By CHARLES LIM JUN LIE, FABIAN PHUA and YUE RUI SHENG

THE story of Patrick Lim's business success is the stuff dreams are made of. Starting as a sales representative for a global supplier of process automation products, he strove to learn every detail of the company's business. And through his dealings with clients, he gained first-hand insights into every facet of the industry.

As Mr Lim's experience grew, so did his desire to set up his own business. The defining moment came in 1995, when Mr Lim quit his job and started Star Controls Engineering Co.

Since then, Star Controls has grown at a tremendous pace. While it is still headquartered in Singapore, many of its operations are now based in China, with offices in Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan and Xiamen. From just eight staff at the outset, Star Controls now has 130 employees based in Singapore and China.

Its sales figures are impressive. It booked US$3 million of business in its first year of operation - and is looking at close to US$66 million for financial year 2008. In recognition of this impressive sales growth, the company was lauded in its first Enterprise 50 Awards outing last year.

Going for big fishes

Almost all of Star Controls' business is derived from the distribution of valves and pumps to clients in the petrochemical and other process-related industries. Customers include Exxon Mobil, Shell and British Petroleum.

Mr Lim attributes the company's extensive client network to an exclusive partnership arrangement between Star Controls and his former employer. Through this partnership, Star Controls got a headstart on its competitors in its early years by becoming exclusive distributor for the Fisher brand of process automation products in various regions of China.

Mr Lim reckons marketing is crucial. 'No matter how good your product may be, it does not matter unless you are actually able to sell it,' he says. It is no surprise, therefore, that Star Controls' business strategy is built on providing superior customer service throughout the sales process and building a strong closely-knit team.

This means having a top-notch sales team that understand clients' needs and makes the appropriate product recommendations. In this respect, Star Controls is a notch above its peers, as its sales staff are trained engineers. The sales team thus provides a high level of service to clients during the product purchase phase, since it is able to give detailed explanations on product functions and make suggestions for alternative products that might better fit a client's needs.

After-sales service is also a strength of Star Controls. To cater to its clients across China, the company set up a Shanghai service organisation a couple of years ago to provide ready accessibility.

Mr Lim said says: 'Every product sold by us is accompanied by a one-time unconditional replacement guarantee. We make sure we replace any valve that is found faulty after purchase, even if we lose money by doing so.'

Recognising that human resource development is also of great importance, Star Controls pays close attention to training and developing its staff.

Every year, the company allocates a substantial budget to training. This takes the form of sales-related and engineering courses that equip employees with the most up-to-date industrial knowledge. This has paid dividends in the form of a pool of young management trainees who are ready to take on leadership roles. But a bigger benefit still has been the bonding developed among employees. 'Everyone knows one another well, so it is like one big team,' says Mr Lim.

Cruising through crisis control

Star Controls is well prepared to ride through the recession and credit crunch. Last October, senior management initiated a strategic planning session and discussed various scenarios. 'In one of these, we extrapolated that our sales revenue would drop as much as 30 per cent,' Mr Lim recalls. 'Having this figure, we then proceeded to work out ways to cope with such a decrease.'

While business volume may drop, Star Controls remains careful when choosing its customers and orders. 'We would rather not take an order than take an order we may not be able to collect on' he says.

Whatever the outlook, Star Controls is not sitting idly by and waiting for the upturn to arrive. The company continues to innovate and widen its product range.

It also intends to venture into the renewable power sector and and is preparing for the move through industry research and studies.

Mr Lim and his management team are optimistic about Star Controls' future - and have ambitions to be the next Proctor & Gamble or Unilever in the industrial product sector.

Casting the net wider than China, Mr Lim says: 'We are also exploring expansion options in other regions with process industries that will offer a greater opportunity for growth.'

The writers are students of the NUS Business School

This article was first published in The Business Times.