Malaysian brothers expand mobile messaging business to 11 countries

KUALA LUMPUR: A decade ago when the short messaging service (SMS) was not regarded as a business tool, three young brothers saw its untapped potential.

Despite a hard time convincing backers that a mobile messaging technology could be effective in business, the Goh brothers perservered and today their company has grown to encompass 11 countries in the region and over two billion subscribers.

The three visionary entrepreneurs behind mobile messaging technology enabler Macro Kiosk Bhd are Kenny Goh Chee Ken, 32, Henry Goh Chee Heng, 29, and Goh Chee Seng, 26, who take different portfolios in the organisation as chief executive officer, chief operating officer and head of corporate affairs, respectively.

Macrokiosk provides messaging connectivity and solutions which powers 18 industries, such as advertising and marketing, aviation, banking and finance, IT and e-commerce and telecommunications. Its global mobile messaging network, called the eTracker, is connected to more than 500 mobile operators worldwide.

Henry said the company has invested more than RM300mil on the eTracker and continues to improve the system.

Since its inception in 2000, the siblings anticipate the company will continue to record solid double digit growth annually. Kenny, for one, has a personal growth target of 25 per cent to 30 per cent for the company year-on-year.

"In fact, earnings from January until September this year surpassed last year’s RM63 million. We’ve seen our revenue grow by 50 per cent from 2009 to 2010 and we hope to achieve similar results going forward," Henry told Mail Money.

He said Macrokiosk was looking to cover at least 10 more countries for the next three years, focusing on three new markets every year. Macrokiosk’s immediate plan is to venture into the Middle East, aiming to cover the entire region within three to four years.

"In terms of technology, the Middle East is still a green field and there lies a big opportunity for mobile technology services," Henry said, adding that Macrokiosk usually spends about RM500,000 as start-up costs in a new country.

Macrokiosk, a fully home-grown Malaysian business, has now made its presence felt in Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

"We want to expand our services beyond Malaysia, broaden our product range and penetrate as many industries and markets as possible. The availability of the applications in different industries is not limited by the technology but how fast we can expand into these markets and sectors, Kenny said.

Of all the industries it serves the brothers say financial institutions have recorded the biggest growth in the last two years. The aviation, transportation and logistics and telecommunications industries have also shown commendable growth.

As part of its policy, the company makes it a point to monitor customers and takes proactive measures to ensure compliance of operating conditions set by governments.

"After five to six years of developing Macrokiosk, we can now see actual growth results in the recent three to four years. We believe mobile technology has a good future as convergence takes place," Kenny said.