Shining on success of ‘LEAD by Central Pattana’ program, top retail course in hearts of new generation of entrepreneurs, helping encourage Thai SMEs and supporting country’s economy

• ‘LEAD – Community of Opportunity’ is the ultimate platform that provides opportunities for Thai SMEs to achieve sustainable and strong growth.
• Supporting over 240 brands of the new generation of Thai SMEs to move towards success, and generating total cashflow of more than 3,800 million baht into the economic system with the expansion of more than 600 stores.
• Applications for LEAD Year 7 are now open to 5 April 2025. To submit an application please visit: https://www.centralpattana.co.th/en/shopping/shopping-update/event/1319/lead7

Bangkok – Central Pattana plc, Thailand’s no.1 real estate developer for sustainability, is supporting the new generation of Thai SMEs to jointly move forward the growth of Thailand’s GDP through the LEAD program, the unique retail course in Thailand that fosters real success under the model of ‘Real learning – Real action – Real growth’, with Central Pattana as a business incubator sharing knowledge and know-how and providing opportunities to start a business as well as promoting growth on multiple platforms under Central Pattana’s strong retail ecosystem. The LEAD program has created success and sustainable growth for participants of over 240 brands, putting more than 3,800 million baht of cashflow into the economic system and the expansion of more than 600 stores. LEAD is currently welcoming applications from new entrepreneurs with passion who are ready to scale up their businesses to join ‘LEAD by Central Pattana Year 7’ from today until 5 April 2025.To apply, please visit: https://www.centralpattana.co.th/en/shopping/shopping-update/event/1319/lead7

LEAD administrators unveil the KEY SUCCESS FACTORS of ‘LEAD by Central Pattana’

Dr. Nattakit Tangpoonsinthana, Chief Marketing Officer for Central Pattana plc:

“LEAD by Central Pattana is a ‘community of opportunity’, the ultimate platform that provides opportunities for Thai SMEs to achieve sustainable and strong growth.”

“The LEAD program is successful due to its uniqueness when compared to other business programs as the LEAD program also serves as a ‘community of opportunity’ that helps incubate SMEs with great concepts to launch their pilot projects, with excellent opportunities to grow at the right locations and expand their business together with the right partners. The community includes several platforms that provide opportunities to start a business and grow sustainably such as in-line shop, pop-up store, open area, kiosk, food park and retail zone, which includes Comma&, Showcase, and Hug craft, providing SMEs with the opportunities to operate a business to their full potential.”

SMEs can truly grow by leveraging the unique strengths of Central shopping centers

“Central has shopping centers throughout the country in both outer and inner Bangkok and in various provinces. All of these locations have been decided through our analysis and have high market potential, which allows significant growth for businesses. Currently, Central shopping centers nationwide have approximately 1.3 million visits per day or almost 500 million visits per year, and the majority of visitors are quality shoppers from middle to upper-level customers.”

LEAD program provides SMEs with opportunities for ‘Real learning – Real action – Real growth’

“The sandbox workshop offers participants the opportunity of sales trials for their new products in new formats within Central shopping centers’ provided space, giving entrepreneurs the chance to meet with their potential partners and also find new perspectives for their own businesses. For example, Endless Holiday, a popular online clothing brand: after entering the offline market at Central shopping centers, the business grew exponentially by gaining over 70% more customers. Trinity, a popular dessert brand from Khon Kaen: after a market trial at Central shopping centers, the brand was able to expand its customer base to new segments with high purchasing power.”

Strategical and Systematical Growth for SMEs

“The LEAD program helps to close weaknesses and enhance strengths, and allows participants to perform a 360° business health check to see the weaknesses of their own business by sharing their experiences with classmates in the program, covering topics such as Products, Visual Merchandising, Logistics, Retail Feasibility, Scalability and Marketing etc. The program helps participants enhance their strengths with the retail incubation program, which encourages strategic thinking for a competitive edge in order to create new opportunities for systematic business growth.”

Central Pattana is ready to put forward growth of Thai SMEs on the world stage

“SMEs that aim to enter the global market need to be ambitious and passionate and willing to develop their own brands to meet global standards. Central Pattana has a strong global platform in place to support global market entry in addition to the Central Group ecosystem around the world. We believe that our business platforms are capable of supporting Thai SME brands to grow at both national and global levels.”

A message to new generation of SMEs aiming for success

“New generation SMEs that wish to be successful should be courageous, creative and have a growth mindset. They must be open to learning and have a passion for business – whether they are starting their own new business or expanding their family business. New generation SMEs should have an entrepreneurial spirit, be able to think outside of the box and find market gaps that make their products unique when compared to their competitors in order to ensure that their business achieves sustainable growth,” Dr. Nattakit concluded.

