Name : Yu Yu Khine
Position : Director of HM Stationery
Yu Yu Khine worked in the Tourism industry for about twenty years before she established HM Stationery last year. HM Stationery is a one stop solution company supplying offices with all necessary materials starting from stationery to office automation.
What inspired you to start a onestop office solutions business in Myanmar?
I noticed this kind of service for the first time when I visited my friend’s office in a foreign country and I thought that it is very convenient for the offices, schools and even households. If you use the service of a one-stop office solutions company,you can save your energy and time. That is why, I decided to introduced this idea in Myanmar.
Who is your primary target market segment? Who are some of your biggest clients?
Our target market segment includes all kind of organizations such as companies, NGOs, embassies, government organizations and schools. Some of our biggest clients are DB Schenker Myanmar, BOSCH, WWF, PWC, GIZ, Roche Myanmar, TEFEL Packaging, Premier Coffee, International SOS, HANS Foundation and PISM.
What kind of services and products do you provide to your clients?
We supply the organizations with stationary, facilities management, office automation, planning & presentation, health safety, desk & personal accessories, and catering & housekeeping products. And we deliver those product free of charge for minimum purchase of 10,000 Kyats within 48 hours.
What makes you expand into other product lines besides stationary, since HM stationery now operates other product lines?
Actually we started with all product lines from the start. We named our company “HM Stationery” so that it is familiar and relatable to the clients since office solutions services is not familiar to the clients in Myanmar yet.
What has been your most successful product or service?
Our most successful product are stationary items.
Has the government transition and changes in policies affected your business?
There is nothing in particular that affected our business. However, we welcome the changes and believe that those changes will attract more investors to Myanmar. Having said that, I think it will need sufficient time to stabilize the economy. Hopefully, foreign investment will increase gradually.
What prompted you to start a delivery service?Has there been a lot of response to this service?
We care about the customer needs and requirements. We put ourselves in customers’ shoes and think about what would we want as a client. Then we decided that the customers will like it best if they can get everything just with one phone call. And there has been a lot of positive responses and customers welcome our service.
Have you seen competition rise in the last few years? Why?
Due to market requirement, there has been a few competitors coming up in recently but most of them only supply stationary, not office solutions like us. So, I would say there is no strategic competition yet.
Which product line has the most severe competition?
It would be stationary items.
Do you have any plan for further expansion (geographical or product line)? If so, when will the plan be carried out?
As for now, we are thinking of expanding geographically. We also want to go into manufacturing the products with our brand. However, that will come later as there are a lot of things we need to do and we also need to wait and see the changes of Business Laws and Taxation.
From a business standpoint, what do you feel is the biggest challenge facing you and your team in next 1-3 years?
The biggest challenge for us in next 1-3 years is rising competition. Due to the market demand more and more competitors are showing up, and they are competing by reducing cost and giving longer credit term instead of giving upgraded services. We will need to do our best if we want to survive the rising competition and maintain the current status of our market share
