The tech way to fengshui

Singapore

WE'VE all heard them before - fintech, proptech, medtech, along with all other variations. But, fengshui tech?

Believe it or not, Way Fengshui Group's chief executive Mark Tan is determined that technology will enable his company to grow rapidly and scale overseas. The firm spent the past two years building up its in-house tech systems.

"One of the problems I had when I first took over the company in 2014 was the problem of legacy, because my dad was going to retire at some point," said Mr Tan. "Succession was always a top-of-mind issue for me, so we wanted to go into tech to see how we can eventually pave the way for my dad's retirement."

His father is Tan Khoon Yong, the first fengshui practitioner in Singapore to receive the title of Grand Master from the International Fengshui Association.

Armed with support and funding from Enterprise Singapore, the firm set about working on its first task - curating and organising all the existing fengshui knowledge in the company. This was put into digital tables and charts by the tech department. They were then tested for their reliability through studies with clients.

With this knowledge bank, staff could do basic analyses for anyone who walked into the office, based on their date of birth. This was a far cry from two years ago, when most of the staff were not trained in fengshui knowledge and only played a supporting role for the masters.

Besides empowering the staff with a greater responsibility, it helped to ease a bottleneck, as the fengshui masters could only attend to a limited number of customers each day.

"Technology is important for us because it keeps our knowledge consistent," said Mr Tan. The group's software developer is now building a program where customers can generate, for example, an update on their house condition based on information that they input. Way Fengshui is also on the lookout for vendors for the program, which is slated to roll out by the next Chinese New Year. With enough knowledge and data points, the firm also intends to eventually move into a system powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

"AI is the ultimate solution for fengshui masters," said Mr Tan. "It can plough through data and historical records much faster than human beings."

That said, Mr Tan takes his fengshui masters very seriously. The company runs Way Fengshui Academy, founded in 2005. In 2016, the firm spent S$250,000 on revamping the school's curriculum to provide more rigorous training for aspiring fengshui masters.

Way Fengshui Academy has trained around 300 students since the revamp. The first batch of graduates from the new two-year course will begin entering the company this year, and there are plans to open five more schools in Malaysia and Indonesia over the next five years. Revenue from the academy has grown more than three times since FY2016, and student size has more than doubled.

With technology and a steady supply of fengshui masters, Mr Tan believes the company can be a good candidate for a public listing. While there are no firm plans to do so, the prospect is always on his mind.

"I think the reason fengshui companies don't want to get listed is because the key man - the principal fengshui master - is so important.

"And if you're an investor, and you understand that, why would you put your money in a person like that who might eventually retire? So the sustainability of the business is not very high. But if you can overcome that problem, then there is no reason you can't get funding from investors."

The company's revenue has grown 15 per cent over the last two years even though Grand Master Tan's contribution - the main revenue driver - fell close to 20 per cent as the firm moves away from its dependence on him.

The company is also expecting at least a 10 per cent growth in turnover in FY2019. Its financial year begins in October and it has already outperformed the previous year's year-to-date revenue by 30 per cent.

A change in marketing strategy has also helped to capture a mass market audience.

"We used to be a very closed-door company where we just mind our own business and do our own things," said Mr Tan. "But this year, we put out content and materials that were interesting enough for Jetstar, Takashimaya, Rolls-Royce and Qoo10 to collaborate with us (on marketing campaigns)."

Besides individuals, Way Fengshui's consulting clients include international sportswear brands and tech firms, as well as listed Singapore companies.

It will open offices in Malaysia and Indonesia over the next two years. Mr Tan also sees potential in eventually expanding to Western European countries.

The biggest challenge now would be to handle the mindset change in the company as it innovates.

"We have to build little successful battles into the staff's work every day. If you don't see results, you will get burnt out very quickly."

The attrition rate used to be quite high, and more than half the staff left within the first year of his taking over due to unhappiness with the new way of business. But nowadays, everyone is excited for the future of the company.

Mr Tan said: "If we list, then I want to list my company in a way where people see this as a potentially global business with a global presence, not because of one man's appeal, but because of what the company can do in the future."