SME Advisor Middle East

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Issue 73 DECEMBER 2011 WWW.SMEADVISOR.COM

presents

STARS OF BUSINESS A LOOK AT THE WINNERS AND WHAT GAVE THEM the final edge Other stories: PREPARING YOUR EXIT STRATEGY

3,800 audited nominations!!!

PERFECTING PUBLIC SPEAKING

LOSING KEY EMPLOYEES

Publisher Dominic De Sousa COO Nadeem Hood Managing Director Richard Judd richard@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9126 EDITORIAL Group Editor, CPI Business Ketaki Banga ketaki@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9115 Assistant Editor Mike Byrne mikeb@cpidubai.com +971 440 9105 Assistant Editor, CPI Business Aparna Shivpuri Arya aparna@cpidubai.com +971 440 9133 Contributing Editors Ali Koaik ali@cpidubai.com +971 440 9140 Meghna Pant meghna@cpidubai.com +971 440 9130 ADVERTISING Commercial Director Chris Stevenson chris@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9138 Sales Director Francis Morgan francis@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9163 CIRCULATION Database and Circulation Manager Rajeesh M rajeesh@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9147 PRODUCTION AND DESIGN Production Manager James P Tharian james@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9146 Art Director Kamil Roxas kamil@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9112 Designer Froilan A. Cosgafa IV froilan@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9107 Photographer Cris Mejorada cris@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9108 DIGITAL SERVICES www.smeadvisor.com Digital Services Manager Tristan Troy Maagma Web Developers Jerus King Bation Erik Briones Jefferson de Joya Louie Alma online@cpidubai.com +971 4 440 9100 Published by

EDITORIAL What next?

We just wrapped up our Stars of Business Summit and Awards for 2011. The joint events celebrated the very essence of SMEs – their magnetism, their drive, the elusive quality that sets them apart from others, their confidence, appeal, power – in other words, their mojo.

Every company has that special vibe that defines them. And we were privileged indeed to host the magical buzz of over 1,200 business achievers on 28th November, through the morning summit and evening awards.

In fact, after the buzz leading up to our grand annual event, we are almost missing the adrenalin rush. Almost...

We’d be lying if we said we didn’t need to rest and recover, but what a wonderful time it was, and in typical CPI style too! Dubai Drums got the crowd in the mood and our publisher Dom rocked the party. The event symbolised the spirit of SMEs as we got through the day practicing the very SME survival skills we preach – creativity, taking ownership, having courage and a problem-solution approach, thinking on one’s feet, improvising, having a plan b for the plan b, learning from experience, having a sense of humour through it all and, most importantly, being open to change.

Looking back, 2011 has been a year of growth and evolution for us. We’ve taken the brand from being a magazine, to a converged media platform spanning print, Website, social media, events and more, and we’re also launching our mobile apps soon. SME Advisor has now become more of a business community platform and each and every one of you contributes to its success with your participation, feedback, expert advice, real life experiences and knowledge sharing.

But it doesn’t stop here...this isn’t as big as it gets. At the end of the day, business is about continuing to evolve and grow, and it needs to translate into benefits for everyone involved.

Which is why we’re leveraging this SME Advisor ecosystem we’ve created to provide even more tangible and monetary benefits to you.

And to achieve that, we are launching our SME Advisor Club which will provide members access to special rates and offers from preferred suppliers – ranging from insurance providers, lawyers, consultants, design and printing services, media and advertising, courier and logistics, marketing, PR, training, recruitment, and much more.

We will have a soft launch for the SME Advisor Club in the first quarter and a grand, official launch in the second quarter. SME Advisor Club members will get privilege cards which they can use to avail special rates and offers from our community of preferred service providers. For a very nominal investment, members will be able to save hundreds of thousands a year.

So how can you be part of this new initiative? By joining us as a partner, sponsor, service provider and, of course, as club members. You can mail info@smeadvisorclub.com for more information.

And, as always, watch this space...

1013 Centre Road, New Castle County, Wilmington, Delaware, USA

Branch Office PO Box 13700 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 440 9100 Fax: +971 4 447 2409 Printed by Printwell Printing Press LLC © Copyright 2011 CPI All rights reserved While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

Ketaki Banga, Group Editor, CPI Business Talk to us: E-mail: ketaki@cpidubai.com Twitter: @SMEadvisorME Facebook: www.facebook.com/SMEAdvisor LinkedIn group: SME Advisor DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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CONTENTS Issue 73 December 2011

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44 SUMMIT SNEAK PEEK The summit attracted interesting debates and discussions. Here is a sample of what’s to come in the next month.

Banking on business 46 MANUFACTURING SECTOR This November ADCB participated in the Middle East Manufacturing Exhibition (MEMEX), in Abu Dhabi.

Trade 48 KEY PEOPLE

Packing a bigger punch: SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

With most small businesses relying on one or two key persons, it is important to know what to do if those individuals are absent, says Dr. Ashraf Mahate, Head of Export Market Intelligence at Dubai Exports, and Vice Chair of the Economic Policy Committee, Dubai Economic Department.

Operations 52 BUSINESS PLAN

Shoptalk 08 TRENDS AND UPDATES

28 AWARDS ENTERTAINMENT

John Lincoln, Vice President, Enterprise Marketing, du, talks about having an exit strategy in place even before you start a business.

A quick look at news and events that will impact SMEs in this region.

Live performances from Dubai Drums and CPI Publisher Dominic De Sousa kept guests on their feet!

Business growth

14 SHELF LIFE

30 TWITTER BUZZ

56 LENDING DECISIONS

New toys for you and your business. Like you need an excuse!

Awards 16 OVERVIEW We bring you exclusive coverage of the SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011, presented

by ADCB, with du as Exclusive Telecom Partner.

17 AUDITING METHODOLOGY We show you how our Strategic Partners, Morison Menon audited the 3,800 nominations we received this year.

With the fast pace at which technology is moving, it’s vital to stay connected and we did just that with our live Twitter screens at the event.

32 UNSUNG HEROES Meet the team behind the scene, the unsung heroes who made the summit and awards a huge success.

34 SAY CHEESE We bring you snapshots from the glitzy affair, held at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai.

40 PARTNERS

Take a look at the expert judging panel, who chose the eventual winners.

We would like to recognise all our partners who helped make the awards what they are.

20 WINNERS

42 PRIZES

18 JUDGES

We take a look at the 28 winners and provide an insight into what gave them the final edge.

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The winners took home amazing prizes, and we had some cool gifts for attendees too.

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

Banks have a set of procedures in place to ensure that they get back the money they have loaned. Vikram Venkataraman, Director, Salvus Strategic Advisors makes us aware of these processes and what the banks are looking out for.

Management 58 INNOVATION Stephan Melchior, Managing Partner, Wilson Worldwide Learning FZ LLC Middle East, talks to us about the shortterm and long-term impact of innovation.

60 PUBLIC SPEAKING Suffering from stage fright? Public speaking is a vital skill in business. Sahar Moussly Haffar, Executive Director, Trans Gulf Management Consultancy, shows how to impress the audience.

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SME about town 70 START UPs Prashant (PK) Gulati, CEO, Optimistix Ventures, gives an overview of the StartUp Weekend.

72 DKV OPEN TRAINING WEEK We attended the DKV Open Training Week where workshops and seminars offered advice on topics ranging from public relations to finance.

74 IP & TV FORUM MENA 2011 SME Advisor attended the launch of an Arabic bookstore application, which is aimed at enhancing the advancement of e-learning.

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Industry watch 76 MARKET REVIEW Business Monitor International (BMI) forecasts Bahrain’s real GDP expansion to be 0.5% in 2011 and 1.2% in 2012.

78 MIDDLE EAST MARKET Zephyr monthly M&A report highlights the mergers and acquisitions activity in the Middle East in October 2011.

SME Speak Survey

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Marketing

80 QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE SURVEY

62 BUSINESS MODEL

SME Advisor, with Tickbox Surveys Middle East, conducted a survey to understand what employees working in SMEs think about performance and fulfillment.

Abbas Alidina, Founder and Director, Logicks.com, introduces the basics of social business.

64 BUYING BEHAVIOUR Every region has a different language and culture. Sawsan Ghanem, Managing Partner, Active PR, provides tips on how to brand our products and services to cater to a particular region.

Driving business

Sign-off 82 PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE SME Advisor Assistant Editor, Mike Byrne, gives a snapshot of 2011’s event hotspots and looks ahead to the SME Advisor calendar for 2012.

66 GOLF We bring you the highlights from our second golf day held at the Yas Links in Abu Dhabi.

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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shoptalk

trends & updates

UAE-South Africa bilateral relations

(L-R) Dr. Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry, South Africa with Atiq Juma Nassib, Senior Director, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry

South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies, said South Africa is the 19th largest investor in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), having invested R 3.33 billion since 2003. He was speaking at the SA-UAE Business Forum hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Dubai.

This business forum is intended to firm up relations between the two countries and continue discussions to establish a roadmap for mutual investment.

Davies said that the largest investments were made in the financial services sector, followed by investments in communications and pharmaceutical sectors. The

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largest majority of the investments were made in Dubai followed by Abu Dhabi.

Last year UAE was ranked as the sixth largest source of imports in the Middle East region (excluding Turkey).

However, Davies said that the UAE is the 24th largest investor in South Africa.

Minister Davies also announced that the South African government (The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries) has proposed a protocol agreement to the UAE for the direct export of horses from South Africa to the UAE. “Due to instances of African horse sickness in South Africa,

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

horses have been exported via Europe to UAE. This is a non-tariff trade barrier and also very costly for SA exporters. Horses have to go via Europe for quarantine, before they are allowed into the UAE. We hope to turn around the situation once our proposed protocol has been accepted by the UAE authorities.”

The South African Ambassador to the UAE, Yacoob Abba Omar, in his welcoming address, agreed with Minister Davies that the UAE is SA’s largest investor in the region.

“It has been 19 years since the first South African trade organisation held an exhibition of South African products in Dubai, which laid the

foundations for the current strong relationship between the two countries. The UAE remains our largest trade partner in the region, with total bilateral trade equalling almost USD 2 billion. The UAE is our 21st largest export market, and fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) to the UAE continue to dominate South Africa’s exports, with machinery and metal related products also growing in exports to this region. Oil is the biggest import from the UAE,” said Ambassador Omar.

He concluded, “During today’s event we have seen that there continue to be strong avenues for growth between South Africa and our close trading partner the UAE, with which we hold a special economic, social and political relationship.”

The Senior Director of Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Atiq Juma Nassib, said that there is great potential for new business opportunities between Dubai and South Africa across a variety of industry sectors.

He said Dubai Chamber seeks to facilitate business growth as part of its remit to represent, support and protect the business community in Dubai and they welcome any efforts to encourage this important partnership. He praised the role of the South African Business Council, which comes under the auspices of Dubai Chamber, and works to represent South African companies operating in Dubai and offers them a channel of communication with government entities.

shoptalk

trends & updates

Customising education For almost ten years, Ashridge has been delivering tailored and open courses to support management, build upon their leadership capabilities and review leadership styles.

These courses have evolved in line with progressive thinking in global business strategy during a decade of unparalleled economic and social change.

Ashridge Leadership Process open programme in the UAE offers business executives the opportunity to become the best

leader they can be.

Commenting on this milestone, Rory Hendrikz, Director Ashridge Middle East said, “The leadership landscape in the Middle East has taken a quantum leap in the last ten years. I am delighted that Ashridge has been at the heart of this evolution in helping enable the leaders of today – and tomorrow.”

Ashridge is a provider of customised and open executive education, organisation consulting,

virtual learning and qualification programmes.

The Ashridge Leadership Process is a five-day, highly interactive course, tailored to individual participant’s skills and motivations.

Participants work with a personal leadership coach before, during, and after the course to create an individual leadership development plan for future growth. It is this personalised approach that has been the key

to Ashridge’s success in delivering its programmes in the region.

“Unlike many other business schools, Ashridge prides itself on its approach to teaching. Our open programmes in leadership were the first of its kind on offer in the region and the fact that they are still oversubscribed is testament to our innate understanding of the business culture that exists here,” said Hendrikz.

Running from 25 th - 29 th March 2012, the next Ashridge Leadership Process will be held at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

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shoptalk

trends & updates

More job opportunities in the future The latest Jobs Index Survey conducted by Bayt.com, and YouGov, a research and consulting organisation, has revealed that the majority of jobs, in the next three months, will come from the private sector, with most companies looking to hire five or less people in the next three months, mostly to fill junior executive positions.

Over the next three months, 21% of companies in the UAE will be definitely hiring, with a further 28% probably hiring. The majority of these jobs are likely to come from the private sector which, regionally, has the highest hiring levels. Survey statistics show that Multi-National Companies (MNCs) will offer the most jobs, with 30% definitely hiring. This is followed by large local companies (29%) and small-medium local enterprises (SMEs) (27%). From the public sector (including government, charities, semi- and quasi-public companies), 22% stated that they will be definitely hiring in the next three months.

The figures are slightly more positive for a year’s time, with the private sector still providing the most jobs; 34% of MNCs will be definitely hiring, as will 31% of large local companies, 26% of local SMEs, and 23% of public sector companies.

“Statistics across the region are very similar. Companies for the most part are less likely to hire in the coming three months, though it’s interesting to note that local companies have the

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largest cumulative percentages of definitely and probably hiring. In that respect, SMEs will make up the bulk of employment possibilities in a year’s time, suggesting that there may be an increase in start-up companies,” commented Amer Zureikat, Vice President, Sales, Bayt.com.

Companies across the region looking to hire in the next three months are predominantly seeking employees for junior executive positions (37%), although there is also a relatively high demand for executives (30%), coordinators (29%) and senior executives (27%). Most companies (49%) will offer less than five jobs, while an additional 20% will look to hire between six to ten new employees.

In the same timeframe, a cumulative 71% of UAE companies that claim they will hire in the next three months, will look for ten or less employees; of

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

these, 48% will have five or less positions to fill.

“While it is reassuring to see that some hiring is expected to take place over the next quarter, it’s perhaps not surprising to see most companies are aiming to hire later in the year. With the global economy back on the front pages, many companies will be pushing potential recruitment plans out in the hope that the current Eurozone crisis does not trigger a regional recession,” said Sundip Chahal, CEO, YouGov. The qualifications most desired regionally are those to do with commerce (23%). However, in the UAE, an engineering education is more desirable (28% opted for engineering graduation/post-graduation qualifications). Commerce follows with 18%, and business management (16%). Psychology, social science and statistics qualifications came in as least desirable, with only 1%.

In terms of experience, managerial skills topped the list as most sought after across the region with 38%; computer skills came second with 31%. Candidates with mid-level experience (three to seven years) are preferred, with 23% placing them higher than those with senior level (seven

to ten years) or junior level (less than three years) experience, both of which ranked at 14%; those with very senior level experience ranked in last at 12%. In the UAE, employers look most for candidates with managerial skills (40%), and those who have an engineering experience (29%).

Good communications skills in both Arabic and English are a must for 58% of respondents across the region. Other traits that employers look for in candidates are team player abilities (48%), and overall personality and demeanour (46%). In the UAE, employers look most for the ability to communicate effectively in both English and Arabic (55%), team player abilities (47%), and the ability to work under pressure (44%).

The industries that are attracting or retaining top talent across the region are banking and finance (36%), telecommunications (35%) and construction (31%).

In the UAE, oil, gas and petrochemicals ranked first (39%), followed by banking and finance (36%) and construction (27%).

Asked about the attractiveness of their country of residence, respondents in Qatar were the most optimistic with 49% saying their country was much more attractive than other countries in the region.

The UAE came second with 48% stating the same, while KSA came in third at 44%.

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DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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shoptalk

trends & updates

Protect your online data

Symantec Corp. announced the results of the October 2011 Symantec Intelligence Report that saw Saudi Arabia spam levels at 80.5%, topping the global level for the fifth month in a row.

According to experts, the continuously high spam levels in Saudi Arabia could be a result of the high level of online users and increased opportunities for spammers to gain financially.

Furthermore, this month’s analysis reveals that for the first time, spammers have established a genuine URL shortening service that is publically available and will generate real shortened links.

These have so far only been found in spam emails.

“Cyber criminals are always going to follow money,” said Bulent Teksoz, Chief Security

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Strategist, Emerging Markets, Symantec. “Saudi is a key emerging market in the global economy and with cyber criminals becoming more and more financially motivated, we are seeing a consistently high level of spam directed towards the country. We also know that Saudi consumers are becoming increasingly mobile and are spending more time and money online due to the high bandwidth available, making the country even more attractive to spammers around the world.”

“As markets continue to develop in this region, we can speculate that KSA and other countries throughout the GCC will experience higher spam levels and a rise in cyber crime unless vigilant action is taken by consumers and enterprises

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

to protect themselves online with a cautious approach and upto-date security solutions,” added Teksoz.

Symantec reported earlier this year that spammers had set up their own URL shortening services to better conceal their spam sites and make them harder to block. The use of shortened links appeared to make it harder for traditional anti-spam countermeasures to block the messages. Spammers are preying on the knowledge that many people are familiar with shortened links through their use in social media, and have developed a false sense of security about them.

“Spammers are using a free, open source URL shortening scripts to operate these sites.

After creating many shortened URLs with their own service, the spammers then send spam including these URLs. These particular spammers use subjects designed to attract attention, like “It’s a long time since I saw you last!”, “It’s a good thing you came” and so on. This is a common social engineering tactic, and is designed to arouse

curiosity, particularly if they have a false sense of security around the safety of shortened links” said Mr. Teksoz.

Other report highlights: Spam: In October 2011, the

global ratio of spam in e-mail traffic declined slightly to 74.2% (1 in 1.35 emails), a decrease of 0.6 percentage points when compared with September 2011.

Phishing: In October, phishing e-mail activity diminished by 0.07 percentage points since September 2011; one in 343.1 emails (0.29%) comprised some form of phishing attack.

E-mail-borne threats: The global ratio of e-mail-borne viruses in online traffic was one in 235.8 emails (0.42%) in October, a decrease of 0.11 percentage points since September 2011.

Web-based malware threats:

In October, Symantec Intelligence identified an average of 3,325 Websites, each day, harbouring malware and other potentially unwanted programs including spyware and adware; a decrease of 4.3% since September 2011.

Endpoint threats: The most frequently blocked malware for the last month was W32.

Sality.AE, a virus that spreads by infecting executable files and attempts to download potentially malicious files from the Internet.

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All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. APC Middle East, PO Box - 53852, Dubai, United Arab Emirates • 998-4108_ME-GB

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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SHELF LIFE

Economise printing Epson has announced the Middle East launch of its new range of single and multi-function printers, specifically designed to offer high quality output, durability and cost and energy efficiency to small and medium-sized businesses.

The WorkForce Pro WP-4000 Series of single-function printers and the WorkForce Pro WP-4500 Series of multi-function printers that have been launched in line with Epson’s new Engineered for Business strategy. They offer laser-like looks and performance, combined with great reliability and significantly low cost per page.

These high-speed inkjet printers offer a genuine alternative to laser products and provide further cost savings due to a super-fast automatic double-sided printing function, reducing paper usage. Businesses benefit from lower ink costs with a choice of high-yield cartridges of up to 3,400 pages, and a print resolution of 4800x1200dpi that ensures clearer text and sharper images.

