An exemplary entrepreneur

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

As school boy who worked in is father’s pharmacy in Matale, Nahim Gadaffi always had an urge to do something above the ordinary and innovation was his forte.

Soon after Advanced Level examination he successfully followed a pharmaceuticals course and took over his fathers business, Matale Medicals in 1997. Using his knowledge he introduced special software and made the MM pharmacy go online and also added CCTV which was a first for the region. Following this success he invested Rs. two million to introduce MM Mega the first departmental store in Matale.

“This was a shop which had every thing under one roof including cell phones and it is still one of the most sought after shopping places in town,” he said.

The response from the public made him reinvest on the fast food sector and MM food hut was his next major investment. This was the first professional catering service to Matale even going to the extent of accepting outside orders.

With the restaurant business gaining popularity he is now set to open a three storeyed air conditioned family restaurant next month, another first to Matale with an investment of Rs. four million. He said that the success for his ventures was the trust the people had towards his products and services. “MM Medicals may be the only pharmacy in Sri Lanka where we refund money for used medicine,” he said.

“When a patient buys capsules and some of it are not used we would give them a cash refund even with out producing the bill. This is made possible due to our computerized system and on our policy of ‘delighting’ the customers,” he said.

He said that some of his advanced touch systems billing machines used in MM Super markets is even not available with the leading super market chains and said that he always invests in new technology.

Nahim is now looking at diversifying to the livestock industry investing in export of sheep wool to the region. “We are hoping to import Sheep from Malaysia and this would be done in a land in Pallekelle under the Board of Investment approval,” he said. This project with a poultry farm would be a Rs. 20 million venture.

He would also open an MM super market in Pallekele end of the year.

He has also moved to the real estate field and he also steps into taking over mortgaged properties that are to be auctioned by banks offering the market value to the owner.

MM group is also looking at building a petrol station in the Anuradhapura district with a super market and a restaurant.

Welfare of the staff too is one of his prime concerns and he has hired a special house with security and a chef to look after their needs. MM Group annually engages in several CSR projects in schools in Matale.

Nahim says that he was also exporting pharmaceuticals to the Maldives but was forced to abandon this operation when the government started to tax him according to the weight of consignments.

“Today Indians have taken over this business depriving valuable foreign exchange to the country,” he said. He also pulled out being a member of the Chambers since they have not addressed any of the problems faced by entrepreneurs in Matale. “While businessmen in Kandy pay few taxes we are forced to pay more taxes and when we want to gain approval for new ventures once again we have a different set of complicated rules for Matale,” he lamented.

Lack of a Sri Lanka telecom leased line and lack of parking in the town of Matale is another gray area he identified which is hampering the business development in the City. “We hope that this problem would be addressed soon,” he said. His entrepreneurial skills have not gone unnoticed with the Industrial Ministry in the Central province honoring him with the best performing medium sector enterprise recently.