Serve, Learn & Lead with Raymond Tay

An Enterprising & Visionary Leader

Written by Raymond Tay on June 17, 2010 – 11:48 pm -

This year I have the privilege and honour again to interview some of the outstanding entrepreneurs and nominate them to receive the “Spirit of Enterprise” award. I have managed to get in touch with Mr. Vinod Menon, CEO of MindWave Solutions Pte Ltd and gained valuable insights about business & life. 

Mr. Vinod, CEO of MindWave Solutions

Mr. Vinod and his wife, Mrs. Nayak (COO of MindWave)

Mr. Vinod and Me

Sypnosis on Nominee:

At the age of 12, Mr. Vinod Menon had already begun his entrepreneurship journey by promoting and distributing Science magazines in his school. With his passion, vast knowledge and wide experience in IT, he is able to grow his company very quickly in terms of revenue and expansion within a few years and be the finalist of Emerging Enterprise 2010. He treats his people as assets and launched an internal employees’ club, “Wave Riders” for his staff to relax, improve and bond together. He believes every one of us needs to be open for suggestions, flexible and hardworking in order to succeed.

Business Profile: 

MindWave Solutions Pte Ltd is a successful and growing IT Service Management organization. Established in early 2005, MindWave was headquartered in Singapore and has grown with offices in Malaysia and Australia. MindWave’s IT Services encompass the selection, development and implementation of IT solutions to meet every client’s business requirements. Their business offerings include Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Business Process Management (BPM) services and solutions. In further enhancing its credentials, MindWave achieved its ISO 9001:2000 certification which highlights its ability to offer consistent and quality services. In addition, we were also awarded the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Malaysia Status in 2007, by the Malaysian Government, as recognition for the innovative services and solutions that it provides. In 2009, MindWave attained the Infocomm Singapore status conferred by the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF), Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore. MindWave is also the TOP FINALISTS for EMERGING ENTERPRISE AWARDS 2010 by Spring and OCBC.

My Comments & Thoughts about Nominee:

Mr. Vinod is a visionary leader and an outstanding role model of a hard worker!! He was very friendly, approachable and open during our interview. I have learnt about the importance of staying current and flexible in business in order to be competitive in the dynamic market. I like the strong positive learning attitude that he possesses and his belief of something valuable that he can learn from anyone regardless of age, gender, race, etc.

Starting Up

1. What is the nature of your business?

Our business is about software development and system integration services. We provide software application services to our clients. During our meeting with the clients, we will have our requirement/ specification team to understand the clients’ requirements and our domain experts to find out their business needs. After that, we will meet and map their needs into software applications.

2. When and why did you decide to become an entrepreneur / take over your family business?  

I started my first business at the age of 12. I was distributing Science magazines to other children and I began with 3 subscriptions. Within three years, the number of subscriptions rose to 160 and that business was taken over by my teacher as I graduated from my school. That happened in India. Thus I think I have the spirit of enterprise since young. I came to Singapore in 2000 and was working for large technology companies. I was also studying MBA in NTU. After gaining the necessary experience, I ventured out on my own in 2005.

3. What are your reasons for choosing to do business in this particular industry?

I was studying IT and have passion towards IT. My working experience was also in IT industry and therefore putting what I have learnt into this business.

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.

Basically, I put in my own savings ($25,000) to start the business, together with my wife. At the beginning, it was just both of us but now we have 150 staff in three countries, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. 

5. What are some interesting stories you have about your first few customers/first few years in business?

Being the first business it was very important for us and we aimed for some of the bigger names to accept our IT services. Fortunately, we got many opportunities and still are getting to work with them as early as in our inception days. They trusted us and we deliver the required flawlessly and thus gained their trust. Of course, we made profits but they were really low.

Business Challenges

6. What are some of the challenges you faced when you first went into business?

Getting the first customer is always the hardest. However, once you did well for your first customer, it will be easier for you to reach out to your second customer as you gain more credibility. With this dynamic IT industry, firstly, we need to understand that people are our assets and it is all about brains, logic and programming skills, etc. Hence, one of the challenges is about attracting talent and then further retaining them. Secondly, technology is moving so fast that you have to be on the top of everything to keep abreast with the latest movements in the IT world. Being an SME with limited financial resources, it is a major challenge to keep up with the latest as this can be a pretty expensive affair so you have to be really strategic about what you are going to invest in and what you are going to leave out for the rest.

