The Intelligent SME Issue 12

Issue: 12 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2013 facebook.com/theintelligentsme

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Gives your business an unfair advantage

AED 10

18

Health and wealth

You don’t need money to start a business: Dr. B.R. Shetty

36

Flight service on wheels

Rohit Dalmia, MD, Al Shamil Foodstuff Trading, on his line of innovative concepts

Dr. B.R. Shetty

Founder and CEO, NMC Healthcare

No.1 Platform for Small & Medium Enterprises Strategic alliance partner

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Meet UAE’s business icons once a month

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Contents February - March, 2013

18

‘You don’t need money to start a business’

Dr. B.R Shetty, founder and CEO of NMC Healthcare, got up close and personal at the Emirates NBD Global Business Series. Here’s a summary of the interactive session moderated by Tariq Qureishy, CEO, Vantage Holdings.

11 Rare & Fabulous

High end luxury products for CEOs and decision makers.

Jai Mulani vividly recalls his coming to the UAE and making his business a profitable one in less than a decade.

16 'Passion is key to success' 22 Announcements

What has been happening in the business marketplace? Here are some updates that you might have missed.

46 Insights to grow your business

22

SME law soon

New SME law to be in effect by June 2013.

30 Strengthening the connection to ‘genius’

ISME caught up with leadership guru Robin Sharma prior to his 10-country tour that includes the UAE.

34 World class service on wheels

Rohit Dalmia, MD, Al Shamil Foodstuff Trading spoke to ISME on his line of innovative concepts.

36 'We can all be an entrepreneur'

David Abingdon, CEO, Alchemy Network spoke to Sandhya Divakaran during one of his trips to the country about his life, passion and his way of doing business.

38 Demystifying banking: Bank guarantees

Harshit Jain gives an expert view on the subject of bank guarantees.

40 Securing your old age

48 Branding inside out

The begining of the year is the best time to review some commercial basics that are often lost in the day-to-day struggles of the business, advises John Merrigan.

54 Fit CEO

Tips from industry experts VLCC, on how to stay fit through your busy schdule.

58 Make your company shipshape to enjoy fair sailing

indemnity now!

Corporate governance is all common sense, explains Mark Fisher.

60 It’s not all about IQ, but EQ!

Supported by

Be a Connector

Do not rush to join just any networking group.

Evaluate various options and see what fits the business need, cautions Phil Bedford.

52 3 Questions for the New Year

Avoid risk of faulty service that can be very expensive for a business, explains Sandi Saksena.

The understanding of branding involves an experience, explains Zed Ayesh.

50 Choosing a great network

The earlier you start saving, the more potential your pension fund has to grow according to Rupert Connor.

42 Don’t hesitate, get professional

When business owners reach a plateau of profitability they must work on a business rather than in it, writes Simon Hodges.

Michael Tolan explains in depth the need for “Emotional Quotient” and the fact that most bosses tend to forget their other customers-their own employees.

Chief Executive Officer & Publisher Shantanu A.P Account Director Vijay G. Editor Sandhya Divakaran Assistant Editor Nikhil Pereira Consulting Editor Utpal Bhattacharya Expert Contributors Anesh Jagtiani Mark Fisher John Merrigan Michael J. Tolan Nita Maru Phil Bedford Rupert Connor Jai Mulani Sandi Saksena Simon Hodges V. Ramkumar Zed Ayesh

Art Director Aneesh Varghese Photographer Arzai Zafar Editorial Enquiries & Contributions Tel: 04-2659704, 04-2650312 Fax: 04-2690566 E-mail: editor@theintelligentsme.com Advertising Enquiries Tel: 04-2659704, 04-2650312 E-mail: response@spiholding.net Subscription Enquiries Tel: 04-2659704, 04-2650312 E-mail: response@spiholding.net Response Executive Evelyn V. Bernasol SPI Publishing P.O. Box: 89735, Dubai, UAE Tel: 04-2659704, 04-2650312 Fax: 04-2690566, 04-2651708 E-mail: response@spiholding.net

www.theintelligentsme.com Follow us on twitter: @intelligentsme Facebook: facebook.com/theintelligentsme

Editor’s Note I

ntelligent SME has had a remarkable journey in the last two years. We’ve seen how sheer hard work and out-of-the-box thinking has changed small time business owners to icons in the UAE. First hand experiences related by entrepreneurs have inspired us during the Emirates NBD Global Business Series. These events have been eye-openers for many in the SME community and we feel privileged in bringing these stalwarts of the business world up close and personal with entrepreneurs.

We are proud to announce another great initiative - Rise - a series of workshops that will inform and educate entrepreneurs on cutting edge topics. As the number one platform of SMEs, it is our responsibility to deliver practical learning and techniques that can be adopted into a business, giving SME owners an edge in the market.

In these two years, we have had some poignant moments, such as the announcement of the second SME100 ranking, the time when reminiscing about yesteryears brought tears to the eyes of Yogesh Mehta (owner of Petrochem Middle East), the first time ISME became an app, the launch of the Gulf Finance SME Cup, among so many others.

Personally, it has been a magnificent rollercoaster ride and I am thankful for so many memories as I leave ISME in the hands of another capable editor. I would like to thank all our writers, our supporters, and our critics without whom this journey would have been incomplete.

In addition, SPI’s offerings will now increase with the launch of two more magazines. We are proud to present Robust RAK and Apps Middle East, two informative magazines that will showcase the business community in Ras Al Khaimah and highlight innovations in the Middle East tech world respectively. Let’s see how business can be done differently. Get ready to welcome new experiences!

As always, do write in to us at editor@theintelligentsme.com and give us your feedback.

Sandhya Divakaran

Disclaimer: SPI Publishing has endeavoured to bring out a publication that is reliable and informative. This is true to the best of our knowledge. The opinions presented are those of individual writers and not necessarily endorsed by SPI Publishing. The content in this magazine is protected by copyright law and is copyright to SPI Publishing unless credited otherwise, and may not be copied, reproduced or republished for any commercial purpose or financial gain.

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S U C C E S S I S A D E S T I N AT I O N

H AV E YO U A R R I V E D ?

WATCHES YACHTS DESIGNER JEWELLERY BOUTIQUE REAL ESTATE GADGETS EXOTIC DESTINATIONS FINE DINING

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Rare & Fabulous styled FinePix S8200 and FinePix S8300 that each boasts fast apertures of F2.9 to F6.5, an improved optical image stabilization system for excellent blur reduction, and genuine Fujinon long zoom lenses with 40x optical (S8200) and 42x optical (S8300) zoom options.

Additionally, the new FinePix SL1000 uses a newly-developed 50x optical Fujinon zoom lens (241200mm) with a fast aperture of F2.95.6 and a powerful new optical image stabilisation that reduces the effect of blurring at longer zoom lengths

FinePix XP60

F

Fujifilm new range of cameras ujifilm showcased a broad spectrum of photo cameras at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, recently.

X-Series: X100S & X20

The cameras under the X series banner are the Fujifilm X100S, combines three high-performance Fujifilm components that together gives the user an advanced professional digital camera experience. By using Fujifilm‘s X-Trans CMOS II Sensor, EXR Processor II and Fujinon 23mm F2 fixed lens, Fujifilm claims the X100S is capable of the world’s fastest auto-focus speeds of up to 0.08 seconds, and increases its image resolution and reduces noise over the first generation X100.

The new Fujifilm X20 digital camera improves on the Fujifilm X10 with an advanced 12MP 2/3” X-Trans CMOS II Sensor and the EXR Processor II. HS50EXR, S8200, S8300 & SL1000 For those long distance zooming requirements, Fujifilm has launched 12

bridge cameras.

The new flagship FinePix HS50EXR features a manual zoom lens enabling zooming over a huge 42x focal length range (24-1000mm) and a new ½” EXR CMOS II sensor with phase detection that achieves an auto-focus speed of just 0.05 seconds.

There will also be two new additions to the popular long-zoom S and SL-Series lineup - the SLR

The all-new FinePix XP60 brings back rugged and durable for those adventurous shots. The new XP60 uses an improved 16MP CMOS sensor for enhanced image quality, a reinforced 5x Fujinon lens, and is waterproof to 20ft (6M), shockproof to 5ft (1.5M), freeze proof to 14°F (-10°C) and dustproof.

Instax Mini

Fujifilm also showcased the newest consumer model of Instax Instant Film Cameras, including the new Instax Mini 8 and new rainbow frame-colored instant film. The all-new Instax Mini 8 instant film camera offers userfriendly control functions, fun style and improved image quality. The new fun and compact Instax Mini 8 will be available in three new exciting colorspink, blue and yellow - along with the classic white and black models.

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Intelligent SME

Rare & Fabulous

Exclusive and elegant: Panamera Platinum edition

T

he Panamera Platinum edition, available as Panamera 4 and Panamera Diesel, stands out with subtle, independent design features in platinum silver metallic combined with expanded standard features and exclusive details.

The lower half of the side view mirrors, the air-inlet grille lamellas, the air vent grille on the side designed specifically for the turbo model, the trim on the trunk lid and the rear diffuser are all in platinum silver metallic. Solid exterior colours are offered in black or white as well as

the options of metallic basalt black, metallic carbon grey and metallic mahogany lacquer finishes.

The automatically dimming interior and exterior mirrors reduce glare from traffic behind you, and the 19-inch Panamera Turbo alloy wheels with the red, black and gold Porsche crest highlight the sporty elegance of the vehicle.

Other highlights include the standard sport design steering wheel and the distinctive Porsche crest on the front and rear headrests as well as the insignia “Platinum Edition” on the front

door trim strips.

In addition, Power Steering Plus as well as front seat heating come as standard. The standard Porsche Communication Management (PCM) with navigation module keeps Platinum Edition drivers on track.

With a high-resolution seven inch TFT touchscreen and eleven loudspeakers with a combined output of 235 watts, the PCM with built-in navigation unit not only gives assistance with dynamic route guidance, but also ensures optimal audio sound in the vehicle.

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February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Rare & Fabulous

Honda's all-new 2013 Accord sedan and coupe

H

onda has introduced the ninth generation Accord Sedan and Accord Coupe in the UAE. The much anticipated Accord is already on sale.

The new Accord delivers an even more spacious and comfortable passenger cabin wrapped in a dynamic and prestigious exterior design. The new Accord line-up offers a wide choice of seven different grades in Sedan and two grades in Coupe version.

Major changes in the exterior come in the form of a new grille upfront that blends well with the powerful look of the hood's multiple styling lines. Deeply sculpted character line flows through the door handles and flares upward toward the rear of the vehicle. The rear of the car accounts for a major change in the new Accord.

LED daytime running lights as well as LED tail-lights are available as standard feature on all Accord models.

LED projector headlights are used for

improved visibility. A touch screen panel is at the hub of control for audio, phone and many other functions. An interesting safety feature is Honda’s LaneWatch Blind Spot Display; this provides an expanded rear view of the passenger side roadway through the intelligent Multi-Information Display, which works like a dream while changing lanes and overtaking.

Powering the Accord are two new gasoline engines both part of Honda’s Earth Dreams project, first up is the

2.4-litre 4-cylinder and while a more powerful 3.5-litre V-6 with revised VTEC + VCM functions is also available. The base 173-horsepower four-cylinder engine is coupled to an efficient five-speed automatic transmission. Meanwhile, Accord V-6 models feature a 276-horsepower 3.5-litre engine coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission.

The sedan is offered in eight colour options while the coupe comes with seven colour options. The new Accord is covered by a three-year/100,000-km new-car limited warranty.

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February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Rare & Fabulous

S

The Pershing CBF porty and modern, the Pershing Chronograph collection by Parmigiani Fleurier provides the perfect base for showing off the symbolic codes of the Confederação Brasileira de Futebo (CBF).

The men's model features a titanium case and a choice of a white gold or rose gold bezel. The dial showcases the three colours of the CBF- gold, blue and green- each used

in perfect harmony.

The intense blue provides the background colour, on top of the "Côtes de Genève" guilloche worked surface.

Gold is used to highlight the two chronograph hands, usually so discreet.

Green is used in the greatest symbol of Brazil's passion for football: victory stars to commemorate as many world cups won by the team.

The new Pershing CBF line also

boasts a model for women. A titanium case is complemented by a magnificent jewel-set rose gold bezel, giving an elegant feminine touch which is so rare on a sports watch.

The white mother of pearl dial is enhanced with rose gold numerals and indexes. The dark blue of the CBF is used to pick out the contour of the javelin-shaped hands, and the five green stars are also featured.

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February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Open Forum

'Passion is key to success'

T

Jai Mulani vividly recalls his coming to the UAE and making his business a profitable one in less than a decade. he UAE has always attracted businessmen and my story is no different. I completed my graduation in IT a decade ago in 2003, immediately after which I came to the UAE in 2004. Hence I had no experience of working in India whatsoever, let alone having work experience in this country.

Being the grandson of a businessman, I always wanted to continue this tradition and own a business. I needed to have a company of my own where I had freedom to choose my own path, power, ability to strategise and passion to drive me forward. I always knew I wanted to come to Dubai, in fact from a very young age. It’s quite hilarious actually how I landed up in Dubai. Little did I even know to spell ‘Dubai’.

One of my elder cousin sisters was in this emirate for the past 15 years.

Whenever she would come to India I would tell her that I would join her some day. She was the first person to go to Dubai from our family. A few years after this incident, she arranged for my flight to the emirate.

In our family we have generations of business owners, beginning with my great grandfather. My father too is running a successful textile business in India till date.

I was quite ambitious from my childhood and right from then I was accustomed to thinking of the big picture, and applying my skills and capabilities.

The day I landed in Dubai, I was just 19 years old with US$300 in my pocket and that time I decided that I would eke out a living and build a business empire here. I just knew this 16

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Open Forum

Funny thing is I did not even know how to spell Dubai, but I knew from a very young age, this was where I wanted to be.

was where I was meant to be. I needed to begin this journey and so decided to take up a job. My first two jobs gave me a firm footing in the IT industry.

