KHALEEJ TIMES, Saturday, Aug 21, 2021 | Muharram 13, 1443
World Entrepreneurs’ Day: Why the UAE is worth investing in
Emirates:
The UAE has evolved to become an incredibly attractive destination for
entrepreneurs from all over the world due to its progressive economy, efficient
digital infrastructure, close proximity to the rest of the world, and
tax-friendly structures, entrepreneurs have said.
Speaking to Khaleej Times ahead of World Entrepreneurs’ Day – which is
celebrated every year on August 21 to create awareness for entrepreneurship,
innovation and leadership throughout the world – several entrepreneurs
highlighted their journey in launching their business ideas, how they had
tackled the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, and their plans for the future
of their startups.
Many spoke about the UAE and how it is today renowned as one of the leading hubs
in the world for business, investment and innovation, and as a key driver of
entrepreneurial activity in the Middle East.
No better place than the UAE for a business idea
Deyan Dimitrov, CEO of Laundryheap, said that, through its efforts to transition
from an oil-based economy to a knowledge-based one, the UAE, and in particular
Dubai, have become synonymous as a global hub for innovation and growth,
especially for expat entrepreneurs.
“The emergence in recent years of VCs, which are focused specifically on the
startup space, is helping to fuel the growth of the sector across the region,”
he said. “And, it is very much a two-way street, as larger businesses see the
benefits of partnering with startups as a way to access fresh, innovative ideas.
The country’s agile legal framework also allows it to constantly evolve to meet,
or exceed, international standards, making it one of the most appealing places
in the world to invest.”
Dimitrov also highlighted various future-focused digital strategies launched by
the UAE's visionary leadership, such as Vision 2040 and Smart Dubai 2021, which
continue to revolutionise the business and economic landscape. “As it continues
embracing new technologies and promoting public-private partnerships, the
country will continue to unlock more opportunities for investors and ambitious
entrepreneurs.”
Similarly, Shehzeen Jamil, managing partner of Sippy, said that the future of
the entrepreneurial space looks very promising. Initiatives such as Dubai Next,
launched by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of
Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council, provides the impetus for youth
innovators and entrepreneurs to garner financial support, she noted.
“Various platforms are now available that encourage and promote entrepreneurship
in the country through mentorship programmes, networking events and talks by
leaders in the industry,” she said. “Personally, Dubai doesn’t just accept women
entrepreneurs, but in fact celebrates them. Big corporates also have internal
programmes that encourage us women to take that leap and bring our visions to
life. The world is in dire need of people who have the resilience, the power,
and the ideas to combat and overcome what’s happened in the past two years and
the UAE is well equipped to support us.”
Meeting the challenges of a global pandemic head-on
Jamil noted that the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Dubai has been on an upward
trajectory for several years now. Startups across the length and breadth of the
business landscape have received backing that will continue to contribute to the
country's diversified economy.
“The challenges due to Covid-19 have increased, but the support initiatives have
increased by just as much too, so the number of challenges stay the same, but
the nature of them has changed,” she said. “As it stood, startups were already
meant to disrupt industries, but this pandemic added a new level of disruption
within us that we had to fight and overcome. The number of controlled variables
had gone down significantly, and it was hard to tell whether the success or
failure of a startup was due to Covid-19 or due to the actual concept.”
That level of uncertainty, she explained, surely trickled onto investors as well
and the whole startup landscape suffered as a result. “Overall the pandemic,
albeit tragic in absolute terms, did instill a robust level of skills in us. The
idea of being adaptable and dynamic was put to the test and lots of
opportunities have come about because consumer behaviour has changed and
essentially evolved. Traditional PR and marketing activations are no longer
viable and so the level of innovation also has been elevated.”
Like Jamil, Zaid Mohsin Kidwai, CEO and co-founder of STRABL, formerly known as
BorrowBlob, said that there is “always a flipside for each situation” and that
some startups have actually gained quite a lot of momentum during the pandemic.
“As a startup, being resilient should always be a top characteristic throughout
their journey,” he said. “Some startups have pivoted from the original idea,
some have realigned their goals, some have had to restructure and change
strategies, most others just had to tweak their business models. But, that being
said, startups are supposed to be far more agile and dynamic than legacy or
traditional businesses, so all that stuff should be built-in and accounted for,
from the beginning itself.”
Looking back at the birth of an idea but planning for the future
Kidwai shared how BorrowBlob started in 2019 as a short-term item rental
marketplace, solving the issue of people or businesses having to buy everything
they need, even if it is only for a day, and then getting stuck with an item
they rarely use.
“Think drill machines or a nice dress for the evening,” he said. “A natural
extension to that, was people being able to convert their rentals to purchases,
hence, our new addition, ‘Try Before You Buy’. While working on this, we
realised another set of problems that the concept solves, which is not trusting
online shopping, and committing to something they were unsure of to begin with.
That is how we started to innovate, rebrand, and grow our business. Our plans
include fundraising, partnering with brands & businesses in different
categories, helping SMB's establish better trust rating online and making this a
staple way to shop online.”
Sippy, on the other hand, started off as a regional specialty café discovery
tool. It was designed as a directory to discover new spots, filter based on
location and/or roaster, and save with each cup.
“The response in the first year was phenomenal and we were prepping to go
global,” says Jamil. “At the same time, we were dabbling with the idea of
creating a marketplace for coffee beans. Then it was March and everything shut
down; our café app was rendered useless and we had to make a hard pivot towards
the Sippy Beans marketplace. We were far from ready to scale at the level that
it did the first few months. The demand was incredible, and we ran it all out of
my apartment. It was tough, but gave us the resilience to tackle everything
since. Our plans for Sippy are to bring back the café discovery map and make us
the ultimate one stop shop for all things specialty in the GCC and Europe.”
Dimitrov says he founded Laundryheap in 2014, with the vision of filling in the
technological and innovative gaps in the dry-cleaning industry, which often made
it challenging for people to get their clothes cleaned while on business trips.
“Crisp shirts and clean suits are essential for any business trip, but more
often than not, the hotel accommodations did not provide a laundry service or
charged too much for it, and finding an independent dry cleaning service in a
foreign country was a hassle,” he said. “Ultimately, I realised that laundry is
an essential service, but the supply chain is inefficient and fragmented. Our
aim at Laundryheap is to digitalise the service to increase the efficiency of
existing businesses as well as offering a unique 24/7 solution to people’s
laundry needs.”
“In 2018, the UAE became the third country we expanded into globally after
Ireland and the first regionally,” he added. “Since then, we have expanded to
other locations in the UAE including Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, and we also
operating in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar, with further plans for expansion in the
coming year. We will also be introducing our new B2B offering, Laundryheap
Linen, into the region imminently.”
Kidwai says that the UAE is “definitely a great launchpad”, with the general
public warming up to innovative ideas, and with a healthy rate of adoption.
“This may as well be a proving ground for startups. Nonetheless, barriers to
entry still need to be worked upon for those budding entrepreneurs with a
business idea. This can be by having better launchpads, and the involvement of
entrepreneurs, who themselves are at different stages, to be more actively
involved in helping improve the ecosystem and providing much needed tips on
going about building the next unicorn!”