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SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

Promotions on the go Nokia has launched Nokia Maps Offers service, which provides real-time updates on available offers and promotions around the UAE, and comes pre-loaded on all the latest Nokia SmartPhones.

This service is a location-based pilot project, which delivers upto-the-minute information. By using the in-built maps and actual location recognition features on their handsets, Nokia users can see

exactly the available promotions and offers around them with a single click. The aim of this service is to help consumers find out about current promotions at the right time and place, and to direct them to the offer immediately by utilising pre-installed free drive and walk navigation of Nokia maps.

The new service works online on all Nokia SmartPhones in the UAE with Nokia Maps installed.

Picture perfect Canon Middle East unveiled the latest high definition models of its popular Legria series of handheld video cameras. Canon has launched a strong line-up featuring the widest range of Legria full high definition video cameras that boast exclusive features, such as touch decoration, HD CMOS Pro Sensor, and Story Creator.

The latest Legria HF M-series camcorder range includes the new Legria HF M41, Legria HF M46 and Legria HF M406 – a strong collection of high definition camcorders that combines the ultimate in picture quality with Canon’s expertise. In addition to the strong technical aspects, the new Legria series come equipped with creative cinematic functions like Story Creator, inspiring

users to produce creative family videos. This feature lets users choose a theme for their movie with in-built scene suggestions to add interest.

Another highlight feature is the Touch Decoration. This allows users to enhance their videos in a unique and individual way, customising clips with captions, images and animations to create personal video greetings. A supplied stylus pen also allows for more accurate handwriting input and placement of stamps and images.

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Music to our ears Featuring a simple and elegant design by David Lewis and an enhanced version of SonicMaster Technology co-developed with Bang & Olufsen ICEpower, N Series notebooks come with a bundled subwoofer. Creating a new dimension of notebook PC audio, SonicMaster delivers an expanded sound range, improved fidelity, deeper bass and more distinct vocals.

New N Series notebooks include the Music Now feature, a software suite that loads music files in seconds. Exclusive Instant On functionality helps users resume the notebook in a mere two seconds, while better managing the battery so standby mode can be prolonged to 15 days. The charging of USB-based devices occurs more efficiently with USB Charger+, a powered port that can top up batteries even when the notebook is turned off. With consumers using more portable devices via USB, this feature is especially useful and time saving. For improved multimedia and smoother performance, new N Series notebooks include 2nd generation Intel Core processors and powerful DirectX11-compatible NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M graphics, which enable high-spec gaming. NVIDIA Optimus technology switches between integrated and discrete graphics to ensure optimised performance and a longer battery life, while USB 3.0 offers up to ten times the data transfer speeds of USB 2.0.

Owner’s pride

horseracing. With a warm colour palette, subtle hand-stitching and other bespoke features, the model is expected to enjoy Ghost Extended Wheelbase made its particular resonance with the horseracing Middle East show debut at the Dubai culture in the Middle East.

Motor show. The combination of interior The Riviera Phantom Drophead Coupé space and performance present the is inspired by the world of yachting and best of both worlds to the world’s most references the clean lines of classic racing discerning customers, without any hint yachts, a palette of refreshing marine colours of compromise. and a selection of the finest tailoring.

The Thoroughbred Phantom Coupé In celebration of the centenary of the Spirit is a homage to the sport of kings – of Ecstasy, the distinctive hood ornament horseracing. The unique marquetry adorning all Rolls-Royce models, a diamondin this car represents the 35 winning enrobed commemorative model valued at colours of the jockey silks during the USD 250,000 was also unveiled during the recent Glorious Goodwood week of opening day of the show.

Photographer’s delight Panasonic has launched its new DMCGX1 digital interchangeable lens system camera, featuring high image quality and stunning performance in the Middle East. The LUMIX G Micro System realises high-quality photo images with real-to-life details through excellent resolution, image rendering and colour reproduction.

Precision Contrast AF system of LUMIX G Micro System gains even higher speed realising approximately 0.09 second of Light Speed AF. Consecutive shooting is also improved for 4.2 fps in 16.0-megapixel full resolution. The DMC-GX1 records 1920 x 1080 full-HD video with stereo sound in AVCHD format which is superior in both compression efficiency and friendliness with AV equipment for playback.

The hot shoe on the top lets you attach the optional tilt-shift Live View Finder (DMW-LVF2) of approximately 1.4x (approximately 0.7x), 1,440,000dot equivalent, 100% field of view. It is now compatible with UHS-I standard for the SDXC/SDHC memory card taking its advantage to extend performance.

The creative control offers a variety of colour modes; expressive, retro, high key, sepia, high dynamic, miniature effect and newly added low key and toy effect mode.

Effect parameter of each mode is also adjustable. Available in silver and black, the DMC-GX1 offers luxurious comfort in shooting experience with a stunning performance and a host of functions.

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

BIGGER AND BETTER

SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011: packing a bigger punch Building on the success of last year’s awards, there were over 3,800 nominations for the Awards this year. Presented by ADCB, with du as the Exclusive Telecom Partner, we bring you the coverage.

A

new benchmark was set last year with over 3,500 nominations, 22 winning categories and over 500 in attendance for the SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards. We decided that for 2011 we would aim even higher.

We raised the category number to 26 this year, which in turn helped propel nominations in excess of 3,800 – so once again we have set the bar a few notches higher and reinforced these awards as the largest voluntary event participation by small and medium enterprises in the Middle East.

Furthermore, we strived to provide a setting that would dwarf all that came before it – to take full advantage of the beautiful setting and of the temperate weather we accommodated more than 800 attendees for a gala dinner by the beach shore at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

SME Advisor is aimed at business owners and senior level executives across the GCC. Armed with practical advice, it has been

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highlighting key business issues for the small and medium enterprise segment since its launch in 2005.

CPI is a publishing house established in the region for a decade and a half. It is a partner of global players, including IDG (the world’s largest IT publisher), BBC Worldwide and Northern & Shell.

As part of a family of more than 300 magazines globally, CPI is uniquely positioned to take local news to the world stage and bring world news and comment to the local market.

Bigger and better As mentioned, the SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011 were presented across 26 categories, spanning industry achievement, business function and SME support partner. There were an additional two Special Mention awards for contribution to the business community.

Making to the final of any category was an achievement in itself and competition proved even more evident this year as even more nominations were received. Bayt.com was awarded the Business Star of the Year Award.

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

Many hands make light work The SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards and Summit featured even more partners. SAS were on board as Technology Partner, Morison Menon as a Strategic Partner and Heels & Deals and the British Busines Group (BBG) as Business Group Partners – besides a host of knowledge partners which included not only Dubai Exports but also Dubai Knowledge Village and Potential.

Strategic Advisor, Morison Menon, once again took on the huge task of reviewing all nominations before creating shortlists of finalists to pass onto our judging panel. The expert panel included not only Nilanjan Ray, Senior Vice President Head, SME Banking, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, but also Dr. Ashraf Mahate, Head of Export Market Intelligence, Dubai Exports, and Vice Chair of the Economic Policy Committee, Dubai Economic Department and Prashant K. (PK) Gulati, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Optimistix Ventures.

Our summit, which preceded the awards and was held throughout the day, recorded an attendance of close to 300 key decision makers, C-Level executives and entrepreneurs, many of whom were among the 800 plus attendance at the gala dinner.

For a complete list of the agenda summit and the speakers who participated, visit www.smeadvisor.com/awards2011/summit. php. For event photographs and updated coverage of the both the SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards and Summit 2011, visit www.smeadvisor.com/awards2011/2011awards.php.

presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

AUDITING methodology

TREASURE HUNT We show you how our Strategic Partners, Morison Menon, audited the 3,800 nominations and shortlisted finalists for each category.

W

ith their due diligence Morison Menon helped us find the deserving finalists for each category, w h ich was not an easy feat c o nsidering the increaased number of nominations.

There were 26 categories of awards put under three broad sections – industry achievement, business function and support partner.

To be eligible for these awards, the nominated business (or its nominated branches) needed to have a trade licence, and an annual revenue not exceeding AED 250 million. However, for the “SME support” category, large enterprises could apply as well.

The nominees had to specify the award nomination category, and could submit their application for more than one category, but had to provide relevant details for each category. All nominations were asked to give precedence to factbased information and to avoid marketing messages or branding information. The achievements detailed in nominations could not be older than 18 months.

For the purposes of these awards, the regional countries included were: UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, and Palestine.

The selection methodology consisted of three stages. There was initial screening

of entries, followed by evaluation and then the ranking of the short listed nominations.

The initial screening’s aim was to check whether the nominated organisations met all the criteria highlighted by us – a valid UAE trade license, annual revenue of not more than AED 250 million, from the Middle East region and completed application form.

The SMEs were then evaluated on their management strength, products and markets, operations, financial performance, contribution to national and regional development, and customer focus.

SELECTION METHODOLOGY

category. The judges also had the option to verify the information provided in the nomination form by calling the individual or company that had been nominated.

In case of a tie, the maximum score in a particular criterion in the following order was considered – contribution to national and regional development, management strength, customer focus, financial performance, operations, products and markets. The group editor of CPI business (Ketaki Banga) also submitted her scores in case of a tie. In case of a dispute, the decision taken by CPI was final.

Morison Menon devised the scoring and weightage for each criterion. It also shortlisted and evaluated the entries, and compiled the scores provided by the independent judges to decide the winners.

About

All shortlisted nominations were sent to the judging panel. The ranking was done by ten judges and a uniform scoring mechanism was used to reduce induced variability. Based on the details provided in the application and substantiating facts, the judges selected finalists for each

Morison Menon Group is a leading professional advisory firm in the UAE headquartered in Dubai and having offices in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Jebel Ali Free Zone and Ras Al Khaimah, within the UAE, and overseas operations in Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and India. It is an independent member of Morison International.

Services offered by the Group encompass, Investment & Incorporation Services, Assurance Services, Financial & Business Advisory, Performance & Risk Advisory, IT Consulting & IT Products, Property Consulting, and Compliance & Consulting Services for companies in Dubai International Financial Centre.

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

Judging methodology

CALL FOR VERDICT When we opened the lines for nomination submissions, the response was overwhelming. We introduce the judges who helped pin-point the winners.

M

orrison Menon, once again proved to be a reliable and very understanding partner and left no stone unturned in reviewing and short listing the nominations, before they were handed to our judging panel.

You can download the judging methodology at www.smeadvisor.com/awards2011/2011-awards.php

It is often said that it takes genius to recognise genius and our panel of experts did just that by helping us find the stars of the awards.

The panel of industry experts judging the SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards included:

Nilanjan Ray, Sr. Vice President and Head, SME Banking, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Nilanjan Ray currently heads the SME business in Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB). ADCB is the second largest bank in Abu Dhabi, promoted by government owned entities.

Prior to joining ADCB in October 2007, Nilanjan has worked in ICICI Bank, Bahrain, as Vice President - Corporate & Commercial Banking. Prior to his assignments in GCC, Nilanjan was heading Asset Products & Credit for ICICI bank, Business Banking (SME) in India.

John Lincoln, VP, Enterprise Marketing, du John Lincoln has over 20 years telecommunications experience in the USA, Japan, Europe, India, Dubai, Malaysia, Latin America and various other countries. He has extensive senior expertise in international telecommunications sales, marketing, business development and customer service delivery. John also has executive experience with general management, marketing, P&L, product development and revenue management responsibilities in both consumer and enterprise segments, for both, fixed and mobile sectors. In addition, John has an impressive operational and management portfolio of established proven expertise in incremental business value creation and management of large multicultural teams in Vodafone Global in the UK, Japan Telecom in Tokyo, AirTouch and Pacific Bell (now AT&T) in San Francisco and Tokyo, Airtel in Delhi and other telecom and technology companies.

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SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

Dr. Ashraf Ali Mahate, Head of Export Market Intelligence, Dubai Export Development Corporation

Dr Mahate is the Head of Export Market Intelligence, Dubai Export Development Corporation (EDC), an agency of the Dubai Department of Economic Development.

Mahate is also the Vice Chair of the Economic Policy Committee with the Dubai Economic Department. He has been the director of a number of companies including a venture capital company and a private equity fund. He has written a number of journal articles, chapters in books and edited books in the areas of economics, finance and banking. He has also presented papers at major international conferences. Dr. Mahate has provided extensive consultancy services to various organisations in the areas of banking, economics and finance.

Samer Renno, CEO, Renno & Associates Samer began his career as a journalist more than eight years ago, with assignments centring on major tension areas within the Middle East region. Prior to establishing Renno & Associates in Lebanon, and Renno Communications Group in Dubai, Samer was one of the lead PR practitioners to lay the foundation for the discipline in Dubai in the early 1990s and then moved to Bahrain with a communications agency in the role of regional development general manager-public relations and publishing.

presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

Judging methodology Shimi Shah, Chairperson, Carousel Solutions Shimi has been actively involved in and has made over 50 investments in early and expansion stage transaction, of which, many have been successfully executed with superior returns for investors. Shimi has established several new businesses, one of which is a startup and SME advisory business called Carousel Solutions.

Carousel provides assistance to startups and small businesses in relation to expansion plans, business planning, and other strategic initiatives such as capital raising and exits. Another business, called Tilly & Pinch is a social selling business in the accessories sector.

Prashant K. Gulati (PK), Serial entrepreneur, CEO, Optimistix Ventures and

President, TiE Dubai

PK is a serial entrepreneur, international business executive and mentor. With more than a decade of responsible management experience in several companies of international repute, Prashant has extreme indepth knowledge as a senior telecommunications, media and IT professional. He has been a consultant, designer and promoter of various ventures in the Middle East and India with some of the major state-ofthe-art projects of the region.

Alexander Blass, President and CEO, Alexander Blass International Alexander Blass is an internationally acclaimed innovator and entrepreneur, and grand prize winner of the Daily Record’s Top Innovator of the Year Award. He currently serves as the CEO of Alexander Blass International, an executive training and consulting firm based near Washington, DC. Mr. Blass keynotes some of the world’s most prestigious conferences on innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership, such as the 2011 Abu Dhabi Innovation Forum, the 2011 European Conference on Creativity and Innovation, IBM INNOVATE in India, and EPIC in New York. He was honoured as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Wharton School of Business, and was awarded the Arab and American Business Fellowship from the Young Arab Leaders in Dubai and Palestine.

Dr. Edward Roderick, Co-Chairman and Managing Partner, Envestors, MENA Envestors in the UK and Dubai has helped over 70 companies raise finance over the last five years. He is a Council Member with Gerson Lehrman Group and one of the most requested advisors globally.

Until the end of April 2007, he was the Senior Vice President of Global Logistics for Agility, the logistics and forwarding company. He has 30 years experience in over 15 business areas and has held directorships in over 30 companies.

Ivan Kramer, Partner, Potential With over 25 years of business experience, Ivan has been professionally supporting businesses and entrepreneurs to enhance their performance during the past three years in his role as a partner in Potential.

Prior to Potential, Ivan started his career in the military and then had a long career with Hewlett–Packard, starting off in South Africa and then being one of the first to start up HP Middle East operations over 14 years ago. He was awarded access to the Hewlett-Packard Achievers Club in 2002. In his tenure in the Middle East, Ivan has been responsible for the growth of the Data Storage and the Networking divisions of HP covering the Middle East and Africa regions. During his long career, Ivan has established several successful businesses in the areas of ICT, real estate, lifestyle and security.

David W. Moleshead, Co-Chairman, Envestors MENA David is the Co-Chairman of Envestor MENA and a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers in Scotland. He started his career over 42 years ago and has since worked in international banking in the UK, Europe, Asia and the Middle East managing teams which have been market leaders and won numerous industry awards in the UK and overseas. He is now Vice Chairman of ACUMA, a wealth management company based in Dubai. He has also been appointed as a Globalscot by the First Minister in Scotland to promote business activity for Scottish companies in the GCC. He is an active angel investor and in this capacity has assisted several companies on a non-executive basis. In 2008, he launched a business angels franchise called Envestors MENA Limited as co-founder and co-chairman.

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

Episode II A new note

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SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

presents

Business star of the year

Bayt

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

The one to watch (best new business)

B

ayt is one of the most successful job sites in the Middle East, offering a complete range of end-to-end employment solutions and career planning tools. Bayt is fully functional in English, Arabic and French, and offers fast, easy, and cost-efficient methods for employers to find quality candidates, and for job seekers to find top jobs, in the Middle East and North Africa.

Its edge in terms of service offered is demonstrated by its 12 regional offices in Abu Dhabi, Al Kuwait, Amman, Beirut, Cairo, Casablanca, Doha, Dubai, Eastern Province, Jeddah, Manama, Riyadh.

Over 6,750,000 professionals and over 40,000 leading organisations currently use Bayt’s recruitment services across all industry categories and career levels.

Shortlisted finalists • 3W Networks • Active Public Relations • Agile Financial Technologies • Al Futtaim • Bayt • biz-group • Coffee Planet • Divine • Ethos Consultancy • Innovative HR Solutions

• Intelligent Business Technologies • Lenovo • Monaqasat • Page International • Radiant Engineering • Rouge Couture • SamTech Middle East • Specktra Jeotek Sanayi • Splash n Bounce • Warda Fashion Design

CareZone

Shortlisted finalists • DGrade • fishfayce • Heels & Deals • CareZone • Intelligent Business Technologies • Just Wills Alwasiyya • My Ex Wardrobe • OKKU Luxury Japanese Restaurant and Lounge • Photobooth-ME • Platinum • Random Solutions • Ripe • Sept PR • Social Circles • The Brain & Learning • The Mediacubed Group • The Question Company • Toys On Rent • Traffic • Wild Guanabana • Xeratek Document Solutions

C

areZone benefits both companies and consumers while facilitating support for various charitable causes. The new mobile app aims to bridge the gap between brands and consumers in a socially responsible manner.

The platform uses a location-based mobile app that identifies an extensive selection of retail partners participating in CareZone. Users can see messages from brands that have made a conscious decision to be socially responsible.

CareZone will also come with a social media component that allows users to share their good deeds with followers, friends and family on Facebook and Twitter, thus encouraging them to support a cause through CareZone as well.

“When we applied for these awards we didn’t expect to come up trumps, especially as the list of finalists is so impressive. We are humbled and proud to have received this.”

Emirati entrepreneur of the year

Sara Al Madani, Rouge Couture

S

“Thank you. I accept this award on behalf of my team, my colleagues and my partners who have all made it possible.”

ara is 25-year-old entrepreneur based in the UAE. She studied film directing, which is her passion and then took a journey into the world of nutrition.

Sara and her business partner, Apple, put their business plan into action

in May 2007. They combined their knowledge and experience bringing a line of unique and stylish Abaya and Jalabya. All of the designs are free size, which makes it easy to order and faster for them to finish.

Shortlisted finalists

Technology and online

Bayt Shortlisted finalists • 3W Networks • Al Futtaim • Apple Search & Selection • Bayt • Cobone

• Content Syndicate • EmiratesAvenue.com • help AG Middle East • Intelligent • Telecommunication

• Lenovo • Monaqasat • Page International • SamTech Middle East • UAE Compare • Xpert Learning

• Wafa Al Kaabi, Al Futtaim • Tala Badri, Centre for Musical Arts • Nayla Al Khaja, D-Seven • Tarifa Ajaif, Go Glocal Educational Consultancy • Dani Alyamour, Imovation • Sara Al Madani, Rouge Couture • Rahil Hesan, Warda Fashion Design • Salah Ahmed Bin Masoud , Zero Five Five Telecom

“This is an award for my amazing team, and may 2012 prove even more successful than this year.”