In fact my second job gave me a great opportunity to apply my skills. When I left the company after three years I had developed my skills and was earning AED25000 too. This was the opportune moment to begin a business.

My company IBT was set up four years ago with a small office space in Karama. I still remember the times when I could not afford a receptionist and had to divert calls that came to the landline to my mobile phone when I was making sales visits.

Information Technology is the

core of any business. Every company in every sector depends on IT in a big way; sadly this is the first item on the budget that is written off when a cash crunch approaches. IBT was set up in the peak of recession and somehow we managed to stay afloat. We’ve had some tough times and I’m proud to have an office on Sheikh Zayed Road with branches in Abu Dhabi and India with more than 60 employees and in this short time we have already received many accolades. We are looking at expanding to European and American markets by Q4 2013.

My success is mainly attributed to my team and my family. Often we come across companies where the

staff are not given their due, or require adequate motivation, hence they leave the job. I give my team a share of the responsibility, while giving a stake in the company. This retains the best employees and they are loyal to the company’s goals.

I spend a lot of time in developing my team and making sure that we have the best systems and processes in place.

We organise workshops on personality building, leadership development, and other technical topics. This ensures our team has an edge over our competitor. I would say four things define me and my company: passion for my work, ambition, vision and management style.

17

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Meet the CEO

‘You don’t need money to start a business’ Dr. B.R Shetty, founder and CEO of NMC Health, got up close and personal at the Emirates NBD Global Business Series. Here’s a summary of the interactive session moderated by Tariq Qureishy (TQ), CEO, Vantage Holdings.

TQ: Dr. Shetty, this evening is about

celebrating your life. My first question is: in your early days who impacted your life the most and why?

Dr. Shetty: It was my parents.

They instilled confidence in me and encouraged me to do good for society.

My father was the municipal councilor in Udipi, a town in south India since British times. He did a lot of work in the municipal corporation, and my mother assisted him. These two individuals were my role models. They guided me, along with my teachers, friends and well wishers.

TQ: Your parents wanted you to be a doctor; you wanted to be a pilot, but you became neither. What happened in between?

Dr. Shetty: Even

during my schooling, I joined the National Cadet Corps, and this is where I learned discipline. Whatever I did after was done with discipline.

I joined college afterwards, and applied to become a pilot. There I got selected, but during the final interview in

18

Mumbai, I was told that I was over the stipulated age by eight days. So that’s how I missed the chance of becoming a pilot. As for becoming a doctor, unfortunately I was not as brilliant a student as my wife, and therefore I could not join a medical college. I personally did not want to work that hard. I wanted an easy life, and that’s why that did not click.

TQ: In 1966, you actually stood for

elections. I think your father's role of councillor passed over to you; can you tell us about that?

Dr. Shetty: My father was a freedom

fighter, and was also the councillor in the area.

After he retired, the average age for a councillor was 26, and I was 24. Even then I was part of a committee and this committee won with a thumping majority. We did a very good job in the municipal corporation.

We took care of the water supply, underground

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Meet the CEO drainage, school, roads, and all the public amenities.

TQ: Just before you came to the

UAE in 1973, you had a tough time financially as you had run out of money; you even borrowed money to pay for your sister’s dowry. Tell us what emotions you felt at that stage and how you found your way out of it.

Dr. Shetty: You might read about

corruption every day today in the papers in India and other countries.

But with us, we couldn’t think of it. We were too disciplined and straightforward. We were not corrupt at all. Let me tell you a story. When I was the Municipal Vice Chairman, a man came to me to buy a house. At the same time another man came to sell his house, and I introduced them to each other and they were able to conduct a transaction to their mutual benefit. The house was bought and the buyer was very happy.

As you rightly said, I had financial problems at that time. As I was filling petrol on “credit” into my car, the buyer came to me and handed me INR20,000 as a fee for helping him find a house.

I refused to accept the money, in spite of not having a penny in my pocket. I was insulted that he had tried to give me a commission. But today, real estate is a business, with someone always hankering for a commission when a transaction takes place.

I lost everything because we gave all the amenities to the public, including financial assistance for marriages and education. When you give, and there’s no money coming in, then your pockets become empty. That was the stage I was in, but then I got the opportunity to come to the UAE.

I’m glad to tell young entrepreneurs today, that I was the first outdoor salesman as a medical representative not only in Abu Dhabi, but in the whole country. were being rejected in those interviews.

What was your experience?

Dr. Shetty: By profession I am a

clinical pharmacist. When I first came here, I applied for many jobs. The government jobs required knowledge of Arabic to dispense medicine, but I did not know Arabic. Despite a lot of searching, I could not get a job. So I went to a shop which I knew did not have a vacancy. I went to their warehouse, and I saw an opportunity. I told the decision makers of the company that I would sell their medicines in the market before they had a chance to get damaged in the warehouse. I’m glad to tell young entrepreneurs today, that I was the first outdoor salesman as a medical representative not only in Abu Dhabi, but in the whole country. Having started something new in the industry,

I reaped the benefits. I got to know the people involved such as distributors, stockists and so on. I sold Nivea cream, too. I remember loading the carton by myself and taking it to my car. This is how everything started and changed the wholesale business here.

TQ: Your professional journey from

being a salesman to a billionaire is very fast track, and I’m sure many people must be wondering the same. What are your thoughts?

Dr. Shetty: I don’t believe that I

am a billionaire. All the stockists and distributors gave me goods on credit.

So I had to sell the goods to pay them back. That is the kind of confidence they had in me. Even the diagnostic equipment was given to us. We installed it, and paid a discounted rate in installments. The clinic that I started comprised a two-bedroom apartment of which half was my office and the rest was my residence. Another adjoining apartment was my wife’s clinic, a laboratory and a dental clinic. Down below was a pharmacy. There was no desk. I used to write out invoices on a Samsonite bag that cost me AED150 at that time. I still have this bag and I’ve kept it as a momento. This is a very good story to tell. I feel very proud when I narrate this.

TQ: And that is what is so amazing.

You started with a humble beginning, you put in about AED50,000 as early capital just to start things going. What advice do you have for entrepreneurs to

TQ: And what was your mother’s last bit of advice when you left?

Dr. Shetty: My mother said that I could go where I pleased, but to be good to 10 people around me. That would be God’s blessing.

TQ: You applied to many jobs and 19

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Meet the CEO

take it from there to what you are?

Dr. Shetty: You don’t need money to do business. If anybody says that you cannot do business without money, I am an example that you can. It is a case study for anybody to understand.

I went to Harvard and even there I was met with questions: without money you did business? How? I’ve had dozens of MBA students asking me the secret. The answer is, have full faith in yourself. Be straightforward, and loyal to yourself, and take a good proposal to a banker. I am one of the beneficiaries of the banks. As long as you are loyal to yourself, and have the strength to face anything, a strong will, and a passion to do business, bankers will support you.

I’d like to thank my bankers, as they are the real partners.

TQ: You went for an IPO in 2010.

Why would a UAE-based company with so much liquidity in the market, a brand with enormous trust, go to a London stock exchange to raise a couple of USD100 million?

Dr. Shetty: One of the best pre-

qualifications I had, right from day one, in 1975, till we started the process for the IPO in 2011, is that we have been consistently and increasingly profitable.

The first profit of the company was AED72,000, and the last account stated profits of over AED150 million. We had profits, but cash flow was getting tight due to the credit crunch. Bankers will understand this: we had plans to expand the business, and this meant additional investment. We were advised by our

20

bankers that the London market offered specialized investors.

We went to London with prequalification documents for NMC and we were lucky to be the first company in the GCC to become a constituent of the FTSE 250 index and be listed in April 2012 on the premier segment of the London Stock Exchange. This is how they announced us when they rang the opening bell, which is very prestigious for us. We raised nearly USD187 million at the IPO, we were valued at over USD600 million and we diluted only a 30 per cent stake in the company. After that we got syndicated loans from banks amounting to USD150 million.

TQ: You have so many different businesses from money exchange to hospitality to technology to pharmaceutical innovation. How do you strategically justify that?

Dr. Shetty: All my businesses are

service-oriented. The clinic, medical centre, hospital, retail pharmacy, and wholesale pharmaceuticals, are all service oriented. You also mentioned diversification. In 1980, for the labourers and others to make a draft transfer would take up to eight hours.

So that’s the time I went to the Central Bank to ask for permission to start an exchange. UAE Exchange Centre was a sick company at the time, and it had a loss of AED18 million. With the help of the bankers, I took over its liabilities in 1982 and expanded the company.

As a company with retail pharmacy and wholesale pharmaceutical

operations, our backward integration into pharmaceutical manufacturing was a natural evolution. Our pharmaceuticals factory is doing very well. We have received accolades from H.H Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum himself. Recently we entered into a joint venture with Merck Serono and we will manufacture six billion tablets of Glucophage for diabetic patients in the Middle East and also manufacture Euthyrox, a thyroid hormone supplement product with them.

TQ: So the commonality is service and you are a service-oriented entrepreneur.

Dr. Shetty: I would also like to say something else. I came to this country in search of a job and opportunity. So as my way of giving back, whoever comes to me requesting a job will never be rejected. I will always take their application into consideration, see if they can be given a job within my company, or try to recommend them elsewhere, because people come here with hopes. My job is to give them hope and not disappointment.

And today, if we have grown, it is only because of such people who have worked with us. I have great satisfaction in saying that I came alone in search of a job, without any family here, save for a few friends I made. Now because of the blessings of the ruling family, we are doing well. Presently we have 18,000 people working with us across the world, and it gives me pride and joy in saying this.

The UAE is the land of opportunity.

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Meet the CEO TQ: How does one scale their business so fast?

employees and keep them motivated all the time?

Dr. Shetty: The secret is that we are very transparent in our dealings.

We adhere to all regulations and we maintain 100 per cent transparency.

Secondly, we have very good people working with us. Most importantly, we must recognise our customer loyalty.

No customer walks away from us, they are loyal to us. This has encouraged us to improve even further.

Dr. Shetty: You know, I don’t treat

Neopharma, which is one of the areas that you are proud of. You are looking at innovation and research. Could you give us some idea of what you are doing there?

TQ: Dr. Shetty has also won every

TQ: You are now working with

Dr. Shetty: Mainly, the Neopharma

project is attributed to the encouragement of the government. The (then) father of the nation visited the site for our pharmaceuticals factory twice and appreciated the initiative we had taken. I was invited to the palace and assured of any further assistance.

We are now present in the whole pharmacy value chain – starting from retail to wholesale to distribution and manufacturing. My philosophy is that one should not miss any opportunity.

I purchased a majority stake in a large hospital in Alexandria in Egypt when the opportunity presented itself - today that hospital is doing extremely well. We have an initiative with professors at Arkansas University where they are experimenting with nanotechnology in gadgets like a watch that can read the body blood sugar and induce insulin if sugar levels receded.

Products like this are undergoing trials now. We also have research and development tie-ups with the pharma giant Biocon from India for products like Abraxin, and with Hetero Pharma for creating off-patent generic molecules. We have also opened a research facility named B.R Shetty Research Centre in Abu Dhabi.

TQ: How do you describe your

leadership style? How to retain your

them as employees. Any problem of theirs is my problem. To all the entrepreneurs seated here, take care of your employees. They will love you.

My current driver has been with me for the past 24 years. All my managers have been working with me for 25 to 30 years now. All their individual problems are also my personal problems.

award that you can think of, as a business person, an entrepreneur and a humanitarian. He is the only Asian to win the Order of Abu Dhabi in the history of the UAE. You said you work 17-18 hours a day and that you are an absolute workaholic. How do you balance your professional and personal life?

Dr. Shetty: Firstly, I don’t talk about my achievements to my family. I don’t share my problems with them.

Secondly, we have lived in the same building for the past 36 years. My residence and my office have always been in the same building. Therefore my wife and I never missed each other.

My children have forged their own path and are doing splendidly well.

I must tell you entrepreneurs: keep your spouses involved in the business

All my businesses are service-oriented.

The clinic, medical centre, hospital, retail pharmacy, and wholesale pharmaceuticals, are all service oriented.

and tell them what you are doing is just for them. As long as you have passion and are loyal to your goals, you must continue to do what you are doing.

Dream big; do not think of small goals.

You are lucky that you are in the age of technology in this country, with all the encouragement of the rulers.

TQ: You also have a keen interest

for education. You support communal education. Would you like to share your thoughts and what inspires you?

Dr. Shetty: I had an opportunity to

become the chairman of Abu Dhabi Indian School where 8000 students are currently studying. This is a school for the community. The children receive education at a very affordable fee. There is a huge demand for good schools like this. The government took an initiative and put me on the committee. I was asked to promote education and accommodate 11,000 students per year. They gave me 36,000 sq metres of land in Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed City. I’m building a school for 4,000 students. The building will be ready by the first week of April 2013, but the admissions are already full.

Recently we had a seminar for investors. We have investors who are ready to invest in more educational institutions. Let me also make an announcement. I am hopeful that very soon, we will be able to start a medical school in Abu Dhabi, This is very good news for everybody. I have been working on this for the past four years. But it was only recently that we received letters of commitment from respective universities in the USA to go ahead with these plans. This is my contribution to the development of this country. Let’s give everybody a reason to remain in this country, as nobody wants to leave anyway.

TQ: When you are being remembered, would you like to be remembered as a great businessman?

Dr. Shetty: I would like to be remembered as a great human being and a philanthropist.

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February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Announcements

Dubai SME, Deloitte to assess SME100 companies

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Humphry Hatton, CEO, Deloitte Financing Corp. Finance Ltd and Dubai SME CEO Abdul Baset Al Janahi recently signed an MoU to offer their services to all Dubai SME100 companies.

ubai SME, an agency mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise sector, and

Deloitte, a leading global provider of audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services, have signed a

memorandum of understanding to offer a financial diagnostic assessment to all members of the Dubai SME100.

