Bosnian’s Swede success in Malaysia

THIS week we catch up with Armin Osmancevic, Global CEO of social marketplace MyBazar Malaysia.

How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?
To be a successful leader in the world of business today, the leader must always have skin in the game, i.e. something at stake. Growing up in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 80's I had a very happy childhood. That changed overnight in 1993 as I ended up as a refugee in Sweden, with nothing but one set of clothes and a strong determination to survive and build a new, positive life, without sparing time, effort, or feeling pity for myself.
Everything I have done ever since, has been directed to become a leader of a positive change, a role-model for my family, my neighbourhood, my country and the society I live in. It is widely known and well appreciated that Malaysia helped Bosnia during the 90's and many of our top leaders today came to Malaysia, received education and the know-how, enabling them to grow into recognised game-changers across the world.
Being inspired by their stories and Malaysian willingness to help and grow positive leaders, I left a highly comfortable and organised life in Sweden to come here and launch MyBazar, a company dedicated to the development and empowerment of Malaysian entrepreneurs and SMEs by availing the latest technology, connecting markets, and in general boosting their level of competitiveness. Simply, we want to put the latest technology to good use for the benefit of all people.

How has your previous employment experience aided your current position?
My background is in digital marketing in Sweden, as creative and design director for globally leading marketing and branding firms. I used to design and deliver global product launch campaigns for brands such as Adidas, Mercedes, H&M, BMW and others. This is how I ended up in Dubai, to launch the new Pepsi logo across the Middle East, in 2011.
Three years later, speaking with like-minded friends, I understood that the business gap between large brands/corporates and small firms is widening due to their technology advantage. In fact that gap should be narrowing, not widening. Micro and small businesses – the MSMEs, are currently not capitalising on globalised digital economy to access new markets and customers and in general, to run and grow their businesses better and easier.
Leveraging on my previous experience in communication, branding, marketing and technology development, together with our passionate team at MyBazar, I then embarked to establish a unique platform, to address the needs of SMEs and specifically for those who were not ready to embrace the digital revolution.

What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenures at the company?
MyBazar's business strategy aims to establish digital infrastructure particularly for those businesses not capitalising on the e-commerce potential. For example, in Malaysia only 2% of all retailers are using e-commerce to sell their products and services.
The true highlight thus far, is Blee (Barangan Luarbiasa Eksklusif eUsahawan), a joint initiative by MyBazar Malaysia and the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). Blee is the first-of-its-kind in the world initiative aimed to give all eUsahawan micro and small merchants access to new markets as well as provide cost-free marketing and productivity tools.
As part of a wider initiative to "digitalise" Malaysia, Blee strictly focuses on boosting local entrepreneurs, especially those in the rural areas, to promote "Made in Malaysia" products. Now, as a Blee merchant you are able to move and grow your business across Malaysia and internationally at no cost.
Great benefits available only for Blee merchants include no commission, shipping fees or handling fees, personal support and training on how to sell and grown business online, nationwide, merchant-focused marketing and promotion support throughout online business journey and most importantly, the opportunity to export products to international markets. This is the essence of MyBazar, which I am highly proud of.


How do you maintain work/life balance?
Setting high aspirations is never easy. It requires strong determination, investments in terms of time and effort, willingness to fail and fail again, willingness to never give up and most of all, a supportive environment that encourages and recognises your strive for excellence.
I am privileged to have unconditionally supporting family, friends and colleagues whom I look up to, who are keen to help me become a better leader, better human being and to develop myself, continuously.
If you choose your work carefully, it becomes your life, and living your life on your on terms is the highest form of success in today's materialistic world. Continuously improving yourself, reading books on successful leaders, innovation, creativity and positiveness - and most importantly, surrounding yourself with positive people, allows you not only to realise your highest potential, but to live a more balanced, happy and prosperous life.
As a good friend of mine said, "No one ever said it would be easy, but it's your life and you should be in charge of it." That makes all the difference.


How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life?
Growing up and working in Sweden, I learned to deploy trial and error, to never be afraid, to make mistakes and embrace change. I also changed jobs many times and was never afraid to work hard, with very low or no payment, asking questions and being honest about myself.
Over the course of the last 20+ years, I had the chance to meet many interesting people from many different fields – who became my mentors without me asking them. A mentor is not someone who you meet on a regular basis and ask a set of pre-defined questions.
Rather, a mentor is someone who gives you advice when you need it the most, who supports your cause and not your career only, someone whose judgment you can trust. My wife is my most important mentor, she knows all my ups and downs, my inner feelings and my reasons to succeed.
My management team are my amazing mentors, giving me advice to execute my work in a more better, efficient and most importantly, righteous way. It is easy to be successful leader who cares only about results and does not care about his ways to success. To become a fair, strong and brave leader, one must find equally fair, strong, brave and inspiring mentors.


What do you want to accomplish in the next five years?
Professionally, I look forward to delivering 'Blee', as a first initiative to revolutionise the Malaysian e-commerce industry. We are now onboarding merchants in Malaysia to enable sales and delivery across the country and in the near future allow successful merchants from Malaysia to sell directly to Middle East and other emerging markets.
By using the latest information technology within the next five years, MyBazar is building the appropriate infrastructure that will allow Malaysian merchants to firmly embrace the new digital economy and to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams, to become global players.
Personally, I would be very proud to leverage digital economy that serves the purpose and makes a difference in everyday life. In five years, I would like to be part of a group of people who put others before themselves, for the greater good.