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presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

Admirable women entrepreneur of the year

Shabana Karim, The Nail Spa

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flagship store of The Nail Spa, located in Mercato. Since then, the company has expanded to four locations and more than 200 employees with a huge following of loyal customers.

habana saw a niche in the UAE beauty industry. She took the challenge of this business opportunity, travelled extensively and carefully studied and learned the industry. In 2002, she opened the

Arab entrepreneur of the year

Sawsan Ghanem, Active Public Relations

S

awsan Ghanem is the Joint Managing Director of Active PR. She has lived in the Middle East region for the greater part of her life. Sawsan lived and studied in the UK for a few years where she gained her BSc in Chemistry & Management from Kings College, London University and MA in International Business, from Webster Graduate School (London Campus).

Sawsan began her career in PR over 14 years ago, when she caught the PR and communication bug. She founded Active PR in the summer of 2003 along with Louay Al Samarrai.

Sawsan has in-depth experience in strategic PR campaigns, media relations, creative thinking, crisis management and more.

Shortlisted finalists • Sawsan Ghanem, Active Public Relations • Rabea Ataya, Bayt • Isam Al Sharabati, Isam Al Sharabati • Samir Ibrahim Abdal Hadi, SamTech Middle East

“In all honesty I am really chuffed and proud. It’s great to be recognised for all the hard work. This definitely gives me the confidence to push ahead with future plans and take my business to the next level.”

Hospitality and tourism “That was quite a big list of fantastic finalist businesses!

We feel pretty honoured to be on that list! A big thanks to all the sponsor and organisers of this great event.”

Shortlisted finalists • Sawsan Ghanem, Active Public Relations • Amanda Dowie, Apple Search & Selection • Hazel Jackson, biz-group • Tala Badri, Centre for Musical Arts • Vivian Labib, Charisma Arts • Camilla & Lucy d’Abo, DABO & Co. • Nicole Rodrigues Larsen, Diva Modelling & Events

• Kelly Lundberg, Divine • Nayla Al Khaja, D-Seven • Nanette Fairley, Innovative HR Solutions • Sara Al Madani, Rouge Couture • Tina Mehra-Joshi, Splash n Bounce • Shabana Karim, The Nail Spa • Aysha Butti Al Muhairi, Wrapt

Health and wellness

The Nail Spa Shortlisted finalists • Al Najamat General Trading • Al Mashriq Medical Supplies • Aqua Swiss Middle East • Dr. Sai Ganesh Pillai Medical Center • Eastern Biotech & Life Sciences • Gulf Medical University

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• Hana Medical Supplies • PharmaPal Drug Store • Romana Water Purification • Sahara Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies • Seagulf Trading • The Nail Spa • Water Life Technology

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

Wild Guanabana

F

ounded in Egypt in 2009, Wild Guanabana is a carbon-zero travel company in the MENA region that specialises in creating personalised, life-changing travel experiences around the world. It was this uniqueness that pushed them over the finish line in first place.

Its founder, Omar Samra, the youngest Arab to climb Mount Everest, spent a number of years working in investment

banking before a series of travel experiences inspired him to leave his career behind and set up a travel company with a difference.

Shortlisted finalists • Banglore Empire Restaurant • Bateel International • Dubai for Destination Tourism • FoodFund International • Lama Desert Tourism • Sun East Tourism • Wild Guanabana

“I knew we were a finalist nominee but never guessed we would win. I’m just very excited to be here and thank you to all the sponsors and supporting partners of the event.”

presents

Retail

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

Bateel International

B

Events and entertainment processing, manufacturing, and premium retailing, Bateel’s success is anchored on a strong production and marketing organisation.

Having fully established itself in the gourmet confectionery industry, Bateel introduced its clients to a new concept in casual dining – Café Bateel. Offering a unique range of gourmet foods and beverages, the Café Bateel menu embodies the ancient Umbrian culinary heritage and a rich tradition of Arabian hospitality.

ateel International is a brand in the gourmet food market with an exclusive selection of confectionery, fresh dates, date products and other gourmet delicacies. It operates its own date groves in Al Ghat, Saudi Arabia, and produces more than 20 varieties of dates.

With headquarters in Saudi Arabia, a regional office in the UAE, operations in 14 countries, extending from London to Jakarta, and activities that include farming,

Xpanse CGI

X

panse CGI is an Awardwinning animation design visual effects company that was founded in March 2007 by Ashraf Ghori, who currently serves as Xpanse’s President and CEO. The studio originated in and operates from Dubai, UAE. Xpanse CGI is best known for creating Levity Xero Error Minus1, the first computergenerated science fiction film produced in the UAE.

Xpanse CGI established their use of computer-generated imagery when they started to independently produce Xero Error in 2009. The film had its world premiere at the Third Gulf Film Festival, April 2010 in Dubai. It was also featured at the 63rd Festival de Cannes, and the Tenth edition of Sci-FiLondon. They were also involved as co-producers of Malal, the first Indo-Emirati film.

Shortlisted finalists • Act General Trading • Al Futtaim • Al Mazhar Electronics • Atlas Safety Products Trading • Bateel International • Coffee Planet

• Dubai Gifts • Elle • Hurrah Pizza Restaurant • Sofia Gifts • Trinity Infotech • Zero Five Five Telecom

“To win one award is fantastic but to pick up two awards is truly humbling.

Thank you to everyone at SME Advisor.”

Shortlisted finalists

“Thank you very much and thank you to all our customers and our hard working staff.”

Best technology IMPLEMENTATION

Xpanse CGI

Manufacturing

Bateel International Shortlisted finalists • Bateel International • DGrade Limited • German Imaging Technologies Dubai • Independent Tobacco • Intercoil International Company • Jasco International • McPai and Company

• biz-group • Diva Modelling & Events • Mosaic Live Communications • Splash n Bounce • Wood Zone Technical Works • Xpanse CGI

• Pallet Company • Radiant Engineering • Shuaa Paper and Plastics • Products Company • Specktra Jeotek Sanayi • Warda Fashion Design • WMS Metal Industries

Shortlisted finalists • 3W Networks • Agile Financial Technologies • Al Futtaim • Apple Search & Selection • Bayt • Cobone • Commnet Systems Consultancy • Eastern Biotech & Life Sciences • Education Zone

• EmiratesAvenue.com • help AG Middle East • Independent Tobacco • Intelligent Telecommunication • Lenovo • Page International • SamTech Middle East • Xpanse CGI • Xpert Learning

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

Radiant Engineering

Media and marketing

DABO & Co.

D

ABO & Co. was set up in Dubai by Lucy and Camilla d’Abo in 2004. Starting life dealing with events before adding public relations two years later, its commitment to high levels of client servicing and creativity ensured rapid growth.

The company rebranded as DABO & Co. at the beginning of

2011 to reflect its evolution into an integrated communications agency, with digital engagement a natural extension of the company’s core services.

It now provides integrated communications services across 15 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Shortlisted finalists • Active Public Relations • Al Abeer Sign • Ameer Merzai Trading Company • Content Syndicate • DABO & Co. • Diva Modelling & Events • D-Seven • Printech Middle East • The Question Company

Construction and real estate

R

adiant Engineering, located at Sharjah Airport Free Zone, UAE, is a key partner for Perkins electric power in the UAE and GCC region. Radiant has been steadily growing its reputation of being a very reliable source for world class power generation products along with the ability to provide custom built solutions for their customers.

Apart from its own full-fledged marketing and service facilities in Sharjah, Radiant also has an Shortlisted finalists

“Thank you very much. This award is dedicated to our staff and to our customers.”

• Bader Darweesh Aluminium Works • Community Development Group • Humaid Al Qubaisi Contracting • Monaqasat • Radiant Engineering • Specktra Jeotek Sanayi

excellent network of distributors across the Emirates in UAE including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm al Quwain and are expanding into the GCC and other African nations.

Radiant has the expertise to undertake and execute turnkey projects including CHP power station, power house with MV & LV switch gears and complex installations including design of chimney, ventilation systems and HT cabling.

“On behalf of the entire team we’d just like to say thank you to the judges and of course to our staff, who are both gifted and hard working and without them this would not be possible.”

Professional services

Davidson & Company

D

avidson & Company offers legal services and was established by founding partner Jonathon Davidson and continues to expand by attracting lawyers with significant previous experience of practising in Dubai and throughout the GCC. Its team includes lawyers from the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Ireland and the

“We accept this award on behalf of our colleagues who have made this possible today and we dedicate this to all of them.”

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GCC and collectively has over 30 years experience in the UAE. The firm specialises in areas such as intellectual property, real estate, dispute resolution and employment and immigration.

Shortlisted finalists • Apple Search & Selection • Al Dharis Contracting & General Maintenance • Al Naboudah Rent-a-car • biz-group • Commnet Systems Consultancy • Davidson & Company • Deaifis Advocates and Legal Consultants • Divine • Education Zone • help AG Middle East • Innovative HR Solutions • Intelligent Business Technologies • Just Wills • Madint Kujrat Auto Elect & A/C W.Shop • Page International • Protraining • SamTech Middle East • Specktra Jeotek Sanayi • Splash n Bounce • Teksalah • Warda Fashion Design • Wood Zone Technical Works

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

Green business of the year

Radiant Engineering Shortlisted finalists • German Imaging Technologies Dubai • Radiant Engineering • Specktra Jeotek Sanayi

• Summertown • WaterWise Car Washing • WMS Metal Industries

presents

Trade

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

Bright Mark Building Material Trading Effective financial implementation

B

right Mark Building Material Trading is a manufacturer, exporter and supplier of plywood, MDF, boards, steel, structural steel, timber, cement, paints, hardware, construction chemicals and other allied building materials in various grades and sizes.

It is located in business centres of Dubai, UAE, Shandong Province of China and Karnataka State of India.

Bright Mark Building Material Trading demonstrated a willingness to share good quality materials, better services and competitive prices with their customers to get bright, for a steady growth and profitable future.

Agile Financial Technologies

A

“Thank you to all the sponsors here and to CPI. More importantly, thanks to all the staff for getting us here today.”

gile Financial Technologies was formed by acquiring and merging strategic software products technology companies in the space of software solutions, technology services, BPO (business process outsourcing) and KPO (knowledge process outsourcing).

It brings the energy and agility of a young enterprise, and the wisdom and rich experience that is given by a cumulative 45 operating

years of the constituent enterprises that are now Agile Financial Technologies.

Its strategic intent is to serve businesses in the banking, financial and insurance sectors by providing outsourcing options for clients’ processes and back office, thus enabling them to focus on their core business.

Shortlisted finalists • ACA International Commerce • Bright Mark Building Material Trading • Deep Seafood Company • Jayinee Foodstuff • McPai and Company

• Pallet Company • Radiant Engineering • Redrose Readymade Garments • Silex General Trading • Spectkra Jeotek Sanayi • Tradewell

Incredibly innovative approach

My Ex Wardrobe

F

ounded in May 2011 by Teagan Rowlands, with her sisters Sian Rowlands and Bekki Britton, My Ex Wardrobe provides a platform for people to

buy and sell their good-condition second-hand clothes. This company specialises in high-street to high-end items.

The business is an environmentally friendly initiative and helps reduce, recycle, reuse and reown, providing people a chance to clear their wardrobes, contribute to the environment, and, earn small amounts to buy new stuff.

“Thank you to all the sponsors here and to CPI and I’d like to dedicate this to our very hard working team.”

Shortlisted finalists • Agile Financial Technologies • Al Futtaim • DABO & Co. • Eastern Biotech & Life Sciences • Intelligent Telecommunication • Jasco International • Just Wills • Radiant Engineering

Finance - SME support partners “Thank you very much to SME, to the judges and to the sponsors. We’ve been working hard and it’s nice to receive recognition for that hardwork.”

Shortlisted finalists • 3W Networks • DABO & Co. • Davidson & Company • Ethos Consultancy

• FoodFund International • Innovative HR Solutions • Jayinee Foodstuff • McPai and Company

• My Ex Wardrobe • Rouge Couture • Silex General Trading • Specktra Jeotek Sanayi • Teksalah

Agile Financial Technologies Shortlisted finalists • Agile Financial Technologies • Al Futtaim • Ethos Consultancy

• help AG Middle East • Just Wills

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

FoodFund International Middle East

F

Innovative HR Solutions

F

Impressive management policies

oodFund International manages restaurants such as The Meat Co. and Ribs and Rumps. Their international headquarters in North Ryde, Sydney, Australia, oversees the operation of all their restaurants around the globe.

FoodFund International has established and grown a base of concept and

Business setup - SME SUPPORT PARTNERS

branded restaurants both locally and internationally. It owns and manages food brands across South Africa, Australia, Middle East and London.

ounded in 1999, and staffed with professionals who have extensive human resources and systems experience, Innovative HR Solutions assists companies in improving their human resources function. Since the company’s establishment the firm has worked with clients from a variety of industries including construction, health care, highShortlisted finalists

“A big thanks to all our hard working staff and to SME Advisor for this award. It’s a great feeling when hard work is recognised.”

• Bayt • biz-group • Davidson & Company • Innovative HR Solutions

“It’s really a great honour to be up here on stage and be recognised by SME Advisor and CPI management. The award truly goes to the entire team at FoodFund International, where we work as one team and one family.”

tech, manufacturing and telecommunications.

Through its own proprietary Internet-based employee survey system, the firm’s services include four unique products: the Comprehensive Employee opinion survey, the Company check-up, the New hire survey and the Exit interview questionnaire.

Shortlisted finalists • ACA International Commerce • Agile Financial Technologies • Coffee Planet • DABO & Co.

• FoodFund International • Isam Al Sharabati • Jasco International • Lama Desert Tourism

• McPai and Company • Specktra Jeotek Sanayi • Summertown • Tradewell • Zero Five Five Telecom

Consultants - SME SUPPORT PARTNERS

Ethos Consultancy

O

riginating in the UK in 1995, Ethos relocated to Dubai in 2004. Robert Keay is the Founder and Managing Director of Ethos Consultancy. A team of

“Again I’d like to thank everyone at SME Advisor and everyone from my team. It’s great to receive this award in recognition of the work we all do.”

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three has matured to 40 in response to a very healthy and continually expanding client portfolio covering small, medium and large enterprises in both the private and public sectors. Ethos Consultancy operates with partners in Oman, Qatar and Canada.

In his search for a worldwide standard in service excellence, Robert co-founded The International Customer Service Institute (TICSI). TICSI has developed the only global customer service standard (TICSS), a practical guide on delivering service excellence; working with private and public organisations at both local and international levels in the service quality sector.

Shortlisted finalists • ACA International Commerce • DABO & Co. • Deaifis Advocates and Legal Consultants

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

• Ethos Consultancy • Innovative HR Solutions • Just Wills • Roca Sanitario • Xpanse CGI

Transportation and logistics - SME SUPPORT PARTNERS

Al Ain Oil Field Services

S

ince its inception in 1992 this company has come a long way, providing services for civil, electrical, mechanical and general contracting. Over the years, Al Ain Oilfield has expanded its base by including general building construction and maintenance in its domain, and which has now became its main area.

Shortlisted finalists • AVT Best Cargo • Al Ain Oil Field Services • Globe Trekkers • Glorious Hands

• Murshid Al Shihhi Transport • Thames Shipping • Ocean Front Shipping • UniWorld Shipping • SAL Logistics • World Shipping & Logistics • SamTech Middle East

ICT support and services SME SUPPORT PARTNERS

3W Networks

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W Networks has been successfully operating in the Middle East and Africa region for over 11 years. It is a technology based communications contractor and systems integrator principally involved in providing integrated communication solutions to the Oil and Gas, power utilities and private telecom operators. 3W Networks offers its clients a comprehensive range of advanced technology communication solutions to suit any application involving telecommunication backbone networks, voice and data networks and safety and security solutions.

Shortlisted finalists • Agile Financial Technologies • Al Futtaim • Imovation • Intelligent Business Technologies • Intelligent Telecommunication • Page International • SamTech Middle East • Teksalah • Xpert Learning • 3W Networks

“Firstly a big thanks to CPI and to all the sponsors. We are delighted to accept this award and thank everyone at 3W Networks for all their hard work.”

SPECIAL MENTION: CONTRIBUTION TO THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

British Business Group, Dubai and Northern Emirates

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he BBG was founded in 1987 and operates under the auspices of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The BBG is led by a committee of annually elected members and the professionally staffed office supports the Committee and manages the Group’s administration.

It currently has a membership of over 700 individual companies with a common interest of promoting trade between the UK and the UAE, most specifically Dubai and the Northern Emirates. Monthly forum luncheons and reception dinners, together with informal networking provide a forum for members and guests to discuss their views and concerns.

Guest speakers from the British Government, the commercial world of the UK and the UAE government, together with local business personalities are invited to speak at these functions and take questions.

“The British Business Group has been working very hard to help SMEs in the region and receiving recognition lets us know that we are moving in the right direction with our initiatives.”

presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

SPECIAL MENTION: CONTRIBUTION TO THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

John Lincoln, Vice President, Enterprise Marketing, du

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ohn contribution to the SME community never wavers. Not only does he provide advisory sessions to SMEs in his spare time and free-of-charge, but is very active with both blogging at with articles which he contributes to SME Advisor.

At present John is in the final stages of finishing a book which explores how businesses can grow and achieve sustainability and which is scheduled for publication by February 2012.

“A big thanks to both SME He has over 20 years experience in Advisor and CPI for this award – telecommunications in the USA, Japan, it’s truly appreciated. I’d also like Europe, India, Dubai, Malaysia, Latin to thank all of my team for their America and various other countries. hard work and may 2012 be as He has extensive senior expertise in international telecommunications sales, much of a success as 2011.” marketing, business development and customer service delivery. management responsibilities in both John also has executive experience consumer and enterprise segments for with general management, marketing, both the fixed and mobile sectors.

P&L, product development and revenue

People’s Choice award

Diva Modelling & Events

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iva Modelling & Events is an integrated modelling, events management and strategic communications consultancy. It services reputable clients around the world from its corporate headquarters in Dubai. It has international reach and local knowledge.

“That was quite a big list of fantastic finalist businesses! We feel pretty honoured to be on that list! Big thanks to all the sponsors and organisers of this great event.”

Shortlisted finalists • 3W Networks • Al Futtaim • Bateel International • Bayt • biz-group • Centre for Musical Arts • Charisma Arts

• Coffee Planet • DABO & Co. • Diva Modelling & Events • Divine • D-Seven • Ethos Consultancy • FoodFund International

• Heels & Deals • help AG Middle East • Lama Desert Tourism • Lenovo • My Ex Wardrobe • Splash n Bounce • Summertown • The Nail Spa

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Awards entertainment

Beat it!

We at SME Advisor believe in working hard but also taking

biochemist, an animal rescuer, a professional singer, a publisher. We don’t know how all that adds up, but it definitely defines who he is, and how he has nurtured CPI. We opened the award ceremony with the background of Mission Not Impossible to honour our winners and

their entrepreneurial spirit. The Star Wars theme played as we narrated the story of our awards and introduced our partners to the audience. All in all, it was an evening filled with sweet anticipation, music and a lot of happy faces.

time out to enjoy our work.

The awards was packed with entertainment, from the beats of Dubai Drums to all-time classic hits from CPI’s very own (L-R) The introduction video to the awards and the video introducing the prizes for some lucky attendees

Dominic De Sousa.

