theceomagazine.com | 118The
LEADER
RELUCTANT
Simon Kang shares his story of taking the helm
of the family hardware wholesale business.WORDS ADRIAN FLORES · IMAGES SURIWONGN
ot everyone has aspirations
to become a leader. But
what happens when the
position is thrust upon you,
as in the case of Simon
Kang, Managing Director
of Suriwong Trading Sdn Bhd?
He took charge of the Malaysia-based
industrial and agricultural hardware wholesaler
following the death of his father-in-law in 2004.
“I had to take on a very heavy responsibility
because I no longer had a close mentor,” Simon
says. “I ended up having to work out for myself
how I was going to bring the company to
another level, to expand the business.” He tells
The CEO Magazine what he has learned.The CEO Magazine: How did you first
end up in the hardware business? Was
it a natural progression or did you get
there by accident?
Simon: It was totally by accident. I didn’t plan
on being a hardware guy. I was studying an
electrical and electronics engineering degreefor three years. After those three years, I found
out there weren’t many opportunities for me,
so I changed careers and became a salesman.
Three years after that, I decided to do my own
business, so when my father-in-law said he
wanted to run a hardware business, that’s when
I made the decision.What was it like learning about a
completely new industry?
It was challenging, but it was a great learning
experience because I started from zero. I had
no knowledge about hardware products. I had
zero knowledge about the customers. I also
had no existing suppliers, so I had to go out
and find them myself.
We started with importing products from
China and Thailand, but we eventually
concentrated only on Thailand because at the
time I had no experience dealing with Chinese
manufacturers, and I was more comfortable
dealing with Thai manufacturers. That is how
we started. Suriwong now promotes a lot of
Thai products. »Interview | INVEST