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Standing tables were attractive and advertised furniture that once “cooled” an office automatically, or showed that it cared about the health of employees. Well, at least that’s what I thought of them.
But now it’s been 2 years or so since the pandemic turned most people into remote workers. Tendencies to renovate home offices have also grown to cater to small businesses in Malaysia, as well as older businesses. Another seat, TTRacing, and Balakena.
Joining the Malaysian Red Ocean is for ergonomic office furniture Woody Lab. One way to stand out in this market is to provide services to customize its sitting-standing wooden tables.
From furniture design to building them
Launched in August 2020, it is an extension of the Woody Lab brand Wood Press Studio (WPS). The latter is a design and construction company that provides wood manufacturing services, including the design, production and installation of retail equipment.
Of course, the creation of the wooden tables was in the expansion plans of founder Travis Thong, as WPS’s portfolio mostly enhances retail building and office spaces. In our interview, Travis shared that having his own line of wooden furniture was on the cards even before the pandemic, but with the launch of Woody Lab in 2020, the WFH change was quick.
Although Travis did not give us an exact figure for Woody Lab’s capital, he said the only cost needed for that expansion was the raw materials in the products. Most of the assets, and already a team from WPS, can save costs in these areas.
Adapting to different spaces
The main goal of Woody Lab is to spread the appreciation of good quality wood to Malaysians, and the way to do that is to allow the team to customize their tables. This depends on the size of the table, the construction and the type of wood used.
On its website, Woody Lab allows you to build your own table, where you will first choose the type of wood to use for your table. Of course, prices vary between RM2,399 and RM7,099, as some woods are rarer and more difficult than others.
Travis told us that raw wood planks are imported from Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Once acquired, all wood finishes and assemblies are done locally.
In addition, customers can also indicate the width and length of the table they want, which serves as a practical solution for customers who do not have real estate to fit fixed-size tables in their work areas.
This was Travis’ intention. “We wanted to take care of the demand of those staying in homes or apartments with limited space for a home office,” the 32-year-old shared. “Since we have a wood factory, we have decided to offer this service to adapt our desk to the specific work needs of the people.”
The team leverages these customization services as a unique selling point for Woody Lab, after looking at the market to find that most brands only offered standard-size boards.
Of course, Woody Lab also offers fixed-size tables, and still allows customers to choose items like the colors of the table legs and if it comes with extra wheels. In terms of price, they are still the same as the range mentioned above, which indicates that the customization service is complementary.
From home to the office crowd
Due to repeated MCOs over the last 2 years, people are now paying attention to setting up their office spaces at home. This trend was reflected in the growth of Woody Lab, Travis reported, which has seen steady growth since the business was launched.
Woody Lab, which is able to produce between 20 and 30 tables a week, sells an average of 20 to 25 tables a month to consumer markets and corporate offices. So far, Woody Lab has already paired up and is profitable.
Over the next 3 years, Travis hopes to continue to expand its range of other products to provide customers with a full ecosystem for their premium wood products.
As COVID-19 approaches its endemic phase and more employees continue to return to the office, Woody Lab is likely to outpace more B2B consumer demand for its products. While this may mean a greater demand for company tables, the team should be willing to supply.
In fact, it has already supplied its seating tables to employees of an MNC under a staff purchase program, which indicates that the market for companies looking to renovate offices for employee health and satisfaction is potentially growing.
Featured Image Credit: Travis Thong, founder of Woody Lab
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