| Nominee: |
Mr Goh Kwee Leng |
| Company: |
717 Trading |
| Address: |
777 Upper Serangoon Road #01-02/03 |
| Website: |
- |
|
| Interview with Mr Goh Kwee Leng |
| |
| 1. What is the nature of your business? (Business Profile) |
| 717 Trading is a fruit trading company. The company's main focus is on "THE GOD OF ALL FRUITS" - durian. We try ways and methods to create new, yummy and tasty durian products to capture the stomachs of Singaporeans and foreigners. |
| |
| 2. What made you embark on this venture choice? |
| Nobody or things actually make me embarks on this venture choice. I would say in the early days, due to financial constrain, my parents didn’t send me to school. I had no choice but to help out in my family farm that reared pigs and chicken. Life was tough, so I decided to work as a worker at a fruit stall instead. From there, I gained a lot of knowledge and insights in choosing and differentiating various types of fruits. After years of experience, I decided to venture out on my own selling tropical fruits. |
| |
| 3. How does your business work? |
| Our primary focus is on durian; we import them from neighbouring countries such as Malaysia. Based on our professional judgment, good durians are chosen. Bad or spoilt durians are rejected. All varieties of fruits are guaranteed to be fresh and of quality choice in terms of appearance, aroma and flavours.
However, our main objective is to market out all imported durians once we get hold of them. For your information, durians must be sold on the day of import or else they will be spoilt. Thus I set up a manufacturing factory to process the durians. The durians are then packed using our own trade receipts to preserve its freshness and goodness. In this way, customers are able to enjoy delicious durians all year long.
We also extract the durian flesh to process them into delicious desserts. By constantly varying our durian products to meet the changing tastes of consumers, we are able to adjust to the wants and likes of our customers from time to time, keeping ourselves competitive. Currently our Number one durian product is the durian puffs. Durian puffs is a all-time favourite among the various age groups and it has even been voted as one of the best durian puff in Singapore by one of the newspaper group. |
| |
| 4. Did you have the capital to start the business or did you have to borrow from someone to get started? |
| I was not well off when I first started this business. Most of my transactions were based on credit. I paid up my debts once my business had break even. In those days, trust was the most important factor and now still is. |
| |
| 5. Do your parents have their own businesses too? Have they inspired you in one way or another? |
| My parents used to have their own poultry farm. Strictly speaking, they did not really inspire me into doing business. I used to help out in the farm and it was sheer hard work. Public holiday is just a luxury thinking, we have to work in the farm all year round without rest. Through all these trials and tribulations, I have adopted the correct thinking and attitude to manage interpersonal relationships and of course my business. |
| |
| 6. What was your childhood dream? When did you decide that you would strike out on your own instead of working for someone else? |
| I did not really have any ambitious childhood dream. Setting up the business could be due to my likings for durians as a child. I would like to introduce the unique taste of durian to everyone. During my younger days, I started out as a full time fruit stall worker. To earn extra income, I would ride on the tricycle to sell some fruits on my own in the bustling night life areas.
All in all I was lucky to meet destined, helpful people who were willing to share their experiences with me. |
| |
| 7. Why does someone decide to be on their own rather than join an existing company? |
| This can be subjective. From my point of view, people are not satisfied with a mere fixed salary where they have to put up with long hours of work and stress. They would rather be on their own, striving hard in the hope to attain greater outcomes. The sense of accomplishment will be greater based on one own achievement. |
| |
| 8. Are there at any point in your life that you experienced a significant event (WW2, racial riots of the 1960s, the Economic Crisis of the 80s or 90s, SARS, new competition or shifts in market behaviour and trends) which affected or influenced you and your business that made you change the way you think and do your business? |
| Definitely we are affected by SARS and the recent bird flu. Durian is referred to as a “heaty” fruit and people consumed less durian during the SARS and bird flu outbreak periods. In these cases, there is little for us to do. |
| |
| 9. What are some of the challenges in starting a business from scratch? (Modify question to what are some of the challenges in maintaining a family business if applicable.) |
| Firstly, time had to be sacrificed. Due to my heavy schedule, I had no time to indulge in activities I like; my whole being was devoted to develop the business. I had to work hard to make it a success.
Secondly, capital was badly needed as I had mentioned earlier, most of the transactions were based on credit. I owed it to them.
Thirdly, the taste and preferences of consumers change, more efforts are sent to create new scrumptious products for the generation Y people. Customized services are provided to ensure all customers’ needs are taken care of. |
| |
| 10. Who/What motivates you? |
| The thoughts of satisfied clients indulging in our durian feast! The clients motivate us to come out with more delicious products, hence enable us to gain an edge over our competitors. |
| |
| 11. Tell me about the first few customers and the first few years of business. |
| I started out as a small business with only a handful of customers or a supplier’s base. We were not a recognized and established company then. However, I still stand by my main principle which is to provide good quality products for the customers. However in order to have good quality products, higher costs will be incurred and so the price of the products has to be slightly higher. Thus I will try to convince price conscious customers on the products. The service of my workers must be good. |
| |
| 12. Please tell me some stories of your best day in business or your proudest achievement to date. |
| In 1994, Prime Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong commemorated my company during the national day rally. It started out with our company motto ‘Honesty’. They had wanted to buy durians for an important reception then, it happened that the particular batch of durians was not of the best grades. I advised them to come again at a later time to purchase better durians. They were glad and amazed by my honesty and thanked me for telling the truth. This saved them from embarrassment and also helped in completing the task well. After that incident, they frequented my company and increased my deals significantly.