Dubai SME100, launched by Dubai SME is under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council.

It is an innovative ranking of the top-performing small and medium enterprises in Dubai aimed to groom them into bigger, better and sustainable enterprises, eventually graduating them to large globally-oriented companies.

The complimentary financial diagnostic will enable Dubai SME100 companies to implement an appropriate financial reporting process that will support an SME as it grows, to help it realise the full potential in existing operations and make informed decisions about future strategies.

New SME law to be in effect by June 2013

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UAE Ministry of Economy undersecretary Eng. Mohammed Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi

ews has been doing rounds for quite some time now but seems as though the Dubai SME law could soon see the light of day. Speaking to the ISME, Eng. Mohammed Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi, undersecretary, UAE Ministry

22

of Economy, said, “The draft law has been approved by the cabinet and has gone to the Federal National Council.

Hopefully it will be presented in parliament by the next month. The law should be in force by June 2013.”

Finally we have a time frame for the law, as Shehhi said that by June 2013 things should be clear. However, the question looms large on everyone’s minds, what is the SME law all about?

How is it going to benefit Dubai SMEs? ISME has learnt a few details about the Dubai SME law.

Sources say the law will create a platform for policies in the future.

These policies would be widespread and generally will be for the amelioration of Dubai SMEs. One of the possible policies could be that

henceforth SMEs will enjoy 10 per cent allocation of government procurement of goods and/or services from their respective business houses, compared to the five per cent procurement budget from the government to help the sector grow and deliver. This is just one of the possible policies that could be enforced if the law comes into play.

SMEs account for 80 per cent of all companies in the emirate of Dubai and 94 per cent of all companies in the UAE and hence the chamber of commerce is focusing on this sector in a big way.

Efforts are also on in full swing to encourage UAE nationals to start up businesses. Lets hope the SME law will help all small and medium enterprises as well as start-ups to get an edge in the ever growing market.

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Announcements

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Gulf Finance launches medical equipment leasing ulf Finance Corporation is launching a new specialist division called Gulf Finance Medical Leasing. This new business will offer operating leases for medical equipment to the region’s health care sector, enabling health businesses and independent health professionals the option to lease state-of-the-art medical equipment for an affordable monthly fee.

This is the first business of its

type in the GCC to offer this service and will target the UAE healthcare sector initially before addressing other significant market opportunities across the region. The global market for the lease of medical equipment is growing rapidly and will be valued at AED205 billion by 2017 with leasing being the preferred method to finance medical equipment in Europe and the United States where 40 per cent of all medical equipment is leased.

There is no need for major capital expenditure for equipment with cash flows subsequently improved for businesses.

Within the monthly fee, all installation, maintenance and upgrade costs are included. The fee begins once the equipment is delivered. No down payment is required with a quick and simple application process bypassing the complexities and personal guarantees required by bank loans.

Foreign partnership firms soon without Emiratis

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Premises of the Department of Ecnomic Development, Dubai

he Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai has formed a committee to study requests from GCC nationals to allow them set up partnership firms with foreigners without an Emirati partner.

The initiative is part of DED’s efforts to

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strengthen partnerships in the business community, attract new capital, and raise overall competitiveness in Dubai to enhance the emirate’s position in the global economic landscape.

The committee will consider the following while weighing the

requests made b​​ y GCC nationals to allow partnership firms without a local partner: whether the proposed projects include transfer of knowledge and technology to the UAE or transfer of operations of some well-known companies to the UAE, and whether the project is a priority for the emirate's economy.

The business initiatives to be evaluated by the committee must also fall under the industrial, services, tourism or other sectors that add critical value to the emirate's economy. The minimum capital in each project must be 10 million dirhams and it should be transferred from outside to any of the UAE banks with a certificate of deposit.

An economic feasibility study and compliance with existing legislation on the establishment of such firms and related activities are also compulsory for the project to be considered by the committee.

Virtuzone launches new blog for SMEs irtuzone announced the launch of a new industry blog that aims to cover the critical challenges and issues small business owners deal with regularly.

“Today, Virtuzone is a thriving community of over 2,000 companies,

start-ups, small enterprises and individuals. Everything we do is with this community in mind”, said Neil Petch, chairman, Virtuzone.

The blog will provide weekly advice ranging from setting-up a business to day-to-day operations, including

‘how to’ tips and commentary from experienced business owners, insights on marketing strategies from successful companies and experts, along with the latest trends in SEO and social media, and updates on operational issues from the Virtuzone team.

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February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Out & About

Derwent Yeomans triumph Six teams qualify in Round 1 of the Gulf Finance SME Golf Cup. An ISME report.

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Round 1 of the ‘Gulf Finance SME Golf Cup in collaboration with Dubai SME took place over the Faldo course at Emirates Golf club recently.

ound 1 of the ‘Gulf Finance SME Golf Cup in collaboration with Dubai SME took place over the Faldo course at Emirates Golf club recently.

It was the Derwent Yeoman Executive team which consisted of Russell Yeomans, Juan Herera, Tej Ghuldu and Raja Flora that took the top honours with a pairs better ball combined team score of 75 (39 and 36).

In second place and finishing on the same score (75) was the team from Duplays - Mark Webb, James Jackson, Gareth Gie and Curtis Hegge. They narrowly missed out on the top spot by virtue of a card playoff (40&35).

The third place prize spot was secured by Martin Uchytil, Chris Emerson, Tony Madeley and Prasad Nagarajan from Dell Middle East with a fine combined score of 74 beating two other teams (7 Days and Sixt Gargash) on a card playoff (36 and 38).

The six teams who have qualified 26

for the end of series Grand Final in April are - Derwant Yoemans Executive, Duplays, Dell Middle East, 7 Days, Sixt Gargash and Malaysian Business Council.

The longest drive prize on hole 16 was won by Keith Wilkes (representing Aztec Trading) and nearest pin prize on hole 8 was won by Chet Riley (Bon Cafe Middle East LLC) and on hole 12

by Azamat (Prosports).

The next qualifying round will take place on February 18 at the Emirates Golf Club. There are a total of four qualifying rounds planned leading to the grand final which will take place on The Majlis Course- home of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, in April 2013. The winning teams will compete against each other to win the tournament trophy, a package of corporate golf benefits for their company and the coveted title of ‘The inaugural Gulf Finance SME Golf Cup Champions’. All qualifiers for the

grand final will also win a package of discounted products and services from the event partners to help the SMEs with their business requirements and reduce their costs.

Any SME in the UAE may participate in the event by entering a team of four players which must include a minimum of 2 players from their company.

Each team of four can play one or more qualifying rounds to try and secure a place in the Grand Final, where the top 24 teams based on the top six scores from each qualifying round will compete. Those SMEs that are registered with Dubai SME and Business Councils will automatically be able to avail a preferred rate of entry.

The event is also supported by Al Nabooda Insurance Brokers, Audi and the Intelligent SME, which is the official magazine of this bespoke golf event.

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Out & About

Dubai Chamber launches business award T

he Dubai Chamber hosted an international conference for Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award 2013. The event kicked off with the launch of the seventh cycle of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award for this year. The award is initiated by Dubai Chamber to support and reward the efforts of UAE-based businesses contributing to the economic development of the country.

UAE Ministry of Economy undersecretary Eng. Mohammed Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi, affirmed that there are no short cuts to creating a world-class economy and the UAE is fortunate to have many of the key ingredients necessary to achieve this, like a visionary leadership, stable government and a thriving, diverse private sector.

“Achieving excellence is at the heart of this ideal and it is this concept that is guiding the UAE as it moves forward in its journey of growth and development. Still, the key to our future lies in developing and incorporating the world’s best business practices in line with local expertise,” he said.

He further stressed that the UAE’s efforts to steer the country towards economic growth and entrepreneurship along a new path are beginning to bear fruit. “Economic diversification, industrialisation and the promotion of entrepreneurship will continue to be our focus throughout 2013, in line with the UAE Vision 2021,” said Al Shehhi.

“The growth of SMEs, which constitute 94 per cent of all operating companies in the country, is important to us and we are focused on encouraging and investing in the next generation of Emirati entrepreneurs, especially in the SME sector while we also feel that increasing private sector participation of Emiratis is vital to

UAE Ministry of Economy undersecretary Eng. Mohammed Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi speaking at the international conference for Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award 2013.

ensuring a sustainable and profitable future for our country,” he added.

Dubai Chamber director general Hamad Buamim informed that the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award has incorporated the concept of continuous improvements in its seventh cycle for organisational transformation within its core and will encourage more businesses from different economic sectors, size and type to become examples of best practice in their respective fields.

He further added, the award has helped countless businesses become more effective, more productive and more profitable organisations thus helping enhance quality, accountability, and sustainability across Dubai’s private sector by setting a standard and rewarding high achieving businesses.

Buamim informed that till date, 93 organisations have won the Award as its previous cycle attracted a diverse range of companies, from 17 different economic sectors, ranging in size and type. 76 per cent were first time applicants, 22 per cent were previous award winners and 24 per cent were returning applicants, he said.

“Behind the award are the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Performance Programme, the Business Model and the Business Club which have been developed to help transform an organisation’s culture that values quality, professionalism, integrity, and responsibility,” said Buamim.

Mohammed Abdul Rahim Al Fahim, CEO of Paris Gallery was one of the main speakers at the conference.

Al Fahim lauded the participation of the private sector companies present at the conference. He said: “Your participation in the global conference gives you an opportunity to learn from the experiences of others, the ways in which they had executed their plans that led to their achievements and successes. On its part, the award reflects the vision of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, that aims to enhance the level of performance, encourages development and sustainability.”

Several other high profile speakers from different parts of the world gave their insights on different avenues of their expertise.

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Out & About

MoU is not a legal document: Expert Dubai SME recently conducted a seminar in association with DLA Piper. The seminar aimed at educating Dubai SME100 companies about the importance of legal due diligence. An ISME report.

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memorandum of understanding or MoU, contrary to popular belief, is not a document that is legally binding in a court house, said Murad Abida, head of corporate group at DLA Piper Middle East. SMEs should concentrate on non-disclosure agreements of heads of terms instead, he added, as they are legally binding in a court of law.

Abida was speaking at a seminar held by Dubai SME in association with DLA Piper for the Dubai SME100 companies in legal due diligence and other important legal framework pertinent to SMEs. The objective of the seminar was to help companies understand the importance of the legal issues as they look to sustain, expand and further develop their business. The

Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO, Dubai SME, speaking at the seminar held by Dubai SME in association with DLA Piper for the Dubai SME100 companies.

Alexandar Williams, director, Strategy and Policy, Dubai SME, speaking at the seminar held by Dubai SME in association with DLA Piper for the Dubai SME100 companies.

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primary reason Dubai SME have tied up with DLA Piper is so that SMEs will have unmatched guidance and legal know-how in this ever competitive environment.

The seminar focused on topics such as corporate and commercial issues, corporate financing issues, real estate and labour law, intellectual property, and litigation, arbitration and regulation.

The firm’s legal director Tim Watkins stressed on the importance of corporate governance. “It’s very important to conduct annual general body meetings and have properly constituted governing bodies within an SME”, emphasised Watkins. Another crucial aspect where SMEs found scope for improvement was the lack of proper audit structures.

Katie Withers, the firm’s senior legal consultant, shed light on various aspects of intellectual property, such as patents, copyright, industrial design, trademarks and trade secrets. Withers said: “A patent gives an individual or a company monopoly over a particular innovation process. A copyright is a form of IP given to a software, database, literary or artistic elements.

A copyright gives exclusive rights to the creator often for a limited period of time. A trademark is used to claim exclusive properties of products or services. A trademark may be located on a package, a label, a voucher or on the product itself.”

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Out & About

Murad Abida, head of corporate group DLA Piper Middle East., speaking at the seminar held by Dubai SME in association with DLA Piper for the Dubai SME100 companies.

IP is an interesting but ironic concept wherein simple usage of online content could land a user or a company in hot water. For example, matter posted online is not always free even though the world wide web is a public domain. Withers corrected more such perceptions during her presentation.

The firm also explained the various benefits SMEs can reap if they have successfully applied for an IP. If an SME has developed a patented product or idea it automatically boosts the company’s value. A registered IP also gives tangible monopoly to a company for unlimited duration. It also helps generate income through licensing, sale or commercialisation of IP protected products or services.

Labour management was also highlighted at the seminar. SMEs can cut on their annual budgets if they employ a higher proportion of Arabs

and locals. This is because hiring locals will keep visa and labour card costs to a minimum.

Paul McVeity, legal director at the firm, advised business owners on how they should handle financing for their company. Many SMEs face hurdles in securing finance for their organisations. This is due to a host of reasons which mostly stems from a lack of proper communication between both parties. “It’s good to have more than one banking partner, this helps keep things competitive,” said McVeity. He also gave insights on the forms of financing available in the UAE. DLA Piper has 4,200 lawyers in offices throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.

Dubai SME have now obtained the services of this legal powerhouse for this emirate.

The seminar focused on topics such as corporate and commercial issues, corporate financing issues, real estate and labour law, intellectual property, and litigation, arbitration and regulation.

Katie Withers, the firm’s senior legal consultant, shed light on various aspects of intellectual property,

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Out & About

Strengthening the connection to ‘genius’ ISME caught up with leadership guru Robin Sharma prior to his 10-country tour that includes the UAE. ISME: Who was the monk who sold

his Ferrari? Since the main character is a lawyer is it a self-portrait picture?

RS: Yes, a lot of the story reflects my life's journey. I was a very successful yet deeply empty lawyer. I had a big office but zero happiness. So I started making some dramatic changes based on the ideas and strategies I had begun to study. They transformed my life.

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari shares the practices that I personally applied to create a lot of my dreams and to live my own life versus the life others wanted me to live. Oscar Wilde said it beautifully; "Be yourself--everyone else is taken."

