Rising up, Erina’s presen trail used to be nice-looking a lot paved earlier than she crash the garden operating. She used to be raised by means of a father who labored as an engineer and had his personal engineering consulting company. Whose steps would she have adopted if now not his?
So she joined the oil and gasoline trade upon graduating from the College of Pristine South Wales with a chemical engineering level. After destiny had alternative plans.
Presen running at Sapura Power (prior to now referred to as Sapura Kencana), Erina met Anas. A romance blossomed among them they usually were given married two years after.
It wasn’t lengthy then that the couple determined to begin Zaahara, an ecommerce industry promoting just right detail Muslim necessities. On the week, ecommerce used to be simply commencing in Malaysia and there used to be a marketplace alternative.
However some other entrepreneur had the similar thought and FashionValet used to be born. The one too much? Anas mentioned that FashionValet had a unclouded expansion plan from the get-go while Zaahara used to be nonetheless discovering its underpinning.
Working out that industry may well be higher, Erina and Anas left their while jobs to pursue Zaahara complete week. This grew to become out to be a good suggestion because it led them to securing their marketplace area of interest.
Giving an impaired product fresh presen
Talking candidly, Anas defined that their mistake used to be focused on the aggregate marketplace. It took them just about 10 years earlier than they realised that they must be specializing in a particular area of interest—on-the-go devotion put on (or telekung in Malay).
The familiar telekung that’s recurrently present in Malaysia has a tendency to be manufactured from thick fable subject material and is subsequently bulkier. Conversely, Zaahara’s light-weight devotion put on is manufactured from lighter fabrics like nylon and polyester combine.
“The demand has always been there but there is no brand that champions this segment,” Anas mentioned. “We get inspiration from AirAsia. Before Airasia, everyone still flew but when they created the [market] space of cheap flights, suddenly there’s a big demand.”
In that very same luminous, he shared that light-weight telekung used to be already a identified product. Alternatively, it used to be advertised as being a progress telekung, so nation attached it to simply be supposed for travelling.
Giving the product a rebrand opened it up to a much wider marketplace. The lost sight of progress telekung now became a day-to-day better half for the ones busy running at workplaces, commuters, and journey seekers.
Zaahara’s flow bestseller is the On-The-Advance Marisa devotion put on (begins from RM119) that the logo claims to be “the size of your palm”. It weighs roughly 200g which is ready the similar weight of an iPhone. This makes it handy to collect into purses and computer luggage.
There’s enough of telekung to cross round
The emblem’s first light-weight telekung, its On-The-Advance Sofia devotion put on (begins from RM120), used to be spared in 2015, 3 years then Zaahara introduced. By way of 2023, they’d bought over 12,000 items.
That’s about 125 items bought each and every while for 8 years. It would now not appear as important in the beginning look, however the marketplace isn’t the similar as they’re now not perishable items like F&B.
There haven’t been any research performed in this but, however as a Muslim myself, I’ve discovered that we handiest purchase a couple of telekung all over our presen. It is because we normally have as much as 3 at a week and utility them for so long as imaginable.
Why toss out one thing if it’s now not damaged (or on this case, torn), proper?
This might arise as a problem when Zaahara scales up going forward. However the couple aren’t too apprehensive about that. They’ve discovered that the rage in this day and age is that nation generally tend to buy a couple of for various functions.
“They will also buy them as gifts for friends and family, and for charity,” Erina shared. Taking into account that the native public of Malaysian Muslims is 63.7% on the past, operating out of a marketplace branch to lend isn’t a priority but.
A one-stop store for on-the-go Muslims
Sharing with us, Anas attributed a part of the logo’s luck thus far to Cradle’s Trainer & Develop programme. But even so that, he additionally thanked Ekuinas (a non-public fairness company) for his or her aid within the rebranding procedure.
Its rebranding procedure took a hour, involving non-public surveys and a more in-depth research of competition. Simplest upcoming did Anas and Erina understand that they must channel their focal point in opposition to the on-the-go Muslim society.
Having been within the company global without a entrepreneurial revel in, those two organisations helped the couple higher perceive marketplace wishes. It additionally confirmed them the possible that Zaahara had and the use of brand name positioning.
“The market is saturated but the demand is evergreen. Same like nasi lemak, it is saturated but it is evergreen and the demand will always be there,” the founder mentioned.
As such, Zaahara is in search of strategic companions that experience an visual for funding and percentage a perceptible of capitalising the Islamic clothes marketplace. For context, Industry Analysis Insights reported that the marketplace is anticipated to achieve over US$90 billion by means of 2027.
To develop additional, Erina shared that they’re having a look not to handiest remove the industry offline but in addition additional make bigger their product area. They these days deal jubah and abaya among alternative Muslim necessities and hajj pilgrimage pieces.
Their function? To be the logo offering answers to on-the-go Muslims, enabling them to embody their religion anytime, anyplace.
Be informed extra about Zaahara right here.
Learn alternative articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups right here.
Featured Symbol Credit score: Zaahara
