KATHMANDU, Dec 17: Leather is considered as a vintage and versatile terms of clothing. Donning in a black gear makes you unique from rest giving you a vibe of being confident. However, unavailability of quality leather products under an unaffordable price is the main hurdle that every fashion freaks have to face in the country. But now there are some business producing quality leather products in the country.
To know about inspiration, market conditions and challenges of the venture mycity team talked with the founder of Dulla the Factory Team and Today’s Telegram and here’s what we get to about them:
Today's Telegram
Despite the ability to produce quality leather products in the country, tons of leather products are imported annually. Considering the necessity of establishing leather industry to produce quality leather products, Arsalan Akhter established ‘Todays Telegram’ on April 25, 2017. It is a young start-up dealing with bags made of pure leather and other creative non-leather and eco-friendly products. Within a short period of time, its excellent quality products are creating a buzz among youngsters. Not just in Nepal, the products are equally famous abroad as well. The venture is exporting its products to countries like Australia, USA, UK, Sweden and many more. The products of Todays Telegram comprise leather accessories like bags, wallet, beanbags, and duffle bags. However, lap bags are customized and the most popular product of the venture.
Story behind initiation:
Akhter claimed that the idea of the venture stuck his mind during his visit to Rajasthan in 2014. During his visit, he saw a grand showroom with vintage leather products exported to different parts of the world. He then decided to start a similar business in the country and promote Nepali products across the globe. “Telegram was the fastest means of communication in ancient time but is dead now. But whatever you put inside your bag is a telegram for you today.” He justifies the reason behind the brand’s name.
Increased smuggling of raw leather bleeding domestic factories
He started the venture Biratnagar. He then had 60 staffs. Today, the venture has been distributing its products throughout the country without any delivery charge. The venture offers delivery services in Nepal and Sydney. They have collaborated with two distributing companies for this.
Challenges faced by the venture:
No matter how strong your ideas are or how much you invest, hurdles will always test your patience in a startup. Like any normal startups, Todays Telegram went through a chaotic phase during its initial phase. Inadequate access to the internet and lack of proper market were the biggest obstacles that the venture faced in its initial stage. “Leather products are expensive that normal ones, so there is a defined market for such products in the country,” Akhter shared. The venture overcomes such challenges by participating in various national and international exhibitions and fairs to promote their products.
Likewise, to solve the communication gap with its customers, the venture decided to opt for active involvement on social media and receive orders through it.
Future plans:
We are living in the 21st century. There will definitely be a lot of unseen challenges waiting to ruin your courage. Hence, one must plan for various situations to deal with such challenges. Every entrepreneur plans something for their venture and dream to expand their startups. Akhter has similar thoughts. He is looking forward to growing his business into an international brand.
“Though we export our products to different countries, we don’t have stores abroad. Therefore, we are planning to start stores in different countries in future,” he informed. He further said that the company will be launching a store in USA by within a year. Akhter is also looking forward to collaborate with some of the renowned online retail stores like Amazon. Likewise, Todays Telegram is working to introduce new designs and products among the costumers.
Ahmed Dulla-The Factory Team
It’ll be quite bizarre to give an actual definition of a fashion. Some might follow it as a lifestyle while the others consider fashion as a passion and way of enjoyment. Despite it, there are brands that are fulfilling people’s desire to follow the famous. One such brand is Ahmed Dulla - The Factory Team. Founded by Ahmed Dulla in 2011, the brand has been revolutionizing the fashion industry. The brand started with producing leather shoes. After initial success of leather shoes, now The Factory Team sells leather wallets, bags and belts. All the products are designed by the founder Dulla himself.
Story behind initiation
After he completed his diploma in ‘Footwear Technology’ from India, he wanted to test his knowledge and skills. As a result, he initiated ‘Dulla Shoes in 2011 and became the first footwear technologist in Nepal. The brand which Dulla started from the loan given by his father has grown many folds. The company specializes in producing various leather goods; ranging from shoes, wallets, and bags to belts and purses. Sharing his story on the inception of the brand, he said, “I started with selling leather shoes which I designed myself. It has already been almost 8 years. Wow!”
Dulla shares that his interest on footwear made him come up with this brand. “I have always loved shoes. That’s the reason why I studied ‘Footwear Technology’ in India,” adds the founder.
Challenges
Though Dulla has been in this leather market for almost a decade, he faces a lot of challenges in the business. Dulla thinks the challenges have created a blockade in running his leather business where he sells accessories like shoes, bags, wallets and belts.
Of all the things, lack of knowledge about the product is one of his biggest challenges. Also, he finds the shortage of skilled laborers quite challenging. Lamenting the shortage and instability of labors in the business, he comments, “Not only in our company, shortage of laborers is a problem in almost every organization. Basically, because of the lack of appreciable salary for the workers, the workers are attracted by foreign countries. And as a result, it is always hard to find continuity in laborers.”Dulla also finds tough to manufacture products in Nepal.
Goals
Challenges come and go but it requires patience and a positive attitude. Likewise, founder Ahmed Dulla believes that his challenges are the part of his business. Having an intention of upgrading products one at a time rather than doing everything at once; Dulla wishes to upgrade his work and bring more growth in leather business. “The company also operated online from 2011. Since the product has been trusted by my customers, I have established retailer stores. However, I wish to increase the number of retailer stores,” adds the founder when asked about his accomplishments.
Dulla also wishes to bring consistency in the online payment system, which was recently inducted in his business.
