the accidental map-maker

by Nicholas Mun, NST may 11 2001

It's funny how things fall into place even though unplanned. Ho Chin Soon, the man synonymous with maps, started his business when he was in between jobs, planning to discontinue it once he found full-time employment. That was in 1989 and now some 12 years later, Ho is still in the mapmaking business and you can be sure, that his job hunting days have ended.

Through those years, Ho carved a niche for himself in supplying maps containing information on land usage and ownership to property players who, during the embryonic years of his business venture when the economy was emerging from a recession, were on the lookout for development land.

That period also saw him putting his nose to the grindstone and expanding his business from strength to-strength and in the process creating such a following for his products that today he boasts some 200 clients, many of Whom have been with him since day one.

Ho knows the value of his product to businesses that require it. He is confident that his maps help create business opportunities and save costs for his clients. He said matter-of-factly that it is this that has kept him in business all these years.

"My clients buy my maps because they value what they can do for them. If my maps didn't do that for my clients, there would absolutely be no reason for them to buy from me," said Ho.

Ho also understood early in his business the role of marketing in the success of a good product.

"So what if you have a better mousetrap but nobody knows about it?" asked Ho. This motivated him to literally take to the streets making it his objective everyday to see three prospective clients. Free time in between appointments also saw him making cold calls to promote his product. From clogged perseverance and referrals of satisfied clients lie made a name for himself.

Though his business is now a far cry from what it was when he first started operating from his home, Ho Chin Soon Research Sdn Bhd is still very much a reflection of who he is and what he believes in. Operating from the first floor of a shop-office lot, the company is now involved in the supply of databases, consultancy and of course maps.

In essence, Ho's business is about is about collating information and presenting it in a meaningful form. As simple as it sounds, he has not attracted any direct competition and for that matter he is not in the slightest way worried about doing so.

In fact his maps are now in digital form and can be edited and updated by clients. They can, if they so wish, undertake this updating task themselves and not purchase Ho's next updated version. They can also use these digital maps as the basis for setting up maps or 
starting their own map making business but so far this has not happened.

As simiple as it sounds, Ho's job isn't easy as the volume of information is staggering and its collection a gargantuan task, Ho also brings to this task his experience honed over more than a decade which no potential competition no matter how enthusiastic can duplicate, not in the short-term at least. But more importantly it's Ho's drive that has made his business what it is today.

Look past all the maps on the walls of his office and what you see is a man who is only trying to do his best as a husband and father. His enthusiasm for the business that he never planned to work on permanently is by and large fueled by the fact that it allows him to be just that.

The flexibility of being self-employed means being a master of his own time and his time outside the office is devoted to his family.

With three children all of whom are of school-going age, Ho makes it a point to spend as much time as he can with them especially during the school holidays. Such breaks are marked in red in his planner and the family makes it a point to travel during such periods of the year.

Ho is contented with how things are at the moment. With the objective of putting all urban centers of the peninsular on the map, his plate his full. But having said that, there is one particular challenge that he may take up and that is database maps. Maps which have within its boundaries so to speak, not just information of land owners and land uses but also demographic data that would be coveted not just by players in the property industry but also marketeers of products and even politicians.

"It should be undertaken by the government," said Ho.

"But if the government and other private enterprises are unwilling to do it then I will consider taking on the challenge," said Ho.

But Ho is cautious about taking his business to this level as the creation of a database map calls for a huge outlay and his company is under-capitalised for such an endeavour. But he is open to the idea provided he has some assistance.

"A joint-venture partner willing to take up 51 per cent equity in my company for RM10 million will make it worth my while," he said. Many may balk at the amount but prospective buyers (there have been a few) have to be able see the potential in it. But whatever the case, things are looking up for Ho considering he never meant for this to happen in the first place.