Top of her game
Tudung businesswoman Norjuma Habib Mohamed tells Kasmiah Mustapha that to keep her business successful, only one thing matters — numbers
WHENbusinesswomanNorjuma Habib Mohamed talks about her venture, it is a lesson in economy. You learn about marketing, turnover, demand and supply and elasticity when she describes how she turned Aidijuma into one of the most prominent tudung bawal brands in the country.
All these factors play a role when she makes a decision to invest, expand, embark on new markets and launch new products.
As a number-crunching person, a trait that Norjuma herself admits, everything has to follow economic logic in order to make the right business decision.
“The core strength of this business is numbers. Everything is based on the numbers that we have. I have to look at our financial plan and procurement size (the number of units the brand buys to sell). I have to continuously change our branding strategy as the core value and consumption of our products change.”
She says ensuring a stable procurement size is one of the most important factors in the business as one wrong decision can lead to a downfall. The company’s procurement size is between 300,000 and 500,000 pieces every month and it is important that at least 80percentofthestockissold.
The founder and chief executive officer of the Colors Group of Companies, which owns Aidijuma, decides the number of types of tudung — plain, printed and with beads - as each has different prices.
She studies market trend so there won’t be wastage of orders. If it is early in the year, the procurement size is smaller because customers don’t spend as much since they have other priorities, like their children’s school supplies.
It is different during festive seasons and end of the year, especially during sale.
“I think one step ahead to ensure business growth because there can be changes in customers’ spending power, the government’s policy on sales tax and currency exchange. When there is uncertainty, I need to bring the cost down.
“The prices between online, concept stores, mobile trucks and resellers are different because we take into account the cost of each segment. I create tax modules for test runs to determine the final selling price.
“When I have locked in the selling price, I can increase the margin of order to reach target sales. That is why even with the goods and services tax, I can maintain prices,” adds the business management degree holder from International Islamic University Malaysia.
Since setting up Aidijuma i in 2012 2012, Norjuma has implemented various business strategies.
One of them is the mobile trucks, known as scarf machines. They deliver online orders to customers who also have the opportunity to make additional purchases since the trucks stock new designs.
There are now 15 scarf machines in the country and one each in Jakarta and the United Kingdom.
Another move was reducing the number of concept stores to 10 and focusing on open flagship stores, which are bigger in size and located outside of a shopping mall, to attract more customers.
At the moment there is one flagship store in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. There are plans to open another six nationwide.
In 2014, Aidijuma launched the brand in Brunei, its first overseas operations. Two years later, Norjuma formed a partnership with Jakarta-based e-commerce outfit Hijup.com to market Aidijuma in Indonesia. The successful partnership has expanded into the United Kingdom after the acquisition of a majority stake in UK-based modest fashion and e-commerce company Haute Elan, the organiser of London Modest Fashion Week.
Designs have also changed over the years. Starting with plain tudung bawal, there are now various designs including bawal full print, bawal Aidijuma, shawl bawal, shawl cotton, shawl bawal pearl, shawl printed, shawl two face and printed lycra. It launches designs every two weeks with prices between RM7 and RM30. Norjuma started the company using her own money of RM250,000 as she is worried about the impact of loan interest on her business.
“We managed to expand because we don’t waste money. We don’t do aggressive marketing and advertising because we want to offer customers better pricing. We have a sustainable business model and continue to enhance our core value.”
“The company is strong because of our numbers, whether customers, orders or sales. Our goal is to create better designs and find ways to ensure lower prices. I don’t compete with others because I compete with myself to be on top of my own game.”
I don’t compete with others because I compete with myself to be on top of my own game. Norjuma Habib Mohamed