English Research Report

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGN
Research Unit for Modern Architecture Studies in Southeast Asia
Foundation of Natural Build Environments (FNBE)
English 2 [ENGL0205]

STATIONARY
BUSINESS
- More than just pencils selling -

GROUP MEMBERS:
ALVIN TAN SHING YEOU (0314850)
EUGENE PENG YAP SIANG (0315259)
BENNY TAN SHOWIE (0315447)
CHAN PIN QI (0314676)
MACY KHOR SEEM LENG (0315208)
LEE JO YEE (0314880)

Contents
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 3
INTRODUCTION OF RESEARCH PROJECT .............................................................................. 3
INTRODUCTION OF STATIONERY SHOP ............................................................................... 3
KEY SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................... 4
THE HISTORY OF THE STATIONERY BUSINESS ........................................................................... 5
DOWN-SLOPE BUSINESS ....................................................................................................... 5
BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF THE BUSINESS: .................................................................... 6
HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP ................................................................................................ 6
TEE SENG SDN BHD ............................................................................................................... 7
VISION ART ............................................................................................................................ 8
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BUSINESSES’ COMPETITIVE TRAITS ..................................... 9
VISION ART ............................................................................................................................ 9
TEE SENG SDN BHD ............................................................................................................. 10
HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP .............................................................................................. 10
CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 11
RECOMMENDATION ................................................................................................................ 13
VISION ART .......................................................................................................................... 13
TEE SENG SDN BHD ............................................................................................................. 13
HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP .............................................................................................. 13
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................... 15
APPENDICES............................................................................................................................. 16
APPENDICES 1 : PHOTO ...................................................................................................... 16
VISION ART ...................................................................................................................... 16
TEE SENG ......................................................................................................................... 20
HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP ........................................................................................... 23
APPENDICES 2: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS .................................................... 28
APPENDICES 3: THE DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE 3 BUSINESS. ............ 37

Stationery Business: more than pencils selling

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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION OF RESEARCH PROJECT
The main focus of this assignment was to compare the similarities and
contrasting differences of three specific business . We will be doing a research
on stationery shop ,focusing on three very-owned stationary shop in Subang
Jaya, Kuala Lumpur which are Vision Art & Stationery shop , Tee Seng Sdn
Bhd and PJS 7 Stationary shop . This aim of this research project is to
compare the alter business strategies used by different owners respectively.
We will mainly enquire about their history and the differences of how the
business has been operating between now and then. (Home: Categories:
Education and Communications :Research and Review, 2014)

INTRODUCTION OF STATIONERY SHOP
Stationery shop is a place where you can find a large range pens, paper,
envelopes , ink toners and other supplies for home or office .Stationery has
historically pertained to a wide gamut of materials: paper and office
supplies, writing implements, greeting cards, glue, pencil cases and other
similar items. The usage and marketing of stationery is a niche industry that is
increasingly threatened by electronic media. As stationery is intrinsically
linked to paper and the process of written, personalized communication,
many techniques of stationery manufacture are employed, of varying
desirability and expense. (Hannon, 2013)


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KEY SUMMARY
Through research and interview, we have investigated various stationary
shops dotted around Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus and thus
understanding this particular market current condition. In order to have a
fairer analysis of the market, the investigation subjects were carefully selected
prior to the interview. One shop is located within the Taylor’s University
Lakeside Campus while the other two is located outside of the campus. The
two shops located outside of campus are selected to contrast each other.
Vision Art is found to be the most successful of all three shops. Various factors
are discovered to be playing an integral part in its success. One of the
deciding factors is the strategic location of the shops which ensure its
exposure and widen its range of customers. Pricing is also important as the
market has a nature of oligopoly, magnifying the price differences between the
shops. It is also because of the market oligopoly nature that competition is
very furious and it is very difficult to venture into the market.


