Monday Nov 25, 2024
Monday Nov 25, 2024
Monday, 2 December 2013 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The panel was moderated by Daily FT Editor Nisthar Cassim, and featured, Softlogic Holdings Chairman/MD Ashok Pathirage, Expolanka Group CEO/Director Hanif Yusoof, Odel Founder/CEO Otara Gunewardene and Kapruka Founder/CEO Dulith Herath.
The session was kicked off with a few opening remarks by both SLID CEO Lilani Perera and SLID President Pravir Samarasinghe, who welcomed both members and external attendees to the discussion.
Q: What drove you to be an entrepreneur?
Gunewardene: For me it was a chance, I never intended to be in business, I always wanted to work with animals. It was in the interim of me finding something to do with that, and my father suggested I try business while I modelled. I started procuring clothing from factories and selling it to my friends, and I started to love what I did. From that day to this, I loved what I did and if I stopped loving it, I’d make a change.
Yusoof: My father was a businessman, who ran the Odel of the ’60s/’70s. In the ’80s we went through a financial crisis. I was doing my O/Ls and I wanted to help out. I started by assembling radios and typing documents in Fort. I failed miserably as a fashion designer and a nightclub photographer. I’ve never had a professional job or been on the other side of the interview panel.
Pathirage: I worked for a corporate for nine years I had joined when I was 18 and was fascinated by how the corporate system worked. I realised then that I wanted to start something of my own. But I had to wait for the right time and gather some capital. Using about Rs. 1 million from my EPF, and about seven other friends of mine, we started something up. We realised soon enough that we had a lot of responsibility although we didn’t take anything too seriously in the beginning.
Herath: I had it in my blood from my childhood. The passion I had stems from my addiction to technology. While kids my age were playing cricket, I was in my room making a robot. And to this day I still haven’t held a cricket bat! So I had that passion from that age. I started selling computers at 11 and had enough money by my O/Ls to buy my own car. I went to the States to pursue artificial intelligence then started up a job at Microsoft. It was fairly difficult to work alone, without a bunch of managers to help out.
Q: What were your biggest challenges?
Pathirage: In six months we built businesses that we could run in the long term. As we grew bigger, we needed funding from other sources such as banks, etc. it’s usually very difficult for young entrepreneurs to get funding from banks. But integrity and professionalism was key. We didn’t reach 30 billion in a year. We started off as a software company and expanded into electronics. You work harder as an entrepreneur – you work all day and dream all night, and the next day you try and implement what you dreamed. I obviously loved what I did, and I enjoy my work. When I wake up in the morning, I need challenges to face. 
Yusoof: Normally people start businesses to make money, I started mine to get out of debt. When you have failures, you have your share of ridicule. No matter what people said to me, I did not break relationships. I questioned myself as to what I’m really good at. Even now I treat my customers like celebrities. I was doing freelance ticketing back then, and got a lift from a family friend on a scooter. He offered me a salary and capital to start Expolanka Freight, and that’s where it all started. It took me several years to settle all my debts.
Gunewardene: I borrowed 50 dollars from my mother and brother, and managed to get some clothes on credit from manufacturers, so I managed to start up without really being in debt. For me there were a few challenges – after a few years in Dickmans Road the shop burnt down and I lost everything. The main thing is not to get disheartened. It is really how you learn and get stronger in order to grow both yourself and the business.
Q: The current perception is you need contacts to get into business. Back then, was it also an issue?
Yusoof: You need to know at least one or two people in the beginning, but it really is about delivery.
Pathirage: I worked for a corporate initially, so I had already a few contacts. It depends on the business that you’re doing, and we already knew people so we felt comfortable about moving out. You know the segments you can go after, about 9 years in the sector, so obviously I had reached a certain level by then. But of course, people can give you business and if you don’t deliver, you’ll lose them.
Q: There’s a tendency toward employees leaving organisations and taking clients with them. How has this affected you?
