AS AN entrepreneur, Mr Lim Wee Li's inspiration was his late father Lim Giok Hong of Kim Hup Lee & Co.
Mr Lim wishes his late father could have seen his 13,000 sq ft showroom for high-end kitchen systems and kitchen accessories today.
The business, KHL Marketing Asia- Pacific, initially represented only one kitchen appliance brand, and it operated out of a backyard showroom in the King George's Avenue headquarters of the family business, Kim Hup Lee & Co.
Now it distributes more than 20 premium brands across Asia and has two retail arms - Kitchen Culture, which specialises in items for the kitchen; and Haüs, started last year, which offers upmarket German furniture.
The Kitchen Culture brand was born in the mid 1990s when Mr Lim made a bold foray into Orchard Road with a 5,000 sq ft store in Ngee Ann City.
But the Asian financial crisis happened shortly after, and the outlet was unable to generate the traffic it needed to survive.
Fortunately, he managed to negotiate an early release from the landlord.
Moving more cautiously, he revived Kitchen Culture in Park Mall. A few years later, he opened a second store in Stamford Court, before replacing both with the current mega-showroom in Alexandra Road.
Kitchen Culture also has an outlet in Kuala Lumpur. Although Mr Lim's dream is to make Kitchen Culture a global name, he is taking it slowly and looking for the right partners in neighbouring countries.
He is not unduly worried about the current gloom in the market, as the company has more than $100 million worth of book orders that will keep it busy for a few years.
The bulk of the company's revenue comes from equipping the kitchens of upmarket developments.
Outside of KHL Marketing, Mr Lim's entrepreneurial streak can be seen in Amber Residences, a 114-unit condominium in the east that he and a group of friends got together to develop.
'I'm not just about kitchens,' says the 41-year-old.
'I'm a little bit like my dad. I network a lot and have friends from all professions.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times on October 22, 2008.
