It wasn’t actually her plan to do anything with fashion accessories or law. In fact, June Low studied accounting. However, she caught the e-commerce bug and decided to give it a try. Later, when she spotted a brand new opportunity to venture into the legal field, she latched onto it despite having no legal background. “This is Blue Ocean territory,” she says, adding: “So, it’s a chance to really make a difference.”
Low talks to Savvy about how she made that leap from jewellery to law, her plans to deliver a host of digital solutions to a field that’s vastly behind the times, and what motivates her as an entrepreneur.
You studied accounting but didn’t pursue a career in it. Why not?
I graduated with a degree in accountancy but didn’t finish my accounting professional paper, ACCA. I saw a huge opportunity in e-commerce and I felt I couldn’t waste any precious time or else I’d lose out. So I dropped out to pursue my first business venture, an online fashion accessories shop called A Fashion Story. Building an online jewellery store is a dream come true for every girl and I got to live it. It’s still running today, doing steady business, more or less on autopilot.
What made you shift to doing a law start up?
Building up A Fashion Story has been a great journey for me. I learnt how to solve various operational issues from top to bottom. I decided to focus on EasyLaw when I realised it was a bigger opportunity for me. E-commerce is a crowded field but there are not many start-ups involved with law. Legal technology is Blue Ocean territory which means the opportunity for growth is bigger.
Was there anything you learnt from running A Fashion Story that’s applicable to EasyLaw?
I’d say digital marketing, branding and business planning are all transferable skills that are as applicable to EasyLaw as they were to A Fashion Story.
How did you manage to build a legal tech business considering that you’re not a lawyer?
I’m not a lawyer but I personally know many friends who are lawyers. My own brother is a lawyer. I am the founder but I also have several partners in this business. So, I’m not doing it alone.
What does the EasyLaw app do?
Currently, the main feature is a tool to help lawyers and property investors calculate legal fees, stamp duties and real property gains tax for property transactions. Lawyers tend to do calculations manually, for example by using spreadsheets. Our app allows them to do the calculations faster, with just a few clicks. We also have a directory of commissioners for oaths. When used with your phone’s GPS, it can help you find commissioners for oaths nearest to you. Another handy feature is “Top 10 Malaysian Statutes”, which lawyers can use to quickly look up statutes wherever they are. The alternative is to carry physical books around. With EasyLaw, you have it on your phone.
The app is free for now. What business models do you have in mind?
As of now the app is still free. We want to keep it free for the time being to remove any barriers to adoption by lawyers and property investors alike. Monetisation can come later when we introduce premium features. For now, we’re pushing for greater adoption of our app.
Can you give an example of a premium feature?
We’re working on an online land search service. Traditionally, conveyancing lawyers throughout Malaysia need to engage runners to handle different land office dealings such as land search, application of state consent or Memorandum of Transfer. These land office dealings are pain points for lawyers especially when the property transactions are inter-state ones. Our upcoming “Easy LandSearch” function will allow them to submit their land search requests online and we’ll handle the tasks for them.
How do you market your app and how many downloads have you had?
We promote the app through digital marketing. That’s where my experience with A Fashion World comes in handy. The products are different but marketing is marketing. Good word of mouth also helps to drive adoption. So far we’ve had over 15,000 downloads since we started six months ago. It’s very encouraging.
You’ve also set up an office in Singapore. Is the Singapore app different and will you be launching apps for different countries in the region?
We have an office in Singapore and our app for Singapore is in development. Due to the different laws there, it has to be different and we’ll be launching it soon. As of now, Malaysia and Singapore will be our main focus. Once both markets are mature, we could expand to other countries in the region. Legal tech is still relatively new in Southeast Asia so there are good opportunities to be had regionally. But we’ve got to take it one step at a time.
How do you hope to change and impact the industry?
As mentioned earlier, technology adoption in the legal industry is significantly slower than in many other industries. There’s a big technology gap in the legal industry. Our team is made up of entrepreneurs, programmers and legal advisors. We know the pain points of lawyers and we can build the technology solutions to address those pain points.
How would you compare your life as CEO of A Fashion Story to your life as MD of EasyLaw?
A Fashion Story was totally within my comfort zone. Everything was predictable because e-commerce wasn’t something completely new. It’s basically a trading business done online. EasyLaw however, is virgin territory. Even when I look at legal tech in the US and UK, which is very advanced, much of it is web-based. What we’re doing is app-based which is quite new. So there’s a lot to learn. It’s very exciting though.
Do you think you’ll be doing other businesses in the future or is this it?
I can see myself focusing on EasyLaw for the next five to 10 years. Of course we don’t know what the future has in store for us but my personal goal is to make a great impact and I think I can do this through EasyLaw.
Is making “a great impact” what motivates you the most?
I’m very passionate about inspiring young people through my entrepreneurial journey — especially as a female entrepreneur. Society has certain perceptions of what women can do. If I had stuck to A Fashion Story only, people would say, “It’s a jewellery business, very suitable for a lady to do”. But they won’t expect a female entrepreneur to make a lasting impact on a sector like law. If I succeed, I think other women will be encouraged to pursue whatever it is they want to do.