55389435 final-entrepreneur

ENTREPRENEURSHIP FINAL PROJECT

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH THE MOST BENEFICIENT THE

GRACIOUS.

COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Islamabad 1


ENTREPRENEURSHIP

FINAL PROJECT

SUBMITTED TO: MR. SHAHID MEHMOOD

SUBMITTED BY:

MALIK TAUQEER ABBAS FA08-MBE-008SYED HAMMAD ALI FA08-MBE-021HAFIZ SAJJAD RASHEED FA08-MBE-029

CLASS: MBE- 5

TOPIC: SUCCESS STORY OF AN ENTREPRENEUR



SUCCESS STORY OF AN ENTREPRENEUR



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project is one of the most challenging projects that we undertook and we would

like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who contributed to the successful

completion of it. I would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mr.Shahid Mehmood,

our supervisor, who served as a mentor for us throughout the research. We would

like to thank him especially for his patience and time, for his constant

encouragement, advice and guidance during the entire period of our project. His

support was indispensable in completing this project. It was truly a great learning

experience working with him.

We are extremely grateful to our parents for their constant support and loving

encouragement, and for always believing in us.

Above all, we would like to thank ALLAH – The Almighty for rendering all his

blessings on us.



Introduction

The concept of entrepreneurship is age old and has witnessed evolution through the past centuries.

An Entrepreneur is not supposed to be superman but, he needs to be gifted with some basic Qualities one of such qualities is the quality of creating some thing new and being inspired. Such qualities are seen in artists. And designers are artists too.

One of such great artists is Amir Adnan. He brought a very sophisticated change to the men’s fashion and proved the quote “Fashion is not about glitz and Glam” as false and reintroduced the Sherwani style to the industry of PAKISTAN. Putting a save to the importance of Cultural heritage by inducing it in fashion. His mission was to revive the Sherwani, a tradition long lost.

Fashion awareness is setting in and though mass consumer in Pakistan may not be as trendy or fashion savvy as that in America and Europe but the learning process has begun.

Amir Adnan is ranked among the Big and top names in the list of Pakistani fashion designers. He is the second fashion designer of Pakistan who was given the Pride and Performance award by the Government of Pakistan.

From classical to modern ties to turbans and from designing couture for Pakistan's Ex. President Pervez Musharraf to India's PM Vajpayee, Aamir Adnan aims at softening boundaries, playing up to the synergy that exists between cultures and generations.



Biography

Amir Adnan is ranked among the big and top names in the List of Pakistani Fashion Designers. He is a popular Pakistani fashion label for men and women. Amir Adnan is an IBA Graduate and is a proud recipient of the Pride of Performance Award bestowed by the Government of Pakistan.

Currently, Amir Adnan is the largest enterprise of designer clothing in Pakistan, and caters to an upper-class client. His mission was to revive the Sherwani, the traditional long coat, which was buried with the lords and maharajas of former times.The modern day man had adopted the western three piece suit as the only acceptable vision of grooms wear and Amir Adnan had vowed to change that. He had the vision to see that it was our indigenous craft and attire which would help us make it to the international map of fashion.

1990 saw the evolution of men's fashion in Pakistan when Amir Adnan, a business graduate by profession from Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, stepped out to realize his own individual style, at the same time translating it to the demands of a frustrated market.

The need for a simple necktie took him to Italy where he trained and returned with an ingenious approach to reconstructing this basic accessory. Suddenly ties were no longer boring or stereotyped in Pakistani fashion; the image meta-morph sizing from the severity of formalwear to the emancipation of the modern day man. The new image of the tie spoke for a new era of menswear in Pakistan. Packed with insatiable desire to design, Amir Adnan the Pakistani fashion designer was charged with energy to revolutionize mind sets and stimulate the senses of the modern eastern man.

In 1992 he designed his first range of italic jeans, conventional denims block printed with a hint of ethnicity and launched them in America. The combination of two seemingly heterogeneous cultures set the international market on fire, giving Amir Adnan his cue to venture up the same path. This path, relatively unknown at that time, had taken him from strength to strength to the international fame which he has achieved today.