7. How did you overcome these challenges? Please share some specific examples of the action you took to overcome the challenges.

In order to keep up with the technology, we always have a “Third Eye” watching the industry by looking into the current trends and new advanced technology. All our senior management is well-versed in the market and technology. Once we discover a new business opportunity, we will move our team towards it. As for our ways of attracting and retaining staff, we have a very competent HR team with right kind of skills and expertise. They help us to retain our staff and they created internal training programmes, grooming programmes and internal employees’ club. Our employees’ club is managed by the employees for the employees and is known as “Wave Riders”. They organised a series of events like outings, personal development workshops, knowledge-sharing sessions or just going out for food. They decide what to do and the company will sponsor their events. We value our people. Our aim is to make MindWave a enjoyable place to work in.

8. 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?

Not really. We are very optimistic about our business and from day 1, our company has been growing. Our growth rate is above benchmark and industry standards. Until now, so far ‘touch wood’, everything is fine. It is a smooth journey but of course, there are a lot of challenges such as customer complaints and financial issues. There is not a day when I feel like giving up because of the passion we have in this business.

9. Can you share some of the lessons you learnt from overcoming your own business challenges that you think will help other businesses?

Maybe it was dealing with one of our major customers. The problem was a technical issue in one of the on going projects and our key staff responsible for that account left our company abruptly without a proper handover. At the end of the day, the customer wants to get the work done by the company and doesn’t really expect it from one employee in the company. The staff who left us had the domain expertise and the relevant knowledge on that customer.. This experience was a major setback for us early enough in our growth stage. We had to manage the crisis by getting another suitable person to handle the project, even though it was not a profitable business. We still had to uphold our reputation and make sure that the client is not disappointed. Fortunately, we managed the situation well and this client continues to be our client till date.  It was a great learning experience and every since we have focussed a lot on some strategic redundancy which is needed within the staff.

Achievements

10. When was the moment you realised the business would work and support you?

It was when we reached the breakeven point for our business and it happened during the middle of our 1^st year. Very quickly, our business became stable and started to grow.

11. What are some of your proudest business achievements to date? And why are they so important and meaningful to you?

One of them was when we secured one of the premium company as our client in 2^nd year. Ar the beginning, we took up small assignments from them and later end up managing more and more critical projects like software infrastructure, outsourcing and almost everything that is related to IT. This shows how the trust was built along the way step by step. We are  very proud of our team and to say that this client now contributes to 17% of our total business revenue.

Second one, was again when we started our Malaysia Office in 2^nd year as well. It was great to see ourselves in Malaysia and growing there. Being a Singapore based company it was thrilling experience to set up in a different country and have that kind of diversity in operating the same business with a different flavour.

Lastly and the most recent one was being shortlisted as one of the top 15 Finalists for the Singapore Emerging Enterprise 2010 over 400 plus companies in Singapore. The excitement was largely felt by each and everyone associated for this one. Our clients, suppliers, employees, well wishers everyone should their support and we are all very grateful to them.

Business Strategies & Tips

12. How do you differentiate your business from your competitors? Please provide specific examples.

We look into building long term relationships with our clients and there is always a certain amount of proactiveness with which we work with our clients. Some of our competitors we feel may only look into very short term as the technology is changing rapidly and the business cycles are also becoming very short. We differentiate ourselves by aligning our expertise towards what customers need and helping them to achieve their competitive advantages. On one side, we serve our customers and on the other side, we study our customers’ industries and check out the latest trends in their industries. This enables us to bring in the relevant expertise and services to the table. Alignment is the key.

13. What are some business ideas you have implemented that created great results in your business?

Every time when we faced some challenges, we will try to come out with solutions and implement them. If it is working fine, then we continue to use it. If not, we will change it. When we were starting our business in Malaysia, we always had the challenge of how to bring the latest technology from Singapore to Malaysia. Singapore is considered to be blessed with all the cutting edge in technology. We advise our customers to upgrade themselves from time to time or need basis. This has worked very well for our Malaysian clients and they truly appreciate and value our suggestion.

