Exclusive Interview with Shhama V Soni, CFO & Director of S Sony & Company Pvt Ltd.

HBW News takes pride in honoring Shhama V Soni, CFO & Director of S Sony & Company Pvt Ltd.She receives Global Achievers Awards 2021 for Shhama V Soni, CFO & Director of S Sony & Company Pvt. Ltd for Proven excellence over 55+yrs in plumbing and fire fighting solutions. She is keen on protecting the environment and preserving the natural resources on the planet. Here’s an exclusive interview with  Shhama V Soni:

How do you define plumbing?

Plumbing harnesses a precious resource WATER – to use safely for health, hygiene & well-being. It is creation of water systems for drinking, good sanitisation and drainage systems. The aspect of water scarcity is gaining acknowledgement so plumbing fraternity is becoming conscious and have replaced the conventional materials & methods to new technology & innovations that adds to water & energy efficiency in their buildings which also supports the environment as for example we ensure every building has STPs and rainwater harvesting is must for water reuse.

What is importance of Plumbing in Architecture?

Plumbing is vital in architecture as any incredible designs, sky scrapers can survive if the plumbing is perfect. It can lead to potential disasters if gone wrong, it can cause leakages, formation of moulds & fungus and finally collapsing of building if not handled properly. Rightly quoted by Late Sh.J.R.D Tata “Plumbing is the heart of any building” on the inauguration of Taj Mahal hotel, Maan Singh road, where he honoured us by calling our plumbing incharge to cut the ribbon.

Some brief about your company S.Sony & Company Private Limited ?

We are pioneer in the field of plumbing & fire fighting. The one of oldest company in India with successful completion of 55 years. The CMD of the company, Mr Anil K Soni (my  father in law) started this journey in 1966 and has worked with renowned architects and consultants of the real estate industry. Mr Ranbir Sehgal, Director and COO of the company with his skills & knowledge have completed some iconic projects. Mr. Sunil K Soni, Director and younger brother to Mr. Anil k Soni is on board since 1976 and has contributed to the growth of the company. We have expertise in various verticals viz. hospitals, hotels, Residential & Commercial complexes. We have worked with International renowned architects  like Charles Correa,Gherzi Eastern,Ramesh Khosla & Hafeez Contractors. We have the skill & expertise to carry plumbing & Fire projects of any magnitude.

How did you get inducted into the business and what value addition have you brought to the company?

The company being the oldest still worked in the traditional manner as Plumbing being the backend work has never got much recognition in the industry. I joined my father in law as it was a family business and me having an experience of 10 years working with corporates, was indented to the company in 2016 after its completion of 50 years as Director (Marketing) & CFO and made an effort to give it a digital platform by creating our company website – www.ssony.in, showing the accomplishments & expertise of our company in superintendence of Mr Anil K Soni & Mr Ranbir Sehgal. With the exposure to different social media platforms our recognition has been enhanced globally.

What is the vision for your company?

It is my responsibility that my family legacy grow and I take it to new heights.by providing exceptional plumbing & fire services that exceeds our clients expectations in the areas of service, quality & value in the most professional, efficient & reliable manner giving better Plumbing with better Environment.

How was your journey with SSCPL so far and what advise you have for women who wants to be entrepreneurs?

Society still perpetuates the out dated stereotype that the plumbing industry is a male-dominated field, in which women play a minimal role, so far, it was a good learning so far being on the grounds with labour. It can get difficult when surrounded by so many naysayers but believe in yourself and your potential.

You are a millennial & have own ideas, How you implemented ideas in business and how was your experience with working with family members?

I started at a grass root level and was salaried nominally like any other employee and was given salary raise with time. This helped me understand the ground problem of the organisation and also helped in building trust among employees and my colleagues and they started respecting my leadership. I shadowed and learned from my mentor Mr Ranbir Sehgal. Family advisors can really improve the efficiency of the incumbents, my father in law “ Mr Anil K Soni” was patient enough to teach and guide me all through. We all have very distinctly demarcated our roles and responsibilities and it has been smooth working since then.

How do you manage your time between your various responsibilities daughter, work, home and social life?

The concept of Entrepreneurship sounds fun, the actual challenges you face daily requires lot of patience & maturity. To establish a balance between my family and professional commitments has been quite a journey for me ,I am happy to say that I have founded a perfect balance as I have chosen to do work with “Value” rather than “Volume”. My own experience is that life is richer if one has more integrated approach to both work and non-work life.

How the pandemic has affected your business and what have you learnt from it ?

This pandemic has been unprecedented in many ways, and has impacted our business in many ways:

a.Constructions had halted.

b. Material cost had sky rocketed.

c. Manpower has been limited.

d. Payments have been delayed.

e. Difficult to keep up with the uncertainty and the speed at which the world is being impacted but we stood by our employees and workers who had their families to support and stood by us so far in our journey, by paying their salaries in full out of our pockets. 

We have even learnt that you have the passion to give back to society by your own means – how do you plan on giving back to society?

During the pandemic, I have come across various, not for profit organizations. Out of which one organization Little India Foundation, I am on the advisory board for Women Empowerment and Nari Shakti Awards for up-liftmen for women who have hidden talent but have not been recognised by people. Naari Shakti is a platform that allows all women to speak from the heart of what they feel or be an inspiration to many women today. I have been supporting Little India Foundation for various causes such, Wash – Oral hygiene, Naari Shakti, One meal a day, winter wear, food out old e-waste and so on.

As told to HBW news by Shhama V Soni, CFO and Director of S.Sony & Co Pvt. Ltd.