2023 IOTM HANA's inTERVIEW VIDEO
Video Edited by: 20B8082, Imieliana binti Imbon (Website Developmet, Executive of Media and Public Relation Officer)
Host: 21B1006, Nurul Nabiihah binti Zulsekin
(Public Relations Officer, Executive of Media and Public Relation Officer)
Interviewer: 22B8014, Raihan Amani binti Mohamad Sani
(Public Relations Officer, Executive of Media and Public Relation Officer)
Written by: 22B1066, Imanina Nazihah binti Idris (Public Relations Officer, Executive of Media and Public Relation Officer)
Our Business Inspirasee for August 2023 is the very creative Nurul Hana Humaira binti Haji Mohd Harzuna, who started her business in 2019. It was only after completing her A-Levels did she stick to the Instagram handle @madebyhanate. When asked what motivated her to start, she shared that growing up, she had always loved making crafts and as she had too much in storage, she had to give a majority of them away to her friends. In doing so, her friends motivated her to start a business, sparking her interest in the field.
Hana’s business @madebyhanate consists of incorporating crochet, knitting and macrame into making her crafts. She also makes clay art, embroidery and keychains from recyclable materials such as plastic containers by cutting and heating them. The products she makes range from small items such as keychains and plushies to large bouquets and clothing such as kebaya cardigans. As for the name @madebyhanate, it was derived from her name ‘Hana’ which means flower in Japanese as well as ‘te’ which means hands. It is a play on words to symbolise that it was handmade by Hana.
Initially, in creating her business, the goal was left ambiguous as it started as her passing her products to her friends as gifts as well as to create occasional small profits for herself. However, with adulthood, the business had become her source of income. To broaden her reach towards customers, she broadened her products to more than just crochet such as clay arts to give them more options and marketed herself through Instagram posts and Tiktoks. She spends varied time daily doing her crafts but ultimately prioritises customers based on the deadline they give her.
While managing her business, Hana expressed several difficulties she had faced which include: dealing with ghost customers, where they would usually order items that are too customised which make them too difficult to sell to other customers once they abandoned their orders, as well as customers disagreeing with her pricing being “too expensive”.
However, she has overcome these problems by explaining to them regarding the different prices of the yarn she uses for her projects and what it takes for her to make them. Her business also allowed her to try new things by allowing her to build up her self-confidence in public speaking by talking to customers, as well as to other business owners when she was invited to pop-up events to showcase her products. Additionally, in order to maintain customers’ satisfaction, she often gives them small gifts according to the customer’s interests so they keep coming back for more of her products.
Alongside being a business owner, Hana is also a Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) student majoring in Design & Creative Industries (DCI), where she has to balance between school and her own business. She usually manages her time to do her crafts based on her school schedule and writes out her schedule in a book. She also limits the orders she receive so she does not get overworked. In her personal time, she enjoys baking, sightseeing and window shopping.
Moving forward, Hana plans to save more money for her upcoming Discovery Year activities through her business as she sees it as an outlet for her to expose her work to the public, which she cannot do if she were to take up part-time work. By doing her own business, she can feel a ‘sense of achievement’ which she also expressed as her personal definition of success. She also plans on renting places to carry out a small-scale crochet workshop and experimenting herself by teaching the people around her. In terms of personal ambitions, Hana plans on becoming an art teacher.
Hana advised young entrepreneurs like her to be more confident in their products when they first start off a business, in order to allow themselves to go forward. She also said,
“Everybody starts somewhere”
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She continues how upcoming business owners can take their time with their business and slowly grow it by making it known to close relatives first. After gaining enough feedback and carrying out improvements, they can eventually go public with their business.
To anyone interested in ordering any custom crochet crafts or products from Hana, you may check out her Instagram or Tiktok at @madebyhanate, or contact her via WhatsApp at +673 8369175.
