From Two to One Hundred Fifty Staff: The Story of Henatenn's Founders So Far

Spanning three companies, thousands of stock-keeping units (SKUs), and an international presence in China, it's hard to imagine that Henatenn Holdings started due to a chance encounter between two friends.

Henatenn staff visiting the group's distribution centre.

Ben Lin and Eugene Tay first met as classmates at Temasek Polytechnic. After their first lesson, they went for lunch together and became very close friends.

Part-time start, full-time goal

Ben shares that their interest in beauty retail started when they both did part-time work in a department store:

"During our time at Temasek Polytechnic, both of us were part-time promoters in the department store, promoting fragrances on weekends. Slowly, we learned about opportunities that we could explore, such as buying from wholesalers and selling to other retailers."

Ben Lin, Co-founder

A Singapore HQ — strategic location, established resources, and a platform for home-grown brands

"We have been in Singapore since day one. Both of us are Singaporean, and we are a home-grown company. While we have started to trade overseas, our means, contacts, networks, and everything else is still in Singapore. Our country in Southeast Asia lets us connect with Asia and Western countries."

Eugene Tay, Co-founder

With their established channels and international networks, Eugene and Ben both believe in allowing home-grown Singaporean brands to succeed:

"We have our network overseas. We can use that to help our Singapore brands expand beyond their original market through our network and experience in these countries."

Eugene Tay

Responding to complex challenges with creative solutions

"During the Covid period, there was a labor crunch. That is the challenge we face in the business, pushing us to find a more creative solution. We needed to redesign our whole distribution center. That was the point in time that we go and explore for an automated warehouse solution."

Ben Lin

This wasn't the only thing they changed. They worked with their operations team to digitise their processes and power the company with data analytics.

Co-founder Ben Lin on the ground at the 2024 Beauty Fiesta atrium sale, Singapore Expo.

As the company grew, they fostered a feedback culture

"We are a typical SME. We grew from nothing. Starting with me and Eugene, we slowly hired our first staff, then our first warehouse assistant or driver. Slowly, we grow the office with a hundred over people."

Ben Lin

"We're trying to build a feedback culture where people listen to each other and try to influence each other through good feedback. We have a lot of debates. We want to know how people think differently and what angles our talent brings to our company. We want to learn from them."

Eugene Tay

Ben and Eugene don't mind rolling up their sleeves, either. During Henatenn's annual atrium sales events, the whole company is involved in every aspect — from stocking to cashiering to ushering — and you can often find both founders engaging in sales on the ground.

Employees who are proud of Henatenn inspire their founders

Henatenn has gathered many employees over the past decade who are proud of the company — and their pride inspires the founders in return.

"We treated the company like a kid since the beginning, and kids will bring you happiness. We want to ensure our kid grows, and Eugene and I are really committed to the company."

Ben Lin

Ben and Eugene are still going strong, and their journey to keep growing Henatenn and supporting home-grown Singapore brands has only just begun.