Entrepreneur Qatar August 2015 | A Greener Future

The social media handbook Five guiding principles for entrepreneurs looking to leverage the Internet

A smarter, more effective world Connectivity solutions to boost your business

Avaya’s Mohammed Areff

Believing in a greener future Meshal Al Shamari A bright future for sustainable energy technologies

Building sustainably and protecting the environment is a Qatari priority, and it can benefit your business

Business opportunities for entrepreneurs in renewable energies in the GCC

Dr. Andrea Masini 9

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AUGUST 2015 | www.entrepreneur.com/me | QAR15

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august 2015

CONTENTS

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Meshal Al Shamari believes in a greener future

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Break through and bust out

Innovating from the inside out Gulf Marketing Group’s new CEO Amin Nasser has big plans ahead for the familyowned conglomerate.

24

Meshal Al Shamari believes in a greener future Building sustainably and protecting the environment is a Qatari priority, and it can benefit your business in the long-term.

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A bright future for sustainable energy technologies Dr. Andrea Masini discusses business opportunities for entrepreneurs arise as renewable energies come under the spotlight in the GCC.

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Getting off on the right foot

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EDITOR’S NOTE

By Fida Z. Chaaban

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TECH: THE FIX

Connectivity solutions to boost your business Avaya’s Mohammed Areff sees a smarter, more effective world.

Expansion trade tips for your business

50

Mark Soufiar, General Manager OMD Qatar, talks new market entry.

#TamTalksTech

The launch of the OMD Qatar country office

SHINY Gadgets and doodads that you might’ve missed out on, sourced by a tech aficionado. Yes, it’s okay to want them all… and no, it’s not our fault.

august 2015 Entrepreneur

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CONTENTS

august 2015

27 Henri Asseily, Manager Partner, Leap Ventures

80 Reem Haj Ali wants to help you find the right healthcare provider

64

SKILLSET

Every entrepreneur has a limited amount of resources Olympian and entrepreneur, James Clear, discusses the weird strategy Dr. Seuss used to create his greatest work.

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MARKETING

The social media handbook

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TECH: ONLINE ‘TREP

No one said building a company was easy Genny Ghanimeh, founder of PiSlice, puts forward some points about overcoming the psychology of the tech entrepreneur.

18

Gulf Marketing Group’s new CEO Amin Nasser has big plans ahead for the family-owned conglomerate

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49

THE FIX

Safety in numbers Students create app to facilitate anonymous reporting of domestic violence.

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‘TREPONOMICS: SKILLSET It shouldn’t take a prodigy to fill a job opening

Five guiding principles for entrepreneurs looking to leverage the Internet put forward by Ema Linaker, head of Leo Burnett’s social, mobile and digital arm.

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50 #TamTalksTech: HTC Desire 626G+ Dual SIM

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CULTURE: TRAPPINGS

ESQUIRE GUY

‘Trep gear

Leading a conference call 101

The executive selection for the entrepreneur on your list that has everything. Okay, maybe for a little self-reward as well.

Ross McCammon has some suggestions for you to direct a conference call like a champ.

CONTENTS

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74

Injoy Giving co-founder Martin Rockstrom

Therapy co-founder Monique DuToit

72

START IT UP: Q+A

The boxes are coming… literally

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CULTURE: LIFE

Business book rundown

Behind the business models of six MENA startups that revolve around subscription box deliveries, and what they have going for them.

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Q+A

Amal Chaaban reviews a few business books for you before you hit the bestseller aisle. It’s true that not all executive material is created equally.

From social experiments to social entrepreneurship

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80

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36

Keep it to yourself

Paging DoctorUna

Five things May Rostom wanted to tell her boss, but stopped just in the nick of time. (Read this when you’re ready to blow.)

Startup founder Reem Haj Ali wants to help you find the right healthcare provider -in English and in Arabic- and she’s gaining traction fast.

The dynamic new trends of entrepreneurship

Maximize your profitability

LIFE

Co-founders Natasha and Martin Rockstrom launched Injoy Giving to use gifting to make a difference.

Q+A

ECOSYSTEM

Waddah Barkawi says that Jordan’s The economic growth executive selection: depends Tom on government Ford support of SMEs.

MONEY: ASK THE MONEY GUY Mohammed Nosseir analyzes pricing as the key player in market shares, sales revenues and profitability.

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Tracking luxury chocolatier Forrey & Galland’s journey from its Parisian origins to its Dubai rebirth

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Entrepreneur august 2015

SUBSCRIBE EDITOR IN CHIEF Fida Z. Chaaban editor@bncpublishing.net MANAGING DIRECTOR Walid Zok walid@bncpublishing.net DIRECTOR Rabih Najm rabih@bncpublishing.net DIRECTOR Wissam Younane wissam@bncpublishing.net SALES DIRECTOR Alex James alex@bncpublishing.net PUBLISHER Nehme Abouzeid MANAGING EDITOR Aby Sam Thomas CREATIVE LEAD Odette Kahwagi ONLINE LIAISON Kareem Chehayeb COLUMNIST Pamella de Leon COLUMNIST Tamara Clarke CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Lama Ataya Waddah Barkawi Martin Braddock Amal Chaaban Tamara Clarke James Clear

Genny Ghanimeh Toddi Gutner Laura Hamade Simon Hudson Ema Linaker Suhail Al-Masri

Ross McCammon Shoug Al Nafisi Mohammed Nosseir May Rostom Erika Widen Martin Zwilling

Images used in Entrepreneur Middle East are credited when necessary. Attributed use of copyrighted images with permission. All images not credited otherwise Shutterstock.

MIDDLE EAST

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In addition to our print edition, we’re bringing you all sorts of industry news on our web mediums. Joining us online means getting relevant business and startup content in real-time, so you’re hearing about the latest developments as soon as we do. We’re looking forward to interacting with our readers on all of our social media and web platforms- like any thriving business, we’re looking to give and take. #TrepTalkME is already happening on all of our digi platforms, and all good conversations go both ways. See you on the web!

EntMagazineME @EntMagazineME | @Fida Entrepreneur-me EntrepreneurMiddleEast EntMagazineME EntMagazineME EntMagazineME

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Entrepreneur MARCH 2015

The “Emerald Palace Kempinski Hotel Palm Jumeirah” is developed by and the Hotel Units are sold by Sunrise Properties Limited, companies independent from the Kempinski group, and the “Kempinski” name is used by the developer under a license from Kempinski Hotels SA. The role of the Kempinski group is limited to the management of the hotel.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Your dignity depends on it Sloth, investing time, and the overall message you are sending at the office

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here are a few things that I find irritating at work, and most of these revolve around time. The lack of respect for other people’s time, wasting time via make-work projects, and most of all, stinginess with time. By stinginess I mean that greedy type of person who clocks in at 9:00 a.m. sharp and clocks out right at 6:00 p.m. Or that person who nickels and dimes the company for a weekend there, or an evening here. Nickel and diming doesn’t always mean billing the company for extra hours, it can also be in the form of emotional taxation- like when you bring up those extra hours in a whiney, pity party voice. Don’t get me wrong, I think everyone has a right to their free time and it’s healthy to switch off, but when you are needed to pull a weekend with your team, you are needed. There really is no two ways about it.

I especially dislike people who forget that senior positions (and entrepreneurial endeavors) require much more of a time commitment than the average admin position. If you think that putting in 10 hours of overtime makes you super special, then perhaps you should consider a less challenging career. Shift work, like at a fast food restaurant or at a clothing boutique of some sort, might suit you better because you have set hours and you’re not obligated to complete a stack of paperwork and respond to an inbox full of emails when your

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Entrepreneur august 2015

shift is over. You shouldn’t consider upper management jobs in any of those fields either, because those senior positions will require overtime as well- you’re the boss and you’ve gotta get it done. When I was a child, we were taught that those types of industries, service industries, were called the tertiary sector. (I’m not sure if that term is still in use.)

There’s no shortage of jobs in those arenas, so next time you are having a “poor me” moment, consider the switch to a junior level client-facing service position. Then I think you’ll be “poor me”-ing (rightfully so) on a much grander scale after trying to placate the general public for eight hours straight. (This is coming from personal experience- I have worked long and hard in a few service sectors, and I know how difficult it can be to please a crazy customer.)

This brings me to my next point: if you don’t realize how fortunate you are to have a career, consider people who are locked out of a position like yours due to lack of skillset, lack of education or lack of advantageouslypositioned connections. When I hear people complaining about working overtime, I stifle the urge to remind them how truly lucky they are to have made it that far up the corporate ladder. Many of these big complainers are woefully unqualified; that makes it that much harder for me to keep my opinion to myself.

I think this all ties into being sloppy and/or lazy. If you are not meticulous

in your duties, it suggests that you have the “poor me” overtime attitude. To me, sloppiness indicates that you think that being out the door at 6:00 p.m. is more important than presenting respectable work.

To those of you indulging in the pity party, spend an extra 15 minutes at the office every day, clean up your mess so that no one else is stuck with it, appreciate the fact that someone believed in you enough to appoint you to a senior position, only put forward work that you are really proud of, and finally, take your ego out of the equation and get your unattractive laziness in check. Then you will know, on an intrinsic level, what dignity feels like.

Fida Z. Chaaban Editor in Chief @fida editor@bncpublishing.net

TECH

SHINY | WEBSITE TO WATCH | GEEK | MOBILE TECH | ONLINE ‘TREP | THE FIX

H.E. Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani, Prime Minister of the State of Qatar and the Minister of Interior overlooking Banana Island plans

Connectivity solutions to boost your business

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Avaya’s Mohammed Areff sees a smarter, more effective world By Erika Widén

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ur main services are in communication and business collaboration,” says Mohammed Areff, Vice President, Avaya Middle East, Africa, Turkey and Pakistan. “We build the infrastructure on which communication and business collaboration platforms are built. We assist customers to have the best experience with their customers by building an appropriate contact center, in addition we improve productivity and business continuity of businesses– using our unified business communication solutions.” An offshoot of Lucent Technologies and AT&T, Avaya has been actively present in Qatar and the UAE since 2003.

Avaya is transforming the hospitality and events industries across the region by building networks enabling effortless conversion of the sector. “Our fabric architectural networking

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is now almost becoming a de facto standard for organizations that are in hospitality and similar businesses,” says Areff. One example points to the cohesiveness of how Avaya’s

Wi-Fi and wireless solutions intermesh with infrastructure.

“From a tele-voice communication perspective, we believe in working on the new concierge type of services. It is almost like

“It allows the government to plan for the city for the years to come based on consumption.

It also allows under privileged people with handicaps to live a normal life like the rest of us.

It also empowers the security agencies in the country to keep the country and the city safe.” a concierge in your room or like having a butler next to you. We are building collaboration solutions and applications with our partners because today hardly anyone uses the telephone to do anything– except perhaps calling room service or housekeeping.” In other words, in order to enhance a pleasurable experience for the customer, Avaya provides video pads for the customer, allowing a guest to choose their medium of requesting what they need.

Thanks to their innovative offerings, one of Avaya’s hospitality flagship projects in Qatar is the Sheraton Doha. “We are

“The biggest challenge is to really figure out exactly what the customer would need and match that with the most appropriate network design.

More often, in a lot of organizations I have [witnessed] that there is a huge mismatch.

In most instances, customers have specific business outcomes in mind, and require a team that builds solutions to deliver on those outcomes.

In other instances, we consult with customers to define the business outcomes required at the initial phase.” proud to be associated with the country’s landmark,” Areff says.

“The innovation project for the new Sheraton Doha came up more than a year ago– and Avaya built the entire data networking infrastructure, the voice and telephony service in that hotel, and also the wireless services, so it was an end-toend wire situation and we are very proud of it.” Avaya also draws attention to the work they have done at Barwa City and Banana Island, where the company has built their datanetworking infrastructure.

Among the benefits of Avaya’s smart wired and wireless services is simply to make people’s lives easier to navigate, and simpler in principle. “It allows people to have more freedom to do the things that they like and enjoy rather than do the mundane things that they don’t really like. It allows the government to plan for the city for the years The Sheraton Doha

to come based on consumption.

It also allows under privileged people with handicaps to live a normal life like the rest of us.

It also empowers the security agencies in the country to keep the country and the city safe,” adds Areff. Furthermore, Avaya is also helping in the reduction of carbon emission and preserve the energy of the earth by promoting their genuine video solutions called Scopia, which allows users to avoid traveling for meetings.

Accordingly, Avaya’s team of specialists, which are responsible for implementing and executing infrastructure, consists of a team of four to 14, depending on the complexity of the project and the timeframe their respective clients set to ensure infrastructure deployment. “There is some manual work done and there is some interaction smart work done.

For instance for Sheraton Doha, it took us about maybe less than a month to implement.”

Areff adds that the company works with its partners to deliver solutions and services and therefore, much of Avaya’s investment in Qatar is geared towards educating their part-

“The innovation project for the new Sheraton Doha came up more than a year ago– and Avaya built the entire data networking infrastructure, the voice and telephony service in that hotel, and also the wireless services, so it was an end-to-end wire situation and we are very proud of it.”

ners, building their skillsets, and enabling them to successfully deliver value-based and outcome-driven projects.

In general, the timeframe of completion highly depends entirely on the infrastructure. In addition, there are several commitments and collaborations, which the customer is required to agree upon with Avaya prior to the execution of the project. However, in either event, Avaya is prepared to tailor solutions.

“The biggest challenge is to really Mohamed Arref and Ziad Halwani figure out exactly what the customer would need and match Depending on the complexity of that with the most appropriate the project and services the customer desires, the price range of network design. More often, Avaya’s offerings approximately in a lot of organizations I have [witnessed] that there is a huge starts at half a million US dollars to five million dollars. On a mismatch. In most instances, positive note, the implementacustomers have specific business outcomes in mind, and tion of a smart wireless service require a team that builds allows for enhanced workforce solutions to deliver on those productivity- in tasks that outcomes. In other instances, cannot be addressed via smart we consult with customers to solutions. According to Areff, define the business outcomes the workforce will stop focusing required at the initial phase.” on routines (which machines, In reference to the planning applications and technology stage, Avaya has design special- can do), and instead allow the ists able to thoroughly compreworkforce to focus on other hend the customers’ business tasks and be more creative. That requirements and translate the sounds like a smart solution, for findings backwards to technolvirtually any industry. ogy design. Particularly, Avaya’s “From a tele-voice communication specialists study the requireperspective, we believe in working ments and propose the best on the new concierge type of sersolution and service possible, vices. It is almost like a concierge “and then build the most optiin your room or like having a mum design that gives the cusbutler next to you. We are buildtomer power to be able to scale ing collaboration solutions and as well as the power to have applications with our partners business continuity in cases of because today hardly anyone uses failure, also to be a very secure the telephone to do anything– exinfrastructure– and all of this cept perhaps calling room service at the most optimum price.” or housekeeping.”

august 2015 Entrepreneur

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IN THE LOOP

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hat a year it has been for the small, landlocked African country. Burundi, already in the midst of any and all forms of chaos and instability to the highest degree, has opened voting booths for a presidential election that is, safe to say, controversial. A man who some may recall for banning jogging back in March 2014, current President Pierre Nkurunziza is now enjoying his third term as the head of the state after garnering almost 70% of the votes, and it hasn’t been received well by many Burundians. A third team means five more years for Nkurunziza, but there’s a bigger problem: it’s unconstitutional. After Burundi’s bloody 12-year civil war ended in 2005, a two-term limit was imposed on future presidents. That being said, the government still believes that the elections were valid; they claim that Nkurunziza is eligible because his first term wasn’t granted through popular elections. After the civil war ended, he was first elected unopposed in 2005 by Burundi’s MPs. When Nkurunziza announced his interest in a third term, many took to the street.

That said, protests were met with brutal response: at least 100 have been confirmed dead, and around 170,000 have fled the country, 80,000 of them to Tanzania. That didn’t put a halt to President Nkurunziza’s ambitions, and

neither did a failed coup while he was abroad last May. In fact, when he returned, he was even more adamant about his candidacy, claiming he is Burundi’s only hope for some stability. “It’s either me or Al-Shabaab,” he said, using the Somalia-based Al-Qaeda offshoot’s threats to attack Burundi as an anchor to his ultimatum.

Political opposition and civil society organizations chose to boycott the elections, and voter turnout was at a serious low. While voter turnout in rural areas reached up to 80%, Burundi’s capital Bujumbura, amidst the protests and violence, only had a turnout of a little under 40%, making this the lowest voter turnout in Burundi in three decades.

Many analysts see this as problematic, citing the potential for the sporadic violent sparks to develop into another civil war. It also doesn’t help that this could impact the aid that Burundi receives from the United States. Secretary John Kerry called the elections “deeply flawed,” and it looks like they could be halting some of America’s aid to Burundi, including military training for Burundi’s troops in the African Union. But larger punitive measures from the United States through halting some of its aid programs can be possible, which could play a role in the civil war scenario many analysts have speculated.

NFL stars to donate brains for research

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tepping up to support research for brain disease, New York Giants punter Steve Weatherford and former Seattle Seahawks receiver Sidney Rice have pledged to donate their brains for medical research after their deaths. After winning the Super Bowl last year, at 27, Rice is retiring over fears of the future effects of head injuries, while Weatherford claims that he has seen the effects it

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Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

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yriza’s election victory in late January looked like a new turning point for Greece. The left-wing political party won support from many of the country’s citizens by focusing their campaign on austerity relief, which has been a source of concern for many Greeks worried about their nation’s handling of its debt crises.

The new leading party, which formed an interesting coalition with the right-wing Independent Greeks, hoped to change EU measures, especially with the appointment of new Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. Those who were in doubt of the new approach saw this as a potential Greek exit from the Eurozone, many referring to it as a “Grexit.”

But did they ever sort out an agreement to change things for Greece? As many expected, it was a much tougher task than expected, perhaps Herculean.

Syriza reassured the press that they had no intention on leaving the Eurozone, but wouldn’t settle for a deal that they found too much of a compromise on their part. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was unrelenting to say the least, not willing to provide any debt relief without additional austerity measures. French President François Hollande was in the picture too, but while he seemed to be slightly more sympathetic to Varoufakis and co., Merkel had the final word on the EU’s part. Greece caved in to some of Germany’s demands, notably agreeing to

had on teammates and friends. Many ex-football players suffer the long-term effects of head injuries, with 111 concussions registered during the 2014 regular season alone (The Associated Press).

Frontline has also reported that based on data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs brain repository, there are signs of degenerative brain disease in 76 of the 79 former National Football League (NFL) players it has examined.

With a federal judge in April approving the settlement of a lawsuit from more than 5000 former

privatize its only licensed horse racing gambling company.

There was what many expected to be a turning point in the negotiations deadlock. On June 27, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced in a speech to the public that a referendum would take place to decide whether the Greek government should agree to the bailout conditions by the IMF, European Central Bank (ECB), and the European Commission (EC). Should the majority of votes be a “yes”, the Syriza-led government was expected to step down.

The “No” vote received a little over 61% of the votes, and many speculated a potential Greek exit from the Eurozone; several banks even closed down.

But what happened just after 24 hours shocked many. Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned, after “other European participants” told Prime Minister Tsipras that they preferred having Varoufakis out of the picture. Tsipras eventually agreed to a new bailout deal, causing rifts among his own supporters and even fellow MPs and ministers.

That being said, views are mixed on the matter. Many economics, even those who lean towards similar politics as Syriza’s, see this a deal that can lead to sustainable relief. Others see this as a betrayal to the referendum, with many citing Germany’s lack of empathy, because they were once relieved of their debt in 1953.

We don’t know how things will go with this deal just yet; however, there have been some voices of concern coming from unexpected sources. The IMF immediately refused to endorse the deal, saying it was simply not viable and unsustainable, and that in order for a sustainable recovery, Greece needs much more debt-relief than offered by Europe, with even British Prime Minister David Cameron agreeing that more debt-relief is required.

players who accused the NFL of concealing the effects of concussions, and players like Weatherford and Seahawks coming forward, perhaps it’s a step to recognize the impact of head-related injuries in football and other contact sports.

Steve Weatherford

alexis tsipras image © Arvnick / Shutterstock | Steve Weatherford image © lev radin / shutterstock

Fixing Greece’s economy might prove to be a Herculean task

Burundi’s presidential elections surrounded by violence and corruption

august 2015 Entrepreneur

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Expansion trade tips for your business

Mark Soufiar, General Manager OMD Qatar, talks new market entry

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eadquartered in Dubai, UAE, OMD launched its newest country office in Qatar in April of this year. “Our portfolio of Qatar-based clients was growing, and it was time for us to turn our local operation into a full-fledged office,” says Mark Soufiar, the newly appointed General Manager of OMD Qatar. “The growth trajectory of the country -and its fast developmentalso made a compelling case for a full presence. Qatar has global aspirations and needs partners that can help them realize these ambitions across a number of projects, initiatives and sectors.” The plans to launch OMD Qatar were clearly influenced by factors like the securing of

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the 2022 World Cup, and also potentially in light of the continued investment in education made by the Qatari government. It probably helps that as a multinational, global institutions looking to expand operations into Qatar will, in all likelihood, take advantage of the fact that an established partner they have in another country now has a local office in the newest market that they’re looking to properly penetrate. “As a leading global network, OMD has much to offer to local, regional and global entities, both from the public and private sectors.

As such, our experience in a broad range of industries and sectors will catalyze growth for our clients and help them achieve the best possible results.”

OMD Qatar’s client roster currently includes enterprises that run the gamut from banking to tourism to broadcast to healthcare. Hence, the decision to open a local office in the small Gulf country wasn’t a difficult one- it was a natural progression as servicing clients on their turf is always a boon to any company. The agency’s Qatar clients have now all moved to the new office, and will be serviced from Doha. “In some way, we have been in Qatar for quite some time but once the decision to open a full operation here was taken, things moved on quite swiftly. Our recent wins have positively impacted our plans. Hence, it’s been quite an exciting period with plenty of issues to address and opportunities to learn. We believe we have the right solution in place for the market and have now created the level of awareness and interest we needed to grow harmoniously. We’re also fortunate to have received immense support from all our clients, partners and suppliers. It’s a hugely exciting time

to be in Doha.” The company’s regional base in Dubai is close by, but if you’ve done business in Qatar, you’ll understand that proximity and a local office are obviously advantageous, no matter the industry. Some of OMD Qatar’s clients “include the Doha Film Institute, beIN Sports and the Sidra Medical & Research Center, part of the Qatar Foundation. We have already built strong relationships with our current clients and aim to grow this further on the back of our new office in Doha. A market of the size and ambition of Qatar requires us to have a full office, backed by the regional HQ in Dubai. With it, we combine local expertise and insights with regional and international best practice.”

Soufiar, appointed to launch and execute the new country office, is heading up a team of eight “and already growing.”

