Business Insight Issue 20

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Editor’s Foreword

I

t is nearly time for party season. Does this mean we get to rest? Hardly, it means we begin to think of the New Year and what this will bring for us personally and professionally.

How can we streamline our businesses and save money in the face of a more challenging 2016? We need to anticipate what our customer wants, especially for the retail industry that are facing big changes and digitalization of their businesses. In our article, “What will it take for bricks and mortar retail to survive?” we look at this in closer detail, bringing you the trends that are changing the malls globally.

“Finance for SME’s in Challenging Times” brings crowdfunding to the fore. Many businesses will have to have their belts tightened next year and if your company is one, what would you do when that big opportunity arises that will require a injection of cash to realise the dream? Beehive explains more.

With all the doom and gloom that is in the papers, now it is even more imperative for us to look after our bodies as well as our minds. We need to remain alert and as productive as possible so we can navigate the waters ahead. In our article, “Health and Work Balance” Ben Ouattara, CEO Beyond Films and fitness guru gives us his take on getting into shape, along with very helpful tips on how we can start down the road to increase our output in the office and give us a better body to boot.

Publisher & CEO Liam Williams liam@flipflopmedia.ae Managing Director Harry Norman harry@flipflopmedia.ae +971 4 369 9062 Business Development Executive Paul Davis info@flipflopmedia.ae +971 04 369 9061 Editorial Editor Tanya Selley tanya@flipflopmedia.ae +971 4 369 9063 Staff Writer Rachel Stracey info@flipflopmedia.ae Design Head of Design Mhar Delaben design@flipflopmedia.ae Operation Steve Miller Operations@flipflopmedia.ae

Enjoy!

circulation & Production Circulation and Distribution Manager Antonio de Marco circulationdm@flipflopmedia.ae Database and Circulation Manager Aaliya Khan databaseandcm@flipflopmedia.ae Production Manager Juan Vasquez productionmanager@flipflopmedia.ae

Tanya

Digital webmaster@flipflopmedia.ae

Talk to me at tanya@flipflopmedia.ae and let me know what information you need to take your business forward — and I will try to help you in the next issue.

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Registered at Fujairah Free Zone PO Box 26734 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 369 9063 Fax: +971 4 369 8989 www.flipflopmedia.ae printed by Printwell © Copyright 2015 FlipFlop Media All rights reserved While the publisher has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

Finance for SMEs in Challenging Times *Health and Work Balance *Are you Tax Aware?

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Contents

38 Foresight Page 16 – Are you Tax Aware?

Page 18 – What will it take for Bricks and Mortar Retail to Survive in the Middle East Page 22 – Supply Chain Management

Success Series Page 26 – Ulugbekhon Maksumov, CEO, Inkas

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Money Page 28 – Finance for SMEs in Challenging Times

People Page 32 – Corporate Social Responsibility Interview – Arbuthnot Latham

Legal Page 38 – Dubai’s New PPP Law

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Issue 20

DMCC Page 42 – The Business of Innovation

Marketing & Advertising Page 46 – Branding Yourself

Technology Page 50 – Security Spending will Grow to Reach US$75.4 Billion in 2015 Page 52 – What Lurks in the Shadows: Advanced Cyber Attacks that Hide in SSL Traffic

Hospitality Page 54 – GCC Tourist Spending to top US$70 Billion over the Next 5 Years

Insurance Page 56 – Keyman Insurance

Business Incubator Page 60 – Health and Work Balance Page 64 – Reading Financial Statements Page 66 – Dealing with Migraines

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FORWARD THINKING & FRESH IDEAS

• Accounting

& Compilation • CFO Services • Company Incorporation Services • Market Research and Business Plan • Credit and Working Capital Management • Enterprise Risk Management • Operational Improvement Services • Business Valuation • Audit & Assurance • Business process reviews • Business process re-engineering P.O. Box No: 26869, 108 & 109 - Al Diyafa Shopping Centre, Satwa, Dubai, U.A.E., Tel: +971 4 345 1522, Fax: +971 4 345 2512

Tel: +971 6 552 7881, Fax: +971 6 552 7882 Email: ethics@emirates.net.ae

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"I'm so proud of him. He was top of his class and will start school at one of the world's top universities next year. It makes me tear up every time I think about it.

He's living my dream."

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You are the writer of your own story. With hard work, you can start a new chapter anytime you choose.

Our mission at Bayt.com is to empower you to write the story you want, starting with your career. We have the tools to make your story better, and to share it with the right people, in the right places. Together we work.

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"She raised me on her own, working 60 hours a week. I'm an architect now with my own family, but it's really her achievement."

Hana, Architect

What’s Your Story?

foresight expert panel

EXPERT PANEL Jonathan Hall Founder and Managing Director Mulverhill Associates

Caroline Jones Director Infopod

John Brash Founder & Chief Executive Brash Brands

Yogesh Mehta Managing Director Petrochem

Hind Abdulrazak Creative Director Audax Investment

Sara Abdulrazak Managing Director Audax Investment

Dr. Tommy Weir Founder Emerging Markets Leadership Center

Jeffrey Rhodes Founder & Managing Consultant Rhodes Precious Metals Consultancy DMCC

Louis Lebbos/ Founding Partner Astro Labs

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Muhammed Mekki Founding Partner Astro Labs

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Office Suite 3001 PO Box 17317 30th Floor / HDS Tower / Cluster F / Jumeirah Lakes Towers / Dubai UAE Tel No: +971 4 448 4284 Fax No: +971 4 448 4285 Email: admin@willsuae.com Web: www.willsuae.com and www.twslegal.ae

Family Matters and Divorce

Wills, Inheritance Issues and Guardianship Issues

Recent statistics have shown that

Did you know that

zz

zz

zz

Probate Administration

Are you or any members of your

Administering an estate following the death

on the death of a husband, the

family thinking of establishing a

of a partner or family member can initially

has increased 40% in Dubai over the

surviving wife may not automatically

company in the UAE?

seem a simple exercise. However, the

past two years

be appointed as the legal guardian of

Did you know that any shareholding

process can quickly become complicated

the UAE has the highest rate of

any children under the UAE law?

that you have in a UAE on-shore or

and extremely time consuming. It may be

the Dubai International Financial

a freezone company is exposed to

the case that you simply require advice on

taking the first place in the country

Centre (‘DIFC’) has established the

a Sharia distribution in the event

the legal processes within the UAE or UK on

Dubai alone recorded 1129 divorces

new ‘DIFC Wills and Probate Registry’

of death?

the death of a partner or family member.

in 2012

implementing new succession and

Do you and your business partners,

Alternatively, you may feel that you wish to

inheritance rules for non-Muslims

or any members of your family,

instruct a firm of qualified solicitors to assist

with Dubai assets?

need a partnership agreement or a

in the administration of a specific asset, or

contract drafting?

the administration of an entire estate.

separation between married couples

divorce in the region with Dubai zz

Corporate Structuring

If you should ever require assistance

zz

regarding any family or divorce matters,

zz

zz

zz

TWS’s family law team comprises of British

The UAE Courts will adhere to Sharia law

and Arabic speaking lawyers, who regularly

in any situation where there is no Will in

Before you take any steps into business

TWS have considerable experience of

advise on divorce, separation, custody, and

place. If you live and work in the UAE, and

ownership you should fully understand your

dealing with the administration of estates

financial settlements in the UAE and UK

you die without having made a Will, the

options and understand the risks. When it

comprising assets in either or both of the

Courts. We also offer a mediation service

local courts will examine your estate and

comes to setting up a company in the UAE,

UAE and the UK, and can advise you on all

as and when required to assist you in

potentially distribute it according to Sharia

the question of where to establish your

of the processes involved from determining

reconciling your differences, or agreeing on

law where the distribution of assets are as

operation is dependent on your business

the assets and liabilities to ensuring that an

the best course of action for your family.

per fixed share ratios. It is also extremely

model. The first port of call should be to

estate is distributed to the rightful heirs or

important to make provision for the

seek legal advice and to be honest with your

beneficiaries.

Should you find yourself in circumstances

guardianship of your children in the event

advisor about what you hope to achieve

where you are suffering from irreconcilable

of death of one or both parents.

through the business.

TWS are suitably qualified to advise both

TWS can advise and assist you regarding the

Muslim and non-Muslim individuals on

structuring/re-structuring of your business or

the laws that apply to you in the UAE and

corporate assets through bespoke solutions

how you can protect your family and assets

in a number of offshore jurisdictions.

marital difficulties, we conduct divorce proceedings in the UAE and UK Courts.

through both the DIFC and UAE Courts.

Licensed by The Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department, The Dubai Rulers Court and Registered with the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts’ Register of Legal Practitioners.

Wills – Guardianship - Family & Divorce – Corporate Services

foresight

Are You Tax Aware?

UAE firms must assess internal tax awareness and compliance prior to the introduction of federal corporate tax and VAT s the prospects of a federal corporate tax and value added tax regime in the UAE gain momentum, organisations need to review a number of aspects including financial systems to assess their overall tax readiness and address possible changes to their own accounting systems, says global audit and advisory services firm KPMG. The firm held a tax seminar for its clients and industry stakeholders on the ‘Changing Tax Landscape in the UAE’ to offer insights on how businesses can prepare themselves for impending tax-related legislations. Over 150 key stakeholders from the business community in the UAE and GCC attended the seminar.

Discussions on a federal corporate tax regime have been ongoing since 2005, with the IMF and World Bank trying to persuade

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Gulf nations to reduce subsidies and find other sources of revenue.

Nilesh Ashar, Partner – Head of Tax, KPMG in the UAE said, “While it may be premature for businesses to start making widespread changes to supply chain functions or to operating and business structures, there are a number of measures that companies must start to actively consider even prior to the introduction, in order to effectively transition to a tax payable environment.”

Some of these include modeling the fiscal impact of taxes in business plans by making reasonable assumptions, reviewing intercompany arrangements to determine the basis of cross – charges (or lack thereof), reviewing contracts to assess current position of tax clauses, analysing financial systems to assess overall readiness, and also reviewing

the potential impact of taxes on supply chain and operating structures.

Ashok Hariharan, Head of Tax for KPMG Middle East and South Asia region, added, “We encourage all UAE organisations to continue monitoring tax developments and updates, and model the financial impact of corporate tax and VAT in their business plans.

Internal stakeholder communication and awareness is also key, as both corporate tax and VAT are likely to impact other functions of the business such as finance, legal, IT, strategy etc.

“Once the legislation has been established, firms will have to prepare an implementation plan up to the end of the first year to test all tax compliance aspects and get ready to train, hire and develop resources in order to be tax compliant,” said Ashar. l

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foresight

What will it take for Bricks and Mortar Retail to Survive in the Middle East?

By: Jacob Chacko, Business Lead – SMB & Commercial, Middle East & Turkey at Aruba Networks, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company

A digital customer experience revolution will rejuvenate bricks-and-mortar retailing, but stores must start on the back foot n-store retailing has been under rising pressure from increased costs of doing business, as well as the growth of online shopping. Yet, bricksand-mortar sales still accounts for the majority of retail spend. As per a recent report, from Hamburg-based yStats.com, the E-Commerce market in the Middle East and Africa has the potential to grow at small double-digit rates in the next five years, led by countries such as the UAE and driven by improving Internet penetration, rising ownership of mobile devices and payment cards. However despite substantial growth in the Middle East over the past couple of years the region is still behind a number of other emerging economies in the ecommerce stakes due to factors such as delivery challenges, a preference for face-to-face, lack of choice due to limited range of online products and services, no price differential as compared to in-store purchases, consumer privacy concerns, prevalence of cash on delivery and others.

