Arab News, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) The mobile truck business is even reaching Saudi Arabia. Meet the fashion forward college student who is bringing the latest style trends to Saudi Women.
RIYADH
Dalal bint Taleb, a computer programming student at King Saud University, has used her skills to produce an innovative marketing and business idea.
She came up with the idea of a “fashion truck” business as a novel method for marketing, relying on a mobile trailer containing all of women’s fashion needs so that they don’t have to leave the comfort of their homes to do their shopping and access the latest trends.
The products contained in the carriage range from clothes to accessories, shoes, handbags and perfumes, and Taleb presents her services to many sectors of society, especially those who have no means of transport such as the physically challenged and the elderly.
“The trailer is a very convenient method of shopping for these people, offering women the ability to choose what they want from high quality brands at reasonable prices throughout the year without going anywhere and without needing transport services,” she told the Saudi Press Agency
Taleb added that she got the idea from the mobile food carriages found everywhere today, and which are frequented more by young and elderly women. “This kind of business work helps to push society forward into a new mode of development, especially as Saudi women in similar businesses are being supported by our leadership, which is giving women a pioneering and distinguished role in many sectors,” she added.
She pointed out that her idea has encouraged Saudi designers and those with small businesses to specify a space to show their products and items at a nominal price as a way for people to get to know of their items and enter the labor market.
When asked how she got to know of the needs of the shoppers in this regard, she said that she surveyed a number of women on what they wanted and what their styles were, “and through this I came to learn how to provide the kinds of products that they wanted. My project, thank God, has been a success because the shoppers are satisfied with the products that I offer and my wide network of relations has ensured success since my family, relatives, kin, and friends were all supportive of the idea and insisted I should implement it,” Taleb said.
Her project was launched three months ago, with much of its success being attributable to the role of social media. “I was able to rely on social media to get this project off the ground.”
She recommends that people with small and medium-size projects make themselves aware of this asset through simple workshops about how to do a feasibility study and about how to develop one’s business.
She said that all women who want to do this should be aware of the difficulties they may face and must have a plan for overcoming them. She also noted that they should be patient and have the determination to never lose hope, particularly at the beginning of the project.
Taleb emphasized that all projects take time in order to be able to stand on their own two feet and succeed. “I have a message for all those women who are embarking on a commercial project: Make something different; learn and try to be innovative in your success. Never ever stay in one place waiting for success to come your way while clapping your hands for those who have already succeeded.”
She said she wants to widen her idea in the future to create a trailer store for children’s accessories, hoping to be one of the greatest Saudi female pioneers in the coming years, in line with Vision 2030.
