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Keep learning, keep innovating

Nov 27, 2009

CANCER took away two of the most important men in her life but she did not surrender to the whims of fate. Instead, Jocelyn Chng, kept pushing herself, taking the family business she inherited to a whole new level.

Ms Chng, 42, is the managing director of Sin Hwa Dee, a leading sauce manufacturer in Singapore.

Her father passed away when she was in her second year of university and she was forced to shoulder the responsibility of managing her father's soy-sauce factory. Working while studying was very tough but she never thought of giving up.

After she graduated, Ms Chng took over management of the company full-time. At that time, Sin Hwa Dee was just a small family business.

Besides overseeing the operations of the company, Ms Chng had to handle deliveries as well. Sometimes, during deliveries, she would run into her former university mates.

'It was difficult not to feel inferior when I saw that some of them had become bankers. But I told myself not to give up, because my parents built this business from scratch and I was not about to let it close down,' she says.

It was this belief that drove Ms Chng to reform her company and transform a traditional family business into a leader in the sauce industry.

Ms Chng recently shared her experiences with close to 100 female participants at the Women Entrepreneurship Forum 2009, organised by the SIM Professional Development.

Simple beginings

Ms Chng's parents met each other when they were working in another sauce factory. Later they set up their own factory, a small business which produced a limited variety of sauces. Their customers were mainly regulars.

Securing contracts with major clients

Soon after Ms Chng took over Sin Hwa Dee, the company started carrying out R&D on new types of sauces and efforts were made to secure sauce supply contracts with major clients.

At the same time the company began exporting its products. Today, Sin Hwa Dee's products are exported to over 30 overseas markets.

Its clients now include Singapore Airlines, Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Raffles Hotel, Conrad Centennial, Marriot Hotel, Lei Garden and the Crystal Jade Group.

Luck, commitment and diligence

Ms Chng attributed her success not just to luck, but also to commitment and diligence.

She said that, as a woman who inherited her father's business at 21, she had to overcome many challenges in leading her company in an industry traditionally dominated by males.

Many clients simply refused to discuss business with her because of her gender. There were clients from the Middle East who demanded to speak with "the boss", disregarding her position as the head of the company.

Similarly, her competitors were betting among themselves that she would not last three months. What she has achieved so far has no doubt impressed them.

Ms Chng said that for an entrepreneur to be successful, he or she has to have clear goals and a vision. Passion for the business is a must, as is the willingness to constantly learn and innovate.

Constantly growing

In the 1990s, Ms Chng began seeking partnerships with fast food chains, restaurants and other corporate clients. The company also launched its famous DIY "yu sheng" sauce, laksa sauce and chicken rice sauce.

These products were the first of their kind to appear on the market and they embodied the spirit of innovation necessary for every entrepreneur.

Concrete mixer inspired sauce mixer

Ms Chng not only broke new ground by diversifying her clients and product lines but she also launched innovations in terms of the production process.

As the number of orders increased, it became impractical for her employees to mix the ingredients manually.

One day, she saw a construction worker operating a concrete mixer outside a coffee shop and it occurred to her that a similar device can be used to speed up production in her company.

She immediately commissioned a concrete mixer manufacturer to construct a mixer suitable for sauce-making. When the mixer was delivered as promised, it gave Sin Hwa Dee a great boost in its production capacity.

Ms Chng once again showed her fighting spirit when her company was about to lose a contract with an integrated resort to a larger competitor.

She wasted no time in looking for banks to vouch for the capital adequacy of her company; she also engaged the clients in discussions to urge them to reconsider her offer.

Through her campaigning, Sin Hwa Dee stood out from other larger competitors and clinched the deal.

Ms Chng said that it is this spirit that has transformed a small family business into the leading enterprise in the local sauce industry.

Importance of family and friends

Six years ago, Ms Chng lost her husband to lymphoma. Had it not been for the support from her family, she would not have been able to pull herself together to re-commit herself to her company.

She believes that an entrepreneur must develop close relationships with colleagues and family. The care and encouragement from these people will be the force that pulls one through life's difficulties.

Ms Chng said that she always stays in close touch with her customers, suppliers and distributors. They sometimes even go on overseas tours together.

Naturally, she does not neglect her own employees either.

As both her father and husband died of cancer, Jocelyn Chng understands how it feels when her employees lose a family member.

One of Ms Chng's employees, who had worked for the company for eight years, lost her husband four years ago. The company has since been providing her family with financial assistance for education costs.

Ms Chng has three sons aged between 7 and 14 years. She loves her children very much and will sometimes bring them to her office so that the family can spend as much quality time together as possible.

She joked that this is meant to educate her sons on the significance of "meetings" and make them stop pestering her to knock off early.

Sure enough, Jocelyn Chng's eldest son was with his mother at the Women Entrepreneurship Forum 2009.