A young tech entrepreneur, Amira Ghaffoor started Northwood Consulting Technology about 5 years ago. Today, she employees 10 professionals and her company has grown in success.
Diriya Stories is a series designed by Diriya.lk to relate stories of entrepreneurs in order to applaud and recognise them and also to inspire and encourage others.
Here we go with our 12 questions for Amira:
Describe your biz
Northwood Consulting is a Technology Solutions provider specialising in AI and IOT.
When and where did the idea form
It started as a side-project that I initiated in 2018 after concluding my corporate career in marketing and advertising. I saw that there was a need for digital solutions and then what began as a side-hustled project slowly evolved into a full-scale business.
The start
The start was just myself working as a freelancer, and as more projects flowed-in, I transformed it into a more streamlined operation with employees and a structure. Something our business has truly witnessed is, how it has evolved keeping in line with advanced technology trends. This has helped us become one of the very few companies in the niche we have chosen.
Who inspired you or where did you draw strength from
Although now I look toward successful global entrepreneurs, my initial lessons of entrepreneurship came from my mum. I think mothers are some of the best managers of households, and managing a household is very much like managing a business – you have to ensure the supply chain runs smooth, you balance the finances well, and you keep it going without any interruptions to stake holders, and you always have to be ahead of the game.
Most difficult obstacle
Convincing my inner circle that this will work, and convincing customers to trust me for the first time.
Something nice some told you to spur you on or something you read
‘’Amira you have what it takes, be patient and persistent’’
How many people do you employ?
We presently employ 10+ professionals.
Any outsourced entities/person that benefit from your biz
Many.
In your opinion your most positive quality
I think if I am to name one quality that has made me come this far, it is my perseverance. To embrace multiple macro-environmental factors that took a grip of the country since 2019, times have been trying but our perseverance has stood the test of time, and it’s an important quality to have in trying times.
Yours or your biz drawbacks
Scaling in Sri Lanka is a massive obstacle we have as there’s no political or economic stability and no backup plan in place for businesses such as ours.
Future plan
To steadily expand outside of Sri Lanka.
Advise to start ups
- Not every start is going to work, but every startup is worth a try, if you have confidence that the product or service you are offering can scale, go ahead and do it.
- Create a disciplined life for yourself, and remember discipline is the foremost thing that will take you anywhere.
- Build a team that’s passionate as you, and look for the right attitude when hiring.
- Be an expert at what you are selling, and be always up to date.
- Keep your finances in check.
- Delegate tasks and ensure there is a proper mechanism of reporting.
- Try to keep your operations as lean as possible in the current economic situation.
- Stay super focused, and don’t be swayed by what you see on social media.
- Be open minded, and open to criticism.
- Don’t try to perfect anything you are doing, you will lose time. Sell it and improve on it as you go.
- Always create more value every year for what you are selling.
We wish Amira the very best in her future endeavours.
If you are an entrepreneur and have a story to share please contact us on info@diriya.lk
Interested in reading more Diriya Stories, check out our post on Shashikala Jayasinghe.
