Entrepreneur of the Month: Miss April Lam
月度最佳企業家：林靜芝小姐
Starting this year, InachamHK introduces a new section of “Entrepreneur of the Month” which features a business player and her/his story particularly to the Indonesia market. This month, we proudly present Ms. April Lam.
從今年開始，香港印尼商會推出了一個新的「月度最佳企業家」欄目，專門介紹印尼市場的企業家及其故事。這個月，我們自豪地介紹林靜芝女士。
What kind of business do you do in Indonesia?
你們在印尼做什麼生意?
I am the founder of Aello Consulting which provides end-to-end services to help companies to expand to Indonesia from strategy advisory to implementation with a focus on consumer goods including fashion, beauty, watches, food, toys and wellness.
Our clients are mostly based in HK yet with business ties with Indonesia. They come to us for a few reasons: first is to build an integrated O2O solution to drive sales volume through ecommerce; and brand image through offline sales channels and marketing activities. Second is to understand the full picture of ROI so they could make sound business decisions. For example we are currently working with Lee Kum Kee Hong Kong to market their new products to the Indonesian community in HK by running a series of digital and offline product launch activities.
我是 Aello 諮詢公司的創始人，我們公司提供端對端的服務，説明企業在印尼擴張，從戰略諮詢到實施，專注於消費品，包括時尚、美容、手錶、食品、玩具和健康。
我們的客戶大多在香港，但與印尼有業務聯繫。他們來找我們有幾個原因:一是建立一個完整的 O2O 解決方案，通過電商拉動銷量;通過線下銷售管道和市場活動樹立品牌形象。其次是要全面瞭解投入產出比，這樣他們才能做出合理的商業決策。例如，我們目前正與李錦記香港合作，通過開展一系列的數位和線下產品發佈活動，向香港的印尼社區推廣他們的新產品。
Why Indonesia?
為什麼選擇在印尼？
I have been in luxury retail and brand consultancy most of my working life, one of my ex-clients was Danone Indonesia and that’s how I started doing business with this market since 2007. Later I was relocated by my former employer to Bali and worked there for 5 years. During the past decides, I saw consumerism on the rise in Indonesia making branded and affordable luxury consumer products highly sought-after, coupled with digitalization that changes everyday life at nano speed, I reckoned it was an opportunity not to be missed and so I started Aello in 2016.
我工作的大部分時間都在從事奢侈品零售和品牌諮詢，我的前客戶之一是印尼達能(Danone Indonesia)，自2007年以來，我就是這樣開始在這個市場開展業務的。後來，我被前雇主調到巴厘島，在那裡工作了5年。在過去的決定中，我看到印尼的消費主義正在興起，品牌和平價的奢侈品非常受歡迎，再加上數位化以納米速度改變著人們的日常生活，我認為這是一個不能錯過的機會，所以我在2016年創立了Aello。
What are the challenges?
面臨的挑戰有哪些
The ambiguous and ever-changing regulations particularly on customs, tax, industry licensing, logistics and government administration are double-edged swords for us. On one hand these create uncertainties for my clients to put a cap on the human capital front and project costs structurally; on the other hand, this is also where we add value to their businesses and alleviate their pain. Thus ensuring our internal team to catch up with the latest regulation has become an essential part of our services, and it is extremely time consuming.
在海關、稅收、行業許可、物流和政府管理等方面，法規含混多變，對我們來說是把雙刃劍。一方面，這為我的客戶在結構上設定人力資本和項目成本上限帶來了不確定性;另一方面，這也是我們為他們的業務增加價值並減輕他們壓力的地方。因此，確保我們的內部團隊跟上最新的法規已經成為我們服務的一個重要部分，而且非常耗時。
What do you think about Indonesia in 5 years?
展望一下五年內的印尼
With greater digital connectivity gives stronger sense of newfound individualism and the size of middle class is on course to double to 62million by 2030, this new genre of consumers want experiential excitement, newness and focus less on price points. Business owners need to spend ultra-resources on creating such physical experiences on top of building a robust digital & social presence. Riding on these, traditional industries and products might make a comeback if the branding is done right. Made-in-Indonesia products will also be more accepted by the rest of the world as the “country brand” arises.
To HK business owners specifically, the Free Trade Agreement signed between HK and Indonesia government and the visionary Jokowi governance is a leap for businesses in Greater China to invest in Indonesia at lower costs.
隨著越來越多的網路連接，新發現的個人主義意識越來越強，中產階級的規模將在2030年翻一番，達到6200萬，這種新類型的消費者想要體驗刺激、新奇，而不太關注價格。在建立一個強大的數字和社交存在的基礎上，企業需要花費超多的資源來創造這樣的物理體驗。借助這些因素，如果品牌塑造得當，傳統產業和產品可能會東山再起。隨著“國家品牌”的崛起，印尼製造的產品也將更被世界其他地區所接受。
特別是對香港企業主來說，香港與印尼政府簽署的自由貿易協定，以及佐科維富有遠見的治理，是大中華區企業以更低成本投資印尼的一次飛躍。
Reference:
Miss April Lam
Aello Consulting Company Limited
Email: april.lam@aelloconsulting.com
Website: www.aelloconsulting.com
