Most students in secondary school are still figuring out what they want to do in life, but not Nur Iman Safiyah Mohammed Shahree, who is believed to be the youngest entrepreneur in all of Malaysia.
Nur Iman, a Form 2 student at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Subang Bestari school and proud owner of her own “tudung bawal” line called Baluna Bawal, began her journey when she was 11, according to Harian Metro as translated by New Straits Times.
She realized that her friends were interested in buying her collection of squishy toys. Since she didn’t have enough in stock to meet demand, she decided to talk her parents, a bank officer and an accountant, into investing.
Nur Iman continued on this path for two years, and in the process, she gathered plenty of followers on social media. The young girl then moved on to her next venture: selling shawls online with the help of the money she gained from selling her toys.
Her business skyrocketed, and after four months, Nur Iman launched her very own line called Baluna Bawal, which is targeted specifically at schoolgirls. It came out just in time for the Hari Raya Aidiladha holiday last year.
Then, in November, Nur Iman launched yet another product called Tudung Sekolah Iman Safiyah (TSIS), an all-white tudung, or head-covering, specifically for tudung-wearing girls and young women.
The demand for her tudung was so overwhelming that she had to ask for her parents and siblings for help with packaging and shipping orders.
“Upon its release, we sold 500 items. The following month, we had an order for more than 1,000 pieces, so business is good,” she said.
Nur Iman admitted that she’s fine with managing her challenging online business at home for now, and she hasn’t thought about opening her own outlet or appointing an agent to help in her endeavor yet.
However, Malaysia’s youngest entrepreneur mentioned she does hope to become a successful entrepreneur and dreams of purchasing her own building someday.
“I’m still new in this field. For now, I am focusing on getting only the best quality material, ensuring that the workmanship is of good standards and according to my specifications. Inshaallah, in the near future, I would like to design a ‘tudung labuh’ for religious schools as well as tudung for school which come in various colours,” Nur Iman said.
Featured Image via Instagram / empire.imansafiyah
