was a major in electrical engineering), but needed a co-founder to complement the other sides. Luckily for us Hong Kong e-commerce was pretty much non-existent so we filled the need, and were able to get many downloads," says Tony. The business was his second start-up (the first one didn't pan out), "So I knew the business model will be very important, and the interactions with both sides of the business, the customers and merchants, would be critical," he adds.
One differentiator SHOPLINE has with rivals is its Asia focus, and customer service. "In Asia most merchants require some customer support and face-to-face interaction, compared to self-serve in other countries, particularly the United States. We always thought we would follow the Silicon Valley mentality, but our customers really like to have that interaction," Tony says.
SHOPLINE has undoubtedly been a winner of the pandemic, during which merchants have been pushing hard to adopt digital solutions and consumers and SMEs have been open to digital financial services. The company reportedly experienced double-digit growth year-on-year in merchant count and gross merchandise value in 2021. The business model for SHOPLINE is charging via monthly subscriptions, with additional fees for marketing and consulting.
"The pandemic has been a very double-edged sword. We did a lot of traveling before so we needed to transform the way we do business, which definitely required a shift in mentality. For our business, the great thing is the way our customers, merchants and internal team have adapted, and are open to new ways of moving product. So we can say we have been lucky in that regard," Tony says.
For Tony, HKUST was the perfect opportunity to expand his horizons from a technical coding background. "I remember learning about topics like intellectual property with Professor Ted Clark that made me examine things from different perspectives and equipped me with the knowledge and skills to build products. Usually I fell asleep in classes but he made it fun. In all seriousness, remember to embrace challenges and keep being inspired." Tony says.
It's the reason Tony is an avid supporter of HKUST's hackathon, which has gained in prominence over the last few years. The competition is open to all students and young graduates across the world, with a HK$1,000,000 prize this year for the winner to develop their society-changing coding idea into fruition. But for Tony, the key for students to learn and find their way in the world is through internships. "It was the best way for me to realize what I liked and what I didn't. For example, I did an internship on a construction site, and it made me understand it was an environment I didn't want to stay in. Once you graduate and take a path, you are often stuck in that framework."
One can tell Tony will never be confined to others’ expectations, and in the age of the pandemic, where adaptiveness is key, that may be the best tactic.
Upstairs does the trick: Kent Hau, HK JEBN
Innovation is a must for us, so keep in mind to learn adaptability, life-long learning, and cultivate the courage to change.
Kent Hau (1996 BBA Management of Organizations) and Founder of HK JEBN (Hing Kee Java Edible Bird's Nest Company Limited), is a Hong Kong business icon who got there by listening to his customers. Founded in 1998, HK JEBN has more than 30 stores in Hong Kong and Macau, focused on providing consumers with healthy food goods, along with snacks, condiments, ready-to-eat items, drinks and more. These are all created with a "Made in Hong Kong" ethos that speaks to the city’s flexibility, ingenuity and adaptability.
The journey to becoming a Hong Kong retail icon was an interesting one, considering Kent was admitted to HKUST as an engineering student! He later switched to BBA Management of Organizations, reflecting his growing interest in business studies. Ever the entrepreneur, he started a fashion outlet after graduation and then saw the rapid growth of bird's nest consumption provided a strong opportunity. Kent used his connections in Indonesia to obtain supply sources, starting an upper floor shop for his bird’s nest retail business in 1998.
Kent has a knack for being ahead of the curve. In Hong Kong at the time, upper floor shops were not that common – this concept soon became his calling card. HK JEBN pioneered the idea based on the philosophy of "customers and quality always come first". The company, which has significant manufacturing operations in both Tai Wai and Tsing Yi, aims to lead the Hong Kong and Macau food industry in innovation, smart manufacturing, and in essence be a strong leader of re-industrialization in the city.
A two-pronged strategy also sees increasing engagement with e-commerce, which is a central part of the digital side of re-industrialization, and finding customers whether they are at home or on the street. While online sales can be a challenge, ready-to-eat bird’s nest products ranked among the top 10 in the Tmall International sales for three consecutive years, in addition to being among Tmall International hot searches. The company also has cooperation with Foodpanda to coordinate its delivery efforts, proving it could adapt to the times with an omni-channel approach.
Innovation and embracing trends is central to the success of HK JEBN, and its Tsing Yi Logistics Centre is somewhat of an ace in the pack. This massive facility, which our team was very fortunate to visit, expanded the organization's capacity in ready to eat food manufacturing. Working with university researchers, HK JEBN built their own production line, with RFID capabilities and an automated storage and retrieval system, which is all part of its fully automated warehouse.
It is at this facility that we met Joe Lui, Coordination Manager (2003 BSc Physics) and Winson Wong, Assistant Operation Supervisor (2010 BEng Computer Science). The long-term employees were hired by an alumni company, showing the strength of our family.
"Innovation is a must for us, so keep in mind to learn adaptability, life-long learning, and cultivate the courage to change. HK JEBN was affected by the pandemic and the breakdown of the global supply chain which affected our production. In addition, nearly two-thirds of our staff in logistics and on the production line were quarantined at the fifth wave of the pandemic, which seriously affected our activities. Compared to 2018, our sales decreased nearly 40%," says Joe.
In a resilient manner, HK JEBN is a place that inspires people and moves forward via innovation, with both Joe and Winson being long-term employees. "I feel I can really innovate here, and see all my suggestions taken on board, while I am also able to try many new things and contribute in an intrapreneurial manner," says Winson.
