Bicycle firm takes to the road in Laos market

Noppadon Piriyakul, the 35-year-old managing director of the company, who started the business when he was 22, said he decided he wanted to establish a bicycle-shop business in Laos after distributing cycles and related products to dealers in the neighbouring country.
“There is clearly demand in Laos, and the Asean Economic Community [AEC] will present opportunities for display outlets to serve local people and expats. We will set up wholesale and retail businesses in Laos, leveraging what we have done Thailand,” he said.
The company plans to spend two years establishing a firm footprint in Laos because the key element in supporting a bicycle business is manpower, and a shortage of manpower is not only a problem for his own company but for others as well, he explained.
Before setting up his business, Noppadon was a mountain-bike athlete, and was the Kingdom’s national champion in 1999.
Being an athlete, he knew what bicycle models and equipment were most suitable for riding, and finally decided to set up a company while he was a university student.
The name of the company was taken from his family name, as he wanted his parents to be proud of him, particularly if he is well known globally one day, he said.
Piriya International sold its first products in 2005, but the first items were not bicycles, but cycling helmets.
“We had to understand the product before selling. At the beginning, I didn’t have enough money to import bicycles for distribution to dealers. Helmets are essential equipment for riding, and I knew we chose right brand because its design is suitable for Asian people,” he explained.
To sell quickly, he had to access a major dealership, but this was not easy because he was young and his business was new.
“One day I told him [a dealer] that I didn’t want to disturb him, but I just wanted to leave a helmet with his outlet, and a name-card. Two hours later, the dealer called me and asked the price of the item as a customer wanted to buy my helmet, even though the dealer had attempted to convince the person to buy another brand,” he recalled.
From selling just helmets, he expanded his product line to spare parts for bicycles, and to imported bicycles themselves, with every brand chosen for sale based on his deep understanding of the product.
Noppadon added that he had picked up the ability to import the right products from within himself, rather than from being an entrepreneur.
In the first year of operations, Piriya International focused only on the high-end segment – what he sees as the top of the pyramid – in which sales volume is small, but he is able to sell stock quickly and get a high margin.
The growing Thai bicycle market enabled the company to grow steadily from initial sales of Bt40 million per year to Bt100 million, and he has now expanded the product range to mass-market customers, he said.
“I won’t do business where we are unable to have exactly the product that the customer needs. Our customers are kind to us. The mass market is the base of the pyramid, and if we can tap the mass market, it means we can completely capture all segments,” said Noppadon.
From wholesale business, Piriya then set up two units in 2011 to run display shops, as he wanted to learn the problems of running a retail business. He opened two outlets, one of which was a bicycle shop for beginners and the other a store for professional cyclists.