This excerpt showcases the journey of an iconic business persona – Daryll Tan, who had the will to convert every challenge into opportunity. His career is nothing less than jumping off perfectly working bridges, into deep waters, and exploring untapped territories. He entered into the business world at the age of 20 and established his first venture – ChaseMotions which was soon merged to form OpenMindsTM (OM), which he later aligned with his current Partners. Till date, Daryll has successfully placed the cornerstones of 6 other businesses with an aim to create an ecosystem of self-sustaining businesses complementing one another to reach the epitome of success.
Being a part-time lecturer at TAP, truly explains that not having a university degree has never been a barrier for him. Focusing to create own pathway Daryll says, “I am constantly chasing that “aha moment” as I believe this epiphany concludes most of my idea proposals.”
The Motivation Within
Since high school days, Daryll had a burning desire to build businesses of his own. Exploring countless possibilities of owning the first venture fueled him with a sense of purpose for people and talent. Since then, he placed his best foot forward in passing on a better business world for the Gen Z – where talents can hone their knacks like never before! He strives to “Add value as a leader in the marketplace, family unit and community; empowering generations before and after to rise above the status quo and build a platform for talents to kickstart their purpose-driven journey.” This vision has been the overdrive in laying the foundation of OpenMindsTM and other businesses. This driving motivation is what keeps Daryll growing as a leader and empowering people to outperform own milestones.
About OM
A visionary at heart and businessman by choice, Daryll Tan is the Co-founder & Director of OM. Established in 2012, OM is a group of companies focusing on Marketing Technology (MarTech) with two offices in Malaysia and Hong Kong and two more subsidiaries in Singapore. The company is dedicatedly rolling out data-driven digital and tech solutions for renowned brands across industries including Retail, F&B, FMCG, Finance, Telecommunication, Education and so on.
OM prominently focuses on digital marketing, technology development, creative, and educational services through OpenAcademy – an initiative offering upskilling courses to the professional workforce, business owners, students etc. On the other hand, OM Hong Kong’s proficient team is pushing forward in the digital scene and quenching the needs of the blockchain + crypto industry by crafting out end-to-end solutions to support the blockchain tech, position exchanges, and drive cross-border collaborations.
Coming across the current workforce performances, Daryll majorly works hard to embrace employee happiness rather than employee motivation. This boosts the employees to perform at their optimum and stir every potential role coming their way with utmost excellence. Under his aegis, the company is treading an extra mile to keep its employees happy and customers satisfied!
Surpassing Challenges
Establishing a company back in 2012, when the social media space was witnessing numerous fluctuations was not an easy task for Daryll. There was a severe shift seen in the market three years ago – the competition was increasing, clients were cutting budget and evolving to handle social media internally. Daryll along with his co-founders encountered various people problems, where the people started to leave and embrace other opportunities or upgrade their edu-profiles. They acknowledged that finding a good talent that fits their requirements and culture was becoming harder day-by-day.
Another major challenge was their passion to set up new avenues without any hands-on experienced professionals to support it. “We also were too slow in pivoting; sourcing out the next move to keep our positive momentum. We eventually decided to put to hiatus in total 3 to 4 other businesses; trim the “fats” and refocus,” says Daryll.
Recognizing the tech-enabled innovations across the world, Daryll is consecrated to keep-up with this ever-evolving industry. The grit to break the traditional shackles is what drives OM to be a game changer in its sector.
The Big Picture
Online presence matters a lot in this current age of digitalization. The tech discoveries are pulling in all-inclusive growth for business owners as well as end consumers leaving them spellbound. This generates a huge opportunity for businesses in triggering the existing and engage the new clientele. Speaking about the traditional business model Daryll says, “I personally do not see tech advancement overpowering the classic models, but acting as advocates for progression and innovation.” He believes that with the rapid tech upgradations, traditional businesses should leverage on automation, micro moments, O2O data integration, lead-gen, performance marketing and so on in order to generate profitable outcomes in the longer run.
Wake up, Show up, Kick-ass, Repeat!
Daryll believes that it’s the self-motivation, calculated risk, and taking the leap of doing which helps in standing out of the crowd. He advices the novices to “Know that you have a higher calling to innovate, solve problems and advance the economy + society. Have a clear purpose and always dream big, start small and dig deep! Know that if you do stick to entrepreneurship, your journey is less of a “road less taken” but one that needs you to Build Your Own Road.”
“People are your greatest assets; invest into the right talents. Last but not least, my spiritual leader always reminds me of this – “Don’t go where your talent can bring you but your character cannot sustain you.”. Remember to guard against pride and overconfidence. The grass is never greener on the other side; water your own grass,” he added further.
A Long Way to Go
Daryll sees himself as a continuous leader and entrepreneur keeping no stone unturned in leveraging the digital & tech-enabled advancements. Aiming to transfigure the overall business landscape, he is taking pivotal steps to make the processes more data-driven across OM. In unison with the Hong Kong team, the company is all set to take a deeper dive into blockchain and crypto industry. Revealing the future propositions Daryll states that, “As a business with several other offerings, we plan to offer upskilling solutions via OpenAcademy, drive more investments into RoundUp and increase the group’s value towards an IPO or active acquisitions.”