FNBE ENG AND EPC BUSINESS REPORT

1. STEPS
Research
Report
FNBE 0814 | ELG 30605 | Ms. CASSANDRA WIJESURIA

3. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT
PRESENTATION TITLE: STEPS
Names Presentation / Research Report Roles.
ENGLISH II / ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605 / ENG 0205)
LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA
SUBMISSION & PRESENTATION DATE: 5/6/2015 12PM
GROUP MEMBERS :
 AARON CHONG YU HO 0320270
 ABDULLAH MAMODE 0319562
 CHONG CHIN PIN 0319595
 EE YUN SHAN 0319990
 ESTHER CHUAH 0321422
 TAN CHIN YIN 0320080
 TAN JINGWEI 0320137

4. Content
TITLE PG
1. Key summary 1
2. History of trade 2
3. Descripton of Sinseng shoe enterprise 4
4. Descripton of Linsim Trading 14
5. Comparative Analysis 17
6. Recommendation 26
7. Reference 28
8. Appendices 29

5. Key Summary
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human
foot while doing various activities. The shoes might as a important tools or
decorative item for your foots , but other people might treat it as their fortune
in their life. In here, we had compared and analyse Ginseng shoe enterprise
and Linsim Trading which both of them are involve in similar industry but
located at different geographical locations. The aspect that we had
compared are the ages of business, range of customers, their competitors
and their strategies used to overcome the difficulties and others. Conclusion,
Ginseng shoe enterprise is more commercially successful and the owner of
family have pass the business to 3 generation.
( 121 words )

6. Description of the History of the trade
Shoes have actually been around for thousands and thousands of
years. You can’t say that shoes were “invented” so much as they have
“evolved” beyond certain specifications that made them different back then
than they are today. Various citizenries from all over the world throughout
history had some sort of leather that they put on their feet in order to make
walking around less of a hassle and less of a danger to your feet. The only
different is that, the way in which we make these feet covering today is vastly
different then the way we did it over 40,000 years ago.
Sandals were the most common footwear in most early civilisations;
however, a few early cultures had shoes. In Mesopotamia, types of soft
shoes were worn by the mountain people who lived on the border of Iran. The
soft shoe was made of wraparound leather, similar to a moccasin. As late as
1850 most shoes were made on absolutely straight lasts, there being no
difference between the right and the left shoe.
Jan Matzeliger born in 1852 and was an African American inventor best
known for his shoe-lasting machine that mechanically shaped the upper
portions of shoes. He found employment in a shoe factory and became
interested in the possibilities of lasting shoes by machine. Working alone and
at night for six months, he produced a model in wood and on March 20, 1883,
received a patent. His invention won swift acceptance and within two years
had largely supplanted hand methods in Lynn.
His patent was subsequently bought by Sydney W. Winslow, who
established the United Shoe Machine Company. The continued success of
this business brought about a 50% reduction in the price of shoes across the
nation, doubled wages, and improved working conditions for millions of
people dependent on the shoe industry for their livelihood. He received
several other patents for shoe-manufacturing machinery, including an
improved model of his first lasting machine.
With over 100 years of shoemaking history, Malaysia’s shoe industry
has experienced tremendous growth in spite of stiff competition from

