About the Entrepreneur

At FSI, we had the opportunity to work again with Nissar Abbas, the talented individual who has been running Chakwal International Hair Salon since 1992. Having migrated from Pakistan in the 1980s, Nissar has transformed a single-chair salon into the popular grooming destination it is today. Learn more about Nissar Abbas and how we previously helped him enhance brand awareness for Chakwal International Hair Salon in this case story.

Challenges Faced by the Entrepreneur

• Lack of Time and Expertise in Managing Social Media 

Nissar was unable to find time to take videos and photos and process them to update Chakwal International Hair Salon’s social media accounts. Despite having a decent follower base, their content was not updated frequently, which could negatively impact prospective clients’ perceptions of the business. 

• Lack of Reach Among Young and Local Clientele

Nissar was struggling to effectively connect with and attract potential local clients, particularly younger audiences in Hong Kong. As an immigrant entrepreneur, he faced cultural and linguistic barriers in relating to and engaging this target demographic through social media and other marketing channels. Without a strong online presence and localized content, the salon was missing out on opportunities to expand its customer base within the surrounding community.

Direct Business Support Provided by FSI and CBI Intern

Through FSI’s Community Business Internship Program, Chakwal International Hair Salon received valuable support in addressing their challenges. With the dedicated efforts of FSI and our Community Business Intern, Nimra Sajjad, who contributed a total of 23 hours of work from April to May 2024, the following objectives were accomplished:

• Creating Social Media Posts 

  • Created four social media posts covering the themes of “About Us”, “Our Legacy”, “Customer Testimonials” as well as “Throwback”, which can help inform people of the salon’s happenings and enhance the content’s reach on Instagram.

• Translation Support

  • Translated the price list and Instagram posts into Chinese to help attract local audiences.

• Optimizing Instagram Page 

  • Took charge of the salon’s Instagram page and made changes to enhance the page’s professionalism and aesthetics. This included creating Instagram story highlights and highlight covers and optimizing the Instagram bio to enable easy accessibility to essential information.

• Engaging with the Audience through Instagram Stories 

  • Posted short Q&A stories on Instagram and used memes to interact with and attract young customers.

From the Entrepreneur

“The team at FSI has been very helpful in supporting my business. As the manager and barber myself, I don’t have much experience with social media and engaging with customers. I’m kept busy running the day-to-day operations of the salon, so it’s hard for me to find the time to take photos, make videos, and keep our online presence updated.

That’s where FSI and their interns have really stepped in to assist me. Adnan and his interns are kind and patient and they took the time to understand my business and how I can better reach customers. Even though my English isn’t the best, Adnan has worked with me to improve our customer service and create social media stories that showcase the salon and our services.

My team and I are not very tech-savvy, so having someone from FSI manage our Instagram account has been a big help. I’ve noticed that we’re getting more engagement from younger customers in Hong Kong, which is great. It’s good to know that there are organizations like FSI that are willing to provide this kind of hands-on support to small business owners like myself.

I’m grateful to have the FSI team as a resource to turn to for any other questions or challenges. Their help has been invaluable in allowing me to focus on what I do best – providing excellent hair services to my clients.” – Nissar Abbas

From the Youth

“Being part of this internship has been a delightful experience for me! This project has provided me with an insightful and enriching experience that helped me gain invaluable skills such as content creation, branding, and localization. Additionally, it has provided me with valuable hands-on experience in the working world. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to contribute to Chakwal International Hair Salon, whose owner was incredibly kind. I am also extremely happy that I got to work with an amazing team at FSI, their warm and welcoming nature has made this internship experience an unforgettable one!” – Nimra Sajjad

Interested in learning more about Chakwal International Hair Salon? Check out how we previously enhanced their brand awareness here and visit Chakwal International Salon’s listing on GuideFong here!

This blog post was drafted by Nimra Sajid who participated in Community Business Internship Program at the Foundation for Shared Impact (FSI) during the spring of 2024. The Community Business Internship Program to support ethnically diverse youths in Hong Kong was supported by Linklaters Asia.