theflickstore: A homegrown success story
The mother of two revealed that as a newcomer in the business, she had to endure setbacks, such as when she incurred over RM40,000 in losses after being deceived by a manufacturer in China four years ago.
SEREMBAN - Difficulties in finding comfortable yet trendy footwear motivated an entrepreneur, Noorfarahida Rosli, to make the bold leap into the shoe business, giving birth to theflickstore brand ten years ago.
Offering four to six centimetres platform shoes, the company is generating annual sales of around one million.
Speaking to Bernama, the 31-year-old Pahang native said in 2014, with RM20,000 of her savings, she and her husband travelled to Thailand in search of shoe suppliers and manufacturers.
"We only had information obtained from social media and internet search...In the first five days, our search was to no avail, but on the sixth day, Alhamdulillah...we finally found a factory that could meet our design requirements.
"It was challenging in the beginning because I was conducting my business via online platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and a website. However, through patience and persistence, my shoe brand is slowly gaining recognition and received high demand, especially during festive seasons,” she said during an interview at her store recently.
The mother of two revealed that as a newcomer in the business, she had to endure setbacks, such as when she incurred over RM40,000 in losses after being deceived by a manufacturer in China four years ago.
Noorfarahida said the manufacturer insisted on upfront payment before production but failed to deliver despite having received the payment.
"I never expected that the person we had been dealing with in China for three years would scam us...they vanished without a trace with our money.
"I was devastated and did not know what else I could do. Money was all gone but there were no shoes...I almost gave up,” she said, adding that the support she received from her family helped her to bounce back.
The entrepreneur, who holds Level 4 of the Malaysian Skills Certificate (SKM), said she then took out loans from various agencies, including TEKUN Nasional and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), to revive and expand her business.
"We work every day, including doing live streams on TikTok. One day, we went on live streams for 18 hours, and as a result, we sold over 800 pairs of shoes at RM100 each.
"Alhamdulillah, we used to make RM200,000 only per year but now we could reach up to seven figures. However, it is not easy to come this far; it required patience and sacrifice,” she said, adding that now she has 12 workers including part-timers.
She said her products have now reached Singapore, Brunei, and Indonesia through online sales, adding that they have also participated in sales carnivals across the country to widen the market reach.
Noorfarahida said theflickstore has more than 100 shoe designs with prices ranging from RM39 to RM159 a pair.
Meanwhile, Nurasyikin Ramli, 31, said she always looks forward to the latest shoe designs from theflickstore, adding that the shoes stand out from other brands in the market.
"I am a fan of platform shoes that are safe and comfortable to wear, even for long walks,” she added.
Fatin Farhana Ismail, 28, said that shoes from the brand are affordable, match her taste, comfortable and durable. - BERNAMA
