Sabah entrepreneur wins yet another award
Published on: Saturday, November 29, 2014
KOTA KINABALU: Young entrepreneur Dato' Tan Kar Leong has done Sabah proud by winning yet another national award – The 2014 Ten Outstanding Young Malaysian Award – for the Business, Economic and/or Entrepreneur accomplishment.Thirty candidates from all over the country were nominated under the various categories of the event organised by the Junior Chamber International Malaysia (JCIM) and hosted by the Junior Chamber International United Penang on Nov 12.Tan, 37, who runs Sabah-based TCT Trading, was pitted with five others in the Business, Economic and/or Entrepreneur accomplishment category.
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"This is a very special and meaningful award because it is a personal award," said Tan who received his award from the Penang Head of State Tun Haji Abdul Rahman Abbas at the glittering award presentation ceremony.Tan's company, TCT Trading, had won several awards, namely the SME Rising Star Award 2008, Asia Pacific International Entrepreneur Excellence Award in the categories of Excellence Service Quality and Excellence Leadership in July 2009 and at the same year in October, TCT was awarded the Golden Bull Award.Among the brands under TCT Trading just to name a few are the One Stop Superstore, 24-hour Orange Convenience Store, Century Supermarket, Homes and Leca."I want to thank my parents and siblings for their never ending love and support as well as understanding. Most importantly, my fellow staff at TCT Trading for their strong support to me," he said.
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Winning the award had further motivated Tan to encourage young people to venture into business."We must have a dream and after that translate it into action. Many young people of today have dreams but not many are really willing to make an effort to make their dreams come true," he said.
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"Don't be discouraged by failure for failure is the mother of success," said Tan who hailed from Johor but had since declared himself a Sabahan.His entrepreneur journey began about 13 years ago when he ventured to Brunei, a few months after graduating from Universiti Malaya with a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration, to set up a bicycle shop through a partnership.During his visits to Australia and United States, he saw the Dollar Shop, a concept that proved to be the golden egg for Tan.He managed to convince the bank to give him a loan of B$80,000 with the bicycle shop as collateral to enable him to bring in a container load of items from China and sold it in Brunei for B$1.It proved to be an instant hit when all the products were sold out within days that he had to close shop for about three weeks while waiting for the next container shipment to come in and replenish the stocks.From one shop, his B$1 shops grew to 10 outlets and soon enough Brunei became smaller that he had to look for new pasture that is Kota Kinabalu – where he opened up the first RM2 Shop in Sinsuran commercial shoplots in 2002.Tan said Sabah has been good to him and he wanted to thank the Sabahans who have helped him a lot in growing his business.Within a year, he opened another 12 outlets. The RM2 shops were soon rebranded to One Stop Superstore, which is offering products at a cheaper price."We buy in bulk direct from the factory so we are able to sell at a cheaper price. But this doesn't mean the quality is compromise. That is why we have a 30-day guarantee where customers could exchange the product if there is anything wrong with it," he said.As TCT Trading's main business, it has 128 One Stop Superstore outlets in the country with 63 of them in Sabah, with gross revenue exceeding RM150 million.His main priority, according to him, is his staff."To me the staff is the company's main asset," he said, adding that the workers' welfare, a healthy and good working environment as well as good employer-employee relationship."We all go, about 100 of us to see a movie together, we give workers a one-day paid leave during their birthday and every month we give recognition to the worker of the month," he said.The award, according to Tan, also meant that he now has a bigger responsibility to shoulder.He had also joined the JCI Tanjung Aru where he planned to be his platform to build an orphanage."My mother died when I was five, so I think I can understand the feeling of those who have lost their parents. This is the least that I can give in return," he said.As for TCT Trading's future plans, Tan said they are looking to list the company over the next three years through an initial public offering (IPO), while at the end of this year, he would be opening the first One Stop Superstore in Ningbo, China as well as another 15 outlets in Malaysia.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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