Success Stories

• Ko Tai-hei
  
  Service Centre Manager,
  DHL Express


• Janet Tang
  
  Industry Development Manager,
  Global and Multi-national Customers,
  DHL Express


• Daisy Lui
  
  Customer Accounting Manager,D
  HL Express


• Angus Wong
  
  Business Planning Manager,
  DHL Express


• Frankie Fong
  
  Export Manager,
  Standards and Compliance,
  Airfreight,
  DHL Global Forwarding
  


• Vio Chiu
  
  Business Support & Project Manager,
  Campus Infrastructure Development,
  DHL International Supply Chain
  
  


• Darren Hwe
  
  Assistant Logistics Operations Manager,
  Customer Programme Management-Logistics Management Services, DHL Global Forwarding
  


• Alex choi
  
  Fire-fighting Team in the IT Industry – Upon Receiving Signals, We will Go Everywhere


• Roy Lau
  
  Interest Becomes Career; Career Becomes Success Story


• Sam Wong
  
  With a Thankful Heart, Never Be Complacent


• Wesker Lam
  
  Dreaming to Become a Boss from Childhood, With Someone Serving Him Milk Tea

Ko Tai-Hei
Service Centre Manager of DHL Express

Ko Tai-Hei (Ah Hei), current Service Centre Manager of DHL Express, started his career at DHL as a courier in 1985. His principal duty was handling import and export cargos at the centre and delivering packages.

Ah Hei’s greatest asset has always been his positive work attitude. He does not mind putting extra efforts in his work since he believes that the more one invests, the more could be learnt and gained. “For me, work is not a show before other people. As long as we are dedicated to our work, the efforts will be recognized in the end.” During the 22 years’ service at DHL, Ah Hei established his career by sustaining his efforts and fulfilling his duties with great care. Gradually, he began to reap the fruits of his labours: he was first promoted to courier supervisor, then centre duty manager and has now advanced to the service centre manager for his remarkable accomplishments. As a manager, Ah Hei is responsible for the daily operation of the service centre and supervision of up to 150 staff.

Ah Hei was also convinced of the values in life-long learning. He thinks that continuing education could serve to broaden our horizons and sharpen our faculty to look at things from a more comprehensive perspective. Thus he made the decision to dedicate his leisure time on further studies and eventually obtained the Higher Diploma in Business Administration and the Bachelor of Business Administration. Ah Hei acknowledged that pursuing studies while having a full time job is no easy task. He was taking up the post as the instructor while he was studying the diploma, where he needed to perform shift duties. In order to look after both sides, he chose to sacrifice time for rest and he could just sleep for a few hours for three years. In spite of this hardship, he is still planning to enroll in a logistic study programme for a master degree.

Ah Hei points out that it is unavoidable to encounter unforeseen challenges in our career, so we should maintain a positive attitude and try our best to tackle the problem. He recalled an occasion where he received a call from the customer for an urgent delivery service in the midnight when he was the duty manager. As the courier on night shift had already left the office for work, he made a flexible arrangement by acting as a deliverer in order to fulfill the needs of the customer. From this incidence we get to know how enthusiastic his working attitude is.

Ah Hei recommended that young people who are interested in the logistic and express delivery industry should take the initiative to learn. They should also attempt new challenges for enhancing their self-confidence and avoid underestimating themselves because of educational background or lack of experience. They will be rewarded if they attempt to learn more and complain less.

Key to Success:

• Do not always calculate what have been given and received. We should do the utmost, because we will benefit from it.
• Take the initiative to learn, pursue further studies to broaden your horizons.
• Adopt a positive attitude when facing challenges.

Janet Tang
Industry Development Manager,Global and Multi-national Customers,DHL Express

Immediately after completing her study at F.7, Janet joined DHL and started her career as an operation clerk with the duty of handling unsuccessful delivery of cargos at the customer service department, then shifted to the sales department afterwards. Janet was promoted many times during her 20 years’ career because of her unfailing efforts and the rapid expansion of the company. Currently Janet is the Industry Development Manager of Global and Multi-national Customers team, and is responsible for leading the sales team to provide Industry services to customers.

Janet remembered when she started in the sales division, she had experienced frustration in the workplace since she was not good at inter-personal relationship and too persistent with her own ideas. To deal with the problem, she was willing to adapt herself according to the demands of the environment. Janet tried to be more open-minded and consulted others for advice and her communication skills were thus gradually enhanced. Her commitment to the “customer first” principle and focused work attitude has also helped win customers’ confidence. The numerous sales awards she was given by the company and external organizations are testimony to the exceptional achievements of her career.

