Boss' nightmare or new work perk?

We tried having no working hours, here's how it went.

Author

Vulcan Post
September 30, 2024

In our July newsletter, we asked you how much you trusted your team. For context, we had highlighted a company that had no working hours, meaning that its staff could work however they liked, from anywhere to anytime. Talk about taking work flexibility to the next level!

Inspired, our boss then asked us, “Should we do it too?”

Concerned yet curious about the results, we bit the bullet and experimented with the concept for two weeks.

Now, we’re ready to share the tea on our experience, from both the employee and management’s perspectives. Could this be the new work perk?

For you today, we have:

  • How our two weeks of no working hours went, and whether continuing it is a hell yeah or a hell nah

  • The Malaysian uni students who made bricks that let us cut down A/C use

  • What it takes to turn a new brand into a household name in a few years, according to RPG Commerce’s founder

📢 Boss’ nightmare or new work perk?

🕒 For 2 weeks, we experimented with having no working hours. Not zero hours of working, but meaning no set hours. Instead of a time-based work schedule where we clocked in for a specific number of hours and then clock out, we worked in a task-based and “on-call” manner. Did we get sh*t done, or did it all go to sh*t?

Grab a coffee, here’s your to-read list:

🧱 Killer A/C usage could become a thing of the past… with these APU students’ multi-layered bricks, which reduce indoor temperatures through controlled airflow and evaporative cooling. They’re the Malaysian national winner of 2024’s James Dyson Award and will now compete on a global level.

☕ He started his cafe right out of uni... and now it’s 9 outlets strong, with plans to expand to Bali. The young entrepreneur kickstarted the brand 12 years ago with RM50k, and he’s ambitious about scaling it.

🛋️ Furniture-buying was kind of inefficient… so this Malaysian couple launched a startup to disrupt it. And their solution might be simpler than you’d think, while simultaneously benefiting their customers, other brands, and themselves.

How to go from new brand to household name, by RPG Commerce

8 things they did to grow brands like Montigo and Cosmic Cookware so fast.

Be honest, do you suffer from gymtimidation too?

We tried a local private fitness studio to overcome our fears, here’s how it went.

This trio quit monotonous IT careers to flip rosti burgers

They’re hoping that their burgers made with the Swiss potato dish will stand out.

People love noods, even if they’re RM100 per bowl

The proof? This home-based business that’s been doing just this for 3 years.

Spotlight on FeedMe

Note: The earlier edition of the newsletter had the wrong picture attached, here’s the actual team behind FeedMe!

Currently, over 7,000 F&B merchants in Malaysia depend on this local startup to keep operating.

Meet FeedMe, a point-of-sale system launched in 2019 to digitalise and simplify the ordering process between merchants and customers.

They now serve all kinds of F&B businesses, from old-timey kopitiams to large chain restaurants, a testament to the versatility of their product.

Restaurants like them for their AI-powered solution that helps:

  • Easily create accurate and appealing dish descriptions when merchants upload their menus

  • Manage inventory nearing expiry by generating marketing campaigns to sell dishes with those ingredients, and more

By the end of 2024, the team aims to reach at least 12,000 merchants and expand to a total of five countries.

Leaps of faith that paid off

Yes, we do have a TikTok too, where our articles can be watched in bite-sized videos! Click on the thumbnails to watch the videos!

🥧 One final chance saved this Sarawakian pie business. 2 years into starting it, John was at his wit’s end with bad sales and diminishing capital. But with the support of his wife, he took up one last opportunity to put the biz out there, and the rest is history.

🌭 They only had RM3k left in the bank when they shut down their restaurant to spend more time with their child. The timing was bad, but with the know-how and skills to make sausages, they launched their home-based biz, and now have a factory.

🍪 He spent RM350k to start a cafe for a treat Malaysians don’t know. Initially, nobody was checking out the cafe in SS15, so they had to give out free samples. But as the business matures, the founder, Ray, aims to eventually franchise it.

Check out content marketing opportunities with us today.