Muneeb Zafar

founder and CEO of Fitted

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Muneeb Zafar is the founder and CEO of Fitted, a western wear brand. He was born in Rawalpindi and graduated from FC College with a degree in business management. The company started with 11 designs and about 30 products and has a headcount of almost 40.

Early life and background

Zafar was born in Rawalpindi. His father worked in government service. He did his schooling in Lahore. [1]

Education

Zafar completed O and A levels at Beaconhouse. He went to a university and had also applied for a university visa for Canada. He went to Canada for the January intake and stayed until June. After returning from Canada, he chose to stay in Pakistan. He graduated from FC College with a degree in business management. [1]

Career

After graduating, Zafar applied to multinational companies but was not hired as a fresh graduate. His first job was as a salesperson at a business related to zameen.com, where he was one of its first employees. He never liked being a salesman, but he calls the job one of the most profound experiences of his life. [1]

He also worked in client servicing at a firm, and PSL was one of the clients he worked on. He started working in a tech company. [1]

Fitted

Zafar had a liking for making good dress shirts, did not know how to make them, and had to outsource production. He wore Ralph Lauren shirts. He asked why Pakistan's textile industry did not make button shirts. The company started for personal reasons, and he had not studied market size first. He had no exit strategy when he started. [1]

He had always wanted to be an entrepreneur but had not decided when to start. He started selling the shirts online. He wanted the brand to be known for good shirts, not as an online seller. The brand grew out of several small ideas, tested and revised in a loop. [1]

A friend helped register the company, and his father helped pack early cash-on-delivery orders. Zafar took some money from his father and had saved some money from his salary. Because he was low on budget, he handled digital marketing himself. [1]

The company started with 11 designs and about 30 products overall. It received a boost in 2018 and 2019, about 18 to 19 months after starting. Orders rose to about 100 a day in 2019. The business has now run for eight years. [1]

Zafar says he played it very safe with money at the start. He says goodwill he built with vendors led them to support the business a great deal. He says the company was not expecting growth when it came. He describes the growth as firefighting, which he says is not the right approach. [1]

The company has a headcount of almost 40, and one team handles sourcing and production. It carries between 500 and 1000 SKUs and gets around 4 to 600 orders per day, selling 1,000 to 1,500 products daily. The company tries to find the best product on the market and reverse engineer it. Zafar says the company treats two product lines as its core competencies. [1]

Zafar says Pakistan now has capacity for woven shirt fabric, and the company sources about 80% of its fabric locally. He says sourcing is challenging but not impossible. He says production and operations will never be fully streamlined. [1]

He says the company added a plugin, after which everything became automated. The company now uses robo calls. Early on, about 75% of orders were delivered, and he says many orders used to get cancelled. He says it is very important to work with several couriers to diversify, and that last-mile courier riders decide deliveries at their own discretion. He says shipping can cost $18 on an $8 item. [1]

Zafar says customer acquisition cost is around 500 rupees, sometimes less. He says word of mouth has been the most effective marketing channel. He says the company's spend is on Meta, and that YouTube is one of the only social platforms that is popular on every device. He says the company has been very selective with influencer marketing, and believes celebrity credibility does wonders for a brand. The company later worked with Imad Irfani. [1]

He says the company calls its work communication, not advertising or marketing, and that its communication is built around how to create a market for its products. He says polo shirts were not in trend and are slightly in trend now. He says educating the customer was a bigger task than the product. He says a brand rests on pillars such as customer service, product, delivery, after sales and advertising. He says brand positioning is the complete customer experience, and that positioning matters most among the pieces of a business. [1]

Retail store

Zafar says the company needed an outlet somewhere it could manage its operations. Customers started coming to the office to try products as SKUs grew. The retail store is in Gulberg, below the office building, and has been open for about a year and a half. [1]

He estimates a 1,500 to 2,000 square foot store costs about 10 million rupees if built very efficiently. He says retail and online are totally different and should be handled differently. He says revenue per square foot is the main measure for retail, and that average order value is online retail's key measure. He says online is a good place to start, but he thinks retail has no alternative for scale. [1]

