By Chia Yan Min

THINK of a bilingual dictionary and a large, cumbersome book comes to mind, with pages dog-eared from frantic flipping.

Local company Besta Digitech has built a business around a radically different type of dictionary that is lightweight, easy to use and carry. Most importantly, electronic.

Besta's sleek products - many of which include a spoken pronunciation feature - are selling well despite a price tag of up to $698. Cheaper models start at $39.90.

The company has increasingly focused on customising its products for specific users. One of its specially customised bilingual dictionaries was recently approved for use in Chinese language examinations by the Ministry of Education (MOE).

Originally, Besta was in the laptop computer market, but in 1991, it started targeting this niche area - and the move has proved a winner.

Last year, it posted sales of about $20 million, up 50 per cent from the previous year. Net profit soared 80 per cent to $1.5 million.

The company has been distributing the Besta brand of electronic dictionaries, manufactured in Taiwan, since 1991. It started in Singapore, distributing English-Chinese dictionaries.

Since then, its business has expanded into the region, and it now distributes its products in Malaysia and Indonesia. About 58 per cent of its gross revenue last year was derived from overseas markets.

Little wonder then that Besta received an SME Growth Excellence Recognition award for its efforts at internationalising. The award, co-presented by HSBC and DP Information Group, ranks small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in several categories.

Besta managing director Alvin Goh has grown with the company. He started out as a sales promoter when the firm was just beginning to distribute electronic dictionaries in Singapore.

'When we first started, electronic dictionaries were pretty new. Back then, even laptops were new,' said Mr Goh.

He sold close to 20 English-Chinese electronic dictionaries on his first day as a promoter, despite the relatively high price of the product.

'We saw a real business opportunity in the product, and there were not many players in the market,' he said.

Mr Goh was promoted as the business grew with Besta's change in focus to electronic dictionaries over the years.

Recent events, such as the emergence of the Chinese market and government campaigns encouraging people to speak Mandarin, were good news for Besta as they had 'created a market need for learning Chinese and, hence, more demand for the products', said Mr Goh.

'The electronic dictionary market has been maturing and now, more people know about the product.'

The company's formula for success both locally and overseas appears to lie in its ability to keep focusing on what it does best, while being innovative and adaptable.

'We cater only to a niche market,' he said. 'All these years, we have stayed very focused on the students' market and on developing products for this group of users.'

Its recently MOE-approved model, the Besta All Pass-1 Computerised Dictionary, was custom-made to ministry specifications.

'In the past, we simply sold what the manufacturer in Taiwan made available to us. Over the years, we have worked with the manufacturer to develop our own products. We work on customisation and localise products to different markets,' said Mr Goh.

The company applied the same strategy in Malaysia and Indonesia. Staff worked with government agencies to design and obtain licensing rights to English-Malay and English-Bahasa Indonesia dictionaries to cater to market requirements in these countries.

'Even though we started off in Singapore, dictionaries are products that are not restricted to the local market,' said Mr Goh.

'To have a localised model for different markets is very important. Some of our models are available only in particular markets, like the English-Indonesian dictionaries that are available only in Indonesia.'

The company has also developed dictionary software in CD-ROM format, as well as a 'thumb-drive dictionary', which was launched at the recent PC Show in Singapore.

The 1GB thumb drives contain English-Chinese dictionary software developed by the company, and need only be plugged into a computer to be used.

Not content with restricting itself to electronic dictionaries, Besta set up a retail arm called iKnow in 2002 to market its products.

iKnow outlets, which are located in most Popular Holdings bookstores, stock a variety of products besides the dictionaries, including e-learning software and other digital lifestyle products.

Mr Goh chose to locate iKnow outlets within Popular bookstores as 'our products actually complement theirs'.

He said the firm is tapping the bookstores' student customer base and the fact that 'almost all the heartland shopping malls have a Popular bookstore'.

The company is looking to take its retail arm overseas, said Mr Goh on his plans for the future.

Besta is currently distributing its products via a reseller in its overseas markets, but he notes that marketing the products itself will lead to higher profits.

He is already setting his sights beyond Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, although he notes that the markets in other developing countries in the region, such as Cambodia and Myanmar, are 'not yet ready'.

On his company's success, Mr Goh said: 'We did not just stop at being a wholesaler of electronic dictionaries. We worked according to market needs to evolve and customise our products.

'Education is a main priority everywhere, and language is a crucial part of it. That is where our market stems from, and innovation is one of our business philosophies.'

THE MEANING OF...

Focus and adaptability

'We cater only to a niche market. All these years, we have stayed very focused on the students' market and on developing products for this group of users...Over the years, we have worked with the manufacturer to develop our own products. We work on customisation and localise products for different markets.'

BESTA DIGITECH MANAGING DIRECTOR ALVIN GOH, on his company's formula for success, both locally and overseas

Ambition and innovation

'We did not just stop at being a wholesaler of electronic dictionaries. We worked according to market needs to evolve and customise our products. Education is a main priority everywhere, and language is a crucial part of it. That is where our market stems from, and innovation is one of our business philosophies.'

MR GOH, on his company's business philosophy

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jun 18, 2008

Is this article useful to you?