Pathirage: Today we are a larger company so it doesn’t really affect us. We also need to know how to handle and protect your agencies to protect what you have.
Herath: I believe in the innovation that drove my business. Of course people could try to copy or recreate our model but you need to keep moving, and stay one step ahead. Imitations will not meet the standards of innovation.
Q: How did you make your vision work?
Gunewardene: You have ideas and dreams, and that is what really drives an entrepreneur. You can have your dreams but you need to be able to execute the idea and dream. The good thing is that dreams are free.
Yusoof: I was naive and inconsistent when I started out but that helped me make relationships easily and grow.
Pathirage: You have to be strong and put your dreams into execution. You can’t just develop a business plan and go on that, as situations change. It’s a tough task, but as long as you enjoy that you can succeed.
Q: When you are relatively successful in your own league, you tend to get complacent. Have you felt that yet?
Yusoof: It’s like riding a bicycle, you can’t just let go. We don’t have large celebrations or milestones in our organisation because the complacency is not acceptable. I work for 90 minutes as though it’s the last day of my life, and take a 10 minute break, and stick to this routine every day.
Gunewardene: No, and you don’t see an end. You set goals but once you reach that goal, you’ve already set a whole new set of goals. It’s just the challenge that drives and excites me, and that excitement makes you want to try and do new things. It is a 24 hour process. You’re always thinking about new things that can be done or fixed.
Q: Did you have any role models growing up?
Yusoof: There was this one book that changed my life just after I got married – ‘The World’s Greatest Salesman’. It advocated saying these seven lines of affirmation in the morning and the night, and to that book I owe everything I am.
Pathirage: I don’t have any particular role models as such, but of course there are great stories to emulate such as Sir Richard Branson, etc.
Gunewardene: Definitely, there were different people that have helped and influenced me. I did learn things from various sources, taking parts that applied to me.
Q: We have the new wave of executive education after which many people think they can start up a business. What is your take on it?
Pathirage: Of course it’s good to have a proper education, but you can’t just create entrepreneurs, they have to be born with that drive.
Yusoof: With formal education, you learn so much and forget so much. Education would have possibly helped me make informed decisions, but I can’t tell you what the other side of the coin is.
Gunewardene: I actually don’t quite believe in it. I was terrible at studies throughout school and university, and it helped me not get structured into what you need to be as a person. I think I’m a good example of someone who had a biology background and now I’m running a PLC. I think especially in today’s world, there are lots of ways in which you can educate yourself and switch fields easily.
Audience Q: Every successful person has a painful story. What was yours?
Herath: Kapruka was recently framed as the e-commerce company involved in a big liquor racket in Sri Lanka. Despite the fact that the story was false, that sort of thing really puts you down. It made me doubt everything for about 10 minutes – should the company continue, do I want to stay in the country, etc. But it’s just 10 minutes, after which you have to get back up and run again.
Pathirage: The worst bit for me was probably seeing the initial share price after listing my company!
Yusoof: Maybe buying the wrong company simply because I liked the view from the window.
Gunewardene: There is no one single painful experience – there were so many things over the years that were painful at the time and made me want to give up. But when I look back now, I’m glad they happened. Because what you’ve learnt from your pain is so much more important that it’s not painful in the long term.
Q: Personally, it can be quite painful to list your company. What compelled you to do so?
Pathirage: One of the reasons was we had very ambitious growth plans. We thought the best thing to do was take the company public and raise interest-free money and ensure the continuity of the company. We’ve seen other companies that see the business fail in the second generation and didn’t want that to happen to us.
Yusoof: Well I miss being a dictator now that we are publicly listed! As a family company, after 30 years in operation we realised we needed to restructure and get new drive in.
Gunewardene: For us the most important thing was that we needed to put a value on the business, which is difficult to do without listing, and made getting investors in difficult. Of course letting go of absolute control and immediate decision making can be hard but now it is also a lot more professional, structured and organised.