She noted that good communication skills and professional knowledge are equally essential for attaining outstanding sales performance, which motivated her to pursue further studies. Apart from the diploma in Marketing, she also acquired a degree and a master degree in the area related to logistic industry. Even though she had made detailed planning aimed at enabling her to work and study at the same time, sometimes she still had to sacrifice her family life for her studies. Now she is trying to put her life in good shape in order to strike a balance between work and personal wellness.

Unlike the past, when Janet focused mainly on sales, she now needs to assume duties of different nature. Apart from ensuring standards of sales performance are met, she is also responsible for human resource management. Janet is eager to take on this new challenge. As her team comprises both supporting staff with less experience as well as professional sales experts, its effective management becomes a demanding task that required advanced skills. She needs to spend much more time to work out proper approaches and solutions, review and flexibly adjust her own style of management in order to excel in her job.

As for suggestions for youngsters, Janet thought that youngsters should tackle difficulties with a positive attitude and not giving up easily. In seeking self-improvement, the first key is to learn to avoid being insistent on your own views while communicating with other people. It is best to ask for advice and listen to different ideas, and shape yourself for self progress. She told us, “When facing difficulties, a good way out is to choose to stop for a while, take a break and let yourself work out the solution with a refreshed mind, and you may be able to find other alternatives.”

Key to success:

• Be open-minded and do not be afraid to ask for advice.
• Communication skills and professional knowledge are prerequisites to excel in your work.
• Never give up easily whenever you encounter difficulties.

Daisy Lui
Customer Accounting Manager, DHL Express

Daisy joined DHL in 1984, she is now the Customer Accounting Manager of DHL Express. Along with the company’s fast expansion, her extraordinary hard work in 23 years has brought her numerous promotions. Beginning as an accounts clerk, Daisy has now advanced to be the chief of the accounting department, heading over 30 employees.

Among various personal abilities, her positive attitude and willingness to take up new challenges had contributed to her path of promotion. Apart from fulfilling her job duties, she is also willing to undertake tasks outside her own work field. She told us that when she was offered the opportunity to take charge of overseas training programme, she accepted without hesitation. It was indeed a valuable experience for Daisy to fully enhance her communication skills and an opportunity for the management to understand better her capabilities. As for self-enhancement, Daisy made use of her leisure time to pursue further studies and successfully obtained a Higher Diploma, a Bachelor Degree and a Master degree.

As for challenges at workplace, Daisy had rich experience in overcoming numerous hurdles. In 1999, as an accounting manager, she was appointed to set up the customer accounting department”, a brand new division for the company. Daisy admits that being a pioneer to establish a department starting from nothing is extremely challenging for her due to her lack of experience. She was even clueless on how to prepare a budget bill. She actually felt a bit helpless at that time, but continued her efforts and did not hesitate to ask for advice from the more experienced colleagues. Thanks to the support of her colleagues, she finally led the team to successfully form the new customer account service department and assumed the position of the director.

“To do the utmost, to have a clear conscience” is her maxim. She truly believes that nothing is impossible in this world, that things can be achieved as long as you try your best.

To give advice for youngsters, Daisy suggested that they should not just focus on the situation at present, and not count on short term gain and loss. Instead, they should take a broader perspective and try to look into the future; avoid clinging to complacent and conservative attitude and learn from others and appreciate their strenghts. “Although I do not always see eye-to-eye with some people, I believe that everybody possesses their own abilities. Just keep your eyes open and learn from others--you will get something out of it eventually.” Daisy said.

Key to success

• Willing to accept challenges and try new tasks outside your work field
• Work for all you're worth and laugh at false accusations. You will succeed in the end as long as you try your utmost.
• Learn from and appreciate others’ strengths

Angus Wong
Business Planning Manager, DHL Express

Angus, current business planning manager, joined DHL Express in 1996 as the product development officer. He was responsible for product development and enhancement of product perception in the market.

His remarkable ability of concentration at work and passion for perfection were most admired by his seniors. Throughout the twelve years’ service at DHL, he had been promoted as planning manager, product manager and business planning manager. At present, Angus’ management team comprised 9 employees who specialized in three scopes of work: centralization and analysis of business information, support for commercial decision making; formulation, operation and adjustment of budget and client database management.

