Sharing by Art Entrepreneur

So you want to be an entrepreneur. But what kind of business would you do? Most gurus would say to do something that you love, so to carry you through those times when it gets tough, as it surely would during any journey to success.

Alyssa Khoo operates Alyssa Galeri. Is she a lover of art? Well, come find out when she does her sharing at PAN monthly meeting this Saturday starting at noon. The venue is PAN office at ADA Shared Services in Bay Avenue, next to Queensbay Mall. The story of art entrepreneur is not commonly told. It should be interesting!

Alyssa Galeri is the force behind the “Femme Flora”, an International Women's Day Art Exhibition 2012 now going on till April at Galeri Kementerian Tourism Malaysia in Putrajaya. It is a showcase dedicated to celebrate women throughout the world.

Pretty poster of the Femme Flora exhibition.

The exhibition particularly celebrates that unique bond between flowers, the feminine, and woman as a positive force in the world. It features the works of some 30 women artists from Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Australia, Iran, Thailand, Finland, Singapore, China and Korea. Details at www.alyssagaleri.com.

Other sharing opportunities coming up

• The Entrepreneur 101 Nationwide Franchise Roadshow 2012 is coming to town near you and admission is free. NAWEM members are invited. A stop at Concorde Hotel Shah Alam is scheduled for this April 4.
  There will be notable industry professionals who will share with the participants the practical tips of business operations and the ways to penetrate franchise industry. En Saharudin Sahad of Smart Franchise Partner will speak on The road map to franchise your business.
  A representative from Perbadanan Nasional Berhad is to speak on “Roles in developing franchise industry in Malaysia.” Several franchisers will also be at hand to share their experiences.
  
  
• SMEs & Overseas Trade (Import & Export) seminar is on April 10, 2012 at the Shah Alam Convention Centre. This one also offers free admission. The speakers are experts from Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ). The organiser is Malaysia SME^TM. 
  
  
  NAWEM 4S Workshop is on April 13 at Villa FELDA in Kuala Lumpur. This is a full day workshop on sustainability. It introduces the Pyramid concept used worldwide by businesses to generate sustainable idea and actions.
  
  
   

Empowering Women

“Women: the engine of economic growth” is the theme for the Global Summit of Women this year, scheduled from May 31 to June 2, and is expected to draw some 1,000 women leaders.

NAWEM-PAN members have the opportunity to attend this event in Athens, Greece – currently known more for its financial troubles than anything else. Perhaps this would be better for sharpening the business sensitivity of participants.

The summit promises to, among others, provide a window into the European economies, affording information on doing business with Greece and the Balkan economies in particular. You'd get an insight into the women driving business growth in this region as consumers and business leaders.

The three days will have numerous sessions to help grow leadership skills, your business and network. You would learn from featured best practices in partnerships between business and government to advance women and to promote green initiatives.

A briefing on the global summit was already held on March 1 in Kuala Lumpur, organised by SME Corp. Malaysia.

PAN chairman Ong Swe Ee views the summit as a great networking opportunity among successful women and urged members to take up this rare opportunity via NAWEM secretariat. She added: “To apply for 50% trip subsidy, those owners of Sdn Bhd company should enrol with MATRADE (Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation) – the registration is free and can be done online.”

By the way, NAWEM members can also keep up-to-date through email with MATRADE Online News, which provides market alerts from its trade commissioners overseas, product market studies for exporters as well as its various programme announcements.

NAWEM 19^th Annual General Meeting

If you are not making it to Athens, then go for our AGM, scheduled for Saturday, 24th March 2012. The first 50 to register will receive a token of appreciation from the Exco. Last year's AGM recorded attendance of 49 members.

The venue this year is again at the secretariat at Rumah Puspanita in KL. It will start with catered lunch and followed by the meeting starting 3pm.

NAWEM does provide women entrepreneurs ample opportunities to network at local, national and international levels. A recent gathering was the MAFa Country Conference 2012 on March 14-15 in Shah Alam. The organiser Malaysian Association of Facilitators (www.myfacilitators.org) allowed NAWEM members special rate to attend the event.

Earlier on March 4, four PAN members made it to the “KARISMA NGO with the Prime Minister” programme at Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil. The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development organised that gathering of non-governmental organisations. 

Amidst the KARISMA NGO crowd, NAWEM members are easily recognisable in their pretty blue batik baju kurung.

President Sarojini and other NAWEM exco up on stage.

 

 

One for the album... with other participants.

On April 21, the National Council of Women's Organisations will hold a seminar in KL on crime prevention for parents - “SEKATA (Keselamatam Keluarga Tanggungjawab Kita), Edisi Ibu Bapa”. Two seats are reserved for NAWEM.

If you need to re-charge, consider the Women Leadership & Coaching Retreat in Langkawi on April 20 to 23. Directly contact Puan Masitah Babjan at mbmasit@hotmail.com for details and to register.

Property Consultant Genny Tse

“I know I work hard. I was looking for something with bigger reward for my effort.” That was how this woman became an entrepreneur; wanting to work hard for herself rather than for someone else.

Genny's first job was as a PA, which she remembers as one that always required her to do overtime but rewarded her with little money.

Today Genny very much enjoys her career in real estate that afford her flexible hours and good reward. Her Penang-based real estate agency, Elite Properties, deals more in industrial properties with some 50% of her clientèle are foreigners.

Clients also seek her out for high-end condominiums, landed properties and commercial properties that include retail outlets and vacant land. Her most recent deal was being being appointed by a an international hypermarket brand to handle its retail lots in northern Malaysia.

The entrepreneurial journey has not always been easy. “It took seven years to obtain my property licence, and I gathered 15 years experience as an agent before opening my own company,” Genny said, adding that she is also thankful to friends who gave her courage to start her own business. She has no regret and is excited to keep moving on.

Elite Properties was initially stationed at Krystal Point Corporate Park in Bayan Baru and later moved to the sea-fronting e-Gate commercial complex in Gelugor. Take a peek into Genny's work at www.eliteproperties.com.my.

She has another business that she built together with her husband and brothers - KT Overlander, a motor vehicle service in Alor Star, Kedah. This rice bowl state of Malaysia is where Genny's family hails from.

The capital city Alor Star, Genny said, is showing increasing potential as good area to invest in properties, and she has invested in a 5,000 sq ft bungalow there. Of course, Penang is way ahead in the game. “I wouldn't be able to buy such a landed property on Penang Island any more for less than RM500,000, she said.

“To clients, who say they have half-a-million and wanting to buy a landed house in Penang, I tell them that they can go look in Balik Pulau or selected areas on the mainland. On the Island, bungalows have asking prices of up to RM8 million nowadays.”

Note: This is the first profiling of PAN members based on Genny's sharing at our monthly networking session.

I also found an interesting related read on Asia's richest man, who the writer described as “at 83, gets more done by lunch than people half his age pull off in a full day.”

Li Ka-shing's advice to young entrepreneur about how to find success in life:

“Starting a business is not easy. I started my business in 1950 with only $8,700. It wasn’t a lot. You could buy a Cadillac or a Lincoln with it. For a young entrepreneur today, hard work is more important than opportunities. If you don’t work hard, opportunities will slip away.”

Go read the full story “Li Ka-shing's Midas Touch” at:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/russellflannery/2012/03/07/li-ka-shing-midas-touch/