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art of the entertainment was a fabulous performance by Dubai Drums. It was started

by Julie-Ann Odell in 2002. She is an experienced drum circle facilitator who has used rhythm work and group drumming extensively as a tool for team building in the UAE and the Gulf Region.

Drumming is the oldest known form of teambuilding and Dubai Drums believes in Unity in Rhythm. They have 12-15 core drummers and a huge pool of freelance drummers. These drummers are of different nationalities and they bring with them their drumming cultures.

The audience was also entertained by CPI Publisher Dominic De Sousa, a science graduate, has worked in publishing for over 25 years. From a mere one magazine set up 18 years ago, Dom has grown CPI into a publishing powerhouse with a difference.

Instilling a sense of innovation across the company, CPI in many ways embodies Dom’s free thinking and openness to create value for the industry. With a passion to take local developments global and introduce global innovation to the region, Dom has ensured that every CPI initiative sets standards in the industry. However, there is more to Dom than just CPI. In his life, he has been many things: an advertising salesman, a shop manager, a

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The performance by Dubai Drums was a big crowd pleaser

CPI Publisher, Dominic De Sousa, kept the audience on their feet!

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

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THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

Twitter buzz

TALK OF THE TOWN With the fast pace at which technology is moving, it’s vital that businesses keep up-to-date. Social networking is a means of instant communication that can prove invaluable to SMEs and so what better way to facilitate conversation and interaction than at our summit.

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uring the SME Advisor Summit and the business awards we thought we would lead by example and open the event to social networking.

This was not only to interact with and update those businesses that could not update, but we also encouraged those who weren’t present to pose questions through our live feed. Screens were set up behind

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and general corporate tweets naturally complements one another – a personal tweet from a CEO can help bring a personal dimension to a business and put a face and voice to an SME. Let’s take a look at a couple of tweets during the awards: pkgulati PK Dan Stuart @danstuart - Honest, from the heart, as always! Awesome journey, lucid story @SMEadvisorME Summit #SME2011ME @prprofessionals #SME2011ME Packed session at The SME Business Summit Jumeirah Beach Hotel http://t.co/FbFIcOuX

the stage in the main auditorium and live tweeting was ongoing while the summit picked up pace.

Our event saw a huge response to the call for interaction through twitter – there were personal tweets by entrepreneurs and tweets by companies. It was a perfect example of how social media is entering the corporate world! What businesses should take note of is that both personal

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

@shimishah Interesting speakers #SME2011ME practical strategies for SMEs @salhal1 @SMEadvisorME #SME2011ME small business instead of medium size is the way to go to maintain quality.

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THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

Twitter buzz @rebelnetwork Most sme’s are not strategic they are opportunistic- I agree #sme2011me @edsouza5 “@SMEadvisorME: #SME2011ME Winner of Health and wellness - The Nail Spa http://t. co/55cN1tKa” congratulations! @prpfrosessionals #SME2011ME Packed session at The SME Business Summit Jumeirah Beach Hotel http://t.co/FbFIcOuX @heelsanddeals The jumeira beach club auditorium is filled with SME’s as the summit is about to start #SME2011ME http://t.co/QR2rAAdK @bbgdepchairman Daud Noorzai, Operations Manager, Cava, up on the stage - #SME2011ME http://t.co/ Djk4YJDt @gitdubai Packed sessions @SMEadvisorME summit http://t.co/6g7Wm9QP http://t.co/asmEaKKG #sme2011me @rtilani Hedi Larbi of the World Bank telling it like it is. No coddling or sugar-coating.

Solid advice. Love it. #SME2011ME http://t.co/1sGOmGSI @gitdubai The #sme2011me Awards ceremony comes to a wonderful end with some 800+ guest at a lavish Gala Dinnerhttp://t.co/rY3MKFlW @sachholden #sme2011me fantastic panellists @dxbdiva Co founder of @MojoGallery and @mojo_pr Mark Rogers talking about branding at the #SME2011ME http://t.co/05Y9FYvN @judhi @salhal1 @smeadvisorme #sme2011me Sun Tzu strategy is not offensive. It advises to avoid war at the first place.

@carezone We’re at the @SMEadvisorME Stars of Business Summit 2011. Glad to see so much support for small businesses!#SME2011ME http://t.co/z4ixpPS1

@payalkeswani @dubaitara: Woohoo cogratulations to @WildGuanabana on their first #SME2011ME award! You guys rock!” @HeelandDeals Roger Harrop at #sme2011me ‘you now need to be exceptional at what you do’. @SMEadvisorME

@barryjnr78 @alexjmarr Good Luck at the SME Advisor Awards this evening Xeratek #SME2011ME

@prprofessionals #SME2011ME Marketing Magic: Phil Bedford - Rebel Networker says: PR is the most effective way of marketing! Woohooo!

Love it!@SMEadvisorME

@sianth Huge Congratulations @WildGuanabana for their #SME2011ME Award Amazing news! @omarsamra

@kellylundberg Easy to be a busy fool, focus on the bottom line says Rodger Harrop #sme2011me

To continue following the work we do here at SME Advisor and to get regular updates on events, road shows, conferences and much more, join us on the following social networks: Twitter: @SMEadvisorME Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/SMEAdvisor-ME Linkedin: SME Advisor Middle East

@dubaitara @rtilani Thrilled that you won #SME2011ME One to Watch - Go @CareZone !! And tweeps, this is one to follow.

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Unsung heroes - CPI staff

Many hands make light work Needless to say, we couldn’t have done it without them. A team is as good as every individual, and after witnessing the awards. We don’t need to tell you all what a great team we have in place – they were the real stars of the summit and awards and we could not have done it without them!

Amy Linney

Erik Briones

Tristan Troy P. Maagma

Amy is our marketing and operations manager and joined CPI in November 2010.

She assists Dom and the rest of the office with general administration tasks. Amy also does marketing and social media for some of the brands and helps with organisation of events.

Amy is from the UK.

Erik is the senior Web designer and developer for CPI. He has been involved with Websites for more than ten years.

He spearheaded the transition of CPI’s websites to Wordpress, starting with SME Advisor’s own Website. He primarily takes care of SME Advisor ME and ComputerNewsME and helps with rest of CPI Business and IT Websites whenever we leave him alone.

Troy is our Digital Services Manager during the day but avid diver and lomographer on the weekends. He started working for CPI on the late 1990s and is still on board the Dom boat ever since.

He misses his home town in Boracay, Philippines but is looking forward exploring the underwater world.

Cris Mejorada

Marilyn Naingue Biduya

Siobhan Jensen Siobhan is the marketing coordinator at CPI. She works with Amy and helps in events. Siobhan started with the SME summit and awards and dealt with liaising with the guests, and sponsor, registrations, goody bags among other things.

Her background is in hotels and she is from Christchurch, New Zealand.

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Cris loves working in CPI as a photographer since photography is his hobby but has now become his career. He has been with us since February 2011.

Marilyn is the company administrator and is from the Philippines. She joined CPI in 2005.

presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

Unsung heroes - CPI staff

Fahed Sabbagh

Aparna Shivpuri Arya Aparna joined CPI in August 2011 and has been working as Assistant Editor across the CPI Business Group, working on various titles, including SME Advisor. She is from Singapore and moved to Dubai at the beginning of this year.

Ali Koaik Ali joined CPI in August 2011 as the Editor of the Arabic Private Sector Qatar. He brings over 15 years of experience in media, public relations and events having previously worked for government, semi-government and private sector organisations.

Meghna Pant Meghna Pant is the editor of Trade and Export Middle East, the first magazine of its kind in the region. She’s been with CPI for three months, prior to which she worked in New York with Bloomberg’s Indian business network, and in Mumbai with a leading business news channel.

Kamil Roxas Kamil is a director and visual artist whose work includes music videos, award-winning short films, photography and graphic design.

Having been based in Dubai in 2007, he has since been awarded a spot in Sheikha Manal’s Young Artist award as a promising young creative in the Emirates. He joined CPI as Art Director on April 2011.

Froilan Acevedo Cosgafa IV Froi, born and raised in the queen city of the south – Cebu, Philippines. He started with CPI as a designer May 2009 and SME magazine has been his playground since then.

Fahed joined CPI in September 2011 as Head of Arabic Design. As well as the design element, he is a self professed geek and can be found tweeting regularly on anything from comic books to technology (@MrNerdyFace). Fahed also has a passion for typography and blogging.

Glenn Roxas The younger of the two Roxas brothers, Glenn joined CPI in August 2011 and has been working on graphic design across various titles. His passion for his work shows through his dedication and excellent work ethic. Glenn can often be found burning the midnight oil in the office long after everyone else has finished for the day.

Louie Alma Jay Colina Jay is our social media and SEO co-ordinator and our number two photographer.

He joined CPI in July 2011. Jay is also a freelance photographer with a passion for art. He was born and raised in Cebu, Philippines (The Queen City of the South).

Louie is currently working as a Web developer and joined CPI in April 2011.

He has been doing transition and operations management in BPO companies in the Philippines, before he joined the company. He comes from the beautiful province of Laguna – considered as the richest and most progressive province in the Philippines.

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presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

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Say ! e s e e h C

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1. Over 900 guests passed through the registration desk in little over an hour!

2. The paparazzi greeted arriving guests at the entrance!

3. John Lincoln, Vice President, Enterprise Marketing, du, with his Special mention award for his contribution to the business community.

4. The hostesses from Cava did a fantastic job throughout the gala awards dinner.

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SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

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7 8 9 5. CPI Publisher, Dominic De Sousa, kept the audience on their feet with some all time classics!

6. With such beautiful weather we held the awards outside this year.

7. (L-R) Howard Gaunt, Executive Vice President, Head - Business Banking Group, ADCB, Richard Judd, MD, CPI Business and CPI Technology, and Colin Fraser, Executive Vice President, Head of Wholesale Banking Group, ADCB present the award for Emirati entrepreneur of the year to Sara Al Madani, Rouge Couture.

8. (L-R) Sisters Lucy and Camilla d’Abo of DABO & Co. with the award for Media and Marketing.

9. The team from ADCB spoke with guests at their table throughout the evening.

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presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

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10

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12 10. The team from 3W Networks celebrate winning the award for ICT support and services.

11. With the Burj Al Arab in plain view, guests mingle by the beach at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel during the pre gala dinner awards.

12. The People’s Choice award went to Diva Modelling and Events.

13. Ashraf Ghori is all smiles as he poses with his two awards, which Xpanse CGI picked up for Events and Entertainment and Best technology implementation.

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SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

N in ow Q op at e ar n .

Visit our new showroom now at Pyramid Centre, Dubai.

Executive Desks • Conference Room Tables and Chairs • Modular Desking Systems • Panelling Systems

Discover a new standard in office furniture solutions with a portfolio of brands perfectly paired with unparalleled quality and value.

SME EAST Dubai, Pyramid Centre, Umm Hurair Road, PO Box: 31558, UAE, Tel. 04 358 2272,DECEMBER Fax 04 3582011 2273, TollADVISOR Free 800MIDDLE OFFICE. Qatar, Salwa Road Doha Tel. +974 4 421 7941. E-mail: info@officelandme.com, www.officelandme.com

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presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

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17 18 15. Dubai Drums put on a very entertaining performance which had some guests dancing!

16. (L-R) Howard Gaunt, Executive Vice President, Head - Business Banking Group, ADCB, Richard Judd, MD, CPI Business and CPI Technology, Nilanjan Ray, Sr. Vice President, Head, SME Banking, ADCB (far right) present CareZone with the award for The one to watch (best new business).

17. The ladies from My Ex Wardrobe pose with their award for Incredibly innovative approach.

18. Daud Noorzia, Operations Manager, Cava, describing the generous gifts for all 26 winners.

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SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

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presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

PARTNERS

A little help from our friends Since the awards, SME Advisor has received quite a few testimonials congratulating and thanking us for an enjoyable and entertaining night. As such we would like to recognise those partners that helped make the awards a great success.

PRESENTING PARTNER

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) ADCB was formed in 1985 and as on 30th September 2011 employed over 3,800 people from 48 nationalities, serving over 480,000 retail customers and approximately 34,000 corporate and SME clients in 47 branches, four pay offices and one kiosk in the UAE, and two branches in India. It is the third largest bank in the UAE and second largest in Abu Dhabi by assets, at AED 183 billion.

ADCB is a full-service commercial bank which offers a wide range of products and services such as retail banking, wealth management, private banking, corporate banking, commercial banking, cash management, investment banking, corporate finance, foreign exchange, interest rate and currency derivatives, Islamic banking among others.

The SME Banking division offers a wide-array of financial products under the brand of ‘BusinessEdge.’ All the SME products are also available under ADCB Islamic Banking - a Shari’ah compliant banking solution.

ADCB recently won the ‘Best SME Account’ award by Banker Middle East Product Awards 2011 for its BusinessEdge suite of products.

EXCLUSIVE TELECOM PARTNER

Strategic Partners

Morison Menon Morison Menon started operations in 1994 and now offers accounting, auditing, financial and management consulting, with over 17 years of experience in the Middle East, over 200 people in the UAE and a total of over 400 employees in the GCC. A multi-location group with eight offices in the UAE, they are headquartered in Dubai, with offices in Jebel Ali Free Zone, DIFC, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and RAK (two offices in RAK Free Trade Zone and Rakia) within the UAE. Dubai Internet City Dubai Internet City (DIC) provides a knowledge economy ecosystem, designed to support the business development of information and communications technology (ICT) companies. DIC offers quick and easy services to companies wishing to set up businesses by ensuring that their very first steps in establishing themselves are both effortless and successful. It is the Middle East’s biggest ICT infrastructure, built inside a free trade zone. The ICT cluster in DIC comprises companies from various sectors; software development, business services, e-commerce, consultancy and sales and marketing.

Dubai Media City Since its official opening in January 2001, Dubai Media City has grown to become a thriving business community hosting both global and regional media companies. The business park offers an environment that allows companies and individuals to operate with collective synergy and freedom while enjoying free zone benefits which include 100% business ownership and exemption from taxes as well as value added services such as, networking opportunities, venue management services, industry building programmes and government services.

Virtuzone Established in 2009, Virtuzone is the very latest UAE free zone, with one key benefit – you don’t have to rent an office or desk to get a trade license. They are tailor made for entrepreneurs and start ups.

The Virtuzone Company Package allows you to startup your own business easily and cost-effectively.

The package includes, a company license as an FZ LLC company, registered in a company name of your choosing, A bank account in that company name, facility to have multiple shareholders, up to five residency visas, free in-house public relations officer facilities.

du du offers fixed and mobile telephony, broadband connectivity and IPTV services to individuals, homes and businesses, and carrier services for businesses. As a rapidly-growing enterprise, they have close to 2,000 staff, hailing from over 60 countries, working to enhance and expand their bouquet of service offerings, while being able to serve their customers in a variety of languages. Over 50% of their senior management team and customerfacing staff are also UAE nationals. The 2.9 million people who signed up as active users of their services by mid 2009 prove that they have established themselves as one of the main operators of choice for the new subscribers in the UAE market.

GOLD PARTNER

TECHNOLOGY PARTNER

KNOWLEDGE PARTNERS

SAS SAS has been providing business analytics software and services since 1976. At present they have more than 11,000 SAS employees in more than 50 countries and 400 SAS offices that provide local, hands-on support for customers undergoing global software implementations and seeking educational resources, reference information and consultation.

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SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

CAVA CAVA is an exclusive member’s only service, providing high end personal and professional support to elite residents of Dubai. Its mission is to deliver more superior luxury lifestyles to a unique clientele through the coordination of a comprehensive range of services.

Covering legal, education, procurement, accounting, travel, professional and personal care, the CAVA specialists consist of carefully trained, culturally rich, and multilingual team of expert consultants.

Dubai Exports Formerly known as the Dubai Export Development Corporation (EDC), Dubai Exports has been established to provide exporters with the services required to enter or expand foreign markets including trade information, branding advice, financial, legal and foreign trade representation and access to potential buyers. The EDC also undertakes an advocacy role for

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THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

PARTNERS

exporters in their relations with government and other relevant agencies through the formation of long-term and mutually beneficial partnerships. The EDC offers services such as, research data including information about existing markets and new market opportunities, advice on how to export including an export pathway for those exporting for the first time among other things.

Dubai based entrepreneurs, Claire Fenner and Georgie Hearson. The vision behind Heels & Deals is to create a global network of female entrepreneurs, all connected to each other.

Dubai Knowledge Village Dubai Knowledge Village (DKV) is the world’s only free zone area dedicated to human resource management and learning excellence.

Established in 2003 as part of TECOM Investments, DKV is host to a variety of business partners covering many specialised business segments such as human resource development, linguistics, content development, freelancers among others. DKV business partners enjoy special privileges, such as 100% foreign ownership, 100% tax-free operations, 100% repatriation of profits and effortless visa and licensing issuance procedures.

Zawya Zawya is an online business intelligence provider focusing on the Middle East & North Africa, enabling nearly one million professionals worldwide to find and connect to the right business and investment opportunities in the region. With content and tools including detailed company profiles, timely aggregated news though Zawya-Dow Jones, industry and asset class research, an online network, and direct access to a team of 40+ experts covering most sectors, Zawya provides its users with the intelligence they need to conduct business in MENA.

Potential Potential has helped to pioneer the innovative Next Generation Performance framework for developing stars, whether they are individual entrepreneurs, large organisations or employees within SMEs. Potential’s portfolio consists of consulting, coaching and training capabilities, deployed across products, such as the flagship Potential Entrepreneur programme for entrepreneurs starting up their business, the SME Evolution Programme for small and medium businesses as well as bespoke development programmes for large organisations.

Official Document Printing Partner

TiE-The Indus Entrepreneurs, Middle East TiE was founded in the Silicon Valley in 1992 by corporate business executives and entrepreneurs with their roots in the region. TiE’s ecosystem comprises of 11,000 members and 2,500 Charter Members with 53 Chapters across the globe. It is a non profit organisation established in 2003 to foster and promote the spirit of entrepreneurship. Dubai network consists of successful entrepreneurs, business executives and management professionals with an interest in entrepreneurship, either in start-up context or within a larger company.

MIDDLE EAST

Trench & Associates Trench & Associates, established since 1996 by the firm’s principal, Cynthia Trench, is a full service law firm based in Dubai, UAE. With this establishment, Cynthia was Dubai’s first female expatriate, licensed, legal consultant. The firm specialises in corporate, property and construction business sectors, incorporating areas such as employment, private client, commercial, dispute resolution and intellectual property law. Other sectors which they provide service include leisure, entertainment and media law.

Business Group Partner

British Business Group The British Business Group (BBG) Dubai and Northern Emirates currently has a membership of over 700 individual companies with a common interest of promoting trade between the UK and the UAE. Developing British business takes many forms, from communicating with decision makers to sharing best business practice and networking amongst members. It is recognised by the authorities of the UAE as the representative body of British companies and individuals operating in Dubai and the Northern Emirates. BBG was founded in 1987 and we operate under the auspices of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Heels & Deals Heels & Deals is a network for female entrepreneurs. The group is for women who own their own business, are self-employed, or are dreaming of starting up. The group was founded in 2009 by two

Business Community Partner

GIT GIT started in 1999, pairing German innovation with Dubai’s growth dynamics. It created a brand based on value rather than volume proposition with a clear focus on one industry vertical. This resulted in the company being one of the UAE market leaders (IDC Boston) with 2500+ established customers. Key deliverable include specialisation in technically challenging products that are hard to emulate by our competition, product range, optimisation of product availability and focus on after sales services.

