Furnishing a new home is always a headache for Egyptians for many reasons, such as the lack of craftsmen and high costs asked by interior designers. Karim Ebeid, an entrepreneur and an architectural engineer, is realising his dream of delivering a home environment in which one feels happy.
EG: Why did you start and what’s the passion behind?
Karim Ebeid: It began while furnishing my apartment as I paid a huge amount of money but I was not able to get the results I dreamt of. Meanwhile, as a regular follower of entrepreneurial ideas in this sector worldwide, I found that the carpentry and décor industries are at a standstill in Egypt, even though there are many creative tech ideas for customised decoration abroad. I got inspired, so my co-founder Ahmed Helal, who has much experience in carpentry, and I launched Nagary.com in early 2020.
EG: What is your background?
KE: I’m an architectural engineer and I have an MBA from Helwan University. I started my main career in digital marketing for a Saudi Company in e-commerce. Now I manage Nagary.com with my cofounder Ahmed Helal.
EG: What are the issues you are solving and what is your value proposition?
KE: Newlyweds find it so difficult to furnish a home according to the space and dimensions of their apartments. It is also difficult to find some colours they ask for. Through Nagary.com ‘My Carpenter’, we allow the users to specify the customised decoration and we work on the request through our own furniture factory.
The advantage for clients is the guarantee that the colours and taste are the same as what they asked for and at an affordable price. The website helps newly married couples to furnish their home. We check the apartment, take the measures and make a 2-D plan to make sure that all dimensions and spaces are correct. After assessing the data, we can customise the décor and furniture accordingly. We convert the design to 3D that helps us see real and accurate dimensions.
EG: Tell us more about the process, users, business model
KE: We took requests from our clients through social media. According to demand we calculate the actual cost and share it with the client. Our target segment are those who own a new home and want to furnish it as well.
For the time being, we are working on a system that can offer a ready design once the client enters the details of his apartment. The company owns its furniture factory that covers the orders. Also, we are looking to partner with big suppliers to meet our demands in the future.
As for the business model, we generate our revenues from the designs and the customised furniture we supply. Our profit margin is 20 per cent.
EG: What are your main challenges?
KE: We are operating in a highly competitive industry with 120,000 carpentry workshops. However, highly-skilled
craftsmen are scarce. Moreover, rising costs of materials lead to a rise in prices of the final product.
EG: What are your achievements and future plans?
KE: So far, we have furnished more than 250 new houses. We aim to furnish 1,000 new homes and improve our
technology to enable us and users create decorations automatically. Meanwhile, during the Covid-19, we found a new market of employees working from home. They want an office in their apartments. Demand is high and
revenues are growing.
EG: Do you think the ecosystem is helping you?
KE: The ecosystem helps a lot in networking with more individuals and companies who can support us in the
operational process and to penetrate the market.
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