For Angus, there are four decisive factors leading to success in career and life: “A‧B‧C”:

A – Attitude: Apart from possessing the “Can Do” attitude, he believes that it is equally important to be ready to cooperate with others in harmony. In planning business projects, the company’s interest is always his top priority. He tries to use a broader vision and consider interests of different parties. When formulating a project, he would comprehensively collect different ideas and incorporate their scopes of interests into the planning.

B -Behavior: Personal involvement is the secret to win the confidence of other people. Whenever he puts his plan into practice, he tries to adhere to his ideal to balance different scopes of interests. When a solution does not come up immediately, he would discuss the issue with the relevant parties.

C – Consistency: the quality to maintain outstanding performance. There is value in every task, so whatever you do, do it well and carefully.

A‧B‧C” is knowledge. For Angus, possessing relevant knowledge is a useful asset to justify your own point of view. Urged by this belief, he decided to dedicate his leisure time for studying and obtained an MBA while he was doing the full time job. Learning should not be limited to class attendance at school. Whenever possible, he always talks to front-line couriers for obtaining practical knowledge.

Angus recalled the most challenging undertaking in his career happened while he was assuming the post of planning manager. He put forward a proposal of a complete reform on the pricing structure, where the discounted rates shall be decided upon the actual demands of customers.

In spite of the foreseeable benefits of the plan, it would inevitably bring about impacts on the company’s profit making and the customers in the short run. Angus needed to overcome a number of hurdles, including persuading the management to accept the suggestion, gaining support from colleagues of the sales department as well as obtaining the consent of the Asian headquarters. It took him a whole year to complete the different stages of the project: review, analysis and persuasion. In the face of this arduous task, Angus still treasured the opportunity to turn ideas constructive to the company’s development into suggestions and even actions. It was really a tremendous satisfaction for him.

Angus is convinced about “concentration and professionalism”. It is important to be focused on your field of work, explore into every detail and strive for perfection. It is of vital importance to avoid careless mistakes in order to obtain confidence from others and establish your own brand name. He is generous to share these ideas with his team and wishes they could establish a brand of their own through their continuous efforts.

Key to success:

• Always consider from a broader perspective and learn about the needs of other people.
• Be careful and detailed-minded in order to obtain confidence of others.
• Adhering to “concentration and professionalism” helps establish a brand that belongs to yourself

Frankie Fong
Export Manager, Standards and Compliance, Airfreight, DHL Global Forwarding

After his graduation from university in 2008, Frankie participated in DHL’s management training programme where he underwent training in the airfreight and logistic divisions in the course of three years. The experience not only helped him familiarize with the professional knowledge and actual operation of different scopes of work, but also established his brilliant leadership and inter-personal skills.

Frankie has already worked in DHL for nearly five years now. Promoted to the Manager of global logistic export department half a year ago, he now heads a team of over forty employees. Recently, he was selected one of the Employees of the Year by the management, whose granting was based on their work performance. This is an evident tribute to his contribution throughout the years.

He thinks leaders of the supervisory management must respect and recognize the strengths of the team members in different positions. For the logistic industry, work experience is a determining element. When working with more experienced colleagues, he chooses to learn about the demands of the specific industry before making analysis or giving out recommendations. When confrontation exists among different departments, Frankie would make analysis on the pros and cons of the issue from a objective perspective. He always takes a neutral position and aims at creating a win-win situation since only through this way could the company’s interests be secured.

To Frankie, the key factor to success is initiative. In his third year in DHL, he was appointed as the night-shift operation manager. In fact, working overnight is no easy work to many people. Frankie who was still green in the industry took it as a precious learning opportunity. In his term of office, he grasped every chance to learn the basic skills in the work field and never ceased to explore the reason and solution for every problem he encountered. This experience had been tough yet useful training which contributed greatly to the success of his future career.

Frankie also stresses that patience is an essential quality to success. He is aware that many young people concentrate only on calculating the profit they could obtain in the short run; some even change their job because they consider their day-to-day working procedures were trivial. In fact, in the career path it takes time for any industry to build up a solid basis before any real achievements could be made. Also, it is impossible to build up basic skills and knowledge with frequent change of occupation, which would hinder any further achievement.

He also encourages young people to do summer job during the holiday as he believes it could help them better understand the society and identify interests and capabilities. In his second year at university, Frankie took up a summer job and with this first exposure to the logistic industry, he realized his interest in the field. After graduation, he actively sought opportunities and successfully joined DHL.

