A Sri Lankan Woman’s Story on Conquering the Local Market Share Fashionably
The social impact beyond the big bucks
With less than $3, a passion for sewing, and a childhood dream, 44-year-old Rajika Priyangani from southern Sri Lanka embarked on a journey to earn a little extra money for her family. That was in 2000. Today, she is the owner of an ISO-certified apparel business called Hiru Fashion, producing more than 55,000 pieces per month for the domestic market and employing more than 175 from the local community.
In 2018, Rajika’s business was awarded third place at the National Productivity Awards, and in 2019 Rajika won the best entrepreneur award. Hiru Fashion also received international certification from Great Place to Work Institute™, a global authority on workplace culture. Rajika’s successful business, and the awards, are a huge achievement for a business that started from scratch.
It all started when Rajika decided to try out what she knew best — sewing — to supplement her household’s income and help out her husband, Indunil Ruwanpathirana. She designed the clothes, shopped for fabric, cut the fabric, and sewed shorts. Her husband sold the clothing at the weekly village fair.
Soon demand for Rajika’s creations started growing. As time passed, she had to seek help from her extended family to meet demand. Then, as business continued to grow, she hired people from her neighborhood. Within a few years, every spare inch in her home was part of the sewing business. This is how Hiru Fashion was born.
Running out of space, Rajika set herself an ambitious target — to build a factory.
Over the decade, the business grew organically with Rajika reinvesting profit to add machines, hire workers, and eventually relocate. She then set herself another target — to equip her factory.
She soon added blouses, followed by casual and office shirts for men to her collection. The couple then tapped retailers in the country’s business capital and today they transport their products to markets all over Sri Lanka.
In 2017, at an investor forum conducted through the regional Chamber of Commerce, Rajika connected with Biz+ initiative and was able to access support for modern machinery and a generator for the factory. Biz+, which is funded by USAID, also provided an experienced business coach to help assess business operations, identify areas for improvement, decide on investments, and improve human resource management.
The owners and key staff of Hiru Fashions were also able to participate in a management development program conducted by USAID Biz+.
Hiru Fashion has increased production significantly, enabling the business to quadruple the number of people employed.
“The business coaching and the training opened our eyes to things we had not known before. It helped us to plan and run an efficient business — which was priceless. We learnt so much from this program that we did not miss a single session. It was like going to university,” said Rajika.
Biz+ has helped more than 60 such businesses in 15 of Sri Lanka’s 25 districts to start-up or expand. The project provided financial, managerial, and technical assistance, complemented by matching grants. As a result, between 2011 and 2019, Biz+ leveraged $22 million in private capital, created more than 8,000 jobs, and generated approximately $25 million in business investments as well as job and income growth.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are universally recognized as the backbone of the local economy. SMEs like Hiru Fashion play a vital role in taking the country from lower middle-income to upper middle-income.
Rajika’s business has developed management practices, professionalized its supervisors, trained staff on human resources, and coached the management team on decision making. The business also implemented mechanisms to track performance, evaluate operations, improve supply chain management and various controls, and comply with safety standards and good work practices.
For Rajika and her husband, growth in the business is much more than production numbers.
“These incentives have benefited staff to increase their earnings by 60 percent. We have become the most sought-after employer in the area,” Rajika says. “Villagers visit us daily looking for jobs and I am so happy to be able to help them.”
Before the business was set up, village women frequently relocated to faraway industrial cities for work. “They are now able to earn while staying with their families. It gives me immense pride to be able to help my community and society in more ways than one,” says Rajika, beaming.
Rajkia and her husband also donated food and clothing to a nearby hospital to celebrate the opening of the new factory at Hiru Fashions — and to share their success throughout the community.
As a wife and a mother of three children, Rajika has had her share of challenges. There were times she had to work late into the night after attending to all the other household chores. As her home became a makeshift apparel factory, their privacy was limited. Rajika describes how she persevered:
“I neither lost my focus on targets nor did I let challenges or negativity pull me down. Come what may, I was determined and committed. Sometimes that is the only recipe one needs to be successful.”
With big wins under her belt, Rajika is not ready to stop just yet. She is now looking to develop a new product line and tap into new markets.
About the Author
Passanna Gunasekera is the Development Outreach Communications Specialist with USAID’s Mission in Sri Lanka. Darlene Foote is the Program Office Deputy Director in the same Mission.
