Did You Know That Russell Taylors is A M’sian Brand? This is Their Story

You’ve probably seen appliances such as vacuum cleaners and air fryers from Russell Taylors and thought it is a orang putih brand with affordable price points. However, it is actually proudly a homegrown brand founded by Malaysian Satish Kumar Raguchandran.

According to this video by Lazada, the brand was founded in 2016. The reporting further reveals that Satish was a chemical engineer by profession, Satish worked on offshore oil and gas platforms for about a year before he felt, “I was missing a lot of things back home…so I decided to start an online business.”

“I took a gamble and told my parents to give me a year to stop work.” He then tried out an online business where he found the items weren’t very sustainable and progressed to kitchen appliances. He founded Russell Taylors and had the idea of revolutionising and offering total solutions in the home appliance market.

Doing Things Solo

Impressively, Satish started as a one-man show. With a limited budget, he ran everything on his own including sourcing, designing, packaging, and even unloading 40-foot containers of his products. Satish would also personally visit suppliers and factories in China to inspect their production lines to make sure their goods were of high quality before distributing them to the mass market.

He also navigated the SIRIM process, designed instruction manuals and packaging, and even managed customer service. Satish even created WhatsApp and Facebook groups for Russell Taylors’ consumers, where he personally addressed customer inquiries.

In its early days, the company lacked a market research strategy group, a design and engineering team, and a physical store. Despite these challenges and facing competition from established e-commerce brands, Satish successfully grew the business on Lazada Malaysia, guided by Lazada University from product listings to advanced business analytics.

He also seized the opportunity presented by the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) establishment between Malaysia and Chinese billionaire Jack Ma.

Raking in the Dough

In 2020, Russell Taylor’s business expanded into the retail market and in 2021, they generated a total revenue of RM49 million. Although they focus on e-commerce, they have physical stores at several locations including Pavilion Bukit Jalil, Mitsui Outlet Park, and Setia City Mall.

In 2022, he won the Top Nominee in the Emerging Category at the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 Malaysia Awards. “If you work hard and you stick to it, you’ll be able to get there one day. It won’t happen in two or three months, but after a couple of years, you’ll be able to grow your business into something that’s sizeable,” he advised.

Satish aspires to build Russell Taylors into a global brand through product quality, efficient customer service as well as diversified, innovative products. He is also focused on increasing the company’s global footprint, with offices in the UK, Singapore, and Thailand and has plans to penetrate other Asian markets.

Visit their website here or follow them on Facebook.

Image credit: ey.com, astroulugam.com.my, Russelltaylors.co.uk