In future, Frankie would continue his supervisory duties at DHL. He expressed his gratitude for the company’s generous investment in human resource and comprehensive support, which strengthens his sense of belonging to the company.

Key to success:

• Have positive work attitudes, explore the unknown and grasp every chance to absorb new knowledge.
• Always remain neutral and balance the needs for different parties in order to create a win-win situation.
• Work with patience and persistence for establishing a solid basis in the career path.

Vio Chiu
Business Support & Project Manager,
Campus Infrastructure Development, DHL International Supply Chain

Vio started out her career at DHL since March 2003 as a shipping assistant of the operations department, later shifted to finance division. Until 2003, she was appointed the supervisor of land transport department, responsible for the complete operation procedure of cargo delivery by land transport. Vio was promoted as assistant manager of business support. in 2005 and manager of business support and projects division in 2007.

Vio concluded that the attitude that should be adopted in a successful career is never to fear difficulties and try very best to complete tasks assigned to us, no matter how complicated or easy it is. If the smallest detail can be taken care of, the effort you make would be appreciated in the end. However, if you are only willing to undertake “impressive” tasks but ignore the routine assignments, other people would take notice of it too. When an employee could not even complete general tasks such as photocopying documents, he or she would not be considered to take up more important duties. Never give up when your abilities are not appreciated by other people. She thinks that the feeling of not being appreciated is only temporary and setback like this can train us to become stronger. As long as you try your best to fulfill the duties, you will be rewarded in the end. Remember: nobody could rob your talents. As long as you persist in being industrious, the skills you acquire from different work situations would become your personal assets.

For Vio, work has a bitter root but sweet fruit. She had seen some colleagues quitting their jobs shortly after joining the company. Feeling puzzled by this, she decided to find out the reason by asking a colleague and was given the following response, “I quit because the work is too hard for me and my health is getting worse. I hope that I could lead a comfortable life in the coming days after I leave here.” Vio was shocked as the colleague had just begun work life for less than three years. She herself had experienced tough times at work and she strongly believes that perseverance is the only road to success, and that colleague was still very young.，

Working at operations and land transport department had really been tough and demanding for Vio. In the early days, she even felt uneasy to apply for sick leave when she was having health problems. Every day, she had to handle telephone enquiries from customers which had already taken up her normal working hours for the whole day and she could only do follow-up work at night. In addition, she had to squeeze time on weekends to photocopy documents. She had to be very careful about satisfying customers’ demands since a very slight mistake or delay could lead to financial loss of the company. These difficult circumstances had placed Vio in a stressful situation. Long working hours forced Vio to sacrifice her private time. After getting over this stage, her work attitude was eventually recognized by the senior. She was promoted from assistant to supervisor of land transport division in 2003. And this is the time when she reaped the “sweet fruit” of her efforts.

When Vio began working as the assistant she felt that she was belittled by others. However, owing to her tough personality, she never ceased to continue fulfilling her duties or let herself down by the frustration. Rather it served as a motivation to urge her to work even harder. Her diligence at work resulted in success that satisfied her and the whole department. No matter how the situation is, she strongly holds on to the principle of having a clear conscience. No matter how other people treat you, you should never treat other people in the way you don’t want to be treated. Never belittle yourself even when you are in difficult inter-personal relationships or problematic situations. Keep on striving for your goal - your future is in your own hands!

Key to success:

• Always try your best in handling every single task, no matter how trivial it is. Stick to perseverance and fulfill all your responsibilities
• Nobody could rob your talents. Never give up the skills you acquire from different work situations and they would become your personal assets.
• Keep on striving for your goal and do not let your perseverance be affected by other factors and do not belittle yourself.
• Stick to the principle of having clear conscience.

Darren Hwe
Assistant Logistics Operations Manager,
Customer Programme Management-Logistics Management Services, DHL Global Forwarding

Darren joined DHL and was appointed as Logistics Supervisor in June, 2004. It was his first job after graduation. Through his endless efforts, in three years’ time he was promoted to Assistant Logistics Operations Manager in 2007. He is now responsible for managing over 50 warehouse officers.

Darren believes that the primary factor of success is not to focus on the calculation of one’s gains and losses and willing to take up difficult tasks. He truly believes that “No gains without pains”. In order to strive for better accomplishments, Darren is willing to spend a lot of time and efforts in his daily routine including manual work like carrying cargos.

