Globally, women are pushing the boundaries in politics, sports, business, and even leading the medical profession. They have shown that anything is possible for a woman, making themselves heard, and becoming the voice of the voiceless. In a country where 50.7% of the population is female, is there a gap in the representation of women in the economy?
The corporate sector may strive to improve female participation in the workforce through many organizational policies and strategies, yet, creating a generation of female entrepreneurs requires guts, true grit, and resilience. Hiruni Mendis De Silva shares her story of resilience in the most challenging of times and what it takes to go after your dream. Her brands Kalynda – exclusive designer sarees and Taaya Boutique are a passion made possible and an inspiration to a younger generation of women entrepreneurs.
From the security of the corporate world to becoming an entrepreneur, how has that journey been?
It has been a challenging journey, more so, like a roller coaster ride. I was chasing a passion and dream I had, but with no idea how challenging it would be. The start was indeed tough, but I enjoyed every moment of it. From a corporate setting, a structured work schedule, and the comfort of a pay cheque at the end of each month, to being at home and setting things up on my own was a massive change. However, I was determined to make it work, so I never gave up. I was privileged to have a strong support system.
My family backed me throughout this journey amidst all the highs and lows of entrepreneur ship. Running a business is not easy, and some days can be quite gruelling. At such times, I have even questioned myself as to whether it’s worth pursuing my passion, especially when I don’t see results for the effort I put in.
True grit somehow overtakes in these moments, and over the years I have realized that this is entrepreneurship. You need to be bold and persevere no matter how tough the going gets. Amidst all this though, what’s really fulfilling and exciting is seeing my brand out there, and having so many fans for my brand.
Overall, I believe it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life, living a dream I had as a child. Looking back at the past 5 years, I’m proud of my achievements. From a small room of my house to a bigger workshop and a studio, a loyal clientele, a satisfied workforce, and more importantly happy customers are what I have earned. That’s priceless.
Entrepreneurship needs a lot of grit and resilience to succeed, more so for women. What are your experiences and views on this?
Challenges are a part and parcel of life. So, you need to have a strong mindset to face challenges. When I started my own business, there were many challenges that I had to overcome and which I had never imagined. My corporate experience as an Advertising and Brand Person, came in handy when I faced these challenges.
The knowledge I gained through my MBA at PIM was certainly a strong point, which gave me the overall know-how to manage and run a business beyond being a designer. At the time I started my MBA I had left the corporate world. Many asked me, what’s the point of doing an MBA if you are not pursuing a career in the corporate world.
But I knew exactly what I was searching for and the discipline and mindset I got from my MBA was an immense help to overcome the business challenges. To succeed, you need to have focus, ambition, and a never-give-up attitude. I had a vision and I had goals, I strived at every point to ensure I did not lose focus and direction.
Even at times when I was on the verge of giving up, my mind re-directed me on the right course, and where I wanted to go. So, yes, pushing the boundaries and having the right support system is important to succeed.
Scaling is often a challenge for female entrepreneurs: access to finance is lacking and they are not willing to take much risk, and this hinders growth. How do you think female entrepreneurs can overcome this?
An important lesson I learned was to make decisions and execute decisions at the right time. Sometimes you need to take that call to invest, expand and at the same time you need to ensure what you invested in gives you a return. I had to make some carefully thought-through decisions at crucial points.
You can’t just wake up in the morning and think you are going to start a business. It doesn’t work that way. Firstly, you need to have a vision that you are passionate about achieving. Goals need to be set in a phased-out manner that helps with the capital requirements. I started my business with the capital I had and did not go for any borrowings.
I got investment offers after I had launched and as the brand was slowly growing, but I opted out as I know exactly where I want to take my brand. I scaled the business according to my goals and managing both being a businesswoman and a mom at the same time.
I am proud of that too. I am not an ambitious full-time entrepreneur as my responsibility towards my family, especially my daughter is a top priority for me, and my work is scheduled around this. When you know your capacity and your market, you can scale your business in a careful and planned manner. Especially when you are a small-time entrepreneur, you need to take calculated risks.
It’s a fine line between failure and success, even when you fail, you need to have that backup plan to bounce back if your purpose and goals are clear. You need to think big but take a step at a time, and most importantly never underestimate yourself.
Covid has had a larger impact on females whether in the corporate world or in business. How did you navigate the challenges of Covid-19 on the business?
It was indeed an unplanned situation we came across. I have women working with me whose families are dependent on the income they make out of my business. Honestly, I never planned for the post-COVID situation in March 2020. I had to close shop for over 3 months. However, I ensured my team was paid until I was hitting the lowest levels of my reserves. At that point, I told them that if the situation continued for a month more, that I would have to pay them only 50% of the salary, and if things got worse with the pandemic we would not be able to continue in business. They understood the situation and morally gave me the support.
Fortunately, the country opened up in phases and I was surprised to see my customers and fans of my brand getting back with overwhelming demand. We managed to re-start the business with strict health protocols and catered to each and every order. Most of the demand came from rescheduled weddings and functions and we had to deliver on time for the customers’ important moment. As many of us didn’t plan for this, I too didn’t have a magic formula.
I had to make decisions to close down or to open and also to keep my clients informed of the situation. Financial discipline was very important to manage my cash flows and reserves well. Even after the 2nd wave of COVID hit, we had to take strategic decisions on how best we operate and cater to the demand.
One key learning for me was the initial thought I had when I started the business. I wanted to build a brand and not a business, and this paid me rich dividends, as I saw how loyal my followers are and how they believed in Kalynda and Taaya, especially when there were so many options out there in the market and many new players entering the same segment as well.
What are your plans for the business in the coming year, and what would be your advice to a young female aspiring to start off on a journey of entrepreneurship?
Well, we have revamped the workshop and studio and I’m planning on launching a few new collections. Adapting to the new normal, we have to take the business forward. We are excited to start working on the new collections. We are currently only an online business and this truly worked for us during covid times. We have plans to expand this further and we see a growing market overseas as well which we are planning to tap.
The most exciting thing is my new studio. Clients can visit and touch and feel our products once my new studio opens, which is soon. There is a huge client base who is still apprehensive about online buying so with the studio we now have the opportunity to reach out to those clients as well.
My advice to young and aspiring female entrepreneurs is, have a vision, and if your passion becomes the business you will really excel. Find that passion, have a goal, set key milestones, and be brave in making decisions. Think big, but take one step at a time. Never forget why you started the journey. As I mentioned, it’s a roller coaster journey, be ready to ride the highs and be resilient in the lows. I have consistency and discipline.
One thing I learned from the corporate world is that being an entrepreneur is to have a set time for work. Most entrepreneurs miss out on this important piece of self-discipline, and they work when they feel like it or fail to balance their lives. For example, I know my priorities so my work happens only during 9-5 pm and not beyond that. It’s important to have a healthy balance and consistency of work and life.
During covid times when corporate workers had to work from home, they found it difficult to adjust to the timelines as they are not used to managing work and home together. But for me, it was nothing new as that was how I had arranged my work schedules all along. So, to the aspiring young women out there I would say, Be brave. Be Bold and go after your dreams and passion.
My advice to young and aspiring female entrepreneurs is, have a vision, and if your passion becomes the business you will really excel