ABAA CASE STUDY: JOURNEY OF THE VEILED ENTREPRENEUR
The case describes the entrepreneurial journey of a passionate and dedicated young female entrepreneur, Hareem Zahid. She is a 2016 graduate from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), where she completed her bachelor’s degree in BBA Entrepreneurship. Her journey reflects that how she entered into the Entrepreneurship program at IBA, and the sequence of events led her to the frivolous pursuit of starting an online venture of ABAA. The venture came into being in January 2013, and climbed the ladder of success in a span of almost 2 years. ABAA’s philosophy is to help the modest women find refined elegance, versatility and style in their modest wardrobe, with no compromise on quality and affordability of price. This case elaborates the journey embarked upon by Hareem, who set foot in this venture with a spiritual orientation, where rather than pursuing things with a fiercely competitive mindset, she developed a mindset which seeks the pleasure of Almighty Allah (swt), with a belief of cooperation and customer service. The story of ABAA depicts that a high spiritual orientation along with an entrepreneurial mindset led Hareem to do something which creates real value and helps her to live a meaningful life. The case further examines the vision Hareem had of expanding her business and taking it to the next level. The case is extremely pertinent because of the dearth of literature available on female entrepreneurs in Pakistan. It aims to shed light on the mushroom growth of the women-led online business sphere in Pakistan.