Case Studies. Top 10 Entrepreneurs of annual Awards 2006

SAAD ALI – KARMA

Karma came into existence in 2000. Newport West Marketing (pvt.) Ltd. acquired the brand in 2002. As a result after 2 years of developing all systems from scratch, Karma has fully functional departments with professionals employed from the textile sector looking after & creating systems and processes for smooth & efficient performance. What sets Karma apart is the fact that it is one of the very few companies in Pakistan to be working with fashion designers in a decentralized network where the designers only concentrate on their talent & let the rest of the functions be handled by the relevant departmental heads. Unlike karma most other design houses are one-man shows where the designer feels that instead of spending money on various management tools & functions they can run everything themselves - due to which there is lack of professionalism & efficiency in every function.  This is also a major reason due to which the fashion industry in Pakistan is not structured and is not growing like in India and the rest of the world.  Also Karma is the first fashion Brand to make a deal with an overseas company to provide the infrastructure support to enhance the growth.

The idea was to bring professionalism, efficiency and growth to the fashion Industry of Pakistan.  Want to put Pakistan on the Fashion map of the world. The idea was to set-up a marketing & manufacturing company that would provide the support to the design talent that is extremely under-utilized & un-exposed to the rest of the world.

Before Karma I was working for Levi Strauss Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd for 2 years. I was one of a 3-member task force employed by Levi Strauss San Francisco to launch the marketing business for Levi’s in Pakistan. My father owned 2 garment factories in Sharjah for the past 15 years; also in Pakistan we have a cotton re-processing unit. Hence an extensive background in the textile and fashion industry had geared me for a future in fashion.

This year Karma is devoting to establishing a retail network, locally as well as internationally.

When we acquired Karma - the sales turnover was approx. Rs. 5 million annually. After the acquisition by Newport and development of processes & systems the sales jumped to approx. Rs. 18 million. This was the first year - in the second year we are projecting a 20% further growth.

In the future Karma hopes to establish a retail network nationwide & globally. Franchising options are also being developed.

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