Financial Times

It’s back to basics…
By Nilooka Dissanayake
A few weeks back, a friend of mine called me after seeing an article on business opportunities in agriculture in the Business@Home column. An accounting professional with overseas work experience, he is a senior executive in a well-established local firm.

"I have been thinking of going into business on my own." Although his thinking cap had been on for some time and he had been browsing the Internet in search of areas of his interest, he had not come across any solid business opportunities.

"If I had been an Indian I would have already gone into business by now. Everything that you need to know of the industry of my interest is to be found on the Internet. From investment opportunities, to marketing channels, from raw materials to technology and machinery and service providers, all you need can be obtained and so easily. But, in Sri Lanka, I still do not know where to go to obtain information!"

Does that feel familiar to you? To me it does. For example, I know the number of small medium and micro enterprises in US, UK, all of Europe, Japan and Singapore, but I can't find reliable statistics for their equivalents in Sri Lanka. And believe me, it is not due to lack of trying! So, I can sympathize with my friend his inability to obtain information to enter an industry that he knows nothing about. This is sadly one cause for the meager number of small businesses thriving in Sri Lanka.

Firstly, the entrepreneurial spark in the breast of the budding entrepreneur is wasted running from pillar to post. Even after he has exhausted all possible avenues, he still does not find what he requires. Secondly, our organizations, from Chambers, to government organizations to service providers in the semi government sector catering to industry, are not able to see who their customer is and so fail to serve him. They adhere to the Ford mentality: "I'll give you any colour as long as it is black!"

Initially, the entrepreneurial spark will passionately glow trying to shed light upon this dark corner. He will try to explain that he does not want black, he wants mauve or one of the rainbow colours. That he has no need for black! And with repetitions of the same experience in half a dozen places- who are there for the purpose of serving his needs-he will give up in frustration.

Even if he goes forward, the next hitch will come at the point of finding finances. Who in Sri Lanka finances bright ideas? Which financing organization will consider taking a calculated risk, in an area they don't know much about? Leave aside the bankers.

We know that our bankers are more risk averse than old pensioners. We have a so called 'venture capital industry.' Does it 'venture' into helping people like my friend who may have a bright idea? Are there others who will volunteer, just so that some genuine Sri Lankan businesses can get off ground and do something novel for a change?

I propose that we collect a list of bright entrepreneurial sparks that have died as a result of this inertia, in financial community and in the government and related service providing and facilitating organizations for the small and medium business sector. How many enthusiastic and sprightly individuals with a passion for a new idea have been thwarted and eventually given up in frustration? Would it not be nice to know?

Once we know, we will know the amount of damage we have done. We should make it an annual survey, really, and publish it in the Central Bank Annual Report. After all it will be an achievement worth recording.

We can go one step further and compete with Lee Quan Yu of Singapore and write "1969 to 2000: The Sri Lanka Story!" I propose a subtitle: A Story of Absolute Defeat. And we will definitely get Lee Quan Yu, who wanted to copy the Sri Lanka model back in the late sixties to buy the first copy. He will find it interesting. It might turn into a world best seller on how not to crush the entrepreneurial flair. And it will also be a record of how not to do many things. I do not venture into listing those because my editor will not be able to dedicate space for accommodating it.

Now, let us get back to my friend. I recommend that he gets down to earth from cyber space. Despite all we say, this is Sri Lanka and we are still a long way away from providing all the information that the small and medium size business operators and start-ups need on the Internet. Let me make a clarification here. I know everything, including plans to make Sri Lanka a heaven on earth, are on the drawing boards somewhere. Many international and local consultants debate how to do this or that.

Many government ministers try to do this or that, reject this or that and go ahead with this or that. Now, that does not mean that my friend will get results now, when he needs it. He can't wait until he is a pensioner to start his business. So, he has to understand this is Sri Lanka, not US, not India, not heaven. Once he accepts that reality, he can go ahead.

He could be on his way to becoming a Siddhalepa, MAS or Ceylon Biscuits group chairman of his generation. What does he do next? I recommend, as Peters and Waterman did long ago to "stick to knitting" at the start. Try to find business opportunities in the areas that he knows best. Just so as not to excite those Peters and Waterman enthusiasts, I then recommend that he looks' for areas where he can do a better job than another fledgling company entering that sector. For this he needs to do a personal SWOT.

That is, check for his own strengths, weaknesses and the opportunities and threats that can come from the sphere of his own experience. Focus more on the opportunities. Who does he know? Where does he have contacts? In which sectors does he have exposure and experience? Where will he find networking opportunities? In business it is not about how much you know. It is about who you know, where and how well.

Then I might recommend another approach. Give up 'knitting' and take up something else altogether. Look at how societies and cultures are evolving. What sort of opportunities for products and services can you envisage originating from a country like Sri Lanka?

And don't narrow your scope too much. Keep an open mind. It does not matter what you start with. What you need is to get a foothold in the business world. If you want to export to Japan, it does not matter whether you start with tea or with handkerchiefs or with just a box full of hand knitted place mats. Just get yourself the contacts and get started. Then you can go ahead and plan. The rest is up to you.

If you are thinking of going into business like my friend, we would like to know your experiences, comments and ideas on what we have presented in this article. You can contact us on ft@sundaytimes.wnl.lk or on 5552524.

The writer is the Managing Editor of Athwela Vyaparika Sangarawa (Athwela Business Journal), the only Sinhala management monthly targeting the small and medium enterprises, the Ezine Athwela Email Magazine and www.smallbusiness.lk, the bilingual small business website.

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