When Karano company entered its third generation, similar to many other Iranian companies, it was managed traditionally. But its young new manager with all his energy was determined to bring the new methods of management to their family-owned business.
I met Kasra Karamad, 25, Sales Manager of Karano Wood Company at their office in north-west of Tehran. The office is furnished with some sample products, mainly wooden cabinets, shelves and of course doors.
Kasra starts energetically: “the world has changed a lot. There was a time that production was the most important challenge in businesses. Who had a more advanced production-line was the winner. Today the question is no longerproduction. The most important challenge is to sell.
Today you can buy the best kind of production lines, but you cannot but sale!Therefore, the winner will be the one, who’s selling art is better than his competitors”.
When Kasra entered the company in 2013, Karano Wood Company was active on two markets at the same time; furniture and interior furniture like cabinets, shelves and doors. The latter activity was concentrated only on construction projects, i.e. Karano Company was preparing new houses and apartments kitchen and rooms as a partner for construction companies.
“We are not a big company and naturally our resources are limited. My idea was that if we concentrate ourselves on one market, we can achieve better results. To decide in which market we are more powerful, we decided to present all our capacities in some trade fairs”, recalls Kasra the beginning of a new period in their company, “after evaluating the achievements during the trade fairs, we understood that our clients appreciate our doors and cabinets much more than our furniture. We started our changes by closing our two furniture showrooms in Tehran and Karadj”.
Obviously different products require different production-lines and professional personals. At this point Karano sold all its furniture production-lines and instead focused on expanding its door production-lines and hired new employees at this sector.
“By all these changes, we decreased our costs by 20%, on the other hand our turnover did not decrease. It was pure success, particularly for me! Although my father was from another generation but he never was against changing and what we succeeded to make was a proof on how much modern management methods can improve our business.”
Karamad family has prepared itself also for a new period which is starting in Iran. Although lifting the sanctions can provide new opportunities, it can equally threaten traditional businesses in Iran.
“I think Iranian market is a very easy market for foreigners. We have seen that even the second or third class brands come to Iran and present themselves as luxury brands. If Iranian businesses do not prepare themselves well for the new period, they will definitely loose the domestic market”, warns Karsa Karamad, “on the other hand, foreigners need our knowledge and expertise in this market. Therefore, showing that we are familiar with modern business rules, we can create great joint ventures with them.
Since last year, we have started our business trips to abroad in order to meet with potential partners. We show them what is needed in the market, what we can do for them and what they can do to be successful in Iran”.
Using new sales techniques, the young manger is learning during his PhD courses in Marketing, Karamad family business did not suffer from the recession in Iranian market. Kasra believes that if Iranian businesses apply such techniques and listen to the market, with no doubt they can find lots of opportunities in the current market as well.
“One common fact among our businesses is that people are afraid of change. This prevents them from figuring out where they really are powerful and focus on that. Many have the idea that if for example I have produced furniture for 20 years, it will be a pity to concentrate only on cabinets. I think really pity is wasting all the energy on the wrong idea. To change, you have to be brave and determined. Use the experience of old days, combine it with new techniques and go ahead”, concludes Kasra with a shining eyes.
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