Dr. Lim Kah Meng is an entrepreneur and the founder of Gene Oasis Private limited. Being clear minded about his life path, he had been very sensitive about money since young. As a university student, he started to save his capital from his part time tuition job, being paid high premiums in the high demand tuition market as well as growing his savings by investing in shares. By the age of 29, he had already saved up SGD 500 thousand; then he gathered like-minded entrepreneurs with the same vision and set up the company. Together, the entrepreneurs are aiming to put Gene Oasis, one of Singapore's first few local brand biotechnology companies, in the global market. With such great aspiration; Spirit of Enterprise should encourage young people to be like Dr. Lim, in having more patriotism and the mindset that a business is not about only money but also a sense of achievement in making a difference. Dr. Lim certainly deserves the award as he not only showed the Great Spirit of entrepreneurship but also the enthusiasm to carve a pioneer career path for Singapore.
GENE OASIS PTE LTD
101 Lorong 23 Geylang, #06-02 Prosper House S388399
Dr. Lim founded the company Gene Oasis Private Limited. The company is currently located at 101, Geylang Lorong 23, Prosper House. The focus in his business is in Bird's Nest processing and its proprietary technologies/Intellectual Property (IP). It is an innovative spin-off from its Research & Development in bioscience and biotechnology, capitalizing on translating opportunities in the bioscience and biomedical industries. Currently, his company's main research interests are in edible Bird's Nest, Traditional Chinese Medicine, extracts technologies of natural and organic products. Gene Oasis is committed to providing scientific solutions on the Food Safety for Bird's Nest products. Thus, Chinese worldwide and China consumers will be able to enjoy legally imported, innovative Singapore products. (instead of what existing industry standards can provide)
The interview with Dr. Lim opened our eyes to the science industry, which used to be portrayed as ink and paper and now we understand how knowledge we learned can be transformed to technical and commercial values. It was definitely an exciting and fruitful learning experience. As We learned that business is not a day's planning and that an entrepreneur has to be sure of what he/she wants in life in order to succeed. Business has its bitter and sweet times, bitter times are times when the business has no earnings and one has to worry about how to keep the business going, whereas sweet times are times when the company starts to earn revenue, expands its scale, and you can literally see the company growing stronger and stronger. Additionally, we can feel the lingering bitterness when he speaks of the challenges he met, a sense of pride as he mention on how his business grew, and excitement when he describes about the prospects of the business development. He has definitely displayed a true Spirit of Entrepreneurship and is very willing to share with students his business journey. He sparked our interest about entrepreneurship by his contagious enthusiasm. The society should take chance to encourage such promising, patriotic, determined and kind entrepreneurs like Dr. Lim.
1. What is the nature of your business?
Gene Oasis is a biotechnological company whose area of focus is the commercialization of biomedical science research. We work with both internal and external scientists, to help them commercialize their research, because we believe that research has to be first commercialized before any economical returns can be reaped. At the moment, our flagship business is in Bird's Nest processing, involving two unique patented processes I invented.
2. When and why did you decide to become an entrepreneur / take over your family business? NOTE: If it is not a family business, ask: Do your parents have their own businesses too? Have they inspired you in one way or another? (Select appropriate question according to the entrepreneur being interviewed.)
I founded Gene Oasis in 2001. Back then, I was still a PhD student in the National University of Singapore (NUS), Department of Microbiology, which is in the Faculty of Medicine. I was given a lab to conduct my research as well as my business, even though labs are usually reserved for professors only. I became an entrepreneur because I felt that in Singapore, at that time, there were very few businesses in the area of biomedical science or biotechnology, due to the high costs involved in setting up and research. I would like to help Singapore develop its own brand, not just a Singapore brand that is well known in Singapore, but a Singapore brand that is well known internationally. Additionally, after previously having worked as a research scientist as well as a university academic, I felt that academic life was not exciting enough for me. Entrepreneurship has more challenges.
3. What are your reasons for choosing to do business in this particular industry?
I chose to do business in this field because of my interest, as well as my discipline. My PhD is in Biotechnology and Biomedicine; therefore, I was well equipped with the knowledge to start.
4. How did you put together all the resources needed to start your business? For example: getting the start-up capital, hiring staff, doing sales and marketing, advertising, etc.
