While I have invested considerable effort in developing these ideas. Neither business idea is my main pursuit currently.
That being said, in thinking about these ideas, I believe I have developed several skills, mainly:
An entrepreneurial mindset, especially since most of these ideas were developed more extensively during the pandemic.
Courage in the face of uncertainty.
Go-to-market skills.
Research skills.
Product development skills, including experience design and thinking about the customer journey.
Profiling for the customer, market, and potential partners.
Positioning and messaging.
Risk assessment and risk management.
Antifragility, or getting better because of challenges.
Speaking skills.
Networking skills.
Cultural skills as I am always learning about how different cultures do business, including the Kiwi way of doing business.
The brainchild of my Dad, Felix Kuek. I worked with him to fine-tune the offering.
I researched platform businesses, platform play, and the economics of platforms.
I developed an understanding of and applied platform thinking.
I explored ideas such as antifragility, different business models and pricing strategies, and familiarised myself with technical terms.
I identified potential partners, formulated a positioning for the business idea, and held meetings with the potential partners.
Risk assessment: It is and has been difficult to find the right partners that share the vision, has the skills we need, and is willing to take on equity (we are bootstrapping).
This is a long-term project and one that requires the right partners that are in it for the journey.
I had co-developed these with my Dad, Felix Kuek. We have market validation in the Malaysian market. In 2020, we had plans to bring this educational programme to the NZ market.
I mapped out all the critical components of the programme and business model, including unique value proposition, customer value proposition, etc.
I reached out to NZ organisations I identified as being potential partners and held meetings with them. From these meetings, we have market validation in NZ as well.
Expansion plans are shelved for the time being.
This business idea is a unique vertical in edu-tourism.
I used mind-mapping extensively and applied design thinking to product design and business design.
I researched the target markets and profiled the markets, customers, and potential partners.
I identified the potential partners.
Risk assessment: The pandemic. This business idea was designed for a post-pandemic economy.
I have always had an interest in food and coffee.
My cafe idea would be unique in Dunedin and even NZ.
Risk assessment: Viability is currently low as logistics costs are high and the disruptions to business brought on by lockdowns may not be conducive to the growth of a young cafe business.