ReadyPlanet to expand into consumer market next year

A 15-year-old Thai online business, ReadyPlanet, is expanding from the enterprise market to consumers, planning to launch a new mobile platform for this segment early next year. It is doing this as it considers its enterprise business to be mature. 

ReadyPlanet this year is set to grow by more than 50 per cent to revenue of more than Bt300 million. Most of its revenue, 60 per cent, comes from selling online advertising services, and the rest comes from its original business, ready-made websites and training.

ReadyPlanet is currently an authorised reseller for giant online platforms including Google AdWords, Baidu Ads, Facebook Ads and Alibaba Gold Membership. For all these services, ReadyPlanet has more than 16,000 customers, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises.

Over the next two years to 2017, as it moves into the consumer market, Songyot Kanthamanon, 45, founder and chief executive officer of ReadyPlanet, said the company might need investment to support its business expansion. Possible investment models are joint ventures with partners and making an initial public offering. 

“Currently, we are conducting trials of our new products and service. We cannot disclose more details. But targeting consumers will be our big move next year,” Songyot said.

The company will continue to focus on doing business in Thailand next year. It has no plan to expand abroad. At the moment, its only business outside Thailand is in Myanmar, where it began offering its ready-made website and Facebook Ads services last year. 

Songyot started ReadyPlanet in 2000 when dot-com businesses were very popular in Thailand. After graduating in computer engineering from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, he worked in the information-technology departments of several companies for nine years before becoming an entrepreneur at the age of 30. 

In the subsequent 15 years, Songyot has run ReadyPlanet with a visionary strategy of foreseeing the company’s direction three years in advance, embracing changes and adapting quickly. As a result, ReadyPlanet has enjoyed steady growth. 

In its first years, offering only ready-made-website and training services, the company maintained annual growth of 30 per cent. Then in 2009, ReadyPlanet was appointed as the first authorised reseller of Google AdWords, and its revenue jumped by 40 per cent. 

In 2013, the company changed its core business from being a do-it-yourself website provider to become a digital marketing company. Songyot said it had foreseen that digital marketing had high potential. Since then, the company has become an authorised reseller for Baidu Advertising, providing adverts and consultant services for Thai businesses targeting Chinese customers, both export businesses and local services for Chinese tourists.

This year, ReadyPlanet became an authorised reseller for Facebook Ads and Alibaba Gold Memberships. 

“Our revenue comes from the services we offer, included advertising fees [from client platforms] and our service charge. Revenue from providing adverts has surpassed our original revenue source of websites and training services,” Songyot said.

Currently, ReadyPlanet has 170 employees and the company plans to increase its headcount to more than 200 next year. 

“We call ourselves a result-oriented digital marketing company,” he said.