ISME: Did you expect the level of

success generated when you wrote The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari?

RS: It's all been a great ride. I originally self-published the book with my mother being my editor and my

father helping me sell it one copy at a time. My first seminar was attended by 23 people of whom 21 of them were my own family members. No one gave me much of a chance of success.

But leadership and achievement is about belief in a vision--even if no one else does believe. This is followed by being strong enough to block out the chattering voices of critics to get important work done.

My book The Leader Who Had No Title is catching up to Monk though.

People around the world are using it as a manual to get inspired, do world-class work and create lives they adore.

ISME: The current global economic scenario still reflects unemployment, especially among the younger population. How can we balance this state of affairs?

RS: Actually the ideas I write about only serve to help people secure and then keep great jobs. The reality is that

It is important to understand that all success flows from creating a rich stream of value for as many people as possible.

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Intelligent SME

Out & About ISME: In your articles and books

our mindsets drive our performance.

So rewiring your mentality to think like a leader, committing to be the Picasso of an industry, understanding the dynamics of relentless innovation, and discovering how to be inspired, will cause fantastic results professionally (and personally).

you usually quote great leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs or Richard Branson. Which one of them is your favourite and who developed a unique style of leadership more suitable for the 21st century?

RS: I like them all. I shared the stage with Richard Branson in Romania and that was truly fascinating. Steve Jobs was obsessed with perfection - a trait I admire. And Nelson Mandela is a hero among heroes - a titan of leadership.

ISME: In one of your articles you

quoted Peter Drucker when he said, “Be Great or Get Out.” How can we stay focused to create mastery as he recommended. Are there some particular tips that you can share with our readers?

ISME: To become a great leader, one

must first become a great person. Is that something you can learn at a university, training course or even reading your books?

RS: A few ideas include remembering:

genius is not the realm of natural talent but practice and a lot of hard work; small daily improvement leads to stunning performance over time; there's a difference between being busy and being productive (bonus tip: the way you begin your day drives how you think and perform that day); that we wake up with a finite amount of focus every morning so it's mission critical to protect it and invest it wisely; and the importance of getting away from technology and stimulation for an hour a day to renew your creativity and do some deep thinking (this is where our connection to genius lies).

ISME: In a world of anxiety and

uncertainty, what advice would you give to business owners?

RS: Get fit like Madonna. Transform

your fitness and you'll transform your career. Take care of the relationship and the money will take care of itself.

Invest more time in education than entertainment and your life begins to change (why have a big TV when you can build a large library?). We are paid not just to work but to be scared.

ISME: Which tips would you

recommend in order to inspire and help people around the word to become better leaders and better persons?

RS: Stop playing the victim by making excuses, blaming, complaining and

waiting for others to be the leader without a title that you have the power to be. One should also start getting up at 5 am to spend an hour in fitness, planning and learning. It is important to understand that all success flows from creating a rich stream of value for as many people as possible. Make time to block out the noise each day and retreat from the world to do real work versus fake work. Care less about your ego and more about inspiring other people.

ISME: We are used to seeing

leadership as an ability to take the right decisions and to promote other people’s competencies. But in your book The Leader Who Had no Title, you used a more inner-centered kind of leadership.

Aren’t titles important anymore?

RS: They are important to the smooth running of an organisation. But what the book explains is Leadership 2.0: now every employee can show leadership in their work, perform like Picasso painted and inspire everyone around them. My message is all about becoming the CEO of your job--and making history with your life.

RS: Of course. We all have the power to rewire our beliefs, train our characters for more strength and courage and to develop our spiritual core. Through commitment, persistence and daily practice, we can become more positive, see adversity as opportunity, release all victimhood, create brilliant work results and live lives we are proud of at the end.

ISME: What do you still need to

achieve in order to consider your life extraordinary?

RS: To serve more people. And to become a better skier!

Catch Robin Sharma's Lead Without A TitleWinning Leadership Lessons to Grow a Great Organisation on February 25 in Dubai! An event organised by Mama Creative in collaboration with Innoverto.Visit www.innoverto.com/ robinsharmadubai to book tickets to the event.

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Out & About

‘865 million women, if enabled, could shake the world’ Technology, data, culture, education and policy were among topics discussed at a seminar held on women entrepreneurs recently. An ISME report.

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Dr. Nasser Saidi addressing the audience at the seminar on women entrepreneurs in MENA.

he UAE Alumni Club of the University Of Chicago Booth School Of Business recently organised a one-day seminar on Women Entrepreneurs in MENA: Successes, Challenges and Policies.

The event through its expert speakers and case studies sought to give solutions on how best to bring radical change to the way women entrepreneurs work. Currently women and their economic activity is marginalised, experts agreed, while highlighting how best to tackle this current situation.

“We have come quite far in 32

increasing the mortality of the female population, however, there is hardly an economic or political empowerment,” said Nasser Saidi, former chief economist of the Dubai International Financial Center and executive director of Hawkamah Institute. He also illustrated

by means of statistics of the World Bank, that although in the past 20 years labour force participation has marginally increased, the GCC still has the lowest count of women ownership of businesses and participation in the labour force, while maintaining high employment rates. He added that economic development and growth was linked to gender inequality and poverty.

“Empowerment of women would result in economic development and efficiency, because, the choices made by women are different from men,” Saidi said, further advocating that an increase in women labour force participation would give a boost to growth rate of economies. Current ratios of women entrepreneurs (8 per cent versus 17 per cent of men) illustrate the fact that women find it far more difficult to access funding while

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Out & About

men tend to become self-employed faster. Saidi pointed out that changes had to be made to the legal framework and to focus on data that could be quantified and analysed to identify further gaps.

Nadereh Chamlou, senior advisor to the office of the chief economist for the MENA region at the World Bank, challenged the conference attendees to strive for a time when there would not be a any special category for women entrepreneurs, instead they would be accepted as entrepreneurs who happen to be women.

Technology A panel discussion at the event involving Saidi, Ghada Waly, MD, Social Fund for Development, Egypt,

and Dr. Azza ElShinnawy, CSR lead, Microsoft Gulf, revolved around the role of technology.

Panelists agreed that technology is the facilitator that would give access to data on women entrepreneurs.

This would in turn give the governance the political will to take informed decisions regarding women entrepreneurs. The discussion also focused on the private sector and urged more women to take up entrepreneurship. “865 million women, if enabled, could shake the world,” noted Saidi.

Challenges While commenting on the challenges, Dr. Leila Hoteit, principal, Booz and Company gave a session on the Third Billion established by the Ideation Centre. She said there were many common challenges for women entrepreneurs such as expanding their role from a care-giver, the financial, educational and cultural aspects, lack of gender-segregated transparent data, and the current ceilings of microfinance.

Empowerment of women would result in economic development and efficiency, because, the choices made by women are different from men.

Hoteit further reiterated that countries that invest in their women workforce would benefit greatly. “Germany, US, Argentina and Italy are success stories in this regard. The challenges that we see are gender neutral ultimately, but affect women more,” she added.

Another panel discussion featuring entrepreneurs Ambareen Musa, founder, Souqalmal.com and Rama Chakaki, co-founder, Baraka Ventures spoke on practical solutions

Dr. Leila Hoteit, principal, Booz and Company.

Nadereh Chamlou, senior advisor, office of the chief economist MENA region, World Bank, Salam Saadeh, managing partner, Y+ Venture Partners; Dr. Abdul-Aziz Ben Ibrahim Al Hargan, programme director, Badr Incubators; Hatem Samman, lead economist, Booz & Company; Tuba Terekli, co-founder and CEO, Qotuf Al Riyadah Development Company; Dr. Halah El-Sokari, advisor to the CEO, Khalifa Fund.

that women entrepreneurs could use.

Chakaki urged entrepreneurs to try collaboration rather than competition.

Both entrepreneurs agreed that networking and socialising was the way to stay informed and finding the right people to join the business was extremely important.

Other speakers at the event included Dr. Halah El-Sokari, advisor to the CEO, Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, Salam Saadeh, founder of Active-M, managing partner of Y+ Ventures Partners among others.

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Success Story

World class service on wheels Rohit Dalmia, MD, Al Shamil Foodstuff Trading spoke to ISME on his line of innovative concepts.

ISME: Al Shamil has been involved

in foodstuff trading since 2007. What is the trend you have been seeing and how have things changed?

RD: I took over the company in

December 2011 with the idea of diversifying the brand. We found the food and beverage industry to be growing with the changing needs of people. There was a time when people

were importing things only from Asian markets. Now more of what we see on the shelf is European and American, and which indicates a change in food habits.

I started the wing of new innovative concepts within the group.

We’re currently involved in a project for RTA- a trolley catering service for buses travelling between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The newness of this concept is how food is being catered.

Our vision while starting this service was to give passengers the same experience as in a flight. In our case, we benchmark ourselves against the premier airlines in the market. We want to provide the same level of standard, service and hygiene, starting with our food down to our uniforms.

Currently, we are servicing a little over 40,000 passengers a week.

We do about 3,500 round trips every month. RTA has been very focused on increasing the passenger count and making sure that people find this mode of travel more convenient than relying on cars. This initiative of being green and bringing in reliance on the public transport has resulted in setting up wi-fi

connections in buses.

ISME: How successful has this venture been? What are the key parameters involved?

RD: We complete our first year in May 2013, before which we have managed to break even. We have our own customised trolley with imported parts from Germany. When it came to our workforce, we had to be multicultural, because there are around 200 nationalities travelling on these buses.

So our workforce is from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Egypt. We provide training courses to the staff to make them trilingual.

Everybody speaks English and we provide Arabic speaking courses.

We look at three categories: product, price and the service levels.

We offer over 60 products in the bus. The bus is equipped with two refrigerators, and we use the trolley for more of the dry food storage. In our business, one mistake can ruin our reputation.

Whenever a passenger buys something from us, he or she is given a suggestion card. These cards give us a sense of the level of service and new foods they would like us to include.

Each of these suggestions is listed on our website.

ISME: What is your biggest challenge till date?

RD: The key is- the happier our

people, the better customer service they provide. And the biggest challenge we face in our business till date is to keep these people motivated. We provide salaries that will make the staff think of this as a joyride, not a job. We have to keep them motivated enough to

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Intelligent SME

Success Story sell and earn revenue. So, we have in place commission schemes, bonuses for those who keep the best monthly average per trip. And all this has made a difference. And that’s where customer service comes into play.

Because we are limited by the capacity in the bus, we have to be very picky in what we can sell and what we cannot sell. Each of our staff has to undergo extensive training. I have personally hired and trained each of them. Every week or every other week they have ongoing training.

ISME: What is your pricing strategy?

RD: We try to keep prices close to the

market prices. But it is a concept that is difficult for most people to understand because they do not grasp the cost of service. People have a tendency to want the cheapest product by comparing it to market prices. We always try to tell people that we are serving them and there is a cost of service, and that’s what we charge. But for most part 76 per cent of our passengers are very happy with our pricing. Also, 100 per cent satisfaction in the food business is not a reality.

ISME: How do you monitor the quality of service and products?

RD: We also have an auditor whose

job is to travel in the bus every day. Initially when we hired him, his identity was kept a secret, like a mystery shopper, to monitor the staff. He has been able to pinpoint the deficiencies in training, service or even customer feedback. It is a stringent process in terms of quality audit. The documentation that we’ve

The key is- the happier our people, the better customer service they provide. put into place is almost as good as an ISO certification. Our sandwiches are inspected by a lab once a month.

Although 100 per cent of the time there is nothing wrong, it is a habit that we have kept in order to maintain our quality consistently. This puts more pressure on the caterer.

What we’ve noticed is that a large number of people travelling up and down the emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are tourists. Not everyone wants to take a taxi, probably because of the cost and the fact that this is a more adventurous route. Service like ours upgrades the impression of Dubai around the world because it is not being done anywhere else the way it’s being done here.

ISME: Do you plan on scaling up this business to other countries?

RD: When we began this business, we did not know what was going to happen. It was a concept and a challenge. There was no benchmark.

Because this is a service-oriented business, it will pretty much stay a localised business. I cannot take this to another country because procurement is a challenge and if you don’t have consistent products across all international locations, you don’t get

the volume discounts. So we want to limit our service to the UAE. However, what we’re going to be working on over the next year is a franchise model and under our brand, we want people in other countries to adopt the concept. We’re trying to create this system this year. Hopefully we can launch it or speak to strategic partners in the following years.

ISME: What projects are you planning in the future?

RD: We are also planning on starting this service on other routes, such as Dubai to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah.

We have put this on hold for the time being because we are still learning and mastering this route, which is the busiest.

We have devised a solution- a snack box- for these specific routes, as well as for corporate companies. It is called Snack Cube, a simple white snack box that can be branded by a customer any way he or she wants it.

The customer can pick and choose what needs to go into the box, make his own budget and within 24 hours we prepare the boxes and deliver it to the specified location. This can be used for seminars, conferences, any other events, and this idea was primarily devised to specifically provide for these routes.

A lot of people have good ideas.

We’ve come up with these simple ideas and implemented them. I’m sure, a lot of other entrepreneurs and investors have different foodstuff ideas, but they don’t necessarily know how to implement it, and scale it to a point of success. We would like to partner with such individuals. We have the strategic strength to monopolise on any idea.

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Intelligent SME

Success Story

'We can all be an entrepreneur' David Abingdon, CEO, Alchemy Network spoke to Sandhya Divakaran during one of his trips to the country about his life, passion and his way of doing business.

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eople may think David Abingdon, a millionaire and a business whiz, was born with a penchant for the entrepreneurial journey. But many people may not know this: he started out as a registered nurse in Australia, without the slightest thought of business.

