Senon D Lama

Chairman and Managing Director,

Senon Carpet Industries,

Hotel Shahanshah Int'l &

System Holder

When Senon started his business, the production in Nepal was very low as carpets were imported from India. The market in the beginning was non-challenging. We never had to worry that the products would not be sold. The supply was small and the demand was much higher.” Unlike today, his company used to decide on quality, design and size, and the buyers used to buy what was available.

By Gaurav Aryal 

When Senon D Lama stepped into the carpet business, he had just a dozen of looms to weave his passion. Now he is a full-fledged carpet businessman with an annual turnover of USD 1 to 1.5 million a year. He has diversified also in hospitality industries. Thus he is the the Chairman and Managing Director of Senon Carpet Industries Pvt Ltd, Hotel Shahanshah International Pvt Ltd and a sports club called the System Holder Pvt Ltd.

Born at the remote highland village of Lo Gaun in Gorkha district, Lama landed in Kathmandu in early 1960s when he was just about 10 years old. He is sorry that he could not get higher education due to the trouble he had to go through being away from home. So, while he was enrolled for the bachelor's level in management, he started work to earn his living at the age of 22.

Lama had gathered some experience in woollen Nepali carpets business. So, he established his own carpet factory with about a dozen looms at Pulchowk. He also set up three carpet shops at the tourist hubs of Sundhara and Mahabouddha of Kathmandu and at the Golden Gate of Patan. Our primary customers were tourists,” he says. Lama claims that he was one of the pioneers in the private sector to begin with a carpet industry.

I was, from the very beginning, passionate about colours and designs. I loved to play with them, he recollects the moment he began his career: One of my friends used to own a carpet shop. I used to see him having good time, going to movies and still making money. The tourists would visit his shop and buy the carpets as souvenirs paying handsome amount of money.He remembers yet another friend who was in the restaurant business and was having a tough time pleasing the customers. I compared them one watching movies, chatting and making money while another struggling to maintain his business. So, I ended up in the first business, Lama says. His same friend who owned the carpet shop was also in the car reconditioning business and he asked lama if he could buy the shop. He instantly accepted the offer and bought his friend's shop.

His family back home had no idea as to what young Senon was doing. In the third year of the business, his father arrived Kathmandu unannounced.

Seeing me travelling mostly by taxi, my father said I squander a lot of money At the same time, he was tremendously delighted as well as shocked to see that I was simultaneously operating three shops at three different locations of the city.

When Lama started his business, the production in Nepal was very low as carpets were imported from India. The market in the beginning was nonchallenging. We never had to worry that the products would not be sold. The supply was small and the demand was much higher. Unlike today, his company used to decide on quality, design and size, and the buyers used to buy what was available. Gradually Nepal made carpets started to be viewed as fahion items. The foreigners were using them not as floorings but as pieces of art hung on the wall. International designers then started coming in with their own designs mostly the western ones.


In the beginning of 1980s, the export of carpet kicked off. And Lama's business took off the major flight in 1982 when a big warehouse bought all the carpets from all his three shops. Lama never had to look back since then. In 1983, I did not have the time to pay attention to my local shops, as I was focused on the export business. His company, named as Senon Enterprise, expanded in the following years. In 1988, the company was renamed as Senon Carpet Industries.

Lama's success reached a new height during the 1990s when the number of employees working for him reached 1400. Comparing the situation then and now, Lama says, There used to be the mass production and mass export then. Today's business is mostly order-based.

He reveals that his company is now working for the year 2012. We completed our production last year for 2011 and the catalogue for that was ready in September 2010. Catalogue for 2012 will be ready in 2011 September. He further says the planning and research for the design for 2013 is going on. He himself goes through hundreds of designs and decides which of them would suit for which of the quality of the carpets he will produce. We have to go into serious research before making any commitment.

The wage rate, the labour law, and the price of the raw material have to be speculated for the coming years before making such commitment, he says.

Today, Lama exports his carpets to Germany, the Netherlands, UK, USA, Mexico, Japan, and Australia, to name a few. From these destinations, the same carpets are exported to other countries as well.

Apart from the carpet industry, Lama is also the proud owner of Hotel Shahanshah, System Holder, a sports club and some real estate businesses. Besides, he is into social work too. No matter how many ventures I do have, carpet business is the most precious one and close to my life. I am never going to detach it from my life though I may have to return back to a dozen looms again, he says. This is my religion. This business cannot be evaluated on mere profit and loss.

For Lama, failure is not the reason to regret. He says he never regrets his past. He feels blessed to be able to see the whole world, though born in one of the remotest corners of the world. The excitement he had when he first bought the motorbike is the moment he never forgets. When I first bought my motorbike, I was so excited and felt the sense of   achievement. I don't feel the same when I buy a new car now.Lama says work is his passion and hobby. He enjoys his work as much as the sports like football and hockey. There are professionals to look after his other businesses, but in the carpet business he insists to go through every minutest detail on his own. He has never fired any worker till date. He credits his success to his workers. He pays his staff at the production line on the weekly basis while those in other lines are paid on monthly basis. Altogether 700 persons work for him now though this number was about 1400 in the 1990s.

Lama has worked for 36 years and says, every day, I have spent 12 to 16 hours in my work. He is already 60 but has not thought of retiring. I'm not tired, so no question of being retired, he quips. Retirement kills you psychologically, makes body slow and reduces the stamina.” He thinks he can work for the next 15 years.

Lama says human body is a temple. We have to worship it. We should not put junks into it, he says revealing the secret of being healthy. Another secret is his regimen of physical exercises. In olde days, he used to spend at least one and half hour a day in sports. He used to wake up at 4 in the morning and rush to the tennis court at The Everest Hotel. Currently, he is spending at least 30 to 40 minutes a day exercising. In his free time, he loves listening to music of all genre from Nepali to English pops to fast beats. He says he is not able to give a lot of time to his family. He sometimes works on Saturdays too. I want to see them laughing. I have to listen to everybody to make them happy. Sometimes, there is a conflict of interest. But I try to address everyone's wishes, he says.

Lama has plans to expand his business in the promising tourism sector. Now I have almost 12 years of experience in the hotel industry. I am quite confident about expanding it. Most probably he will set up a spa. 

PERSONAL SIDE

• Loves music. Narayan Gopal is his favourite Nepali artist. He also listens to Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, Bryan Adams and Michael Jackson among others
  
• Likes collecting magazines from around the world
  
• Tennis, squash, bowling are his favourite sports
  
• Does not have passion for books but dreams to read them in future
  
• Not brand conscious, very casual
  
• Likes cars and currently drives Toyota Prado
  
• Has driven fi ve different bikes until now
  
• Also involved in social activities