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Events
Dec 10-12
World SME Expo
Joint booth with Sunfore -
HK Exhibition & Convention Centere
Hall 1 H19
Dec 12 2.30-5pm
HR + Email marketing free seminar
by Reasonable & HR-Plus
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- how to handle "713" employment (amendment) Ordinace 2007 and how to implement on your payroll operation
- Effective email marketing
- Taxation topic
Dec 13 2-6pm
Grow your business by Email marketing course
by Reasonable
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- Grow your email list
- Increase open rate
- Trigger call to action to increase sales
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Happy holidays!
Christmas and New Year is a good season for sales promotion for online and offline retail and restaurant. What is your offer to your customers?
15th, 16th Dec: Katterwall - A Kassia Christmas Carol
@ Sheung Wan Civic Centre
Promotion opportunities:
Sponsorship for NoClone's 50,000+ customers and trial users sponsor HK$5,000-value gift + HK$5,000 sponsorship fee
your brand and ad text appear in subject line and send to 50,000 customers and trial users. ideal for sponsor who wanted to reach English-speaking countries.
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Reasonable in the news
The founder was interviewed by The Standard
From October 17, 2008 Friday- The Standard Careers P.24
Incubating Entrepreneurial Spirit
According to research by an international HR consultancy during late
August and early September, the demand for IT new hires is slowing
Enterprising graduates can consider Alan Wo’s career path by starting
up their own business.
Alan Wo officially established Reasonable Software House right after he
graduated from university in 2004 and offered his first product,
“NoClone,” which helps computer users identify duplicate files and
helps save disk space. Without the competition posed y major
international brands, this product successfully addresses a market
niche. It appealed to some large-scale companies such as the aircraft
manufacturer giant Boeing and they placed their order. “Most of my
clients are overseas and they purchased through the online platform,”
said Wo.
Foreign soil best for growth
Also because most of his clients are from western countries, they have
stronger awareness of copyright and intellectual property, so this is
crucial to generate the new sales and avoid piracy. “A client even sent
me an email to ask if he can install the NoClone program in more than
one computer, although it is for individual use only,” Wo recalled.
Wo pointed out that it’s not hard to start up a business, but it is hard to expand it.
His
company also rolled out an email marketing software called ”Spread,”
which provides marketers a cost-effective and measurable way to carry
out promotional activities. Now this software company has three
software products in total and the profit grows by about 20% annually,
yet his short-term goal is that the profit growth can accelerate and
double yearly.
Inspiration from eBay
“in the long run, I do hope my company can be more actively involved in
social enterprise business,” Wo confessed eBay’s social
enterprise-“Microplace,” providing basic financial services to
low-income households and businesses, inspired Wo to work on similar
projects. “As an entrepreneur, I enjoy greater free will, so the
intention and decision of setting up an arm for social enterprise can
move on more easily,” Wo explained. Now he offers his products for free
to some non-profit-making organizations.
Solid experience helps
Before starting up his own business, Wo gained solid work experience in
HSBC and an SME. “I worked with that SME for about three years during
summer and part-time, and learned how to start up a new business
through observation,” said Wo.
His company is now operated in the form of a medical practice, in other
words, besides the doctors, all are supporting staff. “I have employed
IT staff before, some are very talented but it is hard to retain them,
as they might not be willing to align with the company vision or it’s
too costly to retain them,” Wo said. He found the most important is to
keep a good record of all “knowledge,” like the answers for FAQs, in
order for other staff to handle customer enquiries as well as the
database for customer relationship management (CRM). Given his products
have gained a certain customer base, he can forecast the cashflow of
this company and plans to hire software engineers in the near future.
Successful incubation example
With the help of Hong Kong Science and Technology Park’s Incubation
Program, he enjoyed the waiver for the rent in InnoCentre in Kowloon
for the first year and had a special offer in the following two years.
Wo found that most of the career posting websites in Hong Kong focused
on being an imployee only, he believes there are in fact many
opportunities for business starters, in form of franchise shops or a
new company.
Request call-back / enquiry regarding HKSTP incubation programme
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