7. neighbouring countries. The industry’s humble roots can be traced back to
the early 1900s, and it was Penang that played an important role, becoming a
hotspot for flourishing shoe businesses and thus heralding the remarkable
development of the shoe-making industry from its beginnings to what it is
today.
The modern-day industry has changed its focus from an emphasis on original
equipment manufacturing to marketing and selling its very own brands in the
international arena. The Malaysian footwear industry’s emphasis has also
gradually shifted to design and quality, mostly due to the emergence of China
in the market, where labour and production costs are lower. Now world-
renowned for its locally made products, the stylish designs and top-notch
quality of Malaysian shoes have made them one of the most sought-after
products in the global market.
It is also a great source of national pride that Dato’ Jimmy Choo, one of
the world’s most famous shoe designers, is a Malaysian and an official
Tourism ambassador for the nation. Last year’s festival included a gallery
showcase of Choo’s works inspired by the Year of the Dragon, which drew
the crowds. Other highlights from the 2012 event included a Rainforest Shoe
House, a Wedding Shoe Wonderland, a Young Designer corner, as well as a
foot health corner (complete with massages to pamper your feet!).
Since nowadays people have become more and more fashion minded,
they feel and are more interested in buying beautiful, nice and good shoes.
Some like to wear classic while the other want to wear sporty shoes. As
businesses get on expanding years after years, same become of the models
of shoes of different brands. Favourite brands that people knows are for
example “Bata” a famous shoe shop in the world, Adidas, Nike, Aldo and
many others. So here we are comparing two different shoe shops which are
Sinseng Shoes from Penang and Lin Sim Trading from Pel.Klang

8. SINSENG SHOE ENTERPRISE
Current Location: Jalan Gurdwara 10300 P. Pinang
Shop and The Environment: The shops are all opposite the shopping malls
(GAMA Mall)
Business Started: Year 1946
Age of Business: 66 years
Number of Branches: 2
Employees: Most of the employees are family members
Main Service: Selling existing product of shoes and accessories
: Provide personal tailored shoes
Customers’ Background: Most of the customers are Chinese
Range of Customers: Most of the customers are the regulars
Organisation Chart: Boss and staffs

9. Working Days/ Time: Whole week except Sunday, open even when public
holiday. During New Year time, they will open after the first week.

10. In the past, most of the people in George Town opened tailor and shoe
business. Year 1946, Sinseng Shoe Shop was started to operate at that time.
There are 3 shoe shops in total. Singseng was the first and main shop Family
Chee. Then, it come out with two branches after years. One of the branch
has the same name which is also Singseng and the other is named Flash
Steps Enterprise. The founder of the business is the boss, Mr. Chee Min’s
father, Mr. Chee Kim Seong .
Current Location: Jalan
Gurdwara 10300 P. Pinang
Sinseng
Shoe Shop
The shoe shop is opposite the
Gama shopping mall. It located at a
strategic place. There have many
local people and tourists pass by
everyday.
The shoe shop is opposite the
Gama shopping mall. It located at a
strategic place. There have many
local people and tourists pass by
everyday.

11. Why named Sinseng?
The shop was named by the current boss, Mr. Chee Min’s father,
Mr. Chee Kim Seong (founder). The meaning of the shop, Sinseng is new
beginning. He believed that everything also will have a new starting point
even though the bad things. Besides, the founder also hope that his family
and him can have a good starting point in Pulau Pinang after moved to
Pulau Pinang.
Brief History of Sinseng Shoe Shop
The founder, Mr. Chee Kim Seong (Boss’s father) came from Shanghai, China,
the boss was only 11 years old at that time. They went around Hong Kong, Singapore
and finally they came to Pulau Pinang. They felt comfortable at Pulau Pinang hence they
stopped their steps at here and landed here to start a business. At that time, the British’s
culture strongly influenced the fashion of the people in Pulau Pinang included the dress,
shoes and others. Therefore, the founder had decided to start a business of shoes.
After some years, due to the dislike of study, the boss, Mr. Chee Min learned all of the
skills from his father and took over the business.

12. Boss’s Name: Chee Min
Age: 75 years old
Gender: Male
When, he was young, he did not like to study so he followed his
father to learn the techniques of making shoes. After years, he
took over the business from his father. He cooperate with his
brother to manage the shop. Mr. Chee Min was responsible for
making shoes and his brother did the marketing. They had
success to establish two branches.
Todays, he is in semi-retirement. He act as a shopkeeper at the
main shop. He passed the jobs like making shoes to his
apprentices. Besides, he also let the other younger family
members to manage the shop’s finance and management.
The right person is Mr. Chee Min and the person standing
next to him is his brother, Mr. Chee Wai.

