Mr. Boh Tuang Poh glanced at the numbers from the Q3 2008 report. He couldn’t but be pleased with the way things had turned out for his company, Asiatravel.com - a Web-based travel agency that provides reservations for accommodation, flights and tour packages, mainly for leisure travellers. For the third quarter ending in June 2008, the company had achieved a 22% year-on-year growth in hotel room reservations. In addition to an increase in profits of 38% in the first half of 2008, Asiatravel.com was gaining market share for online travel in South East Asia. Still, concerns of a slowing economy in the second half of 2008 and a slump in travel demand were sure to have an impact on Asiatravel.com’s revenues and growth plans. “Like all businesses, we are affected but fortunately about 1½ years ago, we started expanding into new destinations and new products, so it mitigates the slowdown in demand for our core destinations,” says Mr. Boh, Asiatravel.com’s founder and Executive Chairman.

The company was founded in September 1995 in Thailand. At the initial stages the portal primarily provided hotel reservation services on the Internet. Thailand’s reputation as a premier in-bound tourist destination in South East Asia made it an ideal location to launch the company. Business and product development centres, sales offices and customer service centres were soon established in Indonesia, Philippines and Hong Kong in 1996. The Singapore office of Asiatravel.com was setup in 1997. The years 1999 and 2000 saw Asiatravel.com extending its reach beyond the Asia Pacific region with offices in Australia and UAE. The far flung offices of Asiatravel.com were staffed with associates who tied up with hotels, garnering hotel reservations from a much fragmented hotel industry. With a steady stream of online customers, it had been much easier to expand into the flight booking space.

The offices spread across the Asia Pacific and Middle East region provide instant hotel confirmations and last minute reservations – factors that are critical to attract valuable customers to the website. However, the company incurs major costs staffing these offices. It was time to evaluate if higher returns could be availed from these investments. Should the company expand and include more hotels in its fold or should it rely on wholesalers to provide it the best rates as it ventures into other areas of tourism? Mr. Boh wondered whether the leisure market had been exhausted and he should concentrate on the corporate market instead. If so, how should he allocate his resources?

There was no denying that the global economic downturn towards the second half of 2008 meant that the tourism market would soften and growth taper off. Mr. Boh wondered what strategies Asiatravel.com should take to sign up more hotels.

He also realized that co-branding with white label engines was essential to the organic growth of the company. In fact, with the market slowing down, it was time to aggressively pursue such opportunities and tie up with appropriate partners in order to position Asiatravel.com as the preferred partner of choice. What kind of white label brands should the company tie up with and what would be the possible benefits of such partnerships? How could this become a competitive advantage in the long run?

As he pored over the Q3 numbers, Mr. Boh appreciated that he could barely rest on the company’s laurels. A tough year ahead called for deeper introspection of the options at hand and a set of new strategies to meet previously unknown challenges.

It was the summer of 1990 when philanthropy combined with superior business acumen came together to create a landmark business. A business that was set to change the way that ‘Direct Selling’ was perceived and implemented. Dora Hoan and Doreen Tan started with a dream of bringing the best cosmetic and wellness ingredients from around the world and distribute the products through an army of talented and motivated distributors. Even after 18 years of operation, Dora Hoan and Doreen Tan still share their office space and work hard everyday towards their vision. A vision that primarily aims to help more and more people generate sustainable income through the ‘Direct selling or Multi-level marketing’ business model.

A Management and Direct selling specialist along with a Nutritionist cum Dermatologist created history when Best world International became the first direct selling company to be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. Despite the other large scale direct selling and multi-level marketing brands, Best world International holds 6% of the regional market share. Through brands centred around their three main philosophies - Inner, Outer and Lifestyle harmony, BWI focuses on offering a range of high quality skincare and wellness products. While the company had to contend with limited operations for 12 years due to strict controls on multi-level marketing, it experienced unprecedented growth following the opening of regulatory controls by Singaporean government in 2002, launch of their product line ‘Dr’s Secret’ in 2001 and going public in 2004.

