Steve Huen had invested in several ventures but only found success in the one industry he was familiar with
Having dabbled in a string of business ventures, Steve Huen Kwok-chuen eventually hit the jackpot when he invested in travel and tourism. More than two decades later, Mr Huen is managing director of EGL Tours which opened its operational hub at EGL Tower in Kwun Tong in April this year.
Fascinated with Japanese culture, he spent several years in Tokyo studying the language and working as a tour guide for visitors from Hong Kong in the late 1970s. 'I returned to Hong Kong with some savings and tried out many different businesses,' he said.
Diverse might be an understatement to describe the range of businesses he was involved in during the early 1980s. They included trading of marine products, a Chinese restaurant, the manufacture of windows, working as a home decoration contractor, and exporting goods to the former Soviet Union.
Eventually, he returned to the business he had known best and founded EGL Tours with three partners in 1986. 'Entrepreneurship runs in my family,' he said. '[Through my involvement in the various businesses] I learned that I had to specialise and be focused.'
Mr Huen also learned to be optimistic, adaptable and to identify opportunities in times of crisis. EGL Tours started out as a land operator providing services for Hong Kong tour groups to Japan, organised by other travel agencies. The business was doing well 'until 1995 when a massive earthquake hit the Kansai region and a cult carried out the poison gas attack in a Tokyo underground station', he said.