Taking Risk as Enterpreneurship

“The Billionaire”

The Billionaire, also known as Top Secret: Wai Roon Pan Lan is a Thai biographical
film.The Billionaire tells the story of Itthipat Kulapongvanich also known as Top and how he,
at the age of nineteen, dropped out from university to launch a packaged fried seaweed
business that is now Taokaenoi Food & Marketing and became one of Thailand's youngest
(baht) billionaires.

It started when Top made money in online gaming, where his education started to decline.
The following year, Top's parents advised him to go to university, but Top ignored them and
started a business selling Chinese-made DVD players. It turned out that Top had used the
money his parents gave him to go to university to buy Chinese-made DVD players, but the
Chinese-made DVD players were of poor quality, the sellers scammed Top, and Top tried
again to he will make money from it with online games, but his account was banned. Then
Top stole his father's amulet necklace and sold it to earn money for college. While in
university, Top never attended classes and only asked his friends to record his classes.

One day, Top visited a trade expo, he visited several booths and one of the booths was sweet
chestnuts. While visiting the sweet chestnut stand, he felt inspired and started a sweet
chestnut business and hired his uncle. He started to open a sweet chestnut stand in the mall,
but during that time they didn't get any customers at all, until finally Top talked to the mall
and asked the mall to move the sweet chestnut stand to another location. Then one day, which
was the day of Top's university exam, Top received a call from his uncle that his sweet
chestnuts had sold well. But soon after, Top got a warning from the mall, that the smoke from
his sweet chestnut machine was staining the roof of the mall. Not long after, Top knew that
his father's business was in debt, which made Top's mother and father move to China to live
with Top's siblings, but Top chose to stay in Thailand and continue his sweet chestnut
business.

After receiving a warning from the mall, Top painted over the stains from the machine's
smoke, but the painting of the stains disturbed other merchants. Top's situation began to get
worse, starting from painting the stain, which not long after that his sweet chestnut machine
began to be broken, and it turned out that he had just found out that his house was also
foreclosed by the bank.

One day, where he was hanging out with his girlfriend, he was inspired by the food that his
girlfriend brought and his girlfriend fed to him, which was seasoned seaweed and he was
thinking of starting a business. He and his uncle started to try frying seaweed, but they felt
that it was not good enough until the seaweed stock they bought was almost out of stock. One
rainy night, Top came home with the seaweed stock he had just bought with the money from
selling his computer, but he found his uncle collapsed, and took him to the hospital. This led
them to find a new way of frying seaweed that was as good as it gets, with one seaweed stock
that was wet from the rain.

From this point on, Top's seaweed business became a success. But when Top knew of his
father's 40 million baht debt that resulted in his house being sold, Top looked for a way to
turn his situation around, even though he had planned to move to China. At night, when Top
was going to 7-Eleven, he was inspired to sell his seaweed at 7-Eleven, he made an
appointment to meet the manager of 7-Eleven, but at that time the manager of 7-Eleven
denied him, because the product did not qualify to be sell at 7-Eleven. After that, Top
improved his seaweed packaging and came back to meet the manager of 7-eleven, but he
could not meet the manager because the manager was busy. Therefore, Top wanted to go
back, but while in the lift, Top left his seaweed product with the new packaging and gave it to
the security who was on the lift. Some of the people who came up the lift misfocused on the
seaweed product and took it until there was only one seaweed product left. When the
manager of 7-Eleven was leaving for a meeting and went into the lift, she saw the seaweed
product. The next day she held a meeting with the top and some other employees to say that
they agreed that the top seaweed product was sold, and that there would be factory
inspections and other procedures.

Top tried to get a loan from the bank, telling them all about the situation, but the bank refused
because Top was not of age enough, and the fact that Top's parents still had debts with the
bank. Top was almost desperate, and was considering his plan to move to China. When Top
went to the place where he pawned his father's amulet, he was kicked out and threatened with
a gun. After that, Top decided to continue his business and set up a factory, from a warehouse
that had not been used for a long time. During the factory inspection conducted by the person
in charge of 7-Eleven and one person from GMP, there were some problems, but Top was
able to overcome them and the factory passed the inspection, and Top made the first shipment
to sell at 7-Eleven.