13. The main and first shoe shop for Family
Chee. It was opened by the current
boss, Mr. Chee Min’s father. It is
manage by Mr. Chee Min now.
This is the shoe shop which is
also under family Chee but it has
a different name from the other
two because it was established by
Mr. Chee Min’s brother, Mr. Chee
Wai. Its shop name is Flash Steps
Enterprise.
This is one of the branch of
Sinseng Shoe Shop. It is
manage by Mr. Chee Wai’s wife.

14. Sinseng Shoe Shop sell existing products such as other brand shoes and their
own made shoes. They are selling formal shoes, sport shoes and others.
Besides, they also provide personal tailored shoes.
In addition, they also selling
slippers. People also can ask them
to help you to make a comfortable
slipper.
All the Sinseng Shoe Shop’s
products will have a obvious
characteristic which is all of them will
have the word, ‘SESTINI’ and their
logo.

15. Sinseng Shoe Shop also famous because of his personal tailored
dancing shoes. In the past, many local people even tourists also like
to come to buy the shoes. Some of them also like to ask the shop to
help them to make dancing shoes. The shop will follow the fashion at
that time to produce shoes.
Recent years, the shop also help
people with orthopaedic
problems make shoes, to suit
their needs. This need to thanks
to Clifton Chee who is the
family’s third generation to run
the shop. He is the one who
start and support this service.

16. ACHIEVEMENT
This pair of shoe had be published in newspaper includes local
newspaper and oversea newspaper. Many journalists and reporters
had came to interviewed these shop because of the shoes above and
the shop’s good workmanship in making shoes.
This is the oldest shoe in the
shop. It was made from Mr.
Chee Min in year 1974. It already
have 41years. One of the pair of
this shoe was placed in the main
shop to let others to see. Then,
the another part was put at
home. This shoe is very heavy
because it has wood as its base
and leather as its body.

17. This is the shoe which is more
than 20 years. It also is the
products made from Mr. Chee
Min. It is different from the shoe
above. It is lighter because it
made from plastic materials.
This pair of shoe was made during
80s. At that time, people like to dance
in the disco place. They would like to
compare their dancing techniques,
hairstyle, clothes and shoes.
Therefore, many people come to ask
Sinseng Shoe Shop to help them to
make their own style shoes at that
time.

18. Description of Linsim Trading
This section provides background information about the businesses such as:
i) Their names: Lin Sim Shoes Trading
ii) Telephone: 03- 33487207
iii) Current locations: 36, Jalan Tiara 4, Bandar Baru Klang, 41150 Klang,
Selangor
iv) Brief history about the shop: Madam Khoo’s family members started making
shoes in early 20th
century at home, all the shoes making materials are from
China, after they had designed some shoe models, they will send it to factories
for mass production, then they sell it to third parties such as wholesalers, retail
shops or even night market stalls. After they have made some profit, they
bought a shop lot and started to employ twenty foreign workers to manufacture
the shoes themselves and hence they gain a lot of money. After some times,
the workers were not satisfied with their salaries and decided to boycott the
business, they purposely make bad quality of shoes, eventually the business
went down tremendously until they were forced to stop making any shoes, and
therefore they have to convert their shoes manufacturing business to shoes
trading in year 1999 until this present day.
v) Number of branches: No yet to have any branches.
vi) Number of employees: Around thirty people working for the business at the
beginning stage, now only left with six working people