Amir Adnan began researching the different dimensions of his newly found passion and in 1994, at a close friend's wedding, realized that fashion to him would not be about modernizing culture but more about making one's identity universally acceptable. His mission was to revive the Sherwani, the traditional long coat, which was buried with the lords and maharajas of yesteryear. The modern day man had adopted the western three piece suit as the only acceptable vision of grooms wear and Amir Adnan had vowed to change that. He had the vision to see that it was our indigenous craft and attire which would help us make it to the international map of


ENTREPRENEURSHIP FINAL PROJECT fashion.

Today, almost a decade later, Amir Adnan's design philosophy has evolved clearly, marking itself permanently on the map. He is the largest enterprise of designer clothing in Pakistan, creating retail and manufacturing structure that can rival an international competitor. His new Brand Fnkasia has created new boundaries in innovation and style in Pakistan fashion; he had shown how a simple kurti can be made extraordinary by careful application of embroidery.

Source of new idea. (Business knowledge, Friend's wedding) Ralph Waldo Emerson says, “Every artist was first an amateur”

Artists get inspired by the craziest things around them for an instance, they might see a worn out decayed flower but find the beauty in the concept and find inspiration. A great mind such these, is our Entrepreneur Amir Adnan. After completion of his academics he knew he had the background the knowledge and that the Pakistani industry had fashion potential. Back then three piece English suits were the most prefer men's wear BUT! He didn't like the ties!

So he decided to move to Europe where in Italy he found his inspiration in the vivid colors and different styles in ties, this he carried with him and introduced this extravagant tie culture in Pakistan and it turned out to be a huge success.

Moving forward in 1994, while attending a dear friends wedding, he again got an inspirational vision and he realized that fashion was just about being trendy but about making your culture and your identity known, and making it universally acceptable.Today the trend of Sherwani's and lehenga’s , long lost a few decades back, are considered to be a luxurious fashion and the credit goes to revolutionary designers, one of them AMIR ADNAN.

Type of innovation

Ordinary innovation Ordinary innovation complies with minor changes minor innovations like changing of color schemes, or a tuck here or a tuck there. This is what fashion is all about and Amir was not only aware of it, but also brought it into practice.He changed the total face of the fashion industry when suddenly he went from western to traditional. This was a huge blast in the industry, and took Pakistan's fashion face by storm.Huge but minor change, concept was still clothing, but from western to traditional a sensational innovation.



Customer viewpoint (continuous innovation)

Amir was one of the few designers and brands that paid great attention to their customers. To them Amir was something new, but at the same time he wasn’t.

Amir was and still is presenting new styles, innovative color combinations, but at the same time he tends to be affordable. Nothing changes the customer's previous life styles just to get one design by Amir Adnan unlike international designers Karl Lagerfeld or Georgio Armani, whose one design might put an average customer into life termed debts.

Firm's view point

New product New Market

Amir conceptualized the new product new market concept very effectively by acting upon his vision to make the world experience and accept the cultural heritage he tried to depict in his designs. So he took his new mughlai designs to Europe and to the near orient. He showed how versatile and unique the pak-indian heritage really is.

Now across America and Europe, special heritage weeks are held in which multi-ethnic people like to buy and wear these designs and are considered to be rare luxury.Amir is one of the successful designers who have managed to blend couture with culture and make designs wanted world wide. Has been a hit in UK and UAE, and has had opportunity to present his designs in the France Couture show in Paris.

Old product New Market

Old product new market concept was captured by Amir during his career span at least two times.First, was when he decided to bring totally new concept of a variety of new styles for ties? Tie, an ancient old product, brought in different styles to Pakistan the new market.

Second, was the sherwani, again an older timer design which Amir intended to bring back to the market as a fashion essence?

New product Old market

Fnkasia promotes youth & freedom of spirit. It is wild and bold in colors- it is predominately for women. In Fnkasia new designs and new colors are introduced every three to six months. It is a totally different set of idea that hasn’t been practiced in Pakistan as a separate domain. Amir along with his wife Huma was able to bring in this new concept of creating a line totally for the youth into his already captured market.



