Echoing his green philosophy [News]
November 22, 2011 by Eugene Tay
Filed under News
By Dolly Chia, The Business Times, 22 Nov 2011.
FOR most highly paid corporate employees, it is difficult to sever ties with their high income and stable career for a risk- bound entrepreneurial journey that could make or break them. Terence Yow, the founder of Echo Brands, is an exception. He went against the tide and started his own retail business, venturing out of his comfort zone as a marketing associate in Procter and Gamble.
The adventurous Mr Yow studied accountancy during his college years and landed an auditing job with Ernst & Young. After working as an audit accountant for a year, he realised that he did not like working in the ‘back rooms’.
‘I enjoy being at the front, like in sales and marketing and so I quit my job and worked in marketing for Procter and Gamble,’ he says.
Having been in marketing for 12 years, he had all the experience needed to market his own business. Mr Yow pumped in $300,000 of his savings into the business in 2009, right in the middle of the global financial crisis. ‘I wasn’t getting any younger and I didn’t want to do just any business; I wanted to make money, and also contribute to the environment and the community.’
‘I wanted to bring in eco-friendly brands with products that have high standards of design and quality so people don’t have to compromise their lifestyle to be eco-friendly,’ adds Mr Yow. Even though he started during the crisis, rent remained costly. ‘They are a lot higher now and it remains our highest cost.’
Apart from being eco-friendly, most of his products echo a story behind each of them. ‘Echo does not distribute just any product. We make sure that every product we carry is not only of a high quality and design, but environmentally friendly at the same time. There are so many brands on the market and I have chosen only a handful of them.’
‘Like Harvey’s for example, their bags are made from seatbelts and they’re hand-made in California, by Dana and Melanie Harvey. They started in 1997. They rescued seatbelts that were destined to be thrown away by car manufacturers in the US because of excess production; they turned them into hand bags!’
‘Guess what these bags are made from?’ asks Mr Yow as he points to a shelf full of amber-orange bags. ‘These are made from 13-year-old decommissioned fire hoses! They are hand-made in the United Kingdom, using the fire department’s fire hoses; that’s why they look a bit used and worn out. Every bag is different.’
The store carries handbags made from a bizarre range of materials like candy wrappers and pull-tabs from cans. ‘These are all made from excess production overrun from Frito- Lay or M&Ms.’ At this point, one can only assume that Mr Yow has a fetish for eco-friendly fashion products. ‘We’ve got watches made from wood; watches made from biodegradable resin or plastic.’
The environmentally responsible man dreams about having his own line of products. He thinks Singapore has its own fair share of junk, which he could cleverly turn into fashionable accessories.
Mr Yow then talks about the brand that surprised him with its sales performance. ‘Melissa Shoes is from Brazil and they’ve been around for 31 years and the shoes are made from recyclable plastic. It is probably our greatest example of being able to be eco-friendly and fashionable at the same time.’
He points to a whole row of leopard-print, crystal-crusted plastic shoes, and adds: ‘We are also distributing Melissa to five other department stores. It has done very well so far. Echo has sole distributorship of Melissa shoes in Singapore.’
The Echo store’s location in Wheelock Place, ‘one of the most expensive retail spaces in Singapore’, was a strategic decision, Mr Yow says. ‘The price level is a factor but I think human traffic is important as well. Wheelock used to have Borders and people would buy or read books before deciding to go up to look at the stores. I’m quite excited to see which new brand will take up the Borders space.
‘In Singapore, the rent is in line with the amount of human traffic. Our rent right now is at the same level with Bugis Junction. With our location, we can also save marketing as we get a lot of attention from people walking past our store.’
He then expressed his dissatisfaction that landlords get full disclosure of his company’s profits. ‘I don’t think it’s fair that landlords get to see our profits every month. That way, they will always know how much they can charge us.
Businesses also won’t be able to enjoy higher profits as revenue increases because landlords keep raising the rent accordingly. I think that rule puts small- and medium-sized enterprises like us on the losing side.’
His sales team is also an important part of his business. ‘In any business, we need to retain talent. To be in sales, you need to have that spark and I will only hire people who can give me that.’
Mr Yow hopes to attract more investors for Echo and possibly open a second store in Singapore. ‘I invested $300,000 by myself and the business has grown a lot ever since it started. There is definitely a market for eco- friendly fashionable products in Singapore.’
Source: The Business Times
