ALIEN Biz. *New!

Introducing ALIEN Biz! Which stands for "ALia's Illustrated Extra Notes Business". Name courtesy of my older crazy and spontaneous brother, Ahmad.

What Sparked ALIEN Biz.: Well, there's a different "How It Started" on ALIEN Biz.'s first post. It actually REALLY started because I desperately needed money.

Back in around April 2011, I visited a Somali Refugee Community in Puchong a couple of times. Shobana Nair (the organizer of a TEDxYouthKL for which she invited me as a speaker for) asked for my help to hold a Medical Checkup in the somali community. I was a part of PPIM CUCMS Student Chapter, and one of the medical outreach programs they did was free Medical Checkups. So we held a medical checkup for them.

At the same time, we wanted to raise funds for the school. They only had 1 Somali teacher, their school was only one room and was in need of school supplies such as stationaries and exercise books. Thus we held a fundraising event called, "Night of Gratitude" where there was a multitude of performances and which the somali children starred as Guest Performers.

In May, just before my professional exam break, I visited them again and they served us some of their food. What I tasted was exquisitely delicious and when I told them this, Uncle Jama (the head of the community), showed me a list of cuisines that they sell. Apparently, they already have a business, whereby the startup was funded by UNHCR's SPF (Social Protection Fund). However, looking at the menu, the photos weren't that clear, it was an A4 paper, printed on glossy paper. I think with the combination of help from other people, insyaAllah it could be improved and be way more attractive to the market.

So I was determined to design the menu and have it professionally printed- for which I needed money. And where was I going to get it?

Poster to promote OSCE notes.

Sell stuff and get money! So getting money would either mean I have to ask for it (like what I did when raising funds for Smile Train Kerala and also Twenties for Smil:)ys) or sell a service or a product.

It was my pro exam break and we were going to have OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination)- a physical examination. Alhamdulillah, previously for our Nervous System OSCE, I made notes and uploaded it and my classmates said that they found it really useful. So I thought of selling notes for physical examinations for all systems. And it was the crucial time too since it was nearing exams. I didn't know how well it was going to go but I had the idea so I thought why not just go for it?

And ALIEN Biz. launches! So I started ALIEN Biz. Started a blog and attempted to make it look professional, so that I can easily promote it and allow people to order from there. It took long hours and a lot of critics from my brother (in terms of logo design, website layout and managing). Good critics that is because as he says, "When you start something, think long term. If later you realize that you need to change it, it's going to take a lot more work". But it did worry me at one point because I was spending time on it rather than studying. But it also allowed me to take a break from my books.

Character for ALIEN Biz. ;)

Overwhelming response: I didn't know how much money I needed for the menus. I haven't actually thought it through but I told myself I just needed to raise as much money as possible. And if I need more money, I'd find other ways to top it up. Ahmad helped me calculate the cost of each piece, considering the paper, ink, electricity and time. That was something new I learnt; how to calculate each. I sold each at RM 5.

I thought only those from my batch (which are those who were going to take OSCE in about 3 weeks time from then) were going to be interested. But even juniors bought it and a few seniors:)

I'm really elated to say that the money received surpassed the amount I needed to pay, and even more, that people said they found the notes really useful!

Pre-order HERE :)

Illustrated Physical Examination Book?: After much encouragement and pushing from family (mostly), I decided to 'formalize' my notes and make it into a book. And InsyaAllah the project is underway. I have at times felt like giving up, stopping, and not push on. But with the support of my parents, siblings, friends, and even random people, I have persevered:)


Pray for the best, please:)

If not for Allah's mercy to inspire me at that moment, I think things wouldn't have unravelled like this:)

Alia Nadhirah
Founder of ALIEN Biz.