OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK– Every Tuesday, Founder of the Week looks at how a successful member of Egypt’s startup community got their big break, asks about their experiences running a business, and gets their advice for budding entrepreneurs. Speaking to us this week is Hadeel Fayek (LinkedIn), founder and CEO of Joviality.

My name is Hadeel Fayek, and I’m the founder and CEO of Joviality, which produces natural beauty products for skin and hair. These products do not include additives, unnecessary ingredients or harmful toxins.

I’m actually a pharmacist by education. I graduated from the German University in Cairo in 2009 and worked there as an assistant lecturer for a few years, earning my Master’s Degree in Pharmaceutics, which is the formulation of cosmetics and drugs. During that time, taking a more natural direction when it comes to beauty products became a global trend. Additionally, I’m very sensitive to a lot of products in the markets, which makes me a very light user of such products. That’s why I started using my experience in formulations to create natural cosmetics for myself and my kids.

I became obsessed with the idea and realized that most options that are available to us here in Egypt in that domain are very basic. An important reason why consumers moved away from using natural beauty products is because they were complicated to use. You have to mix certain things together at certain quantities. But we weren’t offered a complete, easy-to-use solution. So I used the science behind it to come up with a user-friendly, modern, natural product and founded Joviality with my sister Rana and co-founder Ahmed Shafiek in 2016.

Today, we have eight stores across Cairo and Alexandria. We started out digitally, of course, but were able throughout the years to increase our physical presence in the form of our own stores, as well as selling our products in other stores.

To start my own business, I had to give up my academic career. It was a huge dream of mine to start Joviality so I wanted to dedicate 100% of my time to it. And while I stopped teaching, I did delve deeper into the science behind the subject matter, which is what I loved about academia. I wouldn’t say I gave up my time, because I’m actually spending my time doing something I love.

When we started, there were barely any competitors in the market, unlike today. Natural cosmetics had just started to emerge in 2016, but today, a lot of companies are labeling their products as natural. This has given us a first-mover advantage, but has also made things more challenging to maintain the position of a key player in the market.

The most important KPI I look at daily are revenues and the top sold products. I also check on how our different stores are performing and whether the team and work environment is positive. On a monthly basis, I look at how our different products have performed throughout the month, as well as bottom line.

The first person I turn to for advice on the business is my father, Hamdy Fayek. He used to be the general manager of Wyeth Nutrition and Pfizer Nutrition in Egypt, the GCC and Levant. That’s why he was my go-to person from the first day and he also helped me establish my business.

You need a lot of support from the people around you when you start your own business. If it isn’t there, it can become very hard. I got married right when I graduated and have two children. So I would not have been able to make it without my family’s support and I was very lucky to receive it. Although they were shocked when I told them I’d leave academia to start my own business with two kids, they were extremely supportive.

Joviality is completely bootstrapped. Investors have reached out to us for potential investment, but every time I start going down that road, I backtrack because I don’t feel the need for it. I have the financial support I need from our revenues to complete the plan I have laid out. I’d rather have someone come in with experience, than with financing.

In my down time I draw, write, and play with my children. I start a lot of things in my personal time but don’t finish them, like playing piano, for example.

In terms of other startups that are killing it, I really like the way Palma is growing. Their products are great, they care about details, and their customer service is excellent. But there are a lot of local brands and startups that are doing a great job.

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