Views

Zafar says sales is the foundation of everything a business does, and that a CEO has two jobs: sales and product development. He says a complete catalog is very important for a fashion retail brand. He says a new brand's first priority should be to make a good product, with cost cutting later, and that the first priority is to make a good product. He believes there is always a market for the top product. [1]

He says shoppers of Zara and H&M find the company's prices very low. He says made in Pakistan does not give a brand value. He uses the image of setting out to make a Mercedes when all the buyers want to buy an Alto. He warns that a brand selling everything risks being seen as jack of all trades, master of none. He says historically less than 3% of Pakistanis wore western wear. [1]

He says Pakistani people like to spend, even when the economy is down, and that Pakistan has a lot of potential and a very large market. He says that for graduates willing to come back after graduation, he does not think studying abroad for an undergraduate degree is worth it. [1]

He says expanding the customer base is currently the biggest challenge. He says the company is not looking for funding but is open to aligned investment, and that it is not chasing capital but chasing loyalty and brand. Fitted has intentionally tried to remain bootstrapped and not raise funds. He wants the company run by a proper team and a board of directors. [1]

He says the company's main plan is to expand retail and online globally. He says he once thought online would be the big future, but now sees it is big without being everything. He says the company never had a vision for where it is today, and that Fitted is incredible for its potential ten years from now. He describes himself as a poor businessman. [1]

He says systems are driven by the problem statement and the experience. He says Walmart and Carrefour suit selling many things to one person, while Amazon suits selling one product to many people. [1]

Timeline

2018
The company received a boost in growth, about 18 to 19 months after starting.[1]
2019
Orders rose to about 100 a day.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2025-09-26 Why Pakistan's western wear market is the next $5B prize Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Muneeb Zafar?

Muneeb Zafar is the founder and CEO of Fitted, a western wear brand. He was born in Rawalpindi and graduated from FC College with a degree in business management.[1]

What does Muneeb Zafar do?

Muneeb Zafar is the CEO and founder of a western wear brand, Fitted. He says a CEO has two jobs: sales and product development.[1]

Where did Muneeb Zafar study?

Muneeb Zafar did his schooling in Lahore and completed O and A levels at Beaconhouse. He graduated from FC College with a degree in business management. He also went to Canada for the January intake and stayed until June.[1]

Where is Muneeb Zafar from?

Muneeb Zafar was born in Rawalpindi, and his father worked in government service. He did his schooling in Lahore. After returning from Canada, he chose to stay in Pakistan.[1]

What company did Muneeb Zafar found?

Muneeb Zafar is the founder of Fitted. The company started with 11 designs and about 30 products overall. It now has a headcount of almost 40.[1]

What was Muneeb Zafar's first job?

Muneeb Zafar's first job was as a salesperson at a business related to zameen.com. He was one of its first employees. He calls the job one of the most profound experiences of his life.[1]

Has Fitted raised outside funding?

Fitted has intentionally tried to remain bootstrapped and not raise funds. Muneeb Zafar says the company is not looking for funding but is open to aligned investment.[1]

