Interview: Starting your Business. With Jeonaiko!

 

In my last blog post I touched on how you can define your personal style and own it by shopping from local and small new brands. Today I bring to you the founder of Pinkunim Habiba Diaa (also known as Jeonaiko) in an interview about her brand and launching a business. 

Tell us something about yourself.

Hi! I’m Habiba Diaa known as jeonaiko on social media and YouTube, I’m 17 years old from Cairo, Egypt.

I’m interested in trying new and different things. My favorite things to do are drawing, learning languages, filming and editing YouTube videos, and handmade work!

Why are you known as Jeonaiko and where does this title come from ?

I was searching for a social media name (especially for my YouTube channel) that also describes me. I didn’t want to use my personal name because many people are called Habiba and I wanted something special. I searched for a Japanese name that has the same meaning as my Arabic name, which means lovely. In Japanese love means 愛(ai) and when it becomes a girl’s name it will be 愛子(aiko), I wanted to put another name beside it to make it more special, so I chose the popular Korean family name of my favorite Kpop idol (Jeon-Jungkook). I combined them to jeonaiko!

Why did you start your business?

I have been making accessories and knitwear ever since I was in primary. 

I noticed how some of my friends were really interested in my crafts. Some even asked me to make them pieces. At first I didn’t like the idea of making stuff and selling it at all. I thought they were too precious for me to sell. I spend a lot of time making them, and they are literally made with love. But after giving it a thought, I realized I make new stuff everyday. I can’t have all of it for myself. Besides I also had another reason to start my business, which is to save money to travel to my favorite country Japan.

Tell us about the journey of realizing your business. Where there any challenges at the beginning ? How did you sort them?

In my opinion things didn’t go well at first. Creating the accessories takes a long time and people weren’t patient. I had to juggle my time between living, studying and working. I came to make these stuff feeling obligated, not making them with love, so I took a break. I took it too far without thinking it through, which is the hardest yet most important part. 

Then I found a way of making my jewelry in a shorter time span. And I thought, “I really wanna make my own brand, maybe make branches all over the world,...”.

I started once again, thinking about a name for my brand. When I first started in primary school my page’s name was “accessories and knitwear/ habiba’s shop” which isn’t a good brand name. I thought about using jeonaiko, but this was the name for my personal accounts. I wanted a cute name to describe my products, and I found Pinkunim! It’s actually Korean meaning Ms. Pink. It fits perfectly because I make products that are cute and mostly pink -my favorite color.

Is your business intertwined with your personal accounts ? Does one support the other?

I try to share a glimpse of my business on my personal account just to let my followers know about it. 

What are your goals for the year? 

I want to get recognized for my work. More people should know Pinkunim, not just my friends. And that is just the beginning!

How do you think about competition in the field?

Since all my inspiration is from Japanese and Korean stores ( I love their aesthetics), I don’t think I have any competitors in Egypt. Especially in this type of accessories. My work is quite different and I’m confident!

What platforms do you use to market your products ? 

So far it’s only been Instagram and Facebook. When I feel that my work is getting people’s attention I might start selling on sites like etsy, worldwide.

You have a delivery service. Providing that service can be difficult, especially when shipping all over Egypt. How did you make it happen?

Fortunately shipping isn’t as hard as it was before. There are many shipping companies everywhere now. I contacted a lot of them until I found one with the most reasonable pricing. However this service is provided for prices higher than my own accessories, which may hold back the customer from buying. I delivered some products myself for less money to make it better for customers, especially since I’m only starting out.

I am still not quite experienced with shipping, but I’m sure that when I have a big amount of orders I’ll get an offer for shipping and it will be better for my customers!

Would you open a shop? 

I would definitely open a shop, but not now. I need to grow online first!

Advice for small and aspiring craftspeople ? 

I’m small too, but from my 6 years of experience in crafting by myself, I would say that you can do a lot with products you have at home and that you don’t need that much money to start off. 

Start today if you can and stop procrastinating. 

Don’t give up on something you truly enjoy doing- instead, find a solution :)