SLIM-ESF features business tycoon S.R. Gnanam

The latest SLIM Experience Sharing Forum (ESF) was held recently at the Kingsbury Hotel featuring St. Anthony’s Group Managing Director S.R. Gnanam as a guest speaker. 

Focusing on the topic ‘Family Business vs. Corporate Entities’, he emphasised that his late father built the empire that he is managing at present through the practice of maintaining business discipline.

ESF is organised by the Membership Division of SLIM and held once in two months featuring a high-profile speaker to elaborate on his or her success story and share their knowledge and experience with the participants that represent SLIM professional members, the corporate sector and entrepreneurs.

Addressing over 100 participants, Gnanam shed light on the opportunities and challenges faced by his father while venturing into the business and how he had made use of opportunities and dealt with challenges with the right spirit. He said the current success of his family and the diversified businesses under the company’s umbrella were due to adherence to a strictly disciplined lifestyle and business ethic.

“My late father, who was the founder of this diversified business, led a disciplined and simple lifestyle. He was a religious-minded individual who believed in hard work and ethics. We as his descendants and the current generation abide by these rules set by him. We now see our businesses thrive. By adhering to these simple rules you too will see your businesses going from strength to strength. Discipline, ethics and empathy play a huge role when it comes to making businesses flourish,” stated Gnanam.

The core message in Gnanam’s insightful speech provided vital insights to the audience towards incorporating family businesses with corporate entities.

Thanking the speaker, SLIM Vice President Pradeep Edward said that the thought provoking speech added immense value to the SLIM-ESF. He also took the opportunity to thank NDB bank for sponsoring this successful event. Commenting on the importance of ESF as a platform to provide professional marketers with vital clues to fine-tune their businesses to be dynamic and sustainable, SLIM CEO Sanath Senanayake further added: “SLIM as the foremost mentoring institute in marketing in the country introduced ESF to offer an opportunity for professional marketers to learn from the experiences of the veterans in the field. Some individuals are born marketers and S.R. Gnanam is a person of that calibre. Learning from their experiences is similar to learning at an academic institute. SLIM always blends academic teaching with such practical experiences of local and international high-profile individuals with the view of adding value to the education process of the institute. The success stories of persons such as S.R. Gnanam will provide vital clues for professional marketers to become more successful in their endeavours,” noted the CEO.

A raffle draw at the winding up session saw special prizes offered by SLIM and all participants being treated with Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Credible and value-adding training programs, tutoring and multiple support sessions of SLIM have been endorsed by the marketing fraternity and the corporate sector in Sri Lanka. As an invaluable mentoring entity, SLIM conducts all its courses and training programs at affordable prices.