Hi. Today what I’m posting is to present you, in such a situation of domestic consumption slowdown, who are quite in despair with thought-provoking sentiment in order to be able to effectively deal with any of impediments laying ahead of in the coming year.

          Hereunder is the sampler story of young Thai business woman who had been weathered unperturbedly in the storm of economic crunch 10 years ago. The story is written by Khun Chadamas Chinmaneevong – Bangkok Post, Business Section dated on Tuesday November 20, 2007.  Let's begin.

          Determination to work, courage to take up challenges and an ability to capitalize on opportunities has helped Sanongnuch Charnvirakul transform herself from an employee to a successful entrepreneur.

          “If we want to grow, we must compete with ourselves and keep improving. We must work hard and even harder in times of crisis,” says the owner of the gift delivery firm Stacey.

          Ms Sanongnuch, 39, established Stacey with registered capital of nine million baht in 1993 after resigning from Coca-Cola (Thailand). “I learned a lot from Coca-Cola. Although it was a good job, I think being a business owner is better than an employee,” she said.

          A political science graduate of Thammasat University, she had worked for Coca-Cola for two years before a friend proposed the gift-delivery idea.

          In its first year, the company had only one major customer and generated revenue of only six million baht, but she didn’t lose heart. At the time, gift delivery was not popular but Ms Sanongnuch was confident her business would grow with changing urban lifestyles.

          She said that building customer confidence was the most important part of her business because customers do not see the gifts they order. “I give priority to credit because customer confidence can be easily ruined.”

          However, the road has not always been smooth. When the 1997 economic crisis erupted, Ms Sanongnuch had to act as the company’s salesperson. Business growth plunged from 15% to only 2% a year because most customers worked for finance companies.

          By 2000 the outlook was improving. However, personnel quality and lack of creativity were still problems. The company needs workers who have a good attitude and are ready to work hard. They should know how to make a gift impressive to a recipient.

          Today, the quality of Stacey’s gifts has made more than 20% of recipients into customers, she said. Ms Sanongnuch always discusses problems with her staff and explains to them that if they help solve problems, both the company and staff will enjoy better returns.

          She believes the creative gift idea market has room to grow because there are only two or three players in the market, so the company plans to expand through franchises in about three years, possibly in Chiang Mai, Chon Buri and Phuket. This year, she expects the company to generate revenue of 50 million baht, up from 40 million last year. 

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