References

  1. Why Pakistan's western wear market is the next $5B prize . Thought Behind Things , 2025-09-26.
Show the source passages (105 statements)
  1. Muneeb Zafar is the founder of Fitted. founder of Fitted, one of Pakistan
  2. Muneeb Zafar is the CEO and founder of a western wear brand. who is the CEO and founder of Fittit, which is a western wear brand
  3. Muneeb Zafar was born in Rawalpindi. so I was actually born in Rawalpindi
  4. His father worked in government service. my father was in the government service
  5. He did his schooling in Lahore. I did did my schooling from Lahore
  6. He completed O and A levels at Beaconhouse. I did my O and A levels from Beaconhouse
  7. He went to a university and had also applied for a university visa for Canada. so I went to LSE and lekin I had applied for a visa for university in Canada
  8. He went to Canada for the January intake and stayed until June. for the January intake I went to Canada. I stayed there till June
  9. He graduated from FC College with a degree in business management. I did my graduation finally from FC College in business management
  10. After returning from Canada, he chose to stay in Pakistan. I just didn't feel like going back. I just wanted to stay in Pakistan
  11. He says that for graduates willing to come back after graduation, he does not think studying abroad for an undergraduate degree is worth it. But if you are willing to come back after graduation, I honestly I don't think for undergrad I don't think it's worth it.
  12. After graduating, he applied to multinational companies but did not get hired as a fresh graduate. So I applied to all you know MNCs and everything but I know fresh grad us time pe hua nahi
  13. His first job was as a salesperson. more or less my job was as a salesperson
  14. His first job was at a business related to zameen.com, and he was one of its first employees. So it was more related to zameen.com and I was one of their first employees
  15. He never liked being a salesman, but he calls the job one of the most profound experiences of his life. I never liked being a salesman, I'll be tell you very honestly, but when I look back now, I think that was one of the most profound experiences of my life
  16. He worked in client servicing at a firm. Wahan main wahan bhi main client servicing mein tha aur that was called Bremers
  17. PSL was one of the clients he worked on in client servicing. one of my client was PSL
  18. He started working in a tech company. Toh I started working in a tech company
  19. He says sales is the foundation of everything a business does. So sales is the foundation of everything
  20. He says a CEO has two jobs: sales and product development. CEO has only two jobs. One is to do sales because that is something that solves everything
  21. Because he was low on budget, he handled digital marketing himself. I was really low on budget, so obviously digital marketing waghera main saari khud dekhta tha
  22. He had a liking for making good dress shirts, did not know how to make them, and had to outsource production. I had a thing for making good dress shirts. I didn't know how to make them. I had to outsource it
  23. He wore Ralph Lauren shirts. main Ralph Lauren ki pehenta tha
  24. He asked why Pakistan's textile industry did not make button shirts. Maine kaha yaar Pakistan textile industry hai, ismein button shirts kyun nahi banti?
  25. The company started for personal reasons, and he had not studied market size first. To be very honest, I would say it was personal. I didn't see the market size at that point in time
  26. He had no exit strategy when he started. So, I had no exit strategy. I just wanted to make things work
  27. He always wanted to be an entrepreneur but had not decided when to start. So entrepreneurship was something that I always wanted to do but I haven't decided
  28. He started selling the shirts online. So then I actually started we can sell it online but I never actually wanted it to be known as an online brand
  29. He wanted the brand to be known for good shirts, not as an online seller. I just wanted it to be a a good shirt maker
  30. The brand grew out of several small ideas, tested and revised in a loop. no single point, continuously small different ideas and you know execution, testing, revolving
  31. A friend helped register the company. jo company register ki thi woh bhi mera dost tha
  32. His father helped pack early cash-on-delivery orders. mere uh father ne bahut zyada shuru mein jo COD orders aate the, woh usko pack bhi karte the
  33. He took some money from his father. I took some money from my father
  34. He had saved some money from his salary. jo meri salary thi usmein se bhi maine kuch ikathe kiye hue the
  35. He says he played it very safe with money at the start. but I played very safe
  36. He says goodwill he built with vendors led them to support the business a great deal. So I worked on the goodwill aur uski wajah se vendors ne bhi hamari kaafi zyada support ki
