Young entrepreneurs set sights on gold

PROMOTING products online can help give a retailer international presence, helping to promote local goods and products to the international market, said Freedomsoft's King Seh Horng.

The 21-year-old computer engineering student in Curtin University, Miri, said that there are a lot of businesses in Brunei trying to get online to attract an international audience but lack the expertise to do so.

"They haven't been given the opportunity to do this ... they want to sell their stuff online but have no knowledge on how to do this," he said, adding that this was the driving force which led him and his 22-year-old brother, King Seh Haur, towards developing the Freedomsoft E-Commerce Directory Site Project which landed the top honours of this year's ThinkBig Business Plan competition.

The Freedomsoft E-Commerce Directory Site Project is a web-based portal that will allow local merchants and buyers to interact with one another.

"The merchants will be able to post their products and services (on this portal), making it very convenient for both merchants and buyers to do business," he said.

"Basically all the merchants have to do is sign up for an account with us and they will be given an online page with a basic template where they can add their products, along with prices and product details, to a list for customers," added King who has had six years of programming experience from working as a freelancer.

"We see that Brunei is missing this kind of platform. This is a next generation platform for businesses," he said.

He said the web portal will also include a secure payment system, although this is still in the developmental stage.

"We are hoping to work out a deal with the local banks, if not then we will seek an account with USA payment services," he said, adding that Paypal was not considered at the moment because it might be inconvenient for purchasers.

"The thing with Paypal in Brunei is that it doesn't allow you to withdraw money. You can only deposit money but cannot withdraw it so this is a problem," he said.

He also spoke of how potential customers will have the choice of registering either for a free basic or premium account.

"The basic plan will be free but maybe only a limited number of products can be listed," said the 21-year-old.

The price for the premium plan is still being considered but King said it should be "very reasonable".

When asked what is the current stage of development of the Freedomsoft E-Commerce Directory Site Project, King replied that they now have a rough working solution.

"We just have to improve on the details but we are quite confident because this has a lot of potential," he said.

He also spoke of challenges they face, one of which, surprisingly, was the registering of the company in Brunei.

"Establishing a company in Brunei is quite a daunting task. We are quite new to this but hopefully we will be able to do this quickly and efficiently. We hope to establish the company soon and launch it within a few months," he said.

The Brunei Times