Mr. Prasit Kietwatcharawit or Mr. Ko is another person who has had a dream since childhood that he wanted to be the owner of an eyeglasses shop. But life was not easy. Mr. Ko had to go through many important stages in life. His previous career was as a professional gamer. But in the end, he opened an eyeglasses shop. What was the turning point? And why did it have to be an eyeglasses shop business? Follow the clear life story from Mr. Ko Prasit Kietwatcharawit in this episode.
If we think back to when we were kids, one of the homeworks that teachers always assigned us to do, whether in kindergarten, primary school, or secondary school, was to tell about our dream careers. It might be presented through drawings, writing essays, or telling stories in front of the class. Of course, most kids’ dreams might be to be doctors, police officers, nurses, politicians, engineers, artists, or, nowadays, to be gamers or game casters.
A career as specialized as owning an eyeglasses shop seems very difficult, right? If you ask a primary or secondary school child, but Mr. Ko, the owner of Prism: Optical Lab, has had an eyeglasses shop as one of his dreams since he was a child, and that boy has now successfully opened his own eyeglasses shop.
The beginning of an eyeglasses shop
If we go back to the beginning, before turning to pick up the eyeglasses business, you Ko yourself tried many things in many roles. One role that if anyone hears your voice or sees your picture, they will definitely remember is being an athlete and e-sports coach. Plus, if you hear your voice and it sounds strangely familiar, there is no doubt because you yourself used to be a voice actor as well.
“It has been one of my interests since I was a child.”
It can be said that your past career and roles, Ko, are not related or close to the eyeglasses business at all. But that boy who dreamed of opening an eyeglasses shop since he was a child is still with you, Ko. After accumulating enough experience, you, Ko, decided to continue your childhood dream by opening the eyeglasses shop, Prism: Optical lab. It may seem that the experience you gained along the way is not related to the eyeglasses business, but in fact, you, Ko, have had experience with eyeglasses shops since you were a child, starting from your parents’ shop, which was opened since you, Ko and your sister, Kee, were not even born.
“Glasses can change people’s lifestyles, making people who couldn’t do something become able to do it.”
Another reason why you Ko is interested in the eyeglasses business is the abnormality of the right eye, or lazy eye. The symptom is that even if you wear glasses, you cannot see clearly because it has not been treated or corrected since you were a child. You Ko yourself did not know that you had it before, and you did not know that it could be corrected. When you found out, it was too late to cure it. This situation made you Ko think that if someone else has to deal with this disease again, you would like to be the one to help them find out in time while it can still be cured because vision can change a person’s lifestyle. For example, you Ko yourself cannot play sports that require estimating distance because you can only use your left eye. Even though you like playing sports, you cannot play them. Therefore, you do not want to see other people encounter situations or feelings like this again.
“What happened didn’t make me want to open an eyeglasses shop, but rather wanted to make the standards of an eyeglasses shop what they should be.”
In fact, in the market and general places, there are many eyeglass shops. When it comes to eyeglass shops, there is definitely not only one type. Eyeglass shop is quite a broad term. When talking about eyeglass shops, not everyone sees the same picture. For Mr. Ko, if there is an eyeglass shop that can ease the burden on medical personnel in hospitals, it will make people who are unaware or are aware but do not know what to do when they have vision problems have an additional place to turn to besides hospitals and clinics.
“Optical stores should be the first line of defense.”
You Ko explained that in reality, an optical shop should be the first line of defense because most vision problems can be solved with equipment before surgery or other treatments. Many optical shops may not be equipped to examine or treat, so you Ko thought that if there was an optical shop that could do that, it would be a good thing. Plus, you Kee graduated with an optometry degree, making you and you Kee very skilled in running a specialized vision business.
Difficulties when doing business like at home but with different styles
The eyeglasses shop that your father and mother run is an eyeglasses shop that focuses on selling fashionable sunglasses to foreigners. The shop will be decorated luxuriously to attract customers. Buy and sell and that’s it. But the Prism: Optical Lab shop focuses on eye health and vision, which is quite different from the old problem. Just talking to foreigners and talking to Thais is different.
“When customers are happy, it’s like being accepted by them.”