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The retail model of the future will be a radically different experience from today, largely driven by the changing shopping demands of the younger hyper-connected consumer. You need only look to the high streets of the west, where shops struggle to survive. Bricks-and-mortar retailing will remain a very significant part in retail, but the lines between channels will erode at the benefit of both the customer and the business. Advances in technology will significantly improve the relationships between retailers and customers, much the way analytics is already doing to online shopping.

Real opportunity lies in responding to this change, focusing on delivering a truly integrated and seamless omni-channel experience. The future of retail is an exciting one, and over the next few years we expect to see a number of key developments taking place in stores around the globe:

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foresight

These hyper-connected consumers already in the marketplace have a rapidly growing share of spending power. This always-on generation demand things like fast internet access and a more seamless, digital experience they’re already getting from other services The Emergence Of The Smart Personal Shopper Online retail will continue to exist for customers who want to buy a specific product and have it delivered to their home. But those who enter a store do so to learn, to view and feel items and to speak to a person. As the physical environment of a store changes, communication barriers between customers and employees such as counters will be removed, enabling staff to provide a more personalised experience.

Mobile technology will revolutionise the sales process and experience. Tomorrow’s retail staff will be unleashed from the sale counter, and given the equipment to connect with customers across the entire store, offering a more consultative approach. In fashion retail for example, assistants will be able to show

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Part of matching the new connected consumers’ expectations will be delivering a seamless, frictionless payment experience, removing any barriers slowing down the speed of a retail sale

customers a range of outfits and styles a particular item could work with.

With a real time view of stock and availability, they will be far more capable of closing sales, only recommending items that are both in stock and in size, whilst offering further choice and reducing wait time for shoppers.

The Rise Of Immersive Engagement Picture this, you are walking past a store, and your phone buzzes, offering you to try on the same pair of jeans they saved in their online basket a few days ago. Enticing you in as they’ve already shopped online, for today only you will get an additional 10 percent off all purchases… The potential of marketing to someone that has already illustrated that they want to make a purchase.

Location-aware technology will identify customers’ mobile devices, enabling upsell and cross-sell offers based not just on what they’re viewing, but also what they’ve purchased before. As customers roam the store,

engagement programmes will link with in-store beacons to dynamically offer up suggestions at various points along the store path.

Here, the loyalty programme and the new found freedom of the retail assistant will combine and, with a shared purchase history, the best retailers will enable assistants to make personal style recommendations, based on customer preference and items they may already own.

Experiences will extend loyalty beyond purchases too, offering experience enhancements such as VIP parking spots when customers approach retail stores, and recognising regular customers on entry.

The End Of Cash And Cards Part of matching the new connected consumers’ expectations will be delivering a seamless, frictionless payment experience, removing any barriers slowing down the speed of a retail sale. Eliminating queues from stores,

Issue 20 | 19

foresight

roaming staff, now empowered by mobile technology will be able to transact with customers in seconds, as shoppers keep focus on the purchase experience rather than the cost. This new way of shopping has gained a lot of traction elsewhere globally in locations such as the UK, there people can use their mobile phones to pay for transactions.

One of the most important factors to consumers, payment security requires additional compliance with higher security standards, ensuring consumers are protected from fraudulent activity and avoiding the irreparable reputational damage and financial costs associated with a breach in payment security for the retailer.

This adoption of mobile, digital payments will further enable retailers to offer things like on-demand

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Mobile technology will revolutionise the sales process and experience.

Tomorrow’s retail staff will be unleashed from the sale counter, and given the equipment to connect with customers across the entire store, offering a more consultative approach delivery options, where products can be delivered straight to the customer’s home or even car.

For retail businesses, this will also likely lead to higher revenues. Just as the shift from cash to plastic showed consumers are willing to spend more when not parting with cash, so too will sales be further strengthened by further dissociation from the traditional bank instrument - the card.

The Road To The Future These hyper-connected consumers already in the marketplace have a rapidly growing share of spending power. This always-on generation demand things like fast internet access and a more seamless, digital experience they’re already getting from other services.

While new innovations are being tested and tried in today’s market, much of this development is stifled by existing and fragmented existing IT infrastructure, negatively impacting the customer experience, and slowing the consumer adoption of new technologies that could help drive the retail business forward.

Because of this, retailers are already starting on the back foot. To build a successful platform for innovation across multiple channels, they must ensure the technological needs of today’s customers are fully met, otherwise they face being left in the dust.

Focus on enriching the customer experience immediately, and set the stage for rapid innovation in the coming years. l

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foresight

In our success series, one of the things successful business leaders repeatedly say, is that Supply Chain Management (SCM) is vital to their business. How? Why? What should you be doing? Read on to find out more... stensibly, supply chain management (SCM) is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the provision of product and service packages.

It spans all movement and storage of raw materials, workin-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption. It is a vital part of any business, as it forms the backbone for enabling you to trade in a given area, and is the difference between positive or negative cash flow.

With the global economy being as fragile as it appears to be, supply chain management is now even more important. What would you do if your trusted supplier found themselves in financial difficulties and were unable to supply their regular order to you? How would this impact you? What would happen if one of your customers went bust, leaving you with unpaid invoices? These are just a couple of the pertinent questions that SCM answers.

There is a basic pattern to the practice of SCM.

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Production What products and services do you have? How much of which products/services should be produced/used and by when? Create master production schedules that take

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into account plant capacities, workload balancing, quality control, and equipment maintenance.

Inventory What inventory should be stocked at each stage in a supply chain? What should be held as raw materials, semifinished, or finished goods? Inventory is a buffer against uncertainty in the supply chain. Holding it is expensive, so what are the optimal inventory levels and reorder points?

Location Where is everything to be located and is it cost efficient?

These answers determine the possible transport paths available for SCM. Transportation How should inventory be moved from one location to another? Any uncertainty in transportation must be compensated for by stocking higher levels of product.

Information What data should be collected and how much information should be shared? Timely and accurate

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foresight

The APICS Dictionary defines SCM as the “design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronising supply with demand and measuring performance globally.”

information promises better coordination and decision making. With good information, people can make effective decisions about what to produce, how much, where to locate items and how best to transport it.

This may all seem rather daunting, so we have amalgamated the 10 of the best practices to help you find your way.

Establish a Governing Supply Chain Council A governing council’s purpose is to give direction and help align supply chain (SC) strategy with the company’s overall strategy.

You should hold regular meetings, ensuring the targets and strategies align with the business ones and remove any barriers to its implementation.

Ensure SCM Is Adequately Staffed Having a person responsible for the SC and their team will encourage accountability that will be reviewed by the council and ensures the structure of the SC is where it should be.

Globally, ‘Procurement’ is an increasing function, saving companies money and guarantees there are no kink in supplies. They must have the ability to think strategically. Their vision and objectives should be determined at board level and regularly reviewed.

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Make Technology Work For You As we have said previously, processes should be evolving and fit the company culture and objectives. As such, technology should be brought and tailored wherever possible for you to meet these objectives. First, establish the processes that need improvement, and then select the technology that best satisfies those process needs.

Work Closely With Key Suppliers Monitor these relationships and act accordingly; did they mention they were in financial difficulty? Have they just won a huge contract are not increasing staff? These are all things you will be able to ward off with a solid relationship. Have a backup plan by sourcing quotations from at least two alternative suppliers, thus providing a buffer should they not be able to supply you with your standard order in your required timeframe.

Try to obtain longer term contracts with fixed pricing and have a breakout clause on service should this become an issue. Also, by forging these longer term relationships with your suppliers you will be able to forecast more effectively helping your cashflow.

The same can apply for those you supply to. Would you agree a fixed term contract where clients pay for the delivery if you know that they are in financial difficulty? Agree structures to suit each individual contract.

A one stop solution should not fit all as they are dependent on the ability to pay/receive agreed items or services. Ask for the year end accounts to help you decide how to move your relationship forward.

Look Towards Collaborative Strategic Sourcing Strategic sourcing is a cornerstone of successful supply chain management, but by taking the collaborative approach you save you money AND lessen your carbon footprint on the environment.

Don’t Just Focus On Price What this means is that you need to shift the focus from looking only at the purchase price to understanding the total cost of owning or consuming a product or service. Yes cost is vital but, for example, for you to retrain staff on a new software package, that will take them out of the business for the two days, and a further month for implementation. This produces a cost that should be considered. In general, the acquisition costs account for only 25 to 40 percent of the total cost for most products and services. The balance comprises of operating, training, maintenance, warehousing, environmental, quality, and transportation costs.

Centralise Contracts Related To Purchasing/ Supplying Ultimately (and especially if you have one person to do this as their job), this is what they are being paid to do. They need to communicate the savings to all areas of the business. Yes, individual teams should keep copies for their records too, but by having them under the SC function ensures the contracts are collected and maintained in a central location and not forgotten about in a drawer.

Optimise Inventory You should always be aware of your assets.

This too, can form part of procurement as they will strive to keep all assets at optimum levels.

Poor planning and forecasting are direct causes of inventories that are out of balance with a business’s needs. Also, would you not rather work with on demand planning and forecasting to ensure optimal inventory levels? Procurement will help you achieve this.

Establish Appropriate Levels Of Control, Minimise Risk SCM policies and procedures should follow an appropriate sequence and structure. It’s important to review them frequently. Keep them realistic and easy to understand to ensure compliance.

Go Green Reducing a supply chain’s carbon footprint is no longer a “nice but not necessary” practice.

Buyers and consumers are taking environmental impact into consideration when they choose suppliers.

By implementing a strong supply chain and ensuring that you are always au fait with what it happening on it, you will increase profits. In leaner times, it will be the difference between a company that thrives, and a company who survives. l

Did you know..?

Alexander the Great based his strategies and campaigns on his army’s unique capabilities and these were made possible by effective supply chain management

Issue 20 | 23

success

Ulugbekhon Maksumov Success Series Interview:

CEO, Inkas

Being a success, as any business leader will know, is all about the mind set.

Successful people see an opportunity and jump on it accepting that failure is only because they walked away without learning any lessons. So what does it take to have two successful businesses in the UAE that deal internationally, and are poles apart from one to the other? We speak to Ulugbekhon Maksumov, CEO of Inkas to find out more

How long have you been in the UAE for?

I moved here in 2006 so 9 years.

Tell us about your coming to the UAE from Russia.

How did your previous employment provide you with the business acumen to be as successful as you have become today?

Back home I worked as a Sales Manager for the local manufacturing company. Since 2009 I have been working for myself creating and expanding businesses. My previous experiences taught me the basics of sales, the production process, management, procurement and logistics. All of these have become the pieces of the puzzle in creating my success to date.

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Have you always had a strong sense of business and entrepreneurial spirit? How did these manifest themselves?

Yes, I have always been enthused by business. I am a risk taker and therefore ready to take risks in order to achieve success. Over this 5 year period I have been able to create a successful group of companies and one of my brands is the 3rd biggest player in the market.

You have several businesses within the UAE; one of which is completely different to the others. Was this a conscious decision?

Yes, it was a conscious decision because I don’t want to only operate and concentrate on one segment of the market.

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success

I like the diversity of my businesses and that they cover different areas of the market fueling each other’s success; as Warren Buffet says, “Never depend on single income.

Make investment to create a second source.”

I like the diversity of my businesses and that they cover different areas of the market fueling each other’s success; as Warren Buffet says, “Never depend on single income. Make investment to create a second source.”

What came first; Inkas or Gulf Autotrading?

