Best World International's just-released 2015 annual report has interesting insights into its business. We excerpt the following from the message of the Co-Chairmen (Dora Hoan and Doreen Tan).
| ♦ TAIWAN & CHINA |
 Since 2013, we have placed extra emphasis on training our distributors in Taiwan, to prepare them for our long-term growth plans for the Taiwan and China markets. Our Taipei centre, which was opened in 2014, have since grown to account for 15% of the Group’s overall sales in 2015. To cater to this growth, we have not only expanded our Taichung HQ in 2015 but have also opened a new centre in Kaohsiung, all in a new refreshing concept and design. In the annual ranking survey conducted by the Fair Trade Commission of the Republic of China (中华民国公平交易 委员会), the results we achieved will rank us among the Top 15 Direct Selling companies in Taiwan. While we continue to grow in Taiwan in this financial year, we will also leverage on the experience we have gained in the market and emulate the success in our existing and new markets. In FY2015, our business in China grew by 52.3%, as demand for our product lines continues to build. Barring unforeseen circumstances, we believe our license could be approved in the next 12 to 16 months, upon which, we will convert our agent and its network of beauty salon owners into our network distributors, marking another significant growth phase of our business in China. |
| ♦ INDONESIA |
Photo: www.omucu.com/
Apart from Taiwan and China, we have also been implementing marketing strategies across our existing markets, notwithstanding the challenges we are facing in some of them.
Red tape on imports, cancellation of certain product licenses and the devaluation of rupiah resulted in our Indonesia market taking a severe hit back in the financial crisis of 2009. During the period that follows, we diligently applied for new product licenses and attracted new distributors.
We are pleased that these strategies are gaining traction as we begin to witness positive results. Amidst the backdrop of a stabilizing rupiah, we are cautiously optimistic that the Indonesia market will continue to grow in the latest financial year.
| ♦ MALAYSIA |
 Negative political climate, a depreciating ringgit and the introduction of GST are some of the challenges our new management in our Malaysia subsidiary faced in 2015. Notwithstanding, we still managed an improvement in our results for the financial year. This is attributable to a price increase to mitigate the weaker ringgit and the approval of Halal certification for 10 of our products, enabling us to penetrate the Muslim market which we previously could not. Moving forward, we believe the new management is on track to upend the downward trend of the Malaysian market, especially when the ringgit stabilizes. |
Planning for the Future
Looking ahead, our main focus is to continue our efforts in developing the China market. While awaiting the approval of our direct selling license, we are picking up the pace of training our Taiwanese distributors to be ready to engage the network distributors there.
On top of that, as shopping behaviours evolve and online shopping is gaining traction by the day, we will also be implementing a B2B platform and digital marketing campaign to further our wholesale/manufacturing business in FY2016. Upon successful implementation, these platforms could cross over to support also our core business of direct selling in existing markets and even new markets.
| ♦ DUBAI --> Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait |
Best World is setting up a regional centre in Dubai.
Photo: www.tripadvisor.com On the subject of new markets, we are currently preparing to set up our Dubai Regional Centre (RC). Through the sale of our Halal certified products, we plan to use the Dubai RC to springboard into other GCC markets of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait, in the next 2 to 3 years.
In line with our strategy to tap into the value chain of upstream manufacturing activities, to take control of product quality and to cater to the high demand from the growing China and Taiwan markets in the coming years, we are in preparation to set up a state-of-art skincare manufacturing facility in Tuas.
Slated for completion next year, this centralized manufacturing facility will enable us to achieve higher economy of scale, contribute to cost savings in freight charges and possibly improve our gross margins.
Other than organically expanding our business, we are also keeping a lookout for possible M&As and JV opportunities with businesses that could offer products and services which complement with our core business, as a strategy to access new markets. In the near term, we expect more currency fluctuations and will monitor closely the possible forex risks that the Group is exposed to.
See also: BEST WORLD: 10 takeaways from FY15 results briefing