It’s always good for a new country office to have staff who already have their feet firmly planted in the market’s enterprise space, and OMD Qatar’s entry strategy incorporated that tactic. “We see that Doha has the potential to be a leading operation in our network, as clients’ expectations will push us to provide best in class service. All of [our team] have been in the network for several years, and some have handled Qatari clients for some time. Others have joined them based on their complementary talent and for the opportunity that Qatar represents for their careers.” Soufiar acknowledges that the Qatari market has its own specificities, and that they’re aware of the challenges the new branch is facing: “The market here is highly competitive and limited when it comes to media opportunities. Instead of a challenge, we regard this as an opportunity to provide

www.omd.com

innovator

out of the box solutions to current and potential clients.

While strategies and agency capabilities are as important as they are elsewhere, there is also a lot of focus on value.

All in all, Qatar is a market that requires innovative thinking and sharp negotiation skills.”

Both of these skills are also needed when you’re organizing and recruiting a new team, and testing your mettle as a leader. “My personal ambition is two-fold: realizing the ambition and the promise of the Qatari market, on the one hand, and supporting locally-based businesses with the full power of the OMD network. This is how we will create a virtuous circle of success for all.” Soufiar has clocked almost 12 years with OMD in various positions, his most recent as Senior Director at OMD UAE. The 33 year-old admits that the appointment of General Manager, and being tasked with the launch of a new branch, is a whole new ballgame, but one he was ready to meet as a hands-on leader. “I knew that it was the right time for me to take on a challenging role that would sharpen my entrepreneurial skills and test my ability to launch and manage an office. Though I totally went outside of my comfort zone, I have been with the network long enough to know what makes it work, and thankfully the results have proved the wisdom of that call.” And what is his source of personal motivation? “For me, it’s a vision, a goal, and a clear direction of the path to success. This is all tied to some important factors, first and foremost to us is building credibility and demonstrable performance in the market, which will lead to effective relationships and ultimately new business wins.”

Business wins are every-

thing, and the quicker your enterprise can drum up new clients, the quicker you gain market share and a solid reputation. If your business has operated in the new country for some time, you may find yourself ahead of the game when you decide to open a local office. “Venturing into something new is always going to be a challenge but we knew the Qatar market very well, having serviced our clients there out of Dubai for the past few years. Thanks to this experience, we could open physically in the market in a position of strength, with a portfolio of clients, contacts and relationships already established.” And once your existing contacts know that you’re coming directly to them, the next step, explains Soufiar, is tailoring your market offering to suit the local business climate and demographics. “What is important is to build the business model on market requirements, being flexible by adapting to these needs. These are defining factors to the success in growing our client base and creating strategic partnerships that will stimulate the growth of our operation in Doha.”

Mark Soufiar, General Manager, OMD Qatar

Mastering the competitive edge Leveraging existing Group strengths for an impactful market entry How does OMD Qatar plan to attract new SMEs and multinationals interested in executing Qatari endeavors?

“We believe our proposition is as compelling in Qatar as it is in the other countries in which we operate. OMD has a strong culture of innovation and effectiveness, which can be summarized with ‘ideas that work.’ This approach, deployed with the expertise of our team and the technology of our network, ensures

our clients are at the cutting edge in terms of thinking and execution. We seamlessly integrate all our expertise and specialist disciplines into every relationship to ensure every synergy is activated.

The result is that clients perform at their optimal level and reap the rewards of our approach in the market.

We see it as part of our mission to catalyze the power of our group and keep our clients ahead of the curve. This

means that we constantly look for opportunities to innovate, against something deeply rooted in our culture.

Hence, digital technology is an area where we believe we have an edge and this has proven particularly attractive with clients. We see this as equally critical in Qatar, considering the digitization of the country and the modern lifestyle people enjoy here.

Brands can clearly capitalize from this landscape.”

august 2015 Entrepreneur

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innovator

Break through and bust out Innovating from the inside out

Gulf Marketing Group’s new CEO Amin Nasser has big plans ahead for the family-owned conglomerate By Aby Sam Thomas

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hen I met with Amin Nasser at his Oud Metha office in Dubai, it had only been a few months since his appointment as the new Group CEO of Gulf Marketing Group (GMG), but he certainly didn’t seem like a newbie at the business- on the contrary, he was decidedly self-assured in his role, with plenty of ideas and strategies (many of which he had already put into action) to drive his company forward. Of course, GMG is already quite a successful enterprise- since its establishment in 1978 by Chairman Abdul Aziz Hassan Baker, the UAE-based company is today a diversified business conglomerate with a commanding presence in several countries of the GCC in a variety of sectors like sports retail (Sun & Sand Sports, which is perhaps GMG’s most recognizable brand), food trading and processing (Farm Fresh), pharmaceuticals (Super Care), logistics (Trilogi), education (Emirates British Nursery) and more.

Amin Nasser, Group CEO, Gulf Marketing Group

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But for all of its size and scale, it’s worth noting that GMG is a family business, and the Baker family intends to have it continue to be that way for the foreseeable future- and that’s where Nasser has an important role to play as GMG’s Group CEO. Prior to working at GMG, Nasser was a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where he headed up its Family Business Forum in the UAE, advising many of the region’s prominent family businesses on everything from setting up a corporate strategy to formulating good governance- and one of the companies he worked with was, indeed, GMG, with Nasser revealing that he has known Baker for more than 15 years.

“In fact, GMG was a client of PwC when I was a partner there,” he remembers. “So what drove me to leave PwC and join GMG was, really, I wanted to, kind of, put the theory into practice, if you like. I had been advising a lot of families on [several] different areas, and I wanted to see what it would actually look like running an organization like that, and take the organization to the next level.

Now, I know that this family, GMG, has been extremely passionate about what they are doing- a lot of aspirations are on growth, and that excited me. I wanted to be part of a company that had those plans for the future, and more importantly, their thirst to professionalize the business, to put good governance into play, [and] to make sure that they behave like a public-listed company but yet still be a family-owned business- that inspired me.”

Nasser’s entry at GMG comes at a time when the company is seeing quite a rapid rate of growth- it’s grown by double digits over the last year, and it has fur-

Sun & Sand Sports’ new flagship concept retail store at Dubai Mall

“I wanted to be part of a company that had those plans for the future, and more importantly, their thirst to professionalize the business, to put good governance into play, [and] to make sure that they behave like a public-listed company but yet still be a family-owned business- that inspired me.”

ther expansion plans on the agenda as well. For the entrepreneurs among you, Nasser’s strategy in this regard is one worth taking note of- in the rush to scale up one’s business, one should be wary of losing sight of what the end goal is and not lose focus on attaining long-term growth.

Given the variety of verticals GMG is currently involved in, Nasser intends on conducting a portfolio review and thereby figure out how the business is going to play out in the

coming years. “One of the biggest things that I am going to do in the next few months is formulate our strategy going forward,” he explains.

“We have recruited a head of strategy who’s joining us soon, and one of the first things that we are going to do with him is to get the family out and get the business unit leaders to meet together, and to discuss our strategy going forward for the next 5-10 years: what is it that we want to do, how are we going to develop this engine for growth around infrastructure, people, capital, funds and things like that. So that’s quite exciting- once we formulate the strategy, then we will execute that with laser focus. We’ll be very focused on achieving what we want to achieve in the next 5-10 years, and that

may include going outside the region. At the moment, our prime focus is the UAE and Saudi Arabia- that’s where the footprint is, that’s where our focus is at the moment. But then, depending on opportunities, we will go outside,” with Nasser saying the company has an eye to move out of the GCC and into

new markets in, say, Africa and Asia.

Nasser believes his efforts in bringing new systems, new procedures, new ways of doing things are necessary for a company of GMG’s stature so as to ensure its continued success, given the rate at which it is growing.

“At the moment, we have >>> Customers at this new store can look out for an immersive experience

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The Sun & Sand Sports’ concept store

about 220 stores- we opened 42 new stores in 2015,” he explains. “And we are looking at opening 80 new stores next year. By the end of next year, we are looking at having 300 stores. In terms of employees, we have over 5000 at the moment, and next year, we are looking to recruit 2200 [more]. So, with growth comes growing pains as well, and we have to be aware of

that. And that’s one of the reasons I am here- to make sure that we have proper governance structures in place, put a structure in place for management. I’m [also] putting in place a board- they already had a board, but I’m formalizing it with independent directors and things like that. I’m also putting in place an executive committee which will comprise not just Emirates British Nursery at Dubai Motor City

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the family, but also business unit leaders, support services, etc. This committee will meet on a monthly basis to talk about operational issues, and that would be the driving body of the business.

So we are trying to professionalize [things]- we want to make sure that we are doing the right things.”

Nasser is also keen on making innovation a key part of the agenda at GMG- this is especially noteworthy given that most family businesses in the Middle East have been rather slow on the uptake when it comes to staying on top of current trends in the market. According to Nasser, GMG is trying to act differently from its peers in the business in this particular area- for instance, he reveals that besides investing in the development of e-commerce platforms, GMG has also embarked on implementing SAP across its business to better

streamline the enterprise.

“Innovation is completely at the front of our agenda,” he says. “Family businesses haven’t been doing a lot of that in the past- in my view, they have been a bit complacent, and you know what happens when you get complacent. You know the trends, you know how it’s going to go in the next few years, and so if we don’t act now, we’re going to be behind the game.

So we are doing a lot of work on the innovation side, and actually, we are very fortunate that Mohammed [Baker, Deputy Chairman, GMG], the founder’s son, is extremely passionate about innovation, and making sure we have cutting-edge technology in everything we do. So watch this space- we’ll be doing a lot of quite innovative things in the future.”

Now, talking about innovation is all well and good, but when it comes to actu-

ally implementing this at an organization, it’s important to remember that it is, in effect, driven by the workforce of the company, and Nasser believes this principle to be true at GMG as well. “I think, from my perspective, our store employees are the ones that really will drive our growth,” he says. “We want to make sure that we improve our sell-through: we get products from our brands, and we want to make sure those products are sold as soon as possible. Now, how do you do that? You want to make sure that the people dealing with the product are knowledgeable about it. They have good product knowledge, they can talk sensibly about the alternatives, and what I want to do is to make sure is that we have customers who keep coming back. My goal is to make sure that 70% of our trade is from repeat customers- customers who actually come in, see us and then come back again. And we have kind of achieved some of that already- but I want to do more. Now how do you do that? You want to make sure that your staff is happy, they are engaged and they are properly trained. So in terms of product knowledge, we have budgeted quite a significant amount of money to be set aside of training for next year.”

“We also want to make sure our employees are motivated and properly remunerated,” he continues. “So we are looking at incentive schemes to make sure that the employees are properly motivated, and that there’s a career path [for them]. I would like an employee to join us and say, look, this is what I am going to be doing in the next 10 years; this is how my career is going to progress. So we are setting up career paths for all our employees that will join

“Innovation is completely at the front of our agenda. Family businesses haven’t been doing a lot of that in the past- in my view, they have been a bit complacent, and you know what happens when you get complacent. You know the trends, you know how it’s going to go in the next few years, and so if we don’t act now, we’re going to be behind the game.”

the business, and then put training in place, and then put incentives in place as well, to make sure that they stay with us for a longer time.

Because, I am quite passionate about people and making sure that our people are happy with us- happy employees mean happy customers, and customers bring in money.

So that’s what I am looking at doing- it’s really around putting in the management processes that will enable us to execute our strategy. Because what happens when the company grows double-digit like we are -we are growing 25-30%, which is huge growth- so what tends to then creak or stretch or strain is your HR. Because you are going to end up recruiting a number of people and there’s a lot of traction there, and if you don’t have a really good HR, then the operations might suffer.”

For someone who’s only just joined the organization, it’s clear that Nasser has a lot of ideas on how to push GMG forward and keep it at the top of its game. But has he come across any roadblocks as he drives this agenda at GMG? “Change and bringing about it, getting minds to get together and collaborate with each other is challenging.”

Nasser replies. “I think one of the things that is happening in the Group that I want to happen in a more productive way is the collaboration between the business unit leaders- that’s why I have set up the executive committee. And to be honest, I haven’t faced

The concept store also showcases the latest touch-screen and digital technology

any challenges, and all I have faced is people actually saying to me that this is a really good thing, and we actually need to do that. One of the things that really impressed me about this Group is the talent that we have, and the hunger for growth. So a lot of our key people are really looking at growth, and all they need is a bit of guidance, a bit of mentoring and a bit of structure around it. I think we have got the recipe to make this quite successful. We’ve got great, fantastic brands, and a fantastic opportunity to grow…

It is not as if I have come to an organization that is not growing- the organization is growing, significantly. The question is, is the growth sustainable- and we think it is.

And my role is to make sure

that this continues for the foreseeable future with a good structure in place, with good governance in place, with good board in place, with good reporting in place.”

BY THE NUMBERS Gulf Marketing Group 220 The current total number of stores 42 The number of new stores opened in 2015 80 The number of additional stores to open in the UAE and Saudi Arabia by 2016 300 The total number of stores by 2016 (excluding acquisitions) 5000+ The number of GMG employees 2200 The approximate number of new staff to be hired by the end of 2016 35% The percentage of growth seen by GMG over the past year

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Meshal Al Shamari believes in a greener future Building sustainably and protecting the environment is a Qatari priority (And it can benefit your business in the long-term)

“Q

By Erika Widén

and a member of Qatar Foundation.” QGBC, a non-profit, membership-driven organization, provides leadership and encourages collaboration in conducting environmentally sustainable practices for green building design and development within the country.

“The need for QGBC was very important because Qatar faced a big construction boom between the year 2002 to 2006, and most of those projects were done without consideration of green building or abiding by the sustainable requirements of construction,” says Al Shamari.

Al Shamari points out that the Qatar Foundation is one of the first major organizations in Qatar and in the Gulf region to consider the practice of green building, and the environmental impact of the construction industry within the country. “In 2009, the concept of sustainable development or green building was not popular in Qatar and the region, since it was basically a new concept.” As a result, QGBC creates awareness in reference to the relevance of green building practices, which are supported Meshal Al Shamari, Director, Qatar Green Building Council atar Green Building Council was the initial Green Building Council in the Middle East and North Africa, which was primarily established with the assistance of volunteer workers,” says engineer Meshal Al Shamari, Director of QGBC. Engineer Issa Al Muhannadi, the organization’s current Chairman, launched the concept of developing the QGBC in 2009, and two years later, the Qatar Foundation decided to support QGBC initiative for a period of five years. “Currently, it is under the umbrella of the World Green Building Council, which consists of around 100 Green Councils established around the world,

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by the organization’s three major pillars. The first pillar is “Sustainability Education and Training,” responsible for creating a green building and sustainability culture within the industry, and the community through education and communication, and also provides industry professionals with expert training on sustainability and green building practices. For instance, Al Shamari says that they target schools and universities. “We focus on students from year seven till year 12. At year seven, the students have an understanding of the concepts and the technical aspects of green building and they study those items in the curriculum.

Our aim is to show them or to demonstrate those aspects that they can learn –within [the subjects of] chemistry and biology– to read examples [of green building] within the industry. In universities, we focus mostly on the engineering students who will work in that field in the future.” The organization is currently hosting Master’s degree students, and is collaborating with them on two research study projects. “Our aim is to create awareness of green building in the near future so it can be part of our culture. We want to get the nation here in Qatar to integrate and enforce green building practices as part of the culture,” explains Al Shamari.

The second pillar is “Technical Expertise Development,” revolving around promoting planned feasible sustainable development by collaborating with industry leaders and experts in order to define a set of environmental, and green building best practice guidelines based on already recognized systems and practices.

“Green Building has a written system, they are not uncontrolled items or aspects. We have international standards

such as the American, British, Australian and Japanese. From all over the world, we have so many written systems.” For instance, Al Shamari says that the operational part of the building is a very essential stage in the process of green building; therefore, QGBC has created professional training for facility management, and interior design, which are green building professional elements that the Qatari market requires. “They are professional engineers or consultants dealing with those writing systems, and our overall aim here is to extent the profession in this field by providing training programs.

By providing technical support, educating them about the tools that they should use for green building.”

Consequently, the most crucial pillar according to Al Shamari is the “Research and Innovation” leg of the initiative. “Any kind of industry or development cannot develop further without research. Research makes it very affordable to the industry because as far as the research achieves it becomes cheaper as it develops more. Therefore, we do different kinds of research with the universities and the International Research Institute in Qatar. We try to develop, or we try to search or to explore the technologies and the materials that we intend to use, and that we would like to use in Qatar as part of the green building development.” In addition, QGBC also studies different materials and previous experiments conducted in various environments. For example, in European colder climates, studies would focus on sustainable materials used in the cold environments to see how applicable those materials are when used in a very hot climate. Simultaneously, creating public awareness of the importance to enforce green building

QATAR GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL WEBSITE

construction has its challenges. “The concept is still new in the industry, therefore most of the clients perception is that it is an expensive approach, and most of the developers would like to reduce cost of the project in order to maximize the benefits,” says Al Shamari.

In Qatar, there are two major players in the construction market, the governmental and private sector. “We don’t have any problem with the governmental sector because the government is supporting that approach.” As a result, Qatar has now a local rating system for sustainable construction or green building, which is the norm for all governmental tenders in the construction of projects. However, Al Shamari highlights how the main challenge is the private sector, which is taking a big share

in the market. “The private sector has the perception that they will be a higher cost or higher investment in applying green building practices.”

Secondly, there is a lack of available green building experts in addition to the required available materials within the market. “Since it is a new concept it takes time to build up experience, and to get the appropriate materials to Qatar.” On a positive note, Al Shamari says that having the governmental support, and for governmental projects to abide by green building planning, and being successful has led to the private sector to gradually embrace the concept. “We also focus on developers –on the benefits of the green building, but from the financial part of view– not from the environmental point of view.” For this

reason, QGBC focuses on the long-term investment such as saving energy, in addition to the added market value of having a green building development and or facility.

Additionally, QGBC focuses on promoting the indoor quality of the facility, meaning that employees live in a healthy environment, and as a result will be more productive. “They will have fewer sick leaves or the effects of an unhealthy building of having the high or low temperature that affect the comfort of their employees.

These are the kind of points we try to spot light on, which defines the value of the green building, and has financial benefits to the developer.”

Al Shamari adds that sustainable construction has developed in a very progressive way since 2005. “We have

seen in Europe, the region and in the Far East taking the sustainable construction approach. In the past building green was very costly, but now it is more available, henceforth the price has become reasonable.” In terms of the cost of sustainable building versus traditional construction, Al Shamari estimates that in the GCC it is 5% to 9% more, whereas in other countries it is approximately 1% to 3% more. “It depends on the development of that concept in each country, but we always call it an investment, not cost, as the investor can get back his money between 5-10 years, and the investor can get guaranteed added value for the development, and all can be considered a recovery profit investment.”

Dubai and Qatar are pres- >>>

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innovator ently leading the concept of green building in the region.

In Qatar, it costs 3-9% more to build using sustainable practices, whereas in Dubai, it costs 3-5% more. Subsequently, Al Shamari illustrates how in general one must differentiate between the cost of the project and the cost of green building. “For example, we have a building for Qatar Foundation or for the government, which costs a lot of money compared to traditional building. We always say that the [high] cost is for the architectural expenses,

and not for the green development. I cannot compare a very luxurious building and say that it cost US$100 million, which is a green (LEED) building. It doesn’t mean that the cost went entirely to building sustainably.”

Ultimately, building sustainably is a Qatari priority since in the last decade the country has witnessed a tremendous growth in the economy, which is evidently reflected in the construction industry. The country’s National Vision 2030 has the Environmental Pillar, which outlines the

balance between development requirements and protecting the environment. “Our mission and vision is based on the National Vision 2030, and we are supporters to that approach. In order to achieve the Environmental Pillar of the National Vision, Qatar needs the support from different organizations, and we try to find or to bridge the gap we have here in Qatar. We found that there is big gap between the suppliers and the demand for green projects and services in Qatar, therefore, we have developed the Qatar Green

Directory, which it is an online application.” The Qatar Green Directory is an online platform for all green building projects, which provides services that are available within the country or can be imported to Qatar. “We don’t have much natural resources in Qatar, and we have very high temperatures. Taking the [sustainable] approach is very essential because it saves water, energy and provides a good in door climate for tenants, and users of the buildings. We have scarce resources and it is [relevant] that we should save them.”

Summary of Green Building Rating and Certification Systems

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Building Rating or Certification System

Single- or Multi- Attribute

Type of Standard or Certification

Managing Organization

Issues / Areas of Focus

Energy Star

Single-Attribute

Government certification using a benchmarking method

U.S. EPA and U.S. DOE

Building energy and water use

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

Multi-Attribute

Green building rating and certification system through independent third-party verification for: New Construction (NC) Existing Buildings, Operations & Maintenance (EB O&M) Commercial Interiors (CI) Core & Shell (CS) Schools (SCH) Retail Healthcare (HC) Homes Neighborhood Development (ND)

U.S. Green Building Council

Performance in: Sustainable Sites Water Efficiency Energy & Atmosphere Materials & Resources Indoor Environmental Quality Locations & Linkages Awareness & Education Innovation in Design Regional Priority through a set of prerequisites and credits

Green Globes

Multi-Attribute

Green building guidance and assessment program for: Existing buildings New construction

Green Building Initiative in the U.S. BOMA Canada

Environmental assessment areas to earn credits in: Energy Indoor Environment Site Water Resources Emissions Project/Environmental Management No prerequisites

Living Building Challenge

Multi-Attribute

Performance-based standard, and certification program for: Landscape and infrastructure projects Partial renovations and complete building renewals New building construction Neighborhood, campus and community design

International Living Future Institute

Performance areas include: Site Water Energy Materials Health Equity Beauty All areas are requirements.

Entrepreneur august 2015

table Source: WBDG: Whole Building Design Guide http://www.wbdg.org/resources/gbs.php

The following table and the expanded information directly below outline several of the most commonly used and respected green building rating and certification systems in the marketplace. www.wbdg.org

Source: Gulf Organization for Research and Development (GORD)

Building Rating or Certification System

Single- or Multi- Attribute

Type of Standard or Certification

Managing Organization

Issues / Areas of Focus

Beam (Hong Kong)

Multi-Attribute

Comprehensive standard and supporting process covering all building types, including mixed use complexes, both new and existing to assess, improve, certify, and label the environmental performance of buildings

Business Environment Council

Performance and assessment in: Site aspects Material aspects Water use Energy use Indoor environmental quality Innovations and additions

BREEAM (UK, EU, EFTA member states, EU candidates, as well as the Persian Gulf)

Multi-Attribute

Certification system is a multitiered process with pre-assessment, third-party consultant guidance through an assessment organization for: New Construction Communities In Use Buildings and EcoHomes

BRE Global

Assessment uses recognized measures of performance, which are set against established benchmarks in: Energy and water use Internal environment (health and well-being) Pollution Transport Materials Waste Ecology and Management processes

CASBEE (Japan)

Multi-Attribute

Building assessment tools for: Pre-design New Construction Existing Building and Renovation

JSBC (Japan Sustainable Building Consortium) and its affiliated subcommittees

Assessment areas include: Energy efficiency Resource efficiency Local environment, and Indoor environment

Green Mark Scheme (Singapore)

Multi-Attribute

Benchmarking scheme that aims to achieve a sustainable built environment by incorporating best practices in environmental design and construction, and the adoption of green building technologies.