Gulf Autotrading in 2009. Inkas came later in 2012.

How did you come up with the idea to start Inkas?

I was offered to open the partnership for the well-known Canadian brand Inkas that was originally established in 1993. I saw a high demand for armored vehicles and so decided that this would be a good partnership and it was a risk that I was willing to take and I believed would be successful.

What is the type of clients that you attract?

We attract many clients, but predominantly our buyers tend to be Local armored forces, Security Companies, Embassies, VIPs. We also have business coming from oil and gas companies.

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“Be prepared to lose things; money, time, effort, people.

It’s all a risk and you have to have the strength to be willing and prepared to suffer set backs and losSes”

What was the biggest hurdle that you have had to overcome to do this and how did you achieve this?

To begin with it was hard to convince and then prove to clients, that this brand new company could be a strong competitor. We needed to work hard to prove ourselves; demonstrating our international high standards and competency levels. Along with this we have worked hard to establish ourselves in the market as well as branding Inkas on high quality and after sales support.

Inkas in particular, targets a very niche market. How has your marketing approach to this differed to Astrata or even Gulf Auto Trading?

Astrata and Inkas are manufacturing companies whereas Gulf Auto Trading is a trading company.

Inkas’ product is very specific and cannot be sold to a general consumer. It is aimed towards a particular market segment. The armored vehicles are advertised through world known exhibitions, for example IDEX where we will exhibit again in February 2015. Customers can view a live presentation of our products.

Certificates of success tests advertise the stability and quality of our products. Flyers and marketing materials are of no use to Inkas because our products are very specific however Astrata can benefit from this form of marketing.

What has been your greatest business success?

Inkas has been a great success for myself and it is what I am most

proud of. Admittedly, we are still a young company however we are very rapidly expanding. In the 2 years since opening we have already built and shipped over 1000 vehicles and we have grown in size 4 times over from what we started.

What has been the toughest thing you have had to overcome in business?

The toughest thing has been finding a team of hard working professionals who are as enthusiastic about the business as I am. I am certain I have found that now and the Inkas team has a powerful work ethic that encourages the company to strive.

How do you mentally prepare when faced with a negative situation?

I always try to stay calm and rely on my previous experience.

What is the one piece of advice you wish you had been told when you first started out in business?

Think twice before making a big decision, as it needs proper and thorough consideration. You need to be prepared to lose things.

Most notably time, and then money, wasted effort for when things go wrong, and also you lose people as they loose patience, as they don’t understand why your time is so sparse. It’s all a risk and you have to have the strength to be willing and prepared to suffer set backs and loses.

What is the most important lesson you have learnt to date?

If you want to go fast, go alone.

If you want to go far, go together. l

Issue 20 | 27

MONEY

Finance For SMEs In Challenging Times

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the main pillar of the global economy, representing almost 92 percent of the total number of companies in the UAE, and providing more than 86 percent of jobs in the private sector. They drive innovation by identifying niche gaps in the market and turning these ideas into revolutionary business models ut despite their importance to the growth of the economy, SMEs face a number of challenges when seeking finance. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates that the current SME funding gap in global emerging markets is more than US$2 trillion (and approximately US$260 billion in MENA).

Securing finance is extremely important for SMEs to grow their business to the next level. It helps them to branch out into

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new markets, diversify their product offer, invest in research and technology, and invest in training for their employees.

Traditionally, SMEs in the Middle East turned to family and friends to access finance. And a 2015 MEED survey found that the majority of SME owners still do, with 49 percent turning to loved ones as a central means of acquiring finance. In comparison, just 41 percent turn to banks, and 10 percent turn to other sources such as private sources, angel investors, and credit cards and savings.

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MONEY

auction model. The process drives market efficiency and matches supply to demand.

Beehive brought the model to the UAE in November 2014, becoming the first P2P finance marketplace in the UAE. Over the past year, the company has directly connected over 2,000 investors with more than 48 creditworthy businesses to build mutually beneficial partnerships for growth, channelling over AED20 million in the process.

Some businesses, such as LMTD, a digital media agency in Dubai, have even received a second round of funding from the platform in just a year.

The benefits of P2P to businesses are wide-ranging.

Crowdfunding technology eliminates the cost and complexity of conventional finance, enabling businesses to save up to 30 percent on finance costs, and avoid the hassle and time of the lengthy credit checks run by the banks.

While P2P platforms do conduct thorough checks on businesses to determine their financial strength, the speed

As the region’s financial institutions have developed, more and more businesses are turning to traditional providers of finance, such as banks to secure much-needed funding.

SME finance now represents a major function of the general business finance market in the UAE. But following a period of excessive lending and poor credit checks, the financial crisis of 2008 caused banks to review their credit assessment criteria and tighten up their lending requirements.

This meant more rejections for SME applications and unaffordable high interest rates for those that were accepted.

Seven years on and most banks in the UAE are once again pulling back on SME lending due to a lack of liquidity and the low profitability of the market. It far more profitable for banks to focus on lending to large corporate clients, which provide a large amount of liquidity and generate revenue across multiple business lines. And as the global economy slows

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and weak oil prices dampen government and consumer spending, banks are finding it riskier to lend to SMEs. Their often poor accounting standards do not help the matter either.

This considerable funding gap between the demand and supply of capital has driven a critical need for alternative finance solutions for this underserved sector of the economy. Two solutions that are rapidly gaining popularity due to their attractive cost, accessibility, and flexibility, are equity crowdfunding and peer-to-peer (P2P) finance.

P2P finance has seen steep growth since its launch in 2005, and by 2014, with the total amount funded reaching US$9 billion globally in 2014.

The industry is forecast to reach the US$1 trillion mark by 2025.

The model involves lending money to unrelated individuals, or “peers�, without a traditional financial intermediary, through an online platform where interest rates are set by investors who compete for the lowest rate on the reverse

The benefits of P2P to businesses are wide-ranging. Crowdfunding technology eliminates the cost and complexity of conventional finance, enabling businesses to save up to 30 percent on finance costs, and avoid the hassle and time of the lengthy credit checks run by the banks

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MONEY

Traditionally, SMEs in the Middle East turned to family and friends to access finance. And a 2015 MEED survey found that the majority of SME owners still do, with 49 percent turning to loved ones as a central means of acquiring finance. In comparison, just 41 percent turn to banks, and 10 percent turn to other sources such as private sources, angel investors, and credit cards and savings

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and agility with which they can operate at compared to large banks, means that business owners can access capital in a much short space of time. And the time it takes to achieve finance is absolutely critical to SMEs that often wait months between payments and do not have the collateral or banking to keep them ticking over.

Another benefit of the model is P2P platforms do not charge SMEs a penalty for early repayments, allowing them to pay back their debt when business is going well.

SMEs in the UAE face a lot of challenges when competing against large organizations in a saturated market, but a lack of finance will likely cause a business to falter. But new funding models like P2P lending are directly connecting SMEs with hundreds or even thousands of potential investors, providing them with faster access to lower-cost, debt-based finance. l

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people

Corporate Social Responsibility Interview:

Arbuthnot Latham Can a bank ever really be responsible? The answer is yes!

hen we hear about bankers, we think of the fat cats sat in their glass-plated offices, making lots of money whilst the rest of us (hopefully) get rich alongside them. Bankers have had a hard time since 2008, for their role in the financial crisis, but many shy away from this stereotype. Banks were in fact some of the first to introduce CSR policies; We speak to Karen Roigard, Head of Client Services and Marketing for Arbuthnot Latham to find out more.

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Can you tell us a little bit about your background and experiences in the CSR Sector?

Prior to my role at Arbuthnot Latham I came from a financial services organisation where Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was, and still is, a fundamental part of the way in which they live and embed their purpose and values.

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What is your role personally in Arbuthnot Latham’s corporate social responsibility efforts?

Arbuthnot Latham has 220 staff members and approximately 3000 clients; as a small organisation although we do not have a self-contained CSR team we are a committed organisation that not only gives back to charities but also wants to protect the environment and have an impact on economic and social issues. My role is to lead the way in ensuring that as an organisation we commit to and follow through with what we say we will do.

How exactly does Arbuthnot Latham define corporate social responsibility?

Within Arbuthnot Latham, Corporate Social Responsibility is defined as the engagement of staff to ensure that we preserve resources and maintain our social awareness and positive interaction with society while

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people

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people

continuing to abide by regulations and care about our clients.

A six-stage approach was followed for implementing a CSR initiative. These were:

zz

How you approach corporate social responsibility?

It is critical that a long-term approach is taken to CSR in order to ensure that tangible benefits are achieved for Arbuthnot Latham and the wider community. We cannot change things overnight but we have a role to play. CSR is a very broad topic and about more than just putting your hand in your pocket.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

zz

What’s the source of the corporate social responsibility effort at Arbuthnot Latham?

Where did it all begin?

In 2013 Arbuthnot Latham took the view that there was no real focus on CSR. The organisation had, historically, supported a number of ad-hoc activities across the business by giving back, preserving resources and protecting the environment but this was not captured in a structured or strategic manner.

A CSR project was established with the aim to develop and implement a CSR programme within the organisation.

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Conduct a CSR assessment Develop a CSR strategy Develop CSR commitments Implement CSR commitments Assure and report on progress Evaluate and improve

As previously mentioned, CSR is broad; it does not just cover charitable donations, we took a view that we had do things in manageable ‘bite-size’ pieces.

Since that initial assessment and planning, we have continuously reviewed what we have done and have conducted in-depth evaluation with the aim to improve year-on-year.

Can you tell us more about your CSR initiatives?

Our current initiatives include: zz Encouraging catering to source food and drink from local suppliers zz Encouraging the support of local businesses zz Examining our processes to see which activities can be carried out electronically zz Reducing paper subscriptions zz Ensuring precautions are taken to provide and maintain working conditions that are safe, healthy and comply with all statutory requirements and codes of practice zz Auto-lights in our head office, which reduce the use of electricity

zz zz zz

A cycle-to-work scheme, encouraging staff to use eco-friendly transport and promoting fitness Providing the option for staff to give back time to the community Raising money for different charities through dress-down days Staff volunteering at and being involved in charitable events Bake sales and sponsorships

These are just a few of the initiatives with which we are involved. After our initial assessment, we were surprised at how much we had already achieved.

What are the major costs and benefits that you gain from Arbuthnot Latham’s corporate social responsibility effort?

CSR is not just about doing the right thing – it means behaving responsibly and building a reputation as a responsible business.

Paying attention to resources has a tangible benefit. Reducing use, waste and emissions does not only benefit the environment – it saves money.

Other benefits include: zz Effectively managing risks, including environmental, social and legal, allows for a greater oversight and stakeholder scrutiny of corporate activity zz Good CSR can help build an organisation’s reputation whilst poor CSR can damage it zz Enhanced ability to recruit, develop and retain staff. Employees are bettermotivated and more productive

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people

initially tried to do everything and had to scale back on our ambitions due to time and staff commitment.

What are some effective ways for a business to become more sustainable?

Some easy ways to get started include turning off lights, helping the carbon footprint by replacing paper usage with digital communication tools, and recycling – all of which we have successfully achieved.

Aside from your own advantages as previously mentioned, what is the business case for CSR? Is it the same in developed economies as in emerging markets?

