Entrepreneur of the Year award recognises local businesses, industry talent

By Cheranka Mendis

Leading entrepreneur and businessman Nayana Dehigama, under whose vision the highly successful leading ICT solution provider Epic Lanka was formed, won the coveted Sri Lanka Entrepreneur of the Year award at its 17th award presentation on Tuesday.

Organised by Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL), the platinum award is the highest accolade for a local entrepreneur and marks his success both as an individual and a company and celebrates its contribution to the development of society. The national gold went to Senani Holdings Chairman Sujeewa Suranjana Palliyaguruge.

Having paved his way to success after 15 years of being, what he himself called, a ‘failed entrepreneur’, with seven failed business attempts under his belt, Dehigama reflected that among the key factors of accomplishments were his desire and passion to drive forward and realise his dreams.

“Credibility and trustworthiness takes top priority as success factors,” Dehigama said. He added that building credibility must be among the primary features for an entrepreneur who is looking for long term success. “Build credibility and this in turn will open many doors and opportunities for you.”

He noted that credibility with customers, technological providers and business entities is what helped him develop his business to what it is today. Credibility and trustworthiness also act as barriers against brickbats. “Credibility among the industry and customers protects you. The day you lose it, success is short-lived,” he warned.

Entrepreneurs must also build on their core competencies to gain a competitive advantage in the market. He or she should identify the skills, knowledge and resources that differentiate their company from others and build on it, Dehigama said. At Epic, Dehigama and his team built different competencies and used it to pick up signals in the market which later transformed into trends. This helped the company prepare themselves to reap maximum benefits from future opportunities.

“Creativity, continuity and innovation must also be cultivated in a company to achieve long term success,” he added.

Along with Dehigama and Palliyaguruge, 42 others won national awards in the small, medium, large and extra large categories. Recognising regional business talent, over and above the national awards, FCCISL chose winners from the Southern, North Central, North Western, Central, Western, North, East, Uva and Sabaragamuwa provinces as well.

Awards were also given under three special categories – Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Emerging Small Women Entrepreneur of the Year and Differently Abled Entrepreneur of the Year, of which the latter two were introduced for the first time this year.

The National Young Entrepreneur of the Year award went to N.H.K. Holdings Managing Director Aruna Keerthiratne, while the National Emerging Small Women Entrepreneur award went to the proprietor of Green Market, Vavuniya Thivyarooban Mathuvany and the National Differently Abled award was taken home by Manager of Reeheb Lanka, Maligawatta M.D. Premadasa.

“Today is a special day for those who have created something for both themselves and the community,” FCCISL President Kumar Mallimaratchi said. Recognising the awards as a platform for unheard proprietors of business in Sri Lanka, he stated that entrepreneurs are the true leaders of the country who will, in their efforts, take the country forward with innovation, dedication and strength.

Finding regional winners are part of the endeavour to recognise those who are otherwise overlooked due to bigger businesses. “This year we took our business forums outside Colombo, to Bandarawela, Jaffna and Trincomalee, touching on the subjects of agriculture, power and energy, and tourism. These were conducted as enterprise forums for those in the particular areas to discuss their issues which were later taken to the District Secretariat,” Mallimaratchi explained.

FCCISL CEO Nalin Attygalle also speaking at the awards ceremony on Tuesday stated that the body focuses on the SMEs – the backbone of the economy – and works with policymakers in the decision making process and acts as a catalyst in Government nation building endeavours.

“Globally, there is now an aging society,” Attygalle said. “In Sri Lanka, one-fourth of the population will fall into the ‘old’ category by 2020. Due to terrorism, the differently-abled population has risen in the country along with the number of women acting as breadwinners.”

Noting that the country is now facing an economic war, having come out of terrorism, he assured that the way forward is by encouraging the SME sector, women entrepreneurs, differently-abled entrepreneurs and the youth to become catalysts in rebuilding the Sri Lankan economy.

The winners were chosen following a comprehensive evaluation process applied to assess the different aspects of the entrepreneurship qualities. The expertly structured evaluation process which examines the competitive edge of each candidate was the underpinning factor for marginalising any disparities and allowing the deserving candidate to win.

The unique facet of the Entrepreneur Award is that it allows entrepreneurs from different sectors, geographic locations, magnitudes, sizes and legitimacy to compete with each other on a level playing field. Candidates from diverse nature of businesses, high level exporters, importers who are engaged in delivering value addition products and services, service providers, industrialists to differently-abled entrepreneurs, and emerging women entrepreneurs in North and East, apply for the awards and are duly recognised for their competencies.

Pix by Upul Abayasekara