Bedor Alrashoudi, CEO, Jazan Energy and Development Company (JAZADCO) • Interview
Present across agriculture, aquaculture, and real estate, JAZADCO has worked to increase sales by investing in technology, reducing costs and improving efficiency.
Can you give us a summary of where the company was at when you took over, what your intentions were, and what you have accomplished thus far?
JAZADCO is a publicly listed company established in 1993 and has grown to operate several business lines, such as agriculture, aquaculture, and real estate. We are also exploring new projects in the energy sector. Part of our mandate is to contribute to the development of Jazan region, a unique area located south of Saudi Arabia that features magnificent natural scenary of mountains as well as many kilometers of coastline, and has long been an agriculture center. Recently, a new board for JAZADCO was appointed and a mandate in line with Vision 2030 was established. The new vision is set forth with a clear focus on company profitability, as well as expand to various industries and improve operations. The mission for me as CEO of JAZADCO was to transform the company to achieve those goals. We started by understanding our current state and the business lines we are operating in as well as the expectations from the board, shareholders, and the market. We also analyzed how we compare to our competitors regionally and globally, and how we benchmark in industries globally. We designed our transformation program and started implementing a number of initiatives that aim to achieve our strategic focus. We worked to increase production efficiency and increase our sales revenues, which we did by expanding to new markets. As a result, our revenue increased by 18% in 2020 despite the pandemic, and the company achieved its highest profits since 2015.
How did you manage to increase revenue and profit? What were the key drivers for your growth?
It was not attributed one particular major decision; many smaller choices contributed to increasing revenue and reducing costs. Adapting how we conduct business and how we operate in the field to current market conditions has been important. We also looked for opportunities through aqcuisitions aimed at achieving our strategic objectives and aligned with our strategic ambition. For example, and prior to the pandemic, we acquired two e-commerce start-ups that enabled us to expand market reach of our agriculture and aquaculture offerings, which ended up significantly boosting and supporting our sales during lockdown. We also focused on investing in our human capital to achieve our goals. We created an incremental approach to help us to consitantly assess and improve as we go, rather than have a top-down transformation plan, so everyday we review where we are and how we can do it better. The incremental approach helped us achieve more in less time.
Which segment of your business drove the increase in revenue?
We increased our sales by attracting new clients, accessing new markets, and adding new approaches such as food processing. We increased our shrimp sales, which is the largest bulk of our revenue. We increased our sales by investing in technology and improving our marketing and operations. We reduced our expenses, which did not mean cutting salaries, but being more efficient. We also increased our production significantly by 41%.
How did the pandemic impact your business and influence your decisions surrounding digitalization?
First and far most, our priority is the wellbeing of our employees. We invested in raising awareness and adapting the recommended measures for health and safety. We adopted a dynamic approach to working through the pandemic by observing the market and adjusting accordingly. We had to pause a number of initiatives, and our team became somewhat demoralized because we had had big plans for 2020. However, we have been magnificently resilient, and we can see it in the results today. Motivating people to work with uncertainty helped us be resilient. We were also fortunate because we acquired the start-ups before the pandemic, so we were ready to have our products available to our clients through digital channels. Our sales were stable through the pandemic, and we were not hit as hard as other industries.
BIO
Bedor Alrashoudi started her career at SAMA and has over 13 years of experience in strategy and transformation, management consulting, leadership, and change management. She received the Ernsy & Young Middle East and North Africa Female Role Model award in 2016. Before she became CEO of JAZADCO, she was strategy management office executive director of the Ministry of Interior, Transformation Program.