At that time, it was very expensive to start and maintain a biotechnology company. As a student, I was very resourceful in the sense that I taught a lot of part-time tuition, even when I was as young as 19. Back then, luckily for me, not many people gave tuition, so I was able to charge high premiums for the tuition fees. I also invested in shares, which appreciated. By the age of 29, I had accumulated at least five hundred thousand in capital, and together with a few partners, we raised about two million to start a business. Staff-wise, I've managed to gather like-minded people who, while they were not able to contribute financially, believed in the mission of the company. They were willing to start with very low salaries and sacrificed their time as well. For equipment sake, we initially worked out of the university's lab, so we did not really need to spend much on equipment.
5. Regarding your business experiences, how were your first few years in business? They must have been quite hard.
Yes! The first few years in business we had no profits; in fact we suffered losses all the way. I lost close to two to three million dollars in the first few years. In addition, the fact that we were losing money meant that we could not have a salary! Not only that, but I had to do most of the things myself, such as sweeping the floor and clearing the rubbish.
6. So when did business start picking up? How did the business fare in the following years?
After the fourth year, we began to earn profits, and soon we moved on to gathering close to ten million dollars. However, in the sixth year, 2007, there was an economic downturn that affected Asia to a certain extent, affecting our business. To make matters worse, we had invested heavily on American bonds, which were wiped out during the downturn. We lost millions of dollars, all our initial company profits. We were almost bankrupt in 2008. But business, like a roller coaster, began to pick up again in 2009, and then in 2010, we got a few interns, as well as some new colleagues. Finally for 2011, it's really good; we're back to millions of dollars already. I feel that we're on the exponential phase of business, and we have not reached our peak yet. All thanks to our Bird's Nest business, which was started early 2011. So running a business is like riding a roller coaster, you must be able to ride through the hard times, and then enjoy the good times when they come.
7. Aside from the rough start at the beginning, and the economic downturn in 2007, were there any other important challenges that you have encountered in business?
Oh yes, one of the most important challenge of all is that in the biotech line, the cycles of research and development are always very long. It took me three years, since the 2007 downturn, to come up with my first invention, which is the Bird's Nest processing technique. Throughout that time, I experienced multitudes of bad results, unwanted results, and a lot of heart aches. Therefore one must first have a very viable vision or objective for the business, without it, all the suffering could be for nothing. Another challenge is how expensive it is to do business in Singapore, with the high costs involved in rental, as well as manpower salaries. Add that on to the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on research, maintaining positive cash flow is definitely a challenge.
8. Are there certain events/incidents that have occurred, and thus affected the way you conduct your business?
Right, I think that one of the most important events that occurred was my decision or I would say, me encountering a very important client who requested me to do a project regarding Bird's Nests. To be honest, I wasn't interested in Bird's Nests at that time, being trained in molecular leukemia and cancer research. But in 2007, when I was having my lowest point, and having reached a saturation point in cancer research in terms of finding a possible cure and their molecular diagnosis. I decided to switch gears, to say that "Okay, yeah, Bird's Nest business". So I went to find out more about Bird's Nests, more about the industry. I found that the Bird's Nest market is tremendously lucrative, because Bird's Nests are premium items. I also felt that I could use my expertise in biotechnology to invent something, to innovate the processes of cleaning Bird's Nests and obtaining extracts out of them. So in a way it just blends in very nicely for me, because I'm able to come up with a biomedical or biotechnological method for an industry that requires my knowledge and expertise. Because of this, to be honest with you, if the business proceeds smoothly, we will hit hundreds of millions by two years time. So that is the most significant event to me, being introduced to the Bird's Nest market.
9. Have you met any people in your business that you have conflict with? Like employees or business partners?
Of course! I think when it comes to people, when you have more than two to three people in the company, there is bound to be conflict of some sort, especially if you look at company politics. Currently, my 15 staff are great, but the previous batch of four to five staff in 2009 was a lot of trouble. In the wake of the downturn, there was a lot of doubt, a lot of backstabbing. Even I as the boss was involved in the power struggles and things like that. But that was in the past, I now have 15 wonderful employees that I really enjoy working with. We all have an understanding and we watch each others backs in terms of needs. As for business partners, because they are not in the biotech line, they are unable to see the potential of the research, they often wonder why so much money has been spent in it. This is definitely a source of conflict.
