This company produces premium furniture with a bespoke Malaysian flair

Lucas Eng (center), founder of Balak's, and his team. – Balak’s

Balak’s founder, Lucas Eng, grew up in a family that has been in the hardware and furniture business for three generations.

That he would eventually find himself setting up a furniture-related business seems somewhat predestined.

In 2020, he set up Balak’s, an artisanal furniture brand that produces premium-quality tables crafted with quality and functionality in mind.

Balak’s is backed by more than three decades of experience in woodworking, turning quality solid wood into functional masterpieces to bring nature into work spaces.

Balak’s tries to include Malaysian elements in each product.

With every product, Eng and his team strive to attain the delicate balance between traditional craftsmanship, technological innovation and accessible pricing.

Each carefully-crafted detail forms the perfect embodiment of functionality and simplicity, with a bespoke Malaysian flair.

“My philosophy in life has always been ‘no hurdle too high to cross; no darkness too dense for dawn’, this is what keeps me going in life. No matter what problems we are facing, I believe that nothing is impossible, just keep going and eventually everything will be fine,” said Eng in an email interview.

They recently partnered up with Malaysian graffiti artist and illustrator Cloakwork on a product called “The Cloak-ffee Table”.

A modern twist to traditional woodcraft, the table is a fusion between traditional craftsmanship and modern artwork.

“Through our partnership with Cloakwork, we aim to push the discussion about art in Malaysia. When people think of Malaysia, art seldom comes to mind as there isn’t enough hype surrounding the topic despite the talents we have here. Cloakwork is Malaysia’s pride, pushing far past the local art scene and making his presence recognised on the international landscape,” said Eng on the collaboration.

Balak’s recently partnered up with graffiti artist and illustrator Cloakwork on a product called “The Cloak-ffee Table”.

Tell us how you got into this business, what were the initial challenges and how did you overcome them?

My friends knew that my family has been running a wooden door business since I was young, so sometimes, they would ask me to help make solid wood table tops for them.

It was during the MCO that the idea of making height-adjustable desks popped up. My initial thought was that a standing desk may provide the option to not just work while seated, but also get their work done as effectively while standing up - which could enhance their working from home experience.

The initial challenges that I faced were packaging and delivery problems. The whole process of making the table was not an issue for us, but delivery was a major issue. This is because we have only been doing B2B business since we started, but for Balak’s, it became a B2C business and delivery was an issue.

The “Meja” is height-adjustable to suit different needs.

We searched and tried different courier services companies in the beginning as not many of them would deliver large items like furniture, but luckily, in the end we found a courier service company that we are currently using and they are willing to deliver big-sized items. As for the packaging issue, we decided to customise the packaging ourselves to fit our mejas.

How do you feel your family’s business helped when you first started out?

My family business is a wooden door manufacturer, so we have all the machines ready, and technical support as well. With that, it helped to ease the process of coming up with a height adjustable table.

What would you say is your design style?

Our design style is more towards minimalist and industrial design. Moreover, we also tried to add some Malaysian elements to our products, for example like the name of our table - Meja.

What is it about your products that appeal to clients?

It would be the portrayal of Balak’s as a young and energetic local brand. Not to forget the innovative design of our products.

Where do you get design inspiration from?

Our design inspiration is from architectural design magazines and books. The Behance website also inspires me.

The business started during the pandemic, why did you decide to launch then?

During the pandemic, everyone was stuck at home, and so was I. I had plenty of time to think about different business ideas and models.

As I mentioned before, my family business has always been the B2B model, and I wanted to try the B2C market, so I thought it was a great time to start off a new venture.

Moreover, I also thought that it was a good opportunity to start off this height adjustable table business as everyone had to work from home in that period of time.

You give prominence to the people that you work with on your website, why do you think this is important and how have they contributed to the success of the business?

Balak’s is not just a company, it’s about the people that work in the company that have contributed to making it into a brand. Everyone has contributed to where we are now, as nothing great can be done by just one person alone, but, with a team, great things can happen. This is why I always give credit to them.

What are your future plans for the company?

My future plans are to complete our current product line and get more exposure in the offline market as well as to expand to offline markets abroad, like Singapore, Thailand and elsewhere.

We have several advantages to make this possible: our compact packaging and our ability to produce and direct the product to customers from the factory without any middlemen.