Q: When you went public, you had different styles of doing business and management.
Yusoof: I’m a jack of all trades but I have all the masters. I’m impatient and I insist in having things my way. Corporate governance has now come in, and made large changes. Sometimes it feels frustrating and there’s less creativity and more focus on ROI and top and bottom line, and meetings are endless. But change is necessary and we make it work.
Pathirage: With us, from day one, our intention was to build a company that we hoped to one day list. So we developed the company in that way, with those rules and methods.
Gunewardene: It was a huge change for me, because our method of working before listing was quite ad hoc. With a board, there needs to be a lot of justification of expenses and ideas and focus on the bottom line. So now there has to be a balance of how the organisation is run – between the balance sheet and creativity. For Odel it seemed like it was the right time, a total benefit that helped grow the company and see the potential in the years ahead, including taking the business international.
Pathirage: Our job is market capitalisation in the long term. We need to of course be mindful of the market. As long there is some control, we would continue that journey.
Q: Dulith, are you looking at listing?
Herath: At the moment, I plan to hold on as much as I can! I also have quite a few ideas I want to see implemented before I relinquish control. So as of this moment, no.
Q: In certain sectors, all companies are listed. But in other sectors, listing can reduce competitiveness due to transparency of actions, etc.
Yusoof: The trick is you need to be wise enough to know what is right for the business. You can bring in professionals to help you with this or just look at the requirements of the business to see whether listing is a right fit for you and the growth of the organisation.
Q: Assuming that you have a succession plan, can the momentum be maintained? Especially with a professional CEO?
Gunewardene: It is a challenge to bring people in and take over a large chunk of what I do but parts of it can be given to different people. The business should not be so dependent on one person as its unhealthy in the long term
Yusoof: Previously, it was very centric on me. So I slowly gave sectors away to other people. So I believe that other from the excitement and creativity, I don’t want to be voiceless but noiseless.
Pathirage: Healthcare for example isn’t my personal handling anymore, so I’ve given it to professionals to handle. But things like retail I keep to myself as they are my dream areas so to speak.
Herath: It’s far too early for me to worry about succession, and even delegation is quite difficult for me – it’s a weakness that I’m working on!
Q: Looking back on your time with the organisation, are you happy with your progress?
Pathirage: If you want to get into business, you have to expect all sorts of setbacks. You need to work around issues, work on PR, lobby for your interests, etc.
Yusoof: The war gave us a push to go overseas, and expedite our processes. So I’m happy with how things happened, but looking back it was a good run. The overseas ventures really established us as a company.
Q: In your particular field, is there enough encouragement for someone to start as an entrepreneur?
Herath: From my side, there is a lot missing from the GoSL – fundamental stuff such as company registration for e-commerce, proper patent rights, support and legislation. I believe it’s something that is changing, but not fast enough!
Q: What would you like to be remembered for?
Yusoof: Being instrumental in creating a hub out of Sri Lanka.
Pathirage: Possibly the healthcare side, the feeling that we’ve been able to make a real difference there. Of course it is a private sector enterprise and the aim is profits but we also cover the procedures and healthcare for some individuals who cannot afford it and hold programs for the less fortunate.
Q: If you could give just one key bit of advice for budding entrepreneurs, what would it be?
Gunewardene: Follow your dream regardless of external pressure and sceptics.
Yusoof: Don’t listen to negative voices, and just start! The main thing is to just get going.
Pathirage: Stay positive regardless of comments and dissuasion.
Herath: You will always need a team to start going. Without a team, you can’t take things forward.
On that positive note, the panel discussion drew to a successful close. The session also featured a couple of short clips in relation to entrepreneurship and an open floor for those attending to share ideas and question the panel as to any doubts or ask for further advice on particular situations.
After a lively discussion between participants and the panel, SLID CEO Lilani Perera thanked the audience for their support and attendance, and gave a short introduction to the Institute’s upcoming events.