Building and Construction Authority (BCA)

Rates buildings according to five key criteria: Energy efficiency Water efficiency Environmental protection Indoor environmental quality, and Other green and innovative features that contribute to better building performance.

Green Star SA (South Africa)

Multi-Attribute

Green building rating system for: Office Retail Multi-unit residential

Green Building Council of South Africa administers program Independent assessors to assess and score projects

Categories assessed in: Management Indoor Environmental Quality Energy Transport Water Materials Land Use & Ecology Emissions Innovation

Pearl Rating System for Estidama (UAE)

Multi-Attribute

Green building rating system for: Community Buildings Villas Temporary Villas and Buildings

Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council

Assessment of performance in: Integrated Development Process Natural Systems Livable Communities Precious Water Resourceful Energy Stewarding Materials Innovating Practice

Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) www.gord.qa • Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) is developed by GORD through several years of intense collaboration with the TC Chan Centre at the University of Pennsylvania, and School of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA and other reputed houses of expertise.

• Drawing best practices adopted from 40 different rating systems known regionally and internationally developed GSAS. • Primary objective of GSAS is to create a sustainable built environment

that minimizes ecological impact while addressing the specific social and cultural needs and environment of the region.

• GSAS is the Middle East’s first integrated and performance based sustainability assessment system for the built environment. The systematic assessment method is applied seamlessly from the macro to a micro scales encompassing urban design, infrastructure and buildings levels.

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A bright future for sustainable energy technologies Business opportunities for entrepreneurs arise as renewable energies come under the spotlight in the GCC By Dr. Andrea Masini

R

enewable energy (RE) technologies are receiving increasing attention in the Gulf region, showcasing the gas- and oil-rich GCC countries’ willingness to lead the way towards sustainable energy solutions. There is, indeed, a strong strategic and economic case for renewable energy technologies in the region. Developing renewables would help GCC countries hedge against the risk of a reduction in their hydrocarbon export potential and the associated foreign exchange revenues: it is increasingly evident that if current consumption patterns were to remain the same, most GCC countries would become net energy importers in the near future. Furthermore, renewables offer these countries the possibility to diversify their economies, increase energy security and, most importantly, create new business opportunities to support one of the world’s fastest growing sectors.

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Although the level of RE diffusion in the region remains relatively low, most GCC countries are pursuing aggressive RE development strategies that include both actions to stimulate internal demand and, also, initiatives to facilitate the development of local technology producers able to compete in the global market for renewable technologies. Several recent initiatives testify this commitment.

For instance, the UAE’s Masdar Clean Energy has ventured with other international players to develop the world’s largest offshore wind farm (the London Array, with 630 MW capacity), the Dudgeon offshore wind farm (402 MW), and the Gemasolar 20 MW CSP plant in Seville. Masdar is also one of three major investors in the Middle East’s first utility-scale wind power project in Jordan, the 117 MW Tafila Wind Farm. eSaudi Arabia’s ACWA Power is developing the world’s largest solar CSP plant in Ouarzazate, Morocco.

At the domestic level, some large-scale renewable energy projects are under construction and more have been announced, thus making the GCC region an important hub for renewable energy business. Large scale RE projects, such as Shams 1 (100 MW CSP in Abu Dhabi), or the Mohammed bin Rashid El Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai (currently 13 MW of solar PV, to grow up to 1 GW by 2019) are being developed, while plans for massive uptake of RE also are underway.

On the technology supply side, in October 2014, Spain’s Gestamp Solar signed a US$28 million contract with Kuwait Oil Company to build the first utility-scale PV plant in Kuwait: the 10 MW Umm Gudair Field solar plant is scheduled to be completed by the middle of 2015. In a similar vein, the Sultanate of Oman is developing the largest wind farm in the Gulf States region. The $125 million, 50 MW project is a joint development between Masdar and Oman’s Rural Areas Electricity Company (RAECO). In Qatar, several renewable energy projects have been announced among which is the construction of a testing facility of about 35,000m2 for all types of solar technology. A polycrystalline silicon production facility was also inaugurated in December 2012 by Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec). Big potential

is also offered by CSP-powered desalination plants, which represent a lucrative opportunity given the massive amount of seawater that must be desalinated in the region every day.

Despite these encouraging signs, the diffusion of RE systems in GCC countries requires further support to reach the level deemed necessary to curb CO2 emissions. Examples from other developed countries, particularly in Europe, demonstrate that supporting renewables is not a simple task; implementing the wrong type of incentives may hamper the industry instead of helping it. Thus, the question of whether and how public policies can accelerate RE development assumes particular relevance, especially if GCC countries do not want to repeat mistakes made elsewhere.

Should RE diffusion be supported, and how?

The research group on renewables energies at HEC Paris, which I co-lead together with my colleague Sam Aflaki, is engaged in a number of projects to identify strategies to accelerate the market diffusion of sustainable energy technologies. Our work, funded by the Qatar National Research Fund through the NPRP grants n. 5–873–5-133 and n. 6-1035-5-126, examines several challenging questions related to both the supply and the demand side of the renewable industry: from how to stimulate technology innovation and promote competition, to how to sustain end-user demand.

For instance, one important question that concerns both entrepreneurs and policy makers is whether or not renewable energies should be supported through public subsidies and, if yes, what are the most appropriate instruments to deploy such support.

numerous technical, organizational and social challenges question the viability of the electric vehicle as a short-term alternative to the ICE. High total cost of ownership, long recharging times, changes in the industry dynamics as well as the stability problems that a massive penetration of EVs may cause to the electric grid, are all potential barriers to adoption.

Our research shows that economic growth remains a major catalyst of technological innovation. Thus, for RE diffusion to increase, government action should be directed not only at shielding renewables from competition with fossil fuel technologies but also at stimulating aggregated demand and economic growth. However, our work also shows that incentives aimed stimulating demand such as the Feedin-Tariff schemes widely popular in Europe, lead investors to pick mature RE technologies at the expenses of radical innovations. Thus, only a balanced combination of technologypush policies (aimed at stimulating fundamental R&D) and demandpull measures (aimed at creating competitive niche markets in the short term) can help renewables play a major role in future energy scenarios. Our research also show that strategic need for renewable electricity in a portfolio of electricity generating technologies calls for an increase in the degree of competition in the technology provider market. Thus, recent RE investments made by several players to develop renewable manufacturing capacity in the region should be welcomed

by the RE industry. By stimulating competition, such initiatives are likely to further decrease technology cost, thereby making the RE industry stronger and more competitive at a global level.

RE penetration further promotes electric vehicles Promoting renewable offers one additional advantage related to the transportation sector, which is currently dominated by fossil fuels.

Increasing the percentage of renewables in a country’s electricity mix would make electric vehicles (EV) an even more appealing solution. EVs are indeed emerging as one of the most promising solutions to foster sustainability in the transportation sector. They are based on a reliable technology that is way more efficient and better suited for transportation purposes than the internal combustion engine (ICE).

And they present clear environmental advantages both at the global and the local level, particularly if the electricity generation mix contains a large percentage of renewable technologies.

However, numerous technical, organizational and social challenges question the viability of the electric vehicle as a short-term alternative to the ICE. High total cost of ownership, long recharging times, changes in the industry dynamics as well as the stability problems that a massive penetration of EVs may cause to the electric grid, are all potential barriers to adoption. >>>

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innovator into the electricity network. It will also need energy service companies capable of providing specialized energy efficiency and integration services to business and households. All these niches offer entry points into the industry and represent options for entrepreneurs. GCC countries are certainly are a fertile ground for such a transformation, and they are well positioned to profit from the opportunities it will create.

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Renewables offer opportunities for entrepreneurs These recent developments offer a number of appealing opportunities to local entrepreneurs, in a variety of sectors. First and foremost, renewable energy firms and technology manufacturers worldwide offer profitable investment opportunities for both venture capitalists and institutional investors alike. Venture capitalists and business angels will most likely prefer to aim for black swans and radical innovations. Institutional investors will want to direct their resources towards more traditional technologies such as crystalline silicon manufacturers.

Second, similar to what was observed in countries like Germany, this ongoing energy revolution will see the emergence of new services, new competitors, and new business models at the local level. Most of the activities associated with decentralized energy systems are IT-intensive and service-oriented.

Therefore they will imply a dramatic reduction in the traditionally high entry barriers for the industry and will open the door to a variety of new players: tomorrow’s energy companies will resemble more to Google than to EDF. The energy ecosystem of tomorrow will be composed of small independent producers; it will thus require smart grid operators capable of connecting in a seamlessly manner users and producers and of integrating EV fleets

Andrea Masini image Š HEC Paris

GCC countries can be at the forefront of the sustainable energy revolution The diffusion of the EV as a large-scale sustainable mobility option and a massive increase in the percentage of renewables in the electricity mix require the redesign of an entire industrial ecosystem. Policy makers and business leaders have a fundamental role to play in this process. By shaping the competitive, organizational and social environments, they have the ability to facilitate or hamper investments and to orient the choices of industry players.

Our research suggests avenues for optimizing such a process. It also indicates that newly developed and fast-growing cities like Doha or Dubai have an incredible opportunity to lead the way towards the integration of EVs into smart grids, because in such cities, a fully dedicated infrastructure can be designed ex-novo and optimized to suit electric mobility needs. With their rapid development, GCC countries have the opportunity to be at the forefront of this transformation. On one hand, the geography of the region and the rapid development of its urban settlements make its cities a fertile ground for promoting the integration of renewable and EVs into sophisticated smart grids.

On the other hand, with investments estimated at several hundreds of billions of dollars within the next few years, the industry offers appealing opportunities to local investors.

Andrea Masini is an Associate Professor in the Operations Management and Information Technology Department at HEC Paris. He carries out interdisciplinary research to study technology innovation processes, with particular emphasis on renewable energies and sustainable operations. His work has appeared in flagship journals, such as Energy Policy, M&SOM, the Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management and Industrial and Corporate Change. He is the scientific director of two research projects funded by QNRF that aim to develop powerful incentives to support sustainable energy solutions and optimize energy networks through the use of smart grids. Masini has taught courses on Operations Management and Technology Strategy at MBA, Executive and PhD levels in numerous international institutions and has been awarded for outstanding classroom performance. He regularly consults for private and public organizations on issues related to technology innovation, sustainability and operational excellence. Prior to joining HEC Paris, Masini was Assistant Professor at the London Business School and before that Research Associate at the Center for the Management of Environmental Resources of INSEAD. He has a background in mechanical engineering and holds a PhD in technology management from INSEAD.

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FRANCHISE “We were inspired by Dubai, and found that here was the right place to revive it. We took [the original Forrey & Galland’s] spirit of luxury, fine chocolate making, and the name, of course, and revived it here. It was our task and challenge to reaffirm this positioning in its revival, and [we] are proud to have successfully done so. Dubai has been the perfect grounds for this.”

Harrods window display

Retrofit

I

Tracking luxury chocolatier Forrey & Galland’s journey from its Parisian origins, to its Dubai rebirth, and now, its expansion to London and Riyadh By Aby Sam Thomas

t is one thing to take a working, established concept from Europe or the Americas and employ a version of it in the Middle East, but it is a whole other ballgame to revive what was once a famous brand in the West and then attempt to relaunch it in this particular region. The latter is arguably a more difficult task to take

Macaroon pyramid

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Entrepreneur august 2015

on, but that’s the route Isabelle Jaouen and her husband Vincent Moret chose when they launched Forrey & Galland in Dubai in 2008.

Forrey & Galland was originally a luxury chocolate house established in Paris, France in 1912, with its offerings sold at shops in Rue du Faubourg SaintHonoré and Avenue Victor

Hugo, two locations that the Francophiles among you will recognize as being among the most prestigious neighborhoods in the city. While the shops did manage to make their presence felt in Paris (they were in business for more than 40 years), Forrey & Galland found itself shuttering its doors in 1953. Now, that would have been the end of Forrey & Galland’s story, had it not been for Jaouen and Moret in Dubai, who, in 2008, were brainstorming for a name for a high-end chocolate boutique they were planWe have really transformed Forrey & Galland from a chocolatier, to a sort of a philosophy to a richer life. Today, we are a luxury gifting destination; whether it is to gift yourself a handmade chocolate, enjoy pastries on our luxury porcelain, plan your wedding in the most elegant way, we have widened our offer to all things luxury.”

ning to set up. It was then that Moret’s father revealed that his family is one with a lineage of chocolate makers, who, once upon a time, ran a Parisian confectionary house named –no prizes for guessing- Forrey & Galland.

“The story is one of a sweet coincidence,” says Jaouen, as she remembers the origins of her enterprise. “We were inspired by Dubai, and found that here was the right place to revive it. We took [the original Forrey & Galland’s] spirit of luxury, fine chocolate making, and the name, of course, and revived it here. It was our task and challenge to reaffirm this positioning in its revival, and [we] are proud to have successfully done so.

Dubai has been the perfect grounds for this.”

A visit to Forrey & Galland’s flagship boutique in Dubai Mall is enough to understand why Jaouen is so satisfied with Dubai as the location for her enterprise. As a luxury outlet, the store holds its own amid the big brands that populate the mall, with customers drawn in by its well-designed space, its innovative product arrangements, and, of course, its delicious culinary creations, which include everything from fine chocolates to an assortment of macaroons. “The response [to Forrey & Galland] has been an overwhelming success, and we attribute this to our commitment to our local environment,” Jaouen says.

“Forrey & Galland is about the fusion of cultures and

Jardin de l’Ange

flavors. We apply our French chocolate-making expertise to a selection of flavors only available in the region, to create a truly exceptional collection. Forrey & Galland has committed itself to an “Today, we see an audience who are looking for a more exquisite chocolate experience, and thanks to our chocolate-making expertise, this is something we can give them!

This was not the case a few years ago when we first opened, so we are very happy to see this shift into appreciating what it means to have handmade chocolate.”

excellence that could not have been attained without the adaptation of local tastes into its products. One of our star products has in fact been our Halwa chocolates, which follows a secret recipe of ours that highlights some of the most premium Royal Omani Halwa we could get our hands on!”

Jaouen also credits the discerning clientele Forrey & Galland has been privy to as another reason for the store’s success. “Apart from committing our self to the local culture, an increasingly sophisticated palate in the GCC has definitely led to our success,”

she says. “Today, we see an audience who are looking for a more exquisite chocolate experience, and thanks to our chocolate-making expertise, this is something we can give them! This was not the case a few years ago when we first opened, so we are very happy to see this shift into appreciating what it means to have handmade chocolate.”

Forrey & Galland’s years in business has also allowed it to broaden and expand on its initial goals- Jaouen says that it is not known as just a Parisian chocolate house now. “We have really transformed Forrey & Galland from a chocolatier, to a sort of a philosophy to a richer life,” she explains.

“Today, we are a luxury gifting destination; whether it is to gift yourself a handmade chocolate, enjoy pastries on our luxury porcelain, plan your wedding in the most elegant way, we have widened our offer to all things luxury.

We believe this ‘holistic’ approach with a wider offering has really set us apart, because we have become a destination for all those looking to experience what it means to be in a luxurious, haute couture environment.”

But while

Forrey & Galland’s offerings are certainly worthy of applause, it must also be noted that Dubai is home to a host of similar luxury establishments (both homegrown and international). So what makes this particular store stand out? According to Jaouen, Forrey & Galland’s USP is in its originality.

“We are so different in our offerings, from the chocolatemaking techniques and flavors, to the wide array of packaging we offer,” she says.

“Our chocolates are entirely handmade, and the way we

infuse our flavors is a real expertise- it genuinely results in a tangible difference in taste that we are so proud to be noticed for! It looks like today though, our difference has influenced the industry >>> “Forrey & Galland is about the fusion of cultures and flavors.

We apply our French chocolatemaking expertise to a selection of flavors only available in the region, to create a truly exceptional collection. Forrey & Galland has committed itself to an excellence that could not have been attained without the adaptation of local tastes into its products.”

Forrey & Galland boutique VIP Room

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FRANCHISE Dessert table centerpiece

around us, which is very complimentary for us.”

“We always strive to be unique,” Jaouen continues.

“Dubai is an incredible place, and there is so much choice all the time. With our qualified team of designers, we are always looking for creative ways to package our sweets, not to mention new flavors to entice people. For example,

we were the first to launch the trend of combining flowers with chocolates. We see this with so many others now, but we believe that our position as leaders in this domain has really set us apart from the start. It is our challenge now to maintain this positioning, and rise even more.”

For what it’s worth, it does look like Forrey & Galland is firmly on an upward curve in terms of its growth- besides its boutique in Dubai Mall, the chocolatier today also sells its creations at kiosks in Dubai Festival City, Mercato Mall in Dubai, and Al Wahda Mall in Abu Dhabi. Earlier this year, the store made its presence felt outside of the UAE for the first time as well- and that was at Harrods in London, with Forrey & Galland enjoying a dedicated space at the famous British store to showcase and sell its creations.

The Laure Seligniac collection

With Jaouen noting that Harrods had invited Forrey & Galland to design an exclusive collection for them, she says that the experience was “a true testament” to all of their hard work behind the scenes at the store. “It is incredible validation to see that our striving for excellence and [our] commitment to perfection and quality is recognized on a worldwide level,” she says. “We also had the honor of being invited to be a part of their window display; an incredible feature considering that this is the first time in Harrods history that food brands were allowed to take up window space! Needless to say, the entire experience has been an incredible honor for us, and a positive step for our growth.” But the growth story doesn’t stop there. Forrey & Galland is now expanding into Saudi Arabia, with its second flagship boutique to be open in September at the Fiorenza La Plaza in Riyadh.

“Dubai is an incredible place, and there is so much choice all the time. With our qualified team of designers, we are always looking for creative ways to package our sweets, not to mention new flavors to entice people. For example, we were the first to launch the trend of combining flowers with chocolates. We see this with so many others now, but we believe that our position as leaders in this domain has really set us apart from the start.”

Forrey & Galland boutique

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Entrepreneur august 2015

“We are so different in our offerings, from the chocolatemaking techniques and flavors, to the wide array of packaging we offer. Our chocolates are entirely handmade, and the way we infuse our flavors is a real expertise- it genuinely results in a tangible difference in taste that we are so proud to be noticed for! It looks like today though, our difference has influenced the industry around us, which is very complimentary for us.”

The new outlet will feature all of the Parisian haute couture luxury elements that Forrey & Galland is keen on being known for- for instance, the boutique will feature more than 20 chandeliers lighting up the 220 sq.m. space spread over two floors. In addition, the store is keeping an eye out for its VIP clientele by having a private, exclusive room for its, well, VIP guests.

When asked why they chose Saudi Arabia to launch their GCC expansion, Jaouen puts it down to just a matter of following customer demand.

“We were keen on expanding beyond Dubai, and the response we have had from Saudis has really been phenomenal,” she says. “Without boasting, but it was really due to popular demand that we decided to set up shop over there. The boutique there will really be something else, and we are so excited to finally reveal it. We are also keen on

“When we designed the shop, we designed it with the idea of recreating a universe. This is what we believe Forrey & Galland stands for: a universe with its own beliefs, where all things luxury exist, and where one can be lost in the seduction of haute couture.”

expanding within the GCC, Asia and perhaps the U.S., but of course, this is something we have to work on in due course. For the moment, we are concentrating on our KSA launch, and taking things step by step. Each and every Forrey & Galland we hope to open needs to maintain the quality and standards of our flagship store, and this takes very careful consideration.”

While its origin story itself makes Forrey & Galland’s success in today’s market an inspirational one, it’s also worth noting that the store came into being thanks to, literally, the drive and dedication of its owners. “The project was certainly a challenge for us, as it was entirely selffinanced,” Jaouen says, as she remembers how Forrey & Galland began its second innings in Dubai. “We had a vision, and certainly the passion, and [we] wanted to make it come true without compromising quality on any level.”

Fortunately for Jaouen and Moret, all of their effort is indeed paying off, with Forrey & Galland continuing to

grow its customer base in the region, while at the same time, getting further noticed by the world at large through its award wins at various industry events. “We invested quite a lot of time and effort into creating the perfect concept, which today for us, has led Forrey & Galland to become the quintessential gifting destination,” Jaouen says. “When we designed the shop, we designed it with the idea of recreating a universe.

This is what we believe Forrey & Galland stands for: a universe with its own beliefs, where all things luxury exist, and where one can be lost in the seduction of haute couture.”

| innovator |

Developing a five-star reputation

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Five business truths from the world of hospitality that apply to any business

aim Maadad has worked in several different sectors over his lengthy career in various management capacities. In his current role as CEO of Gates Hospitality, he puts his industry know-how to work Naim Maadad, CEO, Gates Hospitality

both theoretically and practically. Here are Maadad’s five business truths gleaned from his experience in prestige hospitality that can carry over to virtually any industry: 1. Relationships “It is a known fact that doing business revolves much more around personal relationships, family ties, trust and honor. It is therefore important that business relationships be built on mutual friendship and trust.

As in other businesses, in the world of hospitality too, business etiquette works around this concept and the circle of influence ensures success in the long run.”

2. Experience “There is no substitute for experience. One area which any hospitality business venture thrives on is the experience of its leader. The individual heading up a company needs to be a visionary to utilize past experience and synchronize it with future requirements to deliver their very best to meet clientele demands.”

Founder’s choice Isabelle Jaouen on what firsttime guests should try out when they visit Forrey & Galland “I would recommend they try the Rahash- it is something else! We are out of stock of this every day, and it is simply so mesmerizing. Other products I would recommend are, of course, the Florentine, which comes with caramelized almonds, and the Rose truffle, which is dipped in real rose petals!”

3. Bank knowledge of industry “In-depth knowledge of the industry is a vital ingredient in the success of any business, and hospitality is no exception. Related to the experience factor, the knowledge and know-how of every aspect of the industry needs to be explored. This ensures sustainable success and thriving by keeping the competitive edge intact.”

4. Local understanding “Every business leader needs to have a handson feel of the local market and cultural ethos of the region. Respecting the local traditions and heritage is an area which cannot be compromised on. This is especially important where tradition and cultural heritage are sensitive matters in the country that the business operates in.”