10. What are some of your proudest business achievements to date? Why are they meaningful to you?
One of my biggest, proudest business achievements occurred just a few months ago. I entered into talks with the Malaysia Government, where even the Prime Minister was involved. The talks were regarding Bird's Nests of course, which Malaysia is the second largest exporter. The Bird's Nest industry is thus very important to their economy. So, these people that I were presenting to, they are very powerful people, like our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for example. Initially I do feel a little pressurized, but after that, I think it's nothing, because when it comes to science, I have the knowledge, so I always am able to convince them on our proposed projects. The end result was that I not just convinced them, but bought them over totally. In time to come, our Singaporean company will be the one that helps to control the export of Bird's Nests out of Malaysia, in terms of issuing licenses. Hence all Bird's Nests to be exported from Malaysia in the future will be regulated by us, through our technologies. At the same time, an equally proud moment is when we received a grant from Spring Singapore, not just any grant, but a grant that was the highest amongst all the companies in our field. So in a way, it's like the Singapore Government's recognition for me. So both the Singapore and Malaysia Governments are recognizing our company and our work.
11. About your company's culture, what kind of culture does your company have?
Our company adopts more of a US-like climate, whereby we are very open to each other. We would like to communicate with our staff in a very open and un-threatening way, such that the lower ranked staff will be able communicate comfortably with the higher ranked staff. Additionally, while the company is composed of predominantly Christians, we have a great respect for the different religions, with the different religious groups forming groups and praying for the goodness of the company. So our company culture is very united in this way. But when it comes to decision making, there is a hierarchy, just like the Japanese model. So you can say that we are like a hybrid. In a way, we have a family culture, but yet a very professional kind of thinking.
12. So, what do you think your employees think of you, as a boss? What do you think of yourself, as a boss?
I think that for staff that doesn't know me well enough, they will think that I am a very strict person. But in fact, I'm a very caring boss. Why do I say that? It's because I know that, when a subordinate makes a mistake, he must be feeling very bad, so I will not ask the severity of the mistake, but rather how he feels. This is because I think there's no point criticizing and accusing him even without finding out why the error has been made. So for me, I care for staff welfare more than the loss created by the problem. Personally, I would like my employees to think of me not just as a caring boss, but rather a boss who plots their future, or career path. I do not want my staff to become stagnant; I want them to grow, together with the company. I would like to send them for training, upgrading, whatsoever. Even if it would be necessary for the staff to leave the country for further studies, I would support that. Therefore, I would like the staff to think of me not just as a boss in an employer-employee relationship, but as someone who cares for their professional career. Recently, I received an email from an employee who left me just one week ago. He wrote a very touching letter, mentioning that I was one of the greatest bosses he ever had, and that he would like to rejoin the company. Being 43 years old, he must have had many, many bosses before, so that compliment meant a lot. I was very touched.
13. About the current status of your business, you mentioned earlier the role your company plays in Malaysia. Could you elaborate more on your current plans?
My current plan is to... in fact right now it's already not a plan; it is already ongoing. I am going to build a lab in Science Park II, as an upgrade of my current lab into a more advanced, world class lab. We had gotten an investment of close to three million dollars just to build this lab. Additionally, we would like to build a factory in Singapore to concentrate on the Bird's Nest business, in accordance with the conditions of the Spring Singapore grant we received. We currently have many factories set up in Malaysia already, but we plan to set up another one there soon. We are also expanding to Indonesia, starting with Batam and Surabaya.
14. In this Bird's Nest industry, what is your view on the competition?
The Bird's Nest products industry is very, very competitive! However, in terms of Bird's Nest technology, we are the first and only one. We have no competitors. But say if there are future competitors, my answer would be the same as, if you asked Coca Cola, or Nike, for example. There would be definitely copycats, or even competitors who come up with similar technologies, so firstly, we have to apply for patents. Now, even with patents, we can't possibly sue everyone that copies us right? So to overcome this, we constantly upgrade our machines, our technology, such that we are always one step ahead of our competitors.
