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Dr. Zyro Wong is not a typical 27-year-old youngster who has just begun on an entrepreneurial journey but a modern thought leader, views the world through his distinctive lenses in his capacity as the Founder and CEO of the ZW Consultancy Sdn Bhd. Given his business acumen and exceptional life experience, he is a multi-talented man with solid track record of performance in various areas. To date, he has been acknowledged in the international business arena with various awards for his entrepreneurship such as the Asia Honesty Enterprise Award, ASEAN Top 50 Award (China), Top Business Award 2016 (Singapore), Creative Young Entrepreneur Award 2016 and the Asia Top 100 Honesty Brand Award, to name a few. Highly acclaimed for his achievements, he is also the proud founder and contributor for a number of successful business ventures such as the 8Dorm, Sense Plus and Webist Solutions Sdn Bhd. It is not surprising that he was also nominated for the Top Outstanding Youth Malaysian award, thus serving as a true role model in the circle of young entrepreneurs.
Mr. Zyro Wong is not your typical 27-year-old youngster who has only just begun on an entrepreneurial journey.
Beyond the reputation in the industry, Wong shares the effort and hard work he has to put in at an early age for what he has achieved today.
Early taste of earning his own money
For many teens in their secondary years, school holidays are often their favourite time of the year to eat, play and relax comfortably without having to worry about exams and homework.
Not for the business-savvy and “money minded” Mr. Zyro who began working at the tender age of 15.
The bold and outgoing lad shares his interesting story on how he ended up as a tuition teacher in a centre.
“I am a money-driven person but it is because I was taught by my parents that I need to earn money if I would like to treat myself to a little luxury.
“When I was 15, I walked into a tuition centre and promoted myself to nail a job there,” he recalls with a laugh.
When the Reuters asked, “Why should we hire you?” without a second thought, Wong “boasts” of his ability to influence followers to throng to the centre.
That is how I started earning my own pocket money as a tuition teacher by teaching three subjects – English, Geography and Bahasa Malaysia, he tells the interviewer.
Apart from tutoring, Wong also shares snippets of his various business attempts and ventures during his teenage years which included general office support work at his mother’s law firm and operating a food stall in his aunt’s café.
Calculative yet business-savvy
“Between the ages of 15 and 16, most of friends worked as part-timers either in McDonald’s outlets or ended up in Genting Highlands.
“However, I’d decided to join the tutoring industry as the hourly rates are much higher,” he explains.
Mr. Zyro, however, admits that prior to the tutoring experience, his command of the English Language was bad until he enrolled in Erican Language Centre at the age of 11.
Thanks to his lawyer mother who identified his weakness in the language, Mr. Zyro was sent to the language centre to improve and brush up on his spoken and written English.
As his creative mind was always ticking, Mr. Zyro came up with a proposal and negotiated it with the language centre.
“Like the good old barter system, I’d asked for a discount from Erican to continue my studies there while at the same time, offered myself to become one of their sales person, or better known as a student recruiter.
In Mr. Zyro’s case, it doesn’t hurt to ask because once again, he succeeded in persuading the branch manager to accept the “barter offer”.
As a people person, it was easy for Mr. Zyro to persuade interested parents to register their kids at the language centre.
“I can attest to the effectiveness of studying there. As I spoke to the parents, they were quite impressed with my confidence and the ability to articulate in fluent English.”
Behind the hard work and efforts to work as a part-time tuition teacher and a recruiter, Mr. Zyro admits he certainly has to skip school at times for work.
As a result, he was only a mediocre student. “Fortunately, my parents were quite supportive as they wouldn’t stop me from pursuing things that I like so I was quite independent since young.”
Naivety of a college student
Mr. Zyro graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Learning and Development from University of Malaya (UM) which carries his Doctorate (Dr.) title
During the interview, he expresses his “regrets” for enrolling in a broadcasting programme during his degree.
“To begin with, I initially wanted to pursue a business degree but as a college student, I was a little naïve thinking that there was nothing else to learn (in business) since I am already more or less in the industry.
“Because broadcasting is not my passion, I had to repeat a semester as I wasn’t doing well in the course.”
But luckily he did his PhD in the field that he is interested with and managed to pass with good grades in his research.
First taste of being his own boss
A lack of relevant business education did not stop him from setting up his first company, Masterpiece Creation that deals with roadshow planning and event management – when he was still pursuing the broadcasting degree course in UTAR.
Mr. Zyro did a one-man show for the company by outsourcing the manpower and technology for the events.
“I do engage services from freelancers on a project basis and most of the time, I will be emceeing these events.
