Mr Lawrence Low - Alphatron Asia

MR LAWRENCE LOW, managing director of Alphatron Asia, launched the company he set up with his wife Juliana and a Dutch partner on July 7, 1997. In the same week, the crash of the Thai baht triggered the Asian financial crisis and shrank the economies of South-east Asia for many months.

Despite the bad timing, the husband-and-wife team could not pull out of the joint venture. It was the only source of income for them to support their four children.

The couple had quit their jobs to run the company started with their savings and money borrowed from relatives.

A Singapore Government scholar who studied engineering in France, Mr Low (right) wanted to "define myself, take control of my own destiny and set my own goals".

"The only way to achieve this was to start and build my own firm," says the former Republic of Singapore Navy captain.

He was a sales manager in an American multinational electronics company before he decided to pursue his dream to be an entrepreneur.

Mr Low, 47, launched the company when he did because of the strength of the Singapore economy in 1996 and the beginning of 1997.

During the region's financial crisis, the firm watched the cash flow carefully while it was striving to sell its products, generate income and make a profit. It controlled and managed credit tightly and built a pool of satisfied long-term customers in the recovering regional economies.

It is currently a leading regional distributor selling electronic components and accessories for marine navigational equipment.

The firm also provides network management systems to the oil and gas industry, broadcasters and satellite earth stations in Asia.

Before 2003, exports constituted less than half of the firm's total sales. Export sales rose from 43 per cent in 2004 to 60 per cent in 2005 and 2006. Sales growth in future will come mainly from overseas markets, especially China and Indonesia, Mr Low says.

Providing the best customer service, he notes, is the key to Alphatron Asia's success. "We provide the right component always on time. My role is to build a team and system delivering this promise."

Still, Mr Low makes it clear that work-life balance is vital for the firm's employees, who seldom stay in the office after 5.30pm.

He says being a winner in the Rotary-Asme Entrepreneur of the Year Award recognises the hard work by the staff of his firm in the last 10 years.

"The award makes our employees proud to be part of the company. It will give us a higher profile and help us to move to the next level, but it is not a guarantee that we will continue to do well," he adds.

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