After falling victim to fraud while purchasing products online, Sem Putheary turned her misfortune into an opportunity by starting the online enterprise, Espass Cambodia, aiming to provide a trustworthy service for customers in Cambodia, help prevent them from becoming victims of fraud, and support Cambodians in starting their own businesses.

Putheary, who majored in Computer Science, decided to start her own business after working in the private and NGO sectors for 10 years. Her initial motivation came after she fell victim to a fraud, losing about $500 of her hard-earned cash.

“I thought I was knowledgeable, yet I still fell victim. What about those who aren’t? What will happen to them?” she said, adding that it was this question that inspired her to launch Espass Cambodia in 2020.

The company was established to provide a range of online services, including buying and delivering online goods from abroad, such as China and Vietnam, to Cambodia safely, with a 100 percent guarantee.

In her role, Putheary has extensively researched online fraud, noting that in the first six months of 2024, approximately $40 million was lost to online scams. Seeing a rise in these forms of scams, she believes her platform can help address this challenge by providing reliable information, assisting with purchasing products and offering insurance protection.

“They can avoid being scammed by using our service,” she said, adding that her team also provides online training, tips and information to help the public make online purchases safely on their own.

Motivation through impact, family and team

Starting her business journey alone, Putheary had to care for her children while managing clients by herself. “Trust” was the main challenge at the start of her business journey. She explained that juggling both business and childcare made it difficult for customers to have confidence in her.

“What I can do is explain everything clearly to my customers, provide a real guarantee, deliver on my promises, and take full responsibility,” Putheary said, emphasising that these actions build trust. She added that once customers have a positive experience with her service, they are likely to return.

Moreover, with a small team, she faces challenges in maintaining service quality, such as delivery issues or sellers sending the wrong products, which require changes. However, she said these experiences have allowed her to learn and create better conditions to improve services for her customers.

Putheary added that in the beginning, she did everything herself, from delivering products to customers and organising products, to managing social media posts and boosting pages. “Everything was done by me, so it was very difficult,” she recalled.

Despite wanting to give up many times, she remained determined to succeed, driven by her goal of creating a business that makes a positive impact on society.

“When I provide the service, I receive positive feedback from my customers, which makes me happy,” she said. “Some have even told me that they were able to start their own businesses after learning how to purchase products through us.”

Putheary added that some of her customers were initially hesitant to buy products for their own use, but now they confidently order items to resell, earning income to support their families. For example, a customer in Kampong Cham has been purchasing products from Espass for about four years, citing the app’s convenience and the trust she has in the service.

Besides making an impact, she said her family has played an important role in her journey, consistently supporting her along the way. “He helps me take care of our children because he wants me to achieve my dreams,” she said. “He also motivates me and gives me advice.”

In addition, Putheary said that her team has strong faith in her, which keeps her motivated and prevents her from wanting to give up. She added that some team members even chose to forgo higher salaries to join her from the start.

“I’m very happy as I started from scratch, but I have so many people who believe in me,” she said. “Their support motivates me to work hard and continue this journey until today.”

Encouraging future startup founders

Putheavy urged those looking to start their own businesses to focus on “impact instead of profit”, highlighting the need to clearly understand real-world problems and determine whether their ideas offer practical solutions.

“Once you can identify it, you won’t give up easily,” she said. “If you want customers to buy your product, you need to ask yourself how you can help before thinking about how you sell, because customers nowadays also consider value before making a purchase.”

She added that once a business earns customers’ trust and feelings, they are likely to stay loyal. “So, identify the problem, the solution and your target customer, and remind yourself that no business succeeds overnight. You need to prepare both your mindset and your time for the journey and be happy with it.”

In addition, Putheary said that when challenges arise, entrepreneurs should seek support from others, including by participating in programmes such as the Digital Platform Accelerator (DPA).

Seeking opportunities to improve herself

In early 2025, Putheary received an opportunity to join the DPA programme, supported by Wing Bank, where she developed her capacity to lead her business.

The DPA is a three-month programme designed to support digital startups in developing innovative solutions for the market, with a particular focus on MSMEs in Cambodia through hands-on mentorship, tailored training and access to investor networks.

Putheary said the programme gave her clearer direction for her business, enabling her to refine her marketing strategy, identify her target audience and organise company information to a professional standard that is ready for investors.

“When I first started, I didn’t know how to lead a business, develop plans or enter the market. But after completing the programme, I now have the data that allows me to clearly present my company,” she said, adding that she also built a connection with a mentor who she can reach out to for support and advice on team challenges or funding.

Putheary also stressed that her company has expanded, especially in the number of users on her platform, after finishing this six-month programme.

“Previously, we had only about 6,000 users, but now that number has grown to 12,000,” she said. “App registrations and orders used to be slow as we didn’t have a clear target audience. Now, with a clearer message and a focused product strategy, around 70 percent of our income comes directly from customer orders placed through the app.”

This increase in number has made it easier for her sales team. Putheavy is also applying the knowledge gained from the programme to develop a strategy for entering the market aimed at attracting more customers, including offering free coupons, introducing a loyalty points system and collaborating with other private-sector partners.

She said Espass will soon collaborate with the Wing BankMini App, allowing Wing customers to purchase Espass products directly through the platform. “Especially, we will offer added benefits, including factory information and contact details, for those who want to order products for resale.”

Putheavy aims to transform Espass into more than just a service that helps Cambodians purchase products from abroad. “In the future, I want it to become a gateway for exporting Cambodian products to other countries, starting with Asia, including Laos and Myanmar, and eventually to the rest of the world,” she said.

“I hope to see Cambodian e-commerce grow and contribute to the national economy.”

This article was originally reported by Kiripost. Read the full story here.