5. Market reputation “Reputation of the brand in the market plays a very important role in building the future.

This is another key area which can have no let downs. What people say about your company online has become the single most important reflection of your company’s quality, reliability, and skill.

In a recent Global Trust in Advertising study, 70% of global consumers indicated they trust online reviews from strangers when making purchasing decisions. Your number one marketing priority should be developing a five-star online reputation.”

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money

ask the money guy | vc viewpoint | your money | ECON

Maximize your profitability Pricing as the key player in market shares, sales revenues and profitability By Mohammed Nosseir

P

ricing, as one of the marketing mix tools, should have its own policy, yet it often serves as a safeguard to the other members of the marketing mix family. Corporate executives usually think of pricing as a compensating instrument that they can use when under severe pressure from competitors or if they are not using the other marketing mix components effectively. The natural advantage of a pricing structure is that it can be adjusted in just a few minutes. More often than not, though, it’s incorrectly used to compensate for the underperformance of the remaining marketing mix components whose design and implementation require several weeks.

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The business world is driven by the desire to increase three elements: market shares, sales revenues and, of course, profitability.

Pricing is the key player in any strategy concerning the growth of these three goals. Nevertheless, companies are often quick to assume that a small price cut will lead to large market share increments and higher retail exposure.

In reality, however, such a price reduction might engage the company in a vicious downward price spiral that negatively affects its bottom line results.

Regrettably, the Middle East –including the small number of high per-capita income countries– is known to be a pricedriven region. Companies in the region tend to rely on price cuts in order to sustain volume. Price structures are often influenced by two factors: cost-plus (maintaining prices at a level that exceeds

Engaging in a pattern of continuous price discounts places an entire industry at high risk. This has been happening in the tourism industry in both Egypt and Tunisia where hotel management, concerned by room occupancy rates, kept offering bigger and bigger discounts.

product costs by a certain margin) or opting to follow the market leader’s price structure and being completely driven by its policy. When faced by any amount of cost inflation, or by adjustments in competitors’ prices, each company tends to adopt its own pricing method.

Engaging in a pattern of continuous price discounts places an entire industry at high risk.

This has been happening in the tourism industry in both Egypt and Tunisia where hotel management, concerned by room occupancy rates, kept offering bigger and bigger discounts. The result has not only been a substantial deterioration in the quality of services and food offered; the entire destination has been also been classified as a low-budget destination– when in reality both countries offer magnificent tourist attractions.

If we were to portray pricing as a runner, it would be quite difficult to expect an out-ofshape person to perform well in a tough race. However, if we work upfront on enhancing the competitor’s overall fitness, the runner will easily be able to participate in, and win, many races.

If companies wish to continue to use pricing as a rescuer, they need to develop a healthy pricing structure (equivalent to an athlete’s physical endurance and flexibility), making it possible to easily rescue a product whenever the need arises.

A forward-thinking pricing policy is essential for strengthening pricing as a lifeguard mechanism. It’s important to anticipate well in advance the multiple factors affecting fluctuations in any price structure,

and then to work on enhancing product competitiveness to persuade consumers to accept new product prices. This strategy has helped a number of our global clients to increase their bottom line by 2–3% and substantially more in the Middle East. There will always be room for maintaining higher profit margins during prosperous times, which helps companies to maneuver in times of crisis.

For many companies, having relay runners is the ultimate solution; a team of good runners would enhance each athlete’s performance and compensate for the deficiencies of individual team members. Thus, developing a portfolio of diversified products could certainly help to sustain an overall healthy pricing structure; introducing a number of products, packages or even temporary offers will better enable companies to apply the right consecutive or simultaneous marketing strategies.

For many companies, having relay runners is the ultimate solution; a team of good runners would enhance each athlete’s performance and compensate for the deficiencies of individual team members.

Pricing has been, and will continue to be, the most complicated element in the marketing mix family. The natural price dynamic should encourage marketing executives to develop their own pricing policy instead of constantly being tempted to reduce prices. A proactive pricing structure will help companies to sustain a healthy product margin and to maximize their profitability.

Mohammed Nosseir is a Senior Marketing Advisor with Simon-Kucher & Partners, Middle East.

Dropping the ball Three ways not to approach a blogger for coverage By Tamara Clarke Blogger outreach is the newest concept being aimlessly tossed around company boardrooms.

It seems that both large and small brands recognize the value of online promotional partners, but very few understand how to approach and build relationships with bloggers.

My inbox is filled daily with opportunities to cover the latest and greatest, but my trash is equally as full of botched attempts to get my attention. Here are three approaches you should avoid to keep your request for coverage from getting canned: 1. “Here, publish this on your blog.” While there are some self-proclaimed bloggers who are merely curators of content, most of us create our own.

Requesting that a blogger publish a finished article completely undermines what it is that they do.

It sends the message that you have no faith in their ability as writers.

Reach out and take the time to explain your goals for promotion. In turn, allow the blogger to propose campaign ideas and writing strategies.

Allow for bloggers to take part in content creation and don’t reduce them

to simply being press release-publishers.

2. “I’m only interested in a 750-word blog post.” Bloggers today rely on a mix of social media platforms to share information, not just their blog. While an elaborate post with a mix of multimedia, hashtags, and SEO seems like the ultimate product a blogger can give, focusing only on getting a post may cause you to miss out on other viable ways to spread your content.

Evaluate a blogger’s entire online presence in terms of what you want to share. A Twitter chat or Facebook competition may be a better fit to deliver your content. Also, make sure your news is worthy of a post before requesting one. There’s nothing worse than trying to turn a 30-second message into a complete blog post.

3. “You weren’t invited, but please publish how great our event was.”

Need I say more here?

Simply put, if a blogger is not important enough to make your guest list, assume that they won’t care enough to make your list of publishers.

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CULTURE

business unusual | LIFE | TRAVEL | DESIGN | TRAPPINGS

1. You do it.

That last email, the last phone call, the last report, all of these things that are not your job to do, that won’t benefit you in any way, and that will just be one more thing for you to do that goes unappreciated.

Keep it to yourself

Five things I wanted to tell my boss, but stopped in the nick of time

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By May Rostom

k guys, let’s admit it… We’re all too old for this nonsense. Kissing up to the boss, taking orders from a know-it-all, and getting that supposedly “constructive” email that basically translates to “You know nothing Jon Snow.” We wake up too early to go to a job we’re not even sure that we like, to make money we don’t even have time to spend, to just wither away in this vicious cycle called life. And as you do just suck it up like the adult you’re supposed/expected to be, you just don’t have the energy to take it from anyone anymore. Well, at least this is how I feel (I think I should quit). Here are five things that I’ve wanted to tell my boss, but held myself back from sharing just in the nick of time.

Working late after hours just because your boss hasn’t left the office yet, is the worst feeling in the world. You try to talk to them into leaving, you shut down your computer, and stall endlessly out of guilt until you find yourself lingering at the office with absolutely nothing to do, just because your boss is there.

at what cost? And to what end?

4. It’s the weekend.

Whether it’s a long work email, a phone call, or even just a text message, it’s the weekend, get a life! Not only is it unprofessional to text an employee over the weekend when they should be relaxing, but it’ll eventually come back to haunt you when they simply have had it with your attitude. Almost everything can wait till after the weekend, unless someone is dying, the office is on fire, or we just lost US$100 million.

5. You’re welcome.

2. Can I go now?

Working late after hours just because your boss hasn’t left the office yet, is the worst feeling in the world. You try to talk them into leaving, you shut down your computer, and stall endlessly out of guilt until you find yourself lingering at the office with absolutely nothing to do, just because your boss is there.

3. No.

As simple as that. Two letters that are sometimes so hard to say that you find yourself stretching yourself thin to please your boss. And

Feeling unappreciated at your job just sucks. When all you get is criticism that is obviously not constructive and plain abusive, it’s time to go. If someone doesn’t appreciate the extra hours you put in, ignores your emails, and constantly thinks you’re underperforming, well then maybe you should consider finding another job.

It’s important to express yourself professionally (not like my wishful rants), and it’s more important that you know your self-worth. Like I said, we’re too old for this nonsense anyway.

‘Trep talk ME THE BUSINESS Namaste Bahrain THE ‘TREP Founder Weam Zabar Q What would you say is the region’s biggest challenge for entrepreneurs?

A “Regulations. There still seems to be too much bureaucracy in some of the processes and many gaps where regulations should be reinforced. We seem to have set some limitations on innovation in some of the governing bodies because of a lack of understanding. This lack of understanding also created allowances for error in terms of managing talents.” www.namastebh.com

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Namaste Bahrain founder Weam Zabar accepting the Micro-Enterprise of the Year Award at the Bahrain Award for Entrepreneurship with H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Essa Al-Khalifa, Chairman and Acting Chief Executive, Tamkeen

ETHICS | ESQUIRE GUY | SKILLSET | MARKETING | PRO

It shouldn’t take a prodigy to fill a job opening

Five reasons to give fresh grads a chance at your enterprise

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By Lama Ataya

he decision to hire a fresh-off-the-books college graduate isn’t one you would likely make if you are eyeing short-term profits. Indeed, employers can find it a more time-intensive effort to bring a new graduate up to speed, as opposed to onboarding someone who knows their way around the workplace. But when this activity is viewed as an investment, finding the right person for the job can be a decision that pays dividends for years.

The reality of the job market for fresh grads It’s not news to anyone that the job market is a tough place; talents are in high supply, while jobs, on the other hand, are very limited.

But imagine trying to find a job as a recent college graduate.

Not only do you have all other fresh graduates to compete with, but also thousands of job seekers with two or three times more experience than you.

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Unsurprisingly, 76% of fresh graduates in the MENA region say that finding a job is actually the biggest challenge facing their generation, as revealed in the July 2015 Bayt.com Fresh Graduates in the Middle East and North Africa survey.

The same survey also reveals that for 32% of fresh grads, the job search lasts between three and 12 months, while only 3% are able to get a job directly through campus placements.

Fresh graduates are often eager to learn and extremely determined to prove themselves. When given a task, they will tackle it wholeheartedly. They’re not afraid of asking questions. And being similar to a blank canvas, they can adapt to any corporate culture easily.

They’re also open to new ideas and working styles.

In fact, 80% of them state that their college or university do not help them identify job opportunities. Seven in 10 respondents believe that companies are hesitant to hire fresh graduates because these graduates may lack the needed on-the-job experience.

We are all aware of the fact that the vast majority of job openings require at least two years of experience, on top of the college degree.

This is why the challenge of starting a professional career from scratch seems nearly impossible for someone who’s just out of college. And unless they have an outstanding GPA, excellent recommendations and exceptional training and skills, the chances are that opportunity is going to go to someone else.

But it shouldn’t take a prodigy to fill a job opening.

Most graduates have plenty of other things to offer a potential employer. Actually, hiring young graduates greatly benefits the companies that do hire them. But for a fresh

graduate to get the job, a hiring manager has to give them a chance.

Five reasons why you should hire fresh grads Sometimes it is difficult to look beyond professional experience when hiring a candidate.

Naturally, experienced candidates require less training and know how to handle complex work tasks. Fresh graduates, on the other hand, don’t have much experience.

There are many benefits, however, to hiring a fresh grad.

Below are just some of these benefits and the reasons why you should hire fresh grads: 1. They don’t ask for much

One of the main advantages of hiring fresh graduates is that hiring them is less expensive than hiring more experienced professionals. The market rate for hiring a fresh graduate is not very high. According to the Fresh Graduates in the MENA survey, July 2015, 31% of respondents do not expect a salary higher than US$500 a month in their first job. This doesn’t mean that you can hire a fresh graduate and pay them extremely low salaries, or salaries that are much lower than the market rate, but it provides an opportunity for your company to hire a talented

Difficulty in finding their first job 1

Very easy

2 21

Easy

45

Neither difficult nor easy

Difficult 30

Very difficult

infographics © bayt.com

TREPONOMICS

Top challenges faced by fresh graduates Finding a job

76

Saving money

43

Discovering what we want to do in life

32

Being able to financially afford a basic lifestyle

29

Finding time to have a good social life

20

Acquiring skills relevant to the workplace

17

Succeeding at work with our skillset

16

Staying mentally healthy

12

Staying physically healthy

12

Meeting new people / making new friends

12

Finding time for family and friends

10

Access to adequate local/regional further education

10

Other

individual at an entry-level rate and invest in them until they become star employees.

2. They bring innovative ideas and new perspectives

Fresh graduates might have done a few internships, but they haven’t yet been instilled into the corporate world. Their mind isn’t affected by previous company practices and can bring a new perspective to your company. They might be able to point out flaws or solutions to existing problems in a creative and ingenious way.

Most universities emphasize on the importance of innovation which these graduates bring to Whether due to the economy or something else, it is clear that entrepreneurship in the MENA region has grown. In terms of future aspirations, 39% of fresh graduates are actively considering setting up their own business; 41% may consider it.

These findings mirror a Bayt.com survey in partnership with Stanford University, which showed that in every Arab country surveyed about 40% of respondents expressed interest in being self-employed, with 50% of them saying that they started a business because they wanted greater independence.

Fresh graduates might have done a few internships, but they haven’t yet been instilled into the corporate world. Their mind isn’t affected by previous company practices and can bring a new perspective to your company. They might be able to point out flaws or solutions to existing problems in a creative and ingenious way. Most universities emphasize on the importance of innovation which these graduates bring to the table.

survey feel that computer skills are required to excel in the workplace. Other skills fresh grads think are essential for success are linguistic skills (44%), communication skills (39%), and interpersonal skills (30%).

5. They are up-to-date with the latest technologies The

1

the table. In the MENA region, 61.8% of professionals say that innovation leads to improved financial performance, according to the Innovation in the MENA poll, January 2013.

afraid of asking questions. And being similar to a blank canvas, they can adapt to any corporate culture easily. They’re also open to new ideas and working styles.

3. They are masters of continuous learning Fresh

4. They have good technical and life skills Numerous

graduates are often eager to learn and extremely determined to prove themselves. When given a task, they will tackle it wholeheartedly. They’re not

technical skills, such as computer skills, are taught in college. This is very important as 58% respondents in the Fresh Graduates in the MENA

generation gap becomes evident when it comes to technology.

According to the Millennials in the MENA survey, February 2014, both millennials and the older generation agree that technology makes them effective at work. However, 75% of those below 35 years old believe their older colleagues do not take full advantage of technology available. On the other hand, younger employees are techsavvy and well-informed. They know how to keep up with the latest technological trends and they can bring this, as an asset, to any job. >>>

Pursued first job through...

Leading online job sites

75

Direct applications to target companies

51

Family and friends network

47

Newspaper ads

38

Social media sites

38

Physical and virtual career fairs

22

Alumni network and university placement office Other

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Challenges faced when searching for a job Employers look for candidates with previous work experience

60

Where to find relevant jobs

39

Knowing how to approach the job search effectively

34

Knowing how to develop good interview skills

26

Knowing how to apply to relevant jobs

19

Knowing how to compile a CV

18

Knowing how to write a cover letter Other

Are fresh grads the new ‘treps?

Our research has shown over and over again that millennials are more interested in running their own business than being employed. Unlike previous generations, for many millennials climbing the corporate ladders isn’t a goal they are struggling to attain.

Actually, eight in 10 fresh graduates might be turning their backs on the traditional career path soon and instead become owners and runners of

11 3

whether it is by reinforcing the role of universities in preparing fresh graduates for the workplace, or governments and local communities paving the way for entrepreneurial ventures or suitable job opportunities, fresh graduates in the MENA clearly need all the help they can get to obtain jobs they truly love and value.

their own business, according to our research results.

Whether due to the economy or something else, it is clear that entrepreneurship in the MENA region has grown. In terms of future aspirations,

Setting up business in the future Would you consider setting up your own business in the future?

10

2

Yes, I’m actively considering it

9 39

Yes, I may consider it No I already have my own business

41

Don’t know / can’t say

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39% of fresh graduates are actively considering setting up their own business; 41% may consider it.

These findings mirror a Bayt.com survey in partnership with Stanford University, which showed that in every Arab country surveyed about 40% of respondents expressed interest in being self-employed, with 50% of them saying that they started a business because they wanted greater independence.

So, whether it is by reinforcing the role of universities in preparing fresh graduates for the workplace, or governments and local communities paving the way for entrepreneurial ventures or suitable job opportunities, fresh graduates in the MENA clearly need all the help they can get to obtain jobs they truly love and value.

Young people bring energy, ambition and familiarity with modern technologies to today’s workplaces. They are also more prone to being a great cultural fit for the company, as they haven’t been socialized to follow the practices of another company and aren’t set into routines or working

styles that more seasoned hires may have a difficult time casting off. Hiring an employee directly out of school gives employers the opportunity to shape a person’s professional growth and development– an experience that is rewarding for both the employer and employee.

Members of this generation of fresh grads have also proven to be innovative and better at analyzing and solving problems, reducing a certain amount of risk by increasing the probability that employers will be able to quickly recover their onboarding costs.

While most of these young job seekers firmly believe that their lack of experience is what is jeopardizing their job search, results from our research into the MENA region’s employment sector disagree with that assumption.

The truth is, employers are increasingly tapping into the graduate talent pool; thousands of entry-level jobs are advertised on our website every day.

Our research has shown over and over again that millennials are more interested in running their own business than being employed. Unlike previous generations, for many millennials climbing the corporate ladders isn’t a goal they are struggling to attain. Actually, eight in 10 fresh graduates might be turning their backs on the traditional career path soon and instead become owners and runners of their own business, according to our research results.

Lama Ataya heads the Marketing department at Bayt.com and within that role is also responsible for communications, content, community experience, and corporate social responsibility.

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No one said building a company was easy Overcoming the psychology of the tech entrepreneur

By Genny Ghanimeh

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e’re all aware today of the billion dollar valuations some tech companies are scoring, and all the coverage that they get with it. This can’t but put massive expectations on up-andcoming entrepreneurs in a society venerating the successful ones and considering their struggles to be part of their resilience test and rite of passage. The stakes are high and the risk of failure even higher. In fact, according to a Harvard Business School research by Shikhar Ghosh, “three out of four venture-backed startups fail, and more than 95% of startups fall short of their initial projections.”

A recent article published by Inc. entitled Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship shed a light on the effects of the traumatic events entrepreneurs go through: “No one said building a company is easy. But it’s time to be honest about how brutal it really is and the price so many founders secretly pay… Entrepreneurs often juggle many roles and face countless setbacks -lost customers, disputes with partners, increased competition, staffing problems- all while struggling to make payroll.” Of course, entrepreneurs can get support. There are valuable coaching tools to deal with stress, anxiety and failure, which in turn will help them preserve their mental health and maintain their drive. I personally believe that entrepreneurs can also avoid the challenging situations by taking into account what really matters to their entrepreneurial projects, and learning how to navigate through.

So, does funding really matter? In an article by SingularityHub entitled Why Startups Like Uber, Airbnb, and SpaceX Succeed, While Others Fail, Bill Gross, the brilliant entrepreneur, analyzed key factors of success for entrepreneurial projects. His findings are summarized in the following table: TIMING

42%

TEAM/EXECUTION

32%

IDEA “TRUTH” OUTLIER BUSINESS MODE

www.inc.com

FUNDING

24%

14%

Source: www.singularityhub.com

28%

On why funding came last, Bill explained that “funding mattered the least, because you can make a company succeed even if you don’t raise the money.” So what really matters?

Here are eight points to keep in mind when building your business.

1. Build a solution to a pain.

Pain Solution Value Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian sums up and epitomizes this point best: “A common mistake I see many startup founders making is they aren’t solving a real problem. You should try to solve a real problem that people have, or identify a much better way for people to do things

than they’ve historically done before.

“Make something people want.” If you can do that, you’re probably onto something.”

2. Build mental toughness through tough times.

Why fit in when you were born to stand out?

Mental toughness is what gets us through the self-doubt moments and the emotional rollercoaster of entrepreneurship. No one expressed this better than MailChimp founder Ben Chestnut: “It’s hard. And just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does. There’ll be times when it just keeps getting worse and worse and >>>

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TECH

SHINY | WEBSITE TO WATCH | GEEK | MOBILE TECH | ONLINE ‘TREP | THE FIX

Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky remembers: “When we came to the Valley, no one even wanted to invest in Airbnb.

One of the reasons was they thought the idea was crazy. People thought I’d never stay in a stranger’s home.

That’s creepy.” Big ideas may not, at all, be clear at first see, either because the market is not obvious, idea is too small, regulations are high, or assumptions are flawed.

worse. Meanwhile, everyone else around you is getting better and happier and richer. You’ll feel like the only one who hasn’t figured it out yet. You’re sinking, your life sucks, and your business isn’t going anywhere. Oh yeah, and you’re not getting any younger, either. And just when you think about finally throwing in the towel, and saying ‘f*** all this,’ that, right there, is the test that all founders are eventually faced with: when things get too hard, you decide to stay, or you decide to quit.

My advice is this: before you decide, look at all those great, successful businesses that inspired you to start your own. They stayed.”

For entrepreneurs, mental toughness means the resilience and persistence in not letting daily setbacks and obstacles, negative feedback, or erratic schedules divert you from the clear goal of achieving your vision. It is what makes all the difference for success- and not intelligence, talent or background. If you don’t have it in you already, you can train yourself to develop it- in fact, you can train you brain into anything you can imagine. Mental toughness is like a muscle, you can grow it every day through small goal gains, as simple as committing not to miss your daily workout, setting time to meet your friends on weekends, or pledging to eat natural foods for a month.

Spreadsheets You have a viable business when you have a sustainable business. Keeping track of your burnout rate and your cash flows can be onerous for the creative mind, but it’s to make sure you don’t run out of money. Furthermore, be flexible to pivot into a more viable business model when your tried model is not working quite yet.

Term Sheets Partners and investors don’t like risk. If you’re signing a partnership or raising money, protecting everyone’s backside requires what entrepreneurs often see as the tedious exercise of negotiating a term sheet– but then again, no one else can do it for you.

4. Build traction not numbers.

Be the smartest person in the room.

If not, change rooms or get smarter.

In short, traction can be viewed as sales, user base growth, customer proposition and other metrics of progress like adoption and engagement.

It’s one thing to say you have a great idea; it’s another thing to say you have fast-train customer traction.

The more momentum you generate around your business, the more people and investors you attract. Have a traction plan, build your branding, get to know your target audience and reach channels, become a thought leader, connect to influencers and amplifiers and keep trending.

Of course, the best form of traction is paying customers– even if they don’t pay a lot, nothing is better to validate your business. The more paying customers you have, the less capital you will need to raise.

But getting paying customers isn’t always as easy. But not to worry, free customers are just as important, and their commitment means that they are willing to pay money in the future. A lot of the big companies of today didn’t monetize their customers at the start, like Whatsapp, Dropbox, Facebook, Pinterest. Instead, they

Worksheet, Spreadsheet And Term Sheet- Oh Sheet!

