Interview with Aban Pestonjee, interviewed by Geoffrey Jones, Mumbai, India

Aban Pestonjee, Founder and Chairperson of Abans Group, describes the unusual origins of her business in Sri Lanka in 1968, when she was a young housewife and mother to three. Overwhelmed by the constant demands of the house wife, she recalls thinking, "This is not what life is about... there must be something better here that I [can] do for the housewife." Thus, Abans Group was born. In the interview, Pestonjee describes her ingenuity in overcoming Sri Lanka's closed economy and ban on foreign luxury imports, and how she developed her business model around customer satisfaction and product guarantees--two qualities that have come to be the cornerstone of Abans Group today. In the interview, Pestonjee describes her struggles with capital raising in the early days of her business, when she was working out of her garage buying, refurbishing, and re-selling used household appliances like washing machines and floor polishers. She also reflects on some of the strategies that set her apart from her male competitors, including her keen awareness of the importance reputable brand name products for Sri Lankan consumers. "I had an edge over [my competitors]," she recalls. "Being a housewife