Besides, he thinks that people should always be eager to obtain knowledge, and this learning attitude helps enhance the relevant knowledge of logistics industry. It is especially important to ask for advice from others and share with others. For instance, even he is confident to design the whole proposal of the project by himself, he still chooses to seek advice from other colleagues’ and take the cream of crop in order to make the plan more comprehensive.

Darren also emphasizes the importance of seizing opportunities. When he assumed the position to manage the warehouse, the manager in position had just quitted the job, which had led to the resignation of a number of colleagues. Yet, he regarded the crisis as an opportunity and turned it to his own advantage. He decided to take up the managerial position and was dedicated to restoring the team spirit and improving business. In the end, Darren spent one and a half year to settle the volatile situation successfully. He is good at analyzing problems and always uses data and facts to justify his ideas, which gained the trust and confidence from his colleagues.

The key factors of Darren’s achievements today include his personality and his way of handling things. He is always concerned about the feelings of his colleagues and tries to understand their needs. On the other hand, Darren is persistent in sticking to his principles and will not submit to authority as long as he believes that he is correct. He always treats his colleagues with fairness in order to win the trust of the people.

Darren owns a Master’s degree in Logistics. He thinks studying can train an individual’s thinking and analytical skills. Also, even if he may not fully apply what he has learnt at school, his profound academic background has trained up his mind and logical thinking. Darren can now tackle problems accurately and systematically. He encourages youngsters to pursue studies and in order to build up a solid foundation for the future.

Key to success:

• Not mind paying extra time and effort to complete your job
• Always be keen to learn and be open-minded
• Hold strongly to principles and faith

Alex Choi
Fire-fighting Team in the IT Industry – Upon Receiving Signals, We will Go Everywhere

Computer breakdown is the biggest headache for people nowadays because this could render you:

1. Completely cut off from the rest of the world
2. Unable to work, or
3. Deprived of a lot of entertainment

Even if your computer is on the verge of death, you need not feel helpless. If your telephone is still working, this article will give you a trace of hope. This is because when Alex receives your call for help, he will rush to your computer and endeavour to bring it back to life.

A Computer Technology Consultant That Can Solve Any Problem

Alex had taken the “Self-employed Computer Repair Service” module of the Youth Self-employment Support Scheme (a pilot scheme launched by the Labour Department), and in 2005 he became the sole proprietor of the company “Touch Solution” – a company that provides a door-to-door computer repair service for homes and private companies. Not only can he bring all kinds of computers (such as ordinary PCs notebooks, pocket PCs and Macintosh computers) back to life, he can also repair Linux (which is becoming increasingly popular) and computer peripherals (such as printers and scanners), bringing them back to normal operation.

After seeing how Alex repairs your computer, you may get the impression that he is no more than a computer repair technician. To be more exact, he is a versatile computer technology consultant. Apart from repairing computers, he also provides for his clients an extensive range of services that includes website design and hosting, programming, video editing, and even private coaching on computer applications. He can serve you on almost anything that is related to computers. Today, Alex’s business is on a path of stable growth and his business network is progressively expanding.

The secret why Alex could turn from a young man who is passionate about assembling computers into a computer technology consultant is that he keeps on trying and learning. He repairs computers in much the say way a doctor diagnoses his patients. The more experienced a doctor is, the better he can treat his patients. Armed with his rich experience, Alex can now carry out diagnosis and prescription after asking his clients a few questions. Indeed, a lot of his clients have praised him for the speedy completion of his repairs.

An All-weather Service, Anywhere in Hong Kong

Looking back, Alex thinks that it was a wise move to join the Youth Self-employment Support Scheme. It was his interest in dissembling and assembling computers that drove him to take part in the scheme, but little did he think that his interest would become his profession. His greatest benefit from the scheme was that he got acquainted with a group of computer repair experts. Not only would they exchange knowledge and views on computers, but they even referred business opportunities to each other, forming a computer repair network. So even if Alex cannot come in person to your home or office to repair your computer, he will surely be able to arrange a competent person to solve your problem.

His Masterpiece in Website Design Leads to Customer Satisfaction

Among his countless jobs, Alex has his masterpieces, one of which was a website that he designed for a non-governmental organisation. This organisation’s website involved a huge volume of data, including labour policies, survey reports and information about affiliated associations. Alex spent a lot of time and effort trying to display all the information in front of the user in a systematic manner. Finally he produced a website that comprised about 150 webpages. This not only satisfied his client, but it also provided the public with a good variety of information. How meaningful this is!

