A Concrete Plan Of Action
Much before Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg in her book Option B: Finding Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, wrote about how to deal with loss of a dear one in life and finally find happiness, Vinita Singhania, managing director, of JK Lakshmi Cement (JKLC) had gone through a similar course of events...quietly though. Singhania never planned to get into the family business. She took charge of the company after the untimely death of her husband Sripati Singhania in 1988 and since then, there has been no looking back.
Singhania did not find the job tough as she held a degree and was not alien to the business. Managing the company came quite naturally to her. With a little nudge and help from her brother-in-law, the late Hari Shankar Singhania, former president of the JK Organisation, the home maker settled in her new role with ease. On several occasions, Singhania has given credit to her brother-in-law. She has said that he made things look simple by showing her how running a business was akin to running a home.
One of the main challenges for Singhania in the initial days was to gain acceptability and win the confidence of her staff. Singhania attended all meetings and workshops just to get a grip over the business and understand the industry. She even travelled to the plant every month and stayed there for a few days. This helped her in getting a clearer picture of the business.
Under her leadership, the company’s bottomline has grown manifold. The turnover of the company has now touched almost Rs 3,000 crore as opposed to Rs 100 crore when she took over. She was the first woman to serve as president of Cement Manufacturers Association. She has also been the vice president of the National Council for Cement and Building Materials. Singhania is also the recipient of “Best Women Entrepreneur” and “Bharat Shiromani Award, among others. Singhania believes that customer satisfaction andtransparency are key for any business to succeed. Besides, valuing employees is of paramount importance. The company, which was started in Sirohi, Rajasthan in the early 1980s, today has production facilities across the country.
