Line of Business

Janet has become a household name today synonymous with beauty-care and beauty
products. The business grew with the passion she had to dress well and also make others
beautiful. This proves to be a turning point in her life. She furthered her knowledge by going
to England to study hair dressing and beauty culture and also to India for further training. On
her return she started manufacturing her own brand after intense experiment. She started a
factory at Panadura and it was the production base and from there onwards her venture
progressed rapidly. The products became popular in international markets too and she first
launched in Kuwait followed by Dubai and Bombay. She also ventured into colour cosmetic
production.

Personal life
Janet was a mother of five children. When her five children were small she dedicated time for
them personally attending to their needs. Her mother helped her immensely and this gave her
the opportunity to improve the business. She was a great-grandmother when she passed away
and she was happy that she was able to enjoy life to the fullest. Her sons are taking care of
the business now. Also one of her granddaughters has become an international award winning
hair dresser. She prioritized her work and allocate time accordingly. She had been in the
business for the more than past 50 years and had ensured that balance is maintained between
work and personal life.

Q. What motivated you to venture into business?

A. The thirst to engage in beautycare industry took me this long.

As I was fascinated to make others beautiful and wanted to them to have pleasant appearance
I took the bold decision to start from scrap. Though it was tough at the initial stages I
managed to carve a name for Janet.

Q. What are your goals?

A. My goal is to make the Janet products available all over the world and to become an
international brand.

I have provided training for over 4,000 so far and intend to provide training for many as it is
the stepping stone for a solid venture.

There are 275 workers involved in the Janet Group of Companies and I ensure their wellbeing.

Q. How do you face the challenges of competition?

A. As I was the pioneer in the industry I set standards for others to follow. When there were
many entrants to the field I consider that as an opportunity to improve. The consumers benefit
from the competition and the key to face the challenge of competition is continuous
improvement.

Q. What example do you provide others?

Janet with world award winners

A. I brought up my children with all my love and care. They were breast fed and I strongly
believe in this builds a close relationship and bond between mother and child. This in no way
harms your beauty and it is a misconception. I also promote women to dress well. This gives
a message that you too are capable of any task and proper dress sense is a must. It is
necessary to maintain your outer look and follow beauty tips.

Q. What is your specialty?

A. The history of beauty care and hair dressing will have my name as a pioneer in the
industry. This is not an easy task. My entry into the industry has made it possible for the
industry to evolve fast. Women could lead where it matters and along it comes the true
potential.

Q. What are your achievements in business?

A. I consider having a close knit family as the most important thing in life. All what I have
achieved so far centered around the family well-being. One needs to have a thriving business
and a supporting family. This I have achieved to a great extent.

Q. What is your message to society?

A. Womanhood is not a drawback. Have courage to venture into different fields. There is
untapped potential in abundance. Identify them and unleash them for the countrys benefit.
Provide solid education to your children as education is the gateway for a bright future. They
should be brought up to respect values and culture.

Have faith in God and you will never fail.

Contributory factors for a woman entrepreneur is represented by the below given diagram.

Let us discuss each of the factors one by one related to our case.
Early childhood experiences
A common characteristic of women who have made it to the top in corporate, professional
and public life and how they achieved their success is backed up by their early childhood
experiences. It is a revealed fact that early experience of coping independently with the
environment generates a strong sense of competence and self-confidence in the successful
women. When referring to Janets interviews with various media persons it was a clear fact
that he spent a happy childhood exploring the world of beauty which she was passionate
about.
Psychological Characteristics
Successful female entrepreneurs exhibit psychological characteristics such as: high level of
self-confidence, passion about work, determination, smart work, hard work, creating a
position for themselves, superior quality output and the love for their work. Janet had
displayed most of the above mentioned characteristics. She also exhibited psychological
characteristics such as strong attitudinal and personal skills. She was very ambitious to
succeed conquering all difficulties that came in her way and also was very deterministic in
achieving goals and targets she set for herself.
Competencies
Janet has been found to exhibit entrepreneurial competencies such as: strong communication
skills with her proficiency in the core business of beauty care, attributed her success to the
quality of her output which was rated better than her competitors, conditioned by her hard
work and dedication to achieve success, strong managerial capabilities which she gained
through teaching in a academy and working at her own salon over the early years, ability to
pursue opportunities through mobilization of resources.
Formal and Informal learning

