Saalah Omar is the founder of Great Label, a Nairobi-based shop dealing with the sale of shoes, clothes, bags, and socks.
In an interview with Biashara Leo, the young entrepreneur revealed he ventured into entrepreneurship in 2018, driven by his passion for shoes.
While his interest was on sneakers, he was ready to start small thanks to a family friend who provided him with a starting capital of Sh60,000.
Omar revealed he started with mitumba (second-hand) shoes and sneakers of various sizes and kept on adding his stock with time.
“Great Label began as a thrift shop dealing in shoes, clothes, accessories like bags and socks,” he explains.
He also introduced clothes after noticing a high demand from his clients. He notes that social media has played a great role in his business, noting that most of his clients are drawn from Instagram.
“Everything we sell is of very good quality, we stock the best for our customers…We use Instagram to interact and get to know the needs of our customers,” he says.
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“What makes Great Label unique is the quality products that we sell to our clients. It’s about quality. Our slogan is better quality and better prices,” adds Omar.
His major breakthrough was when he was awarded an order to supply shoes to students by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO). He notes that this order made him the highest profits ever which helped him to scale up his business.
With the proceeds, he began sourcing quality shoes from Thailand and the Middle East. Like any other business, Omar says the footwear business has its fair share of challenges, among them stiff competition.
“Competition is very stiff, if you sleep on your laurels you’ll be forced to close shop…Nowadays you have to look for customers. Gone are the days when customers were looking for buyers,” he adds.
From his experience, he notes that discipline is key in entrepreneurship, adding that business is not for the soft-hearted.
“You cannot come to work wherever you feel. For anyone who wants to venture into this business, the field is wide. However, no one is going to spoon-feed you. You have to roll up your sleeves and work hard to get a piece of the cake,” he remarks.
The businessman further advised unemployed youths without capital to start a business and not to be choosy when looking for jobs.
“Don’t discriminate jobs. Take a job that comes your way. You’ll upgrade with time. If you have something to do, do your best and hard work,” he says.