Since then, Top finally called his parents and said that his parents could come back. In the 2
years of working with 7-eleven, Top was able to pay off his parents' debt of 40 million baht
and was able to move back home with his parents. Today Top has 2,500 employees, supplies
its products to 6,000 7-eleven branches, and exports its seaweed products to 27 countries
around the world. Top has a seaweed plantation in South Korea. Revenue in 2010 was 1500
million baht.

Based on the film, Top can utilize its business resources for production by doing Resources
Used. By analyzing Resources Used for the production process, such as Production Process,
Production Management, HR (Human Resources), Materials, Other Materials, Work Station,
Assembly Line. First, production process by identifying Resources Utilitize. Resources
Utilitize by analyzing the specific type of employees needed. Consider whether skilled or
unskilled labor is necessary based on your production requirements. Strive to strike a balance
between labor requirements and production needs, this stage called Human Resources (HR).
Efficiently manage your raw materials, you can also minimize waste by optimizing material
usage, this stage called Materials. Choose suitable facilities based on your production
requirements. Whether it’s factories or offices, ensure they meet your operational needs.
Invest in reliable machinery and technology. Well-maintained equipment enhances
productivity and reduces downtime, this stage called Others. Plan These are specific areas
where employees perform tasks. Each workstation may involve machinery, equipment, and
human resources. Organizing workstations efficiently ensures smooth production, this called
Work Station. In some cases, a sequence of workstations is used, by arranging these steps in
a logical order streamlines the process, this stage called Assembly Line. Continuous
Improvement is also needed.

In started a business, Top should estabilish a production site by consider several critical
factors that fall into three main categories: Cost, Access, and Sources. The first one is Cost.
Workplace Cost is the expense of purchasing or renting office space can significantly differ
across locations. So, when you will start a business and looking for a workplace, you should
consider about the locations, and how much is the cost of that place. Labor Cost is vary
greatly among locations. So, you can analyzing the specific type of employees needed.
Consider whether skilled or unskilled labor is necessary based on your production
requirements. Strive to strike a balance between labor requirements and production needs.
The second one is Access. Tax Incentives: Local governments often offer tax credits to
attract businesses. Transportation Access: Consider proximity to major transportation hubs.
So if, your place is near from major transportation hub it might be easier for company. The
last one is Sources. Demand Source means companies often locate near their customer base.
Because being closer to you customers can reduce the transpotation cost for the customers,
and they might buy frequently. Labor Supply means some industries require specialized
labor. High-tech firms, for example, often position themselves near major research
universities to tap into a steady supply of qualified employees.

After that, you should evaluating potential sites for a production involves: Identify, Weigh,
Evaluate. First one is Identify, by consider all factors that may impact the desirability of each
site. Location within a city matters it might be strategic place for your production. Second
one is Weigh, you need to weigh each of the factors to reflect their importance. Last one is
Evaluate, the factors that you have identified, assigned weights, and now that factors should
be evaluated. Comparing for each location by combining these evaluations. And then, the
overall scores helps you determine which location is the best site of your production site.

Before Top thought of selling his products at 7-Eleven, he did not have a definite design and
layout for his production. But he did the design and layout while he want to build a factory.
Top must know how the size and structure of the warehouse will be used. Cause he have
determine the size and structure for his plant. Next, he consider about the cost for renovate
that, so he renovating his warehouse with his uncle and some employee for his plant. Top
designs and layouts equipment and machinery based on the type of production process used.
Although during inspections the obstacle found was the improper placement of channels, Top
was able to overcome it. He has also arranged a product layout which is a layout where tasks
are positioned according to their assigned order. Top have set up the fixed-position layout
which is employees go to the position of the product, rather than waiting for the product to
come to them. For the Flexible manufacturing which means a production process that can be
easily adjusted to accommodate future revisions have been applied by Top so that his
business can be successful.