  37. The company received a boost in 2018 and 2019, about 18 to 19 months after starting. 2018, 2019 mein jo humein boost mila tha that's a gap of like 18-19 months after starting
  38. Orders rose to about 100 a day in 2019. So soon we jump to 100 orders a day in like 2019 and that was a very big jump
  39. The company started with 11 designs and about 30 products overall. we started with 11 designs and I think 30 products overall
  40. The business has now run for eight years. is process ko pure 8 years ho chuke hain ab
  41. The company has a headcount of almost 40. Hamara head count is waqt almost 40 ke paas hai
  42. One team handles sourcing and production. Then we have a one team that looks after sourcing and production
  43. The company carries between 500 and 1000 SKUs. total SKUs toh woh ab hamare 500 to 1000 ke beech mein
  44. The company gets around 4 to 600 orders per day and sells 1,000 to 1,500 products daily. Now we have like around 4 to 600 orders per day and we sell around you know 1000 to 1500 plus products every day
  45. The company tries to find the best product on the market and reverse engineer it. So we try to find the best product available in the market and we try to reverse engineer it
  46. He says the company treats two product lines as its core competencies. jo do lines maine aapko batayi hain Muzamil, they are core competencies hamari
  47. He says a complete catalog is very important for a fashion retail brand. But you know, having a complete catalog is very important in fashion retail brand
  48. He says a new brand's first priority should be to make a good product, with cost cutting later. whenever you are starting, your first priority should always be to make a good product. Cost cutting baad mein aani chahiye
  49. He believes there is always a market for the top product. there is always a market for the top product
  50. He says the first priority is to make a good product. So first thing first is to make a good product
  51. He says the company's communication is built around how to create a market for its products. how we are going to create the market of this product
  52. He says polo shirts were not in trend and are slightly in trend now. polo shirts are not in trend. They weren't in trend. They are slightly in trend now
  53. He says shoppers of Zara and H&M find the company's prices very low. If somebody is buying from Zara and H&M, he'll find our prices insanely low
  54. He says made in Pakistan does not give a brand value. Pakistan made in Pakistan brand value bhi nahi de rahi
  55. He uses the image of setting out to make a Mercedes when all the buyers want to buy an Alto. Yeh woh wali baat hai ki yaar Mercedes banane chala hoon, khareedar saara Alto khareedne wala hai
  56. He says Pakistan now has capacity for woven shirt fabric. main aapko bataun toh ab capacity hai Pakistan mein, woh usse kehte hain woven shirts
  57. He says the company sources about 80% of its fabric locally. So 80% is locally sourced and 20% is sourced from outside Pakistan
  58. He says sourcing is challenging but not impossible. it's challenging but it's not impossible
  59. He says production and operations will never be fully streamlined. I don't think they will ever be streamlined
  60. He says the company added a plugin, after which everything became automated. Phir uske baad humne ek uh you know ek plugin waghera daali aur uske baad saara kuch woh automate ho gaya
  61. The company now uses robo calls. Ab woh bhi hamari robo calls jaati hain
  62. Early on, about 75% of orders were delivered. shuru mein it was around 75% deliver hote the aur 25 nahi hote the
  63. He says customer acquisition cost is around 500 rupees, sometimes less. hamari customer acquisition hai between 500 rupees ya isse bhi kabhi kabhi kam aa jaati hai
  64. He says word of mouth has been the most effective marketing channel. jo sabse popular aur sabse effective ya only effective hai, woh hamesha WOM hai
  65. He says the company's spend is on Meta. unka spend meta pe hota hai. Same for us
  66. He says YouTube is one of the only social platforms that is popular on every device. that is one of the only uh you know, social platform jo har device pe popular hai
  67. He says the company has been very selective with influencer marketing. Influencer marketing, we have been very uh very selective
  68. He believes celebrity credibility does wonders for a brand. That the kind of credibility a celebrity can create, I think it does wonders
  69. The company later worked with Imad Irfani. we worked with Imad Irfani uh as well
  70. He says the company needed an outlet somewhere it could manage its operations. So we need to open an outlet somewhere jahan hum ye saara kuch manage kar sakein
  71. The retail store is in Gulberg, below the office building. Gulberg mein hi hai. So it was actually the same office building ke neeche jahan humne kiya tha
  72. The retail store has been open for about a year and a half. Retail last year, it's been 1 and a half year almost, yeah