Media Partner

CNBC Arabia CNBC Arabia is the Arab world’s only 24-hour Arabic language financial and business information channel, presenting in-depth & up-to-the-minute coverage of regional and international affairs from an Arab economic perspective. Their daily programme schedule features the region’s business news summary, regional stock market summary, regional corporate news, and economic developments and financial news developments from Europe and America as they impact on the Middle East Forex market.

Healthcare Partner

Al Noor Hospital Al Noor Hospital is a well-established health care operation and management company based in Abu Dhabi. It was established in 1985 and has developed into a leading private hospital. Al Noor Hospital specialises in healthcare management and provides its expertise to clients in many areas.

In April 2000 Al Noor was awarded the prestigious ISO 2002 Certificate, the first private hospital in Abu Dhabi to achieve this award. In 2002 Al Noor won the International Award for Best Performance. Al Noor has continued to succeed by achieving the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence awards in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

It also operates five satellite medical centres and ten pharmacies all equipped with the latest most advanced medical equipments.

Speaker Bureau Partner

CSA Celebrity Speakers CSA Celebrity Speakers is proud to represent Alexander Blass, grand prize winner of the Daily Record’s Top Innovator of the Year Award, and keynote speaker at the 2011 SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards and Summit. Started in 1983, they are pioneers of the speaker industry in Europe. With offices in sixteen countries they represent leading thinkers and their speakers are some of the brightest minds in the world and can adapt and customise their services to suit your needs.

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THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

PRIZES

GOODIES GALORE

City My Way • One month advertising on City My Way • One Email shot to 100,000 plus people • Marketing consultation on social media for one month

Cava • Two week free Cava membership worth AED 20,000

A big contribution to the overall atmosphere of our awards were the prizes on offer – not only for the winners but also some impressive audience giveaways and goodie bags! We take a glance at the fabulous prizes from our sponsors and event partners.

Business en Motion • Executive coaching sessions • Books by Debbie Nicol

Divine • Style consultations • Copy of Kelly Lundbergs book “Success in the City”

The Life Designers Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB)

ADCB offers the winners: • A BusinessEdge Elite Current Account with no minimum balance requirement • A BusinessEdge Call Account with no minimum balance requirement • Free Corporate Internet banking (both set up fees & maintenance fees waived off) • Preferential rates in Forex • Dedicated Relationship Manager • 50% discount on processing fees on credit facilities taken • Preferential tariff on trade facilities • Preferential interest rates on loan facilities • Free access to ProTrade

du All winners received: • du voucher - Discount worth AED 6000 on any of the du Business Super Plan • A du branded watch

CPI • 75% discount on advertising in SME Advisor Middle East

SAS SAS is offering a business assessment workshop to the following winners: • Manufacturing • Technology and online • Transportation and logistics

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SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

• All winners will receive a Jump And Grow Wings motivational system

Tasti D Lite • Six winners will be given two regular tasti of any flavour of their choice – twice a month for three months for a couple • Six winners will be given vouchers for free smoothies of their choice – four times in any month for a family of four.

• Six winners will be given vouchers for medium cakes on three different occasions for one family/location • Eight winners will be given vouchers for two tasti saucers of their choice – four times in any given month for a couple

Man\Age Luxury Spa and Lilypond Spa both male and female spas

Lilypond Spa offers: • Four winners herbal steam • Three winners a manicure + pedicure combo • Three winners haircut + hair wash • Three winners blow dry • Three winners mini facial Man\Age Luxury Spa for Males offers: • Three winners reflexology • Three winners royal moroccan bath • Three winners swedish aroma massage • Three winners mini facial • One winner candle massage

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THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

PRIZES

SPECIFIC PRIZES Toshiba 4 x1 laptops for the following four categories • Admirable woman entrepreneur of the year • Emirati entrepreneur of the year • Business star of the year • Arab entrpreneur of the year

GOODIE BAGS du • 1000 Mouse pads • Business phone leaflets

L’Occitane • L’Occitane offers samples of their products

Balloon Adventures • Business star of the year 1x person voucher for a balloon ride • Arab Entrepreneur of the year 1x person voucher for a balloon ride • Emirati Entrepreneur of the year 1x person voucher for a balloon ride • Admirable woman entrepreneur of the year 1x person voucher for a balloon ride

Pullman Hotel • Prize for the Business Star of the Year – 1 day conference package for 10 pax (including two coffee breaks and lunch).

Pullman • AED 50 Gift Voucher at Sanctuary Spa which can be used for a minimum spend of AED 325 • AED 50 Gift Voucher at Sanabel Restaurant which can be used during dinner for a minimum spend of AED 200 • AED 50 Gift Voucher at Vantage Wine Bar which can be used at the Enomatic Wine Machine for a minimum spend of AED 150

Musafir Business • Sure shot voucher for up to AED 10,000 for corporates

Ignite For the Business Star of the Year • 1x how food affects your mood, 45min presentation. Fun workshop that involves the team, showing how food can hinder or help your work performance.

• 1x FREE team building exercise for a group of 20 – 30 persons.

Azur Spa • Full day executive makeover, for the Admirable woman entrepreneur of the year

Azur Spa • AED 100 gift vouchers

Tasti D lite • Tasti D lite offered vouchers for their treats

Thai Privilege Spa

Roger Harrop

• Gift vouchers valued at AED 150 for any of their signature 60 min spa treatments

• Half day business audit ( worth USD 5000) for the Business Star of the Year

AUDIENCE PRIZES

New Age Beverages • New Age Beverages offers some refreshing drinks

L’Occitane • 2 x hampers worth AED 750 for lucky audience

CPI Azur Spa • 2 x AED 500 vouchers

• Offers the following magazines: • SME Advisor • Private sector • Trade and Export

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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presents

THE SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards 2011

SUMMIT TEASER

Summit sneak peak

As was the case last year, this year’s SME Advisor Stars of Business

Internationally-renowned business advisor Hedi Larbi, Director, Middle East and North Africa Department, The World Bank Hedi advised on how do you protect your business from a possible second slowdown and how to go global but be less vulnerable to international fluctuations.

Summit proved a big crowd pleaser. Entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts gathered for a day packed with speeches from renowned entrepreneurs, an informative panel discussion, workshops and one-onone consultations. Here is a sample of what’s to come in next month.

Internationally renowned keynote speaker Roger Harrop, Business expert, Author, International speaker Roger spoke about the organisations that are winning in these times are those focusing unmercifully on the four basics of business.

UAE-based business guru

The panellists spoke about the opportunities, challenges and tips on doing business in the Middle East Meet the panellists (L-R):

John Lincoln, Vice President, Enterprise Marketing, du John discussed concepts of how to fight a price war, which included pricing strategies and understanding your competition.

Moderator: Dave Crane, Founder, The Life Designers Mahadevan Radhakanthan, Vice President, Head SME Credit and Policy, ADCB Hedi Larbi, Director, Middle East and North Africa Department, The World Bank Roger Harrop, Business Expert, Author, International Speaker Amir Sohrabi, Regional Alliance Manager, Middle East & Africa Region (Middle East, Africa, Turkey, Pakistan), SAS Jonathon Davidson, Chairman and CEO, BBG, Dubai and the Northern Emirates PK Gulati, CEO, Optimistix Ventures Shimi Shah, Chairperson at Carousel Solutions, seasoned early stage investor Monica Malhotra, Owner and Managing Director, Kidville

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SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

Inspiring regional business case study Dan Stuart, Founder and CEO, GoNabit.com (now rebranded Living Social) When LivingSocial acquired GoNabit.com in June 2011, it was hailed as a huge success story involving a locally-based business.

Dan spoke to the audience about GoNabit’s eventful journey.

Effectively manage your day-to-day business expenses with the Visa Business Card.

Exclusive savings for Visa Business Card Holders:

Automotive: Discounts on car rental and car servicing.

Insurance: Discount on selected insurance products.

Dining: Special discounts at restaurants perfect for doing business.

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UAE:Star Metropolis • Dynatrade Auto Service • Al Reyami Interiors • Arab Orient Insurance Company • Coral Hotels & Resorts and Corp Executive Hotels • Rotana Hotels and Resorts • CompuMe and I2 Egypt: Coral Hotels & Resorts • Al Khodeir Stationary • Misr October Industrial Co.• TNT KSA: Coral Hotels & Resorts • GroundLink Kuwait: Safir International Hotel Qatar: Doha Golf Club • DHL Express • Coral Hotels & Resorts Lebanon: FedEx Kinko’s • FedEx Express • LebHotels.com • Advanced Car Rental

Banking on business

Manufacturing sector

ADCB demonstrates ongoing commitment to business in the UAE We bring you the highlights of ADCB’s participation in the Middle East Manufacturing Exhibition (MEMEX), in November in Abu Dhabi.

the sole Islamic banking partner. As a provider of banking solutions under the BusinessEdge brand, we welcome the opportunity to meet and interact with key decision makers in the industry, whilst being ideally poised to offer customised solutions under our Islamic banking range of products and services, offered specifically to our SME banking customers.”

“MEMEX has become a must-attend show for technical and business decision makers from various manufacturing industries and is therefore a perfect fit for our SME banking business which can cater to their business and financial requirements with various tailor made products and on-site consultation offered by our highly experienced and qualified Relationship Managers,” he added.

ADCB remains fully committed to the SME business, its rapid growth and its ability to offer both conventional and Islamic products for customers.

About

HE Mohamed Omar Abdullah, Undersecretary, Department of Economic Development Abu Dhabi, and other dignitaries open MEMEX 2011

T

he event was held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), and was organised by Department of Economic Development of Abu Dhabi, where ADCB was the sole Islamic banking partner supporting the exhibition.

MEMEX is regarded as the most important manufacturing sector trade show in the region, offering a dedicated platform for decision makers to source the latest manufacturing technology, machinery, products and solutions.

The partnership between MEMEX and ADCB Islamic Banking reiterates the bank’s

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commitment to the manufacturing sector across the UAE, and offers ADCB an ideal opportunity to interact with key leaders, promoting the bank’s full range of SME banking products and services. It also gives the bank a chance to promote their trade services and financing solutions available through its ProTrade platform. ProTrade offers local SMEs the ability to transact and view all their trade transactions.

Amr Al Menhaly, Head of ADCB Islamic Banking said, “We are very proud to be able to participate in MEMEX and act as

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

ADCB was formed in 1985 and as on 30th September 2011 employed over 3,800 people from 48 nationalities, serving over 480,000 retail customers and approximately 34,000 corporate and SME clients in 47 branches, four pay offices and one kiosk in the UAE, and two branches in India. It is the third largest bank in the UAE and second largest in Abu Dhabi by assets, at AED 183 billion.

ADCB is a full-service commercial bank which offers a wide range of products and services such as retail banking, wealth management, private banking, corporate banking, commercial banking, cash management, investment banking, corporate finance, foreign exchange, interest rate and currency derivatives, Islamic banking, project finance and property management services.

The SME Banking division offers a wide-array of financial products under the brand of ‘BusinessEdge.’

The products cover the entire spectrum of solutions across transaction accounts, trade finance and financing products. It also offers a range of lending products. All the SME products are also available under ADCB Islamic Banking - a Shari’ah compliant banking solution.

ADCB recently won the ‘Best SME Account’ award

by Banker Middle East Product Awards 2011 for its BusinessEdge suite of products.

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Trade

KEY EMPLOYEES

Protecting your business Almost all SMEs rely on one or two important individuals in order to manage and keep the firm going. So the obvious question arises; what will happen to the business if these important individuals or key people are not able to continue working due to unforeseen or unavoidable circumstances. Dr. Ashraf Mahate, Head of Export Market Intelligence, Dubai Exports, and Vice Chair of the Economic Policy Committee, Dubai Economic Department, talks to us about what SMEs can do to protect our business when and if such a situation arises.

T

he most immediate impact of the loss of a key person within a business is a decline in revenue. More often than not, the key person within SMEs tends to have a direct relationship with suppliers and customers and is responsible

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for generating revenue. In a highly competitive environment, where such relationships are not maintained effectively, it is most likely that competitors may take over the customer.

In the domestic market it is common to have more than one key contact with a supplier or

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

customer. However, in the international market, due to organisational constraints and the sheer geographical distance it is normal for SMEs to appoint a single point of contact. Very often there is no secondary contact point for overseas suppliers and customers. This implies that very large revenue streams may be reliant on the relationship of a single person within the firm.

Most SMEs incorrectly believe that if the key contact within the firm was to leave, a suitable replacement could easily be found without any impact on their external relationships.

The reality is that a suitably qualified and experienced replacement can be recruited in a short space of time. However, relationships take a long time to develop and build. This is more so the case in overseas markets, where cultures and business norms are very different to the home market. It is most probable that the new staff member will take some time to develop and nurture relationships. Even if a replacement to the key person is found, the business incurs costs associated with the recruitment process.

Estimates show that recruitment costs tend to be about 20% of the annual salary. Then there is the training period, during which additional sums will be needed to be spent to ensure that the replacement is able to continue from the key person. SMEs tend not to have such contingency funds available for unexpected costs.

Trade

Key EMPLOYEES

The departure of staff is one form of key person risk, that SME exporters need to be aware of and equally if not more important, is that fact that the owner himself might not be around. This poses a considerable risk to the SME exporter because in most cases the exporter would have signed contracts stating agreed delivery dates and other details.

Dr. Ashraf Mahate The departure of staff is one form of key person risk that SME exporters need to be aware of, and equally, if not more important, is that fact that the owner himself might not be around. This poses a considerable risk to the SME exporter because in most cases the exporter would have signed contracts stating agreed delivery dates and other details. On the basis of this, the importer would have initiated a letter of credit, which requires the exporter to provide certain documents, such as delivery of goods on the specified dates, quantity and quality of products, bill of lading and so on.

However, with the departure of the key person it is most probable that production will be affected. The disruption in production may impact on the firm’s ability to deliver the goods as per the agreed schedule. This will in turn hamper its ability to meet the terms on the letter of credit and of course receive. If the company has obtained pre-shipment finance on the basis of the letter of credit, then it may not be able to meet its financial obligations. As is often the case with SME financing, they tend to be guaranteed

50

by the owner’s personal assets. Hence, the absence of that individual can suddenly place risk not only the business, but also the owner or his family.

A risk-averse SME exporter needs to take precautionary measures in order to safeguard the long term interests of the business in the event of such a situation. The usual manner in managing this type of risk is to purchase ‘key person insurance’, which is now available in the UAE, through both domestic and international firms. Essentially, the key person insurance allows the business to continue to meet its financial obligations in the event of a serious illness or death of a key person.

Depending on the type of coverage purchased, key person insurance can pay all outstanding trade and loan creditors, including releasing the key person or his family of any personal guarantees and meeting the costs associated with either closing the business or selling it. Such an insurance coverage allows the key person to ensure that the business imposes no risk to their personal assets, while allowing it to continue operating or be sold off in a proper manner.

Simply purchasing key person insurance is not enough, as the SME needs to ensure that it protects against the appropriate risks as well as providing a sufficient level of coverage. Valuing the importance of a life is never easy; however, what is possible is to determine the loss that will be suffered by the business.

In other words, what the impact will be on the sales, costs, productivity and efficiency of the firm? Whether it is possible to find an appropriate replacement and if so, what will be the associated costs and time period? What is the level of average trade and loan creditors outstanding at any one period including personal guarantees?

What will be the costs associated with

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

winding down the business or selling it? Of course these questions are quite difficult and may require expert opinion from an accountant or insurance professional. Despite their unpleasant nature, SMEs need to answer these questions because inadequate insurance is just as bad as not having it.

Key person insurance is only one component of a comprehensive risk management strategy, which SMEs need to implement. However, it is important to note that insurance covers only the financial risk that an exporter faces but not the disruption or the loss of business that can take place.

SMEs looking to avoid such risks need to be pro-active and establish processes and procedures to ensure that the departure of key people does not hamper their export activities.

As in most cases, SMEs only realise the importance dealing with the loss of key people after the event. Therefore, it is extremely important that SMEs implement appropriate contingency planning that takes into consideration the worst eventuality.

About Dr. Ashraf Mahate is the Head of Export Market Intelligence at Dubai Exports (formerly known as the Dubai Export Development Corporation), which is an agency of the Dubai Economic Department. Dr. Mahate is also the Vice Chair of the Economic Policy Committee with the Dubai Economic Department. He has written a number of journal articles, chapters in books and edited books in the areas of economics, finance and banking.

He has also presented papers at major international conferences. Dr. Mahate has provided extensive consultancy services to various organisations in the areas of banking, economics and finance. He has been a director of a number of companies including a venture capital company and a private equity fund.

Dr. Mahate received his doctorate from Cass City University Business School in London (UK) which was ranked by the Financial Times newspaper as the 12th best university in the world for finance. He read Economics at University College London, followed by a Masters in International Economics and Banking at the University of Wales in Cardiff.

Dr. Mahate is a professional educator and received his training at the Institute of Education (University of London). He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Managers (UK) and a Member of the Institute of Commercial Management (UK). He is also a member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS).

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Operations

EXIT STRATEGY

FINDING A WAY OUT It always helps to make a graceful exit. Planning an exit strategy is as important as figuring out how to start a business. You need to know where you’re going before the journey begins, and when is the time to leave, says John Lincoln, Vice President, Enterprise Marketing, du.

A

s small business owners and investors, I am sure that with the excitement of getting the business up and running, the last thing on your mind is an exit strategy. In fact it could be argued that the whole notion of an exit, while just taking the bull by the horns, seems utterly counterproductive. Who in their right mind would be contemplating an exit, when they have just started?

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Needless to say, there are many reasons why you should plan and know your exit even before you start. Before I dwell into the various exit strategies, it is important for you to know, why an exit strategy is one of the most important factors that you should plan for, as you set up a business.

Therefore, it is imperative that you have a plan and a view, as to how you are going to get repaid for the risk, investment, and time that you have put into the business.

There are also many other reasons, beyond the need to get a windfall, that make it inevitable to have an exit strategy.

Why plan an exit?

Sometimes businesses mature and stall in their growth. The ones who sustain, grow and thrive beyond the macro-economic growth are the ones that make it into the big league.

Dispute Sometimes business relationships don’t end on a positive note. Therefore, as a small business owner or investor you need a plan and a view as to why, when and how you will exit.

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

Operations

EXIT STRATEGY

Death Other than income tax (in most countries), death is the only other certainty. You need a firm idea about how dependent the business is on your existence, how your family will survive and how your remaining partners will be able to conduct the business.

Sometimes business relationships don’t end on a positive note.

Therefore, you as a small business owner or investor need a plan and a view as to why, when and how you will exit.

that you went through the arduous task of getting the accounting and legal work done.

So what are the exit strategies?

Disability What will happen if you are unable to work because of a mishap or illness? You need to have a plan regarding who will take care of your family, investment and you.

Retirement It is important to know when and how you want to retire, and how are you going to recoup your investment and time that you put into the business.

Diversification It would help to have an exit strategy in place if you want to diversify or want to avail of a new business opportunity.

Deceit How would you exit from your business if you find out that some of your key stakeholders were deceitful or defaulting on dues to you?