Worksheets It is critical to map your strategy in execution, goals and KPIs. Set execution and goals that are realistic and measurable. Regroup periodically to make sure your execution and your goals are on track. Assess, reinvent and measure. Have the attitude of a child, always learning and re-learning.

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www.MEDIUM.COM

3. Build a sustainable business.

focused on building a user base, nailing their customer proposition and increasing adoption and engagement.

5. Build the best team.

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

No one is able to do everything- your business is as good as its people.

Seek out the talented and hardworking people who get your passion and vision, and keep them inspired.

Mark Suster, founder of Upfront Ventures, said this about building his team: “Over time I took to telling people the following, ‘Join BuildOnline, because you think you’ll get great experience. Join because you like the mission of what we’re doing. Join because if you do a good job, we’ll help you punch above your weight class and work in a more senior role. And if you ever feel that in the year ahead of you, you don’t think that you’ll increase the value of your resume and you’re not having fun, then go. Join because we pay well but not amazing. Stock options are the icing on the cake. They’ll never make you rich. Don’t join for the options.’” the best form of traction is paying customers– even if they don’t pay a lot, nothing is better to validate your business. The more paying customers you have, the less capital you will need to raise. But getting paying customers isn’t always as easy. But not to worry, free customers are just as important, and their commitment means that they are willing to pay money in the future.

6. Listen to your customers.

Don’t drink your own Kool-Aid. “There is a hype curve in any company. Press, journalists, analysts, friends and family can reinforce the sense that you’re ‘killing it.’ As Public Enemy says: ‘Don’t Believe The Hype.’ The only way to build a sustainable customer is to listen to customers, partners, suppliers and employees,” says Mark Suster, founder of Upfront Ventures.

When you’re starting up, account for the uptake of people to your product and look at the dynamics of the marketplace of your customer to see if they are ready for what you have. If not, start adjusting the of-

fering to be what they actually need.

Successful consumer companies keep analyzing consumer behavior, listening to unhappy customers and learning from them. They get a unique insight about it and deliver then a superior consumer experience.

7. To listen or not to listen (to VCs), that is the question.

The advice VCs give you isn’t always that good, or is it?

Entrepreneurs can have great ideas, but more often than not, they wouldn’t know how to execute them.

And this is the added value of a VC as opposed to silent investors that don’t challenge you and help you with a clear path to take the idea into a success. But some startups are slow to get off the ground and they might not show promising numbers when they decide the time is right or necessary to meet a VC, risking thus a major dilution.

A study by Shasta Ventures published by Medium entitled What Did Billion Dollar Companies Look Like At The Series A? made clear that potentially big ideas are often not obvious at the Series A stage. “There is no formula, and each success story is unique and unprecedented.” Furthermore, according to the Harvard Business Review article, VC Funding Can Be Bad For Your Start-up, Harvard Business School’s Josh Lerner analyzed that “more than half of all VC funds delivered no better than low single-digit returns on investment.”

As a startup, know when to raise money from friends, family and angels, and then more importantly, know when you need to brainstorm with a VC. VCs will find your weaknesses and even attack you on them.

Learn from them how to be better and work with the VC that believes in you and your idea, and the VC you believe can add value to you and help you grow on your path.

8. Always listen to your gut.

If your eyes cannot cry, then your gut will.

Another interesting finding from the study done by Shasta Ventures on companies that made it big: “Three out of four of the companies were built by people doing it for the first time. They did not have deep experience in their field, but were passionate about their product and had a unique perspective on how to serve their target customer. Having a fresh perspective is important in tackling a category as people with industry experience are often constrained by what is not possible and why it won’t work.”

Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky remembers: “When we came to the Valley, no one even wanted to invest in Airbnb. One of the reasons was they thought the idea was crazy.

People thought I’d never stay in a stranger’s home. That’s creepy.” Big ideas may not, at all, be clear at first sight, either because the market is not obvious, idea is too small, regulations are high, or assumptions are flawed. That’s why if you believe there is something there to your idea, keep believing in it, keep persisting, keep pursuing it.

Just believe in yourself and your passion. Most of all, allow your gut to tell you the truth, especially when your heart and mind don’t. As Steve Jobs said: “Have the courage to follow your intuition. It somehow already knows what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Entrepreneurs can have great ideas, but more often than not, they wouldn’t know how to execute them. And this is the added value of a VC as opposed to silent investors that don’t challenge you and help you with a clear path to take the idea into a success.

But some startups are slow to get off the ground and they might not show promising numbers when they decide the time is right or necessary to meet a VC, risking thus a major dilution.

Following her passions for microfinance and online industries, Genny Ghanimeh founded Pi Slice in March 2012 and negotiated a partnership agreement with MicroWorld from the Group PlanetFinance to build and administer the first microlending online platform in MENA. Ghanimeh began her career in Development Project Finance, and later shifted her focus to finance and business development, where she honed her entrepreneurial skills in founding her first company Pro-ID in 2003. She also consulted in setting-up and managing a financial security semigovernmental company in Dubai, and in 2007, Ghanimeh founded and managed Pi Investments.

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Let us show you beyond the horizon with new technologies and features that will power your business.

Join us at the 35th edition of GITEX where we are showcasing the technology of tomorrow and demonstrating the full potential of a smart, connected future, built on the power of the internet. The internet future of everything.

www.gitex.com

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Safety in numbers

TECH

The founders of LAMAPP

Students create app to facilitate anonymous reporting of domestic violence

L

By Pamella de Leon

ast year, Swedish organization STHLM Panda posted a social experiment video wherein only one out of 53 people reacted to a staged domestic abuse scene in a lift.

The video, along with other alarming statistics, triggered a team of University of Wollongong in Dubai computer science students to use their skills in creating something to support the cause against domestic violence. Noticing how witnesses fail to raise their voice for fear of safety or simply not knowing what to do, the trio -22-year-old Heba Mahmoud Nayef as team leader, 20-year-old Jawad Jandali Refai as front-end developer and 23-year-old Artaza Aziz as full stack developer- developed an mobile phone app called LAMAPP that allows eyewitnesses to report an incident in real-time.

LAMAPP allows both victims and bystanders to take anonymous audio or video clips of an abusive incident, which are directly sent to the requisite authori-

ties with a time and location stamp. “[We] wish to provide the relevant authorities with a system which allows them to witness the audiovisual clips, understand more about repeated abuse and to respond more effectively to distress call situations, offering them access to critical demographic data which will help the authorities to identify risk-prone areas and provide improved tracking and control,” explains team leader Nayef. She also adds that victims will also be able to access information on hospitals, women’s shelters and police stations, as well as having the option to chat with an online counselor. One of its main setbacks is that the app can’t be downloaded unless the authorities of the country decide to adopt it to the justice system, which means partnering with local authorities is a significant step for the app to be utilized.

Anonymity is a factor that LAMAPP is focusing on as well. Besides the legal constraints in the UAE of posting audio-visual content of people without consent, the team doesn’t believe that public shaming is not the solution and seeks to protect the privacy of both the witnesses and victims. “One of the big challenges was creating the app’s interface, as it needs to be as anonymous as possible on the user’s phoneboth for victims and bystanders.

They need to be

protected both while reporting the abuse and using the application.”

Winning the Microsoft Imagine Cup UAE finals in the World Citizenship category in April of this year qualified the team for the next stage of the global competition. At the time of writing, the team was prepping for the global leg of the challenge- giving them a chance to meet Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella, and win US$50,000. The app is now in the final phases of development for Windows platform, with iOS and Android next up, and the team is seeking investments and looking to build partnerships. They’re hoping to establish a relationship with the Dubai Police and other UAE authorities while seeking support internationally.

SaaS for government entities “We are operating a Software as a Service (SaaS) model for the government and relevant authorities.

The app will be free for users but the data the app provides has a monetary value for the authorities as it will provide them with more of an understanding about incidences of repeated abuse, the ability to respond more effectively to distress call situations and demographic data which will help the authorities to identify risk-prone areas and provide improved tracking and control. It will help Dubai in particular with its efforts to become a Smart City.”

‘Trep talk ME THE BUSINESS RoundMenu THE ‘TREP Founder Ziad Jawad Q What do you think of MENA’s tech startup scene?

A “The number of startups is growing very fast in the MENA region, with more and more funding support coming from governments and VCs. The local infrastructure and logistics are very strong in the GCC, and this is an essential ingredient for any business.

The Internet and mobile user penetration is very high, and the consumers are becoming more accustom to e-commerce. I think all the essential conditions for a healthy ecosystem are there, but there is a lack of innovation and localization from the entrepreneurs, we see a lot of ‘copy-paste’ of concepts from the West.” www.roundmenu.com

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#TAMTALKSTECH From photography to storage to sound, this edition’s choices showcase some of tech’s best new innovation angles to products that you might already own. Here’s your excuse to get spending on tech this month!

Panasonic HGS10 Bone Conduction headphones

Inside out

Panasonic bone conduction headphones

Panasonic has a new way to deliver sound with HGS10 Bone Conduction wrap-around headphones. The accessory doesn’t have buds that fit onto your ears- instead the headphones emit sound through two buds sitting outside the ear that vibrate

sounds directly into your ear.

Why is this important? It keeps you from blocking out the rest of the world when you tune in to your music. HGS10 allows you to hear music and the ambient noise around you (unless of course, you want to tune out).

Connected creativity

Nikon updates the D5500

The new Nikon D5500 with built-in wireless connectivity is the world’s smallest, lightest and slimmest DSLR. With its carbon-fiber body and deep grip for comfortable handling, this camera is designed to be taken everywhere.

D5500 features such as Nikon’s EXPEED 4 image-processing engine, a vari-angle LCD monitor with touch-screen control and optimized image review. You can capture sharp 24.2 megapixel photos, record 1080 video at a high speed frame of 60p with D5500– and even retouch and add artistic filters to your shots right in the camera. And when you’re done, share them instantly with on board Wi-Fi using the Nikon Mobile Utility app. D5500 makes it easy to be creative, and simultaneously stay connected.

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Entrepreneur august 2015

Nikon D5500

HTC Desire 626G+ Dual SIM

Pick me!

HTC delivers Desire 626G+ Dual SIM smartphone

Perhaps the crown jewel of mid-range smartphones, HTC delivers the HTC Desire 626G+ Dual SIM. The new smartphone adds a bold flash of color to the HTC lineup and boasts unique enhancements for a better user experience.

It’s powered by an OctoCore 1.7GHz processor, runs Android 4.4 and features a modest 5 inch HD LCD display with HTC Blinkfeed, which provides easy access to a personalized stream of online content, direct from your home screen. With a 13MP main camera and a 5MP

front camera, Desire 626G+ takes great photos that can be edited with instant effects and built-in enhancements using HTC Eye Experience. Zoe, an innovative companion app, allows you to create threesecond HD picture videos and full motion photo galleries.

The device has as a range of storage options from 8GB internal memory to a MicroSD slot that supports up to 32GB additional storage. With so many features, the new Desire 626G+ Dual SIM is a good pick for a mobile change up.

Store it Seagate’s Backup gets bigger

Seagate, a leader in external storage solutions, will now include 200GB of OneDrive cloud storage for a two-year period. OneDrive, offered by Microsoft, allows easy access to important documents including up-to-date versions of those that are in progress.

Seagate’s Backup Plus portable devices have also been expanded to hold 4TB of data. By adding these new features, Seagate meets your need for substantial data storage and backup with flexible, simple ways to access and manage your data.

Seagate Backup Plus drives come equipped with Seagate Dashboard software for easy plug-andplay PC backup as well as the addition of a mobile app, which can be used to backup a mobile device wirelessly while away from the home network. The company has found a sweet spot where physical storage and cloud services converge; a shift that’s sure to take the personal storage industry for a ride.

Seagate Backup Plus

#TAMTALKSTECH Tamara Clarke, a former software development professional, is the tech and lifestyle enthusiast behind The Global Gazette, one of the most active blogs in the Middle East. The Global Gazette has been welcomed and lauded by some of the most influential tech brands in the region. Clarke’s goal is to inform about technology and how it supports our lifestyles. See her work both in print regional publications and online on her blog where she discusses everything

from how a new gadget improves day-to-day life to how to coordinate your smartphone accessories.

Visit www.theglobalgazette.com and talk to her on Twitter @GlobalGazette.

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ETHICS | ESQUIRE GUY | SKILLSET | MARKETING | PRO

The social media handbook Five guiding principles for entrepreneurs looking to leverage the Internet

By Ema Linaker

S

ocial media: two words, which have become loaded with meaning, misunderstanding and momentum over the past ten years. As a new business, it is vital that you get to grips with how to harness this essential business tool to drive awareness, brand affinity, loyalty, advocacy and most importantly, commerce.

In the Middle East, we are in a unique position both geographically, but digitally speaking as well. The region, although highly diverse, has quite a few ‘common’ traits that you should be aware of before embarking on any social media strategy. But before we get to them, let’s start by talking about you and your business.

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Consumers in MENA are mobile-first Firstly, your consumer is mobile. 70% of all traffic to any social channel is on a mobile device, which means that your messaging needs to communicate to a mobile generation. It needs to be relevant, highly visual, entertaining or very useful and informative.

Status-ology People in the Middle East like to show off their own individual style, know-how and status using social media. That’s why Twitter is so popular here in the Gulf, especially in KSA where 10.8 million tweets are shared every day.

Being connected is a default With a population that is mostly aged way below 40, the Gulf is rife with what we marketers call millennials, a generation that has grown up using their mobile as the window to their entire life, and where Snapchat has replaced Facebook as the place to share and exchange life moments with friends.

What is it you really want to achieve on social? It’s only when you can fully answer this question that you should even think about embarking on launching a Facebook page or a Twitter handle.

Short-form video storytelling Snapchat, Vine and Instagram are extremely popular in the MENA, because they appeal to the highly visual storytelling population here. Most people under 25 in the Middle East chronicle their life experiences now on these platforms.

This particular consumer behavior pertinent to the MENA region means that businesses trying to be relevant and communicate to such savvy, hyper-connected people have challenges lined up in front of them if they insist on investing in traditional ways of communicating to their target audience.

Social media marketing is the process of building awareness about you, your products or services through the various social media channels. The ultimate goal of any social media marketing campaign is to drive traffic to a website, increase the visibility of a product, create a community of loyal and passionate customers that defend and promote your brand across the digital web, and finally, find more customers.

If you follow these five simple

steps listed below, you will be on your way to leveraging one of the most powerful forms of word-of-mouth marketing techniques there is.

1. Understand social media’s purpose for your communications The first

thing I advise any client wanting to embark on any communications strategy, whether it be digital or traditional communication, is to fully understand the purpose of communicating.

What is it you really want to achieve on social? It’s only when you can fully answer this question that you should even think about embarking on launching a Facebook page or a Twitter handle.

2. What do you want to be famous for? Once

you know what you want social media to do for your business, you can focus on creating and articulating why anyone would want to follow your Twitter feed or sign up to your LinkedIn group. Far too many businesses fail to understand that good social media requires a brand or company to give something back to the people that have given them their attention, time and loyalty. Social media has to be viewed as an everevolving relationship that requires investment, time, and dialogue. As Simon Sinek famously said, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

3. Listen! I was once asked what qualities do the best salespeople have. I immediately jumped into the obvious ones like expertise >>>

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in the field, understanding of human behavior, NLP, etc., but the first and most basic skill I completely missed out was listening. If you want to sell effectively, it’s imperative to invest time listening to precisely what your customers really want- how they want it, and when.

Time and time again I see businesses failing on social media because they don’t invest enough time in paying attention to what people are telling them day in day out on the social web. There is such a wealth of information that customers around your business, your industry and your category are talking about on Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook that you need to know before embarking on any planning or any content.

Listening to what people are saying will show you where the gaps are in their knowledge of your business, or where the industry is failing them and how you might be able to solve that issue. Further, it will inform your content strategy because what

ETHICS | ESQUIRE GUY | SKILLSET | MARKETING | PRO

they say and how they say it should impact what you say and how you say it on digital and social media. It should inform your entire digital or social strategic thinking.

And yes, there are tools to do just that- the best ones out there for Arabic right now are Synthesio, Sysomos and Socialbakers.

4. Understand which platform is right for your business needs

There are probably over 20 core platforms you need to be aware of, but for the sake of simplicity and ease, I am going to briefly talk about only my six top ones. Each of these has a different purpose, which can be another article altogether. > Facebook is the big daddy of social media here, with over 80 million people actively accessing the network every month. And over 66% of those people access from mobile devices- this means that anything you want to say to your customers has to be compelling on a screen size

LinkedIn is to cyberspace what networking groups once were to local business communities.

It’s great for meeting customers, getting in touch with vendors, recruiting new employees, and keeping up with the latest in business or industry news. If it matters to your company or career, you can probably do it on LinkedIn.

of 5.5 inches. This is vital in knowing where to focus your attention when creating for social. Also, now that Facebook has added video content to its feeds, you can pretty much focus all your eggs in one Facebook basket, if consumer engagement is critical to you, and you have a fairly hefty content production and

media budget to invest as well. If not, then you might consider some of the other opportunities that lie outside of Facebook. > Instagram is massive in MENA. It’s grown over 60% in just one year in terms of its usage, and towards the end of 2015, we will see Instagram start monetizing its platform and offering advertisers the chance to deliver beautiful advertising. Instagram is a great platform if you’re looking for a connection between the camera feature on your smartphone and all your social profiles. Not only will it allow you to share via Twitter, Facebook, and the Instagram website, you can choose from a variety of photo filters and invite people to comment on your photos or ideas. > While there is much doom and gloom around the global news surrounding Twitter, here in MENA, this platform is alive and well if you want to do certain things. Twitter is phenomenal for activating offline events, distributing news or connecting with influencers. Perhaps the simplest of all social media platforms, Twitter also just happens to be one of the most fun and interesting. Messages are limited to 140 characters or less, but that’s more than enough to post a link, share an image, or even trade thoughts with

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your favorite celebrity or influencer. Twitter’s interface is easy to learn and use, and setting up a new profile only takes minutes. What’s more its lead gen cards allow you to collect customer data and sell through the platform- it’s a definite must-try. > LinkedIn is one of the only mainstream social media sites that is actually geared towards business. LinkedIn is to cyberspace what networking groups once were to local business communities. It’s great for meeting customers, getting in touch with vendors, recruiting new employees, and keeping up with the latest in business or industry news.

If it matters to your company or career, you can probably do it on LinkedIn. > YouTube has to be a focal point for any brand wanting to improve their search results and ensure that your products and services can be easily found by the millions searching on Google in the region. Video content is expensive and does require investment; however, the payback is big and ensures that you can easily be found by some of the world’s most researched and informed consumers– those found in the Middle East. YouTube’s catalog of billions and billions of videos has become known as “the world’s second-largest search engine” in some circles. The site has everything from first-person product reviews

to promotional clips and “how-two” instructions on virtually any topic or discipline. Users have the ability to share, rate, and comment on what they see. > Snapchat is a surprisingly addictive app giving you the ability to take a picture, add art and text if you’d like, and then send it to recipients for a set amount of time (after which the photo will delete itself and be removed from the company’s servers). It’s useful to brands through its Snapchat Stories and Snapchat Live Stories features. Users can use Snapchat’s Live Stories to share photos and videos of a live event, whereas Snapchat Stories is a curation of all your snaps over 24 hours and provides brands with a powerful storytelling medium that millennials in MENA love.

5. Participation is the secret sauce When

deciding what to say and how to say things on social channels, the best piece of advice I can give you all is that you must focus on allowing the people who are giving their attention and their time to you the chance to participate in the story. What that means is that you need to expect (or even explicitly ask) people to share their point of view with what you’re saying.

Social media has to be a two-

way conversation between your business or brand, and the people you’re trying to connect with. Traditional ‘push’ communications techniques do not deliver this, so always think of these four parameters when judging whether what you’re saying or showing on social channels is good or not: > Does it pass the ‘why would I care, why would I share’ test? > Does it actively request the person reading or viewing what I’m saying to share their point of view with me? > Will it entertain, inform or resonate with people? > Does it have a clear point of view?

So there you have it: five simple guidelines on how to get your social strategy started. It’s important you take the time to consider these steps, so that when you start publishing your content and your brand stories, they should take into consideration what your audience thinks about your industry, your business, your services on the social web. It also requires an understanding of where your audience is most receptive to receiving brand information like this- it might not be Facebook; it could be Snapchat or LinkedIn. There needs to be a clear value exchange

between your brand and the people you want to subscribe to your channels in that your channels have a clear purpose in mind for what they want to achieve. Finally, always remember that storytelling is social by nature and should allow for conversation, dialogue and shared experiences with your audience.

When deciding what to say and how to say things on social channels, the best piece of advice I can give you all is that you must focus on allowing the people who are giving their attention and their time to you the chance to participate with the story.

Ema Linaker is a digital native who has been working integrated communications for leading brands and agencies for over 20 years.

She has worked at Google, Nuance, Ogilvy & Mather, and now heads up Leo Burnett’s team of social, mobile and digital experts working on multinational brands like McDonalds, Samsung and P&G.

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09 – 10 September 2015

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Media Sponsor

Dubai Government Partner

Opening Keynote Speech Her Excellency Ameera Bin Karam Chairperson Sharjah Business Women Council Keynote Presenation Her Excellency Dr. Maryam Matar Md Chairman & Founder, UAE Genetic Diseases Association

Nisreen Shocair, President, Virgin Megastore Middle East

Umran Beba, Chief Human Resource Officer, Asia, Middle East and Africa, PEPSICO

Gabi Zedlmayer, Vice President & Chief Progress Officer Corporate Affairs, Hewlett-Packard Company

Dr. Ayesha Abdulla, Executive Dean, Business, HCT- Dubai Women’s College

Fida Kibbi, Vice President & Head of Communications - Middle East, Ericsson

ETHICS | ESQUIRE GUY | SKILLSET | MARKETING | PRO

TREPONOMICS readers engaged. The more verbose the copy, the easier it is to lose their attention. Make sure all paragraphs include the main purpose and only what’s necessary. You can do without all that extra fluff.

4. Provide a call to action.

Sending the right message Four tips for producing winning copy

T

By Laura Hamade

here are an abundance of sources that claim to have found the key to writing the headline that is guaranteed to grab one’s attention or the impeccable body copy that sells. However, with the increasing number of websites and blogs that make up the World Wide Web, many find it difficult to tell which information is actually reliable. While some find that succinct, straight-tothe-point copy works, others such as David Ogilvy in his notorious Rolls-Royce ad, believe it’s necessary to squeeze in as much copy as possible. Here is a compilation of what I believe to be fail-proof tips to producing winning copy that will sell.

www.copyblogger.com/how-to-write-headlines-that-work

1. A straightforward headline.

Headlines for both ads and posts should be simple and straight to the point. Some writers opt to be witty and include jargon, but it is not necessary. What they fail to understand is that readers lose all interest in the time it takes to decipher the headline. In all cases one should be direct with the reader. Tried and true types of headlines include testimonials, questions, news headlines, and how-to’s.

