1.

0 BUSINESS DESCRIPTION

1.1 Background of the Entrepreneur

Lee Thiam Wah, born in 1954, grew up in a family of fourteen siblings. His father was a
construction worker, and his mother was a hawker who worked for the family for days and
nights. Although Mr. Lee was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, his family was
happy with their lives, and he lived happily in his youth. Unfortunately, Mr Lee had a serious
case of polio after suffering from a high fever., which caused him to be paralysed when he
was just eight months old. The supportive family never lost hope and tried everything they
could to recover him, also with strong financial support and moral support from his
grandparents and relatives, Mr. Lee was even taken to Guangzhou, China for traditional
acupuncture treatment. However, there were no positive changes in his physical condition.
He was confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life, and was only able to attend
school until Standard Six, as it was difficult for him to move.

His beloved family accepted his suffering with a positive mind. Although he's paralyzed,
that doesn't mean he can't live normally. He declares his wheelchair to be his legs. Mr.
Lee wanted to end his education just before he began his high school because of his long-
distance to school. He was such a decent guy, so he didn't want to bother his family with
sending him to school. Even though he was equipped with just six years of primary
education, Mr. Lee never stopped studying, he studied at home on his own and began to
plan his life-long goal of starting his own business. This hardworking man started in
business selling snacks by the roadside when he was young. Ultimately, at the age of 23,
he saved RM17,000 to start a sundry shop, which began his career in the retail industry.
Since then, he has gained his own income and steadily raised funds for his business plan.

Finally, together with Mr. Lee's deep dedication and high focus, he created his first grocery
just at the age of 23. Throughout that time, he was a risk-taking that wanted to turn the
traditional grocery store into a modern grocery store that provides consumers with new
buying experience, such as a cleaner area, a reasonable price, and a good quality of
products and services.
2.2 Background of the Business.

2.2.1 Business Profile

Company Head Office.

Name: 99 SPEED MART SDN BHD (519537-X)

Address: Lot PT 2811, Jalan Angsa,

Taman Berkeley, 41150 Klang,

Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

Telephone Number: 603 3362 6863

Email: customer_service@99speedmart.com.my

2.2.2 History of The Business

Being such a thrifty man, he saved as much money as he could from his business selling
snacks, and eventually, in 1987 he had enough money to open his first shop known as
Pasar Raya Hiap Hoe in Tepi Sungai, Klang. His business was well-known for its excellent
customer service, fair price, and range of products. After 5 years in the business, he chose
to sell his grocery shop to a relative. Reportedly, Mr Lee sold his first shop for RM88,000.
Therefore Mr. Lee was able to build his first mini-mart using the profit gain from the store
that had been sold to his relative. That was the beginning of his empire. His first mini-mart
was named as the '99 mini-market,' and established in 1992 in Klang Utama, Selangor.
Because of absolute hard work and dedication, Mr. Lee successfully extended ’99 mini-
market’ to eight other Klang outlets in 1998.

However, during that time he was risk-taking to turn the traditional grocery store into a
modern grocery store that provides consumers with a new shopping experience. The most
important mission is Mr. Lee wanted to provide customers with an affordable price for his
products. Turn of the century 2000, Mr. Lee sought to rebrand ‘99 mini-market’ by pursuing
an intensive growth strategy to help the chain boost sales volume and market share.
Subsequently, the company renamed from ‘99 Mini Market’ to '99 Speedmart' and
changed the colour of the logo to the new orange and green. The well-known 99
Speedmart brand was launched with the opening of a new store in Batu Belah, Klang.
The number 99 appears as the name of the company, as it signifies nothing is perfect in
this universe, but they will do their ability to be almost perfect (99 percent). Besides,
number 99 also motivates Mr. Lee to work much harder, as there are still spaces for further
improvement. Mr. Lee also successfully set up his first head office and service centre in
October 2002 for RM6.5 million. The two-year initiative to improve 99 Speedmart concepts
gained great improvement in customer traffic volume and new store openings. As a result,
this achievement persuaded Mr. Lee that a new mega-chain of 99 Speedmart mini markets
was ready and willing to take off. So, in 2003 all the 99 Mini market were renamed as 99
Speedmart.

After 6 years of rebranding, 99 Speedmart got its first Consumer Choice Award from the
Ministry of Domestic Trade, Malaysia. This accomplishment gives evidence to the 99
Speedmart slogan of Near n 'Save. In addition, the second Distribution Center was formed
at the end of 2007 and completed by July 2008. It was built to allow the chain to extend its
network of mini-markets across the country to attract more consumers while constantly
launching new and creative products and services. After that, on 1 November 2008, 99
Speedmart introduced its 100th outlet in the Pinggiran Batu Caves, and on 28 December
2013, 99 Speedmart released its 500th outlet in Telipok Ria, Kota Kinabalu.