Stagnation What are your plans if your business stagnates? An exit strategy will help you save your investment and time if you want to quit.

The following set of points should be taken into consideration: First things first Now that you know why you need an exit strategy, you need to be aware of a few essentials, which you must take care of, as you plan to start and exit a business. However, this set of actions will help you plan: Have rigorous, fool proof financial 1 accounting methods, policies and procedures in place, from day one. a shareholders’ agreement, 2 Have which clearly spells out your rights as a founding partner.

John Lincoln

Create a tiered (preferred) class of shares that will enable you to pay out higher dividends and share of profits and will ensure that you have higher voting rights.

Get power of attorney documents 4 signed by all partners giving you the right to run your business (legally), without undue interference or limitations by other partners. you have a limited company with 5 Ifa board of directors, get blank board resolution documents signed by all board members.

Get an appointment letter attested 6 to, and signed by all partners clearly stipulating your role as the CEO of the company, your salary and tenure.

To most readers, the suggestions above might seem absurd, preposterous and over cautious. Believe me, when an opportunity arises for an exit, you will really appreciate

3

Initial Public Offering (IPO) IPOs are a rarity and of the millions of small businesses in the world, only a few ever make it to an IPO. Unless you have the backing of a well known and solid venture funds, that has a track record of getting small companies public, this is not a recommended option for most start ups or small businesses.

The process of getting prepared for an IPO is expensive and cumbersome. It involves lawyers, auditors, investment bankers and consultants.

During an IPO process you are under the spot light and subject to various regulatory compliances and audits that you probably never knew existed. You start off the process, by being the ultimate salesman, convincing investors that your business is worth much more than it is.

Although IPOs are glamorous and famous, they should not be your first option. However, if you have a unique technology protected by patents and are funded by well know venture funds, you are truly one of the few who have the potential to make an IPO. Get acquired Getting another entity to acquire your business is one of the most common way

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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Operations

EXIT STRATEGY

It would help to have an exit strategy in place if you want to diversify or want to avail of a new business opportunity.

to exit from a business. The principle is simple – find another business that is ready, willing and able to buy your business. Sell it and keep the money, and occasionally get paid more for remaining in the business and helping the new owners run the business, that you have started.

Most successful small businesses are acquired by much larger public companies.

What this means in essence, is that you are in a better position than the buyers are.

This is so because the people negotiating and making the acquisition decisions have not invested their own money. They are gambling with other people’s money.

Therefore, you have the upper hand in negotiating price versus the buying side.

My recommendation for small businesses taking this path for their exit is to know in advance their potential acquirers. This way, you could craft and design your propositions in a manner complimentary to a potential acquiring company.

The trick is not to limit the exit to one or two suitors. Have an array of suitors and evolve your propositions over a period of time. This way, you have the potential of starting a bidding war among multiple suitors or at the least creating a strategic value to a single acquirer, who may pay you more than what anyone else is willing to pay you.

Selling to family, friends or employees If you truly believe in your business and are emotionally connected to it, then selling it to a reliable and known buyer. such as a friend, relative or a trusted employee might be a better option.

Small businesses that take this path are not doing this for an outrageous monetary exit, but rather to ensure that the quality, integrity and continuity of the business is assured. Very often, entrepreneurs who take this path are not motivated by personal glory or money, but rather are

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seeking buyers who will preserve what is important to the founder.

Bleed to death There are some business owners who bleed their company dry. Such people pay

flow derived from the revenue that you generate. The other most important factor is growth. Therefore, time and pace your exit when your cash flow is maximised and when growth is poised to peak.

In fact, when you think about it, this is a truism that is applicable in your professional career or business. Always exit on a high note. Look around you. Great business leaders remain great because they exited at the peak of their company and personal growth.

If you truly believe in your business and are emotionally connected to it, then selling it to a reliable and known buyer such as a friend, relative or a trusted employee might be a better option.

themselves a chunk of salary and a bonus, irrespective of their company’s performance.

Some of them give themselves five to ten times the dividends that the other shareholders receive. Although these activities are illegal in public companies, they are perfectly legal in private companies.

In these “cash is king” companies, the owners do not reinvest in their business nor do they consider growing their business. Rather than reinvesting money in growing their business, these companies, keep investments minimal and withdraw huge amounts of cash and live off the income of these businesses.

Keep in mind that in most businesses, cash that is taken out for personal use is no longer available to the business for reinvesting. If your business plan deems that you must invest to grow, then of course, this is not a viable option.

There are other ways that a “cash is king” exit could work. You could get your family to loan you a large sum of money and pay high interest for the loans. This way the cash is kept in the family.

A final note on exit No matter what your exit strategy is, it is important to note that the valuation of your company is primarily driven by two factors. The paramount of which is the cash

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

As the famous Aesop fables teaches us “Affairs are easier of entrance than of exit; and it is but common prudence to see our way out before we venture in.”

About John Lincoln has over 20 years telecommunications experience in the USA, Japan, Europe, India, Dubai, Malaysia, Latin America and various other countries.

He has extensive senior expertise in international telecommunications sales, marketing, business development and customer service delivery. John also has executive experience with general management, marketing, P&L, product development and revenue management responsibilities in both consumer and enterprise segments for both the fixed and mobile sectors. In addition, John has an impressive operational and management portfolio of established proven expertise in incremental business value creation and management of large multi-cultural teams in Vodafone Global in the UK, Japan Telecom in Tokyo, AirTouch and Pacific Bell (now AT&T) in San Francisco and Tokyo, Airtel in Delhi and other telecom and technology companies. Additionally he has extensive large scale business development, M&A and operational project experience across the USA, Europe, Asia and Latin America. John has an MBA and MS in Telecommunications from the Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California, USA. You can find John’s personal blog at www.johnlincoln.biz.

He can be contacted via: john.lincoln@gmail.com, Twitter: @lincolnjc.

TheMeat o

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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business growth

LENDING DECISIONS

parcelled out their risk to thousands of small investors, they forgot their basics and caused the global slowdown.

Bonus considerations replaced the basic tenets of banking – lend when you can be reasonably sure you will get your money back. They also forgot that the word money is from the Latin word moneta which originally meant, warning .

How does all this pertain to you, an SME? Because if you are seeking financing from a bank, you need to understand how they make lending decisions.

Bankers look at two simple issues to make decisions: the willingness and the ability of a businessman to repay loans.

How do banks check the willingness of a person to repay debt?

How willing and able are you?

It is usually believed, that if you have all the documents in place, then that is all you need to secure a loan. However, banks have a set of procedures in place to ensure that they get back the money they have loaned. Vikram Venkataraman, Director, Salvus Strategic Advisors makes us aware of these processes and what the banks are looking out for.

T

he word bank is derived from banco, the Italian word for bench, as Lombard Jews in Italy setup benches (covered in green tablecloth) in the market place, where they exchanged money and bills and lent money in one form or another.

This was in the 15th century, in Florence, during the glorious Renaissance. When a

56

banker failed, his bench was broken up by the populace, and from this circumstance sprang the term bankrupt.

As we all know, little has changed. Benches have been replaced by fancy desks and ledgers with computers. Bankers still sit at fancy benches and lend money in the hope that they will get it back. When they did not worry about getting it back, and

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

Undeniably, this is circumstantial, as willingness for most people is conditional and depends on circumstances at that point in time. To judge willingness, bankers need to look at history (track record of settling dues) and reputation, which reveals behaviour in stressful times.

Banks look at history for a good reason – history repeats itself. Here are some of the checks conducted by banks; record with other banks, to 1 Track see if you borrow or have borrowed in the past. As credit reports don’t exist, these checks are conducted on the informal network that exists between bankers. This is peculiar to small markets like the GCC countries. There is a circle of trust between bankers and they will discuss borrowers and risks involved, quite candidly and in some detail, with complete confidentiality.

Central Bank report, which 2 The reflects the classification of the borrower and details borrowings and credit limits, is carefully looked at. This does two things; it will reveal your lies, if you have been lying about the true extent of your borrowings, and will reveal problems (if reported) like overdue payments and so on, with any bank.

3 Informal checks with your creditors and debtors who could be existing customers of the bank, so the checks become easier.

business growth

LENDING DECISIONS

Former employees, especially finance people, who may move around. If you have secrets and have even one marginally disgruntled employee, be prepared for the dirt to be dished.

4

The bank will look at your business model, how robust it is, compare it with the competition, and take a view on your ability to survive. A view of the industry you are in will also be considered, as will the terms of trade that prevail in it.

Judging your ability Assessing your ability to repay is more complex, as there are more variables involved.

Here, both financial and non-financial factors come into play. Banks invariably construct a picture of your business, which will reflect all these factors.

As is the case with all pictures, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. In other words, the lending decision is completely subjective and can be interpreted in different ways by the two people who matter – your Relationship Manager and the Risk Manager, who are paid to look at the picture from opposing points of view! A thorough risk analysis of each area mentioned below will be conducted and a table of risks and mitigants will be drawn up.

1 The business: The bank will look at your business model, how robust it is, compare it with the competition, and take a view on your ability to survive. A view of the industry you are in will also be considered, as will the terms of trade that prevail in it (credit terms, stocking norms and so forth.) organisation: What kind of an 2 The organisation structure you have, the quality of your employees, dependency on

Vikram Venkataraman

boundaries. Trends in financial performance, comparisons with the competition (banks will have other clients in your business), your cash conversion cycle, total debt and debt servicing capability, projections, will all come under the microscope.

The law: This will cover not only 4 the legality of what you do, but the veracity of the various legal issues your firm is affected by, robustness of agreements with

Assessing your ability to repay is more complex, as there are more variables involved. Here, both financial and non-financial factors come into play. Banks invariably construct a picture of your business, which will reflect all these factors. you, the owner (therefore your age and state of health), business continuity in the owner’s absence, are areas that will be scrutinised. numbers: This is a critical area 3 The which may carry up to a 60% weightage in the decision making process. This is also an area of suspicion – regrettably, a significant percentage of financial statements are doctored by ill-intentioned businessmen and pliant auditors with flexible ethical

principals, side agreements with your local sponsor, transfer of ownership in case of the owner being incapacitated and other such arrangements.

With so many factors involved, and the subjectivity of a large part of it, the dependence on hearsay, reputation, questionable financial statements and so on, you may well wonder if you can ever get money out of a bank.

Surprisingly, the answer is a resounding yes, as banks have been lending along these lines, using varying degrees of rigour and sophistication, ever since banking came to the UAE. You may well have heard of the phrase name lending which reflects some aspects of the lending business here.

The point of briefly explaining this is so that you can prepare your firm to borrow by addressing a lot of the areas under your control. If you do this, the bank will take note of the fact that you have proactively attempted to mitigate some of the risks involved which is always appreciated. This will also help you address a lot of the risks, which you otherwise may have not addressed.

It is quite clear that borrowing from a bank is more than just submitting the right documents. It is about having the right fundamentals in place. Good hunting!

About Vikram Venkataraman is a career banker with 25 years of experience in banking in India and the Middle East with various banks. Some of the key senior positions that he has held are: • Executive Director, Regional Head of Credit Structuring ABN AMRO Bank, Middle East and Africa.

• Founding Member of Management Team and Head of Corporate & Institutional Banking, Dubai Bank.

• Head of SME Business, Transaction Banking and Factoring, Mashreq Bank, Dubai.

• Various assignments in Corporate Banking in HSBC India.

His most recent experience in banking has been as the Head of the SME Business at Mashreq, which he left in 2010 to co-found an SME focussed investment banking firm – Salvus Strategic Advisors, JLT in Dubai and Salvus Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd. in Mumbai. Salvus advises SMEs with the objective of helping them grow. Raising equity and debt capital is an integral part of Salvus activities.

Vikram has also been an entrepreneur in the wellness business, giving him a unique perspective of SME issues, both from a banking and entrepreneur’s points of view. He holds a BA from Loyola College, India and MA from Oxford University, UK. He has served as the Secretary of the Oxford University Economics Society.

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Management Innovation

Now that’s an idea In this ever-changing world, innovation is the engine of growth.

With rapid advancements being made in every field, everyone is trying to outpace the other. However, it might do organisations good to stop and think about the impact of innovations and what the way ahead is, says Stephan Melchior, Managing Partner, Wilson Worldwide Learning, Middle East.

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robably one of the most used words these days is innovation.”Let’s be innovative on this one.” “Let’s come up with something out of the box!” These are the statements we hear all the time from our customers, management team, and project leaders.

But what does the word really mean? What defines the box, and what makes you think we are currently thinking inside a box? These are everyday situations that are meant to trigger creative thinking, but what happens in reality?

They add more pressure and people usually think less creatively under pressure. So how can we turn that around, release the pressure and foster “free-wheeling”, thinking without boundaries?

All of us are innovative in our own way.

And therein lies both the problem and the cause of possible misunderstandings.

What seems innovative to me might not necessarily seem innovative to you. We all have our own style.

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But lets back-up a little bit; how is innovative thinking induced? Creativity is triggered in our brain when we connect a number of different influences, experiences, or impressions. Depending on how we connect them, our thought process takes different directions, looks at situations or problems from different angles, and comes up with ideas that either represent a solution or contribute to a solution.

It is easier to brainstorm when we are in a group, because we increase the number of outside influences, through the suggestions of other people. And as we know, the number one rule of brainstorming is not to discard ideas and to judge, because whatever is being said might be of value in some way, we just don’t know yet in which way.

The way people brainstorm has different origins and our brain makes connections between different influences, which lead to us taking a different approach to a similar problem.

We call these different approaches Innovation Styles. And each of us has one

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or more preferred styles. That’s a good thing because we all think differently, but at the same time it limits our way of thinking. “Outside of the box thinking” means nothing else than stepping outside our comfort zone, discarding our preferred innovation style(1) and acknowledging the fact that our own style is only one way of generating ideas. Ideally, we want to adopt all styles, one by one, to make best use of them. But how? In fact, it’s not that hard; each style has an underlying process that can be followed. But why would we follow a set process for innovation when we actually want to discard all processes so we can think freely? Simple, by using a given process, we are forcing ourselves away from our standard process. Let’s have a look at the

Management Innovation

The way people brainstorm has different origins and our brain makes connections between different influences, which lead to us taking a different approach to a similar problem. We call these different approaches Innovation Styles.

Stephan Melchior different styles, and give you the opportunity for a small self-evaluation.

What is your preferred innovation style?

Are you the Visionary: who thinks long-term and 1 pictures the ideal solution, and has a clear picture of where you want to get.

been in the market for many years, and has seen many changes, ups and downs in the economy, might assume a more cautious approach to innovation. They might allow mainly “modifiers”, a relatively low-risk approach to innovation.

Startups, smaller or younger companies with less red tape and with less processes in place are usually more agile in the markets.

These companies are usually more open to “big-bang-innovations”. Higher risk, but a potentially higher impact defines the surrounding in this scenario.

Innovations affect organisations, markets, and individuals every day – in the short term,

Innovations affect organisations, markets, and individuals every day – in the short term, they provide quick solutions, may have a high impact, but represent a considerable level of risk. In the long-term they strengthen organisations, their reputation in the market, but may also slow them down.

2

Modifier: who looks at existing

systems and processes, and tries to find ways to improve what you already have.

3 Experimenter: who goes by trial and error; who takes a step-by-step approach combining things you have seen before.

4 Explorer: who questions everything and starts from scratch.

Usually, there is one style from the above that you feel more drawn to than others.

The way we work, our organisational culture, the history and types of products and services we provide to our customers also influence our preferred style. An engineering company, for example, that has

breakthroughs. However, focusing on incremental only slows the organisation down, and the increments become smaller and smaller.

So, the next time your boss asks you to be innovative, ask yourself some questions around long-terms vs. short-term impact; do we need a break-through innovation, or an increment to something existing? What is my innovation style and how can I best make use of the other styles? And remember, innovation is not only about bringing new products to the market, we can be innovative in the way we interact with customers, the way we design our offices, the process we use to submit expense books, how we answer the phone, how we present sales data to top management, and many more.

Note: (1) Innovation Styles and The Creative Journey are registered trademarks of Global Creativity Corporation, distributed and delivered through Wilson Learning Worldwide.

they provide quick solutions, may have a high impact, but represent a considerable level of risk. In the long-term they strengthen organisations, their reputation in the market, but may also slow them down. The key here is to create a balance between short-term and long-term, innovations. Imagine an organisation that always come up with a break-through innovation, something that’s never been there before (a brand new line of cars, a completely re-designed computer, or a new software), it would be risky, expensive, and confusing for customers, because the product life-cycle would be very short.

On the other hand, small incremental innovations build the bridge between

About Stephan Melchior has been working in the learning and development field for more than 15 years; designing and delivering training programmes in more than 20 countries. He is well known for the graphic facilitation approach he uses in his courses. Today, Stephan is Managing Partner at the Middle East office of Wilson Learning Worldwide, based in Dubai Knowledge Village. As a global organisation, Wilson Learning is the founder of the Performance and Fulfillment concept, and was rated among the Top 20 Leadership and Sales Training companies in 2010 and 2011 (www.trainingindustry.com). Wilson Learning Middle East was also recently ranked among the TOP100 SMEs in Dubai.

Wilson Learning Middle East can be contacted at info@wilsonlearning-me.com, or at +971 50 7553800.

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Management

Public speaking

SPEAK YOUR MIND Public speaking is a common source of stress for a lot of people.

Many of us would like to avoid public speaking entirely, but this is hard to do. Sahar Haffar Moussly, Executive Director, Trans Gulf Management Consultancy, provides us with some key tips that can make us more confident as we take the stage.

D

o you feel envious of people who stand up with confidence and start speaking in front of a crowd, and believe that these people are lucky because they can speak effortlessly in public?

If you are one of those people, then you have limited yourself even before you

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have started. You should not ever forget that public speaking is an art that can be perfected. You can learn how to become an excellent public speaker by working on acquiring the skills required and improving your performance. I suggest that you should Enrol in public speaking course, before you decide to go and deliver a speech.

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Read some books about public speaking Join a Toastmaster chapter in your city to improve your skills and gain more confidence and to have some feedback from other participants.

Hire a coach.

Listen and study other successful public speakers – don’t imitate but learn from them. Everyone has their own style, so develop one of your own.

In general, you should prepare yourself mentally and physically before you go out on stage, avoid doing few things that might kill your presentation and stick to some rules, and above all, you practice, practice and practice again.

I have been reading a book titled, 10 minutes toughness: The Mental Training Program for Winning before the Games Begin’ by Jason Selk. It is an interesting book, and I found it useful to learn how to be prepared to focus better, during moments when you need to be at your best.

No doubt that if there was a list of the human race’s greatest fears, public speaking would be right at the top. Fear of public speaking really boils down to fear of being ridiculed, rejected, and publicly humiliated.

There is no secret about public speaking and if you prepare yourself and practice, you will no doubt become the speaker you want to be.

When you learn the skills necessary for public speaking, you will gain more confidence in yourself, and will not shy away from expressing your point of view.

I do recommend learning public speaking to individuals, who want to express themselves and would like to learn the ethics and best methods to communicate with others.

If you are expecting to go on stage and speak to a gathering or to a group of people, it might be good to pay attention to few points, such as:

MANAGEMENT

Public speaking

Research your topic and become knowledgeable about it before you go on the stage.

Get familiar with the venue, as knowing the place before hand will help you in becoming more comfortable with your surrounding and being at ease.

Learn your presentation well, so you can deliver even if there is a technical mishap.

