Dear Tauke Huda,

Firstly, it’s an honour to write this letter to you as I have gained wonderful insight from your talk. From the start to the end of your talk, only one word has been on my mind to describe you which is a lion. It’s strong, resilient, and courageous. I noticed how you would light up talking about your artwork, how passionate you are about your business. Not a lot of people would have the courage to start, for example myself, who has dreamt of starting one but very doubtful of it. When you said you really resonate with the quote “Just do it”, yes, I find myself really looking up to you because not everyone can have that mindset but you also reminded me that you are a human being who has demotivations. The difference is that you didn't back down. When the lockdown started which has cost you your workshop, you really got up and ‘Just do it” and found another way. I admire that since not everyone can survive in the art industry but then again like you said, “There’s creativity in everyone” which resonates with me as I don’t have to give up my plan of starting a business but I can still create art as an outlet for myself because I love art. Your talk is very beneficial and those who want to start a business in the art industry are very lucky to gain these insights from you. Thank you again!

Dear Tauke Hui Ming,

I was listening to your tauke talk and I was intrigued to learn that you were actually an actuary before starting Fatbaby! It amazes me that even without any “professional” experience in the FnB industry, you weren’t discouraged and still managed to become a successful entrepreneur winning over the hearts of the public with the power of ice cream and now sharing your story with us.

It’s admirable that you chase the feeling that “there was something more to life” and wasn’t the type to settle for less. At the same time you faced it in a practical manner by making sure that you already had stable savings and didn’t go into a competitive business (i.e the bakery business), which I think is quite a smart way of taking risks!

After listening to your talk, I’ve learnt that getting help from others is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. This is because we are admitting to what we lack and making ourselves vulnerable. In the end I inferred that we are our biggest enemy and once we overcome ourselves, our insecurities, we are unstoppable. I also learnt about the importance of adaptability as an entrepreneur from when you had to turn to starting an ice cream shop instead of a bakery and starting an online platform for fatbaby for the first time in the face of the pandemic. Thank you for sharing your inspiring story and kudos to you for taking that first brave step!

Dear Tauke Alifdin,

Kopilah inspire me to start my own business in the future since me myself is a coffee lover too. The minimalist and aesthetic concept picked as the bottle design attracts people to buy it. Furthermore, the light and medium-sized bottles make them easy to carry. I wish that your business will spread widely and be well known all over Malaysia.

Dear Tauke Najwa,

It’s quite a pleasure learning about your entrepreneurship journey through Tauke Talks! I share your love for colours, creating and innovating, not to mention that I’m also an introvert haha :) I really admire how innovative you are, and the fact that you’re able to find your own niche in yarn dyeing and showcase the love in what you’re doing is truly an inspiration to me. Also, it was your business that really opened my eyes towards the world of yarn dyeing ♡ I’m also in the midst of looking for my own niche, and stumbling upon small businesses like yours allows me to be more confident that I’ll eventually find my own! Something that I also love from the entire conversation was that you mentioned how we should help others even if we couldn’t do it for ourselves, and this sweet piece of advice would probably stick with me wherever I go ♡ And with that, I wish you all the best and I’m thrilled to see your lovely business grow! :)

Dear Tauke Kitty,

Your spirit of stepping out of the comfort zone undoubtedly moved me. From the first idea of a bakery to a wreath and decor business, this unconventional process made me learn that we should be open and adapt to circumstances. On top of that, your will of constant learning regardless of age, life stage, and challenges of it is also an attitude I want to improve myself. It is because, as you have said, starting a business is easy, but to last it is difficult. I believe that only the unceasing learning can keep our business moving forward. Your advice of “do not rush, do it well, it’s worth the effort” is also truthfully useful to me as I easily felt desperate when I was trying to run my little business a few months ago. Lastly, I hope your business goes well and successfully introduces your products to more people.

Dear Tauke Adi,

Listening to your tauke talk session got me realizing a whole lot of new things and it has inspired me in a variety of ways. The introduction to your company has already got me thinking about how fantastic you guys are as an entrepreneur. A husband and wife team that are self-taught woodworkers and have been doing so since 2015.

In case you guys didn't know how fantastic you guys are, let me tell you; you guys are awesome. Your business's growth is something I admire, both of you started with the most basic abilities, but your drive has taken you to where you are today, and it never ceases to surprise me how you guys learn everything on your own. Both of you are incredibly courageous; you have been through a lot of problems, both physically and mentally, and yet you continue to go through the trial and error process in order to overcome the difficulties. Your sharing session taught me a lot.

