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person to assist her. She was the first female and the seventh optician to set up business in Nugegoda.
Today, 30 years later, Anoma Opticians is a well-known name not only in and around Nugegoda but in distant areas from Jaffna through Nuwara Eliya to Matara too. As the business grew she moved into a bigger place. Over the years the customer base had widened, staff has increased virtually twenty-fold, the workshop is kept pretty busy all the time and a wide range of accessories fill the showcases. In fact, there are many overseas customers as well. Many Sri Lankans and foreigners living abroad prefer to get their spectacles from Anoma when they come here.
As she prepares to celebrate the big day on 28 March, I asked her what the secret of success is. She gave a simple answer: “Quality of our service and quality of our products. Our staff is well trained. They are friendly and courteous. They listen to the customer. They are able to pick the right product to suit the customer’s needs,” she elaborated.
The shop staff – the all-female lot – are a seasoned bunch. “Once they join they rarely leave us. If at all they leave, it’s to get married and settled down. Some even come back a few years after marriage,” Anoma said.
The staff is customer friendly. They listen to the customers, they assess their needs, select the best product to suit the requirements and explain why the item was selected. I have personally experienced the high quality service.
“We educate the customers. Sometimes we talk to them for hours explaining why a particular type of lens or frame suits them. In the case of the lens, we select what is most suitable according to the customer’s profession depending on the work he or she does. A frame should suit his or her shape of the face,” she points out.
Having been educated and trained in UK, right from the start Anoma tried to maintain British standards which were universally accepted as top quality. “This has paid dividends throughout the thirty years,” she proudly claimed.
Housed on the first floor of the ‘Amara Nagaraya’ – a five-storied building opposite Anula Vidyalaya, it’s difficult for anyone to miss the striking Anoma Opticians name board. On the same floor is the workshop. The close proximity between the shop and the workshop minimises the time taken for any repairs or adjustments in the spectacles.
In the early years, Anoma used to get the lens done through third parties. Soon she found that it was not a satisfactory arrangement because she really did not have a hold on the quality. She soon realised that quality could be maintained only if she had her own outfit. That led to the setting up of the workshop.
The facility to import frames and other accessories from sources of her choice has helped to display a wide range of these products. She travels abroad regularly where the choice is vast to order and personally selects the products. While an array of accessories is displayed the most popular items are clip-ons, cords and chains. Unlike earlier, now there are different clip-ons for sunlight and night both.
Anoma makes it a point to be on hand providing a personalised service to the customers. Knowing of her knowledge and experience, the customers naturally wish to get her advice and guidance. Although it is a tough task, she tries hard to spend as much time as possible in the shop. The only days she misses are when she goes for meditation which she claims has helped her to ease stress and tension. “I have been following meditation lessons for the past fifteen years and more and more I went, I learnt to let go and be mindful. Meditation has helped me to be calmer, handle a bigger workload, understand the customers and see things from a wider angle,” she says.
The presence of her niece Sahani, who has got a clinical optometry degree from a Medical College in Pune, India and work experience for one year after the four year course, has eased Anoma’s workload and she is able to take time off even for meditation courses of longer duration. Having being at Anoma Opticians for six years, Sahani is increasingly winning the confidence of customers and is an excellent team player.
In her thirty year journey, Anoma’s is yet another success story of a Sri Lankan businesswoman.