Organisations are accountable for their own actions and consumers increasingly do not accept unethical business practices or organisations that act irresponsibility. I believe this is the same for emerging markets.

zz

zz

zz

zz zz

Like-minded companies can form profitable long-term business relationships by improving standards and reducing risks. A firm is vulnerable to the weakest link in its supply chain A company who listens to their stakeholders through regular dialogue are in a better position to anticipate and respond to change By improving stakeholder relationships, the relationship with the community can also be strengthened and can build ‘social capital’ CSR helps ensure you comply with regulatory requirements Activities such as involvement with community and charities can generate good press coverage

As you look forward, what does it take to make a CSR policy last? What kind of organisational leadership or communication systems have to be in place to ensure that the corporate social responsibility effort will last beyond the current leadership?

To make a CSR policy last, it requires resources such as the budget and available staff, as well as clear communication.

To ensure your policy lasts it needs a vision, and companies should remain open to radically new approaches and major change.

Support from the leadership is also essential. Additionally, good CSR involves continuous innovation

It is critical that a long-term approach is taken to CSR in order to ensure that tangible benefits are achieved for Arbuthnot Latham and the wider community. We cannot change things overnight but we have a role to play. CSR is a very broad topic and about more than just putting your hand in your pocket that links CSR to the company’s business model. CSR can be used to identify new technologies, markets and approaches.

Employees’ value participation, therefore it is important to keep staff updated on the business activity and given the opportunity to share their opinions.

CSR needs to be embedded into the DNA of the business.

It is critical for businesses to engage their employees in this large theme of sustainability. Can you share some advice on implementing stakeholder engagement?

I mentioned earlier that leadership support is essential. However, ‘top-down’ CSR processes do not harness the skills and potential of employees. Creating networks of ‘change champions’ may offer better engagement and results. l

Do you believe CSR requires a paradigm shift in the approach that is made by other business? If yes, why?

Yes, for two reasons. Firstly, carrying out a CSR plan can be overwhelming, and organisations need to understand that they don’t have to do it all in one go.

Secondly, it is a vast subject, and I don’t feel businesses understand the wider aspects of CSR. We

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people

Staying Relevant: Innovative HR Policies to Attract Millennials

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes provide opportunities for businesses to give back to the communities they operate in and the wider world at large. Though the cynical may claim CSR is nothing more than a cheap marketing ploy, and while this is often a factor, when done well an effective CSR program can have a profound impact on the people and the communities that benefit overnments and public sector entities across the GCC are focusing on innovation to drive human capital development and achieve organisational and national objectives.

Organisations that can put innovative strategies in place will be more attractive to millennial talent, who are driving an unprecedented shift in company culture, and expect greater transparency and communication around their development opportunities.

“Innovation in human resources, although important, is not enough on its own and must be an integral part of a wider suite of initiatives that look to enhance HR,” said Randa Bahsoun, Partner - People & Organisation Practice, PwC Middle East, who is a keynote speaker at the upcoming GOV HR Summit 2015. Indeed, organisations need to do more than just implement innovation initiatives. “At PwC, our recent Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) survey findings, that will be launched soon, indicate that over 75 percent of organisations have undertaken such initiatives in the last two years but only 6 percent of these organisations have been ‘very successful’,’’ noted Bahsoun, who suggested this is an area that businesses should focus on by employing effective strategies.

An important factor determining the success of innovation initiatives, especially in HR, is employee engagement.

“The GCC labour market is quite diverse, attracting different cultures, work ethics, and also personalities from within the region as well as internationally,” noted Mr. Ackash Jain, Director of QNA International. “A challenge HR personnel across the globe

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will face in the near future is in the successful integration of millennials into the workforce,’’ he added.

When it comes to tackling the talent strategy in the region, Bahsoun stated that it was primarily about increasing the return on human capital employed. At the workplace, Bahsoun said these translate to using appropriate KPI’s and HR analytics to predict and mitigate potential problems; applying effective strategic workforce planning to increase productivity; creating a balance between localised and centralised HR; transparency of career pathways - especially for local national talent; and engaging employees by enhancing the entire employee value proposition.’’

As for the regional challenges in developing human capital in the government and public sector Bahsoun highlighted four main challenges, “Balancing workforce nationalisation efforts while leveraging experienced expatriate talent; public pressure to reduce local unemployment especially in the backdrop of low oil prices; skill shortages and increased global competition; and integration of women and millennials into the workforce at middle senior management levels.”

Keeping the above in mind, a critical factor to consider while developing these practical interventions, is that within the MENA region one size doesn’t fit all. Each market has similarities in its talent management priorities, but HR is maturing at significantly varying rates in different countries.

“The complexity of addressing these challenges is further increased by the fact that the solutions to tackle current challenges must do so in the context of broader cultural expectations and norms,” added Bahsoun. l

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LEGAL

DUBAI’S NEW PPP LAW By: Trevor Butcher, Head of Finance & Projects, Middle East, DLA Piper

Dubai Law No. 22 of 2015 Regulating Partnerships between the Public and Private Sectors (“PPPs”) in the Emirate of Dubai was published in the Official Gazette on 20 September 2015 and will become law on 19 November 2015. This much anticipated new Law will make the implementation of PPPs in Dubai a much more realistic prospect, removing the need for the project specific legislation that previous analysis suggested would have been required to implement a PPP in Dubai PPs have long been discussed in the MENA region but there have been very few examples of successful projects outside of the traditional power and water sectors that generally have their own sector specific legislation.

In some countries, such as Egypt, this lack of progress has been due to wider geo-political reasons, but in others it has been largely due to the lack of financial need. High revenues from hydrocarbons have enabled governments to fund their infrastructure projects from their current budgets without the need for private sector support. With low oil prices looking like they will

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be around for some time to come, interest in PPPs is growing.

Whilst the more recent drivers behind the development of PPPs in Dubai are unique, the government has been interested in mobilising private investment in support of its developing infrastructure for some time. Many partnerships and management contracts have been implemented and the Roads & Transport Authority has previously used a contractorfunding model on projects such as Phase 1 of the

new Dubai Water Canal. However, there have been no major PPP schemes along the lines of those implemented in other markets around the world and the key question now is whether the new PPP Law will act as a catalyst to generate a pipeline of PPP opportunities in Dubai.

Scope The PPP Law automatically applies to government entities that are on Dubai’s general budget but can be extended to off-budget

Whilst the more recent drivers behind the development of PPPs in Dubai are unique, the government has been interested in mobilising private investment in support of its developing infrastructure for some time

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LEGAL

It’s worth noting that Articles 12 and 14 of the PPP Law allow private entities to make unsolicited proposals for PPP projects and allow the government entity to contract directly with the entity that makes such a proposal.

There is no requirement for such proposals to be put to tender and no regulation of the intellectual property rights issues that will arise in this situation. It will be interesting to see whether the implementing regulations deal with these issues, but we can envisage these Articles generating significant interest within Dubai

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LEGAL

Trevor Butcher

entities with the approval of the Supreme Committee for Fiscal Policy. The concept of a PPP is broadly defined in the new Law but the key features that are required include intent to ensure the quality of services, the development of the government entity’s income, or any other objective by taking advantage of private-sector efficiency, financial and technical capabilities.

The PPP Law defines a number of permitted structures at Article 7 and allows other structures to be promoted by the government entity and the Department of Finance with the approval of the Supreme Committee. The PPP Law would therefore apply both to user-pay (concessiontype) projects or availability type schemes where the government entity retains usage risk and pays a service fee.

The PPP Law does not apply to electricity and water projects that are governed by the Electricity & Water Sector Law (No 6. of 2011) or simple works contracts or supply contracts that are governed by the Procurement Law (No 6. of 1997). Projects can have a maximum duration of 30 years unless the Supreme Committee approves a longer period. The default position is that the maximum 30 year term runs from signature of the PPP Contract - so not from construction completion - although Article 27 provides the PPP Committee with some flexibility to specify an alternative start date (see below).

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Institutional And Procedural Requirements We anticipate the implementing regulations will provide further detail on the institutional and procedural requirements that will apply to government entities. However, the PPP Law includes a number of specific requirements: zz Each government entity that wants to implement a PPP Contract must form a “PPP Committee” comprising of members nominated by the relevant entity’s CEO and, for projects with a total cost to the government of over AED 200 million, a representative of the Department of Finance zz Projects that generate revenues achieve savings or have a total cost to the government entity of AED 200 million or less can be approved by the relevant entity’s CEO zz Projects with a cost to the government above AED 200 million and up to AED 500 million can be approved by the Department of Finance and projects with a cost above AED 500 million, must be approved by the Supreme Committee A PPP Contract that includes payment obligations for the government entity can’t be concluded unless the payments have been appropriated in that entity’s budget. This seems to mean that in order to avoid a delay in signing, departmental budgets may have to anticipate such payments in advance of the completion of the tender process. However, once this initial hurdle is cleared, the Public Funds Administration Law (No. 35 of 2009) permits multi-year appropriations, so this should not be an impediment to implementing schemes.

Freedom To Specify Tender And Contract Terms One of the biggest hurdles to implementing PPP schemes in Dubai up to this point has been the application of the Procurement Law (No.6 of 1997).

This contains a number of requirements concerning tender conditions, timescales and contract terms that do not sit easily with a PPP procurement process or contract. The PPP Law deals with this by disapplying the Procurement Law other than where the PPP Contract contains no “clear provision” on a matter. This imposes a burden on anyone drafting a Dubai PPP Contract to ensure that all relevant matters are covered, but this would obviously be the case in any event.

Articles 14 to 24 of the PPP Law contain provisions relating to the prequalification, tender and selecton processes and PPP Contract terms including: zz Bidding terms and conditions and financial security (Article 17); zz Conditions of the PPP Contract, bid bond value, performance bond value calculations and means of comparing bids (Article 18); and zz Tender scoring and evaluation procedures (Articles 22 and 23) These provide the government entity with a high degree of flexibility to specify the

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LEGAL

tender and contract conditions on a case-by-case basis. The overriding award criteria is the “most financially and technically advantageous bid”, but the government entity has a discretion to specify the detail of this, including the balance between technical and financial criteria, in the tender documents.

It’s worth noting that Articles 12 and 14 of the PPP Law allow private entities to make unsolicited proposals for PPP projects and allow the government entity to contract directly with the entity that makes such a proposal. There is no requirement for such proposals to be put to tender and no regulation of the intellectual property rights issues that will arise in this situation. It will be interesting to see whether the implementing regulations deal with these issues, but we can envisage these Articles generating significant interest within Dubai.

Corporate Issues The PPP Law makes it clear that the successful bidder for a project must establish a Project Company to execute the Project unless the government entity is satisfied that the successful bidder has the financial and technical capabilities to perform the PPP Contract and it provides sufficient financial security. Where a Project Company is to be established it must be either a sole proprietorship or a local or foreign company licensed to operate in Dubai.

The Project Company will need to be properly licensed by the Department of Economic Development in Dubai. In practice this will mean that in most (if not all) cases, the Project Company will need to be an onshore Dubai entity and that free zone entities will not be suitable.

This also means that the local ownership requirements of the UAE Companies Law (No. 2 of 2015) will apply to the Project Company. Careful consideration will be needed where the project or funding structure anticipates

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an offshore holding company to ensure that the requirements of the PPP Law are respected. There are no specified levels of the interest that the government entity might hold. Any government shareholding will have to be held by an affiliate of the government entity or by a government-owned company and, as we understand it, this would mean that the interest would fall to be managed by the Dubai Investment Corporation.

Our initial view is that if the government entity does choose to become a shareholder in this Project Company, this would have wide ranging implications, not just for the tender and project documents, but also for the status of the Project Company under Dubai law and its potential treatment as a “Government Company”. These issues will need further detailed considerations if any government entity exercises this option.

