We’re all familiar with the costs that revolve around starting the business. But did you know that it also costs a fortune to close a business?

 

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My Story

If I'm doing it, I might as well give it MY BEST SHOT

Hi, I'm Eden. In 2009, I resigned from my position as Chief Operating Officer at a company in China and returned to Malaysia, choosing to pursue entrepreneurship. I opened a Japanese-style BBQ restaurant in a mall located in Petaling Jaya with a three-year leasing agreement. I was excited about this new chapter of my life. 

 

 

A year later, I realised that things weren't going as smoothly as I had hoped. The restaurant's business wasn't performing well and I didn't pay out a single cent to myself as salary that year.

It wasn't easy to sustain the business. The cost to close down the business was shockingly high. There was the mall's compensation fee, the shop lot renovation dismantling cost, the first-year business operation's loss and not forgetting the initial modal investment of RM250,000. 

I found myself in a dilemma of either to sustain or to close the business. 

I thought about it and figured that perhaps selling off the business would be a good solution. So, I started looking for all kinds of channels to do so. I discovered that the common way to do it was to advertise the business sale in newspaper. 

 

 

While it seemed like I was searching for a new direction, deep down I knew that I was reluctant to give up.

I continued operating the restaurant for three more years. But of course, I changed my ways of sustaining the business. I was no longer a one-man show in the operation. That was also when I chose to venture into another business. 

This time, the new business was in out-of-home LED advertising and billboards. In short, this new venture was operating on a much smoother and promising terrain. As a result, that gave me the confidence to continue running the restaurant on the side. 

 

 

The Japanese restaurant operated for four years in total. After that, I transferred the ownership to a new partner who changed the business into a noodle restaurant. For the new owner, it was a good deal because he could just use the renovated flooring, wall decorations, tables, chairs, kitchen supplies, exhaust fans and other intangible assets. This eventually lowered his business entry cost compared to starting up a business from scratch as most of assets and equipment were reusable.

This was an unforgettable entrepreneurial experience. As I continued to operate my businesses, I noticed that in the market, there were many SMEs trying to expand or exit a business. However, there were no proper channels to do so. 

The most conventional approach is to advertise in the newspaper. However, the advertising duration and readership reach is limited, hence the objective of advertising could not be achieved.

I recalled my own entrepreneurial experiences and started to ponder. When it comes to a business exit and ownership transfer, couldn't we have a better solution and channel?

 

 

In 2015, I could sense that the e-commerce trend had begun to trend nationwide. I started to look for opportunities to venture into online business.

However, I didn't want to simply compete in this new sector. I felt that if I wanted to pursue it, it should be something different and competitive in the market. 

With the experience of running the Japanese restaurant still vivid in my mind, I could see the significant potential of the Internet evolution. There were more and more people purchasing clothes, properties and cars online. So I had the sudden epiphany that business investments can be done online too!

I believe that through the Internet, entrepreneurs and business owners can use easier and more convenient methods to complete business transactions, be it to expand, transfer or even exit a business.

After thorough consideration, research and preparation, VentureGrab successfully went live in 2018. 

 

 

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My Project

Malaysia's first BUSINESS-MATCHING and SOLUTION PORTAL to SMEs

In 2017, studies show that in Malaysia, there were over 900,000 registered SMEs. In the same year, there were about 300,000 closing SME establishments.

Between the two statistics, there were various business types and industries. 

 

 

If you are interested in opening a cafe in KL city and there happens to be a cafe in KL city that is closing, would you consider sitting down and explore the business opportunities?

For you who are interested to open a cafe business, acquiring an existing business is one option to consider. Through acquisition, you can lower your business costs and cut down the time spent to build a cafe from scratch. On the other hand, for the cafe owner, they can significantly reduce their business exit costs.

This is a WIN-WIN SITUATION for both parties. 

If you wish to start a business and on the other hand, there is an investor who is interested to invest in a new business, why not consider meeting up and explore the business opportunities?

If you wish to expand your business and on the other hand, there is a potential partner looking for a suitable business to join venture with, why not consider meeting up and explore the business opportunities?