A Satisfactory Repair Service, with Lots of Fun in Door-to-door Service

In his self-employed career, Alex not only gets a lot of job satisfaction, but he also experiences the warmth of human relationships. When providing door-to-door computer repair services, Alex often comes across many motherly clients who treat him like their son. In fact these are Alex’s repeat customers, and so their relationship was particularly close. Not only do they talk about their past, these customers even treat him to their tasty soup, adding that he would always be welcome to the soup whenever he passes by this area. There was another mother who talked about her backache while sharing lychee with Alex. Alex would console her and even recommended a Chinese herbal doctor in the hope of relieving her pain. These were the elements that added much colour and warmth to Alex’s self-employed career.

From Defence to Attack – More Staff and Wider Services

Young Alex plans to expand his business by various methods, such as inviting like-minded people to inject capital into his business, and recruiting more computer technicians to support his business expansion. In the meantime, Alex also plans to provide some new services such as running computer classes for schools and tutorial colleges, and providing computer support services to local and mainland companies. With ambitious Alex in the trade, computer professionals should make an active effort to catch up!

Roy Lau
Interest Becomes Career; Career Becomes Success Story

Listening to Roy’s voice over the phone, I suddenly had a strong sense of familiarity. As I listened to Roy’s story of himself and his self-employment over the past few years, with all its changes and developments, I felt like listening to a humble but seasoned general recounting his heroic deeds. This story started several years ago.

Early hints of turning an interest into a career

Roy, a mature person, has since his secondary school days considered setting up his own business as the most suitable career option for himself. In his senior secondary school days, he had a keen interest in organising all sorts of activities. He even joined a number of leadership training activities with an aim to acquiring the skills of organising recreational and major activities, and accumulating related knowledge and experience.

In the summer of 2004, while waiting for his Advanced Level Examination results, Roy joined the “Youth Self-employment Support Scheme” (YSSS)launched by the Labour Department, and chose one of the projects named “Comprehensive Training in Sports and Recreational Activities”. He hoped that he could combine his interest and skills in sports and recreational activities with his future career, and launch his grand plan of self-employment. Roy is a versatile person. On the one hand he is an accomplished athlete. On the other, he has mastered a special skill – making all sorts of things with a balloon. Roy often demonstrates his immense creativity in producing a great variety of animals, fruits and human-shape dolls from balloons of different colours and sizes. Among these creations, his masterpieces are the lion and Snoopy.

Turning vision into reality

After finishing training under the YSSS programme, Roy started his own company – “Funny Childhood Activity Development Centre”– as the first step in setting up his own business. In the process, Roy got acquainted with a lot of distinguished people, such as professional hikers, astronomers, veteran instructors of adventure activities, performing art specialists and balloon toy makers. With his sharp business acumen, Roy decided to join hands with them in developing his business, making an agreement with them on the business plan and mode of cooperation. One of the important businesses at the initial stage of “Funny Childhood Activity Development Centre” was to organise a great variety of activities and interest classes for various institutions, companies and schools. These classes include basketball, swimming, football, volleyball, badminton, athletics, hiking, camping, dry colour painting, handicrafts, knotting, sketching, knitting rattan baskets and abacus.

Making changes on a stable foundation

Several years passed. On top of working hard on his own business, Roy also actively added value to himself. At present, Roy is pursuing a full-time Bachelor of Business Administration degree at the Open University of Hong Kong, expecting completion next year. Meanwhile, the mode of operation of “Funny Childhood Activity Development Centre” also starts to change.

While Roy continues to organise various training classes for different institutions, companies and schools, he is also branching into the event management service to meet market demand. This involves providing a one-stop coordination service for corporate and individual clients in events such as wedding ceremonies, annual celebrations and shareholders meetings. The company coordinates all the tasks, from venue set-up and decoration to programme design. Roy said with a smile that he was struggling with the name of his new company. After all, the name “Funny Childhood Activity Development Centre” does not fit in with its new business direction.