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THE HISTORY OF THE STATIONERY BUSINESS
DOWN-SLOPE BUSINESS
Nowadays, the stationary manufacture sector is filled with 60% from China 30%
from Japan & 10% from others like Malaysia, Thailand, and etc. (Sheng, 2013)
Before 1980s, global market was just local manufacture and not much of
international trade. In the decade of the 1990’s the world is entering a period
of economic prosperity and China as well. Due to low labor cost and higher
productivity, China increase production from small portion to at least 10-15%
raise per year. (Reportlinker : Customer Goods and Service)
The market now is divided into two main sections, high quality product by
advance country & lower quality product by growing economy. Malaysia’s
manufacturer was eliminated since 2000’s, because of higher labor cost and
only the higher quality manufacturer survived.
Stepping into internet era, the retailing market competition increases
gradually into free trade with the growth of online trader. Retail success is no
longer all about physical stores, due to the increases in retailers now offering
online store interfaces for consumers.
With the rapid growth of online shopping, comes a wealth of new market
footprint coverage opportunities for online dealer that can offshore market
demands and service requirements, like more specific product that can only
be found through online market
In a nut shell, local stationary industry face two major challenges since 1990’s,
which are global competitors and flexibility of online dealers.


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BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF THE BUSINESS:
Before we go for the interview, we have done some background
research about this three stationery shops through various channel such as
on-site observation, books, verbal surveys from the residents and etc. Below
are our findings.

HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP
The first shop is an old traditional stationery shop situated at Jalan PJS
7/15 known as Heng Co stationery shop. It is a 6062 ft small shop below the
residential flats and operated from morning 11am to 7pm evening. At the
entrance, there are some toy vending machines, that kind where you slot in
coins in exchange for a mysterious toy wrapped in a plastic ball-like casing
and also a big ice cream machines there. For a moment, you will most
probably feel like you have traveled back in time because of these vintage
furniture. Furthermore, most of the furniture such as the book shelves, racks,
bamboo chairs, tables and wardrobes were handmade by the owner’s father
and has a very high sentimental value. The shop is not occupied with any high
technology electronics appliances but just a traditional ceiling fan in a shabby
condition. Although the products are kept inside the glass-shielded counter, it
is not hard to notice some have covered with dust and even yellowed with age.
After some conversation between the owner, Mrs.Chang Lin Lee and
our group members who are Benny Tan and Lee Jo Yee, we have learned that
the shop not only sell stationery but provide basic sewing service too. Mrs.
Chang The shop sold hardware products previously but slowly has stopped
because lack of demand in this particular area. She serves around 10
customers per day with most of them are students from the nearby primary
school and some elderly residents nearby.
Speaking of the history, the business has started back to 1960 when it
was situated at Sungai Wang Tin Ming upon the request from the British
rulers. The local ruler of that time was an English man and has asked the
owner’s mother, Mrs. Khor Sai Ngoh to open a stationery shop for the
convenience of the villagers at the area. With the fear being punished, her
family has accepted the model provided by the British and opened a shop
obediently. Mrs.Khor passed away after 3 years the shop was established and
has her husband and 18 years old Mrs Chang Lin Lee to continue the business.
The business grew rapidly and earn a great amount of profit back then until
1990s when they were forced to move to PJS 7 due to the demolition of the
area in order to build more double-story houses. (TN), 1966)


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TEE SENG SDN BHD
The second shop is situated at a strategic location which is situated
inside Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, the Tee Seng Sdn Bhd. From the
appearance, the shop looks small and seems to have nothing to offer other
than some basic pens and papers; you will be fooled if you believe so. Upon
stepping inside the shop, you will be welcomed by the owner, a 55 years old
friendly looking uncle, Mr. Loo Tee Seng. With another 2 employees a girl
from South-Africa and a local boy, he sells stationery and provides Photostat,
printing and binding services to their main customer source which is the
Taylor’s University community. They serve around 50 customers per day with
most of them are students, lecturers, school officers and clerks. The shop is
fully air-conditioned and the products are neatly arranged in shelves or hung
on racks. The uncle keeps an eye on the hygiene of the store all the time and
makes sure that his customers queue up for the printing service during peak
hours.
From the interview between our group members Macy Khor and Chan
Pin Qi and Mr.Loo, we have learned that before the shop was established
together with Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus in 2011, the owner Mr.Loo
worked with his brother in a stationary shop located at KL Jalan Ampang in
1996. Back then, it was a huge business where their customers are mostly
large cooperation companies. They have signed contracts and have great
business cooperation with those big cooperations. He shared his experience by
telling us the importance of strategy location of the business and also the
specialty of the business you provide to the customer. Their specialty field was
providing binding services like binding of books or magazine as there were a
lot of engineering firm around their location back then. After working with his
brother for more than 20 years, he decided to retire from his work and find a
more relaxing work to pass his time as his daughter and son were all grown up
.In 2010, he meet his old friend, Datuk Loy, the owner of the Taylor’s
University and was notified that there was shop lots in the commercial block
available for him to start his stationary shop business. Initially, the business
did not go very well as most of the students were not relocated in this new
campus (Taylor Lakeside University campus). However, for the next 2 years,
the business has showed great improvement because of the increase in the
student population along with the improvement in Malaysia economics.
(Country Intelligence: Report: Malaysia., 2013)


