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Cover Story
Pioneer with Lesson Learned
Born to a modest family which runs a construction chemicals and building materials
business, Shiu received his education in Hong Kong until his bachelor studies in New
Zealand where he obtained a qualification in statistics and business management
from The University of Auckland. Upon graduation, he took up an internship at a
listed company in Kiwi country. "I left after only nine months because I did not adapt
to the living style of New Zealand where emphasizes on work-life balance. The too-
relaxed pace of life was not for me," he recalls.
With aspirations of career development, he returned to Hong Kong and joined his
family's business, selling construction chemicals and building materials. "I started
from the bottom, carting around my work and heavy samples in a briefcase." He says
however that those early days have helped build up a wealth of industry knowledge
as well as down-to-earth experiences which remain useful today.
In 1999, a chat with a friend from the US proved inspiring. There and then, he
realised that the internet was the way forward and acted on this new realisation by
setting up a website about his trade. "Much like Alibaba, it was an information hub
of construction and building material retailers and suppliers across the entire Hong
Kong." Unfortunately, basic peripheral support including internet connection, data
transmission, as well as payment and logistic solutions was not up to speed. "Worst
still, I hired staff to score the market for data only for copycat rivals to perform their
'copy and paste' tricks." After nine months, he had to cut his losses and decided to
call it a day.
Branding and developing e-shopping
Looking back, he thinks it was some good coming out of bad, as he understands
getting the timing right is crucial. "And then I learned the importance of branding,
for everything from exporting to foreign markets to local sale. All consumers value
quality." With the foray into the cyberspace behind him, he turned his focus on
transforming the family's business from an agent to a brand. Today, the company's
products not only made inroads into the local market but they are also sold further
afield to countries such as Canada and Spain.
因禍得福 汲取寶貴經驗
出身小康之家的邵家輝，家人經營建築化工材
料生意。他中學畢業後，負笈留學新西蘭，於
奧克蘭大學修讀統計學和商業管理。畢業後，
他留在當地一家上市公司當實習生，「做了
9
個月，覺得當地人講求
work life balance
，生活
節奏輕鬆，不大適合自己。」
於是，對事業有一番抱負的他，決定返港發
展，到家人經營的建築化工材料公司工作，
「由低層做起，每天拿著裝滿貨辦的手提包去
見客，貨辦很重，所以每天都像做健身。」回
想那段期間，他說雖然辛苦，卻讓他有機會增
進對化工建材市場的認識，那種「貼地」經歷
令他一生受用。
1999
年，邵家輝跟一位美國朋友聊天，啟發到
他認為網絡銷售是未來的大趨勢，故決定建立
一個建材網站，「就如今天的阿里巴巴般，提
供全港的建材產品資料。」可是，當年基本配
套如網絡及電腦傳輸速度，以至付款及送遞服
務皆未完善，「而且不斷給競爭對手抄襲，我
這邊請同事做資料蒐集，對手那邊就
copy and
paste
。」約於
9
個月後，他唯有決定壯士斷臂。
建立品牌 發展網購
總結經驗，他認為是因禍得福，領會到掌握
時機很緊要，而且「了解到建立品牌的重要
性，無論是出口到外國市場，還是本地消費
者，對品質要求都相當高。」於是，他著手
推動公司由品牌代理發展自家品牌，時至今
天，公司旗下品牌的化工建材，不但打開本
地市場，還遠銷至加拿大及西班牙等地。
10