Unlike other regional PPP Laws - most notably Kuwait - the Dubai PPP Law does not impose any requirement for any part of the Project Company to be issued to the public through an IPO, although of course if the government entity does take an interest, that could potentially be floated at some future point.

Funding Issues The PPP Law doesn’t deal with the funding of PPP projects in any detail. Article 36 provides that the government entity (in co-ordination with the Department of Finance) may authorise the Project Company to enter into arrangements with “banking institutions” to finance its business and activities. The Article goes onto say that in such circumstances Project Company will be “solely liable” for the obligations arising and this may have some implications for deal structuring that will need to be taken into account.

The PPP Law doesn’t specifically address the need for government entity/funder direct agreements. Most government entities in Dubai should already have sufficiently broad powers to contract such that this is not an impediment, but it will need to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The Dubai PPP Law is an overwhelmingly positive step forward in facilitating PPP projects in the Emirate.

The key issue now is how the deal pipeline will develop. l

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dMCC

The business of innovation Acknowledged as ‘Global Free Zone of the Year’, by The Financial Times fDi Magazine, we take a closer look at the digital transformation of DMCC and the role innovation is playing as a business development driver for the Middle East’s fastest growing free zone n order to grasp the scale of the DMCC’s meteoric rise, it is necessary to go back to 2003 when it was home to just 28 companies.

As a burgeoning Free Zone, the DMCC’s purpose was to enhance commodity trade flows through Dubai as part of the UAE’s national development strategy, in order to stimulate trade and move away from the country’s reliance on oil.

Fast-forward to today and, the DMCC has over 11,000 members including conglomerates such as Conoco Phillips, Rio Tinto, De Beers Diamdel and LVMH. While there are a variety of factors that have contributed towards the DMCC’s success the Free Zone’s ongoing momentum is due to its continuous drive to integrate the latest digital innovations and processes, in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Commencing in 2013, the DMCC embarked on an IT Free Zone transformation initiative that started with a data migration onto Salesforce, transforming all its touch points and interactions with member companies, allowing all services to be available and accessible at any time on any device.

Arguably the most significant development within the DMCC’s digital makeover is the interconnectivity provided through its member portal. Where previously physical documents had to be transferred, today 100% of the Free Zone’s services are available online, resulting in both a marked increase in ease-of-use for its members, while significantly supporting environmental sustainability through a 40% reduction in paper usage.

Once registered, members can benefit from the portal’s business eco-system, which provides direct access to the DMCC’s trusted partners, including services such as banking, insurance, mediation and real estate. The DMCC’s electronic security system also allows members to interact with other UAE authorities, again driving smart solutions to enhance efficiencies.

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As an extension of this service, the MyDMCC Mobile App was also launched earlier this year, providing information on the Jumeirah Lakes Towers community, including restaurants, schools, hotels and shops.

It is then a small wonder the DMCC has reported a 10% increase in company registrations in H1 of this year, driving an average growth rate of over 160 company registrations per month.

Speaking on behalf of DMCC, Executive Chairman, Ahmed Bin Sulayem commented; “Our transformation has enabled us to outperform our growth targets whilst allowing us to interconnect our entire community. You can find all our services and products online. Innovation and technology play a major role in how we at DMCC interact with our stakeholders and facilitate trade across the world.”

While it’s easy to see the practical and sustainable benefits of the DMCC’s digital strategy for its existing members, the Free Zone’s commitment to digital has also made it an attractive destination for technology start-ups in the region, most notably through its partnership with entrepreneurship platform AstroLabs.

Founded by local entrepreneurs Louis Lebbos and Muhammed Mekki, AstroLabs offers scalable tech startups a custom co-working space, mentorship and DMCC business licenses to start operating in the UAE. Acknowledged as the first Googlepartnered MENA Tech hub, AstroLabs Dubai has been encouraging and enabling top startups from around the world to register with the DMCC while taking advantage of Google for Entrepreneurs’ global network and resources.

To date, AstroLabs Dubai is hosting startups from 15 industries, with founders from 27 countries, having already mentored hundreds of companies in the past few years.

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Speaking on behalf of Google for Entrepreneurs, senior manager, David Grunwald said; “We are delighted to be expanding our international tech hub network by partnering with AstroLabs in Dubai, which has a track record of helping founders grow and thrive in an inclusive community. We look forward to connecting their members to our global partner network and seeing the magic happen.”

As an extension to this, and courtesy of Google’s Entrepreneurs Passport Programme, start-ups will also gain access to over twenty Google-partnered hubs across the globe from Seoul to San Francisco allowing a constant flow of information and ideas.

As expected from a tech startup, AstroLabs Dubai’s offices in the DMCC offer 6,500 square feet of co-working space, specifically designed for entrepreneurs, and feature a Google mobile device lab, five meeting and video conferencing rooms, a training and events facility and artisanal coffee boutique 59 Degrees.

Speaking on behalf of AstroLabs Dubai, founding partner Muhammed Mekki said; “Dubai has all the right ingredients to become a leading global destination for tech startups, and we are working towards realizing that goal. Going forward Louis and I are excited to continue building communities of entrepreneurs who make things happen.”

Certainly the union of AstroLabs Dubai and DMCC has all the makings for a second expansion of business. With alumni from AstroLabs acceleration programmes having raised over US$50 million while creating hundreds of tech sector jobs, new companies are incentivised by the DMCC’s fast-tracked subsidized business licenses, enabling founders to immediately establish local UAE residencies and company bank accounts, all from the comfort of their laptop, mobile phone or tablet device.

“Dubai has all the right ingredients to become a leading global destination for tech startups, and we are working towards realizing that goal.

Going forward Louis and I are excited to continue building communities of entrepreneurs who make things happen”

Ultimately, the most significant benefit of AstroLabs Dubai and DMCC partnership is the coming together of innovation and capital.

In a similar way to how Silicon Valley was able to flourish, DMCC’s diverse range of members will now include a mixture of multinationals and tech startups, where bright ideas can be directly communicated to those with the liquidity and vision to make innovation a reality.

It is perhaps providence that it is almost a year ago to the day, the UAE Cabinet met in Fujairah’s historic fort and declared 2015, the ‘Year of Innovation’, outlining the importance of embracing the ‘rapid changes and continuous development’ of the modern world.

To this end, the DMCC has not only embraced innovation as a practical way to better service its members, but also as a way to amplify its original function; diversifying the economy with an understanding that technology is the most potent driver of economic growth. l

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marketing & Advertising

Branding Yourself Everyone knows your company brand is very important, yet it is often the last thing entrepreneurs think of when starting a business and very often it is the marketing budget that is the budget that is cut in times of trouble, denting your brand and subsequently your image brand is essentially the DNA of any organisation. It is used to illustrate your company story; your vision and your mission.

Your brand should be used to communicate to the market, who you are and what you are about. As soon as client picks up something from you, they should know that this has been be sent to them from you without their having read it.

John Brash, CEO of Brash Brands, a global marketing consultancy, with offices in Dubai, London and China explains, “You have to remember your company brand at all times, regardless of size of your business. Ignoring this has done huge amounts of damage to floated businesses who should be able to weather a great deal of damage – just imagine what it could do to you! Your brand can be leveraged to change perceptions of a company in the market.

It is for this reason that it’s reputation can be tarnished at any given movement if any ‘off-brand’ behavior is perceived.”

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The Time is Now “Brand is the DNA and is part of everything the business does. It should be constantly considered from start up right through the business cycle and through the whole organisation right down to employees.” Says Brash when asked about when a business should think of how it is perceived.

He suggests first trying to understand your company meaning. As yourself questions like “What is it that you want to achieve?” and, “Why do you want to achieve this?”

Also be very clear as to whom you want to target. Once you know the demographic of your target audience, you are able to determine what do they want from your brand?

Does the brand need to communicate to an international audience whilst remaining focused on individual cultures and local market insights? Etc. “It is extremely important before any considerations take place to realise that a ‘brand’ is not a logo. It’s not uncommon for companies to mistake their logos for their ‘brands’. Your logo is only a piece of your branding strategy. Indeed, it a powerful one as it is the symbol of your company and provides consumers with instant recognition of your business and what it stands for, but a brand runs through the veins of an organisation and brings it to life.” Brand explains.

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marketing & Advertising

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marketing & Advertising

So what puts your brand ahead of competitors?

“Confident branding and a strong branding strategy uses design to communicate a message to attract your target audience – a message that instills confidence in your brand while distinguishing you from your competitors.” He further explains.

It has to encompass your point of differentiation and brand messaging e.g Vision, mission, values, brand’s big idea, brand identity and visual elements.

When speaking with your designers remember the two questions that should run through the process; who are you targeting?

What do they want from your brand? Does the brand need to communicate to an international audience whilst remaining focused on individual cultures and local market insights? Etc. Your brand must appear flexible to understand and adapt to any new customers to build their reputation in new and existing markets.

Success In Brash’s eyes, the only way to implement a successful brand is to, ”Adopt a model of ‘total branding’; whereby brand is considered in everything they do across every decision, business department, business practice and employee behaviour.” To do this takes considerable education for your employees in the form of workshops on your brand, company mission statement and company expectations, and ultimately, it must be implemented

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In a digital world where word of mouth travels as fast as the speed of sound, bad customer service from just one employee can greatly affect your brand reputation from the top down. Everyone must remember their brand and there should be no exception to this. The Chairman to the cleaner should all be included in the training on who the company is, what the values and mission of the company is and also what is expected from the employees.

Remember, your employees are your brand ambassadors that live and breath your brand on a daily basis. If you want to be known as an employer of choice, then who else but your employees can spread that word? Make them feel valued. Offer them bonuses, days off on their birthday, with a cake ready for their return to the office. These things will be remembered and discussed outside of the work place. Likewise, if you want to be known to offer impartial advice, don’t offer incentives for your staff to sell certain items over others i.e. retain a standard commission structure across all products and services. Your employees will talk outside of the office and word will spread that do this. How can you have a brand that is based on integrity if you are incentivising advice that may not be in the client’s best interests?

Always remember, in a digital world where word of mouth travels as fast as the speed of sound, bad customer service from just one employee can greatly affect your brand reputation. This is extremely prevalent in the UAE, where there are forums on social networking sites that consist of thousands of people and just one status update can substantially damage a company.

You have a brand… Now what?

Some businesses build their brand and then sit back and allow it to work. This may work, but with an ever-evolving market place, can you really be seen to sit there and do nothing? Realistically, would you want to work with someone who appears not to want/ consider change? Whilst you may very well be changing and keeping up to date with all new things business wise, your brand my be saying something completely different.

So how do you give your brand longevity?

“Measure and adjust. Commit to consistently measuring and understanding the image of your brand and stewarding it as the market evolves. Be the owner, guardian and nurturer of your brand. This is the only way to know whether it is sustainable or needs further development, thus maintaining a positive growth level for your business.

“We live in a digital world where information is readily available on any market.

Be proactive to the information out there about changes in the market and always be one step ahead of them – don’t wait for the information to come to you.” Says Brash.

Brash Brands Top Tips zz Tell a story with your brand zz Find a space in your competitive market zz Be different. Find a customer benefit that you can deliver with a competitive advantage zz Tap into Emotion. To create a powerful brand you must go beyond the typical discourse of rational benefits and strike an emotional connection with the customer.