Plant for growth which means companies need to plan for growth when choosing design and
layout by doing Production Capacity, Hotelling. Production Capacity is planning for the
maximum possible level of production. Most companies try to plan for growth by providing
flexibility to increase production capacity over time. Hotelling is providing employees. Based
on the film, Top has been trying to grow its business by finding ways or things that make its
products better known to many people. Thinking about making his product an item sold in 7-
Eleven is one way Top has tried to grow his business. With various efforts he made starting
from making an appointment with the person in charge of 7-eleven to meet, and when he met
his product was rejected because it did not meet 7-eleven's sales criteria. Then Top changed
the product packaging and tried again to meet the person in charge of 7-eleven. Until finally
7-eleven agreed to it. Top's efforts in creating a factory for his product where he renovated a
warehouse that had not been used for a long time, until finally his product could be sold at 7-
eleven was a form of effort that Top did to grow his business.

Production control is a process that involves managing and controlling all aspects of a
manufacturer’s production and operation, including purchasing materials, inventory control,
routing, scheduling, and quality control 123. The purpose of production control is to balance
the output of a facility to guarantee that the specifications of the products being produced are
met. It does this by applying specific actions and making insightful decisions to predict, plan,
and schedule work. Some of the activities that are regulated in production control include
labor, the availability of materials, and any restrictions on capacity and cost.

Based on the movie, Top has done production control, by managing and controlling
production and operations, including purchasing materials. It shows when he knew that the
seaweed stock was running out and he immediately bought it with the money from selling his
computer. Managing and controlling the operation can be shown when Top runs out from his
exam in his university while his uncle calls him, and tells him that his some of the products
have been sold.

Inventory control is the process of ensuring that appropriate amounts of stock are maintained
by a business, so as to be able to meet customer demand without delay while keeping the
costs associated with holding stock to a minimum. It involves managing three types of
inventory: materials inventory, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods inventory.

Quality control in a product is process of determining whether the quality of a product meets
the desired quality level. There are three ways to ensure quality control: Technology,
Employees, Sampling, and Complaints. By doing that it isn’t only to detect quality
deficiencies but also to correct them.
Production Efficiency is the ability to produce products at a low cost. This type of efficiency
is important for all types of companies. By doing a few things, Top can ensure that the
production efficiency of its business is achieved. First, Supply Chain is the process from the
beginning of the production process until the product reaches the customer. So, Top must
analyze how the production process from the beginning until the product reaches the
customer. Second, Site ID is how manufacturers choose production locations. Third,
Employees is recruiting employees based on employee needs and skills. Fourth, Assembly is
assigning them to the assembly line. Fifth, Machinery is the machinery and equipment placed
along the assembly line for production. This means that Top must be able to select and
purchase tools or equipment that have been used for a long time. Sixth, Materials are
materials delivered to various parts of the assembly line for production. Seventh, Inventory is
a sufficient supply of materials ordered to accommodate scheduled production. Eighth,
Schedule is tasks are then scheduled so that sufficient time is allocated to each worker. This
means that Top must be able to organize or make plans such as schedules for its production.
Ninth, Quality is when the quality control process takes place at different stations along the
assembly line to ensure that each part is completed to standard.

We conclude from the movie that Itthipat Kulapongvanich as known as Top started a
business at a young age, starting with making money from online games, then he sold
Chinese-made DVD players. While selling Chinese-made DVD players, the seller scammed
him. Top tried again to he will make money from it with online games, but his account was
banned. He became successful by selling fried seaweed products. Before he succeeded, he
faced lots of ups and downs in his business, it's not just business problems that he faced it but
family problems too, but he never gave up, he always tried and thought about what business
he could do and develop so that he could make money. In addition, he also dared to take risks
in every business he ran. He always tries every opportunity he can take, I can say sometimes
Top is clumsy in making decisions, but it turned out that he dared to take the risk, just like
minimizing the negative risk and maximizing the positive risk. One of the risks he took and
had to accept was being dropped out of university. But with that, he still tried to prove that he
could succeed, and he did it. At the end of the movie, he was finally able to prove it, and
make his parents proud, of course it also turned their family conditions around.

By: Amanda Naomi

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