Being an entrepreneur is no easy task, particularly in troubled and turbulent times. With this in mind, the entrepreneur-run business Sandbox Consultancy, co-founded by Angelo De Silva, is pioneering the formation of the Sri Lanka Entrepreneur and SME Network (SLESN) to support entrepreneurs and drive changes in policy.
Sandbox Consultancy is a trusted leader in performance consulting, training, and people analytics in Sri Lanka. They have set five Sri Lankan records with their training experiences and they consist of all the top blue-chip and multinational companies in Sri Lanka.
The Morning Brunch reached out to SLESN Co-Founders Angelo De Silva and Menaka Mayadunne to discuss more about SLESN and its goals. Below are excerpts of the interview.
Q: What is the SLESN?
The Sri Lanka Entrepreneur and SME Network is a home base for real Sri Lankan entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who are risking their personal finances and livelihoods on their businesses and goals every day in the hope of furthering their industries and giving back to their country.
Being an entrepreneur-run business ourselves, we understood the need for such a network in order to create a merit-driven culture in the business community in Sri Lanka where next-generation entrepreneurs can thrive without being restricted by conventional boundaries and obsolete systems.
We want to drive a “Sri Lankan first” approach in the business and social communities here. That is to look to Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, SMEs, and talent first before looking for solutions internationally. There is a tendency for Sri Lankan businesses to work individualistically and we feel that as a cultural norm, this needs to change because collaboration is what leads to growth on all fronts.
Q: Who does it involve so far?
The response has been overwhelming so far; our executive committee alone collectively represents six very diverse industries: Consulting, food and beverage, travel and tourism, event management, finance, and IT (information technology).
16We began the SLESN journey by launching the Share.Support.Survive survey for entrepreneurs to understand challenges micro-businesses faced at the grassroots level during the lockdown. This led to a diverse group across 32 industries coming together and sharing actual data and statistics which is crucial to driving effective change. The survey is still ongoing and is up on our Facebook page.
Q: What are the criteria for joining the SLESN?
Being an entrepreneur is a key criterion, although today, the true definition of an entrepreneur is often lost in a haze of trendy buzzwords and the start-up and side-hustle culture. A definition of entrepreneur that we take to heart is one from one of our Executive Committee members, Dr. Chamara Bandara, who says quite brilliantly that “an entrepreneur is someone who takes on personal financial risk in the pursuit of establishing a venture and furthering an industry”.
Our aim is to create merit-driven criteria that gives due credit to any self-made entrepreneur who has diligently worked hard to launch and sustain their own business venture, be it as an artist, which we don’t often consider to be entrepreneurial, or a construction business or even a teacher running classes every day of the week as his/her only stream of income.
Q: What is the SLESN looking to promote in terms of policy?
There are numerous movements and forums that have been created for SMEs and entrepreneurs that allow people to share everything from posts to business contacts and references.
However, we feel the biggest problem that needs to be addressed is the lack of policy and the lack of infrastructure to help small businesses make it through economic crises like the current pandemic.
There are already examples of how the Covid-19 pandemic has galvanised larger businesses to step in to help and assist small companies in their local vicinity – through funding or subscribing services offered by these businesses, or other forms of collaboration. This is the kind of progressive thinking we are aiming to drive in SL. We hope to do that by leveraging Sandbox’s network of the top Sri Lankan companies and multinationals spread over various industries.
Q: What services does the SLESN offer?
The core purpose of SLESN is to affect policy change as well as to pave the way for the right infrastructure to be built in Sri Lanka for entrepreneurs to confidently venture into new businesses or to grow their existing business.
Our mission is to create an unbiased entrepreneur ecosystem in Sri Lanka where entrepreneurs have equal opportunity and access to:
- Flexible financial support and capital under conducive terms
- Increased global and local exposure
- National, state-of-the-art infrastructure support
- Industry governance to ensure preferential opportunity for Sri Lankan entrepreneurs first
The key function of SLESN is to create financial and legal infrastructure facilities that form the basis businesses need to take off. Apart from driving change, we will ensure that entrepreneurs are provided with the right structural support and education to strengthen their businesses and focus on survival and growth at the right time.
Q: What has the SLESN got planned for the future?
Our current focus is on ensuring businesses survive this storm before we start focusing on our own. As they say, “you need to be in business to be in business!”
A platform for merit-driven exposure locally and internationally is already underway. Driving a “Sri Lankan first” approach as a norm is something that we want to firmly establish islandwide. Many countries choose to look inward for innovation and services before they step out, and we want this to happen in Sri Lankan too as a regular business practice. We will be working with larger corporations and MNCs to secure commitments towards sustaining their communities of small businesses and service providers.
The SLESN is also heavily pushing for collaboration between different businesses and business sectors. There is a tendency for Sri Lankan businesses to work individualistically and we feel that as a cultural norm, this needs to change because collaboration is what leads to growth on all fronts.
We are the change-makers and the future of Sri Lanka’s economy, and we are determined to put Sri Lanka on the map with the wealth of next-generation talent that we have.
