A passion to achieve success

Women entrepreneur strives for global recognition:

Sanjeevi Jayasuriya

In Sri Lanka although women contribute more than men to the national GDP their participation is much less in many other areas including business and politics. Some women who do well in business are not exposed. Therefore, Daily News Business begins a Women in Business column to encourage and highlight women in business to fill this void. We invite women in business (large and medium sectors) to send their details to [email protected] or by post. The suitable applicants will be featured in this column.

Sri Lanka tea is well-known worldwide and our exporters have greatly contributed to this success. Imperial Tea Exports (Pvt) Ltd. which markets Impra Tea has captured the global market with its value addition and branding and is today a leading exporter. The success of the company lies in the sound financial management handled by the company’s Director Finance Illanga Kumari Karunaratne.

She was interviewed by Daily News Business.

Q. What is the type of your business and how do you set about it?

A. My husband Jayantha was a tea taster and we were keen to start a business of our own.

Hence we set up Imperial Tea Exports (Pvt) Ltd. It is a tea exporting company and we export tea to 60 countries from its modern factory complex in Biyagama Road, Kelaniya.

The company was set up in 1994 by a dedicated team whose strong drive made it possible to reach the top 10 tea exporters in the country in a short time.

Since 1998 Imperial Tea has remained among the top 10 tea exporters of Sri Lanka and was ranked the eight largest tea exporter for 2008. The company’s growth was rapid. We focus on restructuring the company to move forward. It is a five-year plan.

Q. How do you balance family life and business?

A. As my husband and I are engaged in the same field we have a better understanding. He is very supportive and helps me immensely to achieve business targets. I work very hard and manage my time accordingly. I have two sons.

When my children were young I worked only few hours because I wanted to be with my children when they returned from school and they did not feel my absence. Now they are grown up.

My elder son who was educated in Australia is back with us. My younger son is reading for an MBA in Australia. This gives me time to engage in the business full time.

Q. What are the challenges you faced?

A. The company needed a huge investment at the initial stages of the business.

It was a challenge to raise this amount of money. We started as a small company and built it gradually. As the Director of Finance I had a tough time arranging finances.

From a rented office we have now built our own office and factory.

We have come a long way since we started the company. As the company engages in export, we needed to build overseas contacts.

The company started on a small scale and within five years we were among the top 10 tea exporting companies. On the financial side, I spent a great deal of effort to improve the Accounting Standards and the company is in the process of implementing ERP, an IT solution to improve efficiency.

Q. What is your advice to women in business?

A. Women should be innovative and move forward with courage.

They should be determined and focused to achieve their goals. There are only a few women in business. They need to be consistent and not give up easily until they achieve their goals.

They should come up with new strategies not merely following what others do. The world is fast changing and they have to do things in a different way. Consumers are demanding and it is necessary to attend to their needs and be updated all the time.

Q. What are your goals?

A. I want to make the company a world recognized entity and to compete with the global giants. I also want to see my children do well and be successful in life and become good citizens. I want to be happy in whatever I do and contribute to the betterment of the society.

Q. Being a woman was it an advantage to be in business?

A. There were advantages as well as disadvantages. It is important to convert disadvantages into advantages. Situations should be handled on a case by case basis.

Q. What were your achievements in business and family?

A. The company won the Best Brand Exporter Award presented by the National Chamber of Exporters this year.

It also won the Extra Large Manufacturing Sector Merit Award. In 2007 it won the Tea Value Added Extra Large Category Gold Award and Tea Bulk Extra Large Category Gold Award.

The Imperial Group’s state-of-the-art factory is ISO 220000, HACCP, GMP, BRC, JAS and NASSA certified in addition to conforming to Japanese the 5S quality systems of manufacture.

Imperial Tea has achieved recognition through stringent quality control measures adopted on a continuous basis conforming to internationally accepted and recognized quality systems of manufacture.

The company’s annual exports exceed 12 million kilogrammes valued at over US $ 52 million. During 2008, branded exports amounted to over 90 percent.

In recent times, Imperial Tea’s premium quality teas and blends have been recognized with many awards.

Q. What is your contribution to the society?

A. I engage in social and religious services. The company has provided employment for 500 people and we look after them well.

The company organizes an annual trip and also provides dry rations for the employees twice a year. We conduct an English class for our employees and there is a gymnasium.

I handle the social activities in the company and it gives me pleasure to see my employees happy. The company helps many families financially for their education in Colombo and the suburbs.

I feel that education is important in whatever you do. I also do much work as a Board member of the Women’s Chamber.

With my business knowledge coupled with the financial background I strive to make the company globally recognized.

My life is very challenging and demanding. I have a passion to achieve success.