  73. He says retail and online are totally different and should be handled differently. retail and online are totally different. Uh better for businesses to handle them slightly differently
  74. Customers started coming to the office to try products as SKUs grew. Phir hamare SKU aur badhna shuru ho gaye, aur log try karne ke liye aana shuru ho gaye
  75. He estimates a 1,500 to 2,000 square foot store costs about 10 million rupees if built very efficiently. So it it let's say if it's a 1500 to 2000 square feet, it will cost around rupees 10 million if you are very efficient
  76. He says educating the customer was a bigger task than the product. wo product se zyada customer ko educate karna tha
  77. He says many orders used to get cancelled. Bahut zyada orders cancel ho jate the
  78. He says a brand rests on pillars such as customer service, product, delivery, after sales and advertising. Customer service is one pillar, product is one pillar, uh delivery operations is one pillar, after sales is one pillar, advertising is one pillar
  79. He says brand positioning is the complete customer experience. Complete customer experience from design, uh to communication, to delivery, and everything
  80. He says systems are driven by the problem statement and the experience. because systems are going to be driven around your problem statement and your experience
  81. He says the company was not expecting growth when it came. we weren't expecting growth when it came
  82. He describes the company's growth as firefighting, which he says is not the right approach. It's fire fighting, what you can say. Not the right approach, but you know, scaling hoti bhi yahi hai
  83. He says expanding the customer base is currently the biggest challenge. Hamare liye is waqt sabse bada jo challenge hai, woh customer base ko expand karna hai
  84. He says the company is not looking for funding but is open to aligned investment. We are not looking for that, but we are open to, you know, listen to some if there are any good investment opportunities
  85. He says the company is not chasing capital but chasing loyalty and brand. because we are not chasing capital, we are chasing loyal loyalty and brand
  86. Fitted has intentionally tried to remain bootstrapped and not raise funds. intentionally uh we have tried to remain bootstrap and not raising any funds
  87. He wants the company run by a proper team and a board of directors. I really want ki proper team ho, board of directors ho, jaise Pepsi chalti hai
  88. He says the company's main plan is to expand retail and online globally. abhi hamara majorly jo plan in a nutshell wo retail aur global expansion karna hamari retail ki aur online ki global expansion karna hai
  89. He says he once thought online would be the big future, but now sees it is big without being everything. I've just come to realize it's big, it's definitely big but it doesn't mean ke it is the everything
  90. He says the company never had a vision for where it is today. we never had this vision
  91. He says Pakistani people like to spend, even when the economy is down. people like to spend here. Jab bhi economy down bhi hoti hai
  92. He says Pakistan has a lot of potential and a very large market. Toh Pakistan mein actually bahut zyada potential hai, market bahut badi hai
  93. He describes himself as a poor businessman. I'm a I'm a poor businessman
  94. He says the company calls its work communication, not advertising or marketing. we don't call it advertising or marketing or woh
  95. He says positioning matters most among the pieces of a business. saare piece mein se na, positioning sabse zyada hai
  96. He says Walmart and Carrefour suit selling many things to one person, while Amazon suits selling one product to many people. Walmart and Carrefour is a very good platform to sell 10 different things to one person
  97. He says Fitted is incredible for its potential ten years from now. Mere liye fitted is incredible because jo 10 saal baad iska potential hai na, woh bahut incredible hai
  98. He warns that a brand selling everything risks being seen as jack of all trades, master of none. you are a jack of all trades, a master of none
  99. He says it is very important to work with several couriers to diversify. To diversify karna sabke saath kaam karna isliye bahut zaroori hai
  100. He says last-mile courier riders decide deliveries at their own discretion. Uski apni discretion pe hota hai ki maine yeh dena hai aaj ya maine nahi karna
  101. He says shipping can cost $18 on an $8 item. But $8 ki cheez ke upar $18 ki jab shipping padti hai
  102. He says historically less than 3% of Pakistanis wore western wear. Pakistan mein historically less than 3% people would wear western wear
  103. He says revenue per square foot is the main measure for retail. iska jo major matrix hota hai, woh hota hai retail revenue per square feet
  104. He says online retail's key measure is average order value. aap unse AOV puch lein ki average order value kya hai
  105. He says online is a good place to start, but he thinks retail has no alternative for scale. I think retail is there is no alternative to retail