Aban wins world acclaim as woman entrepreneur

Anjana Samarasinghe

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: When one starts a business he or she should have a clear idea on the business that they would step into. Winning the trust of consumers or the end users is essential for the survival of any business.

Founder of Abans, Aban Pestonjee in the fist Sri Lankan businesswoman to receive an award for being a leading woman entrepreneur of the world this year, had a clear understanding about her customers' needs. This paved the way for Abans to reach the top in the electrical home appliances market in Sri Lanka.

Aban ventured into the electrical goods business when there were no imports to Sri Lanka. Due to no imports to Sri Lanka many housewives didn't have a chance to use electrical items such as floor polishers and washing machines.

Chairperson/ Managing Director of Abans Ltd Aban Pestonjee started her business at her home. She went to auctions at the US and British missions in search of used electrical goods. She also brought the items from people who came from abroad ,she said.

After buying these goods she reconditioned them before selling to local buyers. When repairing the goods she made sure that these items could be used for a considerable period of time. This helped her to capture a broad consumer base and win their trust. The major problem she was facing by that time was finding spare parts for these items. Due to no imports finding spare parts was difficult. Somehow, I was able to cannibalise parts from other items and provide better products for the consumers, she said.

By that time there was a good demand for electrical items and middle class consumers too were keen on these items. There were so many others who were involved in the second hand business she said.

When the country was opened for imports major electrical goods manufacturers exported their goods to Sri Lanka through their agents. When world renowned brands reached Sri Lanka she was pushed out because she was involved in the second hand business.

She then wrote to principal companies who export goods to Sri Lanka to distribute their products in the country through her. These companies didn't even bother because they had their agents in Sri Lanka. But Aban didn't give up she worked hard and she had a chance to reach the customers those principal companies couldn't reach.

Finally she was able to get the attention of these companies due to the services she provided to the customer.

The first company to join with her was Electrolux and after that she was able to be the local agent for many principal companies.

Today Abans Group, comprises of 22 individually operating companies with over a 7 billion rupee turnover and 6000 islandwide staff, is one of the leading organisations in Sri Lanka. The company activities are organised within four strategic business units comprising of trading, services, manufacturing, real estate and infrastructure development.

According to Aban, frequent change of government policies and the ever-increasing lending rates are some of the difficulties that she is facing at the moment. The lack of English among local youth is one of the major problems. This affects local entrepreneurs when they recruit youth. I think the government should emphasise on this issue, she said.

Talking about her future plans she said that she expect to establish a mall where the family could entertain together. In Sri Lanka we are lacking in these types of areas. 'My objective is to create an environment where everybody could have nothing but clean fun', she said.

Aban said Sri Lankan women are capable of doing anything. But a woman entrepreneur should work hard to reach the top without envying people in the top and follow the way that been used to reach the top.