Feature story |
|||||||||
| Home > News & events > 2005 feature stories > Loans, advice build Tajik furniture emp... | |||||||||
Loans, advice build Tajik furniture empire |
|||||||||
Imperia Furniture’s motto is ‘Create your own empire’, and the company’s founder, Jomi Aliev, is well on his way to doing just that, thanks in part to the EBRD’s TurnAround Management (TAM) programme and EBRD-backed small business loans. Mr Aliev started his company in 1997 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, an impoverished central Asian country located just north of Afghanistan. Part of the ex-USSR, Tajikistan suffered devastating decline after civil war followed the collapse of communism in 1991. “We started this business for survival,” says Mr Aliev, a whirlwind of activity as he flies around showing off his product line in his dusty office that doubles as a showroom. “We had no knowledge of furniture making, we had always been traders. It just happened that we had some components for school desks lying around and we started from there. There was great demand for school desks as most of the schools in the south had been damaged in the war.” With no credit available for the purchase of equipment from abroad, he had to improvise his own. “We used a normal iron to laminate furniture edges by hand. Good corners and edges are very important in furniture.” Importing equipment In 1999 Imperia borrowed $56,000 from an EBRD-backed credit line provided to local banks to support micro and small enterprises. The loan allowed Imperia to purchase equipment from Belarus, Spain, Italy and Turkey. “We’ve doubled our production volume since getting the equipment,” he says, running his hand across the top of one machine like it’s a good, reliable friend. For example, he’s reduced the number of staff on the laminating front from six to two; otherwise employee numbers have risen from the original handful to 40 today. Despite the owner’s lack of formal business knowledge, the company increasingly gained market share for its kitchen cabinetry, beds, office and shop furniture, etc. Then, in 2004, TAM sent to the factory two business advisors – one Danish, one Japanese -- funded by donors* to help improve the company’s operations. Emulating Ikea “When the Danish guy got here and saw how we worked, he was horrified!” laughs the voluble Mr Aliev. “He was having a heart attack, he wanted so much to help us. He advised us to standardise our production and he explained how Ikea works in that regard. We used to make 20 kitchen doors of different styles and sizes, now we’ve reduced that to four. “The advisor also improved our stock-taking and reporting. Before, we had no idea what we had in stock. And we opened a furniture shop with our backlogged stock. Plus we started advertising, which means our stock moves much more quickly. Last year we produced $300,000 worth of goods, which is far more than any other furniture company has ever done in Tajikistan. For this small country, that’s high volume.” TAM consultants usually pay a number of visits to their clients, allowing time in between for absorption, adaptation – even rejection – of the advisor’s ideas and any new technologies brought in on his or her advice. Shaping up Says Mr Aliev: “Human beings don’t like to be criticised and we were so embarrassed after his first visit that we made sure we shaped up before the second! Seriously, though, we liked hearing his ideas and learning from him. The one thing we didn’t do was to standardise production of front doors. This is not possible because the openings in Tajik houses for doors are not standard.” A Japanese TAM consultant, Toshio Ishigaki, is teaching the company International Standards of Accounting (ISA). “I am impressed by the company's earnestness to comply with the international standards,” says Mr Ishigaki. “I hope the company will develop in the global market.” Mr Aliev nods, acknowledging the positive impact -- and limitations -- of TAM assistance in helping local businesses to grow. “TAM can give us good advice but of course, at the end of the day, it’s up to us to make it happen,” says Mr Aliev. *TAM donors in Tajikistan include Canada, Japan, the Early Transition Country Multi-Donor Fund, Luxembourg, and EU Tacis. Written by EBRD Senior Writer Kate Dunn. Contact:
TurnAround Management Programme
Group for Small Business
EBRD Tajikistan office 10 June 2005 |
|||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
| Terms and conditions Sitemap Feedback | |||||||||
