‘The Man’, who is a Woman! – The FLY Store
I love how inspiration comes from everywhere around me! And with inspiration, comes a new post!
So, Hello, I am back!
This post is about ‘The Man’, who is a woman.
Given I strongly believe in girl power, you can guess how extremely happy I am writing about Aqida, and her newly found business, The FLY store. The Fly Store started rocking at business on 18th August 2012, pretty new yeah!
Before I let Aqida tell us about her business, let me add my own little experience with the store. Shopping has seized to be how it used to be; going to stores, choosing from whatever is available, which sometimes meant compromising since traveling to another city or far off stores was a hassle. Locals had way more power then they should have had. With stores like The FLY store, you can now be the one who is in power, and more importantly, you get to ‘love yourself’. There are no more compromises. You stay up to date on the latest collections by subscribing to the business pages, and you get to order using just a few clicks!
With all these new stores, now staying unfashionable is just an excuse, really! *chuckles*
When I asked Aqida about her new venture and what inspired her . . .
We are just two ordinary people who went through school and university and then moved onto the corporate world like most people do. One day while having lunch with our colleagues, Kevin said something that just struck my mind. He said “no matter how successfully you climb up the organizational tree you will always have to answer to someone unless you become “THE MAN””, which is actually true. And it seemed like we both at that time realized that we wanted to try and be “THE MAN” because later that day when I talked to Kevin about starting a business he immediately agreed that it was a great idea. We then talked about a lot of different options and came up with this online store on Facebook because in this era one of the fastest ways of getting noticed by people is through internet and through Facebook.
From where did the tagline – First love yourself, come from?
Well to be honest the name “The Fly Store” was just one of those random names that came up while brain storming for a name for the store. We were trying to find a name that did not focus on one area of product as our plan is to expand our product range in every direction, from jewelry to clothing to phone accessories and so on. So one day we were just having a casual discussion about what name should we give to our store and there were some funny names that popped up and that is when The Fly Store name came up and we liked it. From that we then realized that there is a great tag line hidden in the name which was as you know it “First Love Yourself, others will come next”. The people and things we love, and in the context of TFS the things you buy, are a mere reflection of yourself. Thus, loving yourself comes foremost.
What inspires them when it comes to Jewellery and does it reflect in their collection?
The two of us might be the least fashionable of people. We handpick our jewelry based on recent trends and the opinions of our customers, family and friends. Our current stock is aimed at a younger demographic so it’s fun and colorful. In the near future, we plan to bring in all styles: from gothic to glamorous. (ooooh, will be waiting!)
Aqida describes the girl shopping at The Fly Store? (Men too if you there are items for men)
Well till now we have got a lot of different customers, some buy things for themselves self, some want to buy things for their family, some just want to buy things to gift to their friends. So we can’t really just describe A GIRL or A GUY who shops at our store. Our customers are people like us who love to shop.
How is The Fly Store different from all other online stores that recently stormed Facebook?
This was definitely a consideration when planning the store. And we researched a lot in the initial stages. I myself bought things online previously. There were two things we noticed in majority of these stores: 1) the picture depictions of the products were sometimes way off from the original product, and 2) the products were exorbitantly priced. And these two are the things you will not find in our store. We plan to build a trust relationship with our customers. Our prices are at times three times less than other stores. Our customers will get what they will see and pay for.
HOW TO ORDER
You can place your order via call, email or Facebook. Payments are made by EasyPaisa or Bank Transfer. And the products are delivered the next day. Lahore residents also have the option of picking up their order from our location and paying cash.
The most popular items . . .
Our Betsey Johnson products have been quite popular.
Here’s a peak for all of you:
Ideas on online selling trends in Pakistan. . .
The recent proliferation of retail pages on Facebook alone speak for the popularity of online selling in Pakistan – more so because of the ease with which any ordinary person like us can start a business online with considerably reduced amount of investment than opening a physical store. This should give rise to a range of entrepreneurs, especially young ones, that Pakistan so needs right now.
The most important ingredient to succeed. . .
Integrity: Being honest with our customers and providing them with good quality products.
Long term plans for The Fly Store . . .
Our plans are endless. We hope to materialize each one of them. Product range will be expanded considerably over time so The Fly Store is a one-stop shop for all your needs.
And we wish you good luck for each one of those plans!
Ready to order? Experience love at The Fly Store
