走过低谷不言弃 净化器公司销售额去年翻倍
Going Through the Trough and Never Giving Up
The Sales of the Purifier Company Multiplied Last Year
尽管连续两次创业失败，从同桌同 学、一起踢球、到之后成为创业伙伴的 林亮志和林伟豪始终没有“举白旗”， 他们共同创立的净水器与空气净化器品 牌Sterra的销售额在去年取得翻倍增长。
Despite two consecutive business failures, Chris and Strife, who were classmates and football teammates before becoming business partners, have never "raised the white flag". The sales of their co-founded water purifier and air purifier brand, Sterra, multiplied last year.
Sterra创立于2021年，第一年取得 百万元的销售额，隔年倍增至千万元。 团队从最初的四人发展至目前近100人。 除了净水器与空气净化器，Sterra也销售 按摩椅、床褥和除湿机。
Founded in 2021, Sterra achieved sales of millions in its first year, which grew to tens of millions in the following year. The team has grown from four people in the beginning to about 100 people at present. In addition to water purifiers and air purifiers, Sterra also sells massage chairs, mattresses, and dehumidifiers.
Sterra联合创始人林亮志(35岁) 和林伟豪(35岁)在中学认识，常常结 伴一起去踢足球，两人还一起上同一所 大学。大学毕业后，林亮志在电商平台 Lazada实习，林伟豪则成为一名软件开 发人员。
Sterra's co-founders, Chris (35 years old) and Strife (35 years old), met in secondary school where they often played football together and also attended the same school. After graduating from university, Chris interned at the e-commerce platform Lazada while Strife became a software engineer.
对电商领域充满热忱的林亮志接受《联合早报》访问时说，实习后，他想 要创立自己的事业，在网上销售厕所马 桶垫脚凳，伟豪于是帮他创建一个销售 网站。两人从此成了创业伙伴。“当时 的电商领域还在起步阶段，充满无限的 潜能，虽然不懂能不能成功，但最后还 是决定‘赌一把’”。”
Chris, who is passionate about the e-commerce industry, said in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao that after his internship, he wanted to start his own business and sell toilet step stools online, so Strife helped him create a website. The two became business partners from then on. "At that time, the e-commerce industry was still in its infancy, full of unlimited potential. Although I didn't know if it would succeed or not, we still decided to ‘gamble’,” Chris said.
两人经营一段时间后，生意仍不见 起色。不过，两人并没有就这样放弃， 后来转战售卖T恤。
After a while running the business, the two did not see any improvements. However, they did not give up and later switched to selling T-shirts online.
林亮志说:“做这种生意固然简 单，因为有了个电商平台后，你就不用 去烦恼营销、客服等工作，我们只须要 专注于了解消费者的需求。这个商业 模式简单，但也意味进入门槛低，很 多人也能做，因此我们面对很大的竞争 力。”
Chris said: "Running this kind of business is simple because once you have an e-commerce platform, you don't have to worry about operations, customer service, etc. We only need to focus on understanding the needs of consumers. This business model is simple, but it also means the barriers to entry are low, and many people can do it, so we face great competition.”
曾坤顺摄 - Photo by Zeng Kunshun
林亮志说: “创业旅程充 满了坎坷，而 且永远不会结 束。每一个低 谷都有我们必 须学习的教 训，它将推动 我们迈向下一 个更高的里程 碑。”
“The entrepreneurial journey is full of ups and downs, and it never ends. Every trough has a lesson we must learn, which will propel us to the next higher milestone.” - Chris
基于这些考量，两人决定开发一个 高价值、不容易被复制、与众不同的产 品，并打造一个国际品牌。“我们也着 眼于大众市场，因为这样才能接触更广 大的消费群，每家每户都会是我们的潜 在买家。”进行市场调查后，两人最后 决定销售净水器与空气净化器。
Based on these considerations, the two decided to develop a high-value, difficult-to-copy, and unique product and build an international brand. "We also focus on the mass market because this is the only way to reach a wider consumer group, and every household will be our potential buyer." After conducting market research, the two finally decided to sell water purifiers and air purifiers.
对于一家起步公司来说，资源是相 当有限的。林亮志强调，按优先事项分 配资源非常重要。“有时候，随着时间 的推移，我们会不自觉地花不必要的 钱。”
For a startup company, resources are quite limited. Chris emphasized that prioritizing resource allocation is very important. "Sometimes, as time passes, we unknowingly spend unnecessary money.”
“比如说，我们想要为客户提供快 速的交货服务，若把交货时间缩短到一 天，那么就必须投入不少钱在库存管理 和送货团队。但如果把交货时间延长至 三天，我们可以把更多资源投入在产品 研发。”长远来看，把资源投入到哪个 部门会带来更大效益，是须要权衡的。
“For example, if we want to provide customers with fast delivery service and shorten the delivery time to one day, we must invest a lot of money in inventory management and delivery teams. But if we extend the delivery time to three days, we can invest more resources in product research and development.” In the long run, it is necessary to weigh which department investing resources will bring greater benefits.
谈到未来计划，林亮志透露，公司 考虑把业务拓展到美国、英国、加拿 大、澳大利亚和东南亚市场。目前，公 司的业务分布于新加坡、马来西亚和美 国。
Speaking of future plans, Chris revealed that the company is considering expanding its business to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Southeast Asia. Currently, the company's operations are located in Singapore, Malaysia and the United States.
他说:“ 创业旅程充满了坎坷，而 且永远不会结束。如今我们更加意识到 这是旅程的一部分，要随时做好准备。 但我们也了解到，每一个低谷都有我们 必须学习的教训，它将推动我们迈向下 一个更高的里程碑。”
He said: "The entrepreneurial journey is full of ups and downs, and it never ends. Today we are more aware that this is part of the journey and we must be prepared at all times. But we also understand that every low point has a lesson we must learn, and it will propel us towards the next milestone."
黄琇惠 报道
发布 /2023年5月04日 05:00 AM
xhwee@sph.com.sg
Reported by Huang Xiuhui
Posted on May 04, 2023, at 05:00 AM
xhwee@sph.com.sg
Link to original article here.