“To a certain extent, running a roadshow is my fast route to earn a sum that can last from anywhere between three and six months,” he says.
Mr. Zyro expresses his preference to manage roadshows or projects for bigger firms or clients. “It requires the same amount of time and effort regardless of whether I am working for big or small clients.”
Three years down the road, Mr. Zyro renamed Masterpiece Creation to ZW Consultancy with a more niche focus offering business management services by helping his clients to build their brands to boost the growth.
The business continues to flourish that prompted Mr. Zyro to convert the sole proprietorship to Sdn Bhd
From emceeing to a branding guru
Despite a lack of proper education on running a business, this “self-taught” gutsy entrepreneur has clear goals to achieve to ensure ZW Consultancy is on the right path to success.
What started as a one-man show eventually developed into something bigger as the consultancy has three divisions to offer a complete business solution for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Time and again, he stresses on the importance of branding for a business or a product.
As a branding guru-cum-consultant, Mr. Zyro says it is important to make public appearances as it is part and parcel of branding.
“There are two methods to promote your business – one is via investment to market your brand in the media but consumers don’t remember the entrepreneur behind this brand.
“Seeing that the market is getting more competitive in today’s society, I think personal branding helps you to stand out from other rivals. Instead of marketing the brand, why don’t you market yourself and subsequently, bring your business behind your name?”
Nevertheless, in dishing out the business advice, Mr. Zyro says there is no right or wrong in marketing strategies.
He, however, believes that personal branding concept is the quickest and most effective medium to reach out to potential market.
“Of course even for personal branding tactic, you need to tap into the right channel and also use the right platform,” he says.
Donning many hats
Mr. Zyro has a lot of his plate but the he never seems to complain.
Apart from running ZW Consultancy, the 27-year-old is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of SILC, a celebrity speaker in his own right. Apart from being the Ambassador for a number of brands such as the Styleicon International Prestige, SharkSaver Malaysia and Atmosphere Hair Saloon, he was also the esteemed judge of a great number of beauty pageants
Though Mr. Zyro seems very much like a business entrepreneur who cares a lot about figures and the progress of his company, he displays a caring nature towards his family, particularly to his two younger sisters.
In 2013, he ventured into a hostel business catered specifically for Chong Hwa Independent High School students in Kuala Lumpur.
“I started the business known as 8 Dorm for my sisters who were studying there after seeing the trouble that my father had to go through driving back and forth from Rawang to KL, fetching them from school and extra-curricular activities.”
What started as a hostel meant specifically to ensure his sisters’ comfort eventually turned into a viable business model that generates a stable income for Mr. Zyro.
Concurrently, he is also running few hostels business in Klang Valley area offering units for outstation college and university students.
“I managed to strike a deal with some landlords and took over the management of between 9 and 10 units to be rented out to students from other states,” he shares, adding that all in all, the hostel service adds up a lucrative sum monthly in his various business ventures.
His successes in numerous ventures earned him several awards and recognitions including China-Asean Top 50 Award 2017, Singapore International Business Federation Award 2016, Asia Honesty Enterprise Award 2015, Asia Honesty Entrepreneur Award 2015, Asia Top 100 Honesty Award in 2014 and Top Outstanding Youth Malaysian 2014.
Defining success: More than material gains
While most youths of Mr. Zyro’s age equate success to material gains or possessions, he thinks otherwise.
“How do you define success? To me, success is not based on people’s perception of you. It is based on your objectives and what you want to accomplish in life.
“In fact, success is a subjective matter. What is more important is an individual has to set own goals and work towards it. If you manage to accomplish it, then you are successful rather than owning branded stuffs.”
With that theory in mind, Mr. Zyro says he has only achieved a partial of his goals and objectives. “I am still working on it. Now that I am already 27, I have three years to work hard to achieve the goals that I have set when I reach 30.”
Wong aims to set up an autopilot business that runs on its own before he reaches 30.
“Now that I am in the service industry, the next step is to venture into product-based industry that doesn’t require my hands-on advice most of the time.
“I would also like to expand my business into the overseas market,” he adds.
Contact Information:
Name: Chris Teng
Organization: Webist Solutions Sdn Bhd
Website: webist.com.my
Phone Number: 0165574650
Email: chris@webist.com.my
Address: B-1-3A, Kuchai Exchange, Jalan Kuchai Maju 13, Off Jalan Kuchai Lama, 58200 Kuala Lumpur.
Source URL: https://www.prwire.asia/not-an-easy-feat-to-carve-a-name-at-an-early-age/
Release ID: 215926
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