<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Nov 19, 2008
sme spotlight
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>A healthy reversal of fortune
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>How heavy stock market losses kindled one man's entrepreneurial spirit </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Elizabeth Wilmot
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->WATCHING your stock market fortune disappear before your very eyes might be a near-death experience for most of us but for Mr Lim Kian-Guan, it became a life-enhancing event.
His traumatic losses in 1994 served as a brutal reality check, propelling Mr Lim, 50, on to the road of entrepreneurship.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>SHEER WASTE 'What is the use of earning all the wealth in the world, only to spend it later to get back the health you lost pursuing wealth?
Mr Lim Kian-Guan, chief executive officer of Harmonic Health
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>'I got involved in the stock market, and lost a lot of money,' he revealed.
'I got involved in the initial public offering of a stock traded on the Vancouver Stock Exchange. I had the opportunity to cash out with $800,000 in profit when the stock was listed.
'However, I got greedy and lost the potential profit as I speculated by purchasing more, and eventually lost all the profit as well as another $275,000. It got me into debt, which was compounded over time, and led into situations which were really tight.
'When you go through a situation like that, it's a wake-up call. And that was the turning point.'
That wake-up call eventually led Mr Lim and two colleagues to set up Harmonic Health, a private health and wellness company selling weight-loss products, among other items.
The firm, which was started last year, is backed by a research team based in Tampa, Florida, and led by one of its founders, Dr Machiel Kennedy, an expert in weight loss.
Bumps along the way
AS HIS brush with the share market testifies, Mr Lim's road to Harmonic Health has been an interesting one.
He left Singapore at the age of 21 to study economics and psychology at the University of British Columbia, and started his own business after graduation.
The company, Apak Systems, dealt with business presentation equipment and supplies but it was a short-lived affair: 'It lasted for two years. It wasn't something I was passionate about. I really didn't enjoy it, so I sold it to my partner.'
He then dabbled in real estate in Vancouver for a couple of years but again, found it was not a business that sparked his passion.
These were not good years for Mr Lim, especially when he made his fateful share market foray in 1994.
But it was also in that same year that things began to look up; a friend introduced him to Usana Health Sciences, a leading health nutrition company based in Utah, the US.
He joined the firm and stayed for almost eight years, helping build networks in Canada, Hong Kong and the United States - and recouping his stock market losses.
'I saw potential in the company and I invested in it. And although the investment was small, the returns were very large,' said Mr Lim, who has three children with his wife Melissa; a son aged 22 and daughters aged 19 and 15.
After he left Usana in 2003, he met his old friend Dr Kennedy. They were both introduced to US attorney Charlie Brink, who would become a co-founder of Harmonic Health.
The trio started Monarch Health Sciences, a nutrition company. Mr Lim helped build networks in Canada and the US before the three colleagues decided to try their business model in Asia. That led directly to Harmonic Health in Singapore, which employs 12 people at its Florida and Singapore operations.
Passion and personal conviction
ONE of the motivations behind Mr Lim's strong interest in the health sciences industry was his mother, who died last year at the age of 89.
'Personally, I feel that my mother lived till 89 because I gave her good supplementation with her meals. She enjoyed very good health till the end,' he said.
Seeing people suffer from poor health struck a chord with him. 'When people are in pain, when people are sick, when people are ill, they lead very undignified lives. Both my uncle and aunt had stomach cancer. To see them suffer was a very, very painful experience,' he added.
'My passion at this point in my life is to be able to make a difference.'
Regarding his first foray into the health sciences industry, when he joined Usana, he said: 'I could see how supplementation and nutrition help, and have their merits. What really excited me was seeing people take control of their health.'
Vision and belief
IT IS that mission that drives Harmonic Health.
'All the doctors in the scientific team are also investors in the company. It is not money that drives them, but the vision and belief in the potential of population-based medicine to positively impact the lives of thousands of people,' he said.
And although the firm was started just as the global financial storm was gathering, the returns have been positive so far and the investors expect to recoup their outlay in three years.
'We are currently experiencing great response to our product offerings and programmes, and we are very positive about the future,' said Mr Lim, who has sold his stake in Monarch to concentrate on Harmonic.
Down the road
IN FACT, the financial crisis is seen as a chance for the firm to shine.
'We see great opportunities for Harmonic Health during this economic downturn as this is a time when only the strongest companies with leadership and the highest standards thrive,' he said.
The company has just launched its first over-the-counter products - a pain relief cream called Dr Joint Pain and a weight management product, Double Block.
They will be sold at 7-Eleven stores, Shell petrol stations and NTUC Unity pharmacies.
Mr Lim has revealed some long-term goals: 'While we are starting out with consumer products, the ultimate objective of Harmonic Health is to disseminate information through science-backed programmes to educate people about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.'
He is excited about making that difference in people's lives. 'What is the use of earning all the wealth in the world, only to spend it later to get back the health you lost pursuing wealth?