After establishing regional distribution centres in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and lifestyle centres in Vietnam and Brunei, the company recently expanded into the high potential Chinese market. Since direct selling is restricted by Chinese authorities, the company had to follow alternative routes of entering through an acquisition. Having achieved relative success, Best world International now aims to penetrate into newer Asian markets such as India, Japan, Korea and Philippines as well to establish stronger foothold in the existing spaces. It aims to become Asia’s leading brand by 2010. Given that the company was classified under “Forbes Top 200 companies Under 1 billion in Asia-pacific”, the target does not seem too ambitious.

While the health and wellness industry is looking at an aggressive growth in Asia, there are certain issues that the management team aims to resolve. On one hand there is strong competition from big companies such as Avon, Nu Skin and Amway for the market share and on the other hand, the management is also wondering about the company’s market entry and branding strategy in the new target countries. They also want to be sure if the targeted countries actually have sound growth prospects. Besides, as Best world International continues to grow bigger and become more popular amongst consumers, it needs to gain better control of its supply chain. The company also also needs to maintain effective control over its subsidiaries, to ensure effective percolation of core values, as held by the Headquarters.

One look at the BPro® device and you would think it’s just another cool watch that tells time. But this ordinary looking device is actually a revolutionary tool that uses patented technology to monitor blood pressure with unprecedented accuracy and ease. Dr. Ting, the force behind this innovation fondly looks at his brainchild and reflects on the journey of HealthSTATS.

HealthSTATS International is a privately owned company that was founded in 2000 by Dr. Ting Choon Meng and his two partners. The growing number of hypertension (high blood pressure) patients worldwide and the absence of a convenient way to monitor pressure 24 hrs a day was the trigger that led to the invention of BPro®. Today, BPro® has been approved by the US FDA, European CE Marking and China’s State Food and Drug Administration. Many other innovative products have been added to the hypertension management suite at HealthSTATS. The company has a growing presence in many countries in Asia, Europe, Middle-East and Africa.

HealthSTATS runs a service based business model through it BPro® Centers. There are 7 BPro® centers in Singapore where patients can come in and use the equipment to monitor their blood pressure and receive advice on hypertension management and control. Patients pay a fee for the service. Outside Singapore, HealthSTATS engages distributors who leverage on their network of hospitals and health clinics to provide the same services to patients.

HealthSTATS has been a pioneer in hypertension management technology. It is the only device in the world that can measure central aortic pressure through a non-invasive procedure. It is the only Singaporean company to receive a US FDA approval for its product and that too in record time of 60 days.

HealthSTATS projected revenue this year is about S$6 million. Next year, Dr. Ting expects it to grow to S$18-20 million. But he is not one to rest on his laurels. There are many thoughts that cross his mind when he thinks of the future of the company.

The company has seen reasonable growth over the years. But what will be the tipping point that will potentially cause an exponential expansion? Should the company focus on empowering the public to a stage where the patient demands the usage of BPro® and related devices? Or should HealthSTATS go even further and market it as a consumer product where the patient can just buy it from a pharmacy and self monitor? Dr. Ting is aware that a business operations model will differ between countries, complying with the regulatory laws and distribution network setup.

On a different line of thought, is the organization being too close minded in coming up with applications of the pressure monitoring technology? There could be exciting non-medical uses that will open up a whole new avenue for HealthSTATS.

Does HealthSTATS even have to think of new usages for its products? Could they just license the IP of the technology and let others come up with innovative applications?

As Dr. Ting ponders over the many possibilities of expansion, he also wonders about the financial future of the company. Should HealthSTATS enlist on the stock exchange? Should they look at possible Mergers and Acquisitions?

With all these options available, Dr. Ting wonders about the direction HeathSTATS should take and the steps that would be needed to take the idea to reality.