“I would tell myself: focus on the team first”

This article is part of our series on the journey of entrepreneurship, where we ask startup founders to share with us their hardships and experiences.

Omar Itani is the co-founder of FabricAID, Lebanon’s first second hand clothes collector and distributor, offering good quality clothing at affordable prices to the underprivileged.

Reporting and writing by Rachel Notteau
Editing by Labneh&Facts

The story of FabricAID

“One day, I accidentally discovered that the clothing my family had been donating to our apartment building’s concierge was in fact going to waste because it didn’t fit his family’s needs.

In December 2016, I started a social media experiment, collecting clothes from friends, sorting through them, and giving disadvantaged families exactly the items they needed – in correct sizes, for relevant members. The response was overwhelming and before long, my house was filled with bags of clothes.

I asked local NGOs how they proceed with clothes, and I realized that many of them didn’t have the means to process the clothes they collected, as they need to clean them, sort them and distribute them, and that requires a specific infrastructure. Which is why in Lebanon, less than 5 % of clothes are being collected. Yet 2.5 million people can’t afford first-hand clothes, they shop in the 250 or second-hand stores, most of which import relatively expensive, low quality used clothing.”

This was how the idea of FabricAID was born, to bridge the huge gap between supply and demand from these two communities.”. 

The concept of FabricAID

We collect new and gently used clothes, shoes, and accessories through our network of smart clothing collection bins located all over Lebanon (see map), by buying items from NGOs who receive clothing donations, and through partnerships with businesses and organizations. 

-The vast majority of the items collected are sold at pop-up markets that we set up in underdeveloped neighborhoods, and at FabricAID’s own permanent shops.

-Clothes that are not fit for resale are sold in bulk to existing second-hand clothing stores. We also shred items into raw materials that can be used in furniture and construction industries.

FabricAID, one year ago

We were only collecting clothes and our objective was to be able to sell them on the second-hand market. We actually made it! We sold 40,000 clothing items in one year, definitely more than what we were hoping for . Now, we’re selling even more clothes every month. I believe we are the first association in the clothes reselling market in Lebanon. 

FabricAID today

Our objective this year is to collect 100 tons of clothing and sell 200,000 pieces. We want to pursue our mission to sell clothes to the ones who need it most! 

The biggest challenge of the past year

Managing cash flow!  My co-founder Hussam (20 years old) and myself (23 years old) are very young.  It was super hard for us to manage our cash. In 2018, we struggled with our cash-flow for 6 months. We had hired a lot, we had to pay our employees as well as the regular charges (electricity, water, etc), but we had no money! We were waiting for the money we won in competitions we took part in, and our sales were still not enough to cover our costs. 

How did you overcome it?

We borrowed money from our relatives so we could pay our employees and the charges. We actually reimbursed them pretty quickly. It was exhausting to look for the  money, but we never gave up! We struggled until we finally received the money from the competitions we won. Then winter came, and we could finally start selling winter clothing  (we ran out of stock of summer clothing to sell).
Our cash flow is under control now. 

We never gave up on FabricAid, despite the challenges. We have to stay optimistic! 

What did you learn ?

No one has super powers, no one is super smart. But you need a lot of motivation and energy for the startup to make it. Always seek support, access to information, and get the answers to your questions. Nobody will come and help you! It’s up to you, who created the company, to get what you want and what you need. 

You also need to accept feedback, no matter how bad the critics of your work are . Hence, modesty is very important. When another entrepreneur gives you an advice, you need to listen to them and respect their point of view. This is what will make your company grow. 

In short, for your startup to function, you need to be positive, humble and  hard-working. You have to get the right people on board and make sure that the relationships between them are strong and effective. 

What would you now say to yourself one year ago?

Focus on the team and the relationships between its members, this is what comes first.

And get comfortable with pressure! We took a risk when we hired a lot of people last year, and it put us under a lot of pressure. But we made it work, with a lot of hard work!

What now?

We need to increase the number of bins to collect the clothes. We aim to have 100 bins in Lebanon by the end of 2019. There are around 45 of them now, we’ve been installing them since May 2018. 

We are also working actively reaching more people all around Lebanon. We will be opening a new permanent shop in Tripoli in September. 
The more we sell, the more we can help people get decently dressed and feel good about themselves, which is our ultimate goal! 

FabricAID in brief

Startup creation: the project started in 2017, they registered the company in October 2017.
Legal status of the company:  SAL
Number of employees one year ago: 4
Number of employees today : 18