Old product Old marketUsually it is seen that after a little glam and success, the artist tends to fade away. This can be said for any artists including designers. But Amir has been able to hold the market he had targeted a few decades back. He has been bringing back the same product, only different and better then before.Different in designs and colors, and better as it is human nature to change their taste, he has managed to meet his consumer's expectations, and present exactly what they wanted sometimes even better.

Business plan

Men’s lineBridalFnkAsiaJewelry lineHigh magazine

Target market

Target market for Amir was the culture loving people. It is well said that blood connects you to your roots, Amir used the main essence of these roots in his designs and that’s all he needed to do. People felt drawn back to their long lost heritage, he saw an opportunity and took hold of it. His main targets were men as he designed for men at the beginning.

With Fnkasia he grabbed a total different kind of market. This time he targeted young people in particular young women and teenage girls with variety of extraordinary designs and vivid color combinations.

Market development strategy

But Amir has been able to hold the market he had targeted a few decades back. He has been bringing back the same product, only different and better then before.Different in designs and colors, and better as it is human nature to change their taste, he has managed to meet his consumer's expectations, and present exactly what they wanted sometimes even better.He used branding as his premium market strategy and has been able to keep hold of the captured market for 15 years now.Introducing state of the art embroidery patterns, Amir has kept up with the expectations of his consumers.

Positioning:



Market leader in providing quality apparels with traditionalism being their forte. They have made sure that whenever customers enter one of their outlets, they are able to feel the unique ambience and standards of Amir Adnan. They have positioned themselves as trendsetters as far as men's wear is concerned.

Presentation: Amir Adnan considers presentation to be extremely important and displays its merchandise in adequate luxury by the help of racks and mannequins. They pay special attention to the overall look of the store, which also helps them to present their products in a much more fashionable way

Direct Marketing: Database of buyers Discounts to loyal customers

Objectives that Amir followed were, "To be a global leader by providing maximum satisfaction through our products and services".

Diversification strategy (FnkAsia)

Amir’s FNK Asia in collaboration with AHAN ( aik humar aik nagar) has set a goal of reviving the handicraft potential in Pakistan. Apart from the stitch and design, handloom cloth from Multan and Bahawalpur are extensively used in their pieces.

All these diverse designs are widely loved and craved for by his fans and customers.It is known for the trendy and funky clothes which are not available in any traditional outlet in Pakistan.

The early bird gets the worm.

In business, being the first company to sell a new product may provide long-lasting benefits or competitive advantages. First movers are also called market pioneers. The benefits of pioneering may result in market dominance and higher-than-average profitability over time. There are several reasons why these benefits may develop, but research has shown that being the first mover does not always provide advantages. Sometimes there are even first-mover disadvantages, where companies


ENTREPRENEURSHIP FINAL PROJECT that enter a market later can achieve superior results to those attained by the first-mover firm.

Amir is one of the few people like Calvin Klein who captured this advantage for himself in Pakistan. Though many competitors have emerged over time, and many have made a mark in the industry, none of them has been able to pull him off his saddle.

Amir Adnan as an international entrepreneur:

Amir not only has made a mark in his home country but has also managed to become one of the sparkling stars in the international skies.

Amir has made crafts and artisans of far off areas of Pakistan available to local Pakistani and international clients. Apart of having a number of outlets in Pakistan, Amir also deals with the US, UK and Dubai international market. He is one of the pioneers of international retailing in Pakistan.

Amir Adnan became an international entrepreneur with his newest brand FNK Asia which he created along with his better half, Huma Adnan.

Entrepreneurial entry into international business (franchising)

Amir expanded his business like any business mastermind would do. He did not rely only on third parties to bring his stuff to the market, but himself started franchising across UK, and UAE. Amir also has full fledged fashion stores in America and Dubai and is planning the same for Bangladesh and India in the near future.

