Bumiputera entrepreneur making good in cabinet building business
Published on: Friday, November 16, 2018
Pahang: Talent, determination, confidence and perseverance are all that one needs to build a business from scratch.Althahir Abdul Rashid has these qualities in abundance and today, he is the owner of a thriving enterprise specialising in designing and building kitchen cabinetry.His gallery, called Total Kitchen, located in a three-storey shoplot at Jalan Teluk Sisek in Kuantan is a testimony to the success of the business he embarked on some 20 years ago.
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Althahir's kitchen cabinet making venture had humble beginnings. The 48-year-old, who was born and raised in Pekan, Pahang, operated out of a small rented workshop in Kuantan and catered to small orders.Over the years, his Total Kitchen brand grew in popularity and eventually led to the opening of the gallery in 1997, where customers can not only take a look at model kitchen cabinets and place their orders but also seek expert advice and guidance."To tell the truth, when I started this business, I had zero knowledge in the making of kitchen cabinetry," Althahir told Bernama in an interview, here, recently.Nevertheless, he still chose to pursue the business as he knew he had a flair for designing and, furthermore, he had the support of his friend Lee Kang Won, a South Korean entrepreneur who was based in Malaysia then and was involved in making doors for export to South Korea.
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"My friend, who was also my business partner, brought in ideas from his country for the cabinet designs," said Althahir, happily noting that Total Kitchen has developed well and was the brand of choice in the east coast region.Althahir had been interested in business since young and was probably influenced by his father who operated a 'murtabak' stall in Pekan.
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When he returned home in 1995 after completing his higher studies in financial management at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in the United States, he teamed up with Lee to start his kitchen cabinet making venture.They got the business going with a capital of RM100,000 and Althahir paid his share out of the savings he had accumulated while working part-time in the US.However, the partnership only lasted for two years as Lee decided to return to his homeland in 1997."These things are normal in business and my partner's departure did not break my spirit. I went ahead and opened my gallery at Jalan Teluk Sisek (in Kuantan) and it is still surviving," he said, beaming with pride.The Total Kitchen gallery is obviously his pride and joy. Having bought over the three-storey shop unit after renting the premises for 17 years, he has renovated it extensively and converted two of the floors into a kitchen studio and design studio.He has now expanded his business to building bedroom and living room cabinets as well, with his product packages ranging from economical to luxurious.The Total Kitchen range has fared well in the increasingly competitive cabinet manufacturing industry and, according to Althahir, his returns have hit the seven-digit mark. He said Total Kitchen's success was proof that Bumiputera-owned companies too could make it big in a competitive industry."All we need to do is run our business in a diligent and disciplined manner," he said, admitting however that maintaining its current performance was not an easy task.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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