With a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in biotechnology, you’d expect Agnez Lim to go into the biotech industry. But after graduation, she worked in business consulting and e-commerce.
It was her grief over the death of a beloved pet that led to her starting JomPaw, which is arguably the most complete one-stop shop for pet services in the country.
How did JomPaw come about?
It was the personal anguish of losing my Golden Retriever, Big Boy, to cancer that inspired me to make a difference for all pet owners in Malaysia. Months after his passing, I wanted to fill the void left behind but wasn’t yet ready to commit to another pet. Pet-sitting was a way that helped me deal with my grief. So, I set up a simple website called JomPaw to connect with potential customers. It was during the festive season and demand outstripped my ability to handle the work so I ended up roping in two animal-loving friends, Joanne Lee and Ngan Szu Mun to help out.
What does each of you bring to the company?
Collectively, we really have a wealth of knowledge and experience in business consulting, e-commerce, marketing and public relations. As the CEO, I’m responsible for leading the overall strategy and driving revenue growth. Joanne is the Chief Marketing Officer and she’s responsible for building JomPaw’s brand. Szu Mun is the Chief Operations Officer and she manages customer and sitter experience.
It’s said that it’s not a good idea to do business with friends as you could end up enemies. But you did… Why?
That’s a fair point but sometimes, you just know when it clicks. During the most stressful times, it turned out that all three of us had similar approaches to problem solving and shared the same values as well as sense of humour. So it has worked out well.
What were the most challenging things you faced at first?
Changing the perception of family and friends about tarting your own business without drawing a salary, and building a positive reputation around JomPaw were the hardest things I faced. I’d come out with multiple ways of explaining our service and my intent of starting JomPaw, and test it all on my grandparents, family members, their friends, test and repeat.
What are the range of services provided by JomPaw?
You could say we’re an Airbnb and Grab for pets and more! We offer pet boarding, pet sitting, pet day care, dog training, dog walking and pet taxi on a single platform. Our core service connects pet parents with the nation's largest network of loving and trustworthy pet sitters. Through our platform, pet parents can book and request for personalised care 24/7 for their pets.
How do you ensure your pet-sitters will actually take good care of other people’s pets?
We have a very strict vetting process for service providers and have a dedicated Sitter Success Specialist to scrutinise all applicants. Only 30 per cent of the total applicants end up coming on board. Reviews posted by JomPaw’s Facebook members can also help pet owners decide which pet-sitters are the best choices for their pets.
Are there competitors and how do you differentiate from them?
For sure there are competitors but we’re the only pet services platform that requires a “Meet and Greet” for both pet parents and the caretakers to ensure both parties are comfortable with each other before a payment is made. Also, we don't only cater to cats and dogs; we have sitters who can care for rabbits, ferrets, parrots, turtles, snakes and bearded dragons!
Is your service only in Klang Valley?
No, we’ve already expanded to Penang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Johor. We have plans to expand our operations to the rest of the country.
Would you ever sell pets through your platform?
Selling pets isn’t part of our business model. However, one area that JomPaw is actively working on is our charity arm www.JomPawCharities.org, which was set up to lend a helping hand to animal welfare organisations in Malaysia in fundraising and volunteer deployment. There are way too many stray dogs and cats out there being put down every day. We hope through JomPaw Charities to encourage people to adopt and give strays a home. This year, our charity successfully raised RM10,000 for Furry Friend Farm and we’re looking to work on other charity projects next year.
What’s the most important business lesson you’ve learned?
To succeed in business you must be willing and able to improvise. To make bold, decisive decisions on a daily basis with incomplete information and to pivot quickly isn’t an easy skill to acquire. At times, I’d often reach decision-making fatigue. However, I have grown to realise that improvising is instrumental for early stage success. New business owners have to be masters of improvisation.
Being so involved with the pet industry, do you have time to have your own pets?
Losing BigBoy inspired the birth of JomPaw, which has enabled me to be constantly surrounded by furry friends and great people. While I may not be ready to have a new pet of my own any time soon, my husband and I would like to think of ourselves as “godparents” to all our customers’ pets.