15. How are you and your company giving back to society?
We are a very green company, we believe in saving the Earth. We support a lot of green initiatives by the World Health Organization, or even the environmental agencies worldwide. We contribute to conservation in many ways, such as saving electricity, promoting eco-products, and green technology. In terms of education, we provide a lot of free talks to the polytechnics, as well as scholarships to deserving students in secondary schools. For polytechnics, we sponsor awards like for example top student awards. In this way, we hope to motivate students to work hard and perform well in their studies. Most importantly, we believe in social enterprise, in the sense that we believe in helping the poor in Indonesia and Malaysia, the farmers. By trying to revolutionalize the Bird's Nest industry, we are actually trying to create more jobs for these poor people, giving them opportunities to earn their income and maybe even solving their poverty. So those are ways in which we are giving back to society.
16. What is your motivation to keep going? Even after all the setbacks?
I think, to be honest, as a university professor, I would have a secure and comfortable job. In contrast, business is very challenging and tiring. So motivation is very important. Without it, I would have quitted many years ago. My motivation therefore, is simply that I would like to create a brand for Singapore, as I mentioned at the start of our interview. This brand would be something that Singaporeans can be proud of, my parents can be proud of, my family can be proud of, or even my students can be proud of. This Singapore brand is something that, it could be like Louis Vuitton or Coca Cola. We want to be well known internationally. Well, this is something that for the last 10 years I have not been able to achieve. But we'll get there.
17. What is your vision for your company in the future?
We want to be a hub, a world class private research hub, where top scientists come to do research, and come up with innovations that will help save the Earth. That is our world vision. In terms of vision for the region, we would like to be the Bird's Nest processing hub, or even the regulatory hub. So the world vision is to become a research hub, the regional vision is to become a Bird's Nest hub. One day though, I hope that we can be like Bill Gates and Microsoft, dedicating more than 50% of profits to help society, for example in education for the poor, funding for budding entrepreneurs, as well as increasing the employability of the poor.
18. Regarding your personal business philosophy, what does entrepreneurship mean to you?
Entrepreneurship is like a learning journey, very much like life. It teaches us to be responsible for ourselves, because in entrepreneurship, nobody helps you but yourself. It teaches us to be independent, how to manage our lives. We must be able to face hardship, and overcome it. Even when the business is doing well, we cannot rest on our laurels, we must continue to be humble, because when a person is proud when he achieves something, then that is the beginning of downfall. Therefore entrepreneurship doesn't mean that once you achieve success, you can afford to be complacent. If you are successful in entrepreneurship, you should be successful in life.
19. Aside from being humble, what other qualities do you believe that a person should have in order to be successful in his/her business?
I think two other qualities are important here, besides humility: perseverance, and love/respect. Perseverance is especially important in the bad times. When placed in my shoes, many people would have given up in the past 10 years. It was because of my determination to succeed that I managed to hang on in a very, I would say, uncertain career. Entrepreneurship is very uncertain. You never know what's happening entirely, even when you're successful, so being able to persevere through unforeseen circumstances is very important. The next is, love and respect for others. "Others" here refers to all kinds of people, your subordinates, your peers, your superiors. Because you will be working with them, only through love and respect then you can be successful.
20. To round things off, what kind of advice do you have for people who want to start a business, especially ambitious young people fresh out of academic life?
First, you must always sit down and carefully plan out how you want to run your business. However, while planning is important, it is not the only thing. A lot of young people now, they know how to start a business, they're smart, they have great ideas, they have great plans, but when it comes to sudden changes that could affect the flow of the business, they give up. You must be able to respond to changes in the world, because changes occur faster than planning, so even as you plan, the changes in the world can overwhelm your plan. You have to respond to changes, be flexible to changes, and be able to survive changes. That is not to say that you should not plan, because a plan will provide you with the timelines, with the discipline, to achieve certain small steps before you can achieve the big steps. So planning is still very important. About the fear that some people encounter when starting a business, they must first ask themselves, what are these fears? Are they fears for the business, or fears deep within their character? This is important because if its fears for the business, then this can be resolved because uncertainties in business are always around, it's normal I would say. As for fears within the character, it will hold you back, no matter what you are doing. Courage is then required to face your inner demons. The main thing is, for young people, there is not much to lose through failures, because you have time. If one never tries, one would never know if one can succeed!