Facebook: Gateway For Entrepreneurs

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Facebook: gateway for entrepreneurs

Veena Thoopkrajae

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- In pre-social media times, we used go to Chatuchak Weekend Market or a gift fair to shop for new and niche products.

Things have changed since the arrival of Mark Zukerberg's innovation and nowadays Facebook serves as a great platform for creative-minded people to launch a business without a lot of capital or marketing know-how.

Spoiled Rotten is testimony to the ease in starting a cyber business from scratch. A photography fanatic, Patcha Kitchaicharoen noticed that all camera cases in the market came in rather "uniform" designs and most were made of black and brown leather. She made herself a special case and it became a hit among her friends. Then came the idea of putting it on Facebook. The business has grown since then and the Silpakorn University graduate enjoys running her small businesses making what she loves.

"So far none of my customers is disappointed with my creation," she says with pride.

Likewise the owner of Cherr, Janejira Samudavanija, found her fortunes on Facebook by chance. A talented designer, she made necklaces as a hobby. Her sister's friend liked one and she started posting photos of her works on Facebook. The business then took off. She couldn't believe that within seconds after posting her latest handiwork, orders would start pouring in for it.

Facebook fits the mind of designers and creative types perfectly and they have become an active user group. Along the way, they have learned to build good relationships with customers and keep in contact with them.

"Whenever a customer buys a camera case, I take pictures of them. Customers then feel more special and acknowledged. This not only helps the business-customer relationship, but also helps to form bonds and friendships between us," Patcha says.

The woman behind the Ban-ju account loves designing cloth bags. She has found Facebook the right place to display products and take orders from customers.

In some cases, a page can combine self-made creations and imported products. This is what the "live out loud" page on Face-book does. If offer both cute stationery items and IT products and gadgets. Starting on Facebook, the shop has now expanded to its own online marketplace and an offline store at Mega Bangna.

The shortcoming of a Face-book "store" is that it is dependent on the number of friends or "fans" of its page. However, this is offset by word-of-mouth recommendations - again on Facebook. It works well when someone "likes" and shares a particular product or likes the page. Then it is seen by the circle of the Face-book's user friends. The multilevel marketing of the platform suits this type of small retail business.

More savvy entrepreneurs are expected to make inroads on Facebook. Thailand's Facebook user growth ranks third in the world at 41 per cent. The proliferation of smartphones and tablets in Thailand, as well as increasing consumer confidence toward e-commerce, will surely draw many more creative products to your screens.

Another popular business model is to open either a closed or open group. The members of the group also sell the stuff, being both buyers and sellers.

Many page owners use the group to post their latest products or sales events. "Actually for a retailer like us, a group means a chance to make people know your page and get in touch with the target group," the proprietor of the Decoupage page said.

-- The Nation 2012-07-30