CHOOSE A ROLE MODEL:

Saida Ebrahim, Managing Director of Scrumptious Sweets

My story...

About me
Aged 16, traumatised, confused, scared and isolated I find myself in a foreign country, with no friends or life of my own. As soon as my mum and brother were released from prison we fled our home in Tanzania to come to England to seek sanctuary. Their crime? Colour of their skin and different ethnicity - for neither of which we had a choice! We were the lucky ones - others died in prison.

It was a huge culture shock. I had learned English at school in Africa, but I couldn’t understand anything anyone was saying because of the accent. My clothes marked me out as different. I didn’t have any friends – it was very lonely.

I got married at 18 and had my daughter at 19. I had to grow up very fast. It wasn’t until much later on that I gained confidence and knew what I wanted to do with my life.

How did you get into business?
I come from a business background. Business was all I knew as a little girl. I helped my husband to run a post office for a number of years, then it was closed down and we were offered compensation. He set up a new business and I decided to do something for myself.

We were on holiday in Dubai when I had one of those light bulb moments. My son wanted to buy some pick and mix sweets in a garage and it was OK because they were halal. I realised that is what we need in the UK, so I set up Scrumptious Sweets. Soon after launching I realised there was a bigger gap in the market and seized the opportunity to launch an organic, vegetarian and vegan range!

Hard work
Since then I have spent many hours sourcing manufacturers and suppliers. I had never done anything like it before. It was a long, long slog, but now my business is doing really well. We are looking to export the finished product to the Middle East and it will be much higher volume.

Family always come first
As women, we have a lot of family commitments. We look after our parents in the home and family always comes first. In my first year in business, my mother fell ill and broke her shoulder. I helped looked after her for 6 months.

Sense of achievement
Working for somebody else – for me that is boring. Running my own business, I can make the decisions. It is my own decision about changing direction and the speed of that change. When you overcome the challenges, the sense of achievement is wonderful. I absolutely love it!

What would advice would you give to others?
Never under estimate the power of education and hard work; almost everything is achievable as long as you are prepared to work hard.

Recognise every challenge as an opportunity for success, overcome every obstacle with exhilaration and if you make a mistake, forgive yourself.

Without challenges life can be boring!

Education is the vital key to various locked opportunities, business is common sense. Education coupled with hard work and a great idea makes a successful entrepreneur!

The advantages of running your own business are many - freedom of working as many hours one day and as little another, grow your business to your pace and change the direction when you feel it is right. You are the BOSS!!!

Believe in yourself, enjoy your journey, learn from your mistakes and celebrate your achievements. Learn something new everyday don’t forget to smile. Above all, remember to set targets which are achievable.

Knowledge is power. Remember that knowledge is a ruler and wealth is its subject. (The Peak of Eloquence, Ali Ibn Abu Talib)