At a later date, in order to save time on facilitating customers’ orders for durians, I set up an online service and facsimiles for them to make purchases at their own convenience. This was considered as a new and efficient way of running a fruit business at that time. |
| |
| 13. Do you recall your worst day in business? Have you ever felt like giving up? |
| Actually, there is not really a worst day but we do have difficult periods around the year. There are 2 durian seasons; peak and non-peak season. Durians have to be stored during peak season in order to meet the demand during the non-peak season.
Though times are difficult, I have never thought of giving up because I strongly believed that my hard work will not go in vain. |
| |
| 14. When was the moment you realised the business would work and support you? |
| We started out as a small business with no sound reputation. But because of our determination in serving the best for the customers, the name of our company soon get around through words of mouth and surprisingly I have received orders from aboard. And of course not forgetting to mention that compliments from my customers are also very rewarding and gratifying. |
| |
| 15. What are some of the things you have had to overcome to succeed? |
| “They smell like something that has gone rotten. Like a mixture of cheese and something else that has got rotten.” That is one of the usual comments I had received from the foreigners. In order to entice the ‘Ang Mos’ to try durians, we come up with remarkable durian pastry and products that are less strong in flavours, in hoping that they will develop a liking for durians. |
| |
| 16. What are some qualities that you feel you possess which differentiate you from someone who works for others? |
| One of the star qualities that set me, an entrepreneur, apart from an employee is that I engaged in risk taking. Extensive market research and analyze of the market situation have to be done before any crucial decision is made. I often engage in strategic discussion on how to market our products to the targeted groups. From here, I realize the importance of teamwork and by working together; we are able to achieve the desired goals and objectives. |
| |
| 17. To succeed in business, what qualities are essential? What are some of the secrets in making a successful business? |
| As what I have mentioned earlier on, attributes like, honesty, hardworking, willingness to work long hours and sincerity are the essentials i.e. ‘secrets’ in making a successful business. It should be clearly note that one’s laziness could bring harm to oneself and his working environment. Before reaching consensus as to enter a market or not, it is crucial to gather relevant information needed. With a well-strategised plan, it accelerates the course to success! |
| |
| 18. Who or what inspires you? |
| Without a doubt, it has to be my family and peers! |
| |
| 19. Have you ever thought of expanding the business in some way or in multiple locations? How and where? |
| Well, frankly speaking, it is every company’s dream to expand itself and in fact I was approached by a managing group who suggested getting my company listed just recently. I turned down their offer as I would not want to earn more profit at the expense of my supporters and customers. Besides, I am rather contented with having customers from both local as well as overseas now. In my view, a shortcut to success is short lived. |
| |
| 20. What aspects of expansion would you like to see for your enterprise? |
| Currently, I am satisfied with the present state and would rather let nature take its course. Of course, when good opportunities arise, I will be sure to seize and make full use of them. |
| |
| 21. In your opinion, how would you define entrepreneurship? |
| In my opinion, entrepreneur is just a pleasant and encouraging word. Entrepreneurship is just a term formed by the government to encourage and motivate young people to set up businesses. |
| |
| 22. To what extent does one?s educational level help or hinder entrepreneurial-ship? |
| No matter what level of education qualification one has it does not hinder entrepreneurship. Of course the higher the level of education, the better it is for entrepreneurship as it will help in all areas of the business. However, higher level of education does not necessarily guarantees success due to the presence of other crucial factors be it internal or external. |
| |
| 23. As we try to select the final 41 entrepreneurs, what qualities would you think a person should have to inspire others? |
| The power of motivation of one self is able to influence others. And honesty, sincerity, trustworthiness, charisma and diligence definitely play a part. |
| |
| 24. What are some of your own values in doing business and what do you like to pass down to others, particularly the younger generation? |
| Honesty, sincerity, trust and hard work are the principles I held on since I started out. Being reasonable is also crucial as it helps in maintaining good interpersonal relationships. One should also remember that acting on impulse is a foolish act. Think before you act! |
| |
| 25. What advice would you give young people who want to start their own business? |
| “A step at a time” is the advice I would give. Many young people nowadays are very ambitious; they want to see the fruit of success immediately without even putting in much effort. In this reality world, there is no free lunch; one needs to work hard in order to reap what you have sowed. People have to work hard and also smart. The environment is ever-changing and only flexible people are able to adapt well can eventually survive. So the bottom-line to the message is to grab any available opportunity and must take a step at a time. Nevertheless they must do relevant market research before starting out. |
| |
| 26. Please assist me in coming up with 2 lines synopsis. These 2 lines will highlight the interview for viewer who be reading this synopsis before the entire interview. |
| 717 trading is a trading company for fruits and specializes in durians. Knowing that durians have always been one of the favorite fruits in Singapore, Mr Goh Kwee Leng set up a durian factory to process durian products. He introduced new types of durian delicacies into the market and export durians overseas. |
| |
| Interviewed by Tan Pei Ling Jenny on 2004-03-12. Student can be reached at yuna82@hotmail.com |
| |
