FAIRLING is like an online dating platform for brands. We sell our products for wholesale customers through Failring and they have featured us now as one of their love stories. Read the interview here!
How did it all start? What was the idea behind Tayf?
Tayf was a real spontaneous action. When we traveled through Turkey in spring 2021, we met our current partners through our accommodation near Pamukkale. They were super hospitable and we got along great. The day we left, Tamy fell in love with some of the blankets the couple had on display in their small retail space and bought a few. A short time later our host called us and asked if we wanted to become their partners in Germany and Europe. Well, and here we are, and Tayf is growing day by day into a real little business.
Who are the people behind Tayf? Tell us something about yourself.
Tayf, that is Muhanad, the master of numbers, strategic thinker and discoverer of opportunities for Tayf. He loves his coffee, good conversations and hearing stories of people he meets. If you want to make him smile, let him perform a magic trick for you. Istanbul to him means fun time with friends, a good shish kebab and a place of freedom. And then there is Tamy, who is always on the lookout for new beautiful products for Tayf, will be in touch with you when you contact us and takes care of the designs and content of Tayf’s online presence. When she is not doing this, she loves hiking, absorbing the sun and finding new music to listen to. Wanna make her happy? Take her to the beach! Istanbul to her means being close to the water and ancient buildings, hustling and adventure.
What was your favourite highlight or happy moment in the last months?
Generally speaking it is always a highlight receiving an order and positive feedback from our customers. It makes us happy to know that people love our products.
A specific highlight of the last months was our warehouse move from Turkey to Germany. This makes logistics a lot easier, cheaper and faster for both us and our resellers. Another highlight was our very first Pop-Up Store in Tamy’s hometown. It was a big success and so fun standing in a shop and being able to actually show customers the products and speak about the story behind Tayf.
In marketing and sales you rely on strong long-term relationships with your retailers. Why do they choose you?
Our resellers love first and foremost the high quality of our products and that they are handmade in Turkey. As we are a start-up ourselves, we enjoy working with resellers that have a little concept store with handpicked items. This also mirrors our own brand identity and we help small businesses that also focus on sustainability grow. Moreover, knowing who you work with and building mutual trust adds a very ordinary human taste to the world of merely making business, which we love.
You have received 9 requets from 6 different countries so far. Can you give us a little background information on one of those love stories?
That’s right, we have quite some resellers requesting more information. So far, this has led to 3 sales, two of them quite big for us. It is always amazing to see the excitement of a reseller when they find our page and fall in love with the products. We got our first bigger order from a Spanish reseller who was looking for an addition to their bedding collections. Then, we had a smaller order from a German reseller who sold out our products so quickly that they actually just reordered more! This might become something long-term. Our latest sale went to the Czech Republic to a seemingly small shop, but they loved our products so much that they ordered a big amount right away without us sending samples – we love that trust between partners. And we love that Tayf blankets and towels can be found all over Europe now!
Where should the journey go? What's the vision of Tayf?
As mentioned before, Tayf was established spontaneously and without investing much time into where we want to be in the future. It was a little initiative for us. However, as we have been growing way faster than we had anticipated (thanks to Fairling and other partners), we have come to realize that Tayf has a tremendous potential to grow big. Ideally, we plan on breaking even by Autumn 2023. After that, we dream of being able to share some of our profits for causes that we care about such as refugees and women’s education. Ultimately, we want Tayf to be our main source of income, we want Tayf to contribute to a social cause and we want Tayf to be a role model for small businesses who truly care about ethics and morality.
Is there anything you would definitely advise other young emerging brands to do?
Nothing is easy but everything is possible. Since Tayf started in June 2021, we have faced a lot of challenges from how to build our website, how to register the company, do we need to pay VAT and many other matters that we hadn’t thought about. However, it was amazing to see how many people around us (friends, families and professional networks) could assist us with various issues. To young start-ups: Never hesitate to ask for help from whomever could be of support- you can also reach out to us and we would be delighted to help if we can. Another important advice is to make sure you document your finances – financial organization and management is key for any successful business. Don’t get me wrong, a simple excel spreadsheet could serve you well. Lastly, we advise you to stay patient. Orders will come and money will come – focus on your brand identity and how you want people to feel when they hear from you or see your logo. Build your own story because every human enjoys a good story.