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VISION ART
Alvin Tan and Eugene Peng have been assigned to interview another
well-known stationery shop known as “Vision Art” which is situated at 3,
Jalan PJS 11/28,Bandar Sunway, 46150, Petaling Jaya is another favorite spot
for art students around Bandar Sunway. Other than the Singaporean investor
Mr. James, the founders and also the owner of the shop Mr. Franky and Mrs.
Winny Hiau welcome around 150 customers everyday with most of them from
Sunway University, The One Academy and Taylor’s University. With only 3
Malay female employees, they sell mainly stationery and vast options of art
materials and provide Photostat and binding service. There are many choices
The one and only Vision Art has most of their products up to date and they are
nicely arranged on the book shelves and situated in a specific area so that
students may help themselves in searching their desired materials. The shop
is also fully air-conditioned and occupied with close-circuit televisions (CCTV)
to ensure the security in the shop.
After having a quick chat with Mr.Franky, we have learned that the
history of the business can be traced back to the period from 1994 to 1997
when they had been introduced to a stationery supplier and decided to start a
small shop in PJS state with the target customer are the students of Saito
Academic of Art College. Starting with a very small model and without much
expectation, the business grew and earned more profit than they have
expected and eventually require a bigger venue. They moved to Bandar
Sunway at 1998 and the number of customers has increased since from
previously 80% students vs 20% outsiders to now 50% students vs 50%
outsiders. Outsiders are some office workers, professional artists,
photographers, lecturers and so on.


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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BUSINESSES’ COMPETITIVE TRAITS
As fellow architecture students, we understand the importance of
stationeries and various art tools in our pursuit of our career. In this research
assignment, we made these stationary shops as our interview subjects. We
analyze the business’s competitive traits of these shops, which are namely
Vision Art, Heng Co and Tee Seng.

VISION ART
Out of these three shops, Vision Art has 20 years history and thus more
experienced in this particular field. As the business go on, the goods and
services provided diversified as well. The shops has started giving printing and
binding service but these services face furious competition as more and more
professional printing shops emerge in vicinity. They can only depend on the
cheaper price and faster speed as they stand no chance in the battle of quality
against these shops. As per their printing and binding service, they applied the
same strategy on their goods as well. They lower the price of their goods
according to the customers’ feedbacks and demands. Their strategy is to
attract customers with their cheaper price vast diversity of goods.
Most of their customers are art students from nearby universities and
working designers. This is the one of the immediate causes of its goods
diversification towards art tools. This specialization is one of its advantages as
these goods are not very common. Another advantage is the well-trained
employees. They are familiar with all the goods and their purpose and other
detailed information. They provide advice and left a good impression in the
customers that are unfamiliar with these goods. As such, the shop is
frequently promoted through words from others and gained a strong
reputation, especially in the nearby universities.
However, these art tools are also rather expensive, thus it is hard to
just rely on these art tools alone. On the other hand, the more common goods
such as A4 papers and pens face more competition from many others shops
around area SS 15. Another major disadvantage is the location of the shop.

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There are very few numbers of parking lots around the shop so it is really
difficult for people to stop by and stay for a long time.

TEE SENG SDN BHD
Comparatively, Tee Seng Sdn Bhd has the shortest history among the
three shops. However, the owner has experience running a stationary shop
before opening this shop in Taylor’s University lakeside Campus. Since this
shop was establish as pass time business, the owner does really care about the
present competition and hence no strategy is used. The pricing is higher than
the stationary shops outside of the campus because of the higher rental.
The shop also provides printing and binding service. It faces
competition from other printing and binding service within the campus and
outside of the campus. Its printing service is especially unprofitable because of
the good printing service provided by the library. It is more student-friendly
and better in quality as well with same price. The variety of the goods in the
shop is also very limited that students have to go outside to get required art
tools. This is most likely due to the small space of the shop that inhibited the
shop’s further development.
The shop’s only advantage against other stationary shops is its location
which is within the university compound, making it more convenient for the
students as no transportation is needed. The numbers of students in the
university is also steadily increasing.