Learn not to panic and to continue without losing control of your mood, and ultimately of the whole situation. You should know that the audience is not interested in you personally; they are interested in listening to a message that is beneficial to them, so focus on that. Therefore, get to know the needs of your audience and match your contents to their needs. Know your material thoroughly and follow the speech recipe; one headline, one expandable thesis or plan, three points to support your thesis and one conclusion.

Respect other speakers and organisers by respecting your time. To start with, when you prepare your presentation make sure not to over crowd it with information that would oblige you either to rush through it or to over stay your welcome.

Be prepared for the unexpected. If you have to shorten your presentation you should know what to leave out without

In general, you should prepare yourself mentally and physically before you go out on stage, avoid doing few things that might kill your presentation and stick to some rules, and above all, you should practice, practice and practice again.

Sahar Haffar Moussly you better and they will remember your message for a longer time.

When you are presenting in front of an audience, you are performing as an actor on stage. How you are being perceived is very important. Dress appropriately for

Respect other speakers and organisers by respecting your time. To start with, when you prepare your presentation, make sure not to over crowd it with information that would oblige you either to rush through it or to over stay your welcome.

affecting the core of the topic. On the other hand, if you have extra time on your hands, you should be prepared to add few interesting points, that will add value to your presentation.

Organise your ideas logically, and be coherent with what you say. Engage the audience with discussion and answer questions without becoming aggressive.

Give your message by telling a story or using a metaphor, people will understand

the occasion. Be solemn if your topic is serious and present the desired image to your audience. Look pleasant, enthusiastic, confident, proud, but not arrogant.

Remain calm and appear relaxed, even if you are feeling nervous. Speak slowly, enunciate clearly, and show appropriate emotion and feeling relating to your topic.

Establish rapport with your audience.

Speak to the person farthest away from you to ensure your voice is loud enough to

project to the back of the room. Use humour that is understood by the general public.

Vary your tone, vocal pace and speed; in other words do not be monotonous. You don’t want your audience to fall asleep while you are delivering your presentation.

Maybe one of the most important pieces of advice is to remember to start your presentation strong and close it stronger.

Most probably people will forget what you have said, but will definitely remember what you said at the beginning and at the end of your speech.

Public speaking in an enjoyable task, which will boost your confidence and help you on the road to success, so use it well by preparing yourself well and using the skills you learn, effectively.

About Sahar Haffar Moussly is a Dubai based, UKcertified Life Coach and NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) practitioner. Today she runs two businesses. Alongside her life coaching practice, Life in Harmony, Sahar is also Executive Director of Trans Gulf Management Consultancy (TGMC), a firm specialising in conference interpretation and translations service, which was established in 1997.

TGMC was listed as a finalist in the SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards, 2010, in the category of Professional Services.

With over 25 years experience in the corporate world, Sahar holds a BA in English Language and Translation gained from Damascus University, and an MA in International Diplomacy gained at the University of Washington. She went on to become a qualified interpreter and translator, gaining a diploma in simultaneous translation and interpretation from the UK and became a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists.

In 2010 Sahar published a research and guidebook in Arabic entitled, Welcome to Tomorrow, which introduces the topic of life coaching and self development to Arab audiences. The book was launched in Damascus in January 2010.

For more information about Life in Harmony visit www.lifeinharmony.me.

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Marketing

Business model

What is social business?

Everyone’s still talking about social media these days. Businesses are promoting their Facebook pages and Twitter accounts at every opportunity. The number of social media experts, consultants and gurus still seem to be increasing daily. But how often do you hear people talking about social business? Abbas Alidina, Founder and Director, Logicks.com, introduces us to the basics of social business.

Source: http://bub.blicio.us/the-difference-betweensocial-media-vs-social-business/

A

Google trend comparison of social media and social business illustrates that social business has not hit the mainstream, as seen from the graph above. It may actually never become as popular as social media, but just because there isn’t any hype around it, doesn’t mean that it should be ignored.

communications. Typically, these are the first departments to embrace social media.

Although social media may begin in the marketing department, it quickly attracts conversations that are not necessarily related to marketing.

The social consumer is not shy and is not ashamed to complain about service quality (customer service), or to ask for product details (technical support) or to apply for a job (HR/Recruitment) amongst other scenarios.

These departments traditionally operate within silos. What may have started as a simple marketing initiative has quickly grown into something much larger and complex, than many of us expected.

Social media has become a catalyst for organisational change.

Introducing the social business While I struggled to find an official definition for social business, here is my take on it: A social business is an organisation, which communicates effectively, both externally with customers as well as internally across departments.

The organisation engages with customers to understand their needs and uses these insights to improve their business processes to ultimately offer their customers a better experience.

Social business is sincere and human. It listens to us and cares about what we have to say and the frustrations we have with its products and services.

It learns from these interactions and genuinely wants to help us.

Social Business is a natural progression of social media Over the years, social media has become associated with marketing, PR and corporate

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The marketing team needs to coordinate with other departments in order to handle these types of requests. Unfortunately, most organisations are not wired this way and each department exists within a silo with minimal intra-departmental communication.

Even if the marketing team does actually try to initiate a dialogue with other departments, they often get tangled in organisational bureaucracy. Though no fault of the marketing team, the potential of social media gets trapped within the marketing department.

Getting on social media is easy but becoming a social business is difficult To become a social business, you have to be able to communicate internally across departments. You must be able to learn from conversations with customers and then leverage those findings to improve your products and services. You cannot just be social with your customers. You must also be social internally.

Social business is an emerging business model.

It requires a holistic view of an organisation.

A significant amount of internal change management is required to reach this state.

About Source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2056/5741961406_ e682950278.jpg

Marketing becomes overwhelmed The marketing department quickly becomes overwhelmed, because they are not qualified or trained to have direct conversations with their customers on matters outside of marketing.

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Abbas Alidina is the Founder and Director of Logicks.com, a digital marketing agency that helps businesses across the Middle East to improve their online performance. With more than ten years of marketing experience, he has developed strategies and executed projects for numerous global and regional brands.

For more information please visit www.logicks.com or follow Abbas on Twitter @AbbasAlidina.

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MARKETING

Buying behaviour

How to market your brand in multiple regions We all know that we understand a concept better when it is explained to us in our own language and appeals to our sensibilities. The same approach should be used when we market a product or service to a target audience in a region. Businesses need to speak the language that people in a particular region will understand, says Sawsan Ghanem, Managing Partner, Active PR.

M

ost of us have heard the story in some form or other, about how people get together to build a tower to the heaven and fail because, suddenly, they are all speaking different languages and cannot communicate, and as a result work together ineffectively. Well here is how international marketing can be a bit like that!

Any business looking at putting together an effective marketing plan that covers multiple regions, will need to first establish what their PR/ communication objectives are for each market before embarking on anything. The following questions should be asked: Are the main communication objectives for the new market similar, or different, to present markets that we operate in?

Are we seeking to create awareness primarily to attract customers to our service or product offering, influence minds and buying behaviour or increase our sales?

For new markets, the former objectives would prevail while for more established markets, the latter ones would be paramount.

Step one should be market research, as this is an important investment in a brand, product or service when it requires marketing.

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Every business needs to have a thorough understanding of the new market; customer demands, competition, pricing, and more.

Research results will provide invaluable information on what needs to be done in terms of, relevancy, empathy and tone of language, to reach out successfully to target audiences and in turn meet communication and business objectives. It is worth stating here that this is one of the most overlooked elements of building a successful marketing strategy and one that few companies see the value of investing in.

One of the biggest mistakes any business can make is to approach its marketing or communications campaign in different markets as one homogenous activity.

On the one hand, the company’s key message may stay consistent but might require some fine tuning, something that may be identified from market research conducted to make them more relevant to the audiences being targeted. Yet other elements may need considerable customisation, taking into account crucial factors such as, culture, language, local attitude towards different forms of marketing communications and the media environment to name a few.

Cultural sensitivities are important and diverse and can influence colour, signs, and symbols and more. For example in China, the

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

colour red is considered lucky, while in South Africa it’s the colour of mourning.

Cultural sensitivities are also present within the same region, for example, in the Middle East, cultural attitudes, traditions vary a great deal, from one market to another and the same applies to language, where different dialects as well as accents are prevalent.

International marketing requires a simple and straightforward approach, in terms of the steps to be taken, but then requires a more sensitive and considered approach within each of these steps; this is the big challenge facing marketing managers today.

How do they reflect this with the limited or allocated budgets? The Middle East has been traditionally a sales dominated marketplace, where marketing can often be quite basic and where, while margins can be high, budgets to conduct marketing properly have been disproportionate.

Factors that are key in a region, such as the Middle East are; Religious sensitivity.

Cultural values and attitudes to different issues and gender sensitivities.

Language, especially when translated, which is often the case, since very few marketing

mARKETING

Buying behaviour

campaigns are created in the Arabic language and executed for an Arabic audience.

Media environment and how well developed this is versus other regions and markets.

It is worth exploring one or two of these to illustrate the points.

Values and attitudes can vary a great deal, not only between regions, but also within markets of the same region, and this is very true of the Middle East. It follows that any form of marketing communication, messages or images will need to be adapted to ensure that it is sensitive to these and thus well received by the target audience.

Media environment also plays a big factor in influencing the communications plan implemented. For example, in some markets broadcast media may not be as developed or low on the scale of influencing target audience, while newspapers are the stronger medium, or to position your brand in any publication, including newspapers or industry magazines, advertising is a must to get any space in their pages. Such differences in the media landscape

Step one should be market research, as this is an important investment in a brand, product or service when it requires marketing.

can be extremely diverse, even within the same region.

Whatever the business, product or service, the fact remains that a customer-focused approach is always likely to be the winning one, and with the evolution of technology and the fact that key stakeholders can interact with their favourite brands, this is now one of the most important factors in any strategy.

Therefore, if we summarise some of the steps to a successful marketing strategy we can begin to see that it is the same whether you are dealing with one market or region or the world!

Summary for success 1

Start with market research – target audiences are highly fragmented nowadays and understanding what makes them “tick” is a key element.

2 Understand and respect cultural differences – difference in language, religion and social structure has significant impact on a business’s marketing strategies.

3 Understand the market’s demands – businesses need to be able to appeal to local purchasing behaviours.

4 Understand the nature of the competition – in each market as this will differ. Build your market attack or entry strategy accordingly.

These and other elements covered within this article will allow for a tailored marketing

Sawsan Ghanem

Cultural sensitivities are important and diverse and can influence colour, signs, symbols and more. For example in China, the colour red is considered lucky, while in South Africa it’s the colour of mourning.

strategy that, while holding to some key global tenets can be relevant to any given local market.

We have seen that the major players in retail, FMCG, electronics and technology have had varying success in the Middle East and it is the brands that have the history, the money and the marketing savvy that are and have been most successful but let’s add one more element.

Some of these brands have evolved their global marketing strategy, their key messages and even their product lines to be sensitive and relevant to the Middle Eastern target audiences and that is proving to be a bonus.

The Middle East, as seen through marketing eyes, is becoming a more important region for products and services, and as we see more of the markets in the region evolve and remove their trade barriers. The need to have global marketing strategies that have the region’s target audiences factored in will make more and more sense and attract the necessary budgets to ensure success.

So it’s really all down to marketing in the style of the Babel or having the language skills to succeed across different target audiences, in different markets, and varying regions of the world.

About Sawsan Ghanem is the Joint Managing Director of Active PR. She has lived in the Middle East region for the greater part of her life. Sawsan lived and studied in the UK for a few years where she gained her BSc in Chemistry and Management from Kings College, London University, and MA in International Business from Webster Graduate School (London Campus).

Sawsan began her career in PR over 14 years ago, when she caught the PR and communication bug. She founded Active PR in the summer of 2003 along with Louay Al Samarrai.

Sawsan has in-depth experience in strategic PR campaigns, media relations, creative thinking, crisis management and more. She is the SME Advisor Middle East winner [before the magazine was rebranded SME Advisor] in the category of Admirable Woman Entrepreneur (2008).

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SME Advisor Golf Day Driving Business Presented by

PITCH SHOT BUSINESS As part of our ongoing events this year we thought it would be fun to arrange a number of golf days for senior management. Presented by ADCB, in conjunction with our Exclusive Telecom Partner, du, the key decision makers in attendance also had the opportunity to network during dinner afterwards. We bring you the highlights from our second golf day at Yas Links in Abu Dhabi.

Mohit Rajpal, Product Head, Assets – SME, ADCB gives a welcome note at dinner

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e have tried our best this year to offer some variety to our readers and patrons, to network and connect and hence the golf days. Not only have these golf days provided an opportunity to network, both on and off the course, but have also created a lighter ambience to unwind and talk shop.

The second golf day was held on 3rd November at the Yas Links in Abu Dhabi, where after a quick registration, the players were all set to tee off at 1:00 pm. The format for the tournament was to consist of teams of two, better ball Stableford, as it is known to those within golfing circles, and at the end ten teams with the best scores would be selected to play in the grand final golf day, which we have scheduled for the Els Club, Dubai, on 15th December.

For more information on the three golf days, their locations and how to register visit http://www.smeadvisor.com/events/sme-golf-days/

Exclusive Telecom Partner

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Publisher

Strategic Partner

Supported By

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Knowledge Partner

Business Community Partner

Event Partners

SME Success Series Driving Business

Presented by

Exclusive Telecom Partner

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Supported By

Knowledge Partner

Business Community Partner

Event Partners

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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SME Advisor Golf Day Driving Business Presented by

Exclusive Telecom Partner

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Publisher

Strategic Partner

Supported By

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

Knowledge Partner

Business Community Partner

Event Partners

SME Success Series Driving Business

Presented by

Exclusive Telecom Partner

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Strategic Partner

Supported By

Knowledge Partner

Business Community Partner

Event Partners

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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SME about town Tech Start ups

Get a jump start The Middle East region is one of the most technology friendly and early-adopter regions of the world. Young people from the region got together to bring to Dubai and Riyadh, the proven format of the StartUp Weekend spread over two weekends. Prashant (PK) Gulati, CEO, Optimistix, gives us an overview of the day’s happenings.

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his junction of the curious mind with a prosperous lifestyle has, predictably, given rise to a new generation of young people, working hard to build the supporting technologies and services for the new generation – perhaps trying to brush off the off-trumpeted tag of a user market, devoid of any home grown creativity.

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These ICT startups are usually clustered around few cities of the region boasting of fledgling tech ecosystems, like Dubai, Amman, Cairo and Beirut. While a lot is missing in each of these cities, it would be right to say that green shoots of budding promise are now visible.

That these beginnings are small, fragile and incomplete remains true and it will require a lot of concerted effort by all stakeholders to see it reach a level where it becomes a fostering,

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

supporting and reliable ecosystem that allows innovation, experimentation and growth.

Traditionally, the region has depended on government intervention and spending, to kick-start and maintain activities to support entrepreneurs and small companies. With the growing educated populations and recessionary economies, it is unlikely that the organic growth of jobs can sustain and provide for all.

This means that most regional economies will need to undertake immediate steps to spur the growth of self supported or private sector initiatives to grow the job pool.

Statistics show that each successful start up creates an average of ten new jobs and creates wealth far exceeding the national average and companies with 25 or less employees form the majority of companies in the region. Hence, it is essential that all segments of society assist in the creation of an environment that allows youngsters to experiment with innovative ideas and create companies that are efficient, creative and solve problems and ease lives.

SME about town Tech Start ups

One of the major needs for today is to encourage youngsters to try new things and ideas and a lot of new initiatives are underway to allow that. I recently had the chance to mentor and participate in an exceptional event that has been momentous in many ways, by being a part of the StartUp Weekend. A StartUp Weekend is described as “No Talk, All Action – Launch a StartUp in 54 hours!” – the tagline of the loosely structured group that manages this worldwide community of stakeholders who volunteer to make these events happen.

TiE was considering bringing this format to Dubai, when StartUp Weekend team introduced them to Deem Al Bassam and Sara Falaknaz, who had approached them with the plan to organise

Prashant (PK) Gulati

Statistics show that each successful start up creates an average of ten new jobs and creates wealth far exceeding the national average and companies with 25 or less employees form the majority of companies in the region.

it in the region. They worked tirelessly with an awesome team of volunteers – organisers, supporters, mentors, sponsors and institutions, to make things happen, and happen exceptionally well. A lot of hard work, working weekends and brainstorming sessions led to the event that would bring together idea-people with geeks, to prove that innovation and creativity is very much alive in the region. HH Sheikh Monsour Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum provided his patronage and very graciously donated the cash prizes for the winners.

In October, Dubai played host to its maiden StartUp Weekend. Set in the idyllic setting of the Madinat Jumeirah, it clubbed infectious enthusiasm of young geeks with eastern hospitality, amidst the promise of a new and creative tomorrow.

The fear that there may not be enough interested people in Dubai was very short lived, when applications to attend the event shot through the roof, with requests coming in till the last minute. The organisers had done a great job lining up marquee sponsors and used a lot of media interest to generate the buzz that grew louder as the event approached.

The format of a StartUp Weekend was very interesting and informal. The event began with the explanation of the format of the event and the pitching of ideas. All the budding entrepreneurs who want to experiment with an idea queued up and pitch to an audience consisting of all stakeholders and prospective team participants. Each person got a minute to describe their idea and impress the audience. To everyone’s surprise, the Dubai event had an evergrowing serpentine queue of interesting people waiting to pitch their idea, 65 in all!

The ideas so generated were put to a vote, with everyone in the audience voting for their favourite idea with colour coded post-its. The finalists were decided as the top 20 ideas from this list of 65 through this vote. The 20 shortlisted leaders were then faced with the task of building a team by trying to convince suitable people from the audience, geeks and other specialists, to join their teams. The final 20 teams, so formed, worked hard over the next two days to perfect their idea and to try and build a working prototype.

The organisers has arranged for a series of mentoring sessions and interesting guidance

events for the teams during the next 48 hours to allow them to try and make viable businesses out of the bare ideas. Each team was mentored by a number of experienced entrepreneurs and experts on various aspects of the proposed business.

On the final day, the 20 teams presented their idea and its progress in front of the judges. The teams were thorough, meticulous and involved with their ideas and competition was immense. Finally, three teams: Golazo (a community of amateur football players), Giftastic (a social way of gift suggestion) and Hassle Free (an online house moving resource) were declared the top three winners. Two other teams, Mindtalk and Rabbit Hole, were provided awards for their promising ideas. Dubai SME provided incubation services to all the finalists and many other awards were also given away by the sponsors.

The greatest take away from the event was not the number or the awesome quality of the finalists. For the first time, the entrepreneurial community in Dubai got a formal platform to execute an idea with the promise of support and possible viable venture creation. The young and enthusiastic budding entrepreneurs were able to get the confidence to present their ideas in front of an audience without the fear of failure.

Also, for the first time we saw active interaction between team members of various nationalities, backgrounds, education and cultures – most not even knowing each other before this event, coming together to make an idea become reality, tied together by the will to create and innovate.

Such efforts, executed by home grown talented individuals from the region, prove that this region is well on its way to become the cradle for entrepreneurial activity. The path is long and a lot still to be done, but the journey has well begun!

About PK is a serial entrepreneur, international business executive and mentor. With more than a decade of responsible management experience in several companies of international repute, PK has extreme in-depth knowledge as a senior Telecommunications, Media and IT professional.

