How Three Brothers Built a Big Supermarket Chain in Singapore

Sheng Siong has 88 stores in Singapore and is one of the biggest companies on the Singapore Exchange.

Lim is the CEO, his brother Hock Eng is the executive chairman, and his younger brother Hock Leng is the managing director.

The brothers used to help their father with his pig farm before they started their supermarket business.

Lim had trouble in school and left early. He then took a car mechanic course and did national service before returning to the farm.

In 1984, Lim and his wife rented a store to sell meat because there was too much pork.

The store owner had financial problems, and the government was stopping pig farming.

Lim borrowed money from his father to buy the store and started the first Sheng Siong store with his brothers in 1985.

They slowly grew the business by planning carefully and finding good suppliers.

A second store opened in 1988, and a third in 1995. After that, they opened many more stores.

Hock Leng said building the business from nothing made them careful about growing too fast.

He said people who go to business school might want to open many stores quickly, but it's different when you build a business from scratch.

There is a Sheng Siong store in Singapore.

Sheng Siong is known for having low prices and offering both dry and wet shopping options.

The brothers opened many stores in areas that others didn't think were good, but the rent was low.

Lim said they didn't worry about competing with big chains, they just worked hard.

In 2007, the company got a new logo and started a TV show to promote sales.

Sheng Siong became a public company in Singapore in 2014 and made over S$700 million that year.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, people shopped more at supermarkets, and Sheng Siong's shares went up.

The family became billionaires, and Forbes ranked them 31st on the Singapore rich list.

The founders of Sheng Siong are Lim Hock Leng, Lim Hock Eng, and Lim Hock Chee.

Each family member has their own job in the business, like managing fruit and vegetables or seafood.

Lim is in charge of human resources and the pork department.

Lim makes his phone number public so customers can call him with feedback or problems.

This helps staff to reduce complaints because they know customers can call Lim directly.

Sometimes, Lim gets unwanted calls, but he thinks it's worth it to treat customers well.

The company gives bonuses to staff, like gold coins, for their hard work.

Lim said being the middle child helped him learn about business early.

His father gave him tasks like going to the bank, which he didn't like at first but later understood.

Looking back, Lim said he learned a lot from doing those tasks.

He said, 'Don't complain, just do what people tell you, and you will learn.'

Once you finish a task, you can learn a lot, not just about money, but about many things.

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