TECHOUZ,UPM’S FUTURE LEGACY
by Hanis Sofea ZulkifliSERDANG- While students his age are still figuring out what to be in the near future, ZakariaZarkasi is already moving towards expanding his business beyond the gates of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). When asked why, Zakaria replied with “I want to help shift the spotlight to many more upcoming entrepreneurs”.
Zakaria is no stranger to the line of business as his name is constantly mentioned as one of UPM’s famous young entrepreneurs. His current project is TECHOUZ Laptop Specialist that is located in Academic Complex A (KAA), UPM. According to Zakaria, TECHOUZ stands for technology house spelt uniquely to attract more attention.
He first started this business with his younger brother when he realised how hard it is for students to find a promising yet cheap laptop repair service near UPM. As a second year bachelor student of Computer Science majoring in Multimedia, he took the situation to his advantage and managed to open a very successful laptop repair service in UPM.
Zakaria’s main purpose of starting TECHOUZ is to assist and provide affordable services towards students with low budget. He also strives to provide a promising reputation in order to gain his customers’ trust. As if that is not enough, TECHOUZ follows a very strict rule in hiring its staff to meet its tagline ‘Where Convenience, Quality and Price All Meet’.
To venture into the line of business, one must learn to take risks. The same concept applies to TECHOUZ as it has gone through many ups and downs since it first opened on early May 2017. To Zakaria’s relief, the problems encountered by TECHOUZ are not critical and was easily overcame. However, TECHOUZ is still short on staff as its business is growing rapidly and is having difficulty catering to the excessive amount of customers they receive daily.
“In the beginning, Ihave trouble juggling my work and studies but with much practice I learnt to work smart by hiring more people that can ease my workload and save more time.Competition was never a problem for me. I always look at my competitors as a benchmark for me to aim higher. I also believe that competitors of different business platforms shouldlearn from one another” said Zakaria.He also encourages more students to develop traits of a good businessman as he claimed it can train students to become more focused.
Many times have we heard the saying if you want to make it big, you need to come out from your comfort zone and that is exactly what TECHOUZ’s ambassador Zakaria is aiming for. By the end of December 2022, Zakaria has big plans for TECHOUZ to be in all 21 Public Universities in Malaysia.
Determined, ZakariaZarkasi ends the interview with “TECHOUZ will be our legacy and UPM’s prestigious name will continue to be upheld”.
