The SilkRoute Group: Achieving Success in the Internet Age

By Christina Soh & Harminder Singh

Abstract

The business world today is in the midst of debating what the strategy for a business that relies on the Internet for its raison-d'être should be. In Asia, as in elsewhere in the world, many 'dot.coms' arrived on the business map in a blaze of publicity but had to scale down their expectations and promises. This case studies one such Internet business – the SilkRoute Group from Singapore. Its striking feature has been its atypical profitability since it began operations in 1994.

It has today matured into a holding company of a whole range of Internet firms, running the gamut from financial services to website development to business-to-business networks. Its founder, Wong Toon King, has been held up as an example of the breed of entrepreneur that Singapore needs. We explore the stages through which the business developed and we attempt to explain the strategic decisions Wong and his compatriots had to make. In doing so, the case hopes to shed some light on the defining characteristics of successful Internet businesses.

Issues: Internet Strategy, Technopreneurship, Business Development

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