A reputable automotive group, 30+ years on.

Kim: I remember vividly the day back in Year 1986 when I visited a friend, who was working in a used car dealer as a despatch. When I stepped into his office, I was really shocked to see his sales team smoking and gambling, blatantly ignoring the customers who were browsing the cars on display.

One particular salesperson even had the cheek to tell a customer very rudely to hurry up and buy on the spot as there were many other interested parties eyeing the same car. When the customer started negotiating on the price, the salesperson was very sarcastic and spoke very loudly, “You never do your homework? Our price is the cheapest — take it or leave it!!!”

I was stunned at how they treated their customers. “Must all used car dealers have a bad name?”, I wondered. At that moment, I saw the opportunity to plug the hole in the used car market and be different. I firmly believed if I could provide my customers with good automotive solutions and deal in a fair and transparent manner, I would surely earn the trust of my customers and get many referrals.

After serving my National Service, I registered my company and started my one-man business at my mother’s rented unit located above a shop-house.

Kim: When I started the business, many friends mocked me and made snide remarks, “You are so poor! How do you do business without money??” I didn’t reply them nor get discouraged by their comments. I started the business by borrowing $5,000 from my friend and another $10,000 from my mother.

With the limited cash on hand, I purchased a car without making full settlement to the Bank on the seller’s behalf until I managed to sell the unit. Working on this basis, it allowed me to purchase more cars with the limited capital on hand. I continued to roll the working capital as fast as I could for more deals.

Often I had to endure sarcastic remarks from other car dealers, that the cheque I issued may be a rubber cheque. These struggles motivated me to work harder without complaint.

Kim: From Year 2000 to 2005, I was a volunteer working in a Community Club. I assisted the MP of the constituency to walk the grounds during “meet-the-people sessions”, as well as helped plan the community events. I took up such volunteer work due to the strong encouragement of my mother. I remembered she once told me when I was a kid that since the Social Welfare unit had helped our family with financial aid, I should repay the kindness to society one day when I have a chance to. In Year 2000, I felt that was the right time for me to do it.

I came back to the business after 5 years serving at the Grassroots. The reason I decided to return to running my own business was because many of my fellow volunteers had left by then and my wife needed help to take care of our 3 kids. When I was volunteering, I worked 7 days a week and was very busy attending meetings and events daily. I hardly had any time for my family. After deciding to leave the volunteer work, I adopted a “semi-retire” attitude while running my business, as I was able to bring home a decent income to provide a comfortable living for my family.

One day, I met a friend who told me that God had given me the in-born talent to run businesses. He could see that I was able to run businesses effortlessly to achieve a decent profit. He told me to cherish and make good use of my ability. By expanding the business, I could create more jobs and help others at the same time with gainful employment.

For that reason, I rebuilt Dickson Group and transformed it from a traditional car dealership business to one which helped our dealer partners to succeed.

Kim: Whilst my long term vision is to transform the business to be a platform to connect people, I faced challenges on how to integrate all my ideas together. I decided to further my studies so as to equip myself with the required knowledge to execute my ideas.

After going through several rounds of interviews with the University professor, I managed to be enrolled into an MBA program, with only my GCE O-level Certificate. I was told that the reason they accepted my application was due to my experience, proven track record and success in my existing business.

For me, studying is the most challenging thing to do in life, and it is much tougher than running a business. As I was just a GCE O-Level student, it was really difficult for me to catch up and manage my studies. With the encouragement of my school’s professors, I studied really hard. Often, I was the first one to reach the class and the last one to leave the school.

I had to juggle between taking care of my business and studies, whilst also taking care of my three kids. Every night, I waited for my kids to fall asleep before burning the mid-night oil to cram for the exams. I remembered having to study till 2am – 3am daily, but also reporting to work at the office at 9am sharp daily.

My first assignment was rejected seven times before I eventually received a pass. The MBA program really helped to broaden my knowledge and equip me with different perspectives. This in turn helped to consolidate my experience and knowledge in a more structured manner which helped me run my businesses better.

In a nutshell, the knowledge acquired from the MBA gave me the skill set to build a more structured, systematic and scaleable organisation. On top of that, it also helps me to manage the risks exposure, macro views of the world’s economy, integration of all strategies and market intel to operate all the businesses in a more professional and holistic way.

Kim: In the motor industry, there’s still a lack of transparency. At Dickson Group, we create a good buying experience for all our customers by being fair and transparent in all our dealings. As our Dickson Group tagline says, “We don’t just sell product, we sell trust!”.

Kim: In line with our vision to be a premier automotive solution provider in Singapore, offering a wide and comprehensive range of services and facilities that inspire trust and innovation, we hope to attain a significant market share in terms of the buy-and-sell car transaction volume in the market.

Kim: I do not think I would have done anything differently as I am very grateful with what I have achieved so far.

Kim: Having self-discipline, to me, is the most important principle, and it has served me well.