Ms. Maneechan Smithisomboon, Head of B2B Marketing for Central Pattana plc:

“Six years of the LEAD program has created 240 successful new Thai SME brands with over 3.8 billion baht entering the economy and the expansion of over 600 stores.”

Creating opportunities for mutual sustainable growth

“Implementing a B2B marketing (Business to Business Marketing) approach, Central Pattana does not view a customer as only a tenant of our shopping center space but a business partner that works together to create mutual success, starting from providing opportunities to strengthen knowledge and understanding of the retail business through ‘LEAD by Central Pattana’ and providing retail-related advice and support to our partners to expand their business to achieve sustainable growth in Central Pattana’s robust retail ecosystem. We do not focus only on business achievements, but also on sustainable development for our partners, and we are eager to understand the different goals of each entrepreneur. Some brands are relatively new and small while some are large brands that wish to expand further – some brands are from provincial Thailand and wish to expand their businesses into Bangkok and it is our duty to find customized marketing solutions to help each brand achieve their different goals.”

LEAD is internationally recognized with international awards

“Receiving the Marketing Excellence Award – Excellence in B2B Marketing: LEAD by Central Pattana, reflects that Central Pattana places importance on business partners from the beginning; we start from providing knowledge and understanding in retail business and offering various opportunities to new entrepreneurs. The program has become a useful curriculum for new SMEs and serves as a ‘community of opportunity’ that allows program participants to enter the LEAD community and the world of retail business to learn and gain support to achieve strong and steady growth.

‘LEADER’ traits that help drive business towards success

Ms. Maneechan shared her views with new entrepreneurs, stating: “A LEADER who drives the business towards success should have the following major characteristics: 1. A growth mindset – whether you are a business owner or an executive, you must be willing to learn, be open, agile, and make the most of the opportunities that come your way. 2. Have clear goals and passion, for example, some entrepreneurs desire to be a master franchise, some entrepreneurs may wish to expand their businesses nationwide while some business owners may aim for their business to reach profits of over one billion baht. 3. Have empathy for others, understand and values differences, with an ability to achieve balance in creating cooperation and business success.”

Mr. Pitipee Ruammake, LEAD Program Adviser and CEO & Founder at Aimbition Corp Co., Ltd.:

“LEAD adjusts the content to meet the challenging and rapidly-changing business world.”

“Courses in the LEAD program are adjusted to suit each group of participants as their backgrounds are varied; some participants are start-ups, some businesses wish to scale up their existing business while some business owners wish to further expand their family businesses. In addition, elements of the business world change rapidly, therefore, the content must be adjusted for each participant to achieve their goals and success.”

The unique highlight of LEAD

“LEAD is developed by leading retail developer Central Pattana, with the aim of providing knowledge to the new-generation of entrepreneurs to enhance their understanding in the retail business and let them gain confidence and put into action the real practice that they have learned for the sustainable growth of their businesses. Participants can apply the knowledge they have learned in the sandbox workshop – where Central Pattana provides a free space for the distribution of their products, ensuring that participants of LEAD can try out their new business models with the opportunity of collaborating with other brands following the program assignment as well as meeting with new customer groups. Participants can use the key takeaways from the sandbox workshop to analyze and plan for business growth along with advice from gurus in various fields that allows participants to realize the direction they should aim for. Some participants have been able to scale up their businesses during the time they are actively participating in the LEAD program – without having to wait until after they complete the program.”

“In addition, those who participate in this program must pass the selection criteria, which considers three main areas: 1. A person with a strategic view of business and is aware of which direction their own brand will grow, has an investment plan and a backup plan in case the business faces problems. 2. A person with logical thinking in terms of people management and business management. 3. A person with a ‘synergistic personality’ who believes in working together as a group, is open-minded and values differences in thinking.”

“The program also creates the ‘LEAD Community’, which brings together people who share similar business interests, challenges, and problems, allowing them to share experiences with the opportunity to find business partners who will further co-ordinate or co-invest in future business projects together.”

Special highlights of LEAD Year 7

“The LEAD program Year 7 will focus on creating a business model by finding growth drivers together through detailed coaching provided by senior executives who will share both successful and unsuccessful case studies to encourage participants to consider every aspect of the business in depth. This allows participants to be aware of what they should or should not do in business and encourages participants to always practice self-assessment to realize the key factors that will help support further growth for their brands. During the program sessions, speakers will not hesitate to add what they deem appropriate to further enhance knowledge for participants.”

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