In 2017 at 29 years old, Amina Zaoui launched an artisanal soap and natural cosmetics business in Tozeur.
After graduating in Medical Bio-technology in 2014, Amina chose to start her professional journey working in an agricultural project design office as a personal assistant. This experience enabled her to forge basics in entrepreneurship but remained far from her area of expertise. In 2015 she decided to to leave her job in order to start her entrepreneurial journey and to foster her passion for cosmetics.
“After my studies, I became passionate about the organic cosmetics industry. I saw increasing demand for cosmetics on the one hand, and the wealth of natural products from my region on the other. It was an obvious next step to use my knowledge in the creation of a natural cosmetics production unit.”
In order to develop her entrepreneurial skills and prepare herself properly for the launch of her business, she decided to take part in specific training courses during 2016, including CEFE and the MORRAINE training. A year later, she completed a training in saponification at the InfoPole Private Center in Sousse, which allowed her to strengthen her technical skills in the process of making soap.
In July 2017, Amina attended the HP LIFE group coaching of the Mashrou3i project organized by UNIDO and funded by USAID, the Italian Cooperation and the HP Foundation. She also benefited from the HP LIFE e-Learning online courses which enabled her to develop her skills in marketing, accounting and management. Motivated by this training, Amina started to experiment at home, developing many products based on vegetable oils and natural products from the region known for their therapeutic benefits. She quickly became aware of the benefits of local products and their importance in the field of the cosmetics industry.
“Thanks to social networks, orders are starting to multiply and are usually specific to the needs of each client, which allows me to adapt my offer depending on the type of skin, the desired scents or even forms of soap.”
Today, Amina is developing her customer portfolio day by day through the online sales of her products. In the short term, she intends to recruit 2 assistants and to create more products of natural origin from the organic resources in her region, but especially to get the organic certification that will enable her to export her growing range of cosmetics. Thanks to the technical assistance of the Mashrou3i Project, Amina will soon benefit from the support of an expert in Marketing and Communication, which will enable her to improve her visual identity and packaging.
