With an annual revenue of more than RM110 million, Bodibasixs Manufacturing Sdn Bhd is among Malaysia’s leading full-service contract manufacturer of personal and skin care products. The company currently exports its range of personal and skin care products to more than 30 countries. Ho Yew Pun is the founder and director of Bodibasixs and says the company has come a long way from its beginning in 1995. Then, it only has one liquid manufacturing line and one talcum powder line.
The company has since grown their capabilities and currently manufacture a comprehensive product range including body care, skin care, hair care, oral care, baby care, fragrances, home care and insect repellent.
Great support is key to success
Ho started his career in a totally different industry from personal care products. He worked as a branch manager for a finance company for many years before taking the plunge into the exhilarating and challenging world of entrepreneurship.
Before setting up his own company, Ho helped his father expand their hardware shop in Malacca into a wholesale business. He worked in the family business for five years and briefly considered starting a company manufacturing hardware goods such as nuts and bolts as he was familiar with this industry. But, Ho ultimately decided to venture into the personal care products under the advice of a dear trusted friend. It turned out to be a wise decision as there were not many players in this industry at the time.
Without any business experience in the personal care industry, Ho says he was blessed to receive help from the right people. A key person is Goh Ser Heng, who is currently Bodibasixs’s non-executive director. Goh used to work as a factory manager for a pharmaceutical company in Malacca. He was the one who had encouraged Ho to start a contract manufacturing business for personal care products. With his background and experience, Goh was able to assist Ho in establishing the company’s first manufacturing line.
Another instrumental person in Bodibasixs’s setup and success is Lee Pang. She was an experienced logistics manager at one of Malaysia’s largest food and personal care contract manufacturing company and had 16 years of experience in this industry before Ho offered her a whole new adventure and career at Bodibasixs.
Lee joined Bodibasixs as “Employee No. 1” and assumed the position of general manager. She is also a shareholder and says taking this leap to entrepreneurship was a far cry from her previous job where she was an employee earning a stable salary. From the early days to now, Lee has played an integral part in the company’s growth and success.
A challenging start
Bodibasixs was formed in 1995 and operated out of a one-acre factory in Shah Alam. The company started with eight employees and two manufacturing lines. Initially, to secure orders, they brought in over 10 potential clients including multinational companies (MNCs), to tour their new factory. Unfortunately, MNCs required references which Bodibasixs did not have as it was just starting out.
So, Ho and his team decided to try getting orders from local companies with their own brands of personal care products. This posed another challenge as these companies, unlike MNCs, did not have formulas for their products. This meant that Lee’s team would have to develop product formulations for their potential clients. At that time, Bodibasixs did not have an R&D department.
“We did not have a chemist or a laboratory. But we could see that an additional investment for a R&D department was crucial,” says Lee. Fortunately, Ho understood the need and managed to get the funds to establish the R&D arm. Four months later, everything was set up and the team did a test run and quickly secured their very first local client. That maiden contract was only RM7,000. Nevertheless, they accepted that they had to start somewhere.
Bodibasixs has grown from strength to strength. In the financial year ending June 30, 2016, the company achieved a revenue of RM58 million. It has now achieved a revenue of over RM110 million in the financial year ending June 30, 2021. A sales increase of 100% since 2016. In 2007, backed by soaring demand, the company moved to a new three-acre factory in Klang. It has expanded to four factories, three located in Klang and one in Penang. Now, Bodibasixs has over 60 brand owners as clients including hypermarkets, pharmacy chain stores, MNCs and local brands. It manufactures over 12 types of products and exports to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, the Middle East, and South-East Asia.
These days, Ho and his team don’t just help brand owners with product formulations but also offer a one-stop solution which includes labelling and packaging. “We also share important information about product viability and market trends to brand owners. Our philosophy is that we grow along with these brand owners,” says Ho.
He reveals that many of their early clients had grown large enough to begin manufacturing on their own. Meanwhile, Bodibasixs continues to stick to their humble roots of accepting orders as small as RM3,000 and serving them as they do with their large ticket orders exceeding RM1 million.
Moving forward, Lee says they are looking at automating more of the processes at the factory while maintaining the room for customisation to serve their diverse clientele. “We are also looking at manufacturing more higher value products such as skincare and perfumes,” she confides.
There is no doubt that Bodibasixs will succeed in their future growth plans as they have proven their ability to constantly innovate while providing a level of service that surpasses their clients’ expectations.
