When describing what it took to turn a small local firm into an international conglomerate, Y. C. Chow, chairman of the Chevalier Group, likes to use an analogy. He explains that if two people want to reach something on the top shelf, it will always be easier for the one who is 6 foot tall than for the one who is 5 foot 6 inches.
'So, rather than trying to grow taller or jumping day and night, the smaller person should take some time to build a platform,' he said. 'That will make it possible to reach up and get what you want.' This is exactly what he did after establishing Chevalier in 1970. Initially, as a 10-person operation, the company acted as the sole local distributor of lifts and escalators supplied by Toshiba, for whom Dr Chow had previously worked in Japan during the early 1960s.
'We didn't have the resources to compete head-on with the big guys, so we developed our business horizontally, providing a basis for specialisation and growth,' he said.
In the early years, there were inevitably certain frustrations, not least of which was when Dr Chow felt he was being held back by the head office. In Japan, he had proved himself capable of selling 100 lifts a year, but in Hong Kong, he was restricted to selling no more than 60 in the first year, and found it hard to understand why. Interpreting this limit as a sign of mistrust and a slight on his ability, he lodged a complaint with one of Toshiba's then vice-presidents.
'He taught me a valuable lesson,' Dr Chow said. The advice received was that it was one thing to be an excellent salesperson, but another to be an effective manager of an expanding business.
'I was told there are things that you have not seen as a boss. If you can prove yourself by meeting our quota in the first two years, then we will trust you entirely in your capacity as a boss and you may sell as many as you like.'