ALTHOUGH he studied until only Standard Six, it did not stop Kamalanathan Ponnusamy, 38, from dreaming big and finally opening his own car accessory shop.
That was 19 years ago when as a 19-year-old, he made a remarkably bold move to start his business with a start-up capital of RM180,000.
Much of the money was from his hard-earned savings while he was working part-time at one of the car accessory shops in Penang.
Known as Min Tais Enterprise, the shop is located at Jalan Bagan Luar in Butterworth, and specialises in the exhaust system and installation.
“It all started when I realised there was an increasing demand for a car exhaust system,” recalled Kamalanathan during an interview session with Buletin Mutiara at his shop today.
“I quickly seized the opportunity and established the shop which was also one of the earliest car accessory shops in Butterworth during that time.
“After I finished my Standard Six, I decided to quit school because I had no interest in academics.
“Shortly after that, I was working on a part-time basis at a car accessory shop in Penang.
“It was there I became passionate about the automotive industry and car accessories.
“So, after working there for quite some time and had gained enough experience, I finally decided to set out on my own,” he added.
Like most businesses, the beginning was not easy but Kamalanathan persevered even when customers were few and far in between.
As time passed on, he began to garner a strong base of loyal customers who are satisfied with his workmanship and quality service.
“They come from as far as Johor Baru, Kelantan and neighbouring states such as Kedah and Perak.
“Most of them are older customers and have been sending their cars to us for many years because they are comfortable with our services.
“However, due to the current reimplementation of the movement control order (MCO 2.0) that prohibits interstate travelling, they cannot come here for now,” he added.
That has evidently put a dent to his income, just as many other businesses have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Currently, my business is experiencing 50% losses in revenue. However, it has slowly improved after I decided to reduce the price of selected items and give special discount on exhaust installation fee.
“This offer will only last during the MCO period. I hope more will come and grab this opportunity and of course we fully adhere to the SOP compliance,” he said.
When the pandemic is over, Kamalanathan said he would not rule out the possibility of expanding his business by adding more branches.
“The focus now is to sustain the operation here first and we will see how it goes after that,” he said.
Kamalanathan has not let his low education background become a setback chiefly because he is not afraid of hard work and he is willing to learn from past mistakes.
In fact, he dares to continue dreaming big since he was a teenager.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis