SME about town
PROMOTING BUSINESS
Partnership to promote entrepreneurs TiE, in partnership with Intel, provided general advice across the sectors to both entrepreneurs interested in starting a business and those that are already established and seeking fresh advice. Talking to SME Advsior, P.K Gulati, TiE President, UAE, and Feroz Sanaualla, Director, Middle East, Turkey, Africa, Intel, highlighted on how they aim to support entrepreneurs.
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alking about TiEs efforts, PK said, “TiE is open to supporting all sectors, however at GITEX the focus is been from IT companies.” One of the few requirements for the consultations asked only that those interested were at least in the process of registering or were already registered. Demand for these casual consultations was substantial, where anything from general guidance on logistical analytics with structuring a company to finance issues and so on, were discussed. Membership drives were run by TiE before, during and after GITEX and over the GITEX
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conference there were several hundred new applications. Throughout the course of the week this consultation partnership between TiE and Intel, which was supported by Nokia and du, saw them speak with over 300 businesses owners and entrepreneurs. “We have seen a wide variety of business owners and entrepreneurs this week, but with this being a technology conference the large majority to them were IT related. However, our overall membership covers a wide range of sectors,” said PK. One of the services which TiE promotes within their membership is to encourage more experienced business owners (charter members),
SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST NOVEMBER 2011
who have been successful in their business to mentor new budding entrepreneurs (associate members) and aid them with any difficulties they might come across. They encourage these more senior and experienced business owners to pay a little more in membership fee and give a lot more of their time, so that the younger less experienced members can progress faster. PK also highlighted that membership for anyone wanting to become an associate member is free, something that only TiE UAE offers. “About a dozen companies are mentored formally and we also ran a membership drive recently and a lot of people wanted to become a member of TiE and now we have a few hundred members signed up here,” PK added. He also mentioned that mostly startups and entrepreneurs are looking for advice on how to set up, where to set up, the rules and regulations of the country and specifics in terms of products and consumers, rather than financial help. Feroz seconded the sentiment and said, “The entrepreneurial start up corner at GITEX has been a great success and acted as a platform for young business men and women to speak directly to potentially investors. Over the course of the event we engaged with several entrepreneurs, all of whom had interesting ideas that showed promising potential. At Intel we believe entrepreneurship drives innovation and has the power to accelerate economic growth.” With initiatives like this, budding entrepreneurs in the region have a support system in place that will help them map the road to success.