If I were to say that I learned various processes from the shop at home, I would have to say that it’s not all because selling health-focused products to Thais is a matter of following up, which is different from foreigners who buy and it’s over. Sales must be comprehensive and fast, but following up on sales with Thai customers will take time to find what meets their needs and solve their problems in the most appropriate way. Furthermore, when you do it yourself, Ko doesn’t see it as difficult, but rather as a challenge. Especially if you can do it and the customers are happy, it’s like being accepted by the customers.
Impression
Mr. Ko said that there have been foreign customers who were so impressed with the service that they flew back to use the service many times. Sometimes, they even brought their families back to get glasses. For example, there was once a customer from England who was quite old. He had a problem with the glasses he was wearing while traveling in Thailand. After getting glasses at Prism: Optical Lab, he was so impressed that he went back and invited his wife and children to get their glasses at the shop too. It turned out that his whole family became customers at home.
“I want every customer to have the glasses that best meet their needs.”
Most customers who come to use the service will say the same thing, which is that the service at the shop is very good. This is something that you, Ko, want to use to compete in this eyeglasses business market because choosing a service method is very important. The shop will have professional staff who can examine in detail like when you go to see a doctor at a clinic, but all staff are easy to approach, easy to talk to, and provide services like friends who recommend more than going to see a doctor. You, Ko, said that he intended to choose people who have a friendly personality, which all staff understand and try to push this intention to the customers. The result is that he has received compliments from many customers and it has come back to be an inspiration for the service providers to work as well.
Obstacles along the way
Mr. Ko said that the obstacles were there from the beginning because it was a new experiment. There are quite a few eyeglasses shops nowadays. Being an eyeglasses shop in a shopping mall is not an easy task. There are competitors who came before, are more famous, and have more capital. This made him think a lot about how to stay in this position.
“The shop doesn’t just have to be as good as them, but also different from them.”
If we can do as well as them, in the end, they will have something else that will make customers want to trust them and choose them more, which is mostly because we opened first. But we cannot beat anyone with time. What we can use to win is other differences that must attract the eyes and interest of other customer groups. The truth is that the current customers of Prism : Optical lab are not the group that we initially targeted. At first, we thought they would be a bit older, but it turned out that most of the customers were children, teenagers, or young people who came to use the services.
“Help think but don’t think for me.”
The shop’s customer service focuses quite a bit on health issues. But these days, glasses are one of the items that help make us look better. Fashion and personal preferences are very important. The shop has combined both of these things, trying to offer the good and eliminating the bad options, offering what is possible. But in the end, we leave the decision up to the customer, helping them think easily but not thinking for them.
The set goals
Mr. Ko explained that the fact that the shop is able to survive on its own is considered to be doing well. If we look at the short-term goals, they are now meeting the requirements and laying the foundation for the long-term goals. The long-term goal is to want the business to continue to grow, pushing the shop to the point where there are more services and options for customers to choose to use the services. Because the branches in the malls currently focus on convenience, but if they move to another location, they may have to adjust the shop to be more suitable for that place.
Why choose Essilor?
Essilor is the world’s number one lens manufacturer right now. Their standards are clear, so customers trust them without any doubt when it comes to Essilor products, including the back-end work that has good cooperation in both stock and delivery systems. When our work has no problems, we can also pass it on to customers without any problems.
Message to the New Generation Salaryman Page
At some point in time, we all learn many problems in life. We didn’t start and succeed. Before you, Ko, could do business like today, you had to spend a lot of time deciding, collecting capital, and studying. It wasn’t easy to dare to step out and do business and achieve success like today.
Risk is scary, but from the perspective of many salaried employees, they may want to have something that is truly their own. It may be a dream. If we are patient, accumulate information, working capital from many places, and experience, whether related or not, everything will become good raw materials that will teach you to be a good business owner or businessman in the future.
“Being a salaried person with a keen interest in learning is something that will definitely help us a lot in the future.”
Prism : Optical Lab
Address: Room 341/3-341/6, 3rd floor, Central Ladprao. Tel. 02 937 2283
Clear Life , Everyone Has Dreams, But Not Everyone Is Ready l Vision Mission
Recommended articles:
Dr. Mataya Kwan-Anocha – If you do what you love, you will be able to deliver happiness to others.