'In a nutshell, health is true wealth.' [email protected]
sme spotlight
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>A healthy reversal of fortune
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>How heavy stock market losses kindled one man's entrepreneurial spirit </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Elizabeth Wilmot
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->WATCHING your stock market fortune disappear before your very eyes might be a near-death experience for most of us but for Mr Lim Kian-Guan, it became a life-enhancing event.
His traumatic losses in 1994 served as a brutal reality check, propelling Mr Lim, 50, on to the road of entrepreneurship.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>SHEER WASTE 'What is the use of earning all the wealth in the world, only to spend it later to get back the health you lost pursuing wealth?
Mr Lim Kian-Guan, chief executive officer of Harmonic Health
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>'I got involved in the stock market, and lost a lot of money,' he revealed.
'I got involved in the initial public offering of a stock traded on the Vancouver Stock Exchange. I had the opportunity to cash out with $800,000 in profit when the stock was listed.
'However, I got greedy and lost the potential profit as I speculated by purchasing more, and eventually lost all the profit as well as another $275,000. It got me into debt, which was compounded over time, and led into situations which were really tight.
'When you go through a situation like that, it's a wake-up call. And that was the turning point.'
That wake-up call eventually led Mr Lim and two colleagues to set up Harmonic Health, a private health and wellness company selling weight-loss products, among other items.
The firm, which was started last year, is backed by a research team based in Tampa, Florida, and led by one of its founders, Dr Machiel Kennedy, an expert in weight loss.
Bumps along the way
AS HIS brush with the share market testifies, Mr Lim's road to Harmonic Health has been an interesting one.
He left Singapore at the age of 21 to study economics and psychology at the University of British Columbia, and started his own business after graduation.
The company, Apak Systems, dealt with business presentation equipment and supplies but it was a short-lived affair: 'It lasted for two years. It wasn't something I was passionate about. I really didn't enjoy it, so I sold it to my partner.'
He then dabbled in real estate in Vancouver for a couple of years but again, found it was not a business that sparked his passion.
These were not good years for Mr Lim, especially when he made his fateful share market foray in 1994.
But it was also in that same year that things began to look up; a friend introduced him to Usana Health Sciences, a leading health nutrition company based in Utah, the US.
He joined the firm and stayed for almost eight years, helping build networks in Canada, Hong Kong and the United States - and recouping his stock market losses.
'I saw potential in the company and I invested in it. And although the investment was small, the returns were very large,' said Mr Lim, who has three children with his wife Melissa; a son aged 22 and daughters aged 19 and 15.
After he left Usana in 2003, he met his old friend Dr Kennedy. They were both introduced to US attorney Charlie Brink, who would become a co-founder of Harmonic Health.
The trio started Monarch Health Sciences, a nutrition company. Mr Lim helped build networks in Canada and the US before the three colleagues decided to try their business model in Asia. That led directly to Harmonic Health in Singapore, which employs 12 people at its Florida and Singapore operations.
Passion and personal conviction
ONE of the motivations behind Mr Lim's strong interest in the health sciences industry was his mother, who died last year at the age of 89.
'Personally, I feel that my mother lived till 89 because I gave her good supplementation with her meals. She enjoyed very good health till the end,' he said.
Seeing people suffer from poor health struck a chord with him. 'When people are in pain, when people are sick, when people are ill, they lead very undignified lives. Both my uncle and aunt had stomach cancer. To see them suffer was a very, very painful experience,' he added.
'My passion at this point in my life is to be able to make a difference.'
Regarding his first foray into the health sciences industry, when he joined Usana, he said: 'I could see how supplementation and nutrition help, and have their merits. What really excited me was seeing people take control of their health.'
Vision and belief
IT IS that mission that drives Harmonic Health.
'All the doctors in the scientific team are also investors in the company. It is not money that drives them, but the vision and belief in the potential of population-based medicine to positively impact the lives of thousands of people,' he said.
And although the firm was started just as the global financial storm was gathering, the returns have been positive so far and the investors expect to recoup their outlay in three years.
'We are currently experiencing great response to our product offerings and programmes, and we are very positive about the future,' said Mr Lim, who has sold his stake in Monarch to concentrate on Harmonic.
Down the road
IN FACT, the financial crisis is seen as a chance for the firm to shine.
'We see great opportunities for Harmonic Health during this economic downturn as this is a time when only the strongest companies with leadership and the highest standards thrive,' he said.
The company has just launched its first over-the-counter products - a pain relief cream called Dr Joint Pain and a weight management product, Double Block.
They will be sold at 7-Eleven stores, Shell petrol stations and NTUC Unity pharmacies.
Mr Lim has revealed some long-term goals: 'While we are starting out with consumer products, the ultimate objective of Harmonic Health is to disseminate information through science-backed programmes to educate people about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.'
He is excited about making that difference in people's lives. 'What is the use of earning all the wealth in the world, only to spend it later to get back the health you lost pursuing wealth?
'In a nutshell, health is true wealth.' [email protected]