2. An eye-opening introduction.

When it comes to blog posts, getting readers past the headline is extremely important, yet not the most difficult. Getting readers

through the introduction is essential, and thus requires lots of attention. When readers click on a headline that intrigues them, that reader is curious to learn more about the topic.

This is yet another reason why headlines should never be deceiving. If you do so, then you will have lost both the reader’s attention and overall interest.

An introduction essentially gives readers a relatively detailed idea of what to expect in the coming paragraphs. The best way to grab their attention is by opening with a topical anecdote. Nothing gets readers’ attention like a well-written story. Other attention-grabbing introductions include stating relevant figures and asking questions to get the readers engaged.

3. Keep it short and sweet.

James Altucher, entrepreneur and bestselling author, advises writers to reduce the amount that they write in half by removing every other line. The point of all copy is to keep

If you’ve produced amazing copy but haven’t included a call to action, then you haven’t really done anything valuable.

Sure, you’ve got your readers’ attention with a few stats or quite possibly made them nearly tear up over a story about your childhood, but how does that tie into your brand? Always include a call to action. People want to be told what to do, they don’t want to make an effort and guess what it is your asking of them. In this case, my call to action would be to follow me on Twitter for all my latest posts. In essence, the formula is to start by grabbing people’s attention with a solid, straightforward headline, then keep them engaged with intriguing content, guide them through the next step with a clear and concise call to action, and then you’ll be well on your way to acquiring new customers.

Laura Hamade is a writer and social media manager in Lebanon who is extremely passionate about all things digital. Talk to her on Twitter @LauraHamade21.

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CULTURE

business unusual | LIFE | TRAVEL | DESIGN | TRAPPINGS

READ BETWEEN THE LINES BUSINESS BOOK RUNDOWN

By Amal Chaaban

J

ust because an author demonstrates great sales doesn’t mean their business advice is applicable in the boardroom or even good for practical application otherwise. Our reviewer takes a look at some of the titles getting hype recently and gives you the executive summary.

Before you hit the business bestseller aisle, read these reviews to see which of these known books are actually worth your while.

inGenius Dr. Tina Seelig

When Dr. Tina Seelig, Professor of the Practice in the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University, writes a book about how creativity is a critical factor in business, you know it will be chock full of solid tools and implementation ideas. Her book, inGenius, discusses creativity and imagination as underutilized and/or stifled arenas in the corporate world. While Seelig’s exercises and suggestions may seem out of the ordinary compared to what

13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do Amy Morin

At first glance, this is the farthest thing from a book that applies to corporate culture, but a deeper read shows that it is a great self-improvement tool. Morin’s advice will, by default, also improve your performance at the office. Using the tools she has developed as a psychotherapist, the author provides a list of 13 things that people who are mentally strong don’t do- ranging from quelling self-

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pity (“They don’t waste time feeling sorry for themselves”) to patience as a virtue (“They don’t expect immediate results”). This writer’s favourite is number 12: “They don’t feel the world owes them anything.” Each chapter delves further into the header, and provides positive and forward-thinking tactics on how to fix your flaw in logic.

This is a fantastic book for anyone seeking a reality check.

most enterprise leaders prefer to use to generate new products and paths, these methods are proven to work. It will not be a simple thing to change the mindset of middle management and action these concepts, but a truly inventive person in management will see them for the creative gold they are, and recognize the value that innovation and imagination bring to business. This is the book for head honchos who are looking to shake up corporate stagnation.

The Real Life MBA: Your No-BS Guide to Winning the Game, Building a Team and Growing Your Career Jack & Suzy Welch

Authors Jack and Suzy Welch have a full 81 years of business experience combined, so when they speak, the business world should sit up and listen. With that in mind, it’s important to note that this book is a no-holds barred look at what you as an individual need to do to be able to work effectively in a team environment. The tone of this book is clear from page one: “Business is not a ‘me’ thing. It’s a ‘we’

thing,” making it clear that to succeed you must be able to execute tasks and responsibilities both in and out of a team scenario. Split into sections, The Real Life MBA dedicates each part to a particular focus area (such as organization and operation), and gives a breakdown with examples to make the understanding behind the concepts easier. This book is worth taking the time to read… and implement.

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Ashlee Vance

Veteran technology and business writer Ashlee Vance must have wondered at times if he was Alice falling down the rabbit hole when writing about the enigmatic (and hard-to-pin-down) Elon Musk. In what is one of the more comprehensive works on the entrepreneur and cult-figure, Vance explores Musk’s beginnings, ventures, and most importantly his vision for the future of humankind. Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future captures a snapshot

in time of a man who already has had a tremendous impact on humanity and the way that we think. Vance is to be credited for writing a book that gives us far more understanding of not just Elon Musk the visionary, but also Elon Musk the person via interviews with former staffers, current staffers, family members and friends. A great overview, the most stellar part of this read is Vance’s access to the man himself.

Fans of Musk, pick up this book.

Bridging the gap

www.powertofly.comv

PowerToFly wants to give women tech jobs wherever they go In a bid to tackle the tech industry’s gap in gender diversity, The Huffington Post former manager Katharine Zaleski and Avaaz former CTO Milena Berry have founded PowerToFly, an online hiring platform for women. And they’re gaining traction too- the team raised US$6.5 million in its latest round of funding at the end of June, with investors including Crosslink Capital and Hearst Ventures, among others. Since its launch in August 2014, the company has focused on providing

jobs for women –particularly mothers- in the technology sector allowing them to have time for both their families and careers. With companies such as Buzzfeed, Skillcrush and The Washington Post taking in remote workers from the platform, their latest funding can expand their team and propel them to respond to the interest for placements in other sectors.

The platform lets women post profiles and companies to search for jobseekers for free, with PowerToFly handling the payments and contracts.

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CULTURE

business unusual | LIFE | TRAVEL | DESIGN | TRAPPINGS

‘Trep trimmings

The executive selection

F

rom better goods to boardroom wardrobe bests, each issue we choose a few items that make the approved executive selection list. In this edition, we present the Bremont Kingsman fine timepiece range, and Clinique men’s products paired with a skincare cheat sheet for the informationseeking ‘treps out there.

Fresh-faced with Clinique for men Get your skincare sorted out (right)

www.clinique.com/mens

What is the difference between shave gel and shave cream textures?

Gels are usually more bracing, while creams are often the more hydrating type of shave product.

Shaving creams tend to provide a nice “lift” to beard hair, allowing for an easier shave. If you’re a drier skin type, try Clinique’s Cream Shave with allantoin- it reduces your risk of shaving nicks and cuts,

and also helps to soothe irritation.

If you prefer a lighter texture and you have a normal to combination skin type, opt for the Clinique Aloe Shave Gel. To cleanse the face, should you use a facial bar soap or a facial wash?

Many men’s skincare ranges often offer both bar soap and foaming facial wash types of cleansers to cater to customer preferences.

First, determine your cleansing needs: if you are an oilier skin type, ask for the purifying formulas. Dry to normal skin types can stay in the regular range. Try the Clinique for Men Oil Control Face Wash.

Start with a wet skin, and using a small amount of the product, gently foam it up as you wash. Finish by rinsing well with lukewarm water- never hot. Both bar soap and foaming gel cleansers can be used in and out of the shower, but mind the temperature of the water.

Why should you exfoliate?

Exfoliating serves a few purposes: it deep cleanses by loosening impurities and sloughing off dead

Tom Ford

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skin, it prepares the skin for a smoother shave and prevents future ingrown hairs in the shaving area, and it allows for better moisturizer penetration. Your skin will look brighter, healthier, and you’ll use less corrective methods in the long-term because the exfoliator helps to prevent issues before they happen. Try Clinique for Men Face Scrub.

What is the difference between moisturizer and aftershave balms?

Moisturizers are used all over the face and can be used in the shaving area as well. Aftershave balms are exactly that- a soothing, hydrating product meant for use post-shave to repair and heal the skin, and prevent future skin irritation. Typically, men need to use both products; the moisturizer you choose should be applied on a cleansed face, morning and night for best results.

For the oiler skin types, you may want to prep the skin with a toner prior to applying moisturizer.

Clinique’s Exfoliating Tonic is great to keep skin fresh-looking, and also gives more oil control.

product images credit clinique

It’s not complicated, we promise.

We’ve put together a FAQ for you, so you can quickly find the information you need, together with product recommendations to make it even more straightforward. Men, now you’ve got no excuse not to pursue skincare solutions!

Summer isn’t over yet Fred Perry for your August evenings out

So we’re all a bit low key this month- it’s hot, it’s steamy, and we don’t much feel like strapping ourselves into full-on gear.

Lucky for you, Fred Perry makes a mean shirt. Clean lines, good shade range, and most importantly, a lightweight texture.

The SS15 range will meet your needs and you can wear these pieces into the fall, for maximum utility. www.fredperry.com

Editor’s pick

Bremont Kingsman Special Edition in Stainless Steel

iamges © fred perry, bremont

There are timepieces that look good, then there are timepieces that work well, and then there is the rare timepiece that manages to be ergonomic, attractive, and can

boast a good backstory. The Bremont Kingsman checks all of those boxes (and more).

With a 42-hour power reserve, World Time Zone function, water resistance up to 100 meters, and the domed anti-reflective, scratch resistant sapphire crystal fit-out, it’s no wonder this watch was developed in partnership for director Matthew Vaughn’s blockbuster Kingsman: The Secret Service. The strap is finelystitched calf skin leather with a stainless steel pin buckle.

The Kings-

man range includes a crafted rose gold chronograph World Timer on an alligator strap (worn by the agents in the movie), and a black chronograph model on a NATO band (worn by the trainee recruits in the movie). You can see our pick, the Kingsman Stainless Steel model, worn by the recruit trainer played by Mark Strong. And here’s a cool piece of trivia for the film buffs: Bremont co-founder, Nick English, makes an appearance in the film as one of the Secret Service agents wearing one of the three special edition Kingsman watches. www.bremont.com

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TREPONOMICS

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Leading a conference call 101

The Esquire Guy on steering a conference call like a champ By Ross McCammon

L

eading a conference call is just like leading any other meeting, only you’re not able to see if people are engaged. You’re not able to tell if you’re leading it effectively.

You can’t depend on body language to communicate your engagement level, and you’re not able to read the body language of others. What this reality demands is your usual mode of leadership accented with a slight mechanical bearing.

If you are normally freewheeling, focus a little more than you’re used to. If you are normally sunny, let a few clouds in. If you are normally inclined to ask everyone in the room how their weekend was, maybe don’t do that. In fact, don’t ever do that.

For the sake of the conference call, err on the side of rigid.

Since you can’t be rigid without being punctual, the first rule of the conference call is: Be on time- especially if you’re leading it. Like, right on time. If the conference call is at 2:30, you need to be on that call at 2:29:52. Eight seconds of Chopin or The Girl from Ipanema, then the other people join, and off you go.

There are certain people who always arrive to meetings late. If you are one of these people, you must suspend your belief in the mutability of start times. You must be punctual.

It’s helpful to have notes prepared

There’s been a ton of research done on body language in the past 10 years. We now know that a long gaze suggests power, empathy, self-assuredness and intelligence.

We know that crossing our arms can signal that we’re closed off to change. And that slumping down in a chair suggests disinterest.

These aren’t necessarily “tells” in regular meetings -research has also shown that it’s a bad idea to try to read people solely through body language (that’s another column)- but on conference calls, such cues are missing altogether.

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in advance. Never read your notes, of course. You can always tell when someone on the phone is reading a prepared statement. Their tone doesn’t quite track with the content of their message. Nervous radio callers do this. CEOs delivering financial results do this. My sixthgrade girlfriend Rachel did this when she broke up with me. (She denied it, but I’m pretty sure that’s how it went down.) Your notes should simply include key words and phrases: a road map for the things you need to say.

The next thing you want to do -it’s a small thing; no big deal- is adopting an entirely new persona.

Say, that of a TV news anchor doing a round robin with reporters in the field. If you are not the leader, you must adopt the persona of one of the reporters speaking to an anchor via satellite. There are other reporters weighing in too, which means that when it is your turn to speak, you must get in and get out.

Another important part is that you have to be serious. A face-to-face meeting can be a playground for jokes. But for the conference call, jokes don’t work. Comedic timing is inherently thrown off because of the delay and lack of visual emotional cues. No one can read your body language, which is a key part of humor.

Since you can’t be rigid without being punctual, the first rule of the conference call is: Be on time- especially if you’re leading it. Like, right on time.

If the conference call is at 2:30, you need to be on that call at 2:29:52. Eight seconds of Chopin or The Girl from Ipanema then the other people join, and off you go. There are certain people who always arrive to meetings late.

Should this conference call be happening? > Are we talking about something important? > Really important? > Really, really important? > Are all three to seven of us really necessary? > Are there fewer than seven people on this call? > Can the goals of this meeting be met without brainstorming?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, this conference call should not be happening.

me.) During conference calls, these things are permissible because they are hidden from view. But these freedoms can make us complacent.

They can make us lose step with the conversation. This can lead to being asked a question that we are not prepared to answer, which is humiliating and impolite. Pay attention as if you were in an actual conference room with these people. no riffing. The conference is a minefield when you introduce conversational cul-de-sacs and aborted sentences. The back-and-forth will bog things down. Conference calls are for commenting and reporting and correcting and pitching. They’re not for brainstorming or chitchat. So, speak in long statements. And when someone else speaks, let him or her have the floor for longer than you might. No interrupting. Unless they’ve gone on too long, let them speak.

And everyone just wants to get this over with already. No jokes.

And… really focus. When we’re in meetings, we are forced to keep our eyes open, not pick at our fingernails, not yawn, not pretend two of our fingers are a dancer doing Rockettes-style kicks on our desk. (Is that last one just me? Maybe that’s just

And try not to laugh. I know this sounds like cold advice, but laughter on a conference call sounds like a hellish clamor. A snicker, fine. Perhaps a giggle. But no chortling.

Banter doesn’t work either. Especially with more than three people on the line. Four opinions and zero eye contact is a very complicated neurosocial dynamic.

And no riffing. The conference is a minefield when you introduce conversational cul-de-sacs and aborted sentences. The back-and-forth will bog things down. Conference calls are for commenting and reporting and correcting and pitching. They’re not for brainstorming or chitchat.

So, speak in long statements. And when someone else speaks, let him or her have the floor for longer than

you might. No interrupting. Unless they’ve gone on too long, let them speak.

The conference call should almost exclusively involve information delivery. Easy on the niceties. Easy on the banter. Easy on the humor. Easy on the asides. Otherwise it makes a very simple thing unnecessarily difficult.

Voice lessons There’s been a ton of research done on body language in the past 10 years. We now know that a long gaze suggests power, empathy, self-assuredness and intelligence. We know that crossing our arms can signal that we’re closed off to change.

And that slumping down in a chair suggests disinterest. These aren’t necessarily “tells” in regular meetings -research has also shown that it’s a bad idea to try to read people solely through body language (that’s another column)- but on conference calls, such cues are missing altogether.

What is underrated but necessary here is the importance of your voice.

The quality of your voice: its clarity, volume and authority. Speak with a slightly intense disposition. Let your voice guide the meeting as much as the content of your statements.

Make up for the intensity you can’t convey visually with an intensity you can convey verbally.

Right, guys?

Guys?

Hello?

Great. We must have been disconnected.

See this article in its entirety at Entrepreneur.com

KEY TECHNICAL MATTERS > No small talk. Once you’ve made sure everyone is present, just start in on the business. > Always wait two seconds after someone else has stopped speaking in order to secure the field. > When in doubt, don’t add your two cents. > When you find yourself speaking over someone else, determine quickly if you are going to power through or concede. > If you’re going to concede, immediately stop talking and

let the other person have the floor.

> If you’re going to power through, then POWER THROUGH AND TAKE THEM DOWN! > Imagine everyone can see you. Focus on the meeting as if you were all in the same room. > Sit up straight and be attentive to every word. > You know what? Relax; it’s not that big of a deal. > Just be attentive. > OK, that’s too relaxed. Sit up a bit.

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TREPONOMICS

ETHICS | ESQUIRE GUY | SKILLSET | MARKETING | PRO

Without my schedule (the constraint), I would have pushed those articles to a different day. Or never got around to them at all. Constraints force you to get something done and don’t allow you to procrastinate. This is why I believe that professionals set a schedule for their production while amateurs wait until they feel motivated.

THE POWER OF CONSTRAINTS

Every entrepreneur has a limited amount of resources

I

The weird strategy Dr. Seuss used to create his greatest work By James Clear

n 1960, two men made a bet. There was only US$50 on the line, but millions of people would feel the impact of this little wager. The first man, Bennett Cerf, was the founder of the publishing firm, Random House. The second man was named Theo Geisel, but you probably know him as Dr. Seuss.

Cerf proposed the bet and challenged that Dr. Seuss would not be able to write an entertaining children’s book using only 50 different words. Dr. Seuss took the bet and won. The result was a little book called Green Eggs and Ham. Since publication, Green Eggs and Ham has sold more than 200 million copies, making it the most popular of Seuss’ works and one of the bestselling children’s books in history.

At first glance, you might think this was a lucky fluke. A talented author plays a fun game with 50 words and ends up producing a hit. But there is actually more to this story and the

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lessons in it can help us become more creative and stick to better habits over the long-run.

Here’s what we can learn from Dr. Seuss…

What Dr. Seuss discovered through this little bet was the power of setting constraints.

Setting limits for yourself -whether that involves the time you have to work out, the money you have to start a business, or the number of words you can use in a book- often delivers better results than “keeping your options open.”

In fact, Dr. Seuss found that setting some limits to work within was so useful that he employed this strategy for other books as well. For example, The Cat in the Hat was written using only a first-grade vocabulary list. In my experience, I’ve seen that constraints can also provide benefits in health, business, and life in general. I’ve noticed two reasons why this occurs: 1. Constraints inspire your creativity.

• If you’re five foot five inches tall and you’re playing basketball, you figure out more creative ways to score than the six foot five inch guy.

resources to build with. Once you know your constraints, you can start figuring out how to work with them.

THE SIZE OF YOUR CANVAS

• If you have a one-year-old child that takes up almost every minute of your day, you figure out more creative ways to get some exercise.

• If you’re a photographer and you show up to a shoot with just one lens, then you figure out more creative ways to capture the beauty of your subject than you would with all of your gear available.

Limitations drive you to figure out solutions. Your constraints inspire your creativity.

the cat in the hat book cover © julie clopeer / shutterstock | dr. seuss stamp © catwalker / shutterstock

2. Constraints force you to get something done.

Time constraints have forced me to produce some of my best work. This is especially true with my writing. Every Monday and Thursday, I write a new article- even if it’s inconvenient. This constraint has led me to produce some of my most popular work in unlikely places. When I was sitting in the passenger seat on a road trip through West Setting limits for yourself -whether that involves the time you have to work out, the money you have to start a business, or the number of words you can use in a book- often delivers better results than “keeping your options open.” In fact, Dr. Seuss found that setting some limits to work within was so useful that he employed this strategy for other books as well. For example, The Cat in the Hat was written using only a first-grade vocabulary list.

Virginia, I wrote an article. When I was visiting family for the fourth of July, I wrote an article. When I spent all day flying in and out of airports, I wrote an article.

Without my schedule (the constraint), I would have pushed those articles to a different day. Or never got around to them at all. Constraints force you to get something done and don’t allow you to procrastinate. This is why I believe that professionals set a schedule for their production while amateurs wait until they feel motivated.

What constraints are you setting for yourself? What type of schedule do you have for your goals?

Related note: Sticking to your schedule doesn’t have to be grand or impressive. Just commit to a process you can sustain. And if you have to, reduce the scope.

Dr. Seuss was given 50 words. That was the size of his canvas. His job was to see what kind of picture he could paint with those words. You and I are given similar constraints in our lives.

You only have 30 minutes to fit a workout into your day? So be it. That’s the size of your canvas. Your job is to see if you can make those 30 minutes a work of art.

You can only spare 15 minutes each day to write? That’s the size of your canvas. Your job is to make each paragraph a work of art.

You only have $100 to start your business? Great. That’s the size of your canvas. Your job is to make each sales call a work of art.

You can only eat whole foods on your diet? That’s the size of your canvas.

Your job is to take those ingredients and make each meal a work of art.

There are a lot of authors who would complain about writing a book with only 50 words. But there was one author who decided to take the tools he had available and make a work of art instead. We all have constraints in our lives. The limitations just determine the size of the canvas you have to work with. What you paint on it is up to you.

Dr. Seuss was given 50 words. That was the size of his canvas. His job was to see what kind of picture he could paint with those words. You and I are given similar constraints in our lives. You only have 30 minutes to fit a workout into your day? So be it. Your job is to see if you can make those 30 minutes a work of art.

CONSTRAINTS ARE NOT THE ENEMY

So often we spend time complaining about the things that are withheld from us.

• “I don’t have enough time to work out.”

• “I don’t have enough money to start a business.”

• “I can’t eat this food on my diet.”

But constraints are not the enemy.

Every artist has a limited set of tools to work with. Every athlete has a limited set of skills to train with. Every entrepreneur has a limited amount of

James Clear writes at JamesClear. com, where he uses behavior science to share ideas for mastering your habits, improving your health, and increasing your creativity. To get useful ideas on improving your mental and physical performance, join his free newsletter JamesClear.com/newsletter. To have James speak at your entrepreneurial event contact him jamesclear.com/contact.

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The dynamic new trends of entrepreneurship

Jordan’s economic growth depends on government support of SMEs

By Waddah Barkawi

E

ntrepreneurship is fast emerging as a transformational megatrend of the 21st century given its capacity to reshape economies and industries throughout the world. As key drivers of economic growth, entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of any expanding economy, generating jobs, introducing new products and services, and promoting greater upstream and downstream value-chain activities.

In recent years, the global entrepreneurial landscape has witnessed a paradigm shift in terms of trends, with SMEs playing a pivotal role in social and economic advancement.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, SMEs on

average contribute around 50% or more to the GDP, provide employment to an estimated 60% of the local workforce, create up to 70% of new job opportunities, and account for about 30% of exports. As for Jordan, a report published by the Department

of Statistics (DoS) in 2012 revealed that there are more than 100,000 SMEs in the Kingdom, representing some 97% of all companies, thus making them even more important to economic wellbeing when compared to other countries worldwide.

