By Ellen Joy Anastacio

ThaiExpress, New Moon Abalone, Atlas Sound & Vision, Modern Montessori School are all household names. But before they became household names were years of hard work, strategic decisionmaking, and even failures.

Aside from their business glories, the men who brought you these brands have another thing in common: They are now sharing their stories, along with six other successful entrepreneurs, in Niche Dominators: Success Secrets Exposed.

Thomas Fernandez and Sant Qiu's follow-up to their first book Secrets To Dominate Your Niche features in-depth case studies of Goh Kai Kui of Goh Joo Hin (owner of the New Moon Abalone brand), Dr David Tan of David Tan Medical Aesthetics, Ivan Lee of ThaiExpress Holdings, Leonard Tan of PurpleClick Media, Lynn Tan of Fusion Cosmetics, Michael Tien of Atlas Sound & Vision, Dr T Chandroo of Modern Montessori International, Merry Riana of Merry Riana Organization, Chan Chong Beng of Goodrich Global, and Angelo Augustus of Pertama Holdings (Harvey Norman Singapore).

Maneuver Marketing's profit strategist Sant Qiu explains: "The concept is different from normal interviews because they actually share specific strategies. For instance, one of them, Goh Kai Kui, shared how they entered the essence of chicken market."

His co-writer and Chairman and CEO of Pestbusters, Thomas Fernandez, adds: "This is a great story to contribute and it took up a lot of their time."

According to the two of them, all the entrepreneurs were interviewed for several hours at a time, allowing them to share their story in their own voice in the book.

"The interviews took much longer. They really made it quite personal. Whether right or wrong, it's the entrepreneur's story. It's not rule number one, rule number two. It has a much more candid feel," said ThaiExpress Holdings' Ivan Lee.

Maneuver Marketing's Director Olivia Lim, who also co-wrote the book, said that they wrote to over thirty businessmen to see if they would be willing to share their story for the book.

Mr Qiu said: "We told them the Singapore market needs inspiration from successful business leaders, so we appealed to their altruistic side to share their success stories."

When asked why he agreed to share his story, PurpleClick's Leonard Tan said: ""We all have a niche. Before I started business, I learned from other successful entrepreneurs so I wanted to share."

Merry Riana agrees: ""It always goes back to my philosophy, which in short is, touching hearts and changing lives. I have a passion to share my life experience with younger ones."

The 304-page book also provides readers with specific strategies to show how one can dominate the market, create strategic differentiations, and even how to gain market share. Complex concepts have been broken down into simple, executable action steps, and each chapter has an Action Steps section guide that readers can apply in their business.

"If they want to be an entrepreneur and continue their business, it can be a good reference point," said Leonard Tan when asked why people should buy the book.

Ivan Lee agrees, saying, ""It's particularly relevant to people in Southeast Asia because of the very colloquial knowledge. There are a lot of business books, but these could be far removed from the current situation. This will resonate with them."

Niche Dominators: Success Secrets Exposed is now available at all major Singapore bookstores for $31.55 (including GST).