WHEN a champion speaks, you'd better listen. All seats in the hall in Swissotel Merchant Court were filled on April 8 way before Mr Sunny Verghese strode in enthusiastically.
Two short introductions later - one by Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sicci) chairman Vijay Iyengar and the other by veteran media figure P.N. Balji - and Mr Verghese's powerful voice filled the hall.
These are hard times and the people who had come to hear him speak knew that well. Some were management students waiting to enter the tough job market. Others were mainly businessmen, many from the small and medium category. They were keen to know how to weather the storm, how to steer their boat into calmer waters. They must have gone back satisfied with what they heard.
Mr Verghese, who is the group managing director and chief executive officer of Olam, explained in simple terms the cause of the crisis to set the tone of the evening.
He gave the gathering hope when he said that his reading of the just concluded G-20 summit was that the world's different power blocs had come to an agreement on what is best for all.
In the dialogue that followed, Mr Verghese's insight into issues were enlightening.
The audience got a glimpse of the man's genius. Olam was started with $100,000 in 1989 given to him by the firm's promoters.
Last year Olam, now a global leader in the supply chain management of agricultural products and food ingredients, had $8.1 billion in sales revenue. It has operations in 60 countries, delivering 20 products to more than 6,500 customers in 60 markets and employs more than 9,000 people worldwide.
One student wanted a tip on how to approach the job market. Mr Verghese's suggestion: Know your passion and if you are good at it, go for it.
Another businessman poured out his woes in dealing with banks. Mr Verghese, who is also chairman of IE Singapore, said small and medium industries could always look to IE Singapore for advice and help.
He encouraged businessmen to think differently. He said the toughest thing to do in business is differentiation. He gave the example of Wal-Mart and K-Mart.
They both started out as big retailers.
K-Mart went on an ambitious expansion drive and even ventured overseas. But that did not provide dividends. Wal-Mart chose small towns where overheads were low and succeeded.
Olam too has been different to succeed. It tries to understand the needs of its customers and then offers them what they are looking for. These days, big brands are fussy over things like the source of their products, whether child labour was involved, on the kind of fertilisers used.
If customers want to know where the product that they are buying comes from, Olam has systems in place to offer full traceability. The dialogue is a recent initiative of Sicci.
Said Mr Iyengar: 'Champions of Industry was designed to give our members first hand insights from business leaders who have made significant contributions to Singapore and their very own organisations. We hope to get them to share their experiences in dealing with past and current issues, facing challenges in changing economic environments and providing guidance for our young entrepreneurs.
'At Sicci we recognise this need and provide the platform for our members to benefit and learn through interacting and networking with such leaders.'
The first dialogue was held in February and Sicci plans to have one such session every two months.
