Greeting card publishing company Sabah Designs and its sibling brand, Islamic Moments have been selected as one of 30 companies to promote the government’s export initiative, Exporting is Great.
Sabah Nazir, who stared Sabah Designs in 2004 and Islamic Moments in 2011, greeting card publishing businesses told PG Buzz that she was “absolutely thrilled” to be approached by the Department for International Trade with a view to participating in the activity that promotes UK products overseas as well as facilitating UK-based businesses to make the most of the opportunities.
Sabah, who features on some of the Exporting is Great promotional material said that while exporting has been part of her business thrust, through involvement with the campaign she has gained “a much deeper insight into the ins and outs of exporting” honing her skills on analysing market competition, field research and exporting legislations.
Sabah’s first export business came from an unlikely source – a South African Halal food distributor, but it worked out well. The company also has a growing export business in US, Canada, Europe and Scandinavia, as well as occasional business to the Far East and Australia, though this is hampered by the prohibitive shipping costs.
As well as gaining more exposure for her own brands, Sabir also sees the participation as being a way of helping other small businesses. “ We want to encourage small businesses to research overseas markets and to take the plunge into exporting. There is a lot of literature and help out there!” she said.
While Sabah Designs publishes mainstream greeting cards, its sibling company Islamic Moments was set up to cater specifically for young professional Muslims demanding innovative and modern design-led Islamic products to meet their lifestyle.
When asked by PG Buzz whether she feels the greeting card industry is catering amply for those of the Muslim faith, Sabah is aware of greater potential.
“It is estimated that there are approximately 4 million Muslims living in the UK. As a Muslim myself, we celebrate two festivals of Eid per year. Both are fast growing major gifting occasions in the Muslim calendar. Despite the availability of electronic cards and greetings via social media we have experienced a high demand in luxury Eid cards year on year,” explains Sabah.
She goes on to explain that a large majority of Muslims also embark on Hajj (an obligatory pilgrim to preform at least once in a lifetime) and Umrah (smaller pilgrimage that can be performed throughout the year). Upon return, these milestone occasions are widely celebrated with family members and friends.
“However, the majority of these joyous celebrations have up until now centered around food, as very little was available on the card and decor front. As mentioned earlier Muslims are now demanding modern greeting cards, decor and gifts to give to loved ones returning from Hajj and Umrah but due to the lack of availability often resort to handmade alternatives,” says Sabah. In her view: “The greeting card industry needs to widen its offering to cater for a larger and fast growing diverse market.”
Sabah Designs was nominated as a finalist for Online Business of The Year at the English Asian Business Awards 2018.
