Business Expansion Against Covid-Hit Hong Kong: Omusis Success through Localization of Music Learning

Business Growth against Pandemic Recession

Since the coronavirus situation began in 2020, most businesses would consider themselves lucky to have survived the plunge, not to mention an expansion. Founded in August 2019, the Omusis Company built an online music room reservation system to make grand piano more accessible to people of the compact city, and had started to offer online piano courses. The Covid-19 outbreak happened 3 months after its music room rental business opening had disrupted all its previous plan. In the face of such unprecedented challenge, Omusis founder KK Ng had decided a change of plan. She anticipated the raising trend of indoor activities, and took the risk of expansion, catering for the increasing need of convenient music teaching and learning locations, while boosting music education at the same time. The prompt decision paid off – now owning 7 studios and made allies with over 2 dozens music room rental service providers, Omusis has doubled its business size at a tremendous speed.

Unique Music Courses for Hongkongers in town and aboard

The "All-in-One" piano lesson books series written by Omusis founder KK Ng has received numerous compliments from both local and emigrated Hong Kong families alike, for making learning easier through tailor-made materials and bite-size music theory knowledge. Most Hong Kong people are under the impression that piano learning has to be done in person once a week, and comprehensive music knowledge is only for young children. Most piano crash courses for adults in Hong Kong teach through shortcuts, skipping the musical theories and hand coordination training essential in piano learning, which caused many to give up over the frustration of not being able to play well, and thought it was "too late" for them to learn. As for teaching-learning materials, traditional piano books available for majority of local learners are consist of mostly unfamiliar foreign songs. In light of these obstacles, Ng spent a year to put together the "All-in-One" online piano course especially for Hong Kong people, by composing a series of music lesson books using their favourite songs as theories and techniques learning materials, completed with video explanations and demonstrations. The course has proved to be a success welcomed by local and emigrated Hong Kong piano learners since launched.

Bold Strategy Move from Co-learning Space to Recording Service

Just 3 months after its business opening, Omusis was hit by the pandemic. All school classes were suspended and in-person music lessons were discouraged. It was foreseeable that foreign examiners could not travel from the UK to Hong Kong, yet piano examinations would not be postponed indefinitely. When the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music converted the exam format into online video submission, "grand piano performance recording service" became a new business model in need. Omusis had seized the opportunity to invest in grand piano music studios with suitable environment, professional equipment, well-maintained grand pianos, and recording service to attract piano students and parents who have to do exam recordings. Such foremost insight had attracted not only customers but more music studios wanting to join as partners, leading to Omusis' success in grabbing the market.

Making Allies through Music

"A lot of people thought we're only doing piano rooms rental service, but our goal is to raise the professional standard of the entire music education industry in Hong Kong." said Founder KK Ng, "Music teaching is a lonely path. Basically, there is nowhere to share our teaching experience outside the music courses in universities. Nobody is there to evaluate [music tutors'] teaching proficiency." Ng hopes to enhance communication and ideas exchange between music centers in the coming years, to better promote music education and local music cultures. Business wise, she aims at expanding to 50 rentable music studios on the Omusis platform in the coming year.

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} Omusis Company (www.omusis.com)