Heng Co has the longest history among the three shops but it can be
categorized as sunset business at that area. The owner is the 2nd generation of
the business and wish to continue the business as pass time business.
Therefore, there is no strategy to use at the shop and the price is lower than
the other stationary shop because it doesn’t have to pay the rental fee. It
doesn’t have printing and binding service as other shop but it provided sewing
service to the old customer.


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One of its advantages is the short walking distance to the residents in
the area since it situated in the residential area. The main source of customer
is student from primary and secondary school. This is one of the main causes
of the cheaper price goods. Another advantage is the cheaper price of goods,
the goods are generally cheaper than other stationary shops at the same
business area. For example, the manila card it sells with RM 0.60 but the
other shop sells RM 1.00.
Since their profit is less than RM50 per day, the owner is selling
breakfast in the morning market before the stationary shop start operation. I
think this is the strategy for the business and owner herself. Previously, the
stall is situated in front of the stationary shop, so it brings the customer to the
shop but it has moved to the morning market nearby after getting complain of
blocking the parking places.
CONCLUSION
(Blais, 2012)

In conclusion, the Vision Art is the most successful among the three
stationary shops because of its diversity of goods and cheaper price whereas
Tee Seng Sdn Bhd has highest pricing, albeit, the nearest and most convenient
but Heng Co. stationary shop has lowest pricing, near and convenient to the
resident around. Other than Heng Co. stationary shop, Vision Art and Tee
Send Sdn Bhd both manage to get an annual revenue figure of more than RM
1,000,000. With just the advantage of location alone, Tee Seng Sdn Bhd was
able get on par with Vision Art. Tee Seng Sdn Bhd with only 3 years old is also
very much younger than Vision Art which is 20 years old. Furthermore, Heng
Co. stationary shop is 54 years old but its revenue isn’t much if compare to
them. The effect of location of a business is clearly shown in this scenario.
Although Vision Art and Heng Co are not placed in a university, but
Vision Art has a pretty good location. It is located in the vicinity of Sunway
Pyramid Shopping Mall and a residential area. Heng Co is located near the
Pangsapuri Mutiara Perdana in PJS 7. Vision Art possesses higher exposure to
the public compare to Tee Seng Sdn Bhd which is confined in the university


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and Heng Co which is confined in the residential area. Outsiders are less likely
to travel to a university compound to purchase stationeries.
Both of Vision Art and Tee Seng Sdn Bhd adopted the same strategy
with their pricing but Tee Seng Sdn Bhd has got a slight disadvantage due to
its higher rental price. However, Heng Co has the cheapest pricing due to the
shop is owned by itself. Nonetheless, Vision Art has more diversified and
specialized goods that attract students with more advanced demands.
Therefore, it has a wider range of customers which allows it to triumph over
others easily. They are not just limited to the students of one university or
primary and secondary school as Tee Seng Sdn Bhd and Heng Co , instead
they are consisted of students from different universities and many other
sources.
All three of the stationary shops basically face similar competitors but
the number of strong competitors is very negligible. The market has a nature
of oligopoly. All three of the shops entered this market with different methods.
The owner of Vision Art has established relationship with good suppliers while
the owner of Tee Seng Sdn Bhd has prior working experience. These are just
the basic criteria to enter the market. Even with all the criteria fulfilled, it is
still very hard to enter the market due to its oligopoly nature. Unless it can
establish a good reputation among the local communities and insure a good
amount of customers in a short time, the business will last for long.


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RECOMMENDATION
(Bharadwaj, Anandhi ; El Sawy, Omar A ; Pavlou, Paul A. ; Venkatraman, N.,
2013)
VISION ART
Limited space in Vision Art has become the biggest problem in running the
business. It is always filled up with customer but will never get enough space
to move around. Imagine when people carrying the materials that are large in
scale moving around the shop. Besides, stocks are piled up until the ceiling. It
will be a threat when people walking by in the risk of goods falling down.
Therefore, larger space is needed to fit in the customers and the stocks existed.
Other than larger space is recommended, student price discount is also a
preferable way of running a stationery business in the area of various
university existed. Student who have zero income and still gaining financial
support from their parents will find it a burden for monthly expense especially
architecture or design school students which need variety of materials from
different price range. Therefor, price should be lower down when comes to
students. (NIEMAND, 2013)

TEE SENG SDN BHD
Tee Seng is now encountering a threat, which then affect its business
performance, which is the rental. The rental here has reached its high peak
until RM 4000 per month excluding the electricity and maintenance fee,
therefore, the pricing will be a bit higher compare to others which then lose
his customer. Price should be a standard price and figure out another way of
solving the rental problem.
The goods in Tee Seng are founded not sufficient when comes to modeling.
More variety of goods is recommended for the shop in order to increase its
profit. This will then be a preferable place for students, as no travel is needed.

