President: Iftikar Zaruk
Business Name: Power Displays (Pvt) Ltd.
Website URL: www.powerdisplays.lk
Year Founded: 2001
Number of Employees: 55
What does your company do?: My company is an advertising support services company I guess in UK terms we may be called a BTL production house. We are in to producing Point of Purchase Displays, Signage Products, Travel Retail Displays and also also out-of-home billboards, dealer signs etc. We concentrate on the structural creativity and productions that would be applicable for relevant trade within our clients guidelines..
Was there a specific turning point when you realized your business was moving to the next level?: I am someone who had to take-up a job at the age of 18, I became an entrepreneur at the age of 25, I guess the turning point of my business was when I failed in doing business back in 2002. It just took only 03 years for me to start a company from US$100 capital to achieve turnover of US$ 50,000 a month, then I overtraded and ended up owing the banks as I became heavily dependent on banks.. next 4 years from this fall is where I believe my turning points was as I really understood the disciplines in business and whom I should associate and whom I should not what I must expect etc.. my objective during the troubled time was to settle my loans and to not depend on banks to run my business for the next 7 years and I did this until last year.. presently we’ve got an annual turnover in excess of US$ 1,000,000 which I guess is ok for a company in a tiny Island..
What processes or procedures have you implemented that have helped grow your company?:
In my company we hardly have the same products ordered by a company more than once, every product ordered would be different almost 75% may be jobs with new material this has given us headaches in maintaining our gross margin of a product as the contribution varies by the end of a produced item against the pre-cost. So we somehow got our inquires brought down to 03 SBU’s and have been trying to increase capacity of the SBU that brings in more revenue while leaving rest as a buffer.. Twice weekly sales targets reviews, monthly detailed P&L, pre & post costs analysis are processes and areas of improvements that has helped to grow our company..
What is most rewarding about running your business?: As I previously mentioned, almost every job that we handle is different to the one we did last, this itself is a challenge for us, once built a Boeing 747 life size dummy airline for an event with actual aircraft seats fitted. We built this on two trailers in 10days using a workforce of 50 with 30 welders and 10 artists and 10 labourers. Most rewarding is the satisfaction you get in producing something unique, in the process helping the customer to achieve their objective beyond expectations..
What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?: I have been a good salesman throughout my life, I’ve earned the highest commission in selling a product I hated most.. My challenge has been and still is my financial discipline this I have been bad and I am learning to overcome these, through following various courses.. etc.. One other challenge is when one customer gives you more work when you tend to depend on them, from no where if the customer faces an obstacle in running their operation due to Government or a policy change or implementation of a new regulation, it is a dependent SME that get affected badly, we have faced this issue many times.. to overcome this we have set targets to bring in many clients as possible while this being a + point this has also has led to an increase operational cost due to many involvements with more customers so we needed to employ more people..
If you were starting over today, what would you do differently?: I would first secure finances (Working Capital) do a market research and then start in retail merchandise productions with the objective to move into interior design to build.. we’ve wasted a lot of time in the past in trying to secure finances and in the processes losing many orders.. if the finances are secured if there is enough funding to service projects we would have been in a steady foot throughout..
What advice do you have for other business owners?: My advice: Before you get into business please ensure that the business you intend getting in is the right one.. ask questions from people who may be professionals or not of their opinion, dont jump into conclusions. Wait sleep on it, think, think and then decide. Once you have set foot, decided to start. If you would consider Business would be my Life, I would rather “DO WELL IN BUSINES” than kill myself or be dependent to my family, partner, parents… Give it a strong meaning why you decided to sacrifice your career.. then just never give up even when you reached the peak…
Please list any favorite books, tools or resources (software, website, etc.) you would recommend for others: First Things First by Steven Covet
What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you?: That I could not speak a word of english till I was 18years..
