The story of how Sacha Cosmetics came to be an international brand is captured in a memoir by Trade Minister and Businessman cum Author Satyakama Maharaj.
The book titled "Building a World Class Brand on a Shoestring Budget" was launched at the University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus.
00:00A story not only about building from the ground up on tight economic constraints, but also one about paying attention to detail, making people feel important and creating an impact.
00:11These are said to be the tenets etched in the pages of trade minister and founder of Sasha Cosmetics, Sacha Kama Maharaj's new book, Building a World-Class Brand on a Shoestring Budget.
00:22According to Maharaj, distribution is one of the biggest challenges in business, something the company has been extremely successful at, as well as its own manufacturing.
00:33Since 2024, franchising has been in focus.
00:37Selling franchises worldwide. And we are going to reverse the trend in Latin America and the Caribbean of importing franchises in the country and bleeding foreign exchange.
00:47My professor, we are going to be exporting franchises, paying franchises, and earning foreign exchange. 99% are going to be foreign exchange earnings.
01:00An IPO is being discussed to put a company on the stock market.
01:04Maharaj also reveals that he gave MAC Cosmetics, which was founded in 1984 by Frank Tuscan and Frank Angelo, his formulas in a shake hand agreement.
01:14They'll focus on lighter skin tones, and he would focus on darker skin tones.
01:20Two years later, Tuscan died, and the brand was later bought by Estee Lauder.
01:24You know who got nothing? I gave him all my formulas and got nothing.
01:29But he's dead and alive, so I don't care.
01:31Principal of the U.S. St. Augustine campus, Professor Rosemary Bell Antwine, believes the book serves as an academic tool in fields such as business, entrepreneurship, and leadership.
01:45She says Maharaj, through his vision, was able to cater to a neglected group at a time where cosmetics is concerned, women of color.
01:53He started out with $1,000 in savings, and his small home, which doubled as a workstation, describing his situation as no chemistry degree, no connections, just raw material samples, my kitchen table, and a deep, unshakable belief that women of color deserved better.
02:16According to Antwine, there are many lessons to be learned in the book, which she says UWE will utilize as it continues its own business ventures to becoming a more sustainable institution.
02:27Miss Universe 1998 Wendy Fitzwilliam, as a young model, struggled to find a shade of foundation to suit her complexion.
02:35It was a challenge Maharaj took on, spawning a new line.
02:39Karma decided, come to Freeport, I want to meet you, I want to meet you at the factory, work with my team, and we will develop a shade for you.
02:48And that's really where the magic started to happen.
02:52Yes, I am very dark-skinned, but I have yellow undertones, which is relatively unusual for most melanated people.
03:00Economist Professor Roger Hussain calls the book a trade manual, and adds that it would take a lot of work in the medium term to turn the non-energy sector in the country around.
03:11He draws from the part of Maharaj's memoir where he lost everything, comparing it to the country's central bank reserves.
03:20And reserves, less external debt, now stands at minus $1 billion.
03:24And there are a lot of ministers here, and I'm saying it so that they would hear.
03:29It's a worrying, disturbing situation.
03:32It's very difficult to reverse.
03:35It's going to take someone like you with that hard co-experience.
03:38Not only theory, it's going to take someone with that practical mind to change us around.
03:43So we wish you the best of luck with that.
03:46Maharaj says sustainable differentiation is one aspect that is seriously needed.
03:51He also leaves a few takeaways from his book, Solve a Real Problem, Start Small, Check Your Premise, and Build a Flagship Product.
04:01Building a world-class brand on a shoestring budget is presently available for purchase on Amazon.
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