Dilki delivers vision to Matara

Sanjeevi JAYASURIYA

The consumer market provides numerous opportunities for the right mix of products and services to capture a sizable share thus enhancing the returns. Going beyond the tradition of a well established family business of jewellery, proved to be successful for Dilki Premaratne. She together with her husband diversified into providing eye care services by setting up Dharshana Opticals in Matara gaining the first mover advantage in manufacturing the required lenses. Having acquired the advanced technology to manufacture lenses at the state-of-the art factory in Matara, Dilki has provided the much needed service to the Matara city thus enabling the consumers to enjoy quality products within their reach. The business proposition not only is profit oriented but also involved in creating awareness among the people on proper eye care tips to prevent diabetes related blindness which is fast becoming common where an alarming increase in the incidence could be seen today. Dilki has achieved much success in her family venture at a relatively young age and is looking forward to become a comprehensive service provider in the eye care category.

She was interviewed by Daily News Business .

Excerpts of the interview.

Q: How do you describe your line of business?

A: We are one of the leading opticians in Matara. Dharshana Opticals was set up in 2002 after much thought to fill the vacuum in Matara for locally manufactured quality lenses. We are well accepted at present and the business has grown to encompass the entire range of services from eye testing to providing spectacles to educating the customer on eye care facilities. The family of my husband is the owners of Dhakshina Jewellers in Matara, a famous jewellery store who were the pioneers in the industry. From this business background we diversified in to optometry with a view to provide total eye care solutions and are in the process of upgrading the service facility to include the latest developments in the filed.

Q: How do you manage time to handle your personal life?

A: My husband Lal Premaratne was instrumental in setting up the business. He is qualified in optometry and handles the technical side of the business. I manage the front office and we both share the responsibility of taking the business as well as the family name forward. We have two children. Our son Dineth Methu and daughter Milandi Nethmini are the driving force in the venture. As we live in Matara where the family ties are given high value, time management is not an issue. The support of the extended family makes life easy for me.

Q: What motivated you to venture into business on your own?

A: We wanted to make a difference. As my father-in-law was in to jewellery and having a successful business, we were motivated to follow his footsteps. However, we did not want to engage in a similar line of business and after an intense market research we identified the gap for proper eye care facilities. We took a step further and set up a facility to manufacture lenses. We are the only lens manufacture in Matara at present.

Q: What are your goals?

A: Though we are doing a commercial venture we are well in to providing eye care education to meet a social obligation. We identify patients with diabetes who needs special eye care treatment and advice them accordingly. As diabetes could lead to Glaucoma, we place emphasis on special eye care, guiding the patients to prevent adverse effects. Therefore, the total business concept includes social responsibility in keeping with the “vision for all” programme.

Q: How do you face the challenges of competition?

A: We were the first to set up a manufacturing facility for lenses.

We have the edge over other opticians and in time to come this will be a huge bonus for us. As for the quality and service delivery we maintain high standards and this has retained and attracted customers widening the base.

The family reputation also plays an important role in the business development.

Q: What example do you provide to others?

A: Our business is all about providing eye care related products and services. However, we have not limited ourselves only to that and have embarked on educational activities in a big way. While creating awareness among the customers, we provide education through our mobile unit. We disseminate knowledge on preventive and curative measures which has become a popular source of information in Matara.

Q: What is your specialty?

A: Though Matara has become a fast commercializing town, people value local products and services. The manufacturing facility has given the impetus for business growth. We import frames from the countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, England, Italy and France. However, we ensure that what we could produce locally are given due recognition.

Q: What are your achievements in family life and business?

A: As connected to a family of pioneers in the jewellery industry in Matara, our business also has become the first to have a lens manufacturing facility. Our hard work was recognized at the Ceylon National Chamber of Industries (CNCI) Achiever Awards 2010 and we won the Bronze Award for the small category.

We are the first optical company to win an award in Matara.Matara town is undergoing a major transformation due to development activities taking place at present. Therefore, we had to shift to a new place of business to enable the road construction and we will have a three storied building in Main Road Matara with modern facilities shortly. The service range will include the visual field, glaucoma testing and a unit to test eye pressure. We plan to apply for this new business unit in near future.

Q: What is your message to society?

A: The message will be business related to ensure vision for all as today our society is facing the threat of non- communicable diseases as never before. Diabetes is one such disease. If you are a diabetes patient, then take due care on eye regardless of your age.

The preventive measures are important as this may lead to glaucoma which will result in damage to vision. Sri Lanka is on the threshold of development and the country needs a healthy nation in its forward march.

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