14. Where or who do you get your business ideas from?

We get ideas from our team, my wife and experienced people from the market. Also, I have been reading books and magazines which provides me with the current trends in the market.

Future Plans

15. What do you see for your business in the next 5 years, and does it include any plans for expansion?

We are striving to become the leading IT services’ provider in the Asia Pacific. Now, we have expanded into 3 countries and we are planning to venture into Indonesia. In the next 5 years, we aim to be one of the best IT company that anyone would look for in the Region. We have some expansion plans on the horizon. Since our industry is dynamic, our plans need to adjust depending on situations/ market environment. In the previous year, we were thinking of going Indonesia first and next Vietnam.

Personal Business Philosophy

16. What does entrepreneurship mean to you?

In simple words, just being open for suggestions/feedback and being flexible. Having the ability to listen, learn and apply.

17. What are some entrepreneurship qualities that you have which has helped you come this far?

I am always flexible and if I am struck with something, I try to find out the solutions and discuss with people around me. At the end of the day, I conclude something and if my intuition says this is good, I will go ahead.

18. 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)

Everyone should have a positive learning attitude. Even today, I am learning something new. If you think that you are a successful businessman who have learnt enough or made enough money, you will not be able to grow. So you have to be ambitious and expand your learning attitude. And you should be open for suggestions.

19. In your opinion, what does it mean to have the “spirit of enterprise”?

I strongly believe in motivating people to look for the right opportunities. It is also about giving guidelines and directions for entrepreneurs-to-be, my staff, my friends and anyone who meets me.

20. Who or what motivates and inspires you?

Actually, everyone around me motivates and inspires me. I try to look at individuals (regardless of age, gender, culture, etc) in a multi-dimension way and see what I can learn from them. I always admire great entrepreneurs like Mr. Richard Branson of Virgin or Mr. Tony Fernandes (who turned Air Asia from a 27 cents company to a $600 million Airline in few years).

21. What are some of your business values and what would you like to pass down to others, particularly the younger generation?

When we look into Y-generation, the values of being hardworking and loyal is changing or diminishing over time from my personal experience. There is a huge gap between X-generation and Y-generation. I would like to see my own generation to be more responsible and learn to speak for their language so that we can get work done for this new generation. Since, I have worked with both generations (with more exposure to people in Y-generation) I can safely say that there is a bit of tact involved in get things done by them. At the same time, they are the new workforce that we are going to have and we need to coach and groom them and value their creativity.

22. Can you share some of the more significant events / incidents that affected or shaped your business philosophy and the way you conduct your business? I.e. SARS, new competition or shifts in market behaviour and trends, etc.

In the recent financial crisis when we were in our 3^rd year, for any start-up companies, it was a challenge to be in that period. The strategies that we used to do were not acceptable or applicable during that time. We started adjusting our business model, revenue model, services and deliverables, etc. We had also learnt to give services at a lower cost but as a long-term solution. Fortunately, we were growing at a rate of approx. 40% in our revenue. It was an opportunity for any low-cost companies or carriers. You just have to change your selling strategy based on low-cost but you look at long-term and overall business. In addition, for example, during recession period, it gave us business opportunities such as more people like need quick fix solutions or more companies tried flexi working hours or models which gave us the opportunities to tweak the systems or sometimes even more modifications to their IT infrastructure or set up some newer applications for them to easily being able to work remotely.

23. 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?

In our technology business, as long as we stay current, we will succeed so that’s the easier part. It is harder because new technology keeps coming up, and we have to upgrade our expertise.

24. What advice would you give young people who want to start their own business?

It is about the attitude of learning and you just have to be honest and hold high moral values. Be hardworking, sincere and focussed and success shall follow you. Success has different meanings for different individuals. My definition of success might not be the same as yours. I have this favourite quote from an English poet, “Miles to go before I sleep.” It means having to travel a lot (like accomplishing something first) before going to bed. This has been a great influence on me personally. I am always looking and learning to see what I have learnt new before I go to sleep every single day.

Tags: MindWave Solutions Pte Ltd, Spirit of Enterprise, Vinod Menon
Posted in Business, Leadership & Management, Personal Success | 2 Comments »