Alumni Spotlight

Tara Mohammed, an AUIS graduate (Information Technology ‘18), is the founder of Black Ace company for IT solutions. Black Ace has a diverse and young team from different backgrounds, and Tara credits her team with having had a great impact on her and being by her side from day one of starting her business. More than just serving budding entrepreneurs, Tara has focused on hiring and targeting fresh graduates to help them gain experience, build their skills, and prove themselves as professionals and entrepreneurs. 

AEIC: Tell us more about your business. 

Tara Mohammed: Black Ace works in IT solutions and our main services include software solutions and cloud services. We have other services such as hardware and infrastructure services, professional and technical training, as well as IT consultancy and support. We focus on bringing the newest technology into the market and we believe in providing top quality service to our customers. Black Ace's strength is to always bring the best and newest technology to the market.

AEIC: What inspired you to start your business?

TM: I had this idea since January 2019 and after six months of planning, we launched officially in July 2019. Seeing a gap in the market helped me pave the way for this idea. We do have many experienced and great companies but they are outdated and don’t reach today’s market needs in this area.

Technology is evolving very fast and to keep up with the industry is not easy, so as a technology company it is our goal to always bring the newest technology standards and keep up with the changes to give the market what it needs.

We faced issues defining the problem, which was related to quality and changes in market needs. So we took that and designed a product to fit customers’ needs rather than creating a fixed solution focusing on our own income. Business is much more than a paycheck. I do this because I love what I do -- IT and development -- and I recommend everyone do what they like so they can achieve outstanding work.

AEIC: How did you come up with the name of Black Ace?

TM: We wanted something unique and meaningful. ‘Ace’ means ‘a person who excels at a particular activity"’, and “black” came with it and we liked it so we decided that was it.

AEIC: What were your challenges?

TM: Human resources was one of the challenges we faced at Black Ace. It took us time to build a team, but I am very happy and proud of each and every one of our employees. Another challenge was COVID-19, but Black Ace survived through that and it made us stronger. 

AEIC: How did your AUIS education help you succeed? 

TM: I had so much energy and I wanted to direct that energy into my vision. For this I have to credit AUIS and the course options I had. I had an opportunity to learn and I took every bit of it and invested it in myself through learning and making the best out of every class. For example, taking a class in accounting may seem irrelevant but in my position now I have to understand numbers and deal with them. Finance, marketing, small business management, project management, and contentive business analysis were some of the best classes and I wish more students would consider taking them. When you are the CEO, it doesn’t mean that you have to do everything, but you have to understand everything in your business.

The flexibility that AUIS offered helped me to manage studying and work at the same time was very valuable since my working experience in different environments led me to build a unique one within Black Ace.

AUIS gives everyone an opportunity and if you take that opportunity well it will help you become a very prosperous and a promising individual. Being in a liberal arts university doesn’t only teach you raw material but also how to think critically, manage your time and develop your soft skills.

AEIC: How has your past experience helped you today?

TM: I have been working for over seven years now in multiple diverse environments, and I see these experiences as a ladder to help you reach your destination. It is important to communicate with others to understand the market. Work experience with others will also help you evolve and understand workplace environments more. Building your network, gaining experience and understanding market needs all help you with adding value and implementing your own vision.

AUIS helped me start early since I had the option to choose my classes and schedule them according to my work. Now I can see the reflection of the work experience I’ve had on my business.

AEIC: What do you do to make sure your business runs at its peak?

TM: We are a customer-centered business, meaning we always put the customer’s values and needs above all and we make sure everything is perfectly set.                    

It’s also important to work hard and be passionate about what you do, as I have always been about  business. If you love what you do, you can manage well and continue. We feel very responsible for every project and all work that is being done in our company. We consider every client to be a VIP, regardless of their income. Every employee in Blackace loves what we do.

AEIC: What advice do you give to other business owners and startups?

TM: For business owners, it is important to have a strategic plan, but you will also figure things out on your journey. You may face problems you didn’t consider, so it is important to learn and adapt, as business is about adaptation. I believe that as a manager/leader you need to lead by example, and your personal values will definitely reflect on the business.

For startups, you can never wait for the right moment to start; you have to create the right moment for establishing your idea. Looking at the current circumstances of our region, many might say it is not suitable to start a business, but it is very important to know which voices to let in since words have power that can either build you up or break you down. You feed on the energy of others. If you keep going around the wrong people, you will get their negative vibes and energy. Surround yourself with good people to keep yourself focused on your target and to keep up the energy in you moving forward.

AEIC: What are your regrets and lessons learned?

TM: I don’t have any regrets because I always try to make the best out of any situation and I own up to every decision and count myself responsible for my actions. Every day is an opportunity to learn more, especially as an entrepreneur. Overall, the one lesson I want to share is for everyone not to take things personally; try to rationalize and find the best route to deal with it.

AEIC: What is the most difficult part of your business as a founder/owner?

TM: It is not easy to start your own business. Sometimes it may feel like everything is against you, but what keeps you from failing is that one extra attempt or try, and having the spirit to keep going. To be realistic is not always easy as sometimes the tide might go against you, but always keeping an optimistic vibe is important to help you go forward.

