Mantras for success from

Vicha Poolvaraluck, ranked as the 22nd richest person in Thailand by the Forbes magazine, talked about how he has managed to run and expand successful businesses, including the Major Cineplex Group, Thailand's largest cinema operator. He was talking to associate professor Pasu Decharin at a seminar organised last Thursday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Chula Business School.

How has the journey been for you so far?

When we started, the cinema market was dominated by foreign company EGV. Our strength has been in our understanding of the Thai lifestyle. The foreigners brought in the models they had used overseas. Their theatres were designed with sloping floors and no stairs. They used black seats. However, we decided to use creativity to fight the foreign competition. We made all theatres different, more colourful and invested in interior decoration. Thais have good taste. We are born with an innate aesthetic sense.

My father was in the theatre business and I have been familiar with it since the earliest stages of my life. I am also an avid traveller and have seen the development of theatres in the Kingdom as well as overseas.

Major Cineplex has four cinema formats. The first model is the Entertainment Complex model, such as the one used for standalone theatres in Pinklao, Esplanade and Ekamai. This is the one we feel most comfortable with and it is making the highest amount of profit because the theatres can stay open till late. But it is risky because each complex requires huge investment.

Another focuses opening theatres in shopping malls. We have our theatres in every mall. Because we entered the malls during a downturn, we got good deals. But the conditions have changed and we have slowed down our expansion in this format. Setting up a theatre in shopping malls is good because they draw in a lot of consumers, but the profit is smaller because rents have increased at an average of 5 per cent annually for the past 10 years. There is a restriction on the opening and closing times.

The third format is the provincial format. Using it we have opened 50 to 60 cinemas at TescoLotus. We also have theatres at Big-C.

The fourth format is the Siam Future Development (in which Major has a 21.2-per-cent stake), which is based on open-air malls called J Avenue, located in Thonglor and at other places.

With these formats, we can open new theatres every year even when no new, large shopping malls are launched in Bangkok. Currently, we are opening more standalone theatres.

Our company has a lot of young workers. Our culture is to be open-minded and always stay open toward opportunities.

What are your success and failure rates?

If one has achieved a "breakthough" in one's businesses, the chances of failure are low. There is logic in one's thinking and there is substantial access to information.

Do not misunderstand me. I am not telling you to try out stuff blindly. Most mistakes occur not because of our mistakes but because of the owner of the properties (where Major has built its theatres). It is like buying a condominium whose project owner is irresponsible.  Most of the time, we will think deeply about all possibilities before making a decision.

Dare to try. As a graduate in finance though, I tend to be conservative.

Our businesses are structured like a spider's web. At the heart is Major. Others include the California WOW Experience and Siam Future. Whatever we do must link well to our core businesses. We call ourselves "the entertainment lifestyle company". We are not a cinema company. Our businesses are built on the new generation of consumers who are defined not by their age but their modern lifestyles and outlook.

We are not into fitness like a (traditional) fitness centre.

I have three children. They spend a lot of time at home on entertainment. That tells me there is tremendous opportunity in home entertainment. Children younger than 15 years do not watch free television at all. That is why we have tried to make our bowling alleys just like home: they can check e-mail, download songs with their friends, just like at home.

But instead of just following them, we must be able to lead consumers, in ways similar to setting up cinemas in shopping malls and bowling alleys in our theatres.

We have conducted a lot of research. We do "mysterious shoppers" research every month. We ask our customers how they feel about the theatres - such as whether the air-conditioning was too cold and so on.