Animals' Best Friend

"... if you have that fire down the gut, ... then you just have to go for it!"

For many people, success comes in many disguises. Often, It masks itself in chance. Occasionally, success arrives through sheer hard work, and sometimes it rises from the ashes of despair. Ng Whye Hoe is all too familiar with the last rendition.

The beginning of his story is not unlike that of most self-made businessmen finding a place in the sun for themselves. At the fork of his road, after leaving secondary school, he chose the unbeaten path of entrepreneurship. "I couldn't imagine working for someone else. All that effort, and people will seldom appreciate it. If I'm going to put in 10-12 hours a day, I might as well work for myself," he admits. .

That he did, and it did not matter what business, too. Whye Hoe's background was founded from hawking imported ginseng to sports seats. It was hardly the case of overnight success that outlined his inauguration into the world of industry, but there was something about his earnestness that told him "If you stick to it long enough, something's going to give".

Unfortunately, what did give was not any thing of his doing. Just as he was trying to build a career for himself, he got a call from his mother pleading for help. Whye Hoe's father had established Pet Lovers Centre, Singapore's first pet food store, in 1973. F.L. Ng was a die-hard animal lover who turned his passion into a business with two of Whye Hoe's uncles. The younger Ng nostalgically remembers his grandmother admonishing his father, "people can't even feed themselves, and you expect them to feed the dogs?" Still, Whye Hoe's father stuck to his conviction and managed to make a mark in the pet food industry. But even though business thrived, F.L. Ng's health deteriorated. And when Whye Hoe was 16, his father died, leaving the business to his uncles to run.

F.l.'s love for his four-legged friends, and ultimately his business, was the glue that kept it all together. With his death, the business began to unravel. It was a slow and painful process. Whye Hoe's uncle had taken over the reins and could not hold it together. After eight troubled years following his father's passing, Whye Hoe's mother had enough. She picked up the phone and called Whye Hoe and asked him to come into the company to see what he could do. If not, they would dissolve the business. "Everything was thrown to me overnight, Whye Hoe recalls. "My uncle and I had very different attitudes towards the running of the business. When I came in, the relationship did not end too well. I'm glad it's all right now."

With seven outlets to its name, Whye Hoe's efforts seemed to be taking off. Over the course of 5 1/2 years, the company's annual turnover rose from a piddling $800,000 in 1996 to over $5 million by 2001. Pet Lovers Centre had become the largest, most recognizable name in pet supplies in Singapore.

"Believe it or not, mum played a very important role in all this," says Whye Hoe. "Even though she was a significant shareholder in the business, she knew when to back off and when to be proactive. She trusted me, despite my inexperience. I'm glad I proved her right." Giving credit where credit is due is typical of the humble youngster. He never fails to highlight the fact that he and Daniel are an indelible team, and reminds us of the importance of having dedicated and trustworthy people on your side. "In the retail business, it is not uncommon to see an 80% staff turnover rate. We can always pay people more money, but that doesn't always work. As an employer, it is very important for us to be able to hire people who share in our love for our product, service and most importantly - pets. I strongly believe that the people factor determines the success of the company."

But labour problems have not prevented Whye Hoe and his crew from pushing the boundaries of their imagination. With the cooperation of NTUC, they transformed an entire floor at Eastpoint Shopping Centre into a mega pet store called The Pet Safari. Working through Pet Lovers Centre, Whye Hoe has put together a slew of pet industry operators into a single physical space, catering to every whim and fancy of not only pet lovers, but their pets as well. "Not only can you buy anything and everything related to pets," says Whye Hoe proudly, "but you can bring along your dog and cat as well to do the shopping with you." Running both Pet Lovers Centre and The Pet Safari doesn't leave Whye Hoe much time for himself. "I used to have a dog, but not anymore. With all the work to be done, I don't have time to give a pet the care and attention it deserves. In fact, I often tell customers that if they don't have time for their pets, don't keep them. It is not fair to the animals."

At the end of the day, Whye Hoe has not only turned around the company his dad built, but also carried on the tradition of its spirit as well. His father, for one, would be immensely proud.

Whye Hoe was 24 when he was entrusted to keeping his father's legacy alive.

"Let's just say that my uncle and l had very different management styles. It is difficult when you do business with family members, emotions tend to get in the way. When my mother asked me to take over, I must admit, I didn't have much to work with." In fact, Whye Hoe had to begin from ground zero. The company was operating at a loss, there were only 5 employees, including Whye Hoe, and apart from supermarket consignments, it had only one retail store at Shaw Centre.

It was baptism by fire for Whye Hoe when he took over. In the first year of operations, the company lost $75,000. As if that wasn't enough to douse his entrepreneurial spirit, Yaohan, one of the supermarkets that carried Pet Lovers' products, collapsed. That was another $68,000 down the drain.

For true entrepreneurs, failure only makes the thought of future success even sweeter. Whye Hoe roped in his friend Daniel Lum into the company and the two of them hunkered down and got to work. "You have to persevere and go all the way if you believe in something," attests Whye Hoe. "When you want to do a business, you've got to do it well and in a big way. We saw potential in Pet Lovers Centre, and we began to re-engineer the company."

What they did was visionary management to say the least. It was the kind of turnaround case study that belonged in any business school programme worth its weight in Purina Cat Chow. They pulled up their financial accountability bootstraps and began going through the books with a fine-toothed comb. They realized the importance of brand image and set about to create an indelible one for themselves. Finally, they put together an operating system that was applicable across all outlets, and integrated the entire company. Before long, they could sit themselves down to look at the business at hand. "In this business, it is all too easy to become too homogeneous. We needed to make a name for ourselves, to create a unique brand identity that can be easily recognized by all. We wanted to realize a dream of having a one-stop shop for all pet needs."

But as with all wonderful dreams, there is always the risk of waking up. The pin threatening to burst Whye Hoe's balloon came by way of industry sceplicism towards his plan of opening a series of Pet Lovers outlets in several shopping centres across Singapore. "Many people in the industry said that we wouldn't survive after 2-3 years. They said we were too inexperienced," remembers Whye Hoe. "But if you have that fire down the gut, and you strongly believe in something, then you just have to go for it!"

It would take more than scepticism to put out Whye Hoe's burning desire to revive his company. They methodically opened outlets at a pace of one every six months, and before long, Pet Lovers Centre could be found at Parkway Parade, Eastpoint, and Hougang.