Selection of good partner (his wife)

The main essence of a partnership lies within the understanding and synchronization of the partners. Who would be a better partner for the business then the one already partner of your life. Amir’s success is partially courtesy to his partners' faith in him which is his wife Huma Adnan. Both share a brand FNK Asia which they both design in beautiful synchronization as he makes the designs and she chooses the fabrics. The main inspiration comes from nature and elements like flowers, sea, seashells, seaweeds etc.



Market Potential

With FNK Asia Amir saw huge potential in Pakistan as there’s no such brand in Pakistan that is particularly targeting the youth of Pakistan. Amir saw an opportunity and grabbed it and so far FNK Asia is a huge success. The designs and colors are results of inspirations both husband and wife gathers from nature and elements. Huma believes that when a girl decides to buy FNK Asia design she should be able to do so with eyes closed, without having to worry about quality of the fabric, because it’s the best. Even the price range is affordable starting 950 a piece.

There was an opportunity, he too it and he is sticking to it for as long as he can. So far Aamir is the only Pakistani designer who has made a brad like this and had success with it not only nationally but also internationally capturing the market of US, UK and Dubai.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:

• Cheap Labor• Unique Craftsmanship• Innovation Management• Value Chain Management• Online Retailing• Indefinite hierarchy- quick decision making

Opportunities:

• Working on local lines• Expansion of Business

Weakness:

• Labor dependency• Team management under each decision

Threats:

• Contractors of workers have little loyalty• Duplicate design at cheap rates• Cost of technology Investment due to low awareness of product

Action Plane



• Strength: Maintain the core competencies (Unique design and stitching, Innovation and Quality)

• Weakness: Implement project planning system and introduce performance based incentives

• Opportunities: Diffuse into market through better market analysis and strategies. It can be done by local partnership.

• Threats: Include contractors in performance based incentives programs and motivate them through non-monetary benefits. Duplication can not be stopped so better work on high quality product and services to enhance customer satisfaction factors.

Amir Adnan About himself:

What is the one thing that makes you different from other designers in the field of fashion?

Smiles before answering; you see there are two things which I concentrate on pursuance of a hobby and business. I have converted my hobby into my business.Some people in this industry just do fashion designing for the sake of pursuing an art. For example they are just interested in the creative part of it and they are not involved in the business side. For me both the sides are equally important. I am probably the first designer in Pakistan who has commercialized the business of fashion. I guess this is one thing unique that I have. Now there are a lot of people who are following the same line. I came up with a realistic fashion not the one which looked nice and creative on paper but actually nice on people as well.

How did you start fashion designing?

By sheer coincidence actually, I started making ties for myself as a hobby. I use to wear my ties to work and people used to appreciate them. They wanted to buy them from me and that gave me the idea that there was a market of these kinds of things. I made some ties and started selling them. It worked! So I quit my work opened a shop and this is where I am today.

What was your motivation in designing a label when Pakistan was still learning the meaning of fashion?

My motivation, I always thought if I was not a fashion designer I would be doing something which would be indigenous. Which would be creative, commercializing creativity or I would be writing stories for children. This is something that is in me.I believe in turning things around which don’t exist. I feel that everything is there you just need to rearrange the elements and they will look totally different.

This is exactly what I have done in Pakistan I have just rearranged the elements. Shalwar kurta was always there Sherwani was always there, it’s an age old garment.


ENTREPRENEURSHIP FINAL PROJECT I have just rearranged some of the elements and I have made the same things more fashionable and globally acceptable. This is the thing I am always up to so this is what I thought of when I started fashion in Pakistan.

This question was always in my mind; why there is no concept of fashion in Pakistan? We have all the ingredients - we have the culture, we have the design sense, we have talent, we have a lot of rich heritage that I could develop on but that heritage had to be translated in a different language. I have just translated that heritage into my own vocabulary which is more understandable to a wide spectrum of people and that is what made the difference.

Your clientele include Mr. Musharraf, Mr. Vajpayee and Mr. Karzai; what is it in your work and your design that attracts prominent figures like them?

You see the kinds of clothes I make are meant to make the wearer look his status. As I said that my clothes are a symbol of achievements, so those people who have achieved a lot in life are automatically drawn towards this kind of clothing. When they look at it they say this is what we should be wearing; it suits their stature.

