Entrepreneur Tanapong gives insights into his approach to life and success
With the successful turnaround of the Thai operations of US-based designer fashion brand Kate Spade, where he took the reins last July, Tanapong Chirapanidchakul has made his mark on the Kingdom's high-end fashion market - and now has his sights set on the Vietnamese market.
Though new to the fashion industry, Tanapong, 34, has proved his remarkable skills by rejuvenating the Kate Spade brand. Sales have risen 50 per cent year-on-year every month since he acquired the local operations from the aunt of a close friend. With sales soaring, Central Chidlom department store recently agreed to double the size of its Kate Spade outlet by March. The upscale department store has also allocated 800-square-feet (75 square metres) of prime, first-floor space for Tanapong to open the first Thai outlet of the Diane von Furstenberg (DVF) brand in the same month.
"Many luxury brands have failed to take off in Thailand. [Marketing luxury brands] requires serious understanding of the products, and of retailing. Many people just do it as a hobby," said Tanapong in an interview with The Nation.
Retailing and brand-building are nothing new for Tanapong, who helped resurrect his family's furniture business - now known as Siam Design Furnishing (SDF) - after it was on the verge of bankruptcy. Although he was only 24 years old at the time, Tanapong led a team of 20 employees in redesigning the company's financial model. He brought in a new team of furniture designers and marketers to transform the company from a no-brand manufacturer into a retailer and marketer of a trendy furniture brand under the Mobilia Flexy Living trademark, which generated revenues of US$2 million in 2008 (about $60,600 at 2008 exchange rates).
In 2000, Tanapong co-founded Siam Design Industry (SDI), an interior design firm, with his sister. The firm went on to capture a sizeable segment of the hotel renovation market just as it boomed in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The company established its reputation at the outset by winning a contract to renovate the famous Rayavadee Resort in Krabi, and pulled off a major coup by landing a series of contracts with the Amari group, a major hotel chain. Currently employing 500 workers and generating US$9 million in revenue last year, SDI's recent and current projects include the State Tower, PTT's headquarters, a Centara hotel in Phuket, the Pathumwan Princess Hotel and the Marriott's six-star Renaissance Hotel at Ploenchit.
High-end fashion retailing under the AT group is the latest business Tanapong has founded - this time with an architect friend. Tanapong said he realised Kate Spade had potential in Thailand because it possessed a distinct brand identity, but was not of the "high-end mass" brand variety favoured by counterfeiters and brand-pirates. Kate Spade is one of a number of brands that have recently undergone a major revamp to broaden its appeal to a diverse group of female customers encompassing college students to women in their 50s.
A fashion show will be held in Bangkok in March to promote the Kate Spade and DVF brands. Besides the Kate Spade shop at Central Chidlom, which will launch a new brand concept in March, and the existing shop at Central World, AT will bring the Kate Spade outlet at the Emporium Department Store in line with the new format in April, and will open a new store at Siam Paragon in May. AT expects to generate Bt70 million in revenue this year - Bt50 million from Kate Spade and the rest from DVF.
Tanapong said that because Kate Spade is still little-known among Thais, he plans to push up its marketing budget to 10 per cent of targeted sales, from 5 per cent at present. Besides promoting the brand and products, a major goal for Tanapong is to increase Kate Spade's local "conversion rate" - the ratio of store visitors to purchasers. The rate currently stands at 5:1, he said.
AT has won the rights to open Kate Spade and DVF stores in Vietnam next year, and is negotiating with the parent firm in Hong Kong to open separate stores for the Jack Spade brand, about which many male customers have inquired, he said.
Tanapong is an example of the new generation of Thai entrepreneurs, who "think big and think regional", but who also strive for an appropriate work-life balance. He says the two most important events of his life have been entering the monkhood, which he did in 2003, and enrolling in an MBA programme at Duke University in the US. The university, located in the state of North Carolina, is frequently ranked among the top US universities.
The decision to enter the monkhood was made when, despite his early business successes, Tanapong felt he had been focused too much on work, at the expense of "a life".
"I very nearly made the decision to stay in the monkhood for the rest of my life," he said.
Tanapong said being ordained for 45 days had taught him to keep greed at bay, allowed him to achieve self-awareness, made him calmer, and taught him "soft skills" that have helped him to deal with people.
"From being a very aggressive person who was always demanding something, I learned how to deal with people, calm down and listen. I was fortunate [to have had the opportunity to enter the monkhood]: If I had moved further in that direction, I might have gotten lost and mistakenly thought that I had achieved true success," he said.
The chance to attend the MBA class with other top-notched students at Duke, meanwhile, has opened up his perspectives, and inspired him to "think bigger", Tanapong said.
Tanapong said he had discovered that trying to create jobs, and to help his staff improve their lives, were far superior motivations for a businessman than simply striving to increase profits.
Tanapong said he wants to achieve three main goals before he turns 40: Firstly, to have three children; secondly, to turn SDI into a widely recognised firm that achieves a lasting place in the top ranks of Thailand's interior construction industry; and lastly, to make AT a top high-end retailer, comparable in status to Singapore-based high-end fashion retailer Club 21.
The AT chief executive married last year and has no children at present. All of the companies under his management or directorship currently generate revenues of about Bt500 million annually.
