BY HEMANT KENKRE

SOME call it destiny, others call it luck... but there is nothing better than the word enterprising to best describe Mr Nallakaruppan - yes, that's his full name - who owns nine 7-Eleven convenience stores in Singapore and is looking to add to that number.

Meeting Mr Nallakaruppan took a bit longer than expected as the entrepreneur was travelling in pursuit of business opportunities. When tabla! finally did track him down, it was at his flagship 7-Eleven outlet in Marina Square.

He revealed that he started off in the textile business in the late 1980s, owning a sari shop in Serangoon Road. But climbing rents in that area coupled with the younger generation's move away from saris forced him to look for better business opportunities.

"A friend, Mr Ramu, who was working with Dairy Farm International Group - the company that operates many brands including 7-Eleven - suggested I take a look at getting a 7-Eleven franchise in Singapore," says the businessman.

After meeting 7-Eleven officials and doing due diligence, he was convinced about the partnership and kick-started
his first outlet in Marina Square in 2002. "The system in 7-Eleven is well organised and so good that we made a profit within the first month of our operation," he says with pride.

Mr Nallakaruppan credits this to a tried-and-tested training process that the brand provides.

"The training centre in Singapore had a classroom upstairs and a shop below that helped me understand not just the system but also the consumer," he says.

In fact, he admits that his biggest challenge was to get quality staff to man his outlet. "I started out with me and my wife and two more people, and soon realised that good staff was the key to the success of our operations," he shares.

Over time, he built a reliable team and, three years later, he had two more 7-Eleven outlets: At Far East Shopping Centre and at the Redhill MRT Station. This grew to six soon, with outlets being added at Lucky Plaza, the Singapore Flyer and Orchard Shopping Centre.

When tabla! quizzed the affable man about the key to his success, he discloses the mantra to the success of his enterprise - very low turnover of personnel.

"Getting and retaining good staff is very important to our operations as their positive attitude will make the customer
come back," he says.

"I want my staff to grow from a start-up level to becoming a manager. With the nine 7-Eleven outlets I have now, I want my existing staff to climb up the ladder as they do have the opportunity within the group. When they are ready for a promotion, I am ready with another shop."

That said, he confesses that he is a workaholic: "I enjoy work, and am constantly motivated by the sales." No surprise, coming from someone who was awarded the inaugural Franchisee of the Year Award by the Franchising and Licensing Association (Singapore) in October 2008... a success he shares with his staff and business partner 7-Eleven.

Mr Nallakaruppan was born in Penang - the family has its roots in the Madurai district of Tamil Nadu - and was just one year old when his parents moved to Singapore. He completed his A levels at Queensway Secondary School and served his National Service in the army.

There is one element of sorrow in this great story though: Mr Nallakaruppan's wife Saraswathi died last year of stomach cancer.

"She always encouraged me through my journey and was working with me (almost) till the end of her life," he
says, admitting freely that he owes her a lot. Then, looking ahead, he tells tabla! proudly about his daughter Valliammai who is 23 and studying medicine at NUS.

While it is crystal clear that he is looking forward to watching her bloom, he is also keeping any eye on expanding his 7-Eleven network.

"I should have 10 outlets by March 2010," he says, with a confident smile.

7 FACTS ABOUT 7-ELEVEN

• In 1983, 7-Eleven started operations in Singapore, with its first outlet at 38 Changi Road, opposite Geylang
  Serai Market.
  
  
• It now has 465 outlets in Singapore.
  
  
• 60 per cent of these stores are franchisee-owned.
  
  
• It values employees and works very closely with franchisees, encouraging potential franchisees to speak with
  the existing ones to get details about operations.
  
  
• It won the FLA Franchisor of the Year award in 2005 and Franchisee of the Year in 2008 (Mr Nallakaruppan).
  
  
• It was the first convenience store to be awarded the Singapore Service Class Award by Spring Singapore in 2004.
  
  
• It was awarded the People's Excellent Award by Spring Singapore in 2009.

This article was first published in tabla!