Here she is Nayla El Tawil who studied Electronics at the Arab Academy for Science & Technology then got her Master degree in business administration in 2003. Right after graduation she worked with her mother, Eng. Laila El Gammal, for three years & when she felt the necessity of self assurance “what my mother has accomplished so far in business field is considered her own success, which is unique. In the meantime it motivated me to achieve a similar success. Being treated as “ the owner’s daughter? made me search for my own business. So in 2000 I opened a shop selling crystals & silver. When a new mall was inaugurated I opened another shop selling upholstery & brides supplies in 2003? Explained Nayla. She moved to Canada in 2004 for personal matters and there she learnt about web designing and returned back to Alexandria to establish her own company in this field.

​

Fifth generation

“ I’m the fifth generation of a family who has worked in the textile field, so I felt that it was necessary to keep the wheel going. Therefore, I chose selling upholstery, during this period I suffered a lot with the suppliers whether with the taste or design of their products which encouraged me to establish a small factory to produce the designs and tastes suiting my desires & meeting with the market needs. In the beginning, I thought it would be an easy task but reality turned to be totally different? Says Nayla. “ In August 2007, the factory started the production. At first, I preferred marketing the products through my shops; seemingly the good quality & taste of the products marked the first signs of success. Soon , within three months our reputation spread among other shops and started ordering our products. Though the factory was not big enough to meet all the requirements the numerous orders received motivated us to increase the production. Within six months from production start the first export order was placed. And by this time, our products reached many countries like Germany, England, United States of America, Italy, Cyprus & Saudi Arabia.? Added Nayla.

 

Reasons for success

“ There are many reasons behind what I’ve accomplished so far, the first is deciding to quit working with my mother as I regarded continuing being the “owner’s daughter? will not fulfill my ambitions. Moreover, I won’t acquire experiences enabling me to run any business in the future. The experience I gained from the different fields away from my mother couldn’t be present if I had stayed. Trying to learn from my mother’ s experience played an important role in my success.? Said Nayla. She adds that her feminine taste in choosing the designs and knowing customers’ requirements were some of the reasons for her products popularity around the world in such a short time. This fact made her keen to produce designs matching world fashion appealing to all women everywhere. Therefore, this keen to present the latest updates featured with classy designs and unique quality is considered the reason to control the local market and which makes her one of the main suppliers to Carrefour group.

 

World crisis

Although the start was around the financial crisis time but Nayla El Tawil assured saying? The period when those companies were collapsing was a new addition to my success nationally & internationally. Importers during this time were seeking producers who can offer high quality commodity in small quantities. This was due to the market situation which discouraged the need for big quantities that were hard to be sold during the recession. As a result, the factory and the products were developed same case with other small producers unlike the big ones who were affected dramatically in the crisis?.

“Nowadays, market is restoring its previous status and that was clear in Heimtextile this year which was distinct regarding the participation and visitors seriousness than that of 2009?. Added Nayla.

 

Employment problem

About the employment problems facing many industrial institutions in Egypt and how to overcome them Nayla advised “For me the problem wasn’t the availability itself but finding the qualified ones. Egyptian workers need more training to learn how to provide good quality products and which is the main factor for the success of any product locally or internationally. Moreover it will be placed in a high rank among those exported commodity. Sticking to contracts time schedules is the main reason that makes customers continue dealing with the factory and which the Egyptian workers are not aware of this fact but we are currently trying to train them internally in the factory. There is also an intention to contract with a specialized training company abroad to uplift their level. This is not the first time in which experts are used, at the start of working in embroidery , a German expert was used for training in this field. I also travelled with one of the factory engineer to Italy for training in machines running besides other training courses I had in designing to reach the quality required by national & international customers?.

“Despite the strength of the upholstery industry in Egypt it needs more development specially when it comes to quality, choosing the design & the taste. This might be the reason that makes the Egyptian production unable to compete the Turkish one. This is owed to the quality & design variety which I put in my consideration when I first established my own factory as I used four designers whose main assignment was to come up with new creative ideas that made our products distinct?. Says Nayla

 

Cotton label

Nayla assures that? the Egyptian cotton label has lost a lot of its previous effect on the consumers who prefer Egyptian cotton fabrication. That was clear to me after attending Heimtextile as the Egyptian cotton won’t attract more than 20% of the customers while 80% don’t care much about it due to its high price. The trend now in the recession is for cheap cotton but in the future the percentage of customers interested in Egyptian cotton products might increase when the market restores its previous status.?

 

Tips & Support

Nayla talks about the helping tips she had during working with her mother, Eng. Laila El Gammal, saying? I had so many advice from my mother, the most important one was her constant encourage to decision taking even if it has bad results. She thinks that I won’t reach success unless I go through the experience myself. Success won’t be achieved without experimenting and making mistakes. Her encourage was a push to me from one step to another as sometimes I ask myself why the bother, I could have lived under the protection of my mother but protection can’t build personality. Moreover, my mother’s encourage was my motive to continue.?

 

Dreams

About her future dreams Nayla El Tawil says,? Now I’m happy of what I’ve accomplished so far but I wish my products could reach the highest level of quality because I’m sure that competition is resolved by high quality and that’s what I assure to those dealing with me. I’m not thinking about producing my own brand as my concentration is on providing products satisfying my customers world wide. There are some examples of manufacturers who followed the same pace and achieved a great success. Working for others doesn’t necessarily mean you will not be known and what we have reached so far proves it. I also wish to expand my factory and vary the products types. Personally, I wish my children would continue what the great El Gammal family started in the textile industry. I believe that it’s the time to return to my mother’s company but I will only return after I achieve my goals away from being the owners’ daughter.

​

​