When you stated, "get out and see what works for you, not everything is going to work in your favor," it helped me get back on my feet. I realized that instead of settling for something and being irritated when issues arise, I should explore more, find, and try other approaches. I can't express how grateful I am in words, but thank you for the wonderful sharing. I wish you tremendous achievement with your business!

Kind regards,

Huda

Dear Tauke Fya,

for someone who’s wanting to start their own sort of business online, I feel you’ve provided some key points that can help people like me on this journey. I’m going to start by saying, the way you seem to just know how to research and improve is something I feel everyone should look up to. All of us can use this openness to correction. And I would like to have such a knack for knowing where to look to improve. Before this, I’ve felt down from not reaching a goal before. Hearing you talk about the early stages in Hakoneko not being successful, and how instead of giving up, you continued working on it, really lets me know that failure doesn’t mean something will just not work out, it just means we have to keep going. I’ve also had worries about carrying out a side job all by myself alongside my fulltime education, mostly to do with time management. But in your session you’ve proven that it is very much doable to pursue my ambition and hobby. Lastly, thank you for stressing on the importance of having enough rest. It’s very easy to feel like you’re being unproductive if you’re not doing anything, so thank you for reminding me to take time to charge up and not stress myself in my work. It’s comforting to know that mental health is something that you prioritise and I’m reassured that mine is important too. Thank you!

Dear Tauke Azyrin,

Saya cukup terinspirasi dengan kisah anda yang merupakan usahawan dalam masa yang sama juga merupakan seorang pelajar dalam bidang Diploma in Marketing. Saya berasa kagum apabila anda berkongsi tentang bagaiman anda berusaha untuk keluar dari zon selesa anda untuk berjumpa dengan orang yang tidak dikenali dan baharu untuk mendapatkan kenalan bagi mempromosikan jualan anda. Selain itu, saya juga merasa kagum semasa anda menceritakan bagaimana anda cuba untuk mengekalkan jualan anda walaupun dalam musim pandemik yang mampu mengancam nyawa.nasihat anda tentang pengurusan masa juga sangat membantu utnuk saya kerana saya merupakan seorang pelajar yang akan menduduki SPM pada tahun hadapan. Disebabkan nasihat anda saya lebih bersemangat untuk membuat sesuatu kerja kerana pengurusan masa telah menjadi lebih teratur.

Terima kasih Tauke. Dan saya harap perniagaan Tauke berjalan lancar dan lebih dikenali oleh ramai orang. Saya doakan Tauke supaya selamat dan dilindungi daripada virus korona.

From,

Zarith Azrai

Dear Tauke Alifdin,

How is your business going? I hope everything are great. I watched your Tauke Talk series, and I would say that I love your spirit of not giving up easily in business. I also experienced it where I tried various businesses, but none turned out to be a successful business for me. Even just as a dropship, but I felt sad and down but tried to not give up. Just like what you did :). That was a great inspiration for me. We all know that to succeed, we have to fail and if we fail, don't give up so quickly. Instead, try to find ways to solve the problem that makes us fail.

Another thing that I learned is when there is no one support us including our family, we are the one who need to support ourselves and show the result that we can survive in the business world. I believe every business owner will have challenges on capital and support, but what matters is how we overcome it and I know that no one start from the top, everyone start from zero. The criteria that you covered really inspired me where as entrepreneurs, we need to be brave to take risk and take the opportunity that we see before others grab it. You inspired by someone in Indonesia to start your own coffee shop, and I inspired from you to start my own cafe in the future!

Stay safe and I wish all the best for your business.

Dear Tauke Dayana,

I have never met a person like you, who is in love with Batik design so much until it made you being a successful entrepreneur. However, I'm not really into a business field. I don't even know how business works. But, in some case, your advices gave me a whole heap of something new when you say do what you love, love what you do. Motivations come from satisfaction as well as fun and joy from our work.

I'm definitely going to lock your words inside my heart and I'm grateful for that. It's very useful for my passion in art. I afraid art won't bring me a successful life, but your speech against me. The most important thing is to make myself satisfy with my job.

Besides, your inspiration story is very creative. It taught me to look on the other perspectives and be more observant. Also, I need to take opportunities that appear in my life, right? Just like what you did.

I watched 3 videos of Tauke Talks but I chose you, because I like batik and I wear them everyday, it's very comfortable. Also, it's because you look like my history teacher, Cikgu Esrose. She has a similar spectacle too! Hmm, I wonder if you're related to her.

Okay, I think it's my stop now. Glad that I met you and I hope you're having a great day ahead! Thank you for reading, Tauke!

Warm hugs,

Alwani Wardah