FIGURE 5.4 SATISFACTION WITH WORK AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP INDICATORS BY STAGES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

satisfaction with work and entrepreneurship indicators by stages of economic development 18-64 population 4.4

TEA female

4.2 4.0

Early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA)

3.8 3.6 3.4 3.2 TEA male

3.0

Established business ownership

Non TEA or Established

TEA Necessity

Opportunity vs. necessity The factors spurring entrepreneurship differ between mature and rapid-growth markets, with the former being out of opportunity and the latter being out of necessity. Due to the prevalence of robust entrepreneurial structures offering access to capital and effective legislative and tax frameworks, mature markets commonly house progressive and impactful startups that have the power to disrupt existing industries and create entirely new ones, or at least new segments.

Google, Facebook, Twitter and Virgin Airlines are among some of the examples that come to mind.

Alternatively, rapidgrowth markets are starting to witness a fair share of high impact entrepreneurs.

However, these markets have long enjoyed high rates of entrepreneurial activity -as measured by the Total Early Stage Entrepreneurial Activity Index (TEA Rate)- due to the lack of wage-based employment opportunities.

The face of entrepreneurship today High youth unemployment rates in many countries including Jordan, paired with changing work and lifestyle preferences, are creating a new class of young entrepreneurs. According to the 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Due to the prevalence of robust entrepreneurial structures offering access to capital and effective legislative and tax frameworks, mature markets commonly house progressive and impactful startups that have the power to 69 disrupt existing industries and create entirely new ones, or at least new segments.

TEA Opportunity Factor-Driven Economies Efficiency - Driven Economies Innovation-Driven Economies 1 2nd OECD Conference of Ministries Responsible for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises; Promoting Entrepreneurship and Innovative SMEs in a Global Economy 2 Oxford Business Group article entitled, Jordan: Finding Financing for SMEs 3 TEA represents the percentage of individuals aged 18 to 64 in an economy who are in the process of starting or are already running new businesses.

4 José Ernesto Amorós and Niels Bosma, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2013 Global Report, Babson College, Universidad del Desarrollo, and Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, 2014.

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a little more work satisfaction than people not involved in entrepreneurship activities. Again it is important to

5.5 shows that there is a weak but positive relationship between both variables. As was highlighted in Section

‘satisfaction with work and entrepreneurship indicators by stages of economic development’ and ‘International orientation of early-stage entrepreneurs by geographic regions’ graphs © Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2013 Global Report

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Developing supportive environments to underpin entrepreneurial growth Supportive environments are increasingly essential to successful entrepreneurship and are steadily evolving throughout the world. The ideal entrepreneurial environment comprises five pillars: Access to funding; entrepreneurial culture; supportive regulatory and tax regimes; educational systems that support entrepreneurial mindsets; and a coordinated approach that links the public, private and voluntary sectors8.

Naturally, developed economies are ahead of emerg-

5 6 7 8 9

FIGURE 2.10 INTERNATIONAL ORIENTATION OF EARLY-STAGE ENTREPRENEURS,

BY GEOGRAPHIC InternationalREGIONS orientation of early-stage entrepreneurs, by geographic regions 100% 90% 80% 70% Percentage of TEA

Monitor5, nearly 50% of the world’s entrepreneurs are between the ages of 25 and 44, with 25 to 34-year-olds showing the highest rates of entrepreneurial activity.

Moreover, women across the world are launching and operating new enterprises at a faster pace than ever, positioning entrepreneurial ventures spearheaded by females as an increasingly important source for new jobs.

Today, roughly 126 million women are establishing or leading brand new businesses in%67 economies TEA: new market around the (few/noand businesses offer48 the million world, at least same product) female entrepreneurs and 64 million female business owners currently employ one or more people 6. Led by ambitious expansion strategies that rival their male counterparts, an estimated 7 million female entrepreneurs and 5 million female business owners worldwide plan to grow their businesses by at least six employees over the next five years7, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.

60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Latin America & Carribean

TEA: Export: 75 - 100% of customers outside country

Middle East & North Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

TEA: Export: 25 - 75% of customers outside country

High youth unemployment rates in many countries including Jordan, paired with changing work and lifestyle preferences, are creating a new class of young entrepreneurs. According to the 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, nearly 50% of the world’s entrepreneurs are between the ages of 25 and 44, with 25 to 34-yearolds showing the highest rates of entrepreneurial activity.

ing markets in this regard.

However, many rapid-growth markets are taking action in terms of the implementation of the mentioned pillars, and now boast high-profile projects across different sectors that are currently underway, consequently stimulating dynamic clusters of entrepreneurial activity.

Asia Pacific & South Asia

TEA: Export: 1 - 25% of customers outside country

Europe – EU28

Europe – Non EU28

North America

TEA: No customers outside country

Key recommendations for entrepreneurial advancement According to a report published by the Jordanian Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the contribution of the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector to the GDP in developing countries, including Jordan, ranges between 50% and 70%. MSMEs are where many entrepreneurs and future large companies start, thus supporting them is vital in terms of economic development9.

Furthermore, and given the instrumental role entrepre-

neurs play in stimulating economic growth, policymakers are moving towards actively promoting entrepreneurship opportunities based on an integrated approach that brings together both government and industry entities. The approach targets unemployed youth and educates them about potential entrepreneurial prospects, publicly celebrating young entrepreneurial successes, promoting domestic startups on an international level, integrating media and cultural campaigns within a broader national strategy, and creating initiatives that offer alternative sources of capital. Progressive policymakers are also >>>

José Ernesto Amorós and Niels Bosma, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2013 Global Report, Babson College, Universidad del Desarrollo, and Universiti Tun AbdulRazak, 2014.

Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2012 Women’s Report, Babson College Universidad del Desarrollo, Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, and London Business School 2013.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2012 Women’s Report, Babson College, Universidad del Desarrollo, Universiti tun Abdul Razak, and London Business School, 2013.

The Power of Three: The EY G20 Entrepreneurship Barometer 2013, EY, 2013.

Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and United Nations Development Program report: Jordan Small Businesses and Human Development 2011 august 2015 Entrepreneur

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Framework Conditions). Such factors include training in that different countries and regions have different EFCs entrepreneurship and the availability of start-up financing” or different “rules of the game,”11 and that these affect the inputs and outputs of entrepreneurial activity.

The origi(p. 10). ecosystem | who’s got VC | Q&A | STARTUP FINANCE nal and revised GEM conceptual frameworks established a clear relationship between the EFCs, entrepreneurship

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FIGURE 3.1 MODEL OF ENTREPRENEURIAL PROCESSES AFFECTING NATIONAL model of entrepreneurial processes affecting national economy growth ECONOMY GROWTH Entrepreneurial Opportunities

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Social, Cultural, Political, context

Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions

Business Dynamics

National Economic Growth (GDP, Jobs)

Entrepreneurial Capacity and Preferences Source: Reynolds, Hay and Camp (1999)

imperative that governments, to help small enterprises policymakers and business become tax-paying members asofother topics related to entrepreneurship.

The NEStogether was 12 . leaders come to supthe formal economy initiated due to a lack of nationally harmonized measuresentrepreIn many countries, Credit port and advance that could beSchemes utilized as(CGS) indices of specific EFCs (Reynolds neurship, which has proven to Guarantee etare al.,used 2005).

While more recently other sources provide be essential to socioeconomic by banks, often with alternative measures for some EFCs,12development the NES remains the worldwide, public sector support, to ease sole source of harmonized, internationally comparable data especially in a country such the constraints SMEs face in that really addresses the environmentas forJordan new and growing that has massive accessing finance. Governfirms. ment startup programs have entrepreneurial potential and Survey. become some of the most depends almost entirely on investors to focus more on The NES was carefully designed and refined developing fund mentorvaluable sources of help.

SMEs to to capture grow its national startups through improved informed judgments of national, and in some cases 3.2 THE GEM NATIONAL EXPERTS ing programs that establish Public money is a powerful economy. tax incentives. Furthermore, informants when regarding the status of EFCs SURVEY with and alternative funding platforms, regional, strong relationships catalyst,key particularly indelivered their ownin economies and/or regions. and In National many countries, Credit provide incentives from venpartnership with such as crowdfunding and regional experts are selected on the basis of reputation and (CGS) are The National Experts Survey (NES) is part of the standard Guarantee Schemes ture capitalists, incubators, private sector funds. Corpomicrofinance, are gaining experience (a convenience sample approach).

The NES used by banks, often with GEM methodology and it assesses various EFCs as earlywell rate venturing also continues loan guarantee schemes and traction for seed and public sector support, to ease to grow, with almost 1,000 angel investors10. stage companies, but require the constraints SMEs face in units worldwide and becom- activity regulatory support tothe achieve 11 These EFCs could be related to Baumol´s concept of “rules of game” that determine to what extent entrepreneurial in a given finance. society is Governaccessing Specialized financing ing more widespread in rapid- ment startup programs have scale. productive (Baumol, 1990).

12 For NES results and linkage of EFCsThe with other international measurements, see Bosma etmarkets al. (2008).

13. options growth global microfinance become some of the most valuWhile the venture capital inMore than ever before, it is market also has the potential able sources of help. dustry continues to globalize, governments and markets are Waddah Barkawi is the Office Managing Partner for EY Libya and EY Palestine, exploring a range of financing and one of the Partners at EY Jordan working with clients in both Jordan and strategies to provide capital Iraq. Barkawi is the ‘EY Entrepreneur of the Year’ Country Leader for Jordan, to entrepreneurs, including and joined EY in 2002 following his tenure at Arthur Anderson. He has worked micro financing, crowdfundclosely with several regional banks and investment companies in Jordan, Palestine, Libya and Iraq, in addition to multiple government organizations, ing and credit guarantee telcos, power and utilities companies, service providers and many others, and schemes. has extensive experience working in the aviation and life science sectors as well Along with failure to be as family businesses and entrepreneurs. Barkawi holds a Bachelor’s degree in profitable, lack of funding is Business Administration with concentration in Management from Southwest Texas State University and is a U.S. Certified Public Accountant, a member of cited as the primary reason the American Institute for Certified Public Accountants and a member of the for business discontinuance Endeavor Jordan Board of Directors. Barkawi was appointed by His Majesty around the world11. As entreKing Abdullah II as a member of the Royal Committee, which is responsible preneurial businesses grow for assessing and overseeing the progress being made regarding the Executive and develop, the sources of Plan of the National Integrity Charter. finance they rely on change. smart governments are creating a range of mechanisms As such, smart governThe EFCstocan be considered an indispensable part of and institutions extend to ments are creating a range of entrepreneurs financing opthe puzzle in understanding business creation.

The state mechanisms and institutions tions that meet these changof these conditions directly influences existence of to extend the to entrepreneurs ing requirements.

They are entrepreneurial opportunities and entrepreneurial capacity financing options that meet establishing targeted venture and preferences, which in turn determines business these changing requirements. capital funds and encouraging dynamics. That is why, sinceThey the beginning, the GEMtargeted are establishing private sector investors to foproject needed a source of information to assess theand state venture capital funds cus more on startups through oftax EFCs. This source of information is the National Experts improved incentives. encouraging private sector

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EY - Avoiding a Lost Generation: Ten Key Recommendations to Support Youth Entrepreneurship across the G20 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2013 Global Report Microfinance Market Outlook 2015: Growth driven by vast market potential, responsibility, November 2014.

Toby Lewis, Corporate venturing participants near 1,000 Global Corporate Venturing website, 9 April 2013, www. globalcorporateventuring.com/article. php/6001/corporate-venturing-participantsnear- 1000, accessed 8 January 2015.

Entrepreneur august 2015

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CM

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‘model of entrepreneurial processes affecting national economy growth’ graph © Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2013 Global Report

10 11 12 13

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The boxes are coming… literally Behind the business models of six Middle Eastern subscription-based startups

I

By Pamella de Leon

n 2010, Birchbox launched in New York as a monthly service that delivers a package filled with curated items for US$10 a month. Fast-forward to a few years later, and the business model has been emulated for different products and niche consumers. Perhaps it’s the experience of receiving beautifully packaged boxes and the mystery in the discovery of new products, or the innate anticipation of getting something from the mail, but the subscription box industry is indeed thriving. So what makes them different? Which one should you choose? Do you even need it? Let’s dive into the rabbit hole of the box mania enterprise that’s now taking over the MENA region.

Fresh on demand Cook-a-Box www.cookabox.com

Cook-a-Box founder Rasha Ismail

“With Dubai’s busy lifestyle, Cook-a-Box offers residents the convenience of having all their groceries delivered, pre-measured to their doorstep. We deliver a convenient cooking experience in a box, and the result is healthy and delicious!”

LAUNCH Four months from ideation to execution, and launched in October 2013.

MAKING IT HAPPEN Founded by 32-year-old Rasha Ismail, former Director of Operations at Groupon UAE, she is an INSEAD MBA graduate, and has extensive experience in management consultancy.

THE NEED Adapting to the busy lifestyle of Dubai residents, Cooka-Box offers the convenience of having all their fresh groceries delivered. It limits leftovers since they provide pre-measured ingredients, and also saves time in terms

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of meal planning and grocery shopping, as it comes with recipe cards for meals that can be prepared in less than 35 minutes. In addition, it helps people who want to stay off fast food and cook healthy meals at home.

HOW IT WORKS Cook-a-Box currently offers two subscription options. The first is a 3-Meal Plan for two people, wherein customers will receive three boxes with three recipe cards and premeasured ingredients to cook them. Each box is good for two people, at a cost of AED190.

The second is a 3-Meal Plan for four people, wherein customers will receive three

boxes with three recipe cards and pre-measured ingredients to cook them. Each box from this plan is adequate for four people, with a cost of AED330.

Customers are able to pay through PayPal. THE UNIQUE FACTOR Customers can enjoy a convenient “cooking experience in a box.” There are flexible options available, such as being able to choose any three recipes from a weekly menu of nine recipes, with delivery options they can select from Sunday to Thursday. As a subscription service, they offer 3-Meal packages for

two or four people. They provide weekly subscriptions, and users can suspend a subscription for one or more weeks applicable and with no minimum weeks/months required during sign up.

MONEY TALK Though Ismail says she can’t comment on current number of subscribers, the founder says that Cook-a-Box has had “steady growth” since their launch.

REACHING THE PEOPLE For its marketing strategy, the startup mainly focuses on online promotion.

PARTNERSHIPS The subscription service has long-term partnerships with ingredients suppliers, as well as shorter-term partnerships for its marketing activities, with Maggi having been one of its last partnerships.

ECOSYSTEM HURDLES “Growing your business when you are bootstrapping or on a limited budget,” says Ismail, adding how the small market in Dubai means that sales momentum takes longer to build.

MOVING FORWARD On extending outside the UAE, Ismail says, “Yes, but in the short-medium term [plan], we plan to focus on the UAE.”

Snack time Goodybox www.goodybox.me

“The snacking landscape for children, as well as adults who like to snack, for the most part, is unhealthy. Goodybox wants to change that. With the consumer moving away from the unhealthy sodiumfilled, lab-designed trash in a bag, Goodybox [is offering] healthy, natural and palatable alternatives.”

LAUNCH The initial idea started in June, with the co-founders taking six months to sort out the branding, sourcing, implementation plan and everything else in place, and eventually going live in December 2014.

MAKING IT HAPPEN The married co-founders 30-year-old Neesha Law and 33-year-old Gaurav Law who both co-founded Personality Products, a company specializing in consumer products and supply chain in Hong Kong and China- wanted to fulfill similar dreams, and used their complementary skills and interests in health, wellness, and entrepreneurship to start this venture called Goodybox.

THE NEED One of the reasons behind the high obesity rate in UAE can be drawn to how snacking options in the stores here are alarmingly unhealthy. What’s worse is that even though we’re particular about our

meals, our snacking habits can mount up to unhealthy calories. The co-founders wanted to change the status quo and make snacking healthy, cost-effective and convenient to their customers by bringing Goodybox to their doorstep.

HOW IT WORKS Goodybox has three subscription plans; AED149 monthly for a month-to-month plan, AED135 monthly for a six month plan, AED125 monthly for an annual plan, AED1500 monthly for offices to receive 100 snacks and AED175 to try a box without a subscription plan. Prices include free shipping and users can pay using COD and PayPal- although, users will be billed in USD. However, Law says they’re bringing AED payments with payment gateway 2Checkout that will be up next month.

They also customize plans according to dietary specifications, preferences and allergies, with all of the non-GMO snacks free of artificial color, sweeteners, and refined sugar.

THE UNIQUE FACTOR Their dedication to curating nutritionist-approved brands that are appetizing is one of the things that Law says sets them apart. Goodybox is also cost-effective, as it offers customers 8-10 snacks in a box starting at AED125 a month, and also the option to customize according to their specific preferences.

MONEY TALK The subscription service has three channels of sales. First is direct-to-customer sales: customers can log in to their website and subscribe to one of its three plans. The second is a snack box service for office pantries, and the third is a reseller program for gyms and schools to sell snacks to their customers.

REACHING THE PEOPLE As of July 2015, Goodybox currently has 500 monthly users including annual, six-month and monthly subscribers, and 3000 boxes shipped. Its marketing solutions include circulating newsletters, having discounts for nurseries and schools, regular food tasting with their B2B partners and through farmer’s markets. It also makes use of early adopters, food and lifestyle bloggers and nutritionists who spread the word about the product.

The company has also changed its approach to demand-based marketing, wherein customers can customize their own box.

Law emphasizes that the core of acquiring users for them is through education.

PARTNERSHIPS The co-founders stage talks paired with food tasting of the snacks available to demonstrate how tasty and cost-effective it can be. “We believe if we educate people to make better choices by choosing non-GMO, soy free, low sodium, no artificial flavors and no refined sugar products that taste as good as [other snacks], there will be no reason not to adopt the Goodybox way.” The duo partners with schools, nurseries and activity

centers to talk to parents and educate them about nutrition, as well as other partners like the Ripe Farmers Market Dubai, which they call “a great channel to get visibility.” They were also invited to participate in a health and wellness forum for the employees of the UAE Ministry of Presidential Affairs.

ECOSYSTEM HURDLES Though there’s improvement, Law says it’s still raising money and getting support from the community as a whole that’s a challenge. Comparing how the U.S. and Europe has infrastructure to support startups and their growth, in the Middle East, institutions still prefer working with established companies, “instead of understanding the startup culture and supporting it.”

MOVING FORWARD “For sure!” Law replies, when asked if they have plans to expand outside UAE, adding that the need and awareness of healthy food trends such as organic and gluten-free food is growing in Gulf countries.

Goodybox co-founders Neesha Law and Gaurav Law

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A lil’ bit of everything

Therapy

www.boxtherapy.com

“It’s Therapy in a box. Women need to take care of themselves from the inside out.

Our Therapy box is meant to make you feel better. We’re not [just] selling subscriptions, we are sending out presents to well-deserving women. It’s a community.”

FOUNDERS Founded by Monique DuToit, Jita Singh and Anne Jafery, the trio have worked together previously, and have years of experience running startups in sectors like production distribution to services.

LAUNCH Taking cues from other subscription services which started out well but fizzled in terms of quality, Jafery says they believed in taking time and doing their homework on their system’s front-end, to identify areas that needs improvement before launch.

Ideation to execution was seven months, with the first box sent in November 2014.

THE NEED Catering to the lifestyle of busy women with responsibilities both at work and home, Therapy offers products for the mind and body, with Therapy co-founder Anne Jafery

contents including books, snacks, beauty products and travel needs- it has a bit of everything. And it’s not just for women either: “About 20% of our subscriptions are purchased by men, and gifted to women,” says Jafery, adding that their service is perfect for men who struggle to think of appropriate gifts for their wives and partners.

HOW IT WORKS Therapy currently offers four subscription plans: a month for AED162, three months for AED396, six months for AED762 and 12 months for AED1392, as well as a loyalty program to earn points for supporting Therapy in various ways- such as doing written/ video reviews, mentioning #boxtherapy on Facebook or Twitter, or referring a friend who signs up. This can later be used to get a free Therapy box and also enter the draw for a Mega Box, which includes one product valued at AED5000.

Currently, Therapy’s payment method is through CashU. THE UNIQUE FACTOR “We are not competing with [other subscription services], we are competing with ourselves to improve the model,” says Jafery on their drive to innovate, offer better content and understand their subscribers. Besides that, as Therapy co-founder Jita Singh

Items in the February 2015 Therapy box delivery

Therapy is a personal and fun venture compared to their other businesses, Jafery asserts it’s also catering to their passion of providing a solution to the market that sets them apart. Most importantly, it’s also about their target marketthe founders state they know their audience well, as they represent the core customers themselves.

MONEY TALK With 12 months of curated themed boxes, their current subscription base numbers at 400-500 at any given time.

They also offer flexible options of suspending a subscription temporarily for users off on holiday, or shorter packages, so the subscription base fluctuates.

REACHING THE PEOPLE Besides social media and PR, they understand the importance of building relationships Therapy co-founder Monique DuToit

for businesses in the UAE, and so they greatly credit word-ofmouth as a powerful marketing tool. Digital marketing is also an emphasis for the platform, as their main demographic is a busy woman.

PARTNERSHIPS As they have different vendors every month, Therapy gets exposure to a different clientbase each month too. With that in mind, they’re careful not to align with a brand permanently, as one of their core deliverables is to “select the product that is right for the box [monthly theme], not the product that we are able to source easily.”

ECOSYSTEM HURDLES Though it’s easier to launch a startup in MENA, Jafery regards it as a double-edged sword, making it look too easy for aspirants. While listening to mentors, developing the business model, and writing a business plan can be seen as tedious, it’s actually the best kind of exercise for entrepreneurs. “It’s to their benefit to explore and challenge their concept from every angle.”

MOVING FORWARD “In time,” Jafery says, referring to any expansion plans. Although they can operate regionally, they believe a major mistake is to grow too rapidly too soon.

“Manage your growth and you will go far.”

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Beauty to go GlamBox ww.glambox.me

“Our main concern is always putting together a box that really wows our subscribers, making small improvements every month to elevate that experience to the next level.

GlamBox offers subscribers an opportunity to discover new products and to try them before they commit to paying for the full-sized product.”

LAUNCH Founded in October 2011, it was later launched in January 2012.

Nada Zagallai, CEO, Glambox

MAKING IT HAPPEN GlamBox was started by three co-founders: MIT MBA graduate and Head of SMB Marketing at Google MENA Shant Oknayan, MIT Sloan MBA grad and Iliad Partners founder Christos Mastoras, University of Southern California MBA grad Fares Akkad who’s also the Head of Distribution and Digital Business Development at MBC Group, and London Business School MBA graduate Marc Ghobriel whose experience is in microelectronic design and consultancy. As of August 2014, Nada Zagallai has been handling team leadership as CEO. Zagallai has a Masters in Media Management from The New School University in New York and has a background in brand management for a regional luxury fashion retailer.