“It is an enlightening experience. If you ever want to learn about entrepreneurship, direct selling is the way. Anyone with a job that involves knocking on a door or cold calling really learns the basic rules of entrepreneurship,” he says, recalling his early days of door-to-door sales with a pharmaceutical company after his stint in nursing and selling photocopiers. “These first steps teach self-reliance, and makes one capable of taking risks by putting himself in the firing line which other people would find uncomfortable to do so,” he adds.

Entrepreneurship A firm believer in sales and marketing and the staunch quotes of Churchill, he feels entrepreneurs are born in this environment.

“Good entrepreneurship is about having grim determination. The story of Colonel Saunders and his struggle to make Kentucky Fried Chicken a successful business is very encouraging. It tells entrepreneurs that it’s never too late to start; it is never too late to get going. And that’s a message for entrepreneurs or anybody who wants to start a business. It’s a message of hope,” he remarks.

More than ever, Abingdon emphasises that an entrepreneur can be defined, in a time when entrepreneurship gurus, management organisations and business owners battle amongst themselves on the definition. “One the best definitions I’ve heard is, ‘an entrepreneur is someone who can create something out of almost nothing’. These anecdotes tell another story: entrepreneurs are not born, they can be made, we can all be an entrepreneur,” he points out.

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Intelligent SME

Success Story

Entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs need to develop that sense of being able to recognise opportunities, because sometimes they are very cleverly disguised as problems, challenges or issues.

An example of this statement would be Abingdon’s life. He started his first business in 1986 by writing jingles. Upon closely examining the industry, he saw what top jingle writers were earning and decided that he was in the wrong business. He gave up jingle writing, sold all his music equipment, and became a sales manager for an insurance company. Very quickly, he was devoting time by being a consultant to recruiting people into sales force and training them.

Focus All successful entrepreneurs agree on the importance of focus and being concentrated on a dream. It’s sometimes all about getting on the right vehicle of opportunity. “The right vehicle came to me in the form of consulting.

I was at the time single-minded, that I did not see the opportunity there. But the good news is, opportunities are everywhere! Entrepreneurs and wouldbe entrepreneurs need to develop that sense of being able to recognise opportunities, because sometimes they are very cleverly disguised as problems, challenges or issues,” notes Abingdon.

Once he recognised his true calling, there was no stopping him. He worked with a company and took them

from zero to £35 million in two and half years which earned him a £1.27 million consulting fee. This incident signaled the birth of Alchemy Project.

Strategy Every business owner has his or her own strategy. Similarly, Abingdon has learned that conventional marketing does not work because it is outdated.

‘Being different’ is the new catchphrase and this is what grabs attention. This is how Abingdon excels at what he does.

He only accepts projects where he can make a real difference, and he uses his strategy of taking a fee only if the business is deemed a success, at a time when consultants were being retained for a fee that was paid irrespective of the success of a project.

“The only way you’re going to grow a business is if you market it better. And if you realise that marketing and the principles of marketing are universal, then you only need to interface these in the respective industry. So basically, everybody is selling something. One only has to adapt and adopt these techniques appropriately,” Abingdon points out.

Later, when it was time to take the business further, Abingdon chose to make a franchise model and recruited people who had a business background,

or were senior managers, consultants, accountants, entrepreneurs who wanted to give back, and so on. So he set about making a system with techniques, principles and processes.

Reality check Business across the globe is based on basic human motivations, namely the need to make profit. Sometimes, an entrepreneur may have to give up business owing to a range of reasons.

Abingdon is no different when it comes to working hard and having a sense of reality: “In my book, a business is a self-run entity. But this does not hold true for small businesses, because the owner has to be there all the time.

Therefore, in that sense, they really don’t have a business, they have a job.

It defeats the purpose of why people get into a business in the first place, seeking independence or the entrepreneurial dream of being able to lead a luxurious life, and generally have all the great things in life. About 18 months down the lane, they hit reality. They see themselves working longer hours and the dream turns into a nightmare.”

When one door closes, another one opens. There are limitless opportunities and it is now the time to choose the right one, as Abingdon did so many years ago.

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Intelligent SME

SME Financing

Demystifying banking: Bank guarantees Harshit Jain gives an expert view on the subject of bank guarantees.

A pledge of goods for a financial obligation gives possession of the goods to the creditor on condition that possession will be returned when the obligation is met.

A lien arises when the possessor of goods for a service has the right to hold them until payment is made for that service.

W

e are all familiar with the term “Guarantees” as used in common parlance. When it comes to banking, the term guarantees, bonds, surety bonds, standby letters of credit (Standby L/Cs), indemnity or similar expressions are all used to describe undertakings by a third party but, regardless of the title, it is the wording of the document that is most important.

A guarantee is a legal promise 38

by the guarantor (who gives the guarantee) to make good any failure by the principal debtor (the borrower) to meet the financial obligations owed to the principal creditor (the lender or the beneficiary).

Where the guarantor is a bank, the guarantee gets termed as a bank guarantee. To be legally enforceable, the guarantor (or agent thereof) must sign a written memorandum of the promise.

Bonds and guarantees In international trade, it has become increasingly common, particularly in the present market conditions, for either or both parties to demand separate undertakings- usually in the form of bonds, guarantees or standby letters of credit, covering the obligations assumed by the other party.

It could be the seller’s delivery obligations that have to be secured by a guarantee issued by their bank, or the seller receiving a guarantee covering the payment obligations of the buyer. Such undertakings have today become the “glue” that holds deals together- deals that might not otherwise materialise owing to the inherent latent risks involved in them. This is most common for transactions that, apart from delivery, also cover installation, future performance, warranty periods or similar undertakings, when the parties are mutually dependent on each other- often for an extended period of time.

In certain cases, particularly with more straight-forward deals or in combination with a simple service or performance, it is often enough that the seller or the parent company

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

SME Financing Harshit H. Jain is a seasoned banker with over 25 years of global banking experience and commercial success across Asia and Middle East. He is the founding CEO of InnoVention Solutions, a young and versatile consultancy and training firm which focuses on providing consultancy, training and advisory services to banks, financial institutions and corporate customers (Institutional clients as well as SME clients) in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region.

issues these bonds or guaranteesparticularly if the seller is part of a larger or renowned group. However, in most cases, they have to be issued by a separate (third) party, normally in the form of a bank guarantee (issued by a bank) or an insurance bond (issued by an insurance company) or a standby L/C (issued by a bank).

Guarantees or bonds are usually required in connection with overseas contracts or with the supply of capital goods and services. When there is a buyer’s market, the provision of a guarantee can be made an essential condition for the granting of the contract. Guarantees are commonly required in our region. Most international aid agencies, such as the World Bank, and most government purchasing organisations in the developing world, as well as major purchasers and goods and services in the North Sea oil sector, now require guarantees from sellers.

To amplify the earlier broad definition, where the bank is the guarantor, you could define the bank guarantee as “any arrangement or undertaking, by which a bank, upon the request of a principal (principal debtor, or its customer), irrevocably commits itself to pay a sum of money to a beneficiary (principal creditor, in this case) in accordance with the terms of the guarantee”.

Regardless of the obligations covered by it, a bank guarantee or a standby L/C is always a commitment to pay (wholly or partly) the amount stated, but does not guarantee the fulfillment of the actual delivery or any other obligation which the principal may have towards the beneficiary.

The same applies to most cases, but not always for a bond issued by an insurance company while guaranteeing the obligations of a

supplier of goods and services under a contract. Internationally, “surety bonds” may be issued by insurance or surety companies, with the alternative obligation to fulfill or arrange for the completion of the underlying contract.

This could be to appoint another supplier to complete the project if, for any reasons, the principal is not capable of doing so. Such surety bonds are mainly designed for building and engineering firms and suppliers of large industrial equipment. Banks do not normally involve themselves in any form of surety bond.

As we have seen above, most bank guarantees are related to an underlying commercial contract between the buyer (importer) and the seller (exporter). In such cases, and if and when disagreement occurs between the commercial parties as to whether the claim is justified or not, payment is

Guarantees or bonds are usually required in connection with overseas contracts or with the supply of capital goods and services. usually suspended until such a dispute is settled, either by later agreement, arbitration or through the courts.

The risk of disputed claims is also one of the main reasons behind the introduction, in recent years, of “demand guarantees,” with an unlimited right for the beneficiary to claim under the guarantee, irrespective of any objections from the principal or the issuing bank (guarantor) or of “conditional guarantees.”

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Intelligent SME

Wealth Management

Securing your old age The earlier you start saving, the more potential your pension fund has to grow, writes Rupert Connor.

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verybody makes mistakes in life and pensions are no exception. The only difference is you could pay much more, and over a longer time, for pension mistakes than any other.

The latest life expectancy figures reveal 65-year-old pensioners today are expected to live off their pension for an average of 21 years (men) and 24 years (women)- nearly a quarter of their whole life! The younger you are today, the longer you’re expected to live, and the more pension mistakes you make could translate to a cost.

As an independent financial advisor, here are some typical mistakes that I see people making regarding their retirement: Delaying saving Quite simply, the longer you delay, the more it costs you to build a good-sized pension. This is because of ‘compound interest’, which Albert Einstein called “the most powerful force in the universe.”

What’s the difference if you start contributing at age 16, 30, 40 or 50?

Roughly speaking, every ten-year delay 40

wipes out half of your fund’s potential growth.

Everything being equal, the earlier you start saving, the more potential your pension fund has to grow.

Checking a pension pot If you have a pension have you ever reviewed it? Many people don’t.

Moreover, recent research revealed many of those who did review their pension, alarmingly, could not remember the investment options they have chosen.

Yet, not all investments are the same. Even a seemingly small difference in performance could have a significant impact on the size of your pot.

A 35-year-old male with a US$20,000 pension pot could have a fund worth US$55,120 at 65 if his investments grew by five per cent a year. His fund might be worth US$97,080 at 65 if his investments grew at seven per cent a year or US$169,210 if they grew at nine per cent a year (assuming in all cases an

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Wealth Management

Rupert Connor is an independent financial advisor with Acuma Wealth Management.

As a qualified advisor in the region, he helps expats get their finances in order, and maximise the financial opportunities available offshore and plan for future events.

annual fund management fee of 1.5 per cent). Obviously these are just projections and investments will not always go up in value, they can also go down, so you could get back less than you invested.

However, if time is spent in financial markets in a disciplined manner then you stand a bigger chance of having a comfortable retirement and it makes all the difference between retiring as an old age pensioner or as a retired gentleman. The choice is yours to make.

Value for money Most people know how much they pay for their mobile phone, but not for their pension. Nor do they know what they’re paying for.

The charges you pay typically account for the services of your pension provider and the expertise of a fund manager who looks after your investments. In addition some people employ a financial adviser to make recommendations.

The services you get from your pension provider vary in depth and quality. Services you might (or might not) get include: efficient

Investment professionals agree diversification is key to managing risk, although it doesn’t guarantee against loss. administration, good customer service, a good telephone helpline in your home country language, quick response times for instructions and enquiries, online access to your pension, online planning tools including calculators and portfolio analysis, clear, concise information as well as pension and investment research.

Relying on property If you decide to just use property as a retirement fund, you could be putting

all your eggs in one basket.

Investment professionals agree diversification is key to managing risk, although it doesn’t guarantee against loss. So, if you already have capital invested in property, doesn’t it make sense to consider diversifying and investing in different asset classes?

What’s more, the property market isn’t exactly “safe as houses,” as people who had to sell their homes in 2008 and 2009 will testify.

Relying on inheritance Common sense highlights the first problem with inheritances: you can’t be sure when you’ll benefit from the windfall. The way life expectancy is shaping up; older generations are likely to live well into their retirement years. Moreover, the amount you end up inheriting may be far less than you expect!

If you do not currently contribute into a retirement vehicle I would seriously suggest speaking with your financial adviser and begin the process of setting something up. Otherwise, you may not be able to enjoy even half the lifestyle you currently maintain and that is a scary prospect.

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Intelligent SME

Insuring Business

Don’t hesitate, get professional indemnity now!

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Avoid risk of faulty service that can be very expensive for a business, writes Sandi Saksena.

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oing into business is exciting and rewarding.

You feel in control of your future at last! If your business is service-oriented, you have a responsibility and duty to care for your client and third parties, through the services and expertise you provide.

So, just to bring you back to terra firma when you decide to open a business you immediately confront a great deal of risks such as hoping people will buy your product or use your service. When dealing with clients you are exposed to the risk that they may find fault with a service you’ve provided going so far as filing a claim against your business.

Many professions are required to have ‘Professional Indemnity’ (PI) insurance cover as a regulatory requirement or as part of their professional authorisation. These include doctors, lawyers, accountants, architects, surveyors, insurance brokers, and financial advisers. Many consultants including consulting engineers, management trainers, advertising and PR agencies, printers, and designers also choose to have this type of insurance to meet client requirements and to benefit from financial protection in the event of a claim arising.

A claim can be very expensive for your business. Not only will you have legal fees to defend yourself, the court can rule in favor of the claimant. You could end up paying a large damage reward to the claimant. Both of these can easily drain the finances of your business and personal assets.

Taking out a PI policy can provide you with peace of mind should you find yourself in this predicament. PI protects businesses against claims. One of two

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February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Insuring Business

Sandi Saksena is a financial planning counsellor with over 15 years experience in advising on life, disability and critical illness insurances. She focuses on exit planning for SME owners, working with accountants and lawyers to provide holistic solutions.

Sandi can be contacted by email (sandra.saksena@nexusadvice.com) or by mobile (0506517963).

types of legal expenses can be covered by a PI policy: first, legal expenses that might be spent trying to settle the matter out of court; second, any legal expenses that were incurred trying to defend the claim in court will also be reimbursed.

For every kind of PI cover there are questionnaires, forms, disclosures, details, some straight forward and some very technical ones too! To understand the benefits and the terms and conditions it is best to contact a broker who deals with various providers and can source the appropriate insurance and advise you on your specific requirements.

Case study- printing company Background: Why would someone in this business need PI insurance?

