They became entrepreneurs by necessity, now they run a coworking playground in KL 

Gen, the founder of Petit Parc in Pavilion Damansara Heights, never quite intended to be an entrepreneur. 

Born in Malaysia, he spent bits of his childhood in Brunei Darussalam before moving to Australia, where he stayed until the completion of university. 

From then on, he continued to move between Malaysian and Brunei for work, but ended up permanently moving back to KL in May of 2021. 

There were two major reasons for his homecoming—the pandemic, and the fact that his two kids were set to be enrolled in kindergartens and start their schooling journey. 

So, how did that result in delving into entrepreneurship with his wife, Wahn?

Entrepreneurship by necessity 

“The plan to move back was abrupt and sudden within a short period of time,” Gen shared with Vulcan Post. “It came at a time when travel was restricted and we decided to move when the window of opportunity came available.” 

This being said, we came back with our family without any certainty of employment as it was very much still in a period of economic uncertainty and lock downs were in effect. 

“I wish I could come up with a story which really captivates a colourful story of inspiration and motivation. But the reality was that we were motivated to start a business out of absolute necessity at the time,” he explained. 

Without jobs, he and Wahn decided to start an online business selling natural organic aroma products, sourced locally and from Thailand. 

“The online business allowed us to be at home with our two young children when there were still online classes,” Gen shared. 

“It was a steep learning curve as my previous work in the construction industry required no ecommerce knowledge and social media is not a commonly practiced requirement in construction.”

Thus came the start of Vixen & Cupid, a brand creating natural, handcrafted products with safe ingredients and formulas for families.

A petit space

From there, the idea of Petit Parc came rather naturally. 

With restrictions lifted, Gen and Wahn brought their kids out more and more, often visiting outdoor and indoor playgrounds. 

However, they began noticing that many playgrounds focused on the play area and placed little effort in the waiting area. 

“This was an issue for us as we were in effect working remotely with the commencement of the online business and noted that we were not quite satisfied with our experiences in the various playgrounds within KL,” Gen pointed out. 

From a construction point of view, Gen also felt that many waiting areas in playgrounds felt like it was added as an afterthought, rather than being planned properly from the start. 

Like other parents, they would often end up sitting on the floor or on parts of the playground fixtures. 

That’s when the couple realised there was an opportunity to start something that meets the needs of other parents—a playground experience that caters to both parents and their children. 

Gen said, “It should be a happy time [for everyone], after all. Parents paying to enter should have some resemblance of enjoyment and/or relaxation. While their child burns away their excess energy, parents can recharge for a moment.”

Believing there was a need for a space where parent and child can feel at home, they created Petit Parc.

Balancing work and play 

Located in Pavilion Damansara Heights, Petit Parc is a 8,400 sq ft playground space. Not only that, it also houses a kitchenette, quiet rooms for meetings and calls, a nursery room, and of course, co-working tables where parents can remain productive if required. 

The coworking space is fitted with numerous power points for laptops or phones. Free Wi-Fi is a given, but there’s also free-flow tea and brewed black coffee to power those brains. There’s also a small area where parents can purchase snacks and refreshments. 

While the coworking space can certainly be used by non-parents, it’s not a key demographic for Petit Parc. 

“With the intention of allowing parents to recharge, we worked with our interior designers to ensure we came up with a colour palette which is soothing to the eyes,” Gen added. 

To ensure safety, the playground is designed so that children exiting the premises would have to walk past the waiting area where their parents are. 

There are also CCTV cameras installed at various locations with various angles. A live view of the CCTV playing constantly on a TV screen for parents to see live view at any time.  

Separating the play area from the waiting/coworking area is a glass partition. This allows for clear views of the playground, while reducing noise for parents. 

“It is mentally tiring to hear children screaming (out of joy) constantly and it is something not many other playgrounds put consideration into,” Gen said. 

“We have also been running for several months a free arts and crafts session every Tuesday at 4PM to 5PM as we want to provide more value to our customers and children visiting,” Gen shared.

Focusing on offline 

With Gen and Wahn focusing on Petit Parc, they’ve decided to move Vixen & Cupid’s operations entirely offline. 

“The reason is straight forward, it was decided as such because significantly more investment was put into Petit Parc, and the focus to achieve ROI at Petit Parc took priority,” the co-founder explained.

The risk seems to be worthwhile thus far, as the reception of Petit Parc has been generally good, especially when factoring in that there has been increased competition in the indoor children playground space. 

“Competition in the space has really heated up within this one year. We expected there to be competition and we did not foresee the space filling so quickly,” Gen commented.

To compete, Petit Parc has been focusing on partnerships and collaboration with other parties to create unique events. For example, they’ve been offering a Padel Ball Coaching Clinic and STEM learning activity. 

“We cannot just rely on the playground business and have to actively seek partners who can synergise with us to bring more value to our parenting community,” Gen said.

“We will have to continue thinking out of the box and not maintain focus on the playground alone. We have to think of activities where the parent would be interested in sending their child to join. And in doing so, allow us to put content out there that is different from the others.”

With this, the couple intends to build upon their customer base and eventually open another outlet that offers more of a family-focused experience. 

• Learn more about Petit Parc here.
• Read other articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.

Featured Image Credit: Petit Parc