Sonny Aswani is building his family business empire with a trust management approach to grab more opportunities.

Family businesses can be trick affairs. But for Sonny Aswani, business development director of Tolaram Corporation Pte Ltd Singapore, running and expanding his family business is a matter of knowing the right way to manage not only the people but also the changes that develop as the textile company grows into a giant.

'€œWe are is essentially a deep-rooted, family-owned business, which began in Malang. We initially started with running a textile shop and then we looked into manufacturing the textile, not only in Indonesia but also in other countries. We'€™re in our 68th year now, almost 70 years as a company,'€ explained Aswani.

The business has evolved, according to Aswani, because when his generation inherited the firm, they traveled to various countries and found different opportunities in each country they visited.

Spotting opportunities

In Estonia, it spotted the opportunity during the transition period as the country looked into privatization after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

'€œWe participated in the process. We were quite successful in this because we'€™re the only Asian company there, and we'€™re still there after 20 years.'€

Despite the different culture, Aswani said it was not hard to be the first Asian company in Estonia. '€œThere was no competition,'€ he chuckled.

The recipe for the success is simply derived from the art of delegation, whereby Aswani and his siblings have to entrust the running of the business to outsiders.

While the brothers still hold important roles, the growth has forced them to assign different leadership positions within the group to people outside their own family. When looking for a candidate, Aswani said he prioritized trust.

'€œTrust is very important. T for Tolaram and T for trust. I don'€™t run the business on a day-to-day basis. I have to delegate work to others'€¦of course whom I can trust. Finding the right people, especially good leaders whom you can trust, is extremely important. The other quality we'€™re looking for is humility.'€

It has evolved because the different shareholders and the business have branched out into different segments.

Even though it is still in the textile business, the company re-entered Indonesia last year with real estate and FMCG in mind.

'€œWe now all live in Singapore, so we make frequent visits to Indonesia. So we'€™re keeping fingers on the pulse on the developments not just in Jakarta but in other cities as well. The reason we do residential development is that we just developed a prestigious residential unit in Europe. We'€™ve done offices, and on this particular occasion, we'€™ve decided on a residential project.'€

Tolaram Group is currently developing Arzuria, a high-end residential project in the Tendean area designed to be a modern sanctuary for luxury urban living.

Dealing with different views

Brothers quarrel, but agreement has to be reached. It'€™s something that family businesses often face. Aswani further said, different opinions are voiced through frequent communication to avoid misunderstandings.

'€œIn a family business we are often faced with differences of opinion, but luckily we'€™re sitting in the same office and we'€™re all on the same floor. So we interact with one another quite often.'€

He added that the family decided collectively when it came to making difficult decisions. One such is when there is a good opportunity to sell a company. '€œIf you grow a business you tend to be emotionally attached to that particular business,'€ he said.

Aswani is in no hurry to pass the group to the next generation, as they are still in school. He also requires them to work outside the family company for at least 3 years as a prerequisite. '€œIt'€™s the family constitution,'€ he laughed.

(Ruth Ninajanty)

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