Melaka Homestay Rising from Post-Pandemic: Sales Doubled and Team Expanded 5X
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Andy Yong on 大城公事 FB live with Shane Mun talking about how to utilize a system to cultivate company culture
The Melaka homestay industry witnessed a dramatic renaissance during the post pandemic. Along with a ripple effect across tourism-related sectors such as hospitality, F&B, airline, etc, the whole industry is gearing up for a tourism boost.
For those who navigated the challenges during MCO, now it’s the time to reap the rewards.
Andy Yong is a homestay entrepreneur based in Melaka. Throughout the Coveid-19 pandemic, he strategized and played the long game. When MCO was lifted, his business thrived with sales doubling every year and employees increased five-fold within a year!
Seizing the Golden Opportunity
“As MCO restrictions eased and the number of tourists soaring, we were in dire need of manpower. I soon realized that our operations had to be streamlined. Otherwise, our company would be paralyzed by overtourism!”
Andy is the founder of Summerland Management Sdn Bhd. The immediate post-MCO period became his company’s turning point. His team grew from 12 to an impressive 50-60 within just a year!
“Before using VIMIGO software, scaling seemed impossible to me. I’d never imagined that my company would grow to today’s size. With VIMIGO under my belt, I can rest assured as the app helps me monitor my company’s performance.”
Andy was in the event industry initially. In 2017, he bought his first property – a semi-detached house – as a second home. In order to come back staying whenever he wanted, he made the house available for short-term rentals for tourists and started his homestay business part-time.
Unexpectedly, the 2020 pandemic altered his course. His event business could no longer survive. He decided to refund all deposits to his customers and focus entirely on his homestay business, giving birth to Summerland Management Sdn Bhd
“Our mission is to create rewarding returns for our property investors. Our model is straightforward – as the second-tier landlord, we lease properties and then rent them out to tourists. To me, it’s more than a business. It’s about creating memorable experiences for my customers. I’m fulfilled as I see them come happily and leave satisfied. ”
Then came the Covid-19 pandemic which had a serious impact on the global economy as well as the real-estate market. Many people sold their properties, leading to oversupply and housing prices plunged. For Andy, however, this recession was a rare opportunity.
“When others were panicking during that time, I bought high-quality properties at low price to prepare for my company’s expansion.” The market changes during the epidemic brought him unprecedented opportunities, and time proved that he was right.
In January, 2023, Summerland held the Chinese New Year celebration dinner.
MCO: The Catalyst for Change
“In fact, company sales were growing between March 2020 and 2021 year end. The relaxation of MCO in October 2021 marked the resurgence in tourism. It was the prime moment for my company to amplify its reach. Yet, the question was clear – is my team ready for this boom?”
Andy realized that efficiency transcended mere manpower. True competitiveness comes from well-managed operations, streamlined processes, and team cohesion.
“Collaboration between different departments is a piece of cake when the company is pretty small, say, 10 staff. But when it comes to 50+ people, effective communication becomes a long-term challenge as everyone works their own way.” How to cultivate the team to be autonomous and self-driven is something every leader needs to deal with.
Andy understands the urgency of company transformation. “I spent 4 months looking for methods, tools, and a mentor. Finally I chose Shane Mun.”
From Hiring to Retention
The homestay industry is in great need of manpower for cleaning. The most valuable lesson Andy learned in the VIMIGO offline class was how to do hiring. Cooperating with the VIMIGO system, Andy encourages his staff to introduce their friends to join the company, and then rewards them by stages. This hiring trick solves the recruitment issue.
“After solving the manpower problem, the next step is to cultivate and retain talents. I set a 3-, 5-, and 10-year vision for the company. Ambitious talents will be attracted to follow our path leading the company to greater heights.”
Prior to joining VIMIGO offline classes, Andy has already tried setting the VIMIGO system, such as vimiGoal to set employee goals and vimiTeam to set team commissions.
vimiChallenge & vimiRoadmap
Leverage the System to Find Talent
To make sure that right people are rewarded, Andy identifies talents who are truly willing, motivated, and capable with the help of vimiChallenge and vimiRoadmap.
Customer ratings will directly affect company performance. Andy holds a challenge for the sales department every quarter, and the winning employee who gets the highest customer ratings will receive a badge. As long as the employee can win twice, he can be promoted to lead junior staff. This way, the senior staff will be able to earn overriding commissions through the mentoring system.
“By making the standards and everyone’s results transparent, those outstanding and willing to work hard will emerge, while those who don’t will be filtered out.” By aligning the company’s vision-mission-goal with employee’s, and bundling the interests of the two together, the right people will strive to achieve their goal. At the same time, the company also achieves its strategic goal.
>> Read more: VIMIGO functions
Andy Yong sharing how to attract talent
“For example, I asked my team – if we reach the company’s goal this year, where do you want to travel. Most of them said they want to go to South Korea. So, we set a goal to travel to South Korea next year.”
Andy added frankly, “Not all of them participate. Those who think they can get the rewards will introduce people to join us. We’d then make video content and publish on the company’s Facebook page to attract talent.”
A Vision Beyond Ethnicity
While most of the staff in Summerland Management come from different races, this does not hinder Andy from implementing VIMIGO.
“Before using VIMIGO, we only had our annual dinner. Now with VIMIGO, we have car incentives, exotic Korea trip, Tioman trip, an extra 10-day annual leave, etc. to reward our staff who really achieve results.”
With the VIMIGO performance reward system, Andy has not only improved company efficiency but also screening high-performing employees. A strong and cohesive team with a common mindset becomes a competitive advantage for the startup company. This year in 2023, he is planning to go beyond Melaka targeting the high-end market, and expand the business to other states in Malaysia.
To conclude, VIMIGO allows employees to see the future, attracts talent, and increases staff proactiveness. Business management can now be driven by data rather than feelings – a necessary condition for sustained growth of any business.
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