Many people have dreams of owning their own companies or starting their own brands one day. But it turns out you don’t have to have years of experience or be famous in order to make those dreams become a reality. Sometimes all it takes is a dissatisfaction with the status quo. As the saying goes, dissatisfaction is the fuel of ambition.
At least that was the case for Rabia Ghoor. Like most 13 year olds Rabia was just starting to experiment with make-up and fell in love with how she could re-invent herself with the stroke of a brush. However, after watching hours and hours of You Tube tutorials she realised that International makeup artists and makeup enthusiasts have so much more of a variety available and the bigger brands (which constantly launch trend innovations) aren’t available here in South Africa. Thus, SwiitchBeauty was born. From a 4 square meter space in Rabia’s bedroom!
Back then, Rabia said it was just an idea. She didn’t have a logo, website, or even a single item of inventory. She began researching, day in, day out. Formulation, e-commerce, packaging, manufacturing, design, and everything else to do with the industry – the end goal was to introduce a brand that spoke to girls, not at girls. An affordable product, she felt proud to purchase, and use.
She started the project small, with an Instagram page & a mere two products and so it began.
SwiitchBeauty has grown from strength to strength and what’s remarkable is that Rabia ran the company whilst attending school full time. She said she got to a point where she would be packing orders until 3AM, and waking up for school the next morning at 6AM!
The SwiitchBeauty brand is now 4 years old and the team has grown to a solid 8 people. They are based in Gauteng but their products are sold via their website and shipped to all 9 provinces in South Africa. They even accept Bitcoin!
Rabia is 18 this year and over and above the company’s growth, she said her personal growth has been her proudest achievement. Her advice to other young entrepreneurs (or teenprepeurs) is: “Go for it! Because when you’re so young – nothing seems impossible. Nothing seems unachievable. Because no one’s told you so just yet.”
You can visit SwiitchBeauty here: https://swiitchbeauty.com