THE NEED GlamBox lets subscribers discover new products and try them out before deciding to buy full-sized products. With the amount of beauty brands in the market, GlamBox gives products a chance to be exposed to the industry’s target market- beauty fans eager to try new must-have products, and exposure from the company’s access to influencers and beauty bloggers.

HOW IT WORKS GlamBox currently offers three subscription plans: three months for AED249, six months for AED449 and 12 months for AED849, which can be paid through PayPal, credit card, cash on delivery (COD), and soon also available through payment solutions Sadad in Saudi Arabia.

Subscription sign-up closes on the 15th of every month, with boxes packed and ready for shipping in the last week of every month, as well as supplementary videos, tips and email blasts about the month’s products, and customer service on standby.

THE UNIQUE FACTOR Besides being a beauty box business operating regionally, Zagallai says they are driven by their strong desire to improve their product, focused on pleasing their customers.

They also offer an e-commerce store for users to browse and shop products.

MONEY TALK Besides subscriptions generating recurring revenue, they also have an online shop that operates as a traditional e-commerce business, with subscribers in UAE and KSA. They also work with beauty brands to offer them strategic sample distribution with digital branding, marketing and exposure.

REACHING THE PEOPLE “Mainly digitally driven,” says Zagallai about their marketing strategy that includes Facebook, Google advertising, email marketing, and engaging in online partnerships with content providers and digital companies to address new audiences and target new users.

PARTNERSHIPS GlamBox has partnered with corporates and SMEs including banks, airlines, schools, salons and other digital

companies to create brand awareness around GlamBox, and generate lead and subscriptions.

ECOSYSTEM HURDLES Although Zagallai admits that digital entrepreneurship has developed in the MENA region, core challenges are still present, including the high cost of business services, legal processing difficulties, costly and complicated logistic and fulfillment processes, and finally the reluctance from brands and suppliers to partner with digital startups.

However Zagallai believes it’s just a matter of cooperation, which is a “critical catalyst” for the ecosystem’s growth.

MOVING FORWARD “We are currently setting up our operation[s] in KSA, and have already started fulfilling subscriptions in the Kingdom,” says Zagallai.

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Play time KenziBox www.KenziBox.com

“KenziBox is an innovative product that keeps children busy, engaged and learning.

We made doing art and craft activities as easy as packing [an] iPad in a bag. We believe we can get all young kids crafting.”

LAUNCH The idea started in February 2014, and KenziBox was launched in November 2014- with months spent finetuning the idea for their target audience and local market, branding and choosing a suitMedieval themed KenziBox

able e-commerce platform and partners. Identifying, selecting and building relationships with local suppliers were critical. “We only wanted to provide our customers reliable branded craft materials that they would be comfortable allowing their children to use,” says co-founder Leyla Lahsini.

private wealth management at Morgan Stanley in Dubai; while Lahsini, who holds an MBA from London Business School and a Masters in Strategy and Marketing from ESSEC Business School and Paris Dauphine University in France, has worked with hedge funds in London.

THE NEED Besides giving parents an opportunity to spend quality time with their children, the arts and crafts activity box offers different monthly themes for children to make four craft projects, with all the materials and instructions they need delivered right to their door. As arts and crafts are important for the cognitive and emotional development of children, KenziBox offers engaging crafts and innovative games that a child can play with and use. This gives children a hands-on outlet to nurture their imagination, decision making, problem solving and team work skills.

Lahsini says, “Our vision is to become the reference for engaging and hands-on activities for children growing up in [the] digital age.”

HOW IT WORKS KenziBox currently offers four subscription options: AED185 monthly for a month-toMAKING IT HAPPEN month plan, AED175 monthly KenziBox was co-founded by for a three-month plan, 33-year-old Shirin BenamAED155 monthly for a sixadi and 34-year-old Leyla month plan, AED155 monthly Lahsini. Benamadi, an MBA for an annual plan. Subscripgraduate from University of tions are paid upfront for the Maryland, has experience in full duration through credit cards or COD, with the option to pause from 1-3 months and free delivery within the UAE. There’s also the KenziBox Travel KenziBox co-founders Leyla Lahsini and Shirin Benamadi

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Entrepreneur august 2015

Medieval themed KenziBox

Bag that has 10 activities in a reusable child’s backpack for AED225, and KenziBox Party Favours for AED20-50 to let parents give their child’s birthday party guests a single craft activity with materials and instructions in a gift bag.

THE UNIQUE FACTOR The co-founders’ key focus for their growth includes continuously providing learning opportunities for children through the various themes, providing quality products with engaging and age-appropriate projects designed with the help of primary school teachers, a convenient e-commerce platform, home delivery of all the required materials, and ensuring excellent customer service.

MONEY TALK The business model is based on achieving its double bottom line of making a positive difference in families and children, and achieving financial sustainability. It’s based on a range of verticals: single boxes, subscriptions, party favors, travel bags and crafting workshops, resulting in a variety of revenue streams for the business’ scalability.

REACHING THE PEOPLE KenziBox credits partnerships, word-of-mouth recommendations and social media as its strongest assets. “Social media is very powerful and has given us a direct dialogue with our

customers,” says Lahsini on the instant feedback they receive on the service that can be provided digitally.

Organizing crafting workshops has also been their avenue to introduce the product to potential customers, as well as nurturing relationships with local media and key influencers, thereby bringing in referral business.

PARTNERSHIPS On a B2C level, retailing with mumzworld.com, The Change Initiative and Nest for Kids in Abu Dhabi has proved beneficial for them, while on a B2B level, KenziBox works with primary schools to use its activities for their curriculum and after-school activities, in addition to building relationships with kids’ party planners for the party favors.

ECOSYSTEM HURDLES “The biggest challenge is to set up in a lean way,” Lahsini says pointing out the legal costs involved in setting up the license, visas and paying for a physical space that requires capital and finding qualified business partners could have been used instead to design the product and test it out.

MOVING FORWARD “We already ship beyond the UAE. We want to first grow a solid foundation here, and then find the right partners to expand regionally within a two-year timeframe.”

Pampered pets Dubai Pet Food www.dubaipetfood.com

“The interesting thing is that our growth has been exponential, and because of our marketing and word-ofmouth, we are expecting 7,000 additional customers in 2015and it’s our goal to double our size again by 2017!”

LAUNCH Though the website was initially created by a veterinarian friend of the duo, it never launched due to issues, and the co-founders later launched it themselves in May 2011. As it was a success, they were able to open a brick and mortar Pet Shop, at Dubai Investment Park in February 2011.

Both online and offline shops are works in progress and continuously seek to improve.

MAKING IT HAPPEN Co-founded by 36-year-old Charlotte Mortensen –whose background is in constructional architecture- and 41-yearold Anders Erik Jorgensen who comes from a legal background, the married partners were working on a three-year contract for a Danish company regarding properties and tax

laws when they arrived to Dubai in early 2008. They saw an opportunity in the market for online retailing of pet food and accessories in UAE, and decided to start Dubaipetfood.com.

THE NEED While the brick and mortar The Pet Shop is a one-stop shop, the online web shop makes it convenient for pet owners to get the products delivered fast and easy to their doorstep. Jorgensen says their vast product range and stock available is attractive for customers to shop, instead of seeking different products in multiple smaller shops.

HOW IT WORKS Dubaipetfood.com offers Pet Packs, boxes that contain an assortment of treats and toys, all worth more than AED250.

AED1 from the sale of each pack goes to K9 Friends too.

The first is the Pooch Pack for dogs and the Purr Pack for cats that are AED199 as a one-off pack without subscription, next is the Pooch Pack Subscription for dogs and Purr Pack Subscription for cats that customers can get for AED537 for a three-month plan.

Customers can also mention

Dubai Pet Food co-founders Charlotte Mortensen and Anders Erik Jorgensen

their pet’s age, breed, size and preferences for each box, with free delivery in UAE. Their payment solutions include PayPal, cheque on delivery or COD. The co-founders say that the Pet Pack isn’t a large part of their enterprise, instead the larger shares of their business come from their brick and mortar shop (one-third), and their online marketplace (two-thirds). “We don’t accept when things are done halfheartedly,” says Jorgensen on their dedication towards their customers and business.

www.dubaipetfood.com

MONEY TALK Both their offline and online shops provide revenue streams. In the last four years, according to Jorgensen, both shops have gained “above 13,000 customers, who all at some point, have placed an online order”- mainly through word of mouth and marketing strategies.

REACHING THE PEOPLE For marketing, the company uses social media, online advertising, radio advertising, word of mouth and distribution of flyers, as well as its delivery cars branded with the company logo and details for potential customers to see

Dubaipetfood.com as the place to go for online orders and The Pet Shop as the place for an offline shopping experience.

PARTNERSHIPS Due to its partnership with Emirates, all of the carrier’s Platinum members can get a discount. “I believe that reaching a certain minimum level of orders/revenue is important, so that the cars are on the road and the packers/ route planners/drivers are kept busy,” says Jorgensen.

ECOSYSTEM HURDLES After trying to outsource to external delivery companies, the co-founders noted that it wasn’t the level of service they were expecting, and have proceeded to have their own logistics department with route planners and drivers.

Online payment methods were also one of their struggles, not just for technical issues, but also because of the charges from banks and payment gate providers.

MOVING FORWARD “At the moment, UAE is the market [where we want to put] our efforts, as we can still do so much more. Later, other countries in the region are, of course, an option.”

august 2015 Entrepreneur

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From social experiments to social entrepreneurship Injoy Giving uses gifting to make a difference

By Kareem Chehayeb

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ocial entrepreneurship is booming globally, and the MENA region is no exception, especially in the UAE. When it comes to this GCC-based social enterprise, it’s safe to say that co-founders Natasha and Martin Rockstrom are inspired by generosity and spreading happiness, all through an online gifting platform called Injoy Giving.

Co-founder Martin Rockstrom

The concept behind Injoy Giving is a simple one. For every online purchase made on the site, whether it’s a free coffee for a friend as a random act of kindness, or a day at the spa as an anniversary gift for your sister, the enter-

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prise will donate a part of the profit to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to provide nutritious meals for children. “We are committed to donating a quarter of a million school meals through the United Nations WFP, and every gift sent through Injoy Giving is contributing to that social impact,” Natasha says.

“Even by gifting a cup of coffee, it’s enough to feed a child for a day. Every gift has a charity donation, and the story of that impact is shared by the giver and receiver of the gift.

Together we are contributing to changing lives.”

So what inspired them to develop this sort of social enterprise? It all started with a social experiment that they conducted in Stockholm with

elementary school students and several EMBA colleagues.

After selling t-shirts to raise money to buy bananas, they were then on the streets to sell the fruits they had bought.

But here’s the catch: to buy a banana, you had to pay for it with a hug. They sold 1,200 bananas, thus giving out 1,200 hugs- the co-founders were ecstatic by what they saw, concluding that the act of giving “created happiness value for both the giver and the receiver.”

According to the co-founders, Injoy Giving is an ongoing developmental process. It started with “small social experiments in practicing generosity,” which helped them map out their concept of how they can brand and promote happiness and generosity. It also paved the way to the tech and profit side of things, which they believe were easily weaved into the foundation of Injoy Giving.

Everything revolved around happiness- even the development of the tech side of Injoy Giving, which took them

two years. “We looked at [a] user’s energy signatures and asked ourselves how do we measure happiness? What is the essence of being happy or inspired?” with the goal of making sure that the user experience kept improving.

Given that lots of time was consumed in developing Injoy Giving, how capital intensive was setting up the enterprise? Even though they required less capital than, say, a financial startup, the cofounders admit that “finding socially conscious capital was the challenge.” Natasha and Martin Rostrom stuck to their guns as being a “triple bottom line business,” where they measured their value creation in terms of financial, human, and social metrics. They made sure their capital came from someone with a similar “humanitarian-based perspective,” and they did manage to successfully find one: the coCo-founder Natasha Rockstrom

founders say that Injoy Giving has received investment from a private Dubai-based investor who is “committed” to the social enterprise. In addition, covering costs for Injoy Giving hasn’t been a huge problem. With a small team of only seven, the co-founders proudly mention that some of them volunteer pro bono.

Let’s get to the part most of us have probably been waiting for: the gifts. Injoy Giving’s

partners consist of a wide array of brands, including Riva Beach Club, Sophie’s, Zoga Yoga Studio, FAST Athletic Training, and more. Despite the different brands, all their partners have one common denominator: they are “experience gifts.” The purchaser can make things personal with a message, and pay directly via their credit card through Injoy Giving’s payment gateway.

The receiver is notified via SMS and email, and can use either to redeem their gift. So far, their most popular gifts

have been their “food and spa” gifts- it’s easy to see why: who wouldn’t want to enjoy a five-course meal or a day at the spa? The list of partner brands is expected to pile up soon, with the co-founders claiming that there’s been an “increase in brands that are interested to partner with us and use generosity as a strategy to grow their business.”

Working on Injoy Giving’s marketing strategy is where Natasha and Martin Rockstrom claim to have the most fun, where the drive is to bring

in more customers as well as business partners. For the former, “we focus on delivering engaging content to our users that is real and authentic,” highlighting their personal and responsive approach when it comes to generating content and interaction. Social media is “key” to both Natasha and Martin Rockstrom. They both believe that Facebook is the ideal platform, providing the most flexibility. With respect to getting more business partners, rather than dabbling in discounts and special deals, Injoy Giving uses their core principles as a way to bring in partners who want to grow and fortify their brand image.

So what’s next for Injoy Giving and their cause to spread happiness and generosity?

Quite a bit, actually. While improving their website as much as possible and bringing in more brands is a priority, the co-founders are also working on bringing in an “in-person offline generosity experience” through community events that they’ve been planning to start this fall. There are also mobile apps being developed for iOS and Android devices.

Having put together Injoy Giving by themselves, do they have any words of advice for their fellow peers in the field?

The Rockstroms recommend discovering your own “human purpose” and have that as the center of your business mission. But how does one go about finding one’s purpose?

“You know it’s your purpose when you are willing to pursue it without the paycheck, without credit, and at every opportunity you get,” the cofounders reply. “When your purpose aligns with delivering value for the greater good, you find an energy that keeps you going in any circumstance, and your work will find new ways to blossom that you never knew possible when you took that first step.”

‘Trep talk ME Injoy Giving’s take on the UAE’s e-commerce industry “It’s evolved so much over the past few years,” says Martin Rockstrom. “In order for any type of industry to prosper, certain market conditions need to be in place. Looking at not just e-commerce, but tech startups as a category, there are so many elements that need to be available to the entrepreneur in order to succeed; funding ranging from angels to VC to PE, the right people (developers, marketers, mentors, etc.), get-started and growth opportunities such as incubators and accelerators, and also, most importantly, a market.

I feel the UAE has matured a lot in these areas, and has become more defined over the past couple of years. When I arrived in 2012, the entrepreneurial landscape was much less coherent. Today there are a lot more resources available, more angel networks, and more entrepreneurs building great stuff- it’s invaluable that we continue to see startup success stories coming out of the UAE and the Middle East. It’s hard to compare to the gold standard which is Silicon Valley and surrounding areas, and also unfair as the market dynamics will always be different. With the enormous diversity we have in the UAE, there’s limitless potential when it comes to what ideas we could see take shape.

I think the e-commerce industry in the UAE is shaping up nicely, and becoming competitive, which is great as it forces companies to up their game and continue to focus on the customer experience– a core mantra at Injoy Giving.” the co-founders say that Injoy Giving has received investment from a private Dubai-based investor who is “committed” to the social enterprise.

In addition, covering costs for Injoy Giving hasn’t been a huge problem.

With a small team of only seven, the co-founders proudly mention that some of them volunteer pro bono.

august 2015 Entrepreneur

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Paging DoctorUna Reem Haj Ali wants to help you find the right healthcare provider By Kareem Chehayeb

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EO Reem Haj Ali was inspired to develop DoctorUna back in 2012 after noticing the “difficulties that arise when a person is attempting to book an appointment with a doctor.” She also noticed that relying on word-of-mouth to find a doctor is very limiting, mentioning the hassle of trying to figure out “who is the right specialist, if they cover the required insurance or if the location is convenient.” There is also the potential language barrier, which obviously applies in more countries than others in the MENA region.

CEO Reem Haj Ali

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So how exactly does DoctorUna work? CEO Haj Ali elaborates on some of the platform’s features.

Users can use DoctorUna to search for doctors based on their specialty, gender, geographic location, and even on a compatible insurance provider.

Each doctor has an elaborate bio, as well as patient reviews and ratings that she describes as “verified.”

While potential patients will definitely benefit from this, this platform could also boost the presence of many doctors who she’s noticed don’t have much of an online presence to begin with. DoctorUna is currently available in the UAE, Egypt, Kuwait, and Jordan.

Developing this online platform wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, but the DoctorUna team was to stay on track towards creating what the CEO describes

as a “functional and robust user friendly solution.” While DoctorUna’s CEO dealt with challenges to get the platform working in its best form, her academic background and work history in the field of medicine in the region definitely gave her an upper hand- Haj Ali holds a Master’s degree in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and has been practicing medicine for over 15 years in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in various hospitals.

But the hurdles they faced weren’t exclusively on the technical side of things, with Haj Ali explaining that they had to “adapt to many models of how healthcare professionals managed their calendars and availability.”

With regard to the development process, she says that while its “initial stage” was not capital-intensive at all, costs got heftier over time.

Later on, it did “require a substantial amount of investment to design and build a robust and user friendly solution; especially with many integration points.” She also doesn’t rule out the necessary investments in human capital to “build a consumer CEO Haj Ali elaborates on some of the platform’s features. Users can use DoctorUna to search for doctors based on their specialty, gender, geographic location, and even on a compatible insurance provider.

Each doctor has an elaborate bio, as well as patient reviews and ratings that she describes as “verified.” While potential patients will definitely benefit from this, this platform could also boost the presence of many doctors who she’s noticed don’t have much of an online presence.

When asked about the most effective social media platform, the answer depends on the market. “We tend to find Facebook more popular in Egypt and Jordan, whereas, UAE and Kuwait are targeted more on Instagram and Twitter.” When the CEO and her team aren’t busy working out their online marketing strategy, they focus on DoctorUna “being visible in healthrelated events.”

brand” and to have a “very committed sales operations team.” Thankfully, DoctorUna enjoys investment from more than one angel investor, although Haj Ali didn’t specify where the capital came from.

Throughout the conversation, I noticed that even though DoctorUna is available for the general public to use, has multiple doctors from different medical backgrounds on it, and doesn’t have a lot of competition in the MENA region, the CEO doesn’t seem to see DoctorUna as having reached an end-stage in its development. The vision seems to constantly continue and evolve infinitely, which is a very good sign for any entrepreneur, regardless of whether they’re in the tech sector or not. From Haj Ali’s viewpoint however, this strategy is deliberate, as she believes there are several other competitors in the region, and she also points toward the rise of similar platforms on a global scale.

In addition to the features already mentioned, DoctorUna provides email and SMS booking reminders, and is bilingual (Haj Ali mentions that 40% of DoctorUna’s users use

the platform in Arabic). When asked about the importance of having the region’s native language in entrepreneurial developments, the CEO says that unless you’re targeting foreign expats, it would be a mistake to neglect it as you’d be potentially alienating a “large portion of their market.” I was also quite impressed that they built some of the technical components of the platform, notably UnaPractice, DoctorUna’s clinic management system. Haj Ali believes that DoctorUna has been successful so far, and claims that it was launched at the right time, explaining that “there is a great demand in growth for healthcare in the region, this created opportunities for new healthcare professionals.”

DoctorUna has also achieved a few victories that certainly will pave the way for further success. They have partnered up with Etisalat Egypt as their “Medical Partner for patients requesting to find doctors through their call center.” They also were awarded “Online Business of the Year” by Gulf Capital in 2014. A third huge feat was DoctorUna expanding out of the UAE to Kuwait, Jordan, and Egypt this year, after just three years in business.

When asked about the platform’s marketing strategy, it is no surprise that most of their efforts were focused on the online front. While Haj Ali says that “social media is certainly essential to enhance the digital footprint of DoctorUna.com,” she also believes that by itself is not enough, and hence they also focus a

Haj Ali believes that DoctorUna has been successful so far, and claims that it was launched at the right time, explaining that “there is a great demand in growth for healthcare in the region, this created opportunities for new healthcare professionals.” DoctorUna has also achieved a few victories that certainly will pave the way for further success. They have partnered up with Etisalat Egypt as their “Medical Partner for patients requesting to find doctors through their call center.”

lot on SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing). When asked about the most effective social media platform, the answer depends on the market. “We tend to find Facebook more popular in Egypt and Jordan, whereas, UAE and Kuwait are targeted more on Instagram and Twitter.” When the CEO and her team aren’t busy working out their online marketing strategy, they focus on DoctorUna “being visible in health-related events.”

So what’s next for DoctorUna? I probably asked at the wrong time, given that so much has been happening for them, from their regional expansion to the launch of UnaPractice, but they haven’t stopped just yet.

DoctorUna now has an app for tablets and phones for iOS and Android systems. Oh, and yes, BlackBerry 10 users, their app is compatible with your devices as well. Looks like the doctor is in!

august 2015 Entrepreneur

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in pictures Hadafi Season 4 winners

Pitch perfect!

Hadafi awards three new entrepreneurs in the program’s fourth season

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Hadafi Season 4 winners

en judges awarded three Hadafi winners cash prizes, business incubation, MBA scholarships from Synergy University, and a substantial mentoring package for their ventures worth over US$70,000 in the latest season of the program. On June 29, the Hadafi Final Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner took place at the Ritz-Carlton

in Dubai, UAE, with 11 shortlisted projects presented. Each project presentation pitch was followed by a question and answer session, to help determine the top three ideas. Hadafi’s first place winner, the Egypt-based El Dactara founded by Nada Hamada, aims to improve healthcare info and access, while UAE-based second place winner Marian Al-Nahdi, founder of

SnapChef, tackles on-demand human capital solutions for the hospitality industry. The third place winner, Kuwaiti Ghadeer Al-Shirazi, is the founder of Q8Reborn, a range of original one-off children’s accessories and dolls. This year’s candidates for the final selection were from across the MENA region, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Palestine. Launched in 2013 out of Saudi Arabia, Hadafi is a free development program and competition that provides female entrepreneurs with training, finance and support to found an enterprise across the MENA region. Previous winners include Wardat Store, a KSA-based e-commerce initiative supporting the community by working with local craftsmen and shops, and MICEit.co, an events booking and management platform in MENA. If you’re interested, application eligibility includes being a MENA woman aged 18 years and above who wants to launch a startup or has founded a business in the past two years. www.potential.com/hadafi

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OYSTER PERPETUAL LADY-DATEJUST