Janet had a formal learning about the industry by her mentor Vidya, from England and India.
She also had a fair share of informal learning through dealing with society. We know society
itself is a great educational institute as mentioned by the late President Mr. Ranasinghe
Premadasa.
External Support
Janet received her first support from her mentor Vidya. She got a salon and an academy. Also
when Janet improved little by little media supported her. I remember that she conducted
many of her programs on Rupavahini in mornings. Sufficient information was not found on
how she collected money to start her business, but it is all right to think that she had support
from her family since she was from a wealthy family.
Janet Balasuriya's mission in life has been to help women look their best. An eclectic
approach has made her delve into the past, to seek ayurvedic and herbal recipes used by
famed beauties of yesteryear in this region.

Now we are three generations in the business as both my daughter and granddaughter work
with me".

What made Janet venture into manufacture? "I wanted to bring cosmetics within the reach of
everyone. International brands are exorbitantly expensive as are Shanaz herbals from India. I
thought the time was right to manufacture herbal cosmetics to keep the price down. My most
expensive product is Rs. 275. My son Shivantha was at Monash University in Australia and
studied both Chemical Engineering and Cosmetic Chemistry.

So, mother and son put our heads together and we ventured into the manufacture of herbal
cosmetics. I get the awards, but Shivantha is the brain behind the business. He has vision and
plans 2 or 3 years ahead. We have been successful, but nothing would have been possible
without the help of God, and I never fail to thank him every day".

Perhaps Shivantha is the brain and Janet is the guiding spirit that every successful company
needs.

I was glad to hear that Janet cosmetics reach out into the nooks and corners of rural Sri Lanka
too, as these communities are often deprived of such things. "We have workshops all over the

country with "Tharuni". We had one in Anuradhapura with about 2000 participants, our next
is in Ratnapura, then in Embilipitiya and we hope to go to Jaffna too in the near future. Our
products are designed to be environment friendly; we have dealers in every district too and
have workshops for them."

Janet has a team of qualified ayurvedic physicians working with her to give advice to her
clients. "With their help today we have blood purifying tonics, and for almost every other
ailment. We have an ointment for mosquito bites and its prevention too, We have looked at
every aspect of health besides beauty in our production processes".

Although at the peak of her career, not only as a beautician, but as one who has crashed
through many barriers to put Sri Lankan herbal cosmetics into international markets, Janet
does not sit back in complacency. She has proved that she feels an innate sense of
responsibility to the country too.

She has been a past President of Zonta, is actively involved in The Womens Chamber, but
also on her own steam helps the less fortunate. "I conduct three courses a year, and in the
middle one, from July to November, I teach needy students between 16 and 24 free of charge.
I have taught ten girls who are deaf and dumb too and some of them work for me.

They are thrilled to have been given a chance in life and I am so glad that I was able to give
them a training in something worthwhile which will help them to earn their living". I spoke to
one of them who works for Janet and she looked happy and brimming with self confidence.
"To celebrate 40 years in the business in 2001, I gave all three courses free of charge".

Janet still looks the same as when I first met her, many, many, years ago. She is more astute
than her easy going manner implies and has a distinct air of authority about her. She is a
picture of enviable streamlined looks and youth. How does she manage to stay so youthful?
"I walk every day, start my day with 'Kola kenda', pray and meditate a lot.

I get on very well with others in the same business and am not jealous of anyone. I would
advise aspiring young beauticians to love people, give to people only what is good and
necessary for them, for their different skin types. Money should never be the prime concern.
You must develop your own personality and help others to do so too. Be truthful and honest
with everyone and stick to the straight path".

It is obvious that Janet has got where she has by her inner strength and with the grace of God.
I noticed that she uses the minimum of make up too. A pleasant change from some among us
who wear so much make up that it would take a major excavation job to find out what they
really look like! "Every woman has the right to look beautiful and can do so without too
much make up". Beauty is her business, but Janet possesses beauty of soul too.
That, combined with her own perfectionism, her attention to detail, her visionary capacity for
predicting the market has ensured her success and made her a legend in her own time.