Mohideen Bawa Abdul Latheef’s excellent “bedside manner” as a salesman was carefully developed over many years of listening and training. It came to a culmination during the trade fair organized by INSPIRED.
Among the various skills he internalized was a keen awareness of the need for better accounting practices, security, inventory management etc. “The program made the difference between me being a professional vs amateur business person” says Latheef who began his career fresh out of school as a tailor.
He gained his knowledge in upholstery after traveling to the Middle East for work, as many did in the 80s and 90s in the war-affected East. Upon his return, even though he now had the skills and knowledge he needed to kick start his business, he could not adapt it to the local context. “I was making things at a level of quality that was too high for what the market wanted” resulting in him making so many losses that he had to return to the Middle East again.
“When I finally came back again, I met with GAFSO (Group Action for Social Order, a regional organization) and learned about INSPIRED”, the sessions helped him think about his business more rationally, and helped him pace out his growth.
He also met businesspeople from other communities and made fast friends with them. Being from a mono-ethnic Muslim community Latheef says he used to harbor unconscious suspicions about Tamils and Sinhalese, but they quickly disappeared during the program. “We now refer to each other as machan (an endearing slang term for “friend”)” he says with a grin.