Brothers Alex and Arthur Chua of Goldbell Group aim to build a culture that lasts
Start-up founders hustle every day to break new ground with their companies. Family business leaders, however, could be putting in twice as much work, as they have to maintain a legacy entrusted to them.
As one Chinese proverb goes: “Wealth does not last beyond three generations”. For Arthur Chua and his elder brother Alex, that saying weighs even heavier on their shoulders, for the duo represent that third generation in their family business.
Should today’s celebrated clans be wary of tomorrow? Not so, says Arthur, CEO of the Goldbell Group. Instead, the 39-year-old thinks the proverb has been largely misunderstood. “The actual phrase is, ‘If you pass on your culture and values, you can last 10 generations. If you pass on just wealth, you won’t last three generations.’ But people just take the last part,” Arthur tells The Edge Singapore.
How do people measure a generation’s success in managing the family business? “Typically, people measure it by the amount of wealth created in that generation,” says Arthur.
“But if you were to shift the optics a bit and start to think that a family business’ success may not be measured by wealth creation, but by the cultures and values passed or the good that you bring to society, I believe that makes a family business more sustainable.”
Alex (left) and Arthur Chua are the family business’ third-generation leaders
For their vision, Goldbell Group is this year’s recipient of the EY Family Business Award of Excellence, jointly selected by the Business Families Institute at Singapore Management University and the Wendel International Centre for Family Enterprise at Insead.
This marks a second win for Goldbell as Alex, CEO of Goldbell Financial Services, has also been named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year in Financial Services this year.
“The Goldbell Group builds upon its legacy of shared values and culture established by its founding generation to anchor its core business, and at the same time, innovate and grow into new areas of business led by the second and third generations,” says Max Loh, Singapore and Brunei managing partner, Ernst & Young LLP.
“Clearly, the entrepreneurial spirit continues to thrive in the family, as they seek to chart a sustainable and long-term strategy for the business,” he adds.
Goldbell Group was established in 1980 by the brothers’ father, William Chua; and their late grandfather, Chua Kim Cheng. Over four decades, Goldbell grew from leasing and distributing commercial vehicles and industrial equipment to starting a non-bank financial institution, under the direction of Alex.
“You can’t run a company with just your family members,” says Alex, one of only two kin currently active in Goldbell. “You can’t run a ship with just two captains. That’s where your entire crew comes in; our culture and how we empower our staff is what is going to make the business last.”
Such a culture should be established from the top, says Arthur. “I believe very much in founder-led culture. If you look at the fastest-growing companies today, whether it’s Facebook, Amazon, Alibaba or Tencent, whether in the US or China; for companies that succeed and grow very, very fast, typically the founders are still around, even if the founder is not the CEO.”
With a common vision and fewer layers of bureaucracy, family businesses can also make decisions quickly, says Arthur. “That’s where I feel that family businesses really shine, because this founder spirit — this entrepreneurial spirit — is still pervasive throughout the company.”
“Whether it’s today’s Covid-19 situation or uncertain economic times, I like to define resilience as the elasticity to adapt to changes,” he adds. “So, this culture of grit and resilience, to be able to be elastic to change, has been embedded in us. Not only from the founders’ time, but also within the whole management of the company.”
Suite of products
The company culture of doing right by people extends, of course, to Goldbell’s customers. They come looking for various solutions as wide-ranging as Goldbell’s offerings. Some are looking to sell used trucks, while others are looking to lease them.
Goldbell even reaches customers from Vietnam and Malaysia with their vehicle distribution services.
Arthur recalls one customer who had a very large fleet of more than 100 trucks. “He wanted to convert from owning the trucks to operating them. Not that he needs the cash, but he just felt that leasing was a more logical model for him,” Arthur says.
When the deal was done, the customer began wondering what to do with the huge payout. “Our response was, ‘My brother [Alex] has certain programmes where we lend the money on behalf of you while we take a stake in every company that we lend to, so we have skin in the game.’”
This also means Goldbell does not adopt a “growth at all costs” strategy, which Arthur illustrates with an example of their autonomous forklift business. “When we meet customers and look at their warehouses, we sometimes explain to them that they are not autonomous-ready, based on their warehouse management system, the way they store their goods, or even their flooring, which has to be relatively flat,” he says.
If customers do not meet these requirements, Goldbell does not go ahead with the deal. “Even though they want to buy [the forklifts], we tell them that we will succeed only if they succeed. So, I guess even though we have so many offerings, the thing that’s very true to our hearts is that we put our customers’ interests first.”
To the entrepreneur
The true test of a business leader is remaining upbeat in the worst of times, says Alex. “Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a genuinely happy person. But to be an entrepreneur, I believe that you must always have the right mindset. That’s the only way you can survive,” he says.
Arthur has two pieces of advice for entrepreneurs. “For business: act with a sense of urgency and have common sense. Know the team that you need and know what your team needs.”
“For personal life: my suggestion is not to chase financial returns, but to dig deeper into what truly motivates you. What do you feel passionate about? Then, the answer will come,” Arthur adds.
A proper support system is priceless, says Alex. “My wife understands what I need to give for this business: my time, my headspace. A family that supports you understands,” says the father of three, with one more baby on the way.
Arthur has two children of his own. Could the brothers’ offspring take on the mantle of Goldbell as the family’s fourth-generation leaders?
“That actually goes back down into our time horizon, right?” says Alex. “A lot of things that we do now might not see immediate fruition in one generation; it might be two generations. That’s where the long-term culture comes in.”
Photos: Albert Chua/The Edge Singapore
