Six years ago, with just Shs20,000, Hussein started selling clothes in St Balikuddembe Market but the business he started is now worth Shs70m. He explains how he’s been able to become successful.
What is the name of this business?
I named it Designers World.
Why this kind of a name and what exactly do you sell at Designers world?
I named it that way because I deal in trendy and latest designs. Gone are the days when people just put on clothes to cover themselves. These days, everyone wants to wear a renowned designer to fit in society.
It’s at Designer’s World that you find classy designs like Gucci, Armani, Zara, Giuseppe Zanotti, and Versace among others in all sizes and colours.
Among the things we sell include jeans that cost from 40 to 150k, shoes from 80 to 450k, t-shirts 20-100k, boxers 15 to 30k, designer fumes from 40 to 100k, coats 70-150k, watches from 50 to 300k, caps 25 to 70k and belts go for 20 to 100k.
Why are your items so expensive?
I can’t say I’m expensive compared to my competitors and my supply is plenty. At Designers, we never run out of items at any time and we provide the best.
How do you then beat your competitors?
I make sure I keep my clientele from those I started with to those I have gotten today, I make annual fashion shows.
The first was at club silk in 2013, then 2014 I held it at Venom club and my last one was at K-club Centenary Park last week. These help me pull crowds and sponsors.
What challenges are you facing doing this kind of business?
Rent is high and our landlords don’t meet our expectations and by this I mean power and water is on and off yet rent is increased all the time.
There are a lot of duplicated items on the market. You can sell a genuine and original item at Shs300,000 and a client finds a duplicate of the same thing at Shs30,000. Believe me he will never buy from you again.
How do you differentiate between a duplicate and original item?
The materials, texture and comfort differ.
What security do you have in this business incase fire breaks out?
I don’t necessarily drely on it so much.
What I do is save a lot that can start another business incase this ends.
Where are you located?
Majestic plaza, level 4 shop number 28.