More goals were done in 2013, such as 99 Speedmart’s Sabah Branch Office and the 4th
Distribution Center of Speedmart also have been opened in August 2013. This is the first
development of 99 Speedmart to East Malaysia. In addition, their first Regional
Headquarters and Distribution Center in East Malaysia began operations in September
2015. Situated in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, this distribution centre allows the expansion of 99
new Speedmart outlets across the country. After a couple of years, 99 Speedmart was
founded in Malaysia. In the end, on 12 August 2017 99 Speedmart introduced its 1,000th
outlet at Shah Alam Sek 13, Selangor. This achievement shows that 99 speedmart is
growing rapidly throughout Malaysia.
2.0 PERSONAL ENTREPENUER COMPETENCIES

2.1 Self-Confidence

Mr. Lee Thiam Wah, the owner of 99 Speedmart has a strong belief in self and own
abilities. Even though he is a disabled person, this did not dissuade Mr. Lee and his
disability did not affect his life's spirit for success. This King of Mini Marts always managed
to develop his empire with his hard-earned savings and never gave up on his business
despite having his physical challenges. For example, with a high of self-confidence, he
successfully started in business selling snacks by the roadside when he was young.
Ultimately, at the age of 23, he saved RM17,000 to start a sundry shop, which began his
career in the retail industry. This man was never ashamed of his disability, but take this as
a spirit burner to help his family as his family give him a lot of financial support for his
disease treatment. In short, Lee is firm with the principle of his life, "The Only Limit Is
You" these words are one of the reasons for his success to launch more than 1000th
99 Speedmart’s outlet.

2.2 Sees and acts on opportunities

On the other hand, Mr. Lee Thiam Wah can be known as a person who sees and acts on
opportunity. Mr Lee chosen the number 99 because it means that even though we're not
perfect, there is still space for us to develop. The confidentiality of 99 Speedmart's
convenience is related to strategic positioning to ensure that it is available almost
anywhere. So, he takes this opportunity to expand more 99 Speedmart’s outlet throughout
West and East Malaysia. Each outlet is located in most of the community centres. 'Near n
Save' idea saves precious time for customers just by getting the products from their closest
99 Speedmart. The stores are typically situated in commercial centres in the residential
neighborhood and are convenient to shop. Mr. Lee also target 99 Speedmarts is create in
residential areas because it can facilitate and save customers time to buy goods. Today's
people prefer to shop at a nearby store than at a supermarket. 99 Speedmart is the best
location compared to supermarkets like Tesco, giant, Jusco and more. This is because
the location is far away from the house area. Mr Lee Thiam Wah aims to increase to more
than 2,000 outlets in three to five years, but he seeks to launch 99 Speedmart in every
corner of Malaysia before spreading globally.
2.3 Concern for High Quality of Work

Next, Mr. Lee has showed that high quality of work and dedication is the secret to success.
Even though he was faced with the most difficult challenges and conflicts, he was still
optimistic and tried to conduct business most ethically, maintaining trust and honesty
among his outlets and suppliers. This attitude shows that Mr Lee very emphasizing the
quality of his work by not mixing his problems in his business. Mr Lee also has never
missed his weekly outlets visit or daily company operation with his management team.
This visit to ensure that management teams and his workers always give the best of
service and the better quality of products. His motivational advice to his workers and
friends:” Strive for perfection (99 marks), but knowing there is always room for
improvement.”

3.4 Problem Solving

Lastly, problem-solving is one of the most critical elements of entrepreneurship for

achieving goals. Therefore, Mr lee is someone who can overcome the upcoming problems.
As evidence, in the 1990s Klang Valley was rapidly expanding the establishment of a new
model for retail grocery stores such as supermarkets. A number of giant shopping centres
such as Yao Han, The Mall, Lot 10, Sogo, Sungei Wang, and Subang Parade were built
during that period. During the same time, the hypermarket business model also penetrated
Malaysia's grocery retail business. Makro and Carrefour were pioneers in Malaysia,
closely followed by Giant, Econsave, Tesco and Jusco. These revolutions have had a
major impact on mini-marts, traditional grocery stores, and convenience stores.
Supermarkets and hypermarkets will give customers better options in terms of selection
of food and non-food items in a single shop centre. 99 Speed Mart Sdn Bhd argued that
in order to resolve these problems, 'we aspire to provide customers with an 'ideal shopping
experience' that combines time and money saving elements.' The slogan "NEAR' n SAVE"
is therefore created to represent the unique value and at lower price to the consumer. The
pricing strategies allow customers to enjoy low prices and make consumers believe that it
is fair to buy a daily use product at 99Speedmart. Almost every single product in 99
Speedmart is cheaper compared to their competitors like Tesco, Giant, Carrefour, Jusco
and others. Lastly, according to one of inside articles, the owner is given tax benefits due
to his condition as a person with a disability. Mr Lee did not take advantage of his tax
benefits, in fact he helps customers with the lower price of his products.