Hayas Ismail Khayat (Business Administration, ‘19) and Hasara Ismail Khayat (Business Administration, ‘17) are sibling co-founders of Kurdish clothing brand Nakhsh, which prioritizes locally-produced and sourced materials. The company was founded in August 2019 and ran successfully for several months before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The global shutdown proved to be a serious obstacle, but the Khayats have remained passionate and are striving to achieve their ultimate goal of creating an international brand. Nakhsh attire can now reach national and international customers. They export to 14 different countries so far including the United States, Poland, Germany, United Kingdom and many more. You can find their website at: www.nakhsh.com.

The co-founders shared their experiences in entrepreneurship with the AUIS Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center (AEIC).

AEIC: Can you both introduce yourselves and tell us about the journey of getting together to start Nakhsh?

Hayas: My name is Hayas Ismail Khayat. I graduated from AUIS with a degree in Business Administration in 2019. I’ve worked in information technology-related fields with different organizations, but I am mostly interested in commercial photography and videography.

Hasara: My name is Hasara Ismail Khayat. I graduated from AUIS with a degree in Business Administration as well, but in 2017. I have personally worked in the humanitarian field with different organizations, but I am also interested in fashion and design. I am currently working as a librarian at AUIS.

Hayas originally had the idea for Nakhsh but both of us being business graduates and coming from an artistic family helped us choose this path. Our grandfather was from Khanaqin and was a very famous tailor in the region. That’s where we got our family name, Khayat, and our father, Ismail Khayat, is a well-known artist in Sulaimani. 

We’ve tried to connect what we have studied with our family’s tradition and our father’s art. We both love colors and patterns due to our father’s influence on us; just like our father has tried to show Kurds’ pain and sorrows through his art, we also want to take the same path of showing the world that we exist. We have written “Made in Kurdistan” on all of our products. We believe that art can do what politics cannot, and to make change through art is a peaceful way to have a great impact.

AEIC: Can you describe your products and what Nakhsh offers?

Hasara: We design and make clothing that is a mixture between casual wear and traditional patterns. We have different collections and can take customized orders from our customers. We make shirts, jackets, and we have been working online through social media and our website.

Our designs are all customized so you won’t find them anywhere else. We make our products locally, inside Iraq and mostly in Kurdistan.

AEIC: Is Nakhsh currently online or do you have a physical store?

Hayas: We recently opened our first physical store in Sulaimani, which offers a variety of items for different genders and we offer customization in our store as well. We are located between Zargata and Baxtyari streets behind the Grand Millennium. 

AEIC: How did you choose to get into the clothing business?

Hayas: I personally like colorful clothes and I see that products in the bazaar have nothing special about them. It’s hard to find unique looking pieces. We also did a survey and created some prototypes before officially launching. We saw a gap in the Kurdish market and customers' need for our items.

Hasara: I like fashion and getting to design these patterns is a big deal for Nakhsh and us. It’s our mark and we strive for perfect products; if we are not happy with an item, we won’t deliver it. We want every item to be perfectly made, with love and care, not with some machine in a factory with no special touch to it.

AEIC: What were your challenges and how did you overcome them?

Hayas: We have a hard time finding good people to work with, like tailors. We, as Nakhsh, are trying to support this talent in the region. Now that we are in the business, we see many talented people who are not well-known. We also have problems with sourcing materials since we want everything to be fully local; we don’t want to import the things we need. We continuously face the difficulty of finding good materials, like various types of fabrics, since the stocks sometimes run out. 

We want our investments to stay inside the country. That’s why we want everything to be fully local. We also spend a lot of time on each piece as we want it to be perfect. Clothes are not like other items; they have to be comfortable and the customer should feel good wearing them. That’s why we take back any item and fix it based on the needs of the customer.

AEIC: How did your AUIS education help you with your business?

Hayas: Taking classes on entrepreneurship, creative coding, robotics, and interaction design helped me think more than ever and to shape my vision and ideas. I still use what I learned in these classes in my business.

Hasara: Many people have great ideas but they start without any plans and that’s why their businesses fail after a short while. Learning how to take the steps professionally and writing a business plan has helped Nakhsh to stay this strong after many difficulties.

AEIC: What advice do you have for others who have a startup or a business idea?

Hasara: As a startup, it’s important to always get feedback from trusted people and ask for guidance. It’s also important to specialize in an area, and focus on it so it can grow. It is really important to have a goal and a vision. Start with what you know and understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. Starting your own business is not easy, so stay passionate and energized and believe in your idea.

Hayas: People are so afraid to fail that they don’t even take the first step. It’s really important to know that failing is temporary but regret is forever. It’s also important to start and share your idea with the right people to get feedback as not everyone is suitable to talk to about your business idea.

AEIC: Is there anything you want our readers to know about Nakhsh?

Hasara: Yes! We give free reusable fabric bags to our customers instead of plastic bags to help guide our customers to save the beautiful environment of Kurdistan.

Hayas: We also want to thank our family and friends for supporting us and helping us on this journey.