The maintenance of shop lot structure is recommended to improve. As shop
lot has been standing for over few decades, it is already old and full of dust.
Running a business should have a good impression for customers in order to
attract them. That’s why it should start renovation of the shop if the business
wants to be continued. If the business is not meant to continue, a promotion is
needed to clear its stock out and gain back the cost of running it.


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Besides, the arrangement of goods being displayed is a biggest problem in
attracting the customers, as it does not look like a stationery shop. People tend
to ignore the shop, as it is nothing that can let them know there’s a business
running inside. Moreover, old furniture like altar and the Rotan chair are
recommended to be discarded from the shop as they should not be them who
becoming the focus of the business instead of the stationery. If the sticks are
placed in a neat way, customers can notice the goods easier, the performance
increase, and yet it still has the chance of surviving in this competitive
business. (Nazari & Allahyar, 2012)


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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bharadwaj, Anandhi ; El Sawy, Omar A ; Pavlou, Paul A. ; Venkatraman, N.
(2013). DIGITAL BUSINESS STRATEGY: TOWARD A NEXT GENERATION
OF INSIGHTS. TOWARD A NEXT GENERATION OF INSIGHTS. , 471-482.
Blais, S. (2012). Business Analysis : Best Practices for Success. Hoboken, New
Jersey: Wiley Press .
(2013). Country Intelligence: Report: Malaysia. Malaysia: Malaysia Country
Monitor.
Hannon, K. (2013, October ). Money. The Write Stuff , p. p29.
Home: Categories: Education and Communications :Research and Review.
(2014, February 10th). Retrieved February 10th, 2014, from
www.wikihow.com: http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Research-Paper
Nazari, A., & Allahyar, N. (2012). Grammar Teaching Revisited. EFL Teachers
between Grammar Abstinence and Formal Grammar Teaching , 16.
NIEMAND, T. (2013). 7 DEADLY SINS OF BUSINESS OWNERS. p49-49.
Reportlinker : Customer Goods and Service. (n.d.). Retrieved February 2nd ,
2014, from Reportlinker web site:
http://www.reportlinker.com/ci02159/Office-Supply-and-Stationery.html
Sheng, L. P. (2013, December 8th). Several Trends Affect Future Stationery
Development. Retrieved February 9th, 2014, from http://www.made-inchina.com/: http://resources.made-in-china.com/article/industrytrends/amYQdItOTnif/Several-Trends-Affect-Future-StationeryDevelopment/
TN), J. L. (1966). Small business problems in urban areas. Government
Document.


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APPENDICES
APPENDICES 1 : PHOTO
VISION ART

Figure 1: Front view of Vision Art stationery shop outside Sunway Pyramid shopping complex.

Figure 2: Picture of Alvin and one of the owners of Vision Art, Mr. Franky.


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Figure 3: Picture of worker serving customer and recommending the product which suitable for the customer.

Figure 4: Rack of putting variety of papers at the end of the shop.


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Figure 5: The other side of Vision Art, which rented to a telecommunication shop.

Figure 6: rack of Kure pen in variety of colors.


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Figure 7 Kure pens and the paper for customers to try out the ink.


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TEE SENG
Figure 8: Front view of Tee
Seng stationery shop.

Figure 13: Picture of
Macy and the owner,
Tee Seng.


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Figure 9: rack of pen being sold

Stationery Business: which acts as pencils selling
Figure 10: Little corner, more than counter.

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Figure 11: Two binding machine in the shop.

Figure 12: Variety of tape being hanged for easier approach.


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Figure 14: Side view of Pjs 7 shop.

Figure 15: Owner of the Pjs shop.


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Figure 16: Old radio being displayed at the corner of the shop.

Figure 17: Pictures of sewing machine.


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Figure 18: Old cupboards which fill up the stock.

