LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Mr. Alex Chua, CEO of Goldbell Financial Services (GBFS), is convinced that success for many SMEs can be secured by access to capital. It seems self-evident – you have the money, you go, and you multiply. “They have the product, the market knowledge, and, most importantly, the culture,” he says – the last one being a sense of ownership and a willingness to work hard in order to succeed. But he makes an excellent point when he emphasizes that although the reasons for the success or failure of a company are varied, adequate or sustained financial support is key. Companies often need a leg up in order to stay in business and manage through challenging periods – and they need to work with a financial institution that understands these cycles.
Mr. Chua walks the talk, of course. Over the past three years, GBFS has offered deeply penetrating financial solutions that address the real requirements of its customers. Surely, such services as invoice financing, factoring, and hire purchase agreements have been around for a very long time, but GBFS has been tweaking, restructuring and monitoring them to ensure that the capital is exactly where and when it is needed. Since the time it was established, GBFS has lent close to S$350 million to SMEs across several sectors and at different growth stages. Not bad for a young company.
A real interesting aspect of GBFS’s growth is organic development. The company grew out of Goldbell Group, which started out 38 years ago as an SME. Its businesses grew in stages – first as distributor of heavy equipment then as leasing company dealing with an expanded range of vehicles, and now, with the launch of its financial services subsidiary, as source of working capital – on the back of actual customer needs. What a journey it has been for the company so far.
Speaking of journeys, this issue is packed with travel features covering new destinations and new ideas that are changing the way we travel. We are especially keen to examine the role that technology plays in disrupting the travel and hospitality sectors. In a very interesting trend report from strategic brand and marketing agency, CatchOn & Co, in collaboration with Ying Communications, various technology-driven disruptions are examined at length, including real-time responsive mobile connectivity, biometrics and security of identity, algorithms and curated products and services, and blockchain for convenient travel-related transactions.
This issue also covers a few other notable innovations in travel, including an app for purchasing upgrades, a concierge service for luxury travelers, and a big data cruncher that manages customer feedbacks and turns them into actionable insights for hospitality and F&B operators.
Finally, a few of us on the team traveled a fair bit over the past months to file destination stories, and most of us kept in touch with the editorial office, airlines, hotels, and peers on our mobile phones. They have proven to be indispensable gadgets that can help with travel-related transactions and more. Most of those images of our travel that we shared on social media were taken with and stored in handhelds. Have mobile phone, will travel.