Think Coca Cola and their Christmas adverts; they are all very nostalgic zz Build all your assets and messaging around your brand: every touch point, from the people you hire, the experiences you create through your brand and the products you sell, feed brand through everything l

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ngineering

ureau

Head of Structural Department

REZA SHAHSANA

Architectural & Engineering Consultants

ational

ADNAN ABTAH

Head of Supervision

Principal Design Architect / Director

ISSAM EZZEDDINE

Interior Designer

RAZAN NAJEE

Business Development

CHRISTIAN VASQUEZ

JAMIL JADALLAH

CEO / Managing Director

Lead Design Architect

AHMED ABDEL HAMID

KHALID KHAN

Principal Design Architect

AHMED SALEM

Principal Design Architect

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AT NATIONAL ENGINEERING BUREAU, WE BELIEVE IN INNOVATION, EXCELLENCE LEADERSHIP, STAYING PRODUCTIVE & STANDING ACCOUNTABLE.

“VOTED AS ONE OF THE BEST ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE TO WORK FOR IN 2015, BY A U.K. BASED WORLD ARCHITECTURE 100 SURVEY”

technology

Security Spending Will Grow Almost 4.7% to Reach US$75.4 Billion in 2015 Commoditisation of mature security technologies leads analysts to reduce overall forecast

orldwide spending on information security will reach US$75.4 billion in 2015, an increase of 4.7 percent over 2014, according to the latest forecast from Gartner, Inc. The increase in spending is being driven by government initiatives, increased legislation and high-profile data breaches. Security testing, IT outsourcing, and identity and access management present the biggest growth opportunities for technology providers.

According to Gartner, spending in areas such as endpoint protection platforms and consumer security software is starting to see commoditisation, leading to a downgrade in the forecast for these segments in 2015. While the visibility and growing awareness of the impact of security threats

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keeps attention on security, the bulk of the security software market is composed of mature technology areas where the penetration rate is already high.

"Interest in security technologies is increasingly driven by elements of digital business, particularly cloud, mobile computing and now also the Internet of Things, as well as by the sophisticated and high-impact nature of advanced targeted attacks," said Elizabeth Kim, research analyst at Gartner.

Kim said that this focus is driving investment in emerging offerings, such as endpoint detection and remediation tools, threat intelligence and cloud security tools, such as encryption. However, strength in these emerging segments

Increased legislation continues to be a driver for security spending in some countries, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and South Africa

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technology

With price increases of as much as 20 percent, this financial outlook will drive organisations to forgo security purchasing in 2015, especially in Europe

cannot compensate for the downgrade of the larger mature segments being commoditised.

Increased legislation continues to be a driver for security spending in some countries including Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and South Africa. Other trends in the information security market behind Gartner's latest forecast include: Trends With price increases of as much as 20 percent, this financial outlook will drive organisations to forgo security purchasing in 2015, especially in Europe.

As most products in security originate from the US, its dollar appreciation will trigger significant price changes in the conversion from local currencies to US dollars. Pricing went up as much as 20 percent for most security products in the European region, for example. Gartner expects the main customer response will be to forgo some spending for the next quarter or so. The rebound of 2016 will be due to a combination of deferred purchases realized in 2016 and the stabilisation of currency exchange rates from 2016 onward.

Growth in the enterprise content-aware data loss prevention (DLP) market will see constriction of growth of 4 percent to 5 percent through to the end of 2019.

Gartner market share data shows the stable performance of the top vendors in this segment in 2014. Given the rise of channel DLP (C-DLP) and "DLP lite" solutions, Gartner expects that the market will not exhibit such strong growth in its current form in coming years. Most established vendors in this space are transforming the way they deliver comprehensive DLP capabilities, and this transition period will likely impact growth in coming years.

The Future Through to the end of 2020, fewer than five percent of network security vendors will gain traction in the endpoint protection platform (EPP) market.

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EPPs demonstrate the desire by organisations to have as few agents as possible on endpoints. Additional agents incur greater risk of interfering with applications, complicating support resolution with additional alerts, and having to update and deploy products. In most cases, EPP and network security have unique buying and operations centers with different selling channels. Historically, there are few exceptions of vendors having success that crosses the endpoint/network operations line (other than VPN agents), but there are many examples of vendors withdrawing from the other market.

Fewer than 5 percent of organisations with more than 500 employees will purchase unified threat management (UTM) solutions for their branch offices by 2019.

Enterprise firewalls and UTM remain distinct products and markets, and despite their lower price point, the demand for UTM appliances will continue to be restricted to the small or midsize business (SMB) market. Gartner expects enterprises to predominantly continue

to use routers and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) links to connect their smallest branches to regional centers.

By 2018, 85 percent of new deals for network sandboxing functionality will be packaged with network firewall and content security platforms.

For the past three years, leanforward organisations have been wary of an advanced-threat environment in which bad actors innovate faster than traditional blocking mechanisms, such as firewalls, intrusion prevention systems (IPSs) and secure Web gateways, can react.

In response, the most widely adopted advanced-threat detection technique deployed is network malware sandboxing, which has appealed to well-staffed incident response teams.

Recently several high-profile breaches have broadened the perceived need for zeroday malware detection in a sandbox, but it can increase costs for the midsize or understaffed security client. Incumbent security platform vendors introduced less costly, often cloudbased, malware detonation sandboxes as platform extensions. l

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technology

What Lurks in the Shadows: Advanced Cyber Attacks that Hide in SSL Traffic By: Glen Ogden, Regional Sales Director, Middle East at A10 Networks

From Target to Sony, and Anthem to Ashley Madison, no company is immune to the risk of cyber-attacks and the resulting loss of customer information. Network security solutions can reduce the risk of attack, but these solutions face an unexpected adversary: SSL encryption

hile SSL encryption improves privacy and integrity, it also creates a blind spot in corporate defences. Today roughly half of all Internet traffic is encrypted, and this figure is expected to reach 67percent by 2016.

Attackers can exploit the SSL blind spot to sneak past security controls. Almost every network attack can be encrypted in HTTPS, FTPS, SMTPS and other SSL-enabled protocols.

Therefore, cataloguing every attack that can hide in encrypted traffic would result in a very long and boring blog.

Instead, we will look at how malware developers use encryption to evade detection and how their evasion techniques have become stealthier over time.

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SSL for Command and Control Communications The Zeus banking Trojan is one of many types of malware that incorporate encryption. Zeus is not new - it was first identified in 2007 - but it continues to be the most prevalent and dangerous Trojans around, having compromised roughly 4 million PCs as of December 2014 .

Zeus has outlived other types of financial malware because it is difficult to detect and remove. Plus, the widespread availability of the Zeus attack toolkit has enabled countless criminal groups to develop variants that are even more sophisticated and sneaky.

As a case in point, the Gameover Zeus Trojan leverages encryption for both malware distribution and command and

In an effort to avoid detection, new malware strains use social networks and web-based email for C&C communications

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technology

Zeus is not new - it was first identified in 2007 - but it continues to be the most prevalent and dangerous Trojans around, having compromised roughly 4 million PCs as of December 2014

control (C&C) communications.

For example, the Upatre downloader utility, which is often used to install Gameover, downloads the Gameover software over an SSL connection from a compromised web server. Once the Gameover software is installed, it uses peer-to-peer networks to communicate to C&C servers.

Because Gameover used 2048bit encryption and continually changed domain names, law enforcement agencies struggled to contain the Gameover botnet, although they eventually shut it down in June 2014 as part of Operation Tovar.

Command and Control (C&C) Gets Social In an effort to avoid detection, new malware strains use social networks and web-based email for C&C communications. Security researchers have discovered malware that receives C&C commands from malicious Twitter accounts and comments on Pinterest . Like most social networks, Twitter and Pinterest encrypt all communications.

Therefore, organisations should inspect SSL traffic to detect botnet activity. Otherwise, IT security analysts might observe client machines accessing Twitter or Pinterest sites and assume the traffic is harmless.

Malware Steals a Page from the General Petraeus Playbook Demonstrating how social malware has become, security researchers in Germany discovered a remote access Trojan (RAT) that

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Zeus has outlived other types of financial malware because it is difficult to detect and remove. Plus, the widespread availability of the Zeus attack toolkit has enabled countless criminal groups to develop variants that are even more sophisticated and sneaky

receives C&C commands through online email accounts like Yahoo and Gmail .

However, in an interesting twist, consultants at Shape Security discovered that at least one Icoscript strain receives C&C updates from Gmail draft messages. Much like disgraced General David Petraeus, who communicated with his mistress Paula Broadwell through Gmail draft messages, the malware attempted to evade detection by not quite sending emails.

Like most online email programs, Gmail and Yahoo Mail encrypt traffic. Malware

developers use this encryption to their advantage to evade detection. To detect malicious activity, organisations should decrypt and inspect traffic to email sites. Otherwise, malware could be passing them by.

In conclusion, privacy concerns fueled by the Snowden effect have triggered a massive spike in SSL traffic over the past three years. Today cybercriminals are hiding their attacks using SSL traffic to circumvent existing security controls. It is imperative that CIOs and IT managers in the Middle East familiarise themselves with solutions that uncover hidden threats in encrypted traffic. l

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hospitality

GCC Tourist Spending to Top US$70 Billion Over Next Five Years Hospitality and Retail Sectors Two of Middle East’s Fastest-Growing for Audiovisual Technology, from Digital Signage to Guest Room Automation

ospitality and retail will be two of the Middle East’s faster-growing sectors for technology, as tourists from the GCC are set to spend more than US$70 billion over the next five years, industry experts announced today.

By 2019, tourists from the GCC are set to spend US$73 billion, according to Dinar Standard.

Thanks to the rising tourism demand for megaevents such as World Expo 2020 in Dubai and the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, the region’s hospitality and

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retail sectors are set to adopt audiovisual technology solutions such as digital signage, guest room control and wayfinding.

As a result, the Middle East and Africa’s audiovisual market for hospitality and retail combined is set to reach US$782 million by 2016, a 65 percent growth from US$474 million in 2012, according to a report by InfoComm International.

In the UAE, hospitality will be the country’s fastest-growing audiovisual segment, at a CAGR

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hospitality

of 17 percent to 2016. Dubai is forecast to see strong growth, with the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing projecting 25 million visitors for World Expo 2020.

“Hotel complexes and malls are the center for social life in the Middle East.

Integrating LED seamless display walls with Big Data analytics can enhance the guest experience by capturing shoppers’ attention with mall-wide entertainment, trying on clothes virtually, and supporting advertising innovation,” said Jozef Dusenka, CEO, Leyard EMEA a leading LED manufacturer in the global high-end display market.

The Younger Face Of Marketing Digital signage in particular is rapidly-advancing, with 4K ultrahigh definition LED walls opening up new retail opportunities, according to InfoComm International.

“From ultra-high-definition slim bezel monitors to a range of intelligent, interactive LED displays, Sharp’s stand will dazzle visitors with a new line up of products and solutions that embrace style, design and intelligent innovation, suitable for hotels, restaurants, and retail outlets,” said Ravinder Kumar, General Manager, Business Solutions Division, Sharp Middle East and Africa.

Robust audio systems can also enhance the guest ambience, whether setting the mood in a restaurant, providing an immersive concertgoing experience, or unique shopping experience.

How The Hospitality Industry Can Move Forward For Middle East hotels and malls to implement the audiovisual solutions, they need integrated back-end control and automation systems to centrally

“From ultra-high-definition slim bezel monitors to a range of intelligent, interactive LED displays, Sharp’s stand will dazzle visitors with a new line up of products and solutions that embrace style, design and intelligent innovation, suitable for hotels, restaurants, and retail outlets,” said Ravinder Kumar, General Manager, Business Solutions Division, Sharp Middle East and Africa.

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monitor, manage, and control lighting, temperature, security, digital signage, and audio and video.