Arguably printing is one of those businesses that are not really sure why they need to buy PI insurance. For printers the risks that they run - which can be covered by this insurance centres around unintentional breach of copyright infringement of decency or, more commonly a straight forward error or mistake!

Circumstance: In this case the printer made a simple human error. Somehow, the wrong file was put to press and then sent to a mailing house for onward dispatch to the printer’s client’s customers. It wasn’t a terrible error; it was the file that had been received prior to the final approved version of the job.

It was however totally wrong. In all 50,000 leaflets were printed and sent out to 50,000 clients. The printer’s client was understandably very annoyed and expected the printer to reprint the job and pay the costs of re mailing the new literature with an apology to all their customers.

Solution: The printer had a full PI policy thanks to a prudent owner 44

management decision. The cover included costs and expenses of rectifying an error such as this without the printer’s client needing to sue him.

The printer arranged to reprint the job; the covers paid the cost of doing this. Insurers also picked up the bill for the other items in the pack and the envelopes as well as the second set of postage costs.

The insurer settled the claim in full, and there was no excess applied to the cost of rectification. The printer was very happy because he did not have to wait until his client had made a claim against him for something that he was clearly at fault. Because he was able to act quickly he was able to retain the business of his client.

Case study- training consultant Background: Like most people, training consultants also question the need to buy PI insurance. What could they possibly be sued for? Unless they are involved with motivational activities such as fire walking, they see very little prospect of being sued by a customer or any other party for the work that they do. If they do see the chance of such a possibility they expect it to be limited to the fees that they charge and no more.

One area that is particularly likely to give rise to claims relates to course material as this case study illustrates how such a claim can arise for breach of copyright.

Circumstance: In this case the consultant was contracted by a wellknown MNC to provide training courses to upper management on a variety of management techniques.

The courses were to cover the works of many of the master theorists in management styles and techniques.

The training consultant put together a suitable program that was

approved by the MNC using widely available material, and the training consultant produced material that was then given to the participants.

The course material contained references to the books and web sites of the various experts in order that the participants could follow up on the information and explore techniques that had been referred to during the course with the relevant expert.

One of the participants of the course was particularly interested in one of the management gurus that had been discussed and took their studies further, contacting the guru and then booking a course with him. He gave the guru a copy of the notes that he had been given by the training consultant The management guru then instructed solicitors to write to the leadership trainer alleging breach of copyright and seeking damages of approximately AED590,000. Fortunately, the consultant had full PI that covered costs and expenses of defending a claim for breach of copyright as well as damages awarded.

This cover had been taken in the UK arranged by the office administrator who had just made the consultant sign all the papers and had paid for it from the office petty cash! It was a comprehensive cover and so he was covered here in the UAE. He admits that he did not even think of such a cover when opening his consultancy in the UAE and now feels grateful for what he signed up! The consultant and insurers worked to draft a formal response to the claim. After exchanging a few letters the management guru agreed to accept a formal apology from the Consultant and dropped the claim for damages.

Solution: The claim was settled at nil cost and the client was happy to renew his PI.

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Sales & Marketing

Insights to grow your business When business owners reach a plateau of profitability they must work on a business rather than in it, writes Simon Hodges.

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reviously, I identified five areas which if managed correctly will lead to business growth. To remind you, these are: recognising that all businesses are in the sales and marketing business; understanding the market you are in; creating a bond of trust with your customers; standing out in the marketplace and concentrating on a chosen segment or niche. We then went on to look in general at the sales and marketing function.

In this article I want to concentrate on a third general area that is essential if you are to create long term business success from the work done in the above mentioned areas. Recently, a lot has been written and spoken about 46

the need for SMEs to establish proper corporate governance systems in order to have successful businesses.

However, other than ensuring compliance with somebody’s view of how you should run your business, why should you bother; after all you are already in control of your business, right?

In fact, there are very few SME business owners who implement systemsstrong, written policies and procedures into their business and this is fine if you are happy with what you are achieving.

The problem is that often businesses reach a plateau of profitability and that’s because the owner reaches a point where he can only achieve so much every day. There is simply no time to do any of the things that need to be done in order to grow the business or just simply reach an acceptable level of earnings.

Establishing systems The inescapable fact is that to achieve sustainable growth, the owner has to free up time to work on the business rather than in it. The only way to do that and retain control is to establish systems, processes and policies that enable other team members to carry out their allotted tasks in an efficient and focused way.

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Intelligent SME

Sales & Marketing

Simon Hodges, CEO, Alchemy Network Middle East has recently launched the franchise network in the Middle East. Alchemy Network is a UK-based worldwide network of consultant partners, who work alongside owners and operators of SMEs to help bring them financial success, and eventually introduce them to systems that will relieve them from the mundane day-to-day running of the business,and allow them time to concentrate more on what they do best.

Governance systems are established to support the reason why a business exists, which is to sell more to more customers at a higher profit than its competitors. This will create a business that can be reasonably certain of achieving long term sustainable growth that will define its value so that it can become a truly rewarding experience for its owner(s).

The f irst steps The first step to systematising a business is for the owner to take stock. You probably already have a pretty good idea of how your business is running but what you should have more than a “pretty good idea.” I want you to have a crystal clear picture which shows exactly how things get done- who’s doing what, how much time each task is taking and what you spend most of your time on, how your business is organised and much more.

One of the best ways of getting a picture is to prepare a series of flow charts that include all your staff reporting lines, how the primary functions work, including ancillary services such as invoice preparation, how to support the process and how each person actually completes the tasks given to them.

What in effect you are doing here is to create a kind of company operations manual and a snapshot of what the company is actually doing rather than what should be happening. No matter what the answer turns out to be you will know what is working and what is not.

This is critical in building a successful governance system.

Developing your system When a business starts it is likely to have only a few employees. Each will know their basic jobs, what is expected of them and they just do it. But at some point and especially as the business grows, it becomes harder to really know what everyone is doing. It therefore makes sense to

get a better control over what is going on and it’s not hard to understand why. Written and easy-to-understand instruction on how each job in an organisation is done means you don’t have to be constantly around showing people what to do. By developing an operations manual you will create the environment whereby you can concentrate on growth but be happy in the knowledge that the day-to-day activities will be completed as you want them to be.

Governance systems are established to support the reason why a business exists, which is to sell more to more customers at a higher profit than its competitors.

Final step Probably the hardest part of systematising a business is how to handle the owner and the relationship with their business. Specifically, the object of the process has been to remove them from the business so that they have the time to grow it. Can you imagine physically

staying away from the premises of your own business? I have no doubt that there is a voice in your mind which says: “That’s impossible!”

It is difficult to imagine your business continuing to run without your intimate involvement but if you look at almost every successful business it is the employees who make it happen.

What we are talking about here is a radical change in your relationship with your business, especially your employees. I realise that’s blunt but the point is that the inability to delegate is a failure of leadership. It means you have not designed a business that is well organised to handle itself.

The good news is that it is not as difficult as it looks and the more you delegate the more fulfilling it becomes, and you create more time for yourself so you will be able to concentrate on areas that significantly grow your business. Now you are working on your business rather than in it and that is what all truly successful business people do.

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Sales & Marketing

Branding inside out

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The understanding of branding involves an experience, explains Zed Ayesh. lways in pursuit of a ‘right formula’ to make their profit sustainable, entrepreneurs are constantly creating, starting-up, managing and growing their business from small to medium companies to large industries.

In this entrepreneurial journey, the underlying importance goes to the 48

word ‘sustainable’: the ability to create and maintain profits at acceptable levels and more at later stages, which is the ultimate objective of an entrepreneur.

Globally and locally, economic problems have affected entrepreneurs and making enough income to keep the business running has become a challenge in itself, let alone creating

profits. This means that revenue should be able to cover more than expenses and there should be more than enough customers to serve.

To make this issue simpler, it is necessary to have an understanding of branding. A strong brand has more clients, sales and ultimately revenue.

Branding is an overall experience; it

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Sales & Marketing Zed Ayesh has over 20 years’ experience in management and business development.

He is currently the managing director of Flagship Consultancy based in Dubai, and works with clients on many aspects of the business from strategic planning, business development, marketing strategies, pre-sales and sales management, across different sectors such as government agencies, real estate, media companies, manufacturing, contracting, engineering firms, retail and shipping companies.

involves a client’s experience of using a product or service, memory of that experience, and, action when needed afterwards. A great brand results in a sustainable business. It means there are better chances for a company to survive because consumers always recall a great experience. Without exceptions, whether a company is small, medium, or large, the management would want to spend mega dollars on branding and creating an overall experience targeting their clients.

Branding is a never ending and complex topic, and, therefore, I would like to approach this subject in a simple and easy manner, without using the marketing and advertising jargon.

This will help SMEs understand brand formulation in the consumer’s mind and, therefore, lead to effective branding efforts.

For a new business, regardless of the size, the brand experiences can be divided into three simple stages; pre-purchase experience, purchase experience and post-purchase experience. Any consumer experiences a brand in three different phases. It is vital for a marketing manager to better manage each of these stages to ensure a more positive experience. These three stages are: pre-purchase phase, purchase phase and post-purchase phase.

Pre-purchase phase This phase concerns creating awareness among consumers about products and services of a company.

This phase is aided by advertisement and communication with consumers and the market. The nature of activity, in this phase, mostly depends on the type of products and services being offered the target market, distribution channels, competition with other products, services and companies,

A great brand results in a sustainable business.

It means there are better chances for a company to survive because consumers always recall a great experience. and ultimately with market forces and dynamics.

In summary this phase involves creating awareness among consumers about products or services and about companies that offer these. It is the phase of knowledge dissemination about products or services, competition, replacements if any, knowledge of market situation and market dynamics, value and cost, and finally consideration of products and services as solutions to needs or problems.

Purchase phase This phase entails actual exchange between a consumer and a company and involves factors such as location of the company, the ambience (if any), ease to acquire product or service, knowledge and courtesy of staff, value in exchange for money, packing, delivery method, risk involved in purchase, and alternative, personal considerations.

In summary this phase has to do with the selection of the product or service once a consumer has gained enough knowledge that enables him or her to make a purchasing decision.

Post-purchasing phase The post-purchasing phase qualifies the relationship between a

consumer, a product or service and a company after a purchase is made.

Factors such as company return policy, handling complaints, knowledge and courtesy of staff, life of product or service, after sales service, accurate representation, follow-up, records, competition, and others are examined during this phase.

Satisfaction a consumer gets from a product or service he or she purchased, and from the company this product or service was purchased from, the way he felt during and after the purchase, and his opinion on whether he got what he was hoping and looking for, if his expectations were met, exceeded or disappointed, expectations from the product or service and from the company that is selling those products or services and the individuals who represent the seller before, during and after the sale, are some of the considerations in this phase, in summary. It is an experience that can be translated into loyalty if satisfaction is consistent in the mind of consumers before, during and after the transaction.

With proper brand management, loyalty towards a product or service can be elevated into advocacy for it and for the company or entity that provides it: advocacy is the ultimate objective of any brand in the world, small, medium or large.

In the quest for branding, product or service providers should understand, before anything else that, it starts and ends with an overall experience with a product or service, a provider, the market and a consumer. It is all about the way any business engages a consumer through all touch points before, during and after a purchase with all details in the transaction process.

The experience is in these details. This suggests that branding starts from inside out not the other way around.

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Intelligent SME

Sales Strategy

Choosing a great network Do not rush to join just any networking group.

Evaluate various options and see what fits the business need, cautions Phil Bedford.

I

was talking to a lady a few years ago who was looking to grow her word of mouth business. She knew the power of networking but wasn’t getting anywhere near the results she wanted. She was “networking” or rather “running” all over the place

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because she was direct prospecting and hunting with no strategy.

It was a bit of a chicken and the egg situation because she wanted to enroll on our program - the Certified Networker - which provides the attendee with a proven strategy on

how, where and with whom to network.

Unfortunately, she informed me she had no funds left to pay after having joined five networking groups in Dubai and paid their fees to join (close to AED17,000 in total).

I hear this all too often, many people rush to join groups because they judge the effectiveness of the group by the number of members they appear to have which translates to apparently easy pickings or a target rich environment. I say appear because many groups will boast hundreds, even thousands of members, but in reality, they only have a small percentage active and engaged. We call this majority MINOs or “members in name only.”

Metaphorically when joining a networking group, many people are buying a vehicle based on what it looks like rather than the purpose for which it is used. Nor do they necessarily know how to drive the vehicle once they get it and proceed to push it up the road rather then drive it. Networking groups have different strengths and offer different benefits to the member. The members also need to have skills to maximise their opportunities once in the group.

“Effective networking” is not as simple as turning up and collecting cards.

While there are many considerations in choosing a networking group, I will hopefully impart some tips below that will save you some time and money.

You don’t need a big sign Networking groups do not have to be called “networking group.” A network is where a group of people who share a common theme communicate on a regular basis. This could be a rugby club; knitting circle, book club, computer geeks meet up, salsa group.

None of these say “networking group,”

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Sales Strategy

An experienced business trainer, Phil Bedford brings over a decade of experience to his role as master franchisee for the Referral Institute. His expertise and experience of working with both companies and networking associations, coupled with a passion for training have helped him immensely. He regularly appears as a speaker in the UAE and abroad, educating people on how to build their business by word of mouth and “Creating Referrals for Life.”

it is about who is in the group in relation to what you wish to achieve.

As a strategy from the “certified networker program” one of my clients Matt Farr started RUSH, an extreme sports group because this brought together many individuals, he makes no money from this group. It goes to say that many will also be interested by default (or know people who would be interested) in his trips to Nepal trekking, which is his key business.

He is now collaborating with another extreme networking group lead by Omar Samra to maximise both their results- yes, networking groups need not be competitors.

Interview the members Interview a cross section of its members to understand their experiences. Check how supportive the group is in running events, training and mixers, the mindset of other members, and so on. Meet with the leadership and see what their future plans are for the network and its members.