19. vii) Organizing chart:
Madam Khoo and her husband Mr.Lee
Chun Lim and his wife Choon Sim and his wife
viii) Main products or services: Basically this shop sells all kinds of shoes but the
most sellable shoes are leather shoes, safety boots, slippers and children
shoes. Besides that, it also provide some custom- designed shoes.
ix) Operating hour: 8.30 in the morning to 5.30 in the evening and sometimes up
to 7 in the evening every day except for national public holidays.
x) Estimated current number of customers: There are three to four customers on
average that visits the shop every day, most of the customers are Madam
Khoo’s regular customers. Occasionally there will be some new customers that
heard of the shop through their friends. Generally, the targeted market of this
business are people staying around the neighborhood especially middle aged
man, children and workers in the construction industry.
xi) When were the business started: The business was founded in early 20th
century as a home business, and the shoes trading business was started in
1999. It has operated for 16 years until today.
xii) Who are the founders: Madam Khoo (012-6010802), she has two son who
name Chun Lim and Choon Sim, so she combined their last name Lin and Sim
as the shop name.
xiii) What was their motive for starting the business: Madam Khoo’s father learnt to
make shoes from China when he was young, after some years he came to
Malaysia and was married, then he started a small shoes making business to
sustain the family.

20. xiv) Their recent development (i.e. what has the business accomplished or what
changes have occurred in the business over the past 3 - 5 years):
There is no new development in their business, Madam Khoo plans to retire
within this five years, the succession plan of this business will be pass to her
two sons. For this moment, they will continue to work hard, manage well and to
provide utmost good services to satisfy their customers.

21. Comparative analysis of competitive traits
Business 1：SinSeng shoes shop
As Sin Seng shoes shop located in Georgetown, Penang which is a popular tourist
destination, it encounters several competition with many other shops. This is due to the
fact that many businesses realized the opportunity to earn profit in this area due to high
demand for shoes shops. A lots of shoes shops. Perfect competition occurs to each
other. To emulate with other shops, each shoes shop offered or have promotions with a
lower price possible.
Competitors
The top 3 competitors are Hong Kong shoes shop, Nyonya beaded shoes shop, shoes
shop in 1st
Avenue. They are nearby to Sin Seng shoes shop.

22. COMPETITOR 1 : Hong Kong shoes shop
This shoes shop is located at Kimberly Street of Georgetown, Penang which is a
prosperity street making it very noticeable by tourist as a potential business place. It
might seem old, but it sold many different type of beautiful shoes and the prices of shoes
are cheap.
COMPETITOR 2 : Nyonya beaded shoes shop
This shoes shop selling Nyonya beaded shoes for 40 years. The shopkeeper designing,
cutting, sewing and stringing together shoes that used to be popular in local. Although
the prices of the shoes are quite expensive around RM450 – RM1200, but the manual
work shoe attracted alots of costumers visit and consume.

23. COMPETITOR 3 : Shoes shop in 1st
Avenue
The shoes shop in 1st
Avenue is one of the strongest competitor to Sin Seng shoes
shop. As it is located in the shopping centre so there are many customer patronize. The
shoe that sold inside are new fashion and variety type that attract the customer to buy.
Strategies Employed By Sin Seng shoes enterprise to compete with competitors
 A few strategies were employed by Sin Seng shoe shop to attract customers.
 A buy 1 free 1 promotion will carry on every years.
 No GST in all shoes
 The worker always have a warm-welcome to the customers and have a nice
service which is patient to descript the characteristic of the shoes to costumers
and help them to test the shoes before buying.

24. Although Sin Seng shoes shop is an old fashion shoes shop but it have numerous of
frequent guest consume and it also located at a good place that can attract the eyes of
tourists.
Business 2: Lin Sim Trading Shoes Shop
As Lin Sim Trading shoes shop located in Klang, Selangor which is a popular tourist
destination, it encounters several competition with many other shops. As many tourists
flock into this city from all comers of the world. A lots of shoes shops. Perfect
competition occurs to each other. Customers have a variety of choices to choose from
the market. To emulate with other shops, each shoes shop offered or have promotions
with a lower price possible.
Competitors

25. The top 3 competitors are Ka-lee shoes shop, Bata shoes shop and Two lips shoe shop.
COMPETITOR 1 : Ka-lee shoes shop
This shop is located at Jalan Taiping. This shop always have a lots of customers that
from the nearby residents. Although it is a small shop, it has his own frequent customers
to buy their shop frequently and the price of shoes is quite cheap compare to other
shoes shop nearby.
COMPETITOR 2 : Bata shoes shop
Bata shoes shop is one of the famous shoes shop in Malaysia. It produce a good quality
shoes from the proprietary factory. The customers always be attracted because of its
famous and the shoes that buy from Bata can be wear for a long time and also the
shoes are comfortable to wear.

