COVID-19 Affected our Production in China, UAE

COVID-19 Affected our Production in China, UAE

Daisy Raffan, is the 29 year old founder of Beach City AE ; a Dubai based, international online store. The young entrepreneur who is from United Kingdom but runs the affairs of Beach City AE in Dubai and other parts of the world tells her success story, inspiration behind her fashion line and overcoming her initial challenges.

According to Daisy Raffan she has always been passionate about starting her own business as her parents are entrepreneurs.”I have been living in Dubai since 2008 but I am originally from UK. I have always been passionate about starting my own business as both my parents are entrepreneurs. I admired how hard they worked and the life they were able to create. Being an entrepreneur gives you the flexibility to work whenever you want and travel whenever you want. My parents brought me up to be hardworking and to believe you are able to achieve whatever you set your mind to as long as you put in the work. they also made me realize that you don’t need much to get started and you are able to teach yourself so many things along the way. I have always loved learning and my desire to constantly learn more about the world will always be there.
I plan to start many more businesses and initiatives in the future as there is so much i want to do and achieve.”

On the inspiration behind the kick off of her company, Beach City AE, she said, “I always wanted to own my own business and I always loved fashion. When I was living in Dubai, I noticed a gap in the market for unique but affordable clothes. There were mainly only high street and mainstream brands in Dubai and any boutiques selling different styles were very expensive. I used to travel a lot, so I started by buying clothes from different countries and bringing them back to Dubai to sell. When the business started to grow, I sourced more suppliers online. There were also styles I was unable to find such as beachwear, so I started to manufacture our own designs in the UAE.”

Just like every other entrepreneur, Daisy Raffan’s young business was highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but she is not letting it weigh her down. “It has done quite a lot. When the Coronavirus (COVID-19) first started in China, it affected our production there that was urgent for an upcoming launch. We scrambled to move all our production here in the UAE and once we got that started we went into lockdown here also. In terms of Coronavirus (COVID-19) overall affecting businesses, I think the impact will be huge. Obviously, fashion business have noticed the affects immediately as consumers are no longer allowed to go out, so there is no need to be buying new clothes. Consumers salaries may have been cut as well, so they will definitely be cutting down on buying non essential items.
Once the lockdown restrictions are lifted, I think it will take a long time for businesses to get back to the way they were. With dead stock and cash flows being the major issues.”

Aside the Coronavirus issue, Daisy Raffan had some early challenges starting up Beach City AE, which she conquered with her resilience.
“There are a lot of challenges when you start your own business. Firstly, it is hard to stay motivated when you don’t have many customers. You are putting in a lot of work with no immediate return. It also takes a lot longer than you think to build your business up. Being an entrepreneur can also be quite lonely. Before you hire any employees, you are working alone all day every day. It is very easy to give up in the beginning, so you need to keep reminding yourself why you started and you really need to believe in what you are doing.” she concluded.

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