No Legs, No Problem!

'"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller

Drive around most neighborhoods in Malaysia, and you are likely to see a 99 Speedmart around the corner. The convenience store brand is well recognized for its competitive pricing and extensive selection of products to meet your food needs. It's a dependable neighborhood staple business for many people.

Lee Thiam Wah is the man behind the Speedmart 99 empire, a Chinese Malaysian born, with poliomyelitis, a disease caused by a highly infectious virus that invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. At 8 months old, he was already bound to a wheelchair for life.

Born into a low-income household, with 10 siblings, his parents worked tirelessly to support the family which left them with almost no time to take care of Lee.

Because secondary schools were too far away for him to travel to due to his condition, he was forced to drop out of school following his primary education. " Being stuck in my wheelchair, I envied my siblings as I saw them enjoy regular lives. I could barely do anything but sit up, while others went to school, played sports, and went out with friends," he admitted to The Star a Malaysian local Newspaper in 2017.

Lee developed a close relationship with his grandma, who supported and inspired the teenager to forge his own path. She assured Lee that he was intelligent and could still accomplish a lot more with his hands because his disability was only physical and not mental.

Her words remained with me, and because no one in the family had ever started a business before, it inspired me to try to make some money by selling snacks on our porch, he said.

Being a thrifty man, he saved as much money as he could from his snack-selling company and ultimately had enough money to open his first store, Pasar Raya Hiap Hoe in Klang, at 23 years old. His company prospered because it was well-known for its excellent customer service, reasonable prices, and wide selection of goods. He opted to sell off his store to a relative after five years in the business looking for a new challenge.

This was the beginning of his retail training, during which he discovered what clients wanted to buy and made contacts with vendors to discover their prices.

All this experience would come in handy once he started running his mini-mart empire.

After five years, Lee sold his general store for $88,000, according to Forbes, RM38,000, and RM30,000, respectively, according to Enterprise Asia and The Edge, and he then launched Pasar Mini 99, a mini mart in Klang Utama. He made the decision to establish a network of mini marts because he desired the challenge of managing a larger enterprise.

"If you don't have scale, you can't compete with Chinese medicine halls on pricing, and you can't compete with hypermarkets on range," he said. He would open up eight more locations around Klang by 1998, and in 2000 the businessman changed the name of the establishment to become what is today known as 99 Speedmart.

For Lee, the name has special meaning as well. "We chose the number 99 because it signifies that even though we are not flawless, we still seek to offer our consumers the best services and products we have at an affordable price," he told The Star.

The nearly perfect score of 99 also serves as a reminder to Lee that there is always space for growth, in typical Asian fashion.

Due to his experience running his general store, Lee was able to identify the fast-moving items with the highest turnover rates and would stock up on them.

However, early in the brand's history, certain goods' profit margins were compromised to sell them for as little money as possible. However, Lee's meticulous management of the company's operations contributed to establishing the brand's image. The businessman also enjoyed solid relationships with suppliers and refrained from delaying payments, which larger supermarkets were rumored to be notorious for.

When delivering a fresh stock of goods to the outlets, suppliers were able to collect their cash for a prior order from Lee within 30 minutes. Suppliers valued Lee's solid reputation in the industry.

Under his leadership, 99 Speedmart rapidly expanded and by 2017, Lee celebrated the opening of his 1,000th store in Shah Alam Section 13, Selangor. Though the exact number of 99 Speedmart stores around today is inconclusive, there are at least 1,500 around Malaysia, and 3 that opened in Singapore in 2019.

Despite the lack of an online presence, 99 Speedmart was one of the top options for physical grocery purchasing during the lockdown in 2020. 39 percent of Malaysian consumers who participated in a Vase.ai survey, said they’ve bought their groceries from 99 Speedmart demonstrating the success of the low-cost retailer.

Life has not been kind to Lee, from the onset, and he has had to endure suffering due to his infirmity. He did, however, overcome all these challenges and create a prosperous empire for himself. In 2014, the company generated RM2.1 billion in sales.

What is keeping you from making your ambitions a reality if Lee, despite all the obstacles life has thrown his way, was able to achieve such an amazing success?

Truly Yours,

The Queen Of Africa