Bamboo blinds for new architecture

Harshini Perera

There could definitely be a coincidence when a customer thinks of starting a business of his own when he intends to buy a product. Such a similar coincidence happened in the life of Senaka Weerasinghe when he started his new venture into the bamboo curtains and blinds industry.

Bamboo Curtains and Blinds Managing Director Senaka Weerasinghe is featured for this week’s Emerging Entrepreneurs column.

Excerpts of the interview.

Q: How did you come up with your enterprise?

A: We ventured into the industry due to a very simple reason. Sometime back I wanted to use some bamboo blinds in my house and I contacted a few suppliers at that time.

However, I was not given a proper service. So, I understood that there is a vacuum in the field and therefore started the company. The company is three years old now.

Q: What were the challenges you faced?

A: I personally do not face any challenge at the moment. I certainly believe that in a business if we have our products and the price set right, we can go a long way. I believe that there is a growing market for bamboo blinds and products and could there fore find a good market. The challenge I see is the simple competition which we can overcome very easily.

I normally do not get into a business without a market survey and a feasibility study. We import certain products from other countries and for that I studied these products extensively.

Sri Lanka is a growing market for bamboo blinds and bamboo products. It is also a challenge for us. Today architects and house builders use natural products for window decoration and it will be popular in time to come. I think this is the right time to start this business. Architecture is changing from modern ways to a simple ways of living. We think there would be a good future.

Q: What are the strengths of your company?

A: This is a family business. My son is handling the operational part of the company under my guidance. We are very prompt in our service and work. We market better products and have a after delivery service. We may be a small company but a very dynamic company. I consider this as the strength of the company.

Q: How do you manage your enterprise?

A: I personally get involved in promoting business although I do not get involved in daily operations. I get involved in decision making because we have to do a lot of market study as we grow. All these things are done personally by me. Marketing operations are handled by my son. I involve in new product development, studying the market condition on a daily basis and management. We are alert to what happens around. If we are in a wrong path we take corrective measures. We work long hours and we do not postpone things.

Q: How did you supply with capital initially?

A: I never depend on borrowed money from banks. I have pumped my own money into the business. The main company I am into is steel which I run for 18 years and part of that money I invested in the bamboo blinds business. I am not tied down by bank regulations and conditions and it is one of our strengths too. I invested nearly Rs one million for the initial start of the company.

It is a business catering to the upper middle class. people who are more educated on natural products. People who believe in using natural products in their houses will go for natural products such as bamboo blinds and products.

Q: What is your aspiration?

A: It is the simple reason that I wanted to put some bamboo blinds in my house but there was no good supplier. I therefore came up with the idea to start this business. I thought there is a vacuum in the field that encouraged me to get into the field. We are today at a very good footing.

Q: What the strategies you adopt to enhance the employee efficiency?

A: We currently have a limited number of employees and there are 10 employees working under me. We need to expand the business and we need to have more employees. We may have to double the amount of employees within the next one month as we go on. We are getting into new product lines in the same product.

Presently, we have loyal employees and we give good remuneration packages to them.

They were the employees who were with us from the beginning. They are assets to us.

Q: What is your goal in business?

A: We need to be the most trusted and respected player in the industry. We need to fill the vacuum in the local arena to provide quality window solutions and services. We give attention to every detail of customer requirements which make us different from the rest in this field.

Q: What are your expansion plans?

A: We are expanding our product portfolio as well as our clientele. Originally we were catering to the retail marketing for households which was not a big market. During the second half of our three year old company, we have deviated the clientele to the corporate sector. We have reached new hotels that are coming up in the country.

We have started the business with plain bamboo blinds. In addition to bamboo blinds we have added wooden blinds to the market. We are currently getting into exterior products. We have added some wooden venetian blinds mostly for the corporate sector.

We are importing products in the semi finished form and finish it to customer requirements. There is a lot of local finishing done.

Q: What are your future plans?

A: We need to expand this business which we think we can do to cater to the emerging hotel sector. We have to gear ourselves up as soon as possible and it is what we are concentrating on at the moment. We need to expand the market.

The corporate sector is the other sector we can look at in promoting our products. With the developments taking place in the country, the corporates will also gain development status. There may be more offices, factories and workshops to cater the emerging corporates. The emerging new corporate sector is thinking differently and will go more into natural products.

We will be investing more in the future. Actually we need to invest every other month for raw material and products.

Q: What is the support you get from your family?

A: Since this is a family business, we get together in doing business. My wife contributes by handling home front affairs.

Q: What is the support you need from the Government?

A: We need the right atmosphere in place to do business which I think the Government has already done. The Government has promoted Sri Lankan tourism that will be the future clientele of ours.