Actively developing new talent

To support his company’s new business direction, Roy will be negotiating cooperation plans with hotels and clubs in various parts of Hong Kong in the hope of gaining more client appreciation and patronage of his event management services. Roy is also planning to develop the next generation of talents. His development plan can be summed up in a few words – “Learn and Earn”. In other words, he trains up his successors by throwing them into the rough waters of business and forcing them to experience the difficulties of the trade. In late July 2008, Roy organised the “Balloon Imaging and Venue Decoration Course” for “Youth Employment Start” of the Labour Department’s and in the process he identified and trained up new talents. He will lead the next generation of people to learn as they earn, thereby growing in the process.

It was a pleasure to talk with Roy. What I felt was both the youthful passion of pursuing one’s ideals, and the down-to-earth style of working. What impressed me most was Roy’s ability to adapt to the changing times, and the readiness to see both far and near, and to seek change in the pursuit of growth. Indeed, Roy and his partners are far from being green and inexperienced.

The voice on the phone continues – a warm current under the warm sun.

Sam Wong
With a Thankful Heart, Never Be Complacent

Bee Bee……Bee Bee……At the double beep, Sam Wong looked at the SMS on his mobile phone. It was a message from a client – “Thank You!” This filled Sam’s heart with great warmth. In fact, Sam was very thankful for the support he received under the “Youth Self-employment Support Scheme” (YSSS). He spoke from his heart – “Without this Scheme, there would not be the Sam of today!”

Sam was so thankful because his dream had come true. He had advanced from being a self-employed student to becoming the boss of a design and production company. Since joining the course entitled “Creative Multimedia Production” under YSSS, he had set up his own design house named “New Verdure Workshop” (New Verdure) with the support of three designers and one clerk. Sam is different from the young people of today – he is more down to earth. He rarely thinks about having fun. All he thinks about is how to run his business well. “Many people go to the mainland for leisure, but I like to go to the mainland to visit factories and see how they operate,” he said.

Why is Sam so interested in business? It’s because he thinks that with his own business he would not have to be constrained by his employer in the pace of his personal development. With more opportunities to show his talents, he would have greater satisfaction in his career. Soon after the inception of his company, Sam had already done projects of different varieties such as large-scale printing project for the East District Council to introduce the development of the Eastern District promenade. This publication is a large project and is distributed in many locations of Hong Kong. “New Verdure” soon acquired a good reputation and won the praise of many customers.

Go an Extra Mile, and the Goal Is Reached

Sam’s success as a young entrepreneur is attributed to his readiness to take initiatives and to work hard. He stressed that doing business is a difficult journey. At the start of his company, he had to deliver his goods, repair his machinery, and even clean the company’s toilet himself. He said, “I would rather spend my extra time on completing the work at hand to allow more time to take up more work from clients” he said.

Sam’s success is also attributed to his willingness to learn. As his business nature focuses on design, printing and packaging, Sam needs to cooperate with different types of people involving different work procedures during different stages. Right from the initial stage of his business, Sam adopted humble work attitude and followed up on every step in the production process, and he even did the delivery on his own. He wanted to master the entire production procedure so as to ensure a smoother process and better quality of his products.

Sam is indeed an enterprising young man. No wonder he realized his entrepreneurial dream so soon!

Demonstrated His Boldness of Action

Sam’s principle at work is to put all the risks on his own shoulders so that his staff will have nothing to worry about. Apart from labour insurance taken out for his staff, Sam also assures them that they could work for him with ease. As employees, his staff members are glad that they have such a considerate boss. But to a design company boss like Sam, what kind of staff does he like to work with most? Sam thinks that a designer should first and foremost be patient, complete assignments on time, and have a positive attitude. Of course design talent and skills are also a must. Otherwise their work cannot satisfy the customers.

Streamline Staff Costs Reduced

Fast, Good and Accurate” has always been the business goal for Sam. He runs his business charging reasonable prices so as to maintain a profit while keeping his clients happy. Sam’s insistence on treating his clients’ interest as top priority is really good and not every businessman can do the same.

To express his gratitude to his alma mater, Sam is willing to produce the school magazine only at cost. In fact, the teachers revealed that the quality of that issue of school magazine is even higher than that of the previous issues that cost more!

Bee Bee……Bee Bee … This time it was not an SMS but a telephone ring that pierced the silence of the night. It turned out to be a customer asking Sam to amend the design layout immediately. Sam at once gathered energy and did his best to serve his customer. It is indeed this passion that keeps Sam’s business going and growing!

