Three entrepreneurs talk about what it takes to start and grow their own label

KUALA LUMPUR: As a student at the Raffles Design Institute, Theresa Thian Siew Lin dreamt of having her own clothing brand. “My dream was to have girls wear my designs,” says the bubbly 27-year-old.

So, in 2007, after a short stint at a leading department store, Thian struck out on her own. Teaming up her boyfriend (now her husband), she started Gallo by Thian, a brand aimed at fashion-forward, trendy women.

From the first boutique in Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur, Thian has expanded her business to three boutiques (Bangsar Shopping Centre, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur and Gardens Mid Valley City). Her designs are also sold in multi-brand stores in Madrid, Spain, and San Francisco, the US.

In her fifth year of business, Thian — who is the brand’s fashion director — is as excited about the brand as she was on day one; designing new prints for her annual Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter collections. Each new print is also given fun and playful names like “Upgrade me please”, which boasts bejewelled theme, and “Will you marry me”, which features pastel colours.

Thian’s enthusiasm for her brand is probably something Faisal Fadzil and Alice Soo-Fravi can identify with. Faisal, who started the eco-friendly personal-care brand Tanamera almost a decade ago with his sisters Fauziah and Faridah, is as passionate about the brand as he was when it first debuted.

The 41-year-old travels extensively to market the brand at international beauty and wellness exhibitions and establish its presence in new markets. The ultimate goal, he says, is to make Tanamera — which IS currently distributed in a dozen countries, including Germany, Denmark, Japan and Singapore — an international brand.

Soo-Fravi started her brand Bebehaus in 2002, when she had her first child.

My husband and I had to buy many of the baby products from Hong Kong and Europe because we could not find what we needed here. And because there were other parents like us, we saw an opportunity and decided to source for these products and bring them in ourselves,” she says.

Fast-forward nine years, and what began as a hobby is now a name synonymous with premium baby products that include strollers, car seats and furniture. From a small shop in 1 Utama Shopping Centre, there are now three Bebehaus outlets in KL and Petaling Jaya. Bebehaus also carries furniture for teenagers. “The brand grew along with our children and their needs,” says the 39-year-old.

Getting started

So what does it take to start a brand and what do you do first? A brand isn’t a brand until it has a name. “Find a name that’s easy to remember,” says Thian. Gallo is derived from the Italian translation of her Chinese> name, Siew Lin. She later found out that it also means ‘rooster’ in Italian.

“But I didn’t mind that because I think Gallo is a fun and happy name, and that’s what the brand is about.”

For Soo-Fravi, Bebehaus was a natural choice. “Bebe is French for baby and haus is German for house. What could be more suitable for a brand that sells baby products?” she says, adding that the brand’s font is also reminiscent of the ones seen in Switzerland, which is her husband’s homeland.

Apart from choosing a name that’s easy to remember, Faisal — whose brand  Tanamera is short for tanah merah or red earth — also believes in putting some thought into the logo and the brand’s colours. “Our logo has blue, green and brown to represent water, life and earth respectively.”

When building a brand, these entrepreneurs say it’s important to set clear objectives or targets for the brand and outline a brand philosophy. “You need to ask yourself, is it a cheap product? Is it a green product? There are no right or wrong answers because it’s your brand philosophy,” says Faisal.

Deciding on Tanamera’s brand philosophy was relatively easy for Faisal. His company, FA Herbs Sdn Bhd, was already a contract manufacturer of herbal-based products for various direct-selling companies including Biolife, Amway and Cosway.

So, when he and his siblings created Tanamera, the aim was to introduce quality products that were safe, easy on the wallet and environment-friendly.

“We wanted our products to be eco-friendly, from the manufacturing process right up to the packaging. We wanted them to be human and animal friendly.

We’re proud of the fact that our products are 100% plant-based, from the preservatives to the fats, colours and scents,” he says, adding that Tanamera has a strong following among cancer survivors who steer clear of products that contain synthetic colouring and parabens, among others.

When Thian started Gallo by Thian, she too had to give a lot of thought to her brand proposition. To differentiate her brand from local and foreign mass production brands, Thian decided on silk as her material of choice.

“I chose to design clothes that were young, fun and feminine… I wanted to  design clothes that would make girls feel pretty.”

While Gallo by Thian has garnered a following among the 18- to late-30s age  group, Thian admits that it hasn’t been smooth sailing all the way. “We do  get people walking into our store and liking our clothes but are put off when they find out that we are a local brand.”

It’s a scenario that Faisal can relate to. Tanamera also faced similar  discrimination in its early years. “When we first started, the concept of > natural products was very new in Malaysia and people could not associate nor  accept a Malaysian brand with a quality product,” he says, adding that while the brand was well-accepted overseas, it wasn’t until six years ago that he started to see a shift in local customers’ attitude. “And that’s when we brought the brand back to Malaysia”.

How does one get the brand accepted? Thian believes that while the quality of the product matters, she’s also gone the extra mile to win over new customers. The outlet at The Gardens, for example, boasts an in-house style consultant who is on hand to assist customers in finding the right outfit.

Soo-Fravi also believes that one’s brand should be associated with good service. “We place a lot of importance on good service… it takes a year to train our staff and we ensure that their product knowledge is up to mark,” she says, adding that, at times, she or her employees will go the extra mile to fix car seats in customer’s cars to demonstrate their quality.

“We’ll place it in the car and let the customer see for himself why he is paying a premium for the product.” And most times, she adds, the customers will be convinced. This way, Bebehaus has gained a loyal following over the years.

Choosing the right partners

When you’re embarking on a new brand, it’s equally important to choose the  right partners, those who believe in your brand and who will go on to become your brand champions. Faisal believes that it’s important for partners to share your brand’s values.

“They need to believe in your product and share your passion for the brand,”  he says, adding that there have been instances where customers have become Tanamera’s overseas distributors. “That was the case with our Japanese partner. She loved the brand and wanted to take it to Japan for years but  didn’t have the financing. She finally secured investors last year and launched Tanamera in Isetan in Japan.”

Finding the right partner is especially crucial if you’re planning to grow your brand. Thian recognised this, which was why she chose to partner three of her long-time customers to expand her business.

For Soo-Fravi, creating a brand that embodies quality products meant working with manufacturers that place importance on quality, classic designs and out-of-the-box thinking.

Sustaining the brand

As challenging as it is to start a brand, the entrepreneurs say growing and  sustaining the brand can be just as, if not more, daunting. This is when many companies tend to make mistakes, says Faisal. “The biggest mistake a company can make is to start compromising on its brand’s values for the sake of growth. But if you want your brand to be respected and you want people to take your products seriously, then you must stick to what you believe in.”

Thian agrees, adding that at one point, she was asked to change the style of  her clothing. “My regular customers began asking for something different but I’ve chosen not to compromise on my style and the values that my brand stands for,” she says, adding that instead of losing clientele, the response couldn’t have been better.