Helen Read: From Sewing Buttons To Owning 12 Boutiques
The second floor office at Wisma Mahamewah, Jalan Sungei Besi in Kuala Lumpur was filled with elegant clothes. A diamante sprinkled, black velvet dress hung on a mannequin, while another showed off a cream, boat-necked blouse under a viscose printed black skirt. A few meters away, a smart-looking jacket in gray was being given the finishing touches.
An employee strode into the room, carrying more dresses and placed them by the giant mirror leaning against the wall. An in-house copywriter sat in a corner, engrossed in an upcoming brochure featuring the fashion house’s latest offerings.
This was just another engaging day at Q-Corporation Sdn Bhd, which manufactures the Ms. READ label. These clothes, each perfectly stitched to carry the exclusive label, MS. READ, will be displayed in one of the twelve local MS. READ boutiques. Patronised by the affluent, MS. READ outlets are strategically located in plush malls such as Mid Valley Megamall, Jaya Jusco, and Starhill.
It’s a far cry from the early 80s, when Helen Read used to work from home, hunched over needle and thread putting the finishing touches on blouses.
“I started by sewing buttons at home and then moved on to designing women’s clothing,” Helen Read says. I did it while my eldest son, Benjamin, slept in his crib. There was this bag full of clothes that I worked on every afternoon. Mind you, each blouse had seven buttons!
Helen thinks the biggest challenge facing a woman running a home-based business is lack of family support. Negative criticisms can damage one’s enthusiasm. I come from a well-heeled family and I caught everyone by surprise when I started to sew on buttons just to earn between two to three hundred ringgit a month! People wondered why I worked so hard to earn so little.
“One of the many lessons in life I learned from the experience was that no task is too small or measly to require our fullest attention. I did my best, never compromising on the quality of my products.”
Helen believes that home-based businesswomen ought to be praised and given due recognition for the many responsibilities they take on. Can you imagine, one minute they’re attending to their domestic needs and the next, they’re focusing on their business? It takes a tremendous amount of discipline and professionalism to switch roles between mother, sister, wife and businesswoman. I personally think that a successful home worker has all the skills required for a top notch position in a company.
Prior to embarking on the clothes business, Helen was the head of housekeeping for a prominent hotel, but she quit due to the long working hours. She also didn’t like being financially dependent on others.
The opportunity to start working from home presented itself soon after she became a business partner with a clothing manufacturer. The two existing partners needed more capital and persuaded her to join as a sleeping partner of Q-Corporation. This offer meant that she did not have to conform to the rigid hours necessary for front-line production. She began putting in regular hours only when her son, Benjamin, started attending kindergarten at the age of four.
“I didn’t need the money, but I certainly wanted it,” she says candidly. Drawing an income, no matter how little it was, boosted my self-esteem. It meant I had my own money to spend as I wished. And the flexible hours would allow me to be with my son.
In 1982, one of her business partners chose to move base to Ipoh. Helen bought over her shares Later she also bought out the other partner as well, thus giving her full control of Q-Corporation.
Being at the helm meant added responsibilities that she readily shouldered. But just as Helen was learning the finer points of management, crisis struck: her marriage ended in divorce.
Then came the recession.
The family had to tighten their belts. My father lost a lot of money when the value of his shares went down. Two siblings who were studying abroad had to return home.
To make matters worse, Helen was unable to settle her bank loan within the stipulated time because she was not able to collect credit extended to emporiums as they too had run into financial difficulties. As a result, the bank informed her that they would stop extending her credit and planned to foreclose on her company.
Taking pro-active measures to correct the situation in her favour, she wrote to the chairperson of the bank and got her loan extended. . She learned a a positive business presentation goes hand-in-hand with a good dose of assertiveness.
The experience taught me to be prudent in my financial management. Prior to this, I was lax when it came to collecting the money owed to me as I preferred to focus my energy on production. Today, my two main focuses are production and debt collection.
Helen’s long awaited dream of cutting her own label materialized in 1997 when as shopping mall, Jaya Jusco, offered her a vacant space.
Before accepting the offer, she studied the crowd for a couple weeks. I noticed there were many larger- sized ladies who couldn’t fit into the regular sizes of 8 – 12. I told the establishment that I would only agree if I could exclusively market large sizes, i.e. sizes 12-20.
Once again, Helen’s assertiveness worked. The management relented and they struck a deal. Five years down the road and twelve outlets later, her decision to tap into the niche market for fuller-bodied women proved to be a very wise one. She now has a big share of the market of ready-made clothing for larger women.
Helen’s strong selling point is that the garments are cut to flatter women. Designed for the modern look, the MS. READ range also takes comfort and practicality into account. For a small fee, the outlets also provide alterations.
Helen is generous with her time helping the less fortunate. She is part of a single mothers’ support group and recently, in Kenya, she comforted children inflicted with AIDS.
It was a humble beginning that led on to many greater opportunities. She agrees that her short stint as a homepreneur taught her valuable lessons in multi-tasking and organization. Indeed, she has come a long way from her button-sewing days.
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