Figure 19: Place where act as guardian for their business.


Figure 20: cupboard of stocking products, which lack of sale.

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Figure 20: Old stuff being stacked in a messy way.

Figure 21: Toy machine outside the shop to attract children.


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Figure 22: Fridge selling ice cream.

Figure 23: Accessories of daily stuff also being sold instead
of stationery such as battery.

Figure 24: Picture of Benny and the owner.

Figure 25: Picture of Joyee and the owner.


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APPENDICES 2: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
NAME OF THE SHOP : VISION ART
DATE : 3 /1/2014
TIME : 1.00 p.m to 2.30 p.m
INTERVIEWER : Alvin Tan & Eugene Peng

Front view of Vision Art stationery shop outside Sunway Pyramid shopping
complex.

1. When was the business founded and who are the key founders?
- Started since 1994, with 3 founders, Franky 52 years old, Winny 46 years old, James 57
years old from Singapore.
- James as the main investor, he invest the money since 20 years ago and never invest
anymore, just share the profit yearly.


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2. What prompted the founders to start this business?
- Reason start up business, mainly to find a business which can make money, and know
where to find the source. (friend introduce them a stationary supplier)
3. What are your main products?
- Main product are material & stationary, mainly retailing and servicing (Photostat &
binding)
4. Who are your customers?
- Average of 150 customer per day
5. Can you provide us a brief history of your business and its most recent
developments?
- Started with very small model with a small shop in PJS state during 1994-1997 because
they targeted Saito Academic of Art College student. But move to Bandar Sunway at
1998 because they aim for a better market, The One Academy College student. Result is
better and profit of business increase and bigger model.
- The customer source increase especially outsider. From 80% student vs 20%outsider
increase to 50% student vs 50% outsider. Average of 50 customer increase to 150
customer per day.
6. Is the business constantly facing strong competition from other
competitors? What strategies have they used to compete with you?
-Price setting is mainly by reflection of the product sales, and also customer feedback,
will adjust the pricing once the certain product sales is not good (not always happen, as
long as reasonable price setting strategy). Price setting is not depending on competitors.
7. How do you compete with your competitors i.e. what strategies do you
employ to divert customers away from your competitors?
- Strategy to stock their stock, once the product finish, boss will call the supplier, not
really have fix period like order once a month, or order twice a month, its all depends on
how much stock left. Will stock more if better selling product. Supplier will introduce
them new product, hence no research needed.
- Main competitors are from nearby and online shops, nearby – SS15 stationary shop &
Shah Alam section 2 stationary shop.


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- But they don’t do much of market survey and research, never visit any stationary shop
for special purpose.
8. Are your pricing decisions strongly affected by your competitors?
- Strategy to stock their stock, once the product finish, boss will call the supplier, not
really have fix period like order once a month, or order twice a month, its all depends on
how much stock left. Will stock more if better selling product. Supplier will introduce
them new product, hence no research needed.


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NAME OF THE SHOP : TEE SENG STATIONERY SHOP ( Taylor’s commercial block )
DATE : 10 /1/2014
TIME : 3.00 p.m to 5.15 p.m
INTERVIEWER : Khor Seem Leng & Pinky Chan

Front view of Tee Seng stationery shop.

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developments?
-

Loo Tee Seng ,the founder of this stationary shop graduated from one of the
university in UK in 1985 with a degree in economics .After he graduated ,he
travel for a few years and studying about the psychology of human beings .He
learned about the attitude of human being ,get to know more about the
mentality of society .He then work with his brother in a stationary shop
located at KL Jalan Ampang in 1996 .Back then ,it was a huge business where
their customer are mostly large cooperation company. They also did have a lot
of contract with big cooperation company ,running a big business back then.
He also did stress on the importance of strategy location of the business and
also the specialty of the business you provide to the customer .Their specialty
field was providing binding services like binding of books or magazine as
there were a lot of engineering firm around their location back then .After
working with his brother for more than 20 years ,he decided to retire from his
work and find a more relaxing work to pass his time as his daughter and son
were all grown up .In 2010 ,he meet his old friend ,Datuk Loy that is going to
launch a new Taylor campus that is Taylor University Lakeside campus .With
the connection he have with Datuk Loy ,he rented one of the shop lot in the
commercial block to start his stationary shop business .That is where his
business start to operate when Taylor’s university started three years ago. The
initial year of the business did not really progress well as not all the students
are relocated in this new campus ( Taylor Lakeside University campus
).However, for the next 2 years ,the progress of the business were establishing
because of the population of students start to increase but then competitors
start to invade in .The business were establishing quite slowly due to the space
of the shop and the increase rate of competitors.

