Up Close and Personal with Dommal Food Services president Ba U Shan-Ting

by **Cals** Mon 07 Oct 2013, 00:29

Published: Saturday October 5, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Saturday October 5, 2013 MYT 12:31:55 PM
Up Close and Personal with Dommal Food Services president Ba U Shan-Ting
BY WONG WEI-SHEN
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IT is ironic to think that Ba U Shan-Ting, who initially was meant to become a dentist, is still an oral specialist but of a different precision – he is now selling pizzas to satisfy his customers’ culinary cravings.
“My parents wanted me to be a dentist, so I went ahead and submitted all my applications. But thank God I didn’t get through the first round! I missed out by one mark,” the now president of Dommal Food Services Sdn Bhd says.
Dommal Food is the master franchise holder for Domino’s Pizza in Malaysia and Singapore.
Never one for staring into people’s mouths, and often deterred by smelly breath, Ba told his mother that he wanted to study a double degree in law and commerce instead.
“If I had gone down that road, I would be a very unhappy dentist somewhere because I didn’t have the passion nor talent for that,” he tells StarBizWeek.

Life’s unexpected twists and turns
Prior to joining Domino’s, Ba had aspirations to become a high-flying merchant banker and be a part of the finance community.
Wowed by the glitz and glamour of what the industry portrayed, as well as the appeal of suits and ties, he decided to leave his hometown Adelaide and venture to business-centric Singapore.
“I didn’t know what they (merchant bankers) did, but it sounded interesting and glamorous. So, that was the reason why I left Australia for Singapore, to look for those sorts of opportunities,” he says.
He had always thought it would be exotic to work there. He also had many friends who were from Singapore and Malaysia.
At that point in time, his parents were more than reluctant to let him go off running to South-East Asia, so they gave him a four-month period to look for a job in Singapore. “If you don’t have a job by then, you come back to Australia and work in Sydney,” they told him.
Being part Myanmarese and Malaysian, Ba often holidayed in Malaysia. However, since Singapore was the easier stepping-stone for him, he started working there first. “My goal was always to move from Singapore to Malaysia,” he says.
He received his first job offer as an investment analyst; a couple of months of job-hunting. After spending about five years at UOB Securities, the company transferred him to Kuala Lumpur to help set up a research office.
However, Ba did not see any creative developments in the role he was in. “After five years, you really know if it is what you want to pursue,” he says.
Bored out of his mind and losing sight of his high-flyer banker dream, he decided to take-up a job opportunity in the food and beverage (F&B) line.
“Sometimes the road takes an unexpected twist and you end up in something you never thought you would, but you really think it is what you want or what you should do,” he says.
Ba believes that his current role is what he should be doing and cannot think of any other role he would be better suited for. “I am very grateful for having that opportunity,” he says.
Although being in the investment line was not for him, Ba adds that he enjoyed it and appreciates the experience.

Pre-training
Perhaps being in the F&B was always where Ba was meant to be. From his teenage years all the way to his university days, he often assisted his mother who had a stall in a food court in Adelaide.
“I never thought my life would take that switch, and that food would be my life,” he says.
He adds that his now father-in-law encouraged him. “As long as you’ve got common sense, you’ll be fine!” he was told.
Working for his mother taught Ba hard work, which he now applies in running Domino’s Malaysia and Singapore. “We run a business for 15 hours – from opening to closing, 365 days a year. It’s heavy work!” he says.
He attributes his ability to helm the company mainly to his parents’ strict approach in upbringing. “Unless you are the best, it isn’t good enough” was his parents’ drive to push their son to be better in everything he does.
He adds that his parents are very loving toward him and his older sister. “They are the hugging and kissing type, and I’m happy with that,” he says smilingly.
Ba’s parents were immigrants from Malaysia and Myanmar, firstly to the UK, and then to Australia. Constantly being like “fish out of water”, they placed a huge importance on working hard and strived to achieve their goals.
They had also brought Ba and his sister up with Asian values. “As immigrants, there’s even more caution to ensure that you preserve some of your values of where you’re from,” he says.
His parents’ constant pushing influenced and instilled in Ba that he should give his best in all he does. “In some ways my mother was a tiger mum. She says she regrets it now but in those days, as a young person growing up, I didn’t know any different. Now, I appreciate the sacrifices they’ve made and how they pushed me in things that may be useless in, but ... hey, I can do them,” he laughs.