If you plan to franchise your cafe business and on the other hand, there is a person looking to own a cafe franschise, why not consider meeting up and explore the business opportunities?

Upon meeting up and reaching a mutual understanding between both parties, that would be a perfect business-matching result. 

 

 

However, most situations don't play out as one hope for. Just like when I first started my Japanese restaurant business, I had no idea where to find the other party. 

During these times, most people would usually reach out to their network of friends and family to spread the news. Some would advertise their businesses in a newspaper. In this modern era, people often post their business advertisements on social media platforms to find a potential buyer, investor or partner. 

 

 

Unfortunately, using social media platforms as an approach results in negative outcomes as these platforms are not for professional business purposes and the audience that one needs for business purposes are scattered. In fact, most business-matching are unsuccessful due to the lack of professional knowledge to facilitate and complete the business process. 

What I had in mind was to build a one-stop business solution portal, to provide users with a business-focused platform and professional services. 

At VentureGrab, business owners who wish to exit their businesses can list and post their business advertisements for free on the portal. On the other hand, investors can search for investment opportunities by filtering their preferences via business industries, location and modal allocation. 

VentureGrab's portal provides various types of business opportunities. It is an online matchmaker that connects both parties offline through appointments. In this entire precess, VentureGrab acts as the agent, protecting the interests of both parties. When required, VentureGrab provides facilitation services such as marketing, legal, business valuation and any other professional services to facilitate the entire process. 

 

 

There was one case where we had a client who was looking for an investor. After meeting up and having discussions, both parties discovered that they could share their resources and ended up with a partnership. There was another client who initially wanted to purchase only the business asset, but eventually changed their mind and became an investor of the company as they could see the potential of the business.

Meeting up for a discussion opens up unlimited business matching possibilities. VentureGrab can assist in finding you a potential party.

VentureGrab is also one of the essential tools for young entrepreneurs to look out for their first business opportunities. Reminiscing back on my first business venture, I was not well-equipped with the business knowledge but was highly passionate to start a business. If I had found a suitable business venture and acquired it back then, it would definitely have saved a lot of my time and money, I wouldn't have had to take a detour on an unnecessarily winding path. 

 

 

VentureGrab's one-stop business-matching service and solution covers the entire business life cycle - during the initial stage, instead of starting from scratch, we provide business acquisition opportunities; during the expansion stage, we provide a platform for you to invite new investors or partners to grow your business; and during the business exit, you can find potential new owners to take over the business through VentureGrab.

To-date, VentureGrab portal provides various business opportunities mostly in the fields of F&B and accommodation. Currently, the business opportunities that we have recruited are mainly focused in Klang Valley and also states such as Penang, Johor and East Malaysia. 

Since our establishment in 2018, we have successfully assisted 26 SMEs in finding their potential match. The total business value transactions through our portal is over RM1,000,000. We were also one of the Top 10 Winners of Mystartr Dream Factory Startup Contest 2018. 

 

 

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Why Crowdfunding?

Combining all of our EFFORTS for PROSPERITY

VentureGrab is my third business venture. My first two entrepreneurial experiences are still consistently growing. The Japanese restaurant has become a noodle restaurant franchise with a few outlets in Mid Valley and other prime locations. As for my second business venture, the advertising company has been established for nine years and we have four subsidiary companies under it. 

I will operate VentureGrab to the best of my ability just like how I run my other business ventures. I will be resilient and give it my best shot.

This year, our goal is to become a business-matching and solutions hub for SMEs to assist them in any phase of their business life cycle. We also aim to provide a better platform for investors to search for business investment opportunities within the SMEs realm.

VentureGrab is an online platform that allows you to search for business opportunities in a more convenient way. Through VentureGrab, we aim to be an investment platform for foreign investments. At the moment, our platform provides dual language options which is English and Chinese. We hope this can reduce the barrier of entry for China investments to invest in the Malaysia market by allowing them to search for suitable business opportunities here.
 

We are in our growth phase now. Next, we will focus on upgrading our web portal and expand our team to provide help and facilitations services to SMEs through our services.
 

We are ready, are you?

 

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Team

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Term Sheet

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Founder Pitch Deck