A staunch supporter of women entrepreneurs and small business management amongst housewives, Vidyani Hettigoda’s philosophy in life is that if just one woman helps another, that’s enough to assist women’s empowerment.

A former software developer, with a degree in Business Management and IT Programming, She is now a director at her family company, Hettigoda Group - Siddhalepa. Speaking about the ins and outs of running business, Vidyani says her exposure during her early years living and working in London, coupled with her father’s wisdom, gave her a good understanding about what it means to manage a work force.

Although she holds the position of Director at her father’s company, The Hettigoda Group, she began her career at one of the lowest rungs of the ladder, working in the factory. “We had to experience and learn everything as we climbed up the business ladder. That was how my father raised us.” Because of this, Vidyani says she identifies much more with her employees and knows that to give instructions; you have to learn how to take them first.

One of the big achievements that she’s proud of was co-creating the concept for the now famous ‘Ayurveda Spa’ with her sister. “When I returned to Sri Lanka, I decided to work at the company again, and along with my sister, came up with the idea for the “Siddhalepa Ayurveda Spa’. My father said he trusted us to do whatever we liked but, we had to do it without the help of anyone else! So we learnt about designing, architecture, studied Sanskrit and Ayurveda and finally made the spa what it is today.”

Having been instilled with this hands on approach to work, she hopes to encourage women to become financially independent and empower themselves through various programs. A past president of the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, she dedicates whatever time she can spare to promoting the idea of entrepreneurship among housewives by offering aid through seminars, micro loans and workshops.

“There are a lot of housewives who don’t have their own income and so are financially dependant on someone else… with the few hours of free time they have, they can start some kind of home business, thereby having their own income and financial independence.” She said, and went on to explain that many housewives who were victims of violence, immediately felt empowered once they became financially independent, which is another reason to promote home businesses among women.

The Siddhalepa Company has its own women’s initiative that helps unemployed women grow herbal plants in their gardens. Not only do they provide the women with information on growing plants to instructions on the use of biofertilizers, the company then buys the organic herbs for use in the factories, thereby providing the women with a stable income. Through methods such as the plant business, Vidyani believes it’s possible for most, if not all women to one day be able to run their own small business from home, if they just dedicate time to it.

“I’m not putting men down by saying “don’t depend on the man for money”. I simply feel we must share the workload. There are plenty of women who work top academic jobs, but we need to start promoting work from the grassroots level among the women and housewives who are at home. If they start a small business and just put something aside in a bank, within five years time, she’ll be properly earning and financially stable enough to not have to depend on anyone else.” She added.

 

By Lake Argent

Pics courtesy Lanka Woman