SEVENTEEN years ago, Mr Yahiya Khan decided he didn't want to work for anyone. Confident of his own abilities, the O-level holder, who studied at Bendemeer Primary and East Payoh Secondary, set out on his own.
Now 38, he is the managing director of Big Foot Logistics, which employs 190 people and has a 66,000 sq ft office-cum-warehouse in Quality Road. The company deals in dry and cold warehousing.
Mr Khan said his motivation to become an entrepreneur came from his desire to be the best employer possible and to provide equal opportunities to his employees. In fact, he would like his employees to also become entrepreneurs and therefore create more job openings in Singapore.
Calling himself a 'self motivated person who is very objective in my aim', he freely admitted that the road to being a successful entrepreneur is littered with obstacles.
When asked to share the most challenging incident he encountered, he said: 'I ordered 10 trucks worth more than $1.8 million even before clinching a contract from my customer. My suppliers were in two minds as to whether to take my order, as they were not confident about my ability to pay for my purchase if I did not get any service contracts for the trucks. I took a while to convince them and eventually I landed the contract.'
Now, after many successful contracts signed, sealed and delivered, he wishes he could have taken his organisation to even greater heights within a shorter period. And like a true leader, he said that can't be done without a competent team.
He also feels that entrepreneurship will not replace the more traditional mode of working for an organisation in the near future. 'You cannot spell 'apple' without first learning the alphabet,' he explained. 'I am a traditional and conventional being.'
That said, he does think Singapore needs more entrepreneural spirit and has these words of advice for those aspiring to emulate his achievements: 'Strategic planning, hard work and a never-give-up attitude. These are the fundamentals of an entrepreneur.'
Currently a member of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (Sicci) board of directors and chairman of the Sicci Youth Committee, he said: 'Through Sicci, I have been able to expand my business network and gain a deeper understanding of international markets. EDC@SICCI has also been catalytic in assisting Big Foot obtain critical funding for expansion as well as productivity enhancements.'
He added that the Youth Committee has given him the opportunity to reach out to Indian youth and encourage them to look at entrepreneurship as a possible career path.
'I would like to encourage entrepreneurs to seek opportunities far away from home and not to undercut each other. The ocean is wide,' he said.
Mr Khan admitted he couldn't have done all this without the support of his family - wife, two daughters and a son - but confessed: 'They do support me, but due to the long hours I put into my business, they are equally not very pleased with the little time I spend with them.'