26. COMPETITOR 3 : Two lips shoe shop
This shop is a big shops, it sell a new-fashion design shoes. It attract a lots of female
customers. Variety types of new shoe can be seen in the shops. Although the design is
beautiful, its price is also not too expensive as well.
Strategies Employed By Lin Sim Trading shoes shop to compete with competitors
 Have a good service.
 Promotion carry on often
 Cheap in price
 The frequent guests can have a discount of 20%

27. Although shoes shop had less type of shoes compared to other competitors but it have
numerous of frequent guest consume the prices of shoes are cheap which can attract
the tourists.

28. Nature of markets :
SinSeng Shoes and LinSim Trading both are in a monopolistic competitive state. This is
due to the fact both shops sell shoes. However, they differ in quality, genre, and pricing.
LinSim would sell shoes that suit for men (mostly), slippers and shoes for children, while
SinSeng which offers a wider range of shoes such as branded shoes, custom made
shoes, formal shoes, sport shoes and other types of shoes. They may sell the same
product however they are still differentiated from one another and hence are not perfect
substitutes of each other.
Comparison between SinSeng Shoes and LinSim Trading
SIMILARITIES
DESIGNS OF SHOES MODERN CONTEMPORAY DESIGN
NATURE OF MARKET MONOPOLISTIC CCOMPETITIVE
GST BOTH SIDES ARE NOT AFFECTED
RANGE OF
CUSTOMERS
AVERAGE
STAFFS MOSTLY FAMILY MEMBERS
DIFFERENCES
SINSENG SHOES LINSIM TRADING
YEAR STARTED 1946 1999
BRANCHES 2 NONE
TYPE OF SHOES TAILORED
SHOES/BRANDED
SHOES
BRANDED SHOES
WORKING DAYS WHOLE WEEK EXCEPT
SUNDAY
WHOLE WEEK

29. Conclusion
The business which stands out to be more commercially successful would be the
SinSeng Shoes. Its points for its dominance over the LinSim Trading are obvious in
terms of branches, services provided, products and experience. SinSeng started their
business in 1946 while LinSim started in 1999, this shows that SinSeng has 54 years of
experience in this business more than LinSim trading, which is considered as a huge
gap between the 2 businesses. Another fact that supports this is that SinSeng Shoes
was started by Mr. Chee Min’s father Mr. Chee Kim Seong who was experienced in
making tailored shoes. On the other hand, LinSim however wasn’t experience in making
shoes. This became an advantage for the SinSeng Shoes as they were able to not just
sell shoes made by other firms but also sell custom made shoes. It is also worth to
mention that SinSeng shoes made good quality custom made shoes as they have a
history where journalist and reporters visited their shop and even made it to the
newspapers. When Mr. Chee Min took over the business, he was able to open 2 more
branches which is ran by the other family members.

30. Recommendation
Sinseng Shoe Enterprise
Organizing an event :
Organising event such as fashion show and display the stylish and unique models of
shoes. People would be attracted to watch the show and will definitely buy the shoes
that they find appealing. This is the best way of displaying shoes and boasting about the
uniqueness of the store. At such events, Sinseng shoe enterprise can distribute loyalty
cards and discount coupons for next purchase. This is a very effective way of tying the
customers to their store. Having hold of discount coupons and loyalty cards, customers
are sure to give thought of coming back to Sinseng shoe’s store.
Set up customer’s reward programme :
Another way of attracting customers and keeping your customers tied is to show that
you care for them. You can offer al your customers a family package that indicates
discounts and gifts if they buy shoes for their family members from your store. People
find it convenient and discounts attract them as they can shop for all the family members
under one roof. Giving shoe care facility is another way to show your customers that you
care for them. You can give the service of shoe care such as shine and minor repair.
Online advertising :
Advertising about you your shoe store is above all the most important thing. You can put
up banners mentioning your address and offers that you are giving at your store. Many
customers would visit your store looking at such banners and this would certainly
contribute in boosting up the sales. You can come forward to sponsor a local event and
in exchange you can advertise about your business. This would make people aware
about your store and also build up a healthy reputation of your business.

