Aces Group of Companies is a diversified company, owns and operates in several business segments.
Aces 3F Pte Ltd is an exclusive distributor of notable USA brand Teledyne, focusing on gas detection products and services in the marine, oil and gas industry. Aces 3F also distributes Calgaz calibration gases and many other related accessories. Aces 3F Pte Ltd currently has another branch in Malaysia: Aces Marine And Industrial (M) Sdn. Bhd. and are working with sub-distributors overseas to expand their businesses. They also have other subsidiary entities for ship brokerage/charter and marine consultancy services in the region.
Aces Investments Pte Ltd operates and invest in real estate in Singapore providing various niche spaces such as F&B, office and retail businesses.
Aces was first founded by Mr Jason back in 2005 previously known as Aces Marine and Industrial Pte. Ltd. with the main focus on marine supplies and solutions before venturing into other businesses segment. Before founding the company, Mr Jason started off as a service engineer before moving on to become a sales engineer in the marine industry. Back then, times were tough and salaries were low, despite the long hours Mr Jason put into the job, his efforts were not recognised. That was when he decided to start his own business from scratch and accomplish more than he ever could as a salaried employee. The freedom and flexibility of not having to answer to anyone was something he never experienced as an employee.
“It’s normal to doubt yourself but you can’t give up easily”
Despite having caught on to the opportunity, Mr Jason and his team still faced many difficulties, there were many other companies in the same trade and competition was tough. As a newly founded company, they also had a tough time seeking partnerships and hence had a lot of trouble with financial management and manpower. It was also not easy to win the trust of customers as a newly founded company with little reviews to back them up.
Mr Jason eventually managed to overcome these difficulties however business doesn’t seem to have any breakthrough until Ms. Jasmine joined the company in 2014. She quickly identifies and suggest that the business needs to be remodeled. Together they explore new distributorship opportunities with established manufacturers and rebranded the company to Aces 3F Pte Ltd, choosing to focus on gas detections and related engineering services.
With some help from government schemes for SME, Aces invested into the necessary equipment, software and sent their staff overseas for upskilling training. Aces 3F also obtained their certification ISO9001, OSHAS18001 and Bizsafe Star. Within 2 years, their business has expanded to Malaysia with offices in Johor and Labuan.
SINGAPORE – “Lower for longer” is becoming the reality of Singapore economy, and companies here must look overseas to grow amid the headwinds.
(The Strait Times, PUBLISHED JUN 23, 2016, 12:46 PM SGT)
The government has been taking a number of steps to help local companies with strong growth potential to scale- up and expand to global markets. Without any delay, Aces seek assistance from government schemes, successfully partnering with overseas established companies and set up other oversea entities subsidiary.
By 2018, the business had stabilized and was performing up to expectations. Jasmine and Jason identified the beauty of local real estate and its ability to hedge against inflation and decided to invest the extra cash flow into real estate.
“Pandemic, blessing in disguise for us”
“When the Pandemic hit Singapore in 2020, our operation did not face much impact as Aces is a homely Team!” Mr. Jason joked. Aces was one of the unconventional companies that had adopted work from home even before the pandemic. Jason explained that Jasmine, who used to work in a US MNC had brought in the culture to Aces. At the beginning, Mr. Jason was rather skeptical about it, hence work from home was only implemented for 2 days out of 5 days per week. However, he noticed that the team became more efficient and happier with their work.
During the lockdown period, Aces was able to operate as normal and was much more efficient than their
competitors. Jasmine and Jason mentioned “it was blessing in disguise for us”. The sales performance improved and the company welcomed many new customers during the period instead. Mr Jason also mentioned that they acquired a few properties too at a really good price!
Mr Jason attributes much of his success to his persistence. Over the years as a business owner, he ran into plenty of road blocks and even some small crisis but he was able to push through all of it with his persistence.
Having been in business for 17 years, Mr Jason has some advice for you entrepreneurs who aspire to be like him.
