A short profile interview of Bashir, founder of Morgan Cosmetics, describing his journey from poverty in Morocco to founding Morgan Cosmetics in 2012 and growing it in the U.S. He recounts initial struggles (about $100/month in early sales), decisions to pursue exporting, and use of the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) to attend international trade shows (e.g., Dubai Beauty World). He reports a 35% increase in potential global sales after trade shows and that roughly 90% of current sales are international; the piece ends with recognition (an exporter award) and Bashir’s emphasis on inspiring other entrepreneurs.
Questions this video answers
2012
About $100 per month
Approximately 35% increase in potential global sales
About 90% of sales are from international markets
Dubai Beauty World
Chapters
I grew up very poor in Morocco and my father passed away when I was three and I was the youngest in the family and my two brothers could not finish school because the mother cannot afford the books. And I'm the only person that goes far in college. And you know, I have an opportunity to come to the US to finish my last graduate at that time. Compared to where I'm at right now, it's a miracle and it's a blessing for us because I always wanted to be an entrepreneur in my life. I started Morgan cosmetics back in 2012. We only had one employee and the size of the company is very small, so an average of $100 per month in sales. And you know, we always get excited when we have an order. It's very frustrating for us from the beginning because every door in auction just get no answer. It was very hard to get into any retailer or any small shop or, you know, independent stores or anything. So I became interested in exporting because of the challenge we face especially grow locally and nationally. And then when I found out that 95% of consumers goods of U.S. consumers goods are outside the U.S. it gets us very excited to see way how we can export and use those benefits to really showcase our products and grow our sales globally. Exporting was a little challenge because global distributors, they don't trust you until they see the products. They have to go into the country and then showcase your products, which means they exist. But try to send an email or anything, it just goes to their folder and stays there. Like when you, I mean when you use the state program and go and showcase your, your products means you exist and then it really gets global markets living in your product living you.
The state Trade expansion program, also known as step, is funded in part by the SBA and Washington State. And it encourages small businesses to take their products and services abroad. This year, first applied for Step to go to Dubai Beauty World, a show targeted specifically for cosmetics in the Middle East. And since then, he's used it for a number of trade shows throughout the world to promote his cosmetic products.
After all these trade shows, we see an immediate increase of 35% of our potential sales in the global market. As of today, like 90% of our sales are from international sales.
Bushir is not only a good example of how you can scale up internationally very quickly, but he's coached other cosmetic companies on how to best target different markets that he has already entered.
Success to me is how you inspire others to follow the path of entrepreneurship to grow globally because you as an American not as I think you can do whatever you want with inspiration, with commitments. Everybody can do it.
The reason Morgan Cosmetics is so successful is because of Bashir and the passion that he puts into his company. They put a great emphasis on focusing on their international sales, and they really embody what it means to be an international exporter over just a domestic one.
Winning this award means the world to us. We never got any awards. This is the first award we got, and we're super excited.
