This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on April 4 - 10, 2016.

TAN Thiam Hock, who created the Silkygirl beauty care brand in Malaysia, may not sound as sexy to the young, budding entrepreneur as Mark Zuckerberg or WhatsApp founders Brian Acton and Jan Koum. But Tan is an entrepreneur in his own right. He built a successful home-grown brand and made Alliance Cosmetics Sdn Bhd a RM200 million enterprise when he sold a majority stake to private equity funds in 2010. That’s no small feat for someone who had to borrow money to start the business.

Tan strongly believes experience is a great teacher that budding entrepreneurs can benefit from when building their own business. Having gone through the mill, Tan wants to help other young entrepreneurs to succeed in growing a business and be able to cash in on that success — not just to line one’s pockets but to reward and repay those who helped along the way.

“Nowadays, there are a lot of young, budding entrepreneurs and many of them are investing their savings, their parents’ money and their friends’ money in start-ups.

“The problem with that is, in today’s business world, only 1 in 10 businesses survives. This is not from a lack of trying, but a lack of experience,” says Tan.

With that in mind, he shared his idea of creating an entrepreneur-mentor matching platform with The Edge Media Group CEO and publisher Ho Kay Tat and BFM Media Sdn Bhd managing director Malek Ali — it would be an avenue where those just starting out in entrepreneurship can get the edge in business with personalised mentorship, knowledge sharing and networking support from seasoned entrepreneurs.

“I was thinking, if these young entrepreneurs just had the opportunity to talk to some experienced people from the relevant industries that they want to invest in, and with sound advice from these experienced people, there will be tremendous savings in terms of time and capital.

“So I came up with this idea. And with an idea like this, you would need media support, and The Edge and BFM were the most logical choices, given their foothold in business-related media,” he says.

And The Entrepreneurs Edge Sdn Bhd was born, with The Edge holding a 40% stake, while Tan and BFM each have 30% in the company that wants to help entrepreneurs learn and grow by tapping the experience of mentors.

This is not their first business venture together. The tripartite partnership actually began in 2013, when Tan and The Edge were shareholders in BFM. Tan remains a shareholder in the independent radio station while The Edge recently divested its stake.

For The Edge, Ho says the collaboration with Tan and BFM is definitely a synergistic one.

“We have known each other for many years now, and Thiam Hock had come up with this idea. He wanted to do something for young entrepreneurs and we supported it because we saw the value in that,” says Ho.

Among the exciting events that The Entrepreneurs Edge has in store are “The Up Close and Personal” series to be held every Wednesday in April. Experienced entrepreneurs will share their experiences on their entrepreneurial journeys with the participants in the session.

Speakers for these sessions include Eco World Development Group Bhd chairman Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, who will be sharing on “Taking Flight in Malaysia and Beyond” on April 20.

Ho is kicking off the sessions on April 6, with a talk on “Management in Times of Crisis”, followed by Tan on April 13 with “Exit Strategies — When, Why and How”. Malek, whose session is titled “Survival of the Niche Player”, is scheduled for April 27.

Priced at RM53 per session, participation is on a first come, first served basis to registered members of The Entrepreneurs Edge. About 50 people can take part in each session.

The sessions will be held from 7pm to 9 pm at The Entrepreneurs Edge office in Bangsar. Members who have signed up but are unable to attend will be provided with recordings of the sessions.

“There is a one-off yearly membership fee of RM240 (before Goods and Services Tax) and members will enjoy full access to all sharing and networking events, for instance, they can choose which Up Close and Personal session they would like to attend.

“They will also be given a free annual subscription to a digital copy of The Edge Financial Daily, as well as preferred access to future BFM media events,” Tan says, adding that members of The Entrepreneurs Edge will also be exposed to mentoring opportunities with experienced entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.

“Mentoring is very important to me. When I was starting out on my entrepreneurial journey I did have a mentor, but the guidance I got from him was the old-school businessman practices, such as good business values and integrity.

“I was in the manufacturing and trading business and wished at that time that I had someone to guide me on the intricacies of business. It definitely would have helped to avoid the moments when I found myself knocking my head [when faced with a complex situation],” says Tan.

Tan, Ho and Malek are the three confirmed mentors for The Entrepreneurs Edge mentorship programme, which is an upcoming development in the company.

“How the mentorship programme will work is, for example, a particular mentor will provide four hours of mentorship, subject to his availability, to members who seek his expertise in areas in their entrepreneurial journey,” said Tan.

Another upcoming event that The Entrepreneurs Edge will be offering is a session on private equity.

“Those days in the business world, nobody built companies with the intention of selling them later, but today that mindset has changed. Nowadays, we have start-ups that are formed with the vision of selling the whole operation to a particular buyer.

“So, this session will let young entrepreneurs know what private equity firms look for when it comes to acquiring companies,” Tan says.

Ho says that the core dynamics of The Entrepreneurs Edge revolve around knowledge, the sharing of experience, advisory and networking.

“If you are a member of The Entrepreneurs Edge, you will gain experience on your entrepreneurial journey through these four methods,” said Ho.

Past events that the company has organised include a three-day digital entrepreneurship course that concluded on March 26 on “Digital Entrepreneurship: The Tsunami of Disruption”. The course was structured around nine Harvard Business School case studies about companies that had pioneered digital disruptions such as Alibaba, Amazon, Uber and Netflix.

Budding entrepreneurs who wish to know more about The Entrepreneurs Edge and offerings for members can check www.entrepreneursedge.com.my for details.

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