ED 47: January-February 2013

Upon his graduation, Peter first worked
as an engineer for two years before
switching to the building material retail
trade business in the 1990s. He had
plenty of opportunity to explore the
construction industry while working in
the trade for three years before setting up
BRI, intimately understanding the nature
and deeper workings of this important
industry.
“I saw that construction is an industry
that will always be in demand,” enthused
Peter, “and it will not yield easily to
automation. The construction industry
is one of the key pillars of Singapore’s
industry.” Armed with this knowledge
and aided by his passion for the industry,
Peter established BRI in 1998, and that is
when his true journey began.
In the niche market segment of building
materials, there exists many suppliers
selling an almost-endless range of
products that can be sold to a wide
spectrum of different industrial sectors.
Each of these sectors requires different
combinations of products, and with the
right suppliers of the right materials, a
large section of this potentially lucrative
market can be captured.
Rather than jump into a mature market
with guns blazing, Peter was careful in
his approach during the opening years
of BRI, which incidentally was during the
Asian Financial Crisis. Rather than shirking
from adversity, Peter met it head on:
exercising caution with strategic planning
and paying exquisite attention to detail,
he had the young firm start off with small
Co v E r st o r y
“Most entrepreneurs don’t conform to
everyday life. Not because we don’t want
to, but usually we can’t. If we do try to
conform to the typical everyday life, we
quickly realise that this doesn’t work.”
jobs and advertised mainly through wordof-mouth
with a few targeted customers.
Peter firmly believes that if you do a good
job for your first customers, word of their
excellence service and products will
eventually spread like wildfire. Within the
next 14 years, BRI rapidly developed and
expanded into a prolific entity thriving in
its niche market sector. It has become, all
by counts, a successful enterprise.
“Being an entrepreneur, it is about
charting your own future,” said Peter on
his journey thus far, “It is about creating
a life, as it is about making a living.” Of
course, he attributes his success not only
to his own tireless effort, but also to his
employees and customers. In fact, Peter
places great emphasis on getting the
right people for key positions.
“Your employees will not leave you as
long as they view your company as a
fertile place, best suited for the growth
of their abilities,” Peter highlighted,
“When you hire new people, make sure
they understand what you are trying to
achieve.”
In addition to securing the right talent,
managing the entire team is also another
crucial aspect to running the business.
With 10 different business divisions taking
care of an extensive range of products
and services, the team must know what
is going on. The challenge is achieving
“inter-connectedness” amongst all
employees: from the delivery staff to the
sales executives to the administrative
personnel and finally to management.
“The combined strength of the team in
product development, market know-how
and business development, together
with the strong teamwork are important
factors that steer the company towards
realising its objectives,” he emphasised. If
this is done right, the initial brand promise
can be delivered, which then translates
into a robust bottom line.
As the construction sector picks up
with more large-scale public sector
projects, Mr Peter Ong will not rest on
his laurels. Instead, he will be constantly
pondering the next step of his business,
strengthening his business in the process,
one brick at a time.
“The most successful entrepreneur never
stops thinking about his business, ideas
and business opportunities,” he finished.
Ja n | FE b 2013
En t r E p r E n E u r s’ Di g E s t
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