PK is the CEO of Optimistix Ventures, a serial entrepreneur, early stage investor and a technophile, based in Dubai. He is a trustee on the Global board of TiE and the founder and past president of TiE Middle East.

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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SME about town DKV event

Providing opportunities SME Advisor attended the TECOM SME Builder, which was aimed at enhancing the advancement of businesses in the UAE, by providing them with access to a pool of experts from various sectors.

S

ME owners are constantly on the lookout to take their business to the next level.

Gaining expert advice is becoming increasingly important to take the right action at the right time. Effective communication is extremely powerful in times like these, when one conversation can define the difference between success and failure, according to Phil Bedford, Master Franchisee, Referral Institute.

Bedford’s comments came at the 14 th edition of the triennial TECOM SME Builder, organised by Dubai Knowledge Village, a member of TECOM Investments’ Education Cluster. Sponsored by various

72

high profile companies, the event drew the participation of over 100 individuals.

The event also offered ideal networking opportunities for all participants, allowing the exchange of ideas, best practices and problem solving tools. The event allowed participants to identify avenues for skills enhancement that would ultimately benefit the organisation.

Dr. Ayoub Kazim, Managing Director, TECOM Investments’ Education Cluster, said, “The SME sector has shown significant expansion over the last few years, driven by the incentivised business landscape. Companies such as TECOM Investments offer SMEs a business environment with support services that encourage them to set up in the region. The TECOM SME Builder is one such tool.”

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

“In today’s fiercely competitive business landscape, it is imperative for businesses to remain current on industry trends and competitor activities and this event offers access to resources, including experts’ strategic advice to optimise operations in the UAE and the region. In addition, networking and business development opportunities are also made available,” he added.

Presentations by leading experts on an array of subjects including, marketing, public relations, sales, finance, innovation, law, networking and referrals, strategy, digital and marketing communications, body language, social media and recruitment outlined the event.

Sessions delivered included ‘Successful Body Language for Business - How to build rapport through non-verbal communication’, which was delivered by Lucy Hay, Managing Director, Expressions and ‘A Functional Approach to Social Media’, by Alexander Rauser, CEO Prototype.

Hay talked about how communication skills can make or break a deal, and it is important to consider the effect our body language has on our performance.

It can make the difference between success and failure. She added that body language is critical to our overall message and we cannot afford to ignore it. Facial expressions convey unspoken messages to the client as does a handshake.

Potential, a leading UAE-based business development company and business partner of Dubai Knowledge Village extended its support to the initiative through its participation at the event.

Shadi Banna, Managing Partner, Potential, said, “We are glad to participate in yet another edition of the TECOM SME Builder as part of our aim to help small and medium enterprises improve their business efficiency and empower them to compete on the international level. In line with this vision, we believe that the seminar plays an integral role in supporting the sector in the region.”

SME about town

IP & TV FORUM MENA 2011

Let’s talk SME Advisor attended the launch of Rufoof, the Arabic bookstore application and learnt how SmartPhones have opened new growth and networking avenues and set new trends in e-reading.

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ufoof, an Arabic bookstore application, has been conceptualised by Flagship Projects, a business partner of TECOM Investments’ Media Cluster.

It was launched on the sidelines of the IP & TV Forum MENA 2011 at a media roundtable hosted by TECOM Investments.

Rufoof has been designed as an online store providing a wide range of titles including books, articles and e-journals.

Content can be downloaded to enable access even when the device is offline. Bookmarking pages, search option, a variety of font sizes and the ability to change the colour of bookshelves at the online store, are some of the features embedded in the application.

Mohammad Abdullah, Managing Director of TECOM Investments’ Media

Cluster, said, “Rufoof is a fine example of the growth and proliferation of Arabic content. It is essential to develop and innovate on Arabic homegrown content for users in the region. Developers need to offer the right content and team up with platforms that have the potential to penetrate the market.”

Rufoof offers a platform for publishing houses and content driven organisations in the Middle East to make their body of work in English and Arabic available to

With Rufoof, authors and publishers are protected from piracy due to the high security features deployed by a team of software developers.

(L-R) Mohammad Abdullah, Managing Director, TECOM Investments’ Media Cluster and Shadi Hasan, Managing Director, Rufoof

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SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

online users through the purchase of space.

Content generators have the option to buy a premium package to publish their books and articles in a special section on Rufoof or simply post their books individually.

With Rufoof, authors and publishers are protected from piracy due to the high security features deployed by a team of software developers.

Shadi Hasan, Managing Director, Rufoof, said, “E-books have gained popularity due to the increasing proliferation of the iPhone, iPad and SmartPhone devices in the region. Rufoof provides a new reading experience for Arabic content users. It is a value-added mobile application unique to the Arab world. The time is right for every publication house to create digital versions of its content to gain wider reach and easy accessibility, and Rufoof is delighted to lead by example.”

Hasan also added that it is a platform and not an e-book reader. It is a free application that can be downloaded from

Apple Website. Users also have the option to read the book offline, change the font size, and share through social media among other features.

While Rufoof is available in both English and Arabic in the region, it is only available in Arabic internationally. It can be accessed on SmartPhones and will be available on desktops soon.

There are about 4500 titles available at present and 90% of that content is Arabic.

80% of this content is free, while for some premium publications, the user has to pay.

It is based on a revenue-sharing concept with 40% going to the author, 30% to Rufoof and 10% to Apple and will help develop creative professional content for the local and regional market.

Industry Watch Market review

Market activity gains momentum in Bahrain Business Monitor International (BMI) forecasts Bahrain’s real GDP expansion to be 0.5% in 2011 and 1.2% in 2012, while an analyst’s poll by Reuters forecast GDP growth at 3.2% for 2012.

in demand for compound accommodation in western Bahrain, driven by oil and gas sector employees working in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, where compound space is now at a significant premium.

Amwaj Islands has become an increasingly popular area for young upper-income expatriates with rental rates rising slightly through the year, again largely due to the remoteness of the islands from any of the political troubles besetting the Kingdom. The same is true of Riffa Views, where expatriate demand for rental villas, particularly those with landscaped gardens and pools, has strengthened through the year. This has been allied with strong interest from Bahraini

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here was little meaningful indication of a business rebound in Bahrain in the early part of Q3, although this was not entirely unexpected given that the combination of summer and Ramadan, are typically associated with a market slowdown.

However, as Q3 drew to a close, market activity levels picked up, as the business community geared up to finish the year on a positive note.

BMI announced that the Bahrain economy expanded by only 0.7% in the year to the end of Q2 2011, with second quarter performance markedly up on the dismal Q1, during which the economy actually contracted by 1.4%.

On July 1st, King Hamad initiated a national dialogue to discuss meaningful reforms, and in late September Parliamentary by-elections were held. Such steps were necessary to move forward and indicated the Government’s commitment to restoring stability and order to the Kingdom.

Infrastructure projects worth BD 14 million were awarded in July and August, including projects for roads, electromechanical maintenance and pumping and sanitary works at 30 schools.

However, this and other economic stimuli, such as a USD 1 billion increase in spending on public wages resulted in a 22% jump in spending and a deficit of around 10% of GDP. Earlier this year Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar approved USD 10 billion in aid over the next ten years.

Although Bahrain’s key financial services industry posted weak growth of 1.7% year-on-

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Source: Business Monitor International (BMI), Reuters, Moodys year in the second quarter, there has been very little evidence of a desire for international banks to leave the Kingdom or for capital flight; concerns that had been expressed by the international media and by other centres in the Middle East. Bahrain’s financial sector accounts for around a quarter of the Kingdom’s GDP, and while the regulatory environment remains solid and Government support fully backs this sector, there is no reason to believe that the situation will change.

Although average compound rents fell by 10-15% in the Saar and Budaiya areas during Q3, demand at the top end of the market, where budgets are BD2,000+ per month, stayed strong as new employees to the Kingdom, particularly those in the oil and gas sector have higher housing allowances. There has also been an upturn

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

families wishing to buy a property who have been attracted by the secure, gated environment, which is ideally suited to those with young families.

Separately, the Government has revealed plans to develop three new cities in East Hidd, East Sitra and Northern Town.

However, the plans for Northern Town have been on the table for almost a decade and the two other projects are still being assessed. The three projects together are intended to provide approximately 23,000 units by the end of 2016 which will go some way to addressing the Kingdom’s needs.

However, the waiting list for Government housing currently comprises well over 50,000 households and is increasing by around 4,000 households per annum.

Eduserve FZ LLC PO Box 211027 | Dubai | UAE t: +971 55 4646 685 e: info@eduserve.com w: www.eduserve.com

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About Roger Roger Harrop BSc(Hons), CEng, FIMechE, FCIM, FInstIB, FPSA, PSAE ● Former Vice-President and Fellow of The Institution of Mechanical Engineers ● Accredited SME business advisor and Fellow of The Institute for Independent Business ● Speaker of the Year with The Academy for Chief Executives ● Winner of the Professional Speaking Award of Excellence Over 10,000 CEOs, business leaders and others have achieved transformational change through his thought provoking and entertaining talks laced with real-life stories, anecdotes and humour.

Doha – Qatar 26 Feb 2012 Dubai – UAE 28 Feb 2012 SME Special Special Offer Offer SME Mention promotional promotional Mention code SME2011 SME2011 for for code 10% discount off your 10% discount off your next MasterClass MasterClass with with next Roger Harrop Roger Harrop “Roger’s huge experience, combined with a direct, engaging style makes him a great business speaker and coach. He made a huge impact on our management team and helped us address several serious business issues."

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industry watch

Middle East market

mergers and acquisitions Zephyr monthly M&A report highlighted the mergers and acquisitions activity in the Middle East in October 2011.

D

eal-making activity targeting Middle Eastern businesses dropped in terms of both volume and value for the second consecutive month in October.

However, the decrease was more pronounced in comparison with the year-ago period, the number of transactions fell back 78% from 86 to 19, while value slumped 86% from USD 2,947 million to USD 425 million.

Kuwaiti targets accounted for 73% of all deal value in October 2011. Nevertheless, at USD 312 million the value of Kuwaiti deals was down on both the preceding month.

Target countries by value Target country

Kuwait Saudi Arabia

Sept-10 (mil USD)

1,907

Oct-11 (mil USD)

363

312

24

0

58

Bahrain

0

0

30

Oman

2

1

23

Jordan

63

2

3

UAE

237

0

0

Yemen

0

0

0

Iran

0

0

0

714

0

0

Syria

78

Oct-10 (mil USD)

Lebanon

0

Qatar

0

Iraq

0

The largest deal in the past two months, Kuwaiti Investor Development Enterprises Holding Company’s acquisition of domestic energy business, Aref Energy Holding Company was valued at USD 265 million, or 62% of the total regional value for October.

Kuwaiti targets accounted for 73% of all deal value in October 2011.

Nevertheless, at USD 312 million the value of Kuwaiti deals was down on both the preceding month (USD 363 million) and the year-ago period (USD 1,907 million).

Kuwait was far ahead of second-placed Saudi Arabia, which attracted just USD 58 million in the month under review.

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

0

0

319

0

0

0

Jordanian businesses were the most frequently-targeted in October 2011, a position the country has occupied for some time. 12 deals took place in Jordan compared to two in both Kuwait and Oman, which came joint second for transaction volume.

Only five transactions were worth more than USD 1 million in October, and just one of those hit triple figures.

Development Enterprises’ agreement to take a 72% stake in Aref Energy had a USD 265 million price tag, more than four and a half times the USD 58 million consideration of the month’s second largest deal, Al Baraka Islamic Bank’s purchase of a majority share in Saudi enterprise Altawfeek Financial Group.

The table below highlights the volume of M&A in the region by value.

SME Speak

Performance and benefit

Proud to work for an SME In order to understand employees’ perception of their working environment, performance and remuneration in small and medium businesses, SME Advisor Middle East along with Tickbox Surveys Middle East, conducted the SME Performance and Remuneration Survey.

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he survey highlighted that over three quarters of employees in SMEs are proud to work for their organisation. The common perception is that employees choose to work for large blue chip corporations because it raises their personal profile and helps them in accelerating their career. However, the reality may be far removed from the perception as large companies tend not to be as dynamic and growth-oriented as smaller firms.

Large companies by their very nature tend to be prudent and rely more on their name and history to acquire business, while smaller firms tend to argue that they have to work harder and smarter for their survival. The difference in corporate behaviour greatly impacts the organisational structure and culture. This in turn affects employees’ career development, as well as the daily working life. The working life or environment of an employee manifests

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itself the targets, that are set and the performance that is achieved along with it the remuneration.

Being proud of one’s organisation, is a great achievement and implies a whole host of positive attributes regarding the company. Some of these positive attributes include, belief that the company has a strong and effective leadership; products and services which are superior to its competitors; clear roles of operation and employment; provision of adequate resources to accomplish tasks, making employees feel valued and, treating them with respect and dignity.

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

However, the most important aspect of being proud of one’s organisation is the positive manner in which an employee talks about it to family and friends. This positivity has been found to translate into actual sales and growth. The SME Performance and Remuneration Survey found that 77% of the employees in SMEs were proud to work for their organisation, 18% of employees were not proud to work for their organisation and the rest were ambivalent. This finding tends to contradict the common perception that SMEs may not have good working environments.

The survey asked respondents, whether their direct line manager or supervisor helped and encouraged employees to develop their career. The rationale for this question was that the perception is that large firms tend to have employee career developments systems and plans and the same might not be the case in an SME.

The survey found that 59% of the respondents felt that their direct line manager or supervisor encouraged employee career development. On the

SME Speak

Performance and benefit

other hand 24% felt that their direct line manager took no interest in their career development. The remainder of the sample (18%) felt that their direct line manager or supervisor was neither positive nor negative with regard to their career development. It seems that while large firms may have systems and procedures for career development, in SMEs it tends to be more of a personal approach.

However, with almost a quarter of the respondents stating that their environment was not supportive of their career development plans, it may imply that the personal approach largely depends on the relationship that an employee has with their line manager.

The smaller and perhaps closer working environment within an SME, certainly has a number of positive aspects. The survey found that employees in SMEs had considerable authority over the manner in which they accomplish their tasks. Almost 64% of the respondents felt that they have considerable authority over the tasks that they were required to complete while only 30% felt that this was not the case.

Similarly, the constrained resources in SMEs imply that employees are encouraged to be creative in solving problems. The survey found that 59% of the respondents felt that their organisation encouraged them to be creative while only 24% felt that this was not the case.

Therefore, it is not surprising that 70% of respondents claimed that they look forward to coming to work each day. Only 30% of the respondents did not enjoy or look forward to coming to work.

Although, working in an SME may have a number of advantages, it also has some disadvantages, which were revealed by the survey. For instance, the survey found that 57% of the respondents felt that their direct line manager or supervisor tended to be not open and honest in giving feedback. Of course, the close working nature in SMEs implies that some of the aspects of openness that are common in large organisations may not be appropriate.

This is more so the case where the SME employs family members, whereby

feedback on tasks needs to be approached in a sensitive manner. Similarly, the fact that usually a single or small collective (more often than not a family unit) make the decisions in a SME, the decision might not be communicated properly to all the employees.

The survey found that 42% of the respondents felt that the future direction of their organisation was not adequately communicated to them, while 36% claimed that they were fully informed.

When it comes to performance the survey found that 47% of the respondents felt that their organisation set out clear and achievable performance goals which were regularly reviewed. However, 18% of the respondents felt that this was not the case in their organisation, while the remainder were ambivalent.

The survey found that 88% of the respondents felt that they were as productive as they could be. Only 12% of the respondents felt that their productivity could be improved. The survey provides evidence for the argument that closer working relationships in a SME tends to improve and increase employee productivity. In larger companies employees may feel isolated and hence this may impact on their level of output.

The survey then sought to find out if employees were consulted on decisions, which had an impact on their role, which in turn of course affects their performance. The survey found that 41% of respondents stated that their organisation consulted them prior to making a decision. On the other hand 35% of the respondents felt that they were not consulted prior to management making a decision.

Finally, the survey asked respondents whether there was a clear connection between their performance and their remuneration. The survey found that 53% of the respondents felt that there was a clear connection between their remuneration and performance. On the other hand 47% diagreed and felt that their performance was not adequately reflected in the remuneration.

 

Ther survey sought to determine whether close working impacts on their remuneration. In an ideal organisation the management should clearly state what is required of the employee and then a remuneration package can be developed.

The survey asked respondents whether their organisation clearly communicated the goals and employee expectations. The results show that 48% of the respodents felt that this was the case while 12% disagreed.

The SME Performance and Remuneration Survey highlights a number of interesting findings, most important of which is, that employees in SMEs are extremely proud of their organisations and value the close working relationships. It appears that their productivity is perceived to be extremely   high, however they may not always be matched by their remuneration.

About Tickbox Surveys Middle East specialises in market research surveys for the consumer, B2B, investor, community and employee segments. It also specialises in helping companies to identify appropriate interventions for improving customer and employee satisfaction as well as loyalty through using surveys and statistical analysis. For more information visit www.tickboxsurveys.com.

DECEMBER 2011 SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST

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Sign off

Past present and future

THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT SME Advisor Assistant Editor, Mike Byrne, gives a snapshot of some of 2011’s event hotspots and looks ahead to the SME Advisor calendar for 2012.

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hat a year it has been! It seems like only yesterday that the SME Advisor team was closing the December 2010 issue of the magazine and yet here we are again providing exclusive coverage of the largest voluntary event participation by small and medium enterprises in the Middle East.

The past 12 months have gone by in a flash – we have increased the page count over the past year in order to give the SME community as much advice and coverage as possible. Following on from the positive feedback with our events last year, we held an array of SME Advisor

82

Success Series events this year, none of which would have been possible without the help and support of our partners.

A special big thanks must go out to our Presenting Partner, ADCB, and, our Exclusive Telecom Partner, du.

Kicking off in February this year we introduced a networking event by the beach, a trade and export conference, a networking evening at the Capital Club, a business conference in Abu Dhabi, three golfing days, for senior level executives, the last of which will be held on the 15 th of December in Dubai. Coverage of all these events can be found online at www.smeadvisor.com/events/.

And it hasn’t just been SME Advisor that has been active within the SME arena. There have been various events by a number of our partners, including the SME Builder events by Dubai Knowledge Village and the Breakfast Club events by Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City under the TECOM cluster initiatives. Both programmes have delivered top quality informative speakers and played a very important role in educating and advising the SME community.

Dubai SME, a government entity established in 2002, continues with its vision to nurture, encourage and facilitate the

SME ADVISOR MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 2011

development of business and entrepreneurial activity among UAE nationals. In March of this year, it launched Dubai SME 100, the first-ever ranking of top-performing and fast-growing SMEs in Dubai, whereby those businesses that continue to make a difference to Dubai’s economic landscape are recognised and celebrated.

We have just recently concluded a colossal SME Advisor Stars of Business Awards and Summit. Months of planning and countless sleep deprived and coffee driven late nights resulted in an even bigger and better day-long event than was accomplished in 2010.

Not one to rest on our laurels we guarantee to better this in 2012 – planning and strategising has already begun! We will kick start an even more ambitious and jam packed schedule of conferences, networking evenings, and educational workshops with the help of all our partners.

The CPI Business Group will also be launching several new publications in 2012 so do keep a look out.

In the meantime do follow us on Twitter @SMEadvisorME and on Facebook www.facebook.com/SMEAdvisor for all the coverage of events and updates of things to come.

See you all in the New Year!

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