‘IBELIEVE THAT PATIENCE IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS’

Ithink being daring and rebellious works sometimes… it’s how I realised fashion is my passion. I was always interested in fashion as a kid and always wanted to be a designer. I loved fashion and would constantly ask my father to bring me fashion magazines and attempt to dress differently from my friends. This involved cutting up my uniforms adding ribbons to it and eventually having the principal call in my mother. We come from a conservative Pathan family and my mother couldn’t understand my obsession with fashion, she just wanted me to be like younger sister who’s very simple and proper. My mum is still furious with me for being in fashion and doesn’t watch my fashion shows.

The UAE is a place where you can achieve your dreams and goals … not to say that you can’t do the same in any other part of the world but you aim something in the UAE and you can achieve that goal. The UAE will always be my home. I was born and raised in Bastakiya, Dubai, then we moved to Sharjah for a bit and we also lived in Ras Al Khaimah for a couple of years. We speak Arabic, live like Arabs and I’ve had Arab friends all my life before I started making friends with Indians and Pakistanis. Sometimes, I think I’m more Emirati than Pakistani.

Competition is essential for success… otherwise you get complacent. It keeps you on your toes and you push yourself to be on the same level as others. For example, when we started, magazines and newspapers were the main means of reaching out to people. But now, new businesses are tech savvy and it’s all about Instagram and Facebook and

snapchat; it’s easier now to make people aware of your designs. So, that’s a huge change but it’s a good change and we’ve adapted to it. What makes our brand different… is that we don’t repeat designs. If a gown is made for a bride, it’s a bespoke creation that no one else will have. It is why people from as far as Saudi Arabia come to us.

Creativity and practicality must go hand in hand … our speciality is gowns and the reason I chose gowns is they bring in more money – haute couture is big margin and big budget. I did do a couple of pret-a-porter lines as well but when you’re a business you do have to look at profit, and wedding and evening gowns are highly profitable.

I respect the opinions of my staff… I’m the designer but that doesn’t mean I’m the boss or have the final say. They give me advice on what can and won’t work and I respect that and sometimes we squabble and have fights – Kauser, my master cutter from Bangladesh has been with me from the start and is the backbone of Salma Khan Fashions. I started the business with one master cutter, two tailors and an embroiderer. Now we have 25 skilled staff from all parts of the world split between a set-up outside and the studio in Jumeirah. Salma Khan Fashions holds my name but without these people it’s just a name.

I’m still waiting… for my greatest achievement to happen I’m a greedy person! Alhamdullilah, I’ve had a lot of success, I’ve done a lot of fashion shows in London, in Paris, and in Oman but I feel that I still have a lot to accomplish.

Balance has been the key to our survival as a business… We’ve never gone over the board. Of course, we’ve grown – I was at Al Rigga running the business out of two attached apartments. Now we’re in Jumeirah in a villa. There are ups and downs and they are a part of life, not just Dubai or business. Life can’t always be a smooth road. If you have the capability to go big, yes go for it, don’t stop or limit yourself, but also don’t stretch yourself too thin to a point that you have to close down the business.

I’ve been able to overcome challenges because I’m flexible… there are off seasons, especially during summer. During the summer I have local clients who want to travel a lot and want summer clothes, so while we specialise in gowns, I make them different collections of jackets, jumpers according to their demands so we have work to keep us going and we’re not limiting ourselves. It’s about maintaining a balance between creativity and also doing what needs to be done because at the end of the day this is a business and it needs to be sustained. It’s about diversification. I take pride in being a single working mother…

I’ve always tried to be there for my kids, from taking them with me to London for short periods while I was studying fashion there, to trying and making it for all their special moments. But it has been hard doing it all on my own and I regret not being there for milestone events like my son’s graduation because I had a bride to attend to and then got stuck in traffic. However, they’ve understood over the years that all of it has been for them. My kids think I’m a superwoman Multitasking is one of my strengths… I had no choice but to simultaneously raise three kids as well as run a successful business. Fashion was both my bread and butter and passion, and when you are responsible for three boys, you need to ensure survival. When I started my business, I couldn’t afford a nanny or a driver, so I’d ferry my kids from their extracurricular activities and juggle that with the client appointments I had, shuttling between Jumeirah and Al Rigga. Occasionally, I’d rope in friends to help me.

I believe that patience, patience and patience alone is the key to success… my advice to aspiring female entrepreneurs is start with very minimal finance. Start slow but keep at it and don’t give up on your dreams and be patience. I’m not saying you’ll be a Dior or a Valentino but you will reach somewhere. You need patience – you can’t open a boutique and succeed overnight. Like a baby, you have to allow a business the time to grow too.

I value my relationships with customers… When a lady comes to me to design engagement or wedding outfits, we have few meetings before I start work and we spend a lot of time getting together and it’s not just about choosing the right fabric and embroidering but also about getting to know each other. You build a relationship of a family member or friend with them and understand how she wants to look on her big day. These clients then recommend their sisters or friends to me by word of mouth, especially the Arab and that is how my business grows.

In the future, I see myself… opening up a boutique in Karachi in one of the malls and a branch of Salma Khan Fashions in Abu Dhabi but only in the next two years. Besides being a designer I’m a good cook and I bake really well so in a year and a half I plan to open a coffee shop with different kinds of cupcakes and design cakes and the café will have elements of a fashion store in it too.

Life can’t always be a smooth road. If you have the capability to go big, go for it, don’t limit yourself, but also don’t stretch yourself too thin to a point that you have to close down the business.