He wants to know whether it is still feasible to invest in an area that had many existing Bhs. He had called me many times since February and I only agreed to do the survey last week. My apology to Mr.L as my schedule is filed up with many appointments.
His relative has offered him a unit. His relative has 4 unit of shops there and 3 of them have been converted into Bh. Though the 3 units are doing quite well but Mr.L still wants to do it properly and making sure no mistake is made. That was why I was invited for the visit.
I reached Sepang at about 3 pm and Mr.L is already waiting at a Coffee shop which located not far. It takes about an hour drive from K.L.
Hi Mr.L, how are you? Have you waited long?
No James it is OK. I came here early.
What time did you reach here Mr. L?
Oh I reached here about 1 pm.
Wah you have been waiting since 1pm? That is 2 hours. I thought our appointment is at 3pm?
Is Ok James, I came here early so that I could have a look at those Bhs and enjoy the coffee here.
The shops belong to his uncles and out of goodwill they offer him one unit. I guess he was lucky.
There are 2 rolls of shops here located not far from Sepang town. The front roll has business activities and all are occupied there is only one unit which the upper floor is converted into a Bh.
Whereas for the back roll of shops most of them are converted into bhs. You may not notice this if you drive pass the front roll of shops.
Mr. L is very cautious as he knows not all Bhs here are doing well except few and those that belonged to his uncle. There are not less than 20 bhs here, which 90% of the shops are Bhs except one or two which had been turned into warehouses.
The competition is stiff and winners take all, losers left with none.
In order to find out the feasibility I have to know the surrounding geographical areas. After observing the building and its surrounding I discovered that there is a river, a saltwater river located 500 m right in front these shops. It was surrounded by mangrove trees and many would have not noticed it unless there are locals.
It has plenty of mangrove trees and it is not a small river. By observing the river and the canopy of the tree I saw many swiftlets roaming the sky searching for food. I could see hundred of them.
I wanted to find out whether the Swiftlets population is big enough to support more farms. Though I knew not all the 20 Bhs here are successful perhaps 30% of them only but it is better to be ascertained about the potentiality of this area.
Not all areas that have lots of Swiftlet farms are potential areas. This has been commonly mistaken by many people. The number of Swiftlet farms cannot be use as a measure or to justify the potentiality of a place. Like for example eg: Setiwan which has huge number of Bhs which is also one of the hardest place to build successful Bhs. In other words Bhs are more than Swiftlets.
There is one particular Bh here that attracted lots of birds. The owner had erected an addition floor which made the building a 3 storey Bh. He has all the height advantages. Though height is one of the factors but I see no major threat to other Bhs if there are done properly from Internal Design to Micro management (Aroma & Sound).
By observing the Bhs there I discovered that some of them are facing heat problem. The exhaust fans showed that the Internal micro are not managed well. If the micro has been managed well then why do they need exhaust fans?
I explained in detail the outcome of my evaluation and findings to Mr.L and now it is up to Mr.L to decide to go in or otherwise.
Overall it is a good place.
Good Swiftlet farming All.
012-3173811.