What do you want?

Does the network provide the right kind of people you need? This does not necessarily mean they have to be prospective clients. It could be your peers that you need to meet

Charging into an existing group in an aggressive manner to pitch for business does not endear the individual to the group.

Look to build relationships first and foremost. to share information such as the Chartered Institute of Civil Engineers, Accountants or Lawyers. Networks can be used for referrals, support or information; all are important. A strong personal network has a good mix of all these elements.

Bull in a china shop When you visit the group, remember you are most probably the newbie and people will be watching you. Charging into an existing group in an aggressive manner to pitch for business does not endear the individual to the group. Look to build relationships first and foremost. See how you can help people by adding value like no one else can to the group.

Expect to visit regularly Visit the network a few times before joining. Most networking groups would welcome visitors a few times because they want you to make the right decision in joining them as much as you will want to make the right choice. Then if you join, c ontinue to visit and participate regularly. We cannot build

relationships if we are not present or even if present we do not mix.

It’s not all about the money There are some great businesses networking groups that do not have a joining fee. But it does cost us to join.

Remember our time is not free. It is possible that people join “free” groups looking to save money and it ends up costing them more in lost business and wasted time then they ever would have paid to join the right group.

A joining fee of AED4000 - 5000 on the face of it may appear expensive.

If this is the right network then this fee would most probably be returned in our first deal. BNI Middle East for example, has a joining annual fee of AED4,750 and I have met many a member earning in excess of half a million to a AED1 million a year as a result of their membership, so is their joining fee expensive? I think not.

I am sure many of the other more established networks such as the British Business Group and the Australian Business Council will have established members who can also boast great ROI. There are many business based “No joining fee” networks in Dubai with online and face to face congregations.

A simple search on LinkedIn or Google will provide many of them.

Whether the network is a free or paid one, you should still apply the same principles in choosing what is right for you.

So to conclude, think about what you want to achieve from your networking. Remember no networking group is FREE, do your research before joining and then track your results so that when you need to justify your time and investment to either yourself or your boss then you can do so. You will also know where to spend your valuable time in the future.

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Intelligent SME

Corporate Governance

3 Questions for the New Year As we start the year full of expectation, it’s a great time to review some of the commercial basics that are often lost in the day-to-day struggles of the business, advises John Merrigan.

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y challenge for SME business owners or managers is to take time out to address three questions connected with corporate governance. Answered honestly and in-depth, these can provide a powerful spur to action to improve performance and focus on the priorities in the year ahead.

Is the future of the company clearly defined or agreed upon by the owners in a written vision statement?

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If those around you don’t know your vision, how can you target them and maximise their commitment and contribution?

It sounds so obvious but have you written your vision for the business on one or two pages, and tested it with friends, management and family if applicable? Good governance is not possible without a written vision statement, agreed by the owners and cascaded deep inside the business.

The vision statement should define the “WHAT” you want to achieve in the business. Avoid business jargon and keep it simple and concise. Learn from your competitors and explore the web

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Corporate Governance

John Merrigan is a seasoned senior manager and company director with extensive experience in wide-ranging industry sectors. His career spans more than 25 years in multinational, SME and family businesses, internationally and in the Middle East Region. He advises and supports small and medium organisations to successfully implement fit-for-purpose strategies in corporate governance.

for examples but put your own stamp on it and make it personal. Consult widely and be prepared to change based on the feedback.

The next step is to write out five to10 SMART objectives that support the vision statement- that is to say these should be: specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic, and time bound.

As a minimum, these objectives should focus on a three to five year timeframe and detail targets in the following areas: revenue, profit, products, markets, human resources, brand, ownership (family), business structure, business risk and corporate governance. Obtain the commitment of all the owners (including input of senior managers) and sign the final version.

Ensure the vision statement is properly communicated to owners, directors, management and key staff.

If those around you don’t know your vision, how can you target them and maximise their commitment and contribution? Some aspects of the vision may be withheld depending on specific sensitivities.

The final vision document is now the reference for all major decisions, strategies, financial plans and controls in the business. It is also a great way to engage external stakeholders such as banks, suppliers and others.

Has the management team clearly defined annual performance objectives?

The chief executive and at least first line reports should have SMART formalised annual performance objectives.

Awareness of business risk becomes part of the company culture. With this comes peace of mind knowing that major events that can impact your business are on the radar and steps to mitigate them are being taken.

Getting this right will provide sharper focus and essential accountability.

The objectives should be discussed and agreed face to face- list specific measures or dates against each one, and jointly sign the final document.

A good general structure is charted out by defining objectives on three levels: commercial / business, personal (or behavioural) and finally, team targets. Each objective is given equal emphasis. Let the subordinate make the first draft so there is engagement in the process. Finally, agree upon a frequency to meet and review progress, at least on a quarterly basis, and document those discussions each time.

Clearly, the process will develop and be tailored depending on the sophistication of the business but implementing these basic steps will elevate commitment and accountability to new levels.

Have we assessed risks in the business and do we have a risk register?

Stepping back to review the critical internal and external risks in the business is often neglected because

of the daily pressures we all face.

However, the operating environment presents a whole range of governance challenges that should not be ignored.

Awareness of business risk becomes part of the company culture. With this comes peace of mind knowing that major events that can impact your business are on the radar and steps to mitigate them are being taken.

My advice is to start off simply and build on this. I suggest assessing business risk in the following areas: operations, competition, laws and regulations, human resources and succession, intellectual property and trademarks, IT systems, working capital management, and finally legal structures of the company. Describe the risk of each, define the potential impact on the business and accordingly rank the risks by relative importance.

Start to develop mitigation strategies (perhaps involving outside assistance or expertise) and allocate ownership of the actions to the management team.

Bring this together in a single document - the Risk Register - which should be reviewed monthly.

Building this process will bring sharper focus on the key corporate governance gaps in the business. The ability to show a prospective investor, bank or supplier that you have focused on risk management is proof of strong governance and gives them confidence.

Vision statement, annual performance objectives and risk register are key aspects of good governance when they are formalised. They are collaborative endeavours through which there is engagement and alignment of the management team and your stakeholders. With commitment, they become part of the daily vocabulary in your business and will drive you to further success.

Good luck!

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February - March 2013

Intelligent SME Powered by:

Fit CEO

Stay fit at work The CEO and the response executive of an organisation have one thing in common. They sit behind their desks for long hours and, before they know it, find themselves out of shape. ISME has partnered with VLCC, in an attempt to enlighten CEOs’ and executives-the importance of physical fitness and well being.

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business man is indeed a lot more than just an entrepreneur who owns and runs his business. One often tends to forget the grind and mental trauma a CEO has through. For this reason we see many executives heightening their focus on fitness in recent times.

The old adage goes, “All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy”; and so, Intelligent SME has taken a decision to include some more zest and muscle to our content in the forthcoming issues by highlighting the importance of physical fitness and a healthy diet in a CEO’s life. ISME has teamed up with VLCC, which has revolutionised the wellness industry to acquire the status of being the Number one wellness

brand in South Asia & Middle East, with a presence of 300 locations, across 109 cities in nine countries: India, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

VLCC is widely recognised for its scientific weight loss solutions and its therapeutic approach to beauty treatments. With a staff strength of nearly 6000, over two-third of whom are experienced specialists, including medical doctors, nutritionists, psychologists, cosmetologists and physiotherapists and, having served over 10 million customers since its inception, VLCC is the largest and most-preferred brand in the wellness domain in the countries it operates in.

Here is an excerpt from an interview with Kiram El Tbayli, technical

consultant – slimming, VLCC.

ISME: What are the common flawed

dietary patterns you come across when you have CEOs and executives coming to you?

KET: Well, most skip their breakfast,

as they have to rush to their offices.

They just have lunch; so they skip meals, but have their big dinner meals, and they tend to overeat because they haven’t eaten the whole day. So, practically it’s normal routine for them, but unhealthy for their bodies.

ISME: How would you tell an

executive that a lop-sided dietary pattern can cause some serious health risks?

KET: We create awareness. We

explain to our clients the different food groups and how much his/her body burns per hour. We assign meals as per a client’s per day. An executive consumes food depending on his height, weight and age and then it’s divided by his metabolism. Usually a person’s metabolism is at the peak during the day and least during the night.

We start dividing meals according to a client’s metabolism, and this is all explained to our clients.

ISME: What dietary patterns should a CEO or an executive follow if he is unable to take regular meals?

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Intelligent SME Powered by:

KET: VLCC recommends simple

snacks every three hours. A minimum of one snack in every three hours is a must, preferably small snacks, as these individuals mostly seated on their desks for the whole day. They should not, however, eat big meals. As you know carbohydrates are a form of food that provides energy. If you are sitting behind your desk all the time, and you provide your body with huge amounts of carbohydrates your body cannot burn them.se extra The excess calories get stored in your system. Hence, the best approach for these senior executives is simple, small snacks frequently.

You may munch on a cereal bar, an apple, low fat yogurt, a bunch of nuts like almonds and walnuts. Lunch is a very important meal and cannot be substituted and the above is only a remedy in the event of skipping your lunch. We also understand that it’s difficult for a CEO to interrupt an important meeting and head for lunch.

At the end of a long day of work, one’s simply too tired and hungry, and the easiest thing to do is gobble up lots of excess calories. But if you are snacking properly and do not skip your lunches, you will not make such a folly.

ISME: How significant is it for CEO’s to be fit today, by eating right, being physically fit and just treating your body like a temple?

KET: The young generation, today, is falling prey to heart attacks, while

Fit CEO

diabetes is on the rise in the UAE. That's why it is so important to be fit. We recommend a balanced body mass index which reduces the risks of developing all sorts of diseases,

Innovative ways to stay fit at your desk

Park your car a few blocks away and walk to your office.

If your office is on the 20th floor take the elevator till the 15th floor and walk up five floors.

Put a timer on your computer and take a short walk every 15 minutes.

Instead of asking for your coffee you can just go and get it yourself.

To strengthen your core muscles sit on a swiss ball and work on your computer instead of sitting on your chair, as you sit on the swiss ball you try to stabilise yourself and that will have you naturally strengthening your core muscles. Many VLCC clients sit on a swiss ball instead of sitting on a chair/sofa while watching TV.

whether it’s diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hyper tension, renal diseases, liver diseases, etc. Balanced diet also helps you to get all those important nutrients and minerals in your body, helping you function better. Even your brain functions better when you’re eating right, but when you’re not, you feel tired and anxious and aren’t able to focus at work. A lot of food we eat is carbohydrates, which helps a lot in improving the emotional health because it elevates serotonin and that’s the happy hormone; when you are not eating enough you become depressed, low and tired all the time and can’t really function better. It is very important to include carbohydrates in your meals. This is why we calculate the amount of carbohydrates relative to the height, weight and age of a client.

It is very important that a person is gets all the macro-nutrients and micronutrients. Macro-nutrients are the carbohydrates, protein and fats, while micro-nutrients are the vitamins and minerals. Having a healthy balanced diet is very important. Being fit also increases your metabolism; so, even on days you cannot exercise, you know you have enough muscles to keep your metabolism going throughout the day.

ISME: How do you tackle clients who are overweight due to genetic causes?

KET: Yes, we do have many clients

who are overweight mainly due to environmental factors and this is why we do have counsellors to help them overcome their environmental factors.

Some cannot exercise nor have any space to exercise, some have genetic problems such as hypothyroidism or diabetes. We also treat that because hypothyroid and diabetes are based on your lifestyle. If you eat healthy you can overcome these diseases, if you don’t eat healthy you are in trouble.

Our counsellors help these customers overcome these barriers. We set simple and realist targets for our clients, as it’s important to set realistic and simple targets because if we don’t they will falter and will find themselves overwhelmed by the task of achieving these targets.

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Intelligent SME

Business Law

Planning for tomorrow and the days after

While managing assets, one must plan for its future and ensure that it is passed on to the right inheritors, writes Nita Maru.

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nexpected death is devastating enough, but the tragedy only gets compounded with related troubles and traumas - ranging from frozen bank accounts to disputed family assets; businesses being handed over to undeserving partners, and sometimes, children being entrusted to people you have not chosen personally.

If you have spent years making money and managing it wisely, it is logical that you must plan for its future and ensure that your wealth, assets, business, and property are passed on to your family, or to the inheritors of your choice.

Q: It has been two years since my

friend’s wife passed away and their Dubai joint bank account is still frozen.

I know she did not prepare a will. Does the unblocking of their account usually take this long? (TM, British, 45)

A: In the event of death, the banks

are instructed by the court to freeze all transactions on the accounts. All liabilities/ outstanding debts have to be cleared before the account is

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reactivated. However the banks/ court can take their own pace to determine what the debts are and this is usually what causes prolonged delays. If she had planned her estate the process would have been speedier for sure.

Q: My husband and I jointly own a

freehold apartment in Dubai. If one of us dies, will the other or our children automatically inherit it?

(MJ, Australian, 31)

A: In the UAE, inheritance for Muslim nationals is guided by Shari’ah law, while the law of the deceased’s home country can be applied for non-Muslim expatriates. However, there are many uncertainties regarding real estate inheritance issues. Unlike other jurisdictions, the UAE does not practice ‘right of survivorship’ (property passing on to surviving joint owner upon death of the other), and the local courts will make final decisions.

To ensure absolute peace of mind on these issues there are alternative solutions we can advise upon.

Q: What is the main benefit of

owning property through an offshore company? Is it not better to have the property held in your own name? (JT, Canada, 48)

A: Inheritance laws in Dubai are

neither as straight forward nor the same as those back in the UK or the European Union. If a foreigner owns property in Dubai and passes away, the laws of their home country may not apply to their assets. Instead, Shari’ah law may apply. Under Sharia’h law, the property of the deceased is usually distributed in fixed ratios to beneficiaries. There is no automatic transfer of the property to the surviving spouse either. By structuring your property into an offshore company, you ensure that Shari’ah law will not apply to your assets and those lengthy probate proceedings are avoided.