If you want me to define my style in a few words it would be elegant, sober, conservative and yet stylish. These are the four things that people of the above stature are looking for. They cannot be flamboyant, yet they don’t want to be dull and they want to wear stylish clothes. They are looking for very good quality and finishing; we offer all these things. We have a lot of designer flair within that parameter which is otherwise difficult to achieve. This is the balance we have achieved and this is why we attract the above mentioned.

What motivated you to open a outlet in Dubai?

It is a step towards expanding in the rest of the world; Dubai is the first stepping stone. We want to globalize our business and we have started with Dubai. We also have some presence in America but Dubai is where we have opened a full fledge fashion store. We are planning on entering the Indian and Bangladeshi market probably by next year. It is just easy to come here compared to India.

But don’t you look at Dubai as a western hub?

Not exactly, Dubai is a wonderful amalgamation of all cultures in the world. When I walked in the first mall to buy a shop I confronted a person who asked me a very good line; “Are your clothes capable of attracting people from sixty five different nationalities, if so then you deserve a shop in our mall”. This got me thinking where else would I get people from sixty five different nationalities looking at my products. No where in world!


ENTREPRENEURSHIP FINAL PROJECT If I go to India or Bangladesh I am only targeting a certain group of people, I am catering to one taste of preference. If I am successful in Dubai I am actually targeting too many nationalities at the same time; which is exactly what my client base is in Dubai.

I have designed clothes for them who have no link with Pakistan as such right now I have done a wedding in Germany. So you see Dubai is not a western hub it’s a multi-national hub.

The process of making clothes?

There are several processes. I have got many people working with me so we have different teams for different things. There is a team who selects fabrics, there is a team who designs and predicts what are going to be the colors for the next season and then the colors are finalized by me.

Then there is the purchasing team which goes out in the market and notes down the quality fabrics which suit the color theme. The whole team sits down and decides on the design and then we produce sample products. Once it is finalized by me, it is put in to production and then shipped down to our showrooms all over. A very mechanical process is followed.

Tell us some thing about Fnk Asia?

Fnkasia is something Huma, my wife, has started. It is just a diversion from what we do. Amir Adnan is more sober, elegant and more for men. Fnk Asia on the other hand promotes youth & freedom of spirit. It is wild and bold in colors- it is predominately for women. There is this difference between the schools of thoughts and hence they are two different labels. It is produced by the same house and the same set of designers. It is done by the same people but with difference in concepts. In Fnk Asia new designs and new colors are introduced every three to six months.

What about your views on religion?

Religion is part and parcel of every body’s life. I would quote a very vague example I heard Madonna’s interview once and she said everyone has their own God and she was so true. No matter how inclined or how spiritual you are everyone has their own version of religion & of God. Everyone has a set of believes and all these believes differ. To me religion is something I can practice; to me religion is not something I would like to talk about, it is something I would like to do.

If during my daily activities I am dealing with you fairly then I can impress you to follow the religion. If you have a financial transaction with me and I do fair business with you at the end of the day you say this was a good person I did business with. If it is according to what my religion teaches me then I have done justice to the religion. I think I follow the act not the words.

When twelve people from Saudi Arabia went to Indonesia to do business, all of the


ENTREPRENEURSHIP FINAL PROJECT Indonesians converted to Islam just looking at their conduct and because of their preaching. They were so impressed by the twelve merchants that they accepted their way of life; they accepted their religion so if I can convert someone to my way of life then I would think that I have done justice to myself and my religion.

Your advice for upcoming designers?

First of all get in to a fashion school. It will help you to get to know the technicalities of fashion. Getting into a fashion school and getting a degree doesn’t make you a fashion designer; it is a unique tendency to become fashion designer. It is similar to if you have a good voice and on top of that if you get some training you shine well.If you really want to get in this business then get in to a fashion school. Get some training but that is not just it, you should have an inner talent and if you don’t, it might still help in getting behind the scenes like into production, purchase and all which is very important.
