The pandemic has been unprecedented, to say the least. While many companies were on the verge of losing out on their clients, some companies grew and expanded. ISHO, which is now the largest furniture retailer in Bangladesh, was one of the lucky ones who saw their sales volume grow – a positive turn of events amidst troubling times. For a furniture company to stay on top of its game during a constantly renewing pandemic, a game of critical facts and figures have to go harmoniously into play.
As such, Mr. Shahidul Islam, the Chief Financial Officer of ISHO, found himself playing a role that was as important as it was challenging. His precise and accurate financial planning allowed the company to reap multifold benefits that led to increasing its business growth by 150%.
The pandemic did throw several challenges at the company, but these were dealt with competently. Due to the movement restrictions, keeping a lean supply chain was key to their success. ISHO utilized the full benefits of digital marketing to connect to their customers while gaining continuous recognition by promoting sales online.
Mr. Islam reflected upon the fact that annual budgeting and forecasting are relatively more challenging in the furniture business. Due to seasonality and customers’ personal preferences, the demand for the designs keeps changing. It is very important for ISHO to stick by its principles of bringing innovative designs to the furniture sector of Bangladesh. Therefore, the challenge was to key in all the changing factors and stack up numbers of production planning and raw material sourcing.
Mr. Islam also said that the uniquely crafted designs of ISHO’s furniture exude elegance and simplicity that customers love. ISHO wants to cater to a broad customer base, so with high affordability on their radar, prices are kept relatively reasonable. In order to achieve this, the whole team has to implement budgetary control, disciplinetreasury functionsn, optimize costs, and improve inventory management. This combined effort allows ISHO to keep topline sales on an upward bearing. That they have been successful in maintaining this critical balance, is reflected in the fact that the company now has more than 1500 SKUs despite being operational for only 3 years.
Mr. Shahidul Islam recognizes that his job is not only to make sure that the numbers add up. He needs to have active participation in creating a sustainable path for the growth of the company. So, by using his knowledge and experience of working in other conglomerates, he aims to equip the organization with a solid foundation that will withstand the volatile forces of the furniture industry. He uses a multifold focus plan to achieve important goals like streamlining the business processes, and introducing a better ERP solution while keeping an eye out on his 2022 goal of expanding the business across international borders.
The company is inching towards this goal step by step. Soon, ISHO will be listed within the Security Exchange Commission and taking up foreign investments to scale up to global heights. On the whole, Mr. Islam sounds hopeful about ISHO’s future in the industry. This is especially possible now, as they have succeeded to tightrope over all the challenges and keep their balance in this pandemic-threatened economy.
