With hard work, dedication:

Rise to the top in double quick time

Commitment to quality and dedication to work is the key to my success, said Chairman and Managing Director of Multichemi Group of Companies and Natures Beauty Creations, Samantha Kumarasinghe who was recently awarded the Sri Lankan Entrepreneur of the Year 2007.

He is a unique person as he has been able to reach the pinnacle during a time span of less than 15 years.

In an interview with the Sunday Observer Kumarasinghe said that “Armed with a degree in science with chemistry as a subject from the University of Peradeniya in 1981, I joined a private company as a sales executive and worked for 11 years.

In 1991 the company went through a management change during which time Kumarasinghe was the marketing manager.

After the change some of us decided to leave. Left with the choice of finding a job or doing a business, I settled with the second option. My wife and my parents were not in favour of my decision as they were not from a business background.”

Beginning

Kumarasinghe started Multichemi Industries in 1991 with a small investment of Rs. 300,000 and 12 on the staff at Hokandara. The company started by manufacturing the Dash range of environment-friendly detergents.

“From the initial stages we were involved in manufacturing due to my background and knowledge. From 1990-1995 I was involved in textile chemical business and we floated a BOI company in 1996 to export textile chemicals.

The company also opened a liaison office in Bangladesh as I saw a big potential for textile chemicals due to the growing apparel sector and with Sri Lanka winning the World Cup opened up many opportunities for Sri Lankans in Bangladesh.

The good quality product and the support of Sri Lankans in Bangladesh were some of the reasons for his products to be accepted in Bangladesh. As we were an accepted company in Bangladesh it helped our competitors also to establish themselves in Bangladesh,” he said.

In addition we trained textile technicians, washing technicians with the support of the Textile Training and Services Centre. The training for 50 technicians was provided by us for one year while the certificates were awarded by the TTSC.

Kumarasinghe then established a BOI approved company in Bangladesh and it was the first 100 per cent BOI owned company in Bangladesh.

Cosmetics company

He established “Natures Secret”, the herbal cosmetic company in 2001 in a small way to offer a good product at an affordable price. This was the time when the global interest was increasing for herbal cosmetics. This also became a very good launching pad for us. “Every year our herbal cosmetics grew by 40-50%.

In addition to the other facilities the company had a very good R&D team. We felt that there was an opportunity for our products globally and this was the rationale behind in investing Rs. 350 mln on a state-of-the-art cosmetics manufacturing facility. Natures Secret is the only GMP certified cosmetics company in Sri Lanka. The garden of the factory has 350 medicinal plants which are grown and nurtured.

He said that genuine herbal cosmetics from its source is the way we position our cosmetics company. In 2007 Kumarasinghe started work on the new factory while commercial production commenced in 2008.He said that their vision is to be a global supplier of herbal cosmetics by 2012.

Speaking of markets he said that at times the company does cosmetics for labels while in some overseas markets the company promoted its own brands. Kumarasinghe said that the global recession has affected the business to some extent but we are optimistic and by 2020 we want to have a Sri Lankan brand for cosmetics. At present the brand is registered in 25 countries.

Product lines

The company has three product lines which include the standard cosmetics range, professional and the platinum range. To develop a product it takes one and a half years while it takes six months to design a label.

He said that as a policy he never recruits anyone from a competitor. At “Natures Secret” there are six chemists while the total staff strength is 225 while the group employs about 400 Sri Lankans while there are some Bangladeshis at our plant in Bangladesh.

Customer care

All the products are tested at each stage to ensure quality and consistency. He said the products which are returned are destroyed, amounting to a couple of millions of rupees each year. It is a costly exercise but we do it as we want the best quality products to reach the customer. In addition if the company gets a complaint we send a company representative to meet the customer and sort out the problem.

Global crisis

Despite the crisis there is a demand for herbal cosmetics. Market value of the cosmetics industry is US$ 350 bln and 15% of this is herbal cosmetics and still growing.

Kumarasinghe said that the global crisis has shrunk the market therefore the company has shelved some of their plans.

“It is very important that every company survives this year. Therefore it is a must that the government intervene at this juncture to support the ailing companies or else 20-25% of the factories will put up shutters. He said that the high interest charged by Banks is a major threat to the industries.

In addition they never think about the local industries. Due to government policies we have established one company with a tax holiday for five years.

Kumarasinghe said that the Banks have no policy on interest rates for project loans.

He is the proud father of two daughters and a son.