“Finding a business partner is just another part of entrepreneurship. The more value you can sell to the other person, the more likely they will reciprocate that value back”

In this line of work, we are met with many “dream sellers” in life. You will be surprised by the amount of promising futures that each one of these hustlers will sell you. Have I been sold futures worth galaxies away? Probably yes, but more often than not, I would be the one heading out to recruit the latest talent into my team of extraordinary personnel. However, as businesses grow, new ventures will cause new partnerships to be formed. That is when you, as a business owner, will be on the lookout for not only an employee, but someone who can go through thick and thin together with you. 

Starting A New Venture

It was just two months into our opereations when my previous Augmented Reality start-up got acquired by our current group, Marke 360. Being a group with strong ties within the Information Technology (IT) industry here, we have been crunching out projects after projects – trying to ful l the various demands of the industry.

Handling regional projects is no easy task as the company I was responsible for had to design all kinds of experiential marketing technology materials for our clients. It was through all of these assignments that the Founders of the group realised that there was an amazing wealth of opportunities present – with the digital transformation of the old industry players.

This therefore allowed the Founders to decide on the formation of a new subsidiary that would focus solely on digital businesses. According to a recent article in The Star, “Malaysia’s E-Commerce industry is now a RM24.6 Billion Business”. This just shows how astonishingly Malaysia is trying to push towards a digital era. The next problem was, how are we going to obtain a piece of that oversized digital pie?

Aiming for RM500,000 Revenue per Month

It was logical to invite Wesley, one of the best in this industry eld to be our new partner. He is our latest strategic partner who comes in with a plethora of skills and experience from his decade-old experience dealing with retail sales for award- winning IT companies. His many years of inside know-how enables him to properly understand the kind of actions that needs to be taken.

From here onward, our rst digital business venture named Techaway.co was created. Techaway.co is an e-commerce site that focuses on providing IT-based products aimed at consumers – selling items mainly ranging from laptops, gadgets, mobile phones and so on. Having Wesley onboard was crucial as his knowledge facilitates critical activities within the new group in terms of recruiting a proper team and guiding these new blood into waging a war none of us has ever faced.

A few months later, through various collaborations and involvement with marketplaces like 11Street and Lazada, Techaway.co managed to break its rst RM500,000 revenue in a month. The numbers continued to grow and pretty soon, our brand-new venture achieved new milestones we never dreamt before was possible.

Importance of Having The Right Partner

Our new group would not have achieved such quick results if we had not found the correct partner to run the business with. All this boils down to key elements that are crucial for success:-

1) Sincere Communication:-

The ability to communicate freely and not harbour feelings of distrust is very important. I have witnessed certain sensitive issues involving money that when brought up, a typical human would shudder and even hide crucial information from the partners. Problems swept under the carpet will only escalate to a point of no return and, you will be surprised by how your business can crumble due to your partner’s secrecy.

2) Trust:-

To wholly trust one another and believe that we can achieve a common goal together is a daily motivator for our team. All of us deal with a tonne of problematic scenarios so constant, that our only strength of salvation comes within the pillared walls of support from the team.

3) Always Keep Your Mind Open:-

Coming from a traditional industry, Wesley has typically been dealing with businesses which are non-digital related. By joining our team of highly advanced technical builders, he was highly receptive towards any new innovative marketing ideas that we proposed to him on a frequent basis.

This openness enables a business to constantly innovate its strategies that makes the competition irrelevant in the long run.

4) Experience Is Greater Than Qualifications:-

This is not a plea for students to quit their Degrees and launch their startups right away – but a reminder that any work experience in relevant industries will always be crucial as the number of walls you have to bang along the way is minimised. You do not have to be a full-time employee to understand a certain industry. Some part-time work undertaken – being a promoter, working as a freelance service provider, studying and taking extra courses online – will always gain one invaluable knowledge – no matter how menial a certain job might be.

Wesley did not even pass his school examinations and went straight ahead to strive to work as a responsible worker within the industry. This is how even at such a young age, he already had 10 years’ of working experience under his belt which was the most crucial part in forming our new venture.

5) Complement Each Other:-

The last key point that will generate success within a business is how your team heavily complements one another in terms of skills or experience. Wesley is great in sales while I am capable of running marketing strategies. My technical partner codes great websites while the execution team will not hesitate to put in many extra long hours working throughout the night. All our efforts combined with a solid vision from our group’s Founders will lead us towards a path of never giving up in striving for success.

Towards A Strong Digital Era and Beyond

No one can ever achieve anything significant cant alone. All of the greatest companies in the world originally had a team of strong and determined people with a common objective in mind to succeed. Finding someone who does not work as hard as you, will only be a colleague. Finding someone who will only provide money with little effort, is merely an Investor. Finding someone who will go to the ends of the world with you and never give up on pushing ahead and looking forward, is whom we call a Partner.