Wesker Lam
Dreaming to Become a Boss from Childhood, With Someone Serving Him Milk Tea

Lam Cheuk Fai (Wesker) joined the “Youth Self-employment Support Scheme (YSSS)” launched by the Labour Department in 2004 and he chose the project named “Catering Industry (Take-way Snacks, Drinks and Catering)”. In fact, as early as in his secondary school days he had dreamed of becoming a boss. The reason behind this was that he felt it would be nice to have someone serve him a cup of tea whenever he feels like having a drink. It was this aspiration that drove Wesker to set up the Dragon Burg Restaurant in Sai Ying Pun in March 2006. Since then, the number of waiters has grown from 7 to 13. Now this young boss no longer worries about not having someone to serve him tea!

Dragon Burg Restaurant in Western District – Excellent Word of Mouth

Although there are lots of restaurants in Western District of Hong Kong, this Dragon Burg Restaurant differs from the others in achieving breakeven in the first few months of its inauguration! This success can be attributed to the fact that Wesker knows how to prepare soup with quality ingredients without the need for MSG.! Moreover, his tasty dishes are modelled on those of high-class restaurants. He also keeps on introducing new varieties of dishes that are unique in that district. This reflects Wesker’s sincerity that moves his customers. No wonder his restaurant is always full to the brim!

Insistence on Keeping Up the Momentum and Solid Strength

Though it sounds like Wesker has easily realised his dream without any challenge, the fact is that he has faced a lot of difficulties. First, for such a young person setting up a business, he had to have complete confidence in himself. In fact, his elder sister did not support his parents in giving him the necessary capital to start his tea restaurant. So to convince his family that he could succeed, he had to produce good results.

Apart from satisfying his family members, this young boss had to equip himself to deal with the chef who is older and more experienced than himself. When asked whether he was worried lest his chef should look down on him, he said, “Although my chef has children older than myself, we still can communicate and discuss matters.” Wesker often reads books related to cuisine and catering to enrich himself, so that he can discuss new dishes with his chef. Moreover, he had already tried out his skills in the kitchen during the practice sessions of YSSS course. So when dealing with his veteran chef, he can still play the role of a boss.

Changing Tactics to Meet Challenges, with Quick Decisions

At the initial stage of his business, Wesker had to make changes in his commercial strategy. At the beginning, Wesker invested several thousand dollars in buying take-away facilities to keep the food warm. These were meant to ensure good quality of the take-away food. However, it turned out that there was too much soil and dust around the take-away counter, and there were very few customers. Moreover, this affected the clean and hygienic image of his tea restaurant.

After observing the situation for a week, Wesker immediately decided to change his tactics. He moved his take-away facilities into the kitchen. This ensured the hygiene of his food, and for the customers, they only had to walk a few steps into the kitchen to choose their food. Due to Wesker’s flexibility and decisiveness, he avoided further loss, and was able to maintain the restaurant’s in house and take-away business. Wesker plans to further expand his business and open branches in various other districts. He would also set up a take-away network and create a bigger business market.

Business Expansion after Achieving Stability; Food Delivery Can Expand the Market

Wesker’s business has now entered a stage of stability, and it is time to identify a new direction for development. All along, Wesker has been optimistic about the food delivery market. At the initial stage, he would only provide take-away delivery service to the Wan Chai and Sai Ying Pun areas. Due to the large demand, Wesker needed to increase his delivery staff from 3 to 7, and to expand his service area to Central, Admiralty and even Cyberport. Cyberport turns out to be a hot spot for ordering take-away food. Of course, as Wesker said, Dragon Burg Restaurant has always been providing low-salt and low-oil food – no wonder it has been so popular among office workers!

With Good Morale, Anything Can Be Achieved

During the conversation with Wesker, he was found to be a young man with a mature mind. In particular, he attaches great importance to setting up a good relationship with his staff. Wesker said that during the practice period under YSSS programme, he often had the chance to collaborate with his classmates in producing food, and in the process he learnt about the importance of collaboration and being understanding. Hence when recruiting staff, he would hire people who think positively and would not be upset about small matters. This would ensure good teamwork and good morale. When the staff members are hired, he would treat them with openness and sincerity, and work with them as a team to run the restaurant. With good team spirit, the staff would work even harder.

Wesker is really an understanding tea restaurant boss. Not a word of complaint or criticism can be heard from his mouth. He thinks that he is happy every day of his life. With this simple heart, he has become an optimistic and positive young boss. Indeed, the staff members of Dragon Burg Restaurant should always remember to prepare a “warm-hearted” cup of milk tea for this good boss!