Two friends, Kamran and Shawfikul with no website, or following pooled together £500 each. They went to Morocco, looked at material quality grades, and selected a manufacturer. The first batch cost £1,200 and they got branded packaging from China.
The two who live in the UK after reaching Morocco, went from shop to shop finding and comparing prices and quality, operating nine hours a day. They launched their brand in February with just 100 followers on Instagram.
Within three months they made a profit after which they left their jobs. It was a risk for both particularly for Kamran who had a one-year-old to look after. Both worked tirelessly constantly packaging, selling, speaking to customers, and maintaining their website and socials 24/7.
They acted against the advice of friends to go to South Asian countries for outsourcing and selected Morocco to cut costs. They aim to expand their Maghribi brand into wedding collections, a lady’s range, a charity foundation, and even workshops to help young people.
Their climb to success reached a major step as they will debut a pop-up stall in Birmingham’s Grand Central just before Eid-al Adha. One of the partners Shawfikul said, it was scary to take risks but we thought that even if we failed we would gain knowledge. We took the risk of ignoring community pressures and the fact that we don’t to any degree.
The other partner Kamran said one has to be productive to expect things to happen. As both are of Asian origin we were reluctant to step out of our comfort zones but the most important thing that money was the freedom of operating independently.
It is the freedom to take care of our family, friends, go on holidays, etc. We both work back-to-back shifts 24/7 because we see a vision.
Maghribi a successful brand launched by two friends with 1000 British pound