“Audiovisual systems can no longer work in separate silos - rather control and automation systems bring together data from various audiovisual technologies to analyze venue and mobile device usage, run remote diagnostics, and schedule maintenance – ensuring the top-line guest experience,” said Robin van Meeuwen, CEO, Crestron EMEA. l

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INSURANCE

Keyman Insurance Keyman or Key person insurance is the most important part of business succession planning, but often it is the most unconsidered

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All businesses need to think about the dark days. What would you do if your office caught fire and you lost all of your paperwork and computers? No doubt, you would have this backed up somewhere so you can you can get back to work with the smallest of inconveniences. But what would you do if your CEO or MD passed away?

Are they shareholders? How can the business buy out those shares? If you can’t buy these shares back, what would happen?

A key person is usually the director of a company or a senior employee that the company’s success can depend on and in the event of their premature death or severe illness resulting in them not being able to work the company will incur financial loss; for example, the sales director who

creates 60 percent of the new business for the company, if he dies a large proportion of that business dies with him. The second instance could be a director of a small to medium sized company who is crucial to the day to day running of the business and has generated a lot of good will for the company, in the event of their premature death or serious illness this could result in a decrease in the value of the company and they can take time to replace. Small to medium enterprise are usually dependent on one or two key people who are vital to the running of the company. How can you replace them?

The answer to this and all other questions is Keyman Insurance and careful planning.

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insurance

How Does Keyman Insurance Work?

Keyman insurance can be put in place to insure the life of the key person within the business, the company pays the insurance premium and is the beneficiary of the plan and therefore receives any benefit payable from the insurance should the key person die or become critically ill.

How Can This Help Your Business?

The insurance proceeds received can be used to cover expenses and help the day-to-day running of the business until a replacement can be found. The monies may also be used to cover debts left by the key person, pay monies to investors or simply replace revenue for loss in sales. In any event keyman insurance brings peace of mind to business owners and shareholders that the business can continue to run in the event of their untimely death.

A key person is usually the director of a company or a senior employee that the company’s success can depend on and in the event of their premature death or severe illness resulting in them not being able to work the company will incur financial loss; for example, the sales director who creates 60% of the new business for the company, if he dies a large proportion of that business dies with him

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Who Needs Key person Insurance?

Any small to medium enterprise or Limited Liability Company can be particularly at risk if the key person or key persons are not protected. Who within your business is vital to the running of the company? They may generate a large proportion of sales and therefore bring in a large proportion of the companies revenue, perhaps they hold a specific qualification that your business needs in order to run, they may have a wealth of experience that would be hard to replace or they may be a director or shareholder that the business cannot survive without. Think about the following people: zz Owners, directors, shareholders, partners and chairmen zz CEO’s CFO’s and COO’s zz Key sales people generating high percentages of profits zz People with specific qualifications or technical abilities who will be hard to replace Who in your business would the company struggle to survive without if they were suddenly no longer there?

Initially, you have to answer this question.

Who are the most critical people within your enterprise that are key to the success of your business? For example, Frank has set up his own successful and profitable manufacturing business in Dubai. He has recently had to implement new systems within the company to ensure the business can continue to grow.

In order to do this he needed to increase the company’s overdraft from his local bank.

Although there are other shareholders Frank is the main shareholder and spends many hours himself running the business and he has a great relationships with both the company’s suppliers and clients.

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INSURANCE

Dawn Franklin has been working in financial services for 14 years and has practiced in the UK, Switzerland and has been based in the Middle East as an Independent Financial Planner for 5 years. She has UK and international qualifications and prides herself in always aiming for high ethical standards and excellence in her advice and service and all recommendations are always in the best interests of her clients. Dawn says her job is effectively to be a problem solver and takes the time to really get to know her clients and to listen to and understand their personal and business needs.

Keyman insurance can be put in place to insure the life of the key person within the business, the company pays the insurance premium and is the beneficiary of the plan and therefore receives any benefit payable from the insurance should the key person die or become critically ill

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Why is Frank so important to the business? zz His staff members rely on him for experience and knowledge zz He is directly responsible for a large proportion of sales and therefore profits of the business zz Clients of the business trust and deal with him zz Suppliers to the business trust and deal with him zz The bank are comfortable that the overdraft will be repaid with Frank as main shareholder zz So what happens if Frank dies prematurely or becomes seriously ill and is unable to work? zz Staff may leave due to fear that their jobs may be at risk zz Valued clients may be lost zz Suppliers may now ask for advance payments zz The bank may ask for the overdraft to be repaid zz Revenue and profits will fall considerably All of this can be avoided if the right protection is in place, helping the business cover all costs until Frank either recovers from his illness and

returns to work or can be replaced in the event of his death.

How Much Cover Should Your Business Have?

This naturally is individual to each business but the general rule for keyman protection is buying as much as your business can afford!

However, a business protection specialist will review your business with you, ask the right questions and help you tailor make the right plan for your company’s needs. They will then source the most affordable and suitable protection for your company.

If you have been busy setting up or growing your own business protecting it may not have been something you have thought about as let’s face it dying is not something we like to think about especially when young. However if you want to plan ahead and ensure that your business can continue to thrive in the event that a key person dies or becomes seriously ill then keyman protection is vital to your succession planning.

Speak to a business protection specialist to help determine how much protection your business needs and tailor make the most suitable plan within your budget.

Protect your business’s future. l

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health and work balance

My Name is Ben Ouattara; I am a film director and the CEO at Beyond films a Dubai Based Video and Film Production company. I started competing in natural bodybuilding and fitness competitions for fun and as a personal challenge. This taught me a lot about working out and nutrition, but the biggest challenges and lessons that I learned were how to manage my time to be able to get in the best shape of my life and not neglect my goals as an entrepreneur

ot only did my lifestyle not interfere with my performance at work, it made me more disciplined, energetic and mentally alert than I ever was before - I honestly just wanted to have a six pack like everyone else but what I got was far more, and I would love to share some information and ideas that I think might inspire you.

It may be that I am teaching you what you already know, but sometimes we know what to do but we don’t do what we know, and small reminders can get us moving in the right direction.

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Day In And Day Out? Many of us spend 1 hour in traffic on the way to and from the office. We work overtime to meet deadlines and have to deal all day long with demanding clients, eat on

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the run, drink coffee to maintain energy high and when we finally get to bed we find it hard to fall asleep because we are still worried and stressed about work.

I know that this was my reality for a very long time! As an entrepreneur you don’t want to miss any opportunity and tend to have workaholic tendencies of putting work above everything else. Yes, stress is part of any project and there are periods where it is crucial for any business to focus on a big deadline, but living like this for a long time will break you down sooner or later.

Time Management Like many people I used to struggle with this problem.

I would often think that I do not have time to workout or to prepare healthy meals as I am far too busy. But where there is a will, there is a way!

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business incubator

I know many highly successful people with busier schedules than mines that find time to workout. As a matter or fact, some of the most successful and wealthy entrepreneurs in the world include a workout as a daily ritual. They simply made it a priority in their lives and so should we.

If your boss or a client requests a meeting at 6 am you will find a way to show up. So you need to change your perception of your routine.

Consider this a meeting with your health.

Counting Calories This is a big subject so I will not be able to explain everything about it in detail, but this is the backbone of weight management. However, in a nutshell, you would count your calories based on your age, your weight and body fat percent, gender and activity level you burn a certain amount of calories throughout the day.

To find out your exact number, Nutrition DNP in the Dubai mall offers free body composition measuring, and they are pretty accurate.

If you eat more than you burn will you gain weight, if you eat less you loose weight. To lose fat you need to be in a mild deficit, and therefore consume 200-300 calories below what you burn. If you exaggerate and eat 1000 calories less than that your body will go in survival mode you will feel super tired and drained of all energy. It will be very unhealthy and inefficient in the long run.

Myfitnesspal app To be able to measure my daily nutrition goals I use an app called Myfitnesspal. It is a great application. You simply enter or scan barcodes of everything you want to eat and it gives you the caloric value.

If we want to manage our money we need to know how much we spend and how much we make, The same is true if we want to manage our weight, but we need to do the same with our calories .

The Solution Is Balance Many people tend to go to extremes, they go from eating extremely unhealthy to wanting to eat salads everyday because they want to loose weight drastically.

Don’t diet!

The first 3 letters of the word Diet are D.I.E and most people feel like dying when they abstain from their favorite meals and follow strict regimens.

If you force yourself to do something everyday, you will probably end up going back to what you used to do before, so the secret is to find a nutritious approach that fits your lifestyle.

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Recent studies of the University of Pennsylvania showed that if you regularly sleep between 4-6 hours or less it gradually decreases your cognitive capacity over the week.

Interestingly, the tested participants did not feel slower or as though they performed less than usual. They were completely unaware of their productivity diving so low

Intermittent Fasting I use a nutritious approach that is called Intermittent Fasting (IF). IF is where you fast for 16 Hours and eat in a feeding window of 8 hours.

This may sound long but if you sleep 8 hours it means that you simply stop eating 4 hours before you go to bed and skip breakfast.

Initially, I was skeptical it works I am able to get stage ready by eating 2 large meals per day.

This means that I don’t have to worry about food.

I can focus on work all day long and eat warm big meals later in the day.

IF is successful as this helps to control cravings and detoxes the body. Personally speaking, since I started with this approach my energy levels have increased, my skin has cleared and I lost more body fat (currently 8 percent) while still maintaining my muscle mass. IF has been proven to help strengthen the immune system and is even used as a treatment for cancer patients who need to recover from the damages of chemotherapy.

OK, their fast duration is a bit different from mine, but it is based on the same principles.

For more information on intermittent fasting I recommend the audiobook : Intermittent fasting 101 by peter Paulson on audible No Diet Sodas Sodas in general are full of sugar that your body doesn’t need, so you should not have them at all if you are trying to be healthier. Needless to say, we all love them so if you still want to drink a can of pop, stay away from diet products.

Diet sodas or zero calorie sodas might have fewer calories but they have an artificial sweetener called aspartame. Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar and it causes your insulin levels to spike extremely high. This in turn makes you crave food and stores extra calories faster as fat because of the high insulin.

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business incubator

Make life easy on yourself and only buy food that supports your healthy lifestyle

The bottom line is that if you have to, then drink a real coke and just add it to your daily caloric intake, or drink water: the only real 0 calorie drink!

What’s In Your Fridge?

Make life easy on yourself and only buy food that supports your healthy lifestyle. It is nearly impossible to eat clean if your house is full of junk food - like the saying goes, “out of sight out of mind”. Throw or Give away all the food that you know should not be on the daily menu , and shop for healthy alternatives.

Green smoothies At the beginning of the year I discovered green smoothies, and this had a huge impact on my nutrition.

I always knew vegetables are rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals, and are considered a ‘must’ in any nutritious eating plan, but I am just never enjoyed eating veggies and was too lazy to hide them in my cooking. Now, with these smoothies, I just need a powerful blender and 2 minutes.

Green smoothies are a blended mix of fruits and vegetables. It is better to use more vegetables than fruits to keep the amount sugar lower. They are much better than juices because the main nutrients and fiber is in the skin and flesh, which you throw away when juicing.

You can find many recipes and ideas on www. simplegreensmoothies.com

Just Google the caloric information of your favorite restaurants and you might be surprised.

Please note though - this is not a suggestion to replace your salads with Big Macs!

Sleep like a baby Sleep is vital and we should try to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep every night. We have heard this over and over again, but it is crucial. Recent studies of the University of Pennsylvania showed that if you regularly sleep between 4-6 hours or less it gradually decreases your cognitive capacity over the week. Interestingly, the tested participants did not feel slower or as though they performed less than usual. They were completely unaware of their productivity diving so low. So even if you feel super successful and high performing, because you aren’t sleeping enough, chances are you are misjudging your state and could perform far better and sharper if you were to change this one part of your life.

