Buddhist principles behind success of project

"Luckily, before I began doing business, I had been in and out of Suan Mokkh and Wat Chonprathan Rangsarit for three to four years. From there, I learnt a Buddhist way of doing business from Buddhadasa Bhikkhu [the late, revered monk who founded Suan Mokkh]. His method involved producing a lot, consuming just enough and helping others" Bathroom Design president and founder Wacharamongkon Benjathanachat said.

He said Buddhadasa Bhikkhu's teachings to business people to consume "just the right" amount is similar to His Majesty the King's sufficient-economy philosophy.

"Buddhadasa preached that sun-dod brings splendid luck. Sun-dod means being satisfied with what we have. It is similar to 'self-sufficiency', which is to manage your financial ratios well. Don't be greedy.

"We were hit by the currency depreciation, but we had no bad debt at all because we didn't sell our products to projects. We sold only through big dealers, such as Home Pro, Siam Cement and Grand HomeMart," Wacharamongkon said.

True awakening

The economic turmoil made Wacharamongkon realise business could not be sustained by depending on other's brands. "We saw when demand shrunk and there were problems, most foreign brands took over the business from their local distributors, despite having been partners for decades. As local distributors, people had also been under pressure from the brand owners who set never-ending sales targets every year," he said.

Hence, Wacharamongkon set up a research-and-development team and began seeking local suppliers to build Bathroom Design's shower enclosures. He also studied how to execute forward contracts.

A year or two later, Bathroom introduced acrylic shower shelves to the local market, which became a big hit fast.

"We saw the bathrooms of the rich. They had lots of items, not much choice and poorly designed aluminium shelves. So, I hired students from the Architecture Faculty at Chulalongkorn University to design the acrylic shelves," he said.

In 2001, Wacharamongkon again felt doubts about the sustainability of his business, as subcontract manufacturers copied Bathroom's products to sell under their brand's name, and there were many such copycats. Bathroom design lived through it all, but invested in its own factory.

The company recruited its first electronics engineer in 2004, which led to the development of many hi-tech bathtubs later on.