Saira Khan
Saira talks to Flying Start about The Apprentice, Hard Word Success...
It was exactly 5 years ago that I received the much coveted title, “mouth of the south” after my performance on The Apprentice. It was the first time many British viewers had seen an Asian gobby bird doing business like a man and leading the pack. Thankfully my performance got me to a respectable position in the show and whilst many felt I should have won, in hindsight I’m really glad that I did not.
After the show I got my own BBC children’s business show “Beat The Boss” and managed to present some amazing programmes, I wrote a book published by Random House called P.U.S.H. For Success and I set up my own business www.miamoo.co.uk formulating and selling natural skincare products for delicate skin which are now distributed via John Lewis, Waitrose , Boots.com and Ocado. It’s been an amazing five years.
But I think I have to make some things very clear – just because I appeared on The Apprentice I didn’t wake up to people knocking on the door and offering me amazing jobs, my phone was ringing every five minutes from top companies offering me unbelievable opportunities and I didn’t become a business expert overnight just because I appeared on a business reality show.
Before appearing on The Apprentice I had gained a BA (Hons Degree) and an MA. I started my career as a Town Planner and did this for 5 years before deciding on a career change and dived head first into the commercial world. I worked in the biscuit market, as well as putting on a few pounds, I also progressed quickly in sales and within 2 years was managing my own team of sales people in Central London. I realised that I was born to sell and loved the psychology of it and giving customers the best service. It was all this that stood me in good stead for The Apprentice, my performance wasn’t a fluke or down to good editing, I did have some actual skill.
I love working, thinking and learning and setting up my own business has given me the chance to do all the above everyday. It’s been such hard work, harder than I ever imagined it would be and harder than what anyone advised it would be. Since 2006 when I launched miamoo I have been working 16 hours a day to keep all the plates spinning and let me tell you, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur and you don’t have the privilege of a rich mummy or daddy or access to unlimited funds then the reality is that the first 5 years are going to be HARD WORK and like me you may have to keep a main job going to fund your business in the early years.
My business miamoo sells natural skincare products for babies and children with dry skin. There main reason why I decided to go into was because I have suffered with dry skin most of my life and I have become an expert in knowing what really works and what does not. When I carried out my market research I was amazed to find the following:
The domination of cheap, chemicals laden skincare products available on the high street for parents to buy and use on their children
The lack of availability of natural skincare products
Ignorance of parents to what was contained in their children’s skincare products
Low priority parents paid to preventing dry skin in children
GP’s giving unhelpful advice to parents whose children have dry skin and prescribing creams that can make dry skin conditions worse over time
Having discovered the above I was convinced that there was certainly a gap in the market for a brand based on natural ingredients and one that informed parents about the potential risks of the cheap chemical laden products.
I wanted to set up an ethical company selling ethical products which would ultimately benefit my customers and respect the environment. I have to say, I used innocent drinks as a model to follow, I liked their honesty and their way of communicating to their customers.
Running an ethical business does not mean that I have to disregard the quality of my packaging or that I should be ashamed of making a profit, on the contrary, I have gone out of my way to ensure that my product is of a premium quality , they are 98% natural and do not contain any nasty chemicals that can cause delicate skin to dry out and get irritated. The packaging has been designed beautifully by my designers so that my customers can feel proud of using the product knowing that they have not compromised on quality. I manufacture the products in the UK and 90% of my packaging comes from the UK thus reducing my carbon footprint.
I am always asked why my products are on the expensive side, there are 3 main reasons, 1. I use top quality ingredients and my products are all over 97% natural.2. I manufacture in the UK because I trust UK production, 3. I cannot order huge amounts of stock so this makes my costs higher than a multinationals. But as more and more people buy my products I will be able to buy higher minimum order quantities and therefore reduce my costs and pass these savings onto my customer.
When I start making a profit, I will give 10% of my profits to charity, but at the moment I am focussed on growing the business through Waitrose, Boots.com and Ocado.
I have big plans for miamoo 2010. I am close to signing a very big export order to France which will take miamoo to a different level. I am determined to tell more and parents about the benefits of using natural products on their babies and children’s skin, its better for them and for the environment.