Kent constantly ensures that HKUST remains a firm part of the DNA of the company. HKUST PhD graduates helped the company develop a fully automated packaging system, and in recognition of the strong contribution of young scholars, is working with HKUST to offer scholarships and internship opportunities. The organization regularly collaborates with HKUST professors on nutrition initiatives, a worthy ideal to hold during the pandemic.
To respond to the Covid-19 crisis, the team increased the production capacity of frozen food with the city-wide cancellation of dining at night. Having set up its own laboratory in 2010, which was accredited by The Hong Kong Laboratory Accreditation Scheme in 2016, HK JEBN was in a great position to help Hong Kong people during the pandemic.
HK JEBN was focused on sourcing 300,000 masks for customers, which were tested in-house. The team also purchased 400,000 Rapid Antigen Tests. The effort is a sign of flexibility and innovation within the smart manufacturing age, along with its commitment to social responsibility. For Kent, enhancing automation is part of his social responsibility effort, cutting down strains and injuries suffered by workers.
This effort extends to environmental responsibility: most of HK JEBN's packing materials can be recycled, and in 2021, it started migrating plastic bags to biodegradable materials. At the company's headquarters in Tai Wai, heat insulated windows are in place to lower the internal temperatures, in addition to a design that accentuates natural light.
Not only is the attractive headquarters a winner for the environment, but it has social utility as well. With study rooms closed during the pandemic, HK JEBN turned its Tai Wai lobby into a study room for DSE students – a gesture that highlights what Hong Kong needs most – care, dedication to sustainability, and passion for the home made.
Bringing fine dining home: Fanny Suen, MobiChef
Don’t be afraid to fail, and try your ideas without over-analyzing. You can always pivot and be successful elsewhere, as long as you put in the time.
Fanny Suen (2005 BBA Marketing) is the Founder of MobiChef, an online catering company and Co-founder of Robatayaki Danran, a high-end Japanese restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui. Starting her career off in the hotel industry, Fanny spent close to a decade honing her craft before taking a break to dedicate time to skills including calligraphy, farming and cooking.
"At that time my cooking was improving in leaps and bounds," she jokes, "which led my husband to say that I could be an amazing personal chef," she laughs. "To be honest with you, I loved good food but not cooking on the same level as a chef – it's a lot of stress, and so I admire that talent." For Fanny, the mission became clear: many chefs were not able to showcase their talents fully, with the challenges of high rent and marketing a restaurant. So what better way to boost the scene than to connect chefs directly to foodies?
The idea was MobiChef, a company that connected food lovers to personal chefs in their own homes. "This was not only a solution for private dining, but also a bespoke experience for foodies," says Fanny. "For chefs, the initiative also allowed them to connect to new customers and learn more about food trends, firsthand," Fanny adds.
The MobiChef experience is an alternative to dining out, allowing users to host a private occasion at home without going back and forth between the kitchen and living room. Foodies are hence able to meet the chefs in person and learn more about them; while on the flip side chefs could develop their very own catering businesses without having a big outlay that is associated with that industry. “We had to be careful about all aspects of operation, and quality control was really very important, I had to interview all the chefs to get the right suppliers," Fanny says.
Crucially, the idea that was kicked off in January 2017 was highly prescient: this concept is absolutely suited to the pandemic, particularly when people were not able to go out due to social distancing measures. As of May 2022, the website boasted over 200 menus – ranging from Japanese to French, Cantonese and Thai cuisine – prepared by over 40 chefs. All foodies have to do is to browse the menu, and book their preferred chef and date.
MobiChef also acts as a personalized concierge service, for foodies to ask for special requests. This is a highly specialized model, says Fanny: "Foodies can learn more about inspiration and stories behind each dish, and another amazing bonus is that the chef is responsible for cleaning all the cookware used". Innovation is the name of the game nowadays, and MobiChef goes a further step by providing a tableware rental service, meaning all the stress is taken out of the situation.
But it's not all been smooth sailing. “I had to work day and night when I launched my platform in 2017, to convince experienced and well-known chefs that this concept was going to work and was worth joining. After the pandemic, this is all very commonplace, but back then it was new. When chefs started to see they could earn money, I could feel the tides turning and it became an unstoppable force," says Fanny. "Not only did the diners love the concept but chefs started to see the value in interacting with foodies and developing their careers via our platform." Fanny adds.
For Fanny, word of mouth marketing was the crucial aspect that made all the difference. "We had to make sure people loved us so much that they would talk to their friends, colleagues and family, and spread the word like wildfire. For any current students in marketing, entrepreneurialism and innovation, I cannot emphasize this more than enough," she says. "Quality control is critical, relationships with suppliers are important: long-term partnership equals strength.”
Fanny is known for being someone who tries many things. At HKUST she even was co-founder of the HKUST Magic Club! Yet in life, it is better to believe in strategy, intuition and planning rather than magic. Indeed, Fanny has seen her various online businesses impacted by the pandemic, and even her first restaurant affected by landlords taking the venue back. But she continues moving forward, aiming to transform MobiChef into an e-commerce model with branded products and F&B consultation services. She has also created a frozen food packing and delivery business to adapt, survive and thrive during this uncertain time.
In January 2022, she opened her second restaurant “Robatayaki Danran” with two chefs and an HKUST alumnus. For students who want to be an entrepreneur, her advice is clear: "Don’t be afraid to fail, and try your ideas without over-analyzing. You can always pivot and be successful elsewhere, as long as you put in the time." During the pandemic, where everything in life can be unpredictable, it’s an attitude we can all go forward with.