Jack-of-all-trades
For want of providing him with opportunities they as parents did not get, Ba was a tennis player, musician, and athlete. While he was not the faster runner, he was good at short putt and discuss.
His father would take him out to tennis courts to hit balls three times a week. “I grew up in the Michael Chang era unfortunately,” he laughs.
Ba also played the piano and the violin, and often participated in competitions and played in concerts.
His parents now say sometimes they regret pushing him so hard. However, Ba says that he did not mind.
“Looking back, if they hadn’t, I wouldn’t know a lot of the things I know. Though I don’t use them often, I wouldn’t have had the exposure to the pressures of playing in tennis tournaments, or playing in an orchestra in front of a crowd. Having all these pressures as a young person and learning to deal with them has helped me cope with my role now,” he says.

Exercising “boyness”
When asked if he applies the same upbringing to his three sons, he admits that he is not as hard on them.
“My wife’s upbringing is a bit more relaxed and I think we meet somewhere halfway so that’s good,” he laughs.
However, he does expects them to give their all in everything they do.
An insightful friend once told Ba that success is at the point where passion and talent converge. “As a parent, you now have to recognise that because your children are not necessarily going to see that,” he says.
Both him and his wife, Audrey, do their best to expose the boys to as many things as possible, to give them opportunities to try different things and at the same time keep an eye out on where their talents lie.
He finds having three boys both stimulating and interesting. “They are my stress relief, my hobby, free time and anything else along with my wife obviously,” he says cheekily.
They enjoy swimming especially in the Malaysian weather, where the boys can afford to be a little rough in the pool and yet stay relatively unharmed.
He and his wife usually do whatever activities the boys want to do, which is basically where they can “exercise their boyness”.

Customers and employees interrelate
Moving from one store to 104 stores in 15 years has been no easy task. Back then, Domino’s depended on word of mouth recommendations. “We made sure we valued every single customer, and didn’t jeopardise our relationship with him or her,” he says.
One of the key things is to be responsible. He says that if there are any screw-ups, there must be willingness to stand up and say “we are not perfect and this is how we will make it up to you”.
Screw-ups are the best opportunity to wow a customer, he adds. “The way you respond to a mistake that you’ve made has a lot more impact to a consumer, than doing the right thing in the first place,” Ba says.
Dommal Food has won the Gold Franny Award for the fourth consecutive year, an achievement award given to exceptional franchisees, by the International Franchise Association.
A few criteria for the award includes operational excellence, sales growth, store growth, and how franchisees have added to the global growth of Domino’s.
Ba says there are about 70 Domino’s franchisees worldwide. Only 10 to 11 such franchisees have the opportunity to receive the award.
“While it is not our KPI (key performance indicator) to win the award, it is nice to be recognised as being one of the top markets in the world, as top franchisees,” he says.
The company has set a target of 120 stores by year end, and to reach 200 stores in a few years’ time.
“It is not really about the number of stores, but more of where we feel we can add value,” he says.
The company plans to expand to Sabah and Sarawak in about a year. Meanwhile, in Singapore, there are currently 14 outlets. While Ba says the company wants to grow there, it is quite hard to find the right sites at the right price.
“We are currently looking for sites in about four to five areas but whether we get them or not is another thing,” he says.
Essentially, Ba says the business is broken down into two parts – customers, and employees. “If we get these two things right (as they both interrelate), I don’t see how businesses can fail,” he says.
Domino’s applies an equation to its customers. “The value equation for our customer is value equates to the product, service, and image, divided by price,” he says.
Value is about creating something that people are more than willing to pay for regardless of the price, he says. “That is something we are constantly striving for, to improve our products, service as well as our image,” he says.
BORN: Feb 26, 1974
PERSONAL: Married with three sons
HIGHEST QUALIFICATION: Double degree – Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Law from the University of Adelaide
NOTEWORTHY: Used to be able to eat two to three large pizzas in a sitting
FAVOURITE FOOD: Coffee, roast pork, nasi lemak, roti bom and chocolate
FAVOURITE PLACE: Home
HOBBY: Spending time with the family
VALUES: Don’t take myself too seriously, humility, fairness, empathy
INSPIRATION: People and ideas