HOW A COMPETITION MADE ME INTO A BUSINESS WOMAN
Apr 28, 2022
First story
Hi. I am Aleesa and I am from Trinidad & Tobago. I am the owner and manager of FOUF Caribbean Dead Sea Products launched in January 2014. My business journey started back in 2012 when I entered a worldwide competition and won a trip for 2 to Saudi Arabia. My husband and I used the opportunity and travelled in March of 2013 which involved a brief stay in Jordan from and to Trinidad. It was on our first stop over in Jordan (to Saudi Arabia) that I purchased some FOUF products - my own products were not working for me at the time. I fell in love with them and I used the FOUF products for my duration in Saudi Arabia. On our return stop in Jordan, I purchased quite a bit of the FOUF products as I found it to be an awesome gift for family members. My family absolutely loved the products and I wanted to repurchase for continued use. It was a dilemma as the products were not readily available online except from their Jordanian website- shipping was quite costly.
I contacted the company directly to find out how else I can purchase the FOUF products. The option presented to me was to be a distributor for the brand. At the time, I had absolutely no money to invest in such a venture and I did not have much of a business background. After much communication with the company and with the help of one of my siblings, I was able to come up with a reasonable amount of money to make my first purchase order. My business has grown a great deal since then till now despite the Covid-19 challenges. From 20 items, I now carry 37 items.
I am still managing the entire operations of my business alone as I don't have the additional funds for added help. From time to time, I pay a professional social media manager and he has been a great support for my business many times without payment. I also have for the last 2 years, a brand ambassador to help with product marketing.
This business/brand has real potential for growth as I am working on a proper e-commerce site to facilitate online purchase from within the Caribbean.
