Duo understand the beauty of their idea

Few sectors grow as fast as the beauty and perfume industry, which has grown by 30 per cent in the last three years. Here, Sonia Sultan and Monika Debowski speak about how they hope to capitalise on its growth with a new e-commerce venture.

Monika Debowski, left, and Sonia Sultan founded GlamBox, a subscription service that sends samples for people to try, and buy, through the website. Razan Alzayani / The National

The beauty and perfume industry in the UAE has grown by 30 per cent in the past three years, according to the trade show Beautyworld Middle East. Sonia Sultan, 27, and Monika Debowski, 29, are hoping to capitalise on the sector's rapid expansion with GlamBox, a subscription service that sends sample products for people to try, and buy, through the website. Here, they talk about how they got involved in the business.

What were you both doing before you set up GlamBox?

Ms Debowski: I was part of a management consulting firm in Dubai.

Ms Sultan: I started off with a career in corporate finance back in London. Then when I came out here to the Middle East three years ago, I started working for L'Oreal Middle East.

How did you get involved in the venture?

Ms Debowski: As a management consultant, we obviously looked at emerging markets. I worked in very different countries in the region and also in different industries and noticed that e-commerce was becoming a very big topic here the Middle East. So it's something we saw potential in, especially in the beauty and cosmetics industry.

Ms Sultan: It was very obvious to me from working in the beauty industry that a lot of samples go out to customers, but there is no feedback about them. It's such a big market with so much to be discovered that this kind of helps clear the clutter a little bit.

You deliver the products via courier. Have you struck a deal with one in particular to keep costs under control?

Ms Debowski: We have an informal partnership with Aramex, who make sure we deliver products on time. GlamBox has the advantage of having a cost structure that is mostly variable and obviously with any company like ours, logistics make up the majority of the expenses.

How did you fund the start-up?

Ms Debowski: We have been very lucky in that we have extremely supportive friends and family. We are looking at more formal investors as opposed to friends and family. So that's our next challenge. Pitching to professional investors is a whole different ball game.

Are you receiving coaching or tips for that?

Ms Sultan: Our investors will be guiding us and advising us. But also, given that I come from a finance background and Monica comes from consulting, [we have experience in key fields].

What is the next stage for your business?

Ms Sultan: Expansion. Saudi Arabia [is] big on our agenda and we are experiencing some interest from the Levant market.

* Gillian Duncan