Breathe We never really use the full capacity of our lungs to absorb oxygen and release toxins, and our daily breathing is very shallow. One great way to improve that is working out. When we exercise we automatically inhale and exhale deeply which is very beneficial for our brain and has a relaxing and calming effect on our bodies. Many smokers say that they feel more relaxed when they smoke. This is not only due to the nicotine, but also because they take a very controlled deep breath, which brings more oxygen. The oxymoron is that even though smoking is very unhealthy and causes cancer, smokers will benefit from the increased oxygen intake.

So in your next break leave the cigarette and try just breathing in fresh air and test if it relaxes you.

There is a very famous yoga breathing technique that you can learn in 1 minted and

Be careful with your salads Many restaurants add high amounts of oil, butter and dressings to meals that are normally lean and healthy to make them taste better and this is a big trap. I was shocked to find out that my favorite Chicken salad had 1400 calories - The equivalent of 3 big macs!

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will take you 5 minute a day to do and can have huge benefits on your overall mood, stress levels and can improve your sleep.

For more information on this Google : 4-7-8 breathing Multitask To save time in the gym and make the activity more entertaining I multitask while I workout. Especially if I am doing cardio I watch movies on my IPad or listen to audiobooks or podcasts that I would usually not have the time to enjoy. I used to learn Spanish while working out and save time by combining the two goals.

Take Breaks We sit at our desks, in the car, at home on the couch while we eat and not only does this drop your calorie burn to 1 cal/min, sitting more than 6 hours a day reduces

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I use a nutritious approach that is called Intermittent Fasting (IF). IF is where you fast for 16 Hours and eat in a feeding window of 8 hours.

This may sound long but if you sleep 8 hours it means that you simply stop eating 4 hours before you go to bed and skip breakfast

your blood flow, increases bad cholesterol which makes you store fat more easily, slows your brain activity, breaks down muscle mass, and is associated with many more negative health consequences.

Some people use standing desks, but it is enough if you just take regular breaks from sitting. Just stand up while you are on the phone or take small breaks where you stretch out, or take little 2 minutes walk every 2 hours. It will also refresh your mind to take a break from the activity you were just doing.

Ultimately, money talks. We all put business first but are we right to do this? As the Dalai Lama once said, “Man surprised me most about humanity.

Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.

Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.� Surely this isn’t right...? l

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Reading Financial Statements Do you know how to read your financial statement correctly or are you missing a trick?

nderstanding financial statements is critically important to the success of a small business and can be used as a roadmap on your business journey to economic success. Most business owners don’t realise that financial statements have a value that goes far beyond their use to meet costs or simply show profit – only because they haven’t been shown how to read them properly. Let’s open up the file and get to the bottom line…

U

Balance sheet The balance sheet shows your company’s financial position, what it owns (assets) and what it owes (liabilities and net worth) at any given time. The ‘bottom line’ of a balance sheet must always balance (i.e. assets = liabilities + net worth).

Liabilities and net worth Liabilities and net worth on the balance sheet show your company’s sources of funds. These are composed of ‘creditors’ and ‘investors’ who have provided cash or its equivalent to the company in the past. ‘Assets’, on the other hand, represent your company’s use of funds. The company uses cash or other funds provided by the creditor/investor to acquire assets.

Assets include all the things of value that are owned or due to the business. Liabilities represent your company’s obligations to creditors, while net worth represents your investment in the business.

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Current assets Current assets are those which mature in less than 1 year.

They are the sum of the following categories: zz Cash zz Accounts Receivable (A/R) zz Inventory (Inv) zz Notes Receivable (N/R) zz Prepaid Expenses zz Other Current Assets Cash Cash is the only game in town! Cash meets your bills and obligations. Inventory, receivables, land, building, machinery and equipment do not pay obligations, even though they can be sold for cash and then used to pay bills.

Accounts receivable (A/R) Accounts receivable are monies due from customers (debtors). The receivable exists only for the time period between the selling of your product/service and the receipt of the payment.

Inventory Inventory consists of the goods and materials that you purchase to re-sell at a profit. If your business sells a product, then inventory is often the first use of cash. It is

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Notes payable are obligations in the form of promissory notes with short-term maturity dates of less than 12 months. Often they are demand notes (payable upon demand).

Other times they have specific maturity dates (30-360 days maturities are typical). The notes payable always include only the principal amount of the debt very important that the level of inventory be well managed so that the business does not keep too much cash tied up in inventory, as this will reduce profits and affect the cashflow needed to meet your bills and obligations. At the same time, a company must keep sufficient inventory on hand to prevent ‘stockouts’ (having nothing to sell).

Notes receivable (N/R) N/R is a receivable due the company, in the form of a promissory note, arising because the company made a loan, or extended credit.

Other current assets Other Current Assets consist of prepaid expenses and other miscellaneous and current assets.

Fixed assets Fixed assets represent the use of cash to purchase physical assets whose life exceeds 1 year. They include assets such as: zz Land zz Building zz Machinery and Equipment zz Furniture and Fixtures zz Leasehold Improvements Intangibles Intangibles means the use of cash to purchase assets with an undetermined life and which may never mature into cash. Intangibles consist of assets such as: zz Research and Development zz Patents zz Market Research zz Goodwill zz Organisational Expense

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Current liabilities Current liabilities are those obligations that will mature and must be paid within 12 months, such as an overdraft. These are liabilities that can create a company’s insolvency if you don’t have sufficient cash.

Contingent liabilities listed in the footnotes are potential liabilities, which hopefully never become due.

Notes payable to the officers, shareholders represent cash which the shareholders (or owners) have put into the business.

‘Contingent Liabilities’ are potential liabilities that are not listed on the balance sheet. They are listed in the footnotes because they may never become due and payable.

Contingent liabilities include: zz Lawsuits zz Warranties zz Cross Guarantees

Notes payable Notes payable are obligations in the form of promissory notes with short-term maturity dates of less than 12 months. Often, they are demand notes (payable upon demand). Other times they have specific maturity dates (30-360 days maturities are typical). The notes payable always include only the principal amount of the debt.

If the company has been sued, but the litigation has not been initiated, there is no way of knowing whether or not the suit will result in a liability to the company. It will be listed in the footnotes because while not a real liability, it does represent a potential liability, which may impair the ability of the company to meet future obligations.

Accounts Payable Accounts Payable are obligations due to trade suppliers (creditors) who have provided inventory or goods and services used in operating the business. (Whenever possible you should take advantage of payment terms.)

Total liabilities Total liabilities represent the sum of all monetary obligations of a business and all claims creditors have on its assets.

Other assets Other assets consist of miscellaneous accounts such as deposits and long-term notes receivable from third parties. They are turned into cash when the asset is sold or when the note is repaid. Total Assets represent the sum of all the assets owned by or due to the business.

Non-current liabilities Non-current liabilities are those obligations that will not become due and payable in the coming year.

There are three types of non-current liabilities, only two of which are listed on the balance sheet: zz Non-current Portion of Long Term Debt (LTD) zz Subordinated Officer Loans (Sub-Off) zz Contingent Liabilities The non-current portion of long term debt is the principal portion of a term loan not payable in the coming year. Subordinated officer loans are treated as an item that lies between debt and equity.

Equity Equity is represented by total assets minus total liabilities. Equity or Net Worth is the most patient and last to mature source of funds.

It represents the owners’ share in the financing of all the assets.

Income statement Known also as the profit and loss statement (P&L), the income statement shows all income and expenses over a period of time – i.e. it shows how profitable the business is.

Remember that an income statement does not reveal hidden problems like insufficient cash flow problems. l

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Dealing With Migraines

Migraines are one of the most common health conditions affecting people today. Often stress related they range from mild to debilitating, and cause people to suffer from a range of problems ranging from blurred vision to nausea, causing even the best of us to struggle at work

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o stop this from affecting your bottom line, we speak with Dr. Atta G.A. Alkaznaji, Specialist – Neurology at Burjeel Hospital, Abu Dhabi to find what causes them and how they can be managed.

What Is Migraine And What Are The Symptoms?

Migraine is a chronic condition and presents as headaches that are usually experienced either on one side, or both sides of the head.

The pain experienced can be intense and throbbing, and may also be felt in the temples, or behind the eye/s. These headaches can be accompanied by nausea and vomiting, spots in the vision, blurred vision and sensitivity to smells, light and sound. A migraine can occur any time of the day; most people tend to get in the mornings, with the pain lasting for anywhere for an hour to 72 hours. People who suffer from them can get them often - Often twice a week, or even just once or twice a year.

People can also suffer from a migraine with an aura. In such a scenario, a person might have certain sensory symptoms; such as flashing lights, blind spots, numbness, or tingling in the face and hands, irregularities in their sense of taste and smell, or feeling fuzzy.

This generally lasts for 10 minutes to half an hour before the onset of a headache. Some people could also experience hyperactivity, food cravings, irritability, depression, stiffness in the neck, or constant yawning a day or two prior to the onset of a migraine. Fatigue and general exhaustion are also typical when a migraine attack is over.

What Are The Causes Of A Migraine Attack?

The exact cause of a migraine is not very clear; the reasons could range from genetic factors to having a brain that is more sensitive to certain stimuli compared to others (for example, certain smells).

Migraines are also linked to an imbalance in brain chemicals such as

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serotonin, as the levels of serotonin drop during migraines. Women are also more likely to have migraines compared to men, and their migraines are often triggered by hormonal changes.

There are certain triggers that cause migraines. These include a lack of or too much sleep, irregular eating habits, certain food or food additives, sensory stimuli such as bright lights, loud sounds and strong odours, stress, weather changes, alcohol and caffeine, or changes in lifestyle such as those brought on by travel, etc.

What Treatment Is Available For Migraines?

There’s no cure for migraines. However people suffering from migraines have to learn to manage them with the help of their doctor.

Doctors could prescribe OTCs (Over-the-counter) analgesics such as aspirin, acetaminophen, or NSAIDs (nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs) like ibuprofen, which can provide relief from the headaches when taken in the right dose at the right time.

Doctors can prescribe stronger mediation for those who don’t respond to the OTCs. Medication can be given as a preventive measure to curb symptoms of the condition as well. Hormone therapy may also be suggested for women whose migraines are triggered by hormonal changes.

Lifestyle changes play a great role in curbing triggers. These include a regular schedule with set times for meals, complemented with exercise and adequate sleep. Reduced caffeine and alcohol intake is recommended. Relaxation techniques and yoga can also help reduce stress, which is a known trigger for migraines.

However, it is very important that you seek medical attention if the symptoms get worse, as they could indicate something more serious. Headaches which worsen with movement, or come on suddenly; headaches that bring on fever and seizures, or those experienced after an injury shouldn’t be ignored. l

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THE PHILLIPS GROUP SPECIALIZING IN LEADERSHIP SOLUTIONS The Phillips Group is a boutique executive search firm specializing in placements in the MENA Region. From assisting Fortune 500 companies acquire and retain top performing senior executives or to advising leading Chief Executive Officers on developing their human capital, The Phillips Group has experience acquiring leadership talent from all four corners of the world.

WE ARE THE EXECUTIVE SEARCH SPECIALISTS. Call us now for high touch bespoke service if you are looking to hire the best in your industry.

M: +971 50 940 7537 T: + 971 4 352 2849 shane@tpgleadership.com www.tpgleadership.com

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