2. Do you have many competitors? Who are they? Who are your top 3
competitors?
-

Yes ,the shop besides his shop selling a few kind of stationary products ,the
library and the shop near Student life center .All of them are doing quite
similar business such as providing binding and printing services .


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-

Yes , lower pricing ,conveniency ( library –improve their facilities by having
dropbox for smartphones )

4. How much capital is required to start this business? What, if any,
specialized field of knowledge do you need to run this business?
-

RM 150,000. According to Mr. Loo, do not need any specific knowledge to run
his business. Only thing need to know about is where to get the suppliers and
some basic knowledge to the machine being used. Previously, in his young age, he
had been practicing the binding book service when he was operating his old
stationary shop beside KLCC where there’s lots of engineering firm at the area.
Besides, knowledge of managing human resources is very essential in running
this business. Worker being trained and left the shop happened very common in
Tee Sheng shop. As it is a less challenging job, people tend to leave while they
have gained certain basic knowledge on how to manage the printing machine.

5. Generally, do you feel it is easy or hard to enter this market? Why?
-

It is hard to enter this market because the competition out there is much more
stronger than imagined. One cannot stand still in this business if they are not
competitive enough.

6. How do you compete with your competitors i.e. what strategies do you
employ to divert customers away from your competitors?
-

Actually, in the state of just want to settle down and passing time through
retirement, there are no strategies being used to divert customers away from the
competitors. Customers have the right to choose where they prefer. However,
because of its location is at the commercial block, people tend to buy things there.
Therefore, the location will be their only strategy to attract people. However,


33 | P a g e

some who are studying at the academic block will find it inconvenient to buy
things there.
7. How often do you release a new product (this assumes the business sells
differentiated products)?
-

Once or twice a year will introduce new products. He tried his best in introducing
variety of products in order to increase the business performance and keep them
updated.

The competitors do not affect the pricing decision here. It is the rental who affect. The
price will be higher compare to the competitors as cost used for the rental and
maintenance of machine is high. As the owner does not care about how much he
earned, it is oaky for students to choose others rather than him.


34 | P a g e

NAME OF THE SHOP : HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP
DATE : 8 /1/2014
TIME : 1.00 p.m to 2.30 p.m
INTERVIEWER : Benny Tan & Lee Jo Yee

Side view of Heng Co stationery shop .

1. When was the business founded and who are the key founders?
- Started since 1960, with founders, Khor Sai Ngoh
- British boss of tin mining as the main sponsor, he sponsor the money for the shop
opening to the founder.
2. What prompted the founders to start this business?
- Reason start up business, mainly is asked by the British boss of tin mining to give
benefit, advantage and convenient to the villagers at that time.

35 | P a g e

3. What are your main products?
- Main products are thread, stationary, rope, hardware (stop selling)
4. Who are your customers?
- Mainly are student from primary and secondary school nearby the shop in the
residential area.
developments?
- 1960s, Khor Sai Ngoh started business at sungai wang tin mining by the sponsor of
British boss of the tin mining. The target customer is the villagers from the area. Her
husband and son continue her business after 3 years. 1990s, moved to Pjs 7 because the
government want to demolish the previous place to build double story houses. The
business revenue decrease day by day and now only maintain the shop operation, not for
earning.
- The customer source is 90% come from the nearby primary and secondary school due
to the cheap pricing, 10% come from the resident nearby.
-No, price setting is mainly cheaper compare to others shop since the owner just want to
maintain the shop
- Main competitors are from a nearby stationary shop.
- Not really, just maintain the cheap and reasonable pricing


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APPENDICES 3: THE DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE 3
BUSINESS.
VISION ART

SHOPS

TEE SENG SDN BHD

HENG CO.

AREAS
PRICING

Reasonable

Highest

Lowest

STRATEGY

Yes

No

No

LOCATION

Excellent

Good

Bad

GOODS VARIETY

Diversified

Limited

Limited

RENTAL PRICE

Reasonable

High

None

NUMBER OF

3

2

0

Highest

High

Lowest

EMPLOYEES
ANNUAL
REVENUE


37 | P a g e

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