Be optimistic ... look for opportunities in every crisis

The tsunami, Sars, bird flu, bombs, a coup d'etat ... Name any kind of negative business factor, and Thai businesses seem to have recently seen them all. But Arnaud Bialecki has a strong belief that positive thinking can help companies to overcome all challenges.

Bialecki, 37, is director of Property Care Services (Thailand), and he has good grounds for his optimistic approach. His company has increased its sales and profit by an average of more than 24 per cent per year over the past five years, despite all the negative factors.

"We have made a profit every year, even though there have been a lot of [business] challenges in the past four or five years," he said.

"Now, everyone thinks the world economy is getting worse. But we must maintain a positive attitude. There has been a crisis every year, but we have fought on. We should be looking for opportunities."

PCS's revenue grew by an annual average of 26 per cent in the years from 2003 to 2006, while its profits climbed even faster. Last year, revenue increased by 16 per cent to reach Bt3.1 billion. The company expects its profit before tax to exceed Bt300 million this year, compared to Bt276 million in 2007, Bialecki said.

Forty-seven per cent of PCS's revenue comes from security guards provided to more than 1,200 companies in Thailand. Another 45 to 46 per cent comes from janitorial services provided to more than 1,000 companies, and the rest comes from various support services. The company also has operations in Malaysia, Bangladesh and Cambodia.

Bialecki said there were opportunities in every crisis. When there were the bombs in Bali, the World Trade Centre in New York was destroyed, and explosions struck Thailand's southernmost provinces, many people thought tourists would stop coming to Thailand and the country's economy would grow worse.

However, these events benefited PCS because companies began to see the value of professional security services. Rather than hiring just any provider with the cheapest prices, they turned to an organisation they regarded as professional, he said.

"This is why our income from security services has increased so much over the past four to five years," Bialecki said.

Similarly, outbreaks of bird flu and Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome), prompted companies to pay more attention to hygiene and sanitary issues and they sought professional providers like PCS, he said.

Bialecki agreed that, to cope with economic uncertainty, companies had to resort to cost control measures and to seek out and stop unnecessary expense. But at the same time, managements had to look for opportunities and work out how to make use of various situations to benefit their companies.

Citing the Dusit Group's recent move to acquire more foreign hotels, Bialecki said that the falling strength of the Euro and the US dollar may make the present a good time to invest abroad, as well as looking for discounted assets. PCS and the OCS Group - the UK-based firm that has a substantial stake in PCS - are both looking to expand significantly in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly into Singapore and Vietnam, he said.

Earlier this month, PCS completed the acquisition of local firm Star Link, a former subcontractor of PCS that provides maintenance services for mechanical and electrical systems in buildings.

The acquisition, as well as PCS's establishment of a joint venture with S&P Syndicate last year to offer contract-catering services, form part of the company's strategy to increase the variety of its services and to differentiate itself from competitors.

Anticipating a tougher economic environment next year, Bialecki said PCS would offer alternatives to its customers. They can either opt for an increasing fee which is adjusted along with minimum wage rates (raised every year by the government), or they can choose to remain on old, steady rates but accept that PCS will send fewer staff to attend to their services.

The company will guarantee to maintain the quality of its services, even with fewer staff, by equipping its workers with more tools.

Beginning with only five employees 41 years ago, PCS currently has 24,000 full-time staff in Thailand. It also employs 1,000 workers in Bangladesh, 400 in Malaysia and 100 in Cambodia, where it began operations last year.

pichaya@nationgroup.com