Couples in Partnership

Planning, perseverance and patience are said to be virtues that pay rich dividends to people in their professional and domestic life, a ‘rich’ proof of which are Harish and Jyoti Lodhia, directors of a string of businesses, the most popular of which are Sona Sansaar and the recently opened ‘Sakhi’ showrooms in Auckland.

Their style of doing business, combined with a penchant for elegance and orderliness has been a source of endearment to many and a learning curve for their first son Vishal, who will be followed in the coming years by his younger brother Viraj.

Mutual respect

The Lodhias have been in partnership for the past 28 years both at home and in business, bringing them together in a relationship based on love, understanding, trust and respect.

“We have worked very well as a team for the past 28 years and if anything, we cannot seem to have enough time. Vishal’s involvement in business gives us the opportunity to engage in new activities. There are a few expansion plans on the horizon and we hope to reach the full potential over the next 18 months,” Mr Lodhia said.

Mrs Lodhia said that during their early years, she found it difficult to follow her husband’s way of doing business, as she coped with their two growing sons.

“But as I began to understand and appreciate his business style and practice, I was able to contribute towards the achievement of our goals. Fortunately, now there are big boys including Harish and I am doing things that I enjoy, including active engagement in fashion business,” she said.

Women excel

Mr Lodhia said that transparency has been an integral part of his business ethnic, which enhances faith and confidence in people. He also believes that women should be accorded equal rights and opportunities in companies and businesses.

“They are better at multitasking, a fact that I experience every day at work. I have a good team of women in our showrooms, who not only bring dignity to their jobs but also add value to customer service,” he said.

He is also multi-talented with wide experience. Following his school career in his native Fiji and in Hamilton (New Zealand), Mr Lodhia was awarded a scholarship by the Indian Government to pursue a course in Optometry at the School of Optometry at the Nehru Institute of Ophthalmology and Eye Research in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh (India) and later made a Fellow of the Contact Lens Foundation of India based in Calcutta (now Kolkata).

Mrs Lodhia completed her secondary school education in Labasa but could not complete her university education in India since she had to return to Fiji to look after her father. She however completed a course in Contact Lenses later.

Rich heritage

Mr Lodhia is proud of his family heritage, dating back at least 400 years, with its origin at ‘Sasan Gir,’ the home of Asiatic Lions. His father left his native Gujarat for Fiji in the early part of the 20^th Century to begin a new life. Arriving in the South Pacific nation with a small suitcase of clothes and three hand tools to create jewellery, he began his career with ambition.

These qualities, with hard work and honesty earned him and his craftsmanship popularity and within a few decades, he had grown to become the owner of the largest 22-Carat jewellery showroom in the Southern Hemisphere with four branches in Fiji, one each for his four sons (the youngest of who is Harish).

The drive to seek geographic spread, fuelled by the growing political instability in Fiji, took the Lodhia family overseas. Today, the Lodhia family has successful jewellery business in Australia (Sydney and Brisbane), Fiji (Suva), New Zealand (Auckland) and the US (Los Angles).

The brands

Harish and Jyoti Lodhia are owners of Sona Sansaar (Mt Roskill and Papatoetoe), Sakhi (saree and dresses showrooms in Mt Roskill), Fortune Marketing, Magic Foods, Jyoti Communications (which owns the 1386 AM frequency) and Tulja Properties.

Both are proud of ‘Srini,’ a new fashion centre, which opened on May 10, 2013 at Tulja Centre in Mt Roskill.

Do compliance issues and bureaucratic delays frustrate even experienced businesspersons like Mr Lodhia?

“Indeed,” he said, “frustration is a part of any business. Those who cannot tolerate or handle frustration should not be in business,” he said.