31. Linsim Trading
The most spaces of improvement of LinSim Trading is their human resource
management. Here are some suggestion to improve on human resource of productivity
to improve the competitiveness.
 Secure staff’s performance – by install security system(CCTV).
 Change rate of salary of workers in factory– Change the system of payment of
salary to payment by daily rate instead of payment on unit of shoes that have done
a day.
 Set employee’s reward programme
 Salary of staff based on commission
 Punishment when someones break the rules.
 Make all employees accountable for their goals and their assignments. Don’t give
generic orders; be specific. Delegate duties to individuals and make sure the
individual understands the responsibility involved with the task; make sure he/she
understands that the accountability of that task rests solely on his/her shoulders.
 Encourage, reward, motivate and recognize all jobs well done. Nothing inspires an
employee more than a big thank you hug from the boss; it makes an employee
feel important and that employee will strive to repeat the feat that earned him/her
the hug
 Set realistic and achievable targets for the workers. Setting goals or targets for
your employees improves their productivity, effectiveness and efficiency but make
sure the goals are attainable.
 Communicate with customers

32.  Chee. M. (2015, May 2). Personal interview.
• Tan. C. (2011, May 26). Shoemaker brings cheer to those with walking
disability. The Star. Retrieved from
http://www.thestar.com.my/story/?file=%2F2011%2F5%2F26%2Fnorth%2F87
10836&sec=north
• Bellis. M. (2015), The History of shoes (Retrieved on 2015, May 26),
http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventions/a/Shoes.htm
• (Retrieved on 2015, May 26), http://invention.yukozimo.com/who-invented-the-
shoe/
• African American Registry. (2013) Jan Matzeligers are used today (Retrieved on
2015, May 26), http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/jan-matzeligers-
inventions-are-used-today
• Manveen. M. (2011, March 20), A celebration of Shoes.
http://www.expatgomalaysia.com/2013/03/20/a-celebration-of-shoes/
REFERENCES

33. Interview questions
1. What is the most important factor / motive that you caused you decide to open a
(business)
2. When was the business started?
3. Why is the (shop) named…….?
4. How many type of services that you provided?/how much
5. Do you have any branches?
6. How many branches and employees that you have?
7. How much is your day/ month expenditure?
8. How much is your rough annual revenue figure?
9. What is the peak season?
10. Can you please share some brief history of the development of (shop)?
11. What are the obstacles that you faced?
12. How satisfied are you with your (business)?
13. Do you had experiences that met with some special costumers?
14. Customers’ background?
15. Range of customers?
16. Are there a lot of competitors? Who are the top three?
17. What are the strategies to compete with them?

34. 18. Are there any specialised field of knowledge needed to run this business?
19. What are the challenges that new business will face during starting period?
20. Shop and environment? Location of the shop?(Population)
21. Advancement in the future
22. How the Tax, GST affect your business?
23. Organisation Chart
24. Working Days/ Time
Last
1. Can we have your detail personal information?
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Phone Number:
Business Name:
Age of Business:
Address:

35. Photos of interview ( Sinseng Shoe Enterprise )

40. Group meeting
 Penang meeting 1-5-2015
 Klang valley interview 4-5-2015
 First meeting( job division) 8-5-2015
 Slide and report combination 28-5-2015
 Practice presentation 4-6-2015
Minutes of meeting : 12hours