Another success story of IIT- Dr. Gehan De Soysa, Founder of Thread Works (Pvt) Ltd
The rationale behind pursuing further education is to ensure that it helps an individual grow as a person, and in turn help mould companies and businesses they are engaged in.
With a reputation for offering a holistic curriculum which offers the students flexibility to pursue a cross section of industries and sectors, Informatics Institute of Technology ( IIT- www. iit. ac. lk) is an ideal platform to pursue learning experiences in the field of IT & Business Manag ement. Pioneers in offering British degrees in Sri Lanka, IIT has molded the lives of many businessmen in the country.
Thread Works Chairman and CEO Dr. Gehan De Soysa, a former student of BSc ( Hons) Business Administration of IIT is another reflective business personality in the apparel industry. Thread Works, the owners of the longstanding brand name ‘Velona’ has been a name synonymous with the fabric of the Sri Lankan clothing industry. Although the brand slipped into a relative low profile few years back, Velona was re-launched and given a fresh modern outlook by Gehan taking the brand to great heights in the local as well as the international markets such as USA, Canada and South Africa.
Choosing IIT for its reputation, curriculum and experienced panel of lecturers, Gehan has no regrets today and in fact is thankful for the guidance he received at the institute which he acknowledged as support that helped the company move forward. “I checked on the reputation and the track record of the institute and found them to be impressive. “The Institute was also known to have a panel of Internationally experienced lecturers from the industry which gave an added benefit to the students.”
Speaking of the Lecturer panel at IIT he said: “They had the ability to present the study material in a clear and logical sequence and make it interesting and meaningful. They also covered all subject matters thoroughly, were constructive and helpful in their guidance and motivation. They demonstrated an expert knowledge in their subjects, paced the lecture appropriately, were concise, illustrated the practical applications of the theory presented and included many case studies to enhance and give a better insight into the subject areas, showing enthusiasm for the subject and generating curiosity about the lecture material early on in the lecture.”
“Another attractive factor was the placement year offered to students in their last year of study”, Gehan said. Noting that it was a great opportunity given to students to hone their practical skills giving them an insight into the working world, for the young entrepreneur, his time at Hayley’s Electronics was a decisive one, coaching him to take over the mantle of Velona and push it towards the zenith
. Handling some of the accounting functions for the whole group, Gehan stated that the experience gave him a good knowledge on how to run a business successfully. “I came to understand how accounts are an essential element of the Management Information System, and how they provide a basis for decision making. I learned that, although organizations are dependent on external factors for survival; careful management of resources ( by means of accounting information) can help to mitigate losses.”
He said that as part of the accounting team he was able to learn the various measures of efficiency and effectiveness – from identifying co- relationships between marketing activity and sales, to staff and asset performance. The importance of good budgeting with accuracy, timeliness, clarity, and simplicity of format was also marked here. “This experience proved to be very valuable to me at many stages of my working life and was a good guidance model.”
Having always wanted to be an entrepreneur, Gehan used his business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods, which resulted in him revitalizing an already matured oragnisation in response to a perceived opportunity.
With faith in the local economy, and knowledge and experience as his tools, Gehan embarked on a journey that has come a long way since then. Today Thread Works has six prominent brand labels that have made it big in the apparel industry – Body Fit, Top Gear, Superknit, Arista, Velona, and the latest member Cuddles. “We have gone from near obscurity to high brand levels. “What it takes to be an entrepreneur is passion. A true entrepreneur at their very core is a renegade; someone who is bent on creating change even though it means going against the norm.”
This is the kind of motivational spirit that IIT evoked in him, he asserted. “Today I am truly glad I chose them as my Institute of choice . They have truly lived up to all my expectations and I will recommend it to any student without hesitation.”