Q: My friend and I are business

partners and equal shareholders in a successful business in Dubai. Should I worry about the future, if one of us dies? (JJ, French, 39)

A: In the event of a shareholder’s

death, local probate laws are applied to a business, but the results may be unpredictable as shares do not pass automatically by survivorship, nor can another family member take over in lieu. However, we can secure arrangements to avoid lengthy local probate and guarantee business continuity.

Nita Maru (LLB Hons.) is a British qualified solicitor and founder of TWS Legal Consultants in Dubai. She can be contacted for personal appointments on Tel: (+ 971) 4 448 4284, by Email: info@willsuae. com, or by visiting www.willsuae.com

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Corporate Governance

Make your company shipshape to enjoy fair sailing

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Corporate governance is all common sense, explains Mark Fisher. or many people the phrase ‘corporate governance’ sounds so uninteresting that their eyes glaze over. For others it is a source of fear, implying impossibly high standards that they suspect they and their company could never meet. In reality, neither reaction is justified.

Putting good corporate governance in place is rather like making a vessel shipshape. If the ropes are properly coiled, the crew will be able to use them 58

in a hurry when they need to, and if a captain has the best navigation tools on board he will reach his destination before his rivals. This is all just common sense, and good corporate governance in an SME is much the same. It is not all that hard to put in place and the benefits of doing it are enormous.

If a company plans to list on a stock exchange, as a number of Dubai SMEs are considering doing, it will be

required by regulations to meet certain corporate governance standards; but even if it does not wish to go public, ensuring good corporate governance should be high up on any business owner’s ‘to do’ list in order to optimise performance.

Start at the top Good governance starts at the top, with the board of directors. Even the most brilliant company founder and

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Corporate Governance

Mark Fisher is vice president, Corporate Communications, at NASDAQ Dubai. He has worked as a solicitor in Hong Kong and the UK.

his family do not know everything and sometimes make imperfect decisions. Under widely accepted good governance principles, a well constituted board includes directors with diverse skills and knowledge (finance, sector expertise, track record of helping other companies grow).

It also contains directors who are ‘independent’, ie whose financial and emotional relationship with the owners is distant enough to enable them to say, ‘No, you have got it wrong, think again’. The presence of independent directors also reassures any minority shareholders, as well as the company’s business partners and staff, that sufficient checks and balances are in place to produce a decision-making process in which they can have full confidence.

Clarifying areas of responsibility and lines of decision-making is also essential to good governance.

The separate roles of the owners, the board and senior management should be clearly defined in writing, so that while the owners choose the board that defines strategy, the management is left alone to make day-to-day decisions without interference. This framework can be helpful to everyone involved.

A son of the founder who may be wondering if it is his job to tell the chief financial officer how to write up the accounts, for example, can consult his company’s organisation chart and discover this is not the case.

Shine a light The more the world knows about your company, the more it will understand its strengths and feel comfortable

Nowhere is transparency more important than in a company’s financials. about taking a decision to trust and do business with it. So if you are a company owner, make sure you shine a light on what your company is doing.

There is a balance here; a company should not of course unnecessarily give away secrets that would help its rivals compete with it. But many SMEs would benefit from being more ‘transparent’ - to use a word that is never far from the lips of jargon-loving corporate governance professionals- by telling people more about what they are up to.

Nowhere is transparency more important than in a company’s financials. Under best practice, accounts should be prepared to international accounting standards and audited by an independent accounting firm. If a company is listed on NASDAQ Dubai, accounts are required to be published twice a year under the listing rules of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) that govern the exchange.

Other exchanges have similar rules.

Non-listed companies in the UAE do not have to be so transparent, but it makes a good impression on everyone if they are. Well prepared accounts also help a company to understand its own financial situation clearly, as well as delighting lending officers at banks, minority shareholders, and potential private equity partners.

Transparency is also important in

Governance health check Key issues include:

Are the right people on the Board of Directors?

Is it clear who is responsible for doing what?

Is the right information being publicly disclosed?

Are stakeholders (eg shareholders, staff) being looked after properly?

Is a succession plan in place? other areas including disclosing any conflicts of interest involving directors and basic information about important contracts that the company has entered into. The DFSA’s listing rules can be a useful guide on which matters to consider disclosing, even for non-listed companies.

Formally identifying risks, and ways of dealing with them, is another important area of corporate governance. Risks can range from fundamental changes in the industry in which the company earns its living, to the risk that a key individual might join a rival business. In SMEs, particularly family-run businesses, not having a clear succession plan for when existing owners give up the reins is often a key risk. Such a plan should always be put in place well ahead of time.

For more information about good corporate governance, SMEs can talk to a number of organisations that can bring a UAE focus to the topic.

Hawkamah, in the DIFC, and Dubai SME are among them. In essence, good corporate governance is about putting structures in place that promote both efficiency and integrity, in a way that is visible to the outside world.

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Leadership

It’s not all about IQ, but EQ! Michael Tolan explains in depth the need for “Emotional Quotient” and the fact that most bosses tend to forget their other customerstheir own employees.

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ntrepreneurs are often driven, on a mission, fired with passion to see their ideas realised into substance.

This is an inspiring demonstration of business IQ. Very often in the process, they can fall into a calamity that can collapse their new house of cards-ignoring their customers. Why would any entrepreneur do that really?

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Everyone focuses on keeping clients happy, going out of their way to win market share and being customer centric. In fact, many business owners are fanatical, pleasing the customer at any cost, in order to win them back and to gain referrals, because after all, people talk. You bet they do.

The cosmic swirl of karma says “treat people right and you will have a

reward of loyalty, appreciation or even something that money cannot buy, a good reputation”.Almost everyone has this sound work ethic. Until, you talk to their ‘other’ customers who are nonother than the team members. The very people whom the boss often forgets are customers as well.

Interestingly, some bosses admit that they, as leaders, are so occupied

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Leadership

Michael J. Tolan is a speaker, writer and corporate mentor and board advisor to several organisations. He is the creator of Mission I’m Possible series of motivational workshops through FirePowerLeadership.com and is the Chief Inspirational Officer of the World Class Academy of Excellence (Follow him on Twitter mtolan@ worldclassgroup).

racing to the finish line that some amount of fallout is expected. This results to massive collateral damage.

They go by the old saying, “People come, people go” a few casualties on the way are therefore essential for the ball to roll.

Now, lets freeze frame for a moment and jump into those ill-fated team member’s moccasins. Imagine you have a boss who seems like a nice person at first, the kind that’s driven and aiming higher and higher to reach his own targets of perfection.

They train you that the customer comes first. Employees of any organisation are customers too, after all, you shop, you bank, you drive, and you are also a consumer. Hence, you put in a conscious effort to put your customer on a pedestal, but then your own boss begins to step all over you in order to reach his target. Your employers constantly make you nervous, try to make you feel insignificant, and even are sometimes downright rude and vengeful.

This means they have zero emotional intelligence (EQ). That means even though they demonstrate they are brilliant at coming up with great business ideas, you begin to understand you are working for an emotionally challenged bully, an unhappy child trapped inside the body of a boss with power over you and your future.

So why are you working for this power trip person who pushes the panic button daily in the office. Oh yes, you needed a job, so you can earn and pay your rent, support you own personal needs and those of your family and to plan and save for your future. Your future demands that your basic needs of food, shelter, security, esteem, love can be consistently met and exceeded.

Then you wonder if this is not your first job, why on earth did you leave your last one? Maybe back when you were taking this new job it seemed better. Would you turn down a similar new offer if your current bosses were stepping all over you and you thought your company competitors

Personality

Entrepreneurs often forget many a time their customers are also their own staffers that they have employed at their peril. It would be a reverse-situation had the employees been purely customers, and not staff.

demonstrated care for their employees?

As this imaginary employee, do you feel like you have a lot of choices, do you feel stuck, saying to yourself and others over a coffee “It’s a tough job market and I need a job, best to be quiet and take it on the chin, soldier up and try to hang on for, until something better comes along?” Who in their right mind would intentionally swim in a polluted ugly toxic pond?

Entrepreneurs often forget many a time their customers are also their own staffers that they have employed at their peril. It would be a reversesituation had the employees been purely customers, and not staff. All efforts would be put into satisfying the customers needs however vague and demanding they seem.

Employees spend most of their life, their waking life at least at work. A break down of their day reveals, nine to 12 hours are spent either preparing for work, traveling to work, being engaged at work, traveling back and decompressing from work.

Assume that someone works five days a week to have two of those days just for them, and you can see the equation adds up to they should be made to feel at home in the workplace.

It’s not like employers should provide their staff with a bed and a blanket, but there are some strategies that can be looked into to keep these other customers happy.

The time has come to find some thorough remedies. Surveys reveal that many bosses believe that their other customers, namely employees, are to have their agreed pay for job well done.

That’s really warm and fuzzy.

Some employers are governed by the philosophy, “Look, I hired you to do a job, and I pay the bills and not only your salary, but all the other expenses around here. These expenses are never 61

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Leadership ending, so stop complaining or I will get someone else.” The truth is in fact employees will never stay long in any company when given a choice if they do not feel empathy, appreciation, respect, trust, that they are worthy of attention, valued enough to be part of shared vision of a brighter future.

This elementary introduction to EQ is what our grandparents called commonsense, treating people as humans, and what we call today Emotional Intelligence.

Entrepreneurs who acknowledge that 'Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs' also apply to employees, because, after all they are human, will reap the loyalty fruit from the nurturing tree more often when applying their IQ and EQ in tandem.

Companies that understand and embrace in entirety that their business requires people to perform specific tasks in order for them to deliver their product or service, will win hands down over their competitors.

The idea of nurturing and caring for team members is not a new concept. Neither is emotional intelligence or treating people with respect. Creating a savvy new 2013 employee engagement program could be just the inoculation companies would do well to implement within their organisation to immunise their members against feeling less than appreciated and bolster their output and input.

Another idea that grabs attention is fostered growth, adding training and development to empower employees to realise that because they are valued they are also worthy of investment and attention to increase their own qualifications and skills.

Feedback Feedback is another crucial aspect which was once the forbidden zone. However, with the advent of social media it is unable to keep this genie in the bottle. The need of the hour is a well thought out portal or 62

SELF-ACTUALISATION

AESTHETIC COGNITIVE

ESTEEM

SOCIAL

SAFETY

PHYSIOLOGICAL

The idea of nurturing and caring for team members is not a new concept.

Neither is emotional intelligence or treating people with respect.

forum where employees can drop their feedback followed by a response with appreciation to reinforce its sustainability.

Amenities such as discounts for employees, gym memberships, or even do what Google does, put a playroom in the office could be ideas that could be explored. But you need not mask one of the most successful and wellcapitalised start-ups in the world right away.

Meanwhile what you must do to keep your team motivated and focused is to strengthen and build allegiance and alliance for reliance. What if your employees felt and acted like partners, striving to the goal line not because it was their job, but because it really mattered.

Demonstrate with action, that they matter, that you care, and remember that they are also your other customers and not your captive hostages. Earn a reputation with your team that they matter and demonstrate your caretaker role to provide them with a prosperous future. Doing this will help you keep everyone happy and your IQ 4 EQ will make you more prosperous also, all the way to the bank. Be Smart.

Here are some quick tips entrepreneurs might deploy to make headway to master the' IQ 4 EQ' opportunity.

Create a recognition program that is not the normal run of the mill, just a once a year ‘hey hey hurrah, thanks and now get back to work’ copy paste exercise.

Employees and humans can be made to feel valuable by you valuing their input and contribution by showing your appreciation.

Slightly playful environments are easier to look forward to turning up to rather than strict and authoritative stuffy ones.

Not all employees work for a paycheck. Many trade their energy and time in exchange for both paycheck and a future, so share a realistic and engaging vision and get them and keep them on board by being a reliable caretaker of their future they entrusted ‘you’ with.

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Book Review

Books to spice your business!!

Sajith Ansar will review and recommend books that impacted him the most and explain why you must consider it as a business person.

Outliers G

ladwell's latest book is yet another stroke of genius from an author whose books blend research, date history and facts to highlight his arguments with passion.

The author of titles like Blink and Tipping point analyses success and argues that it is not the brightest who succeed nor is it the sum of the decisions and efforts we make. He says it is rather a gift. Outliers he says are those who have been given opportunities and have had the presence of mind to seize them when they came knocking.

He narrates many success stories and weaves it with circumstances that led to their success. Gladwell introduces a concept of 10,000 hours and links that as the tipping point for success. He outlines the tale of Bill gates as a young programmer and how he evolved because he had access to a computer club that no other high schools had. How Gates had 10000 hours of programer experience by the time he was 20 which was almost impossible at the time. In the initial chapter, Gladwell explains success based on birth days, and gives hockey as an example, sharing how most of the players were born in the first three months of the year. Like his earlier works, this book is a great read and Gladwell’s innovative method of looking at theories makes you ponder. The book is a delight and will make you think about success and its parameters in a completely different light.

Unlimited Power A

nthony Robbins Unlimited Power is a workbook for life and a blueprint for excellence. He breaks down every aspect of excellence from mindset, language, relationships, food, health, vision and any other aspect that can spur one to excellence. He simplifies the laws of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming developed by Richard Bandler and John Ginder) into simple concepts and ideas with innumerable assignments and to-dos. You can hear his voice through the book egging you on and pushing your limits.

Read the book with a notepad by your side and religiously do every assignment, reflect on the learnings, discuss it and share with friends and family and imbibe the same.

This book can change your life in business, self awareness, relationships, health and mastery in excellence. I also advise buying the audio book and listening in the car or at the gym to have a deeper understanding of the philosophy of the book. At 421 pages it isn't intended to be a light read, but it's difficult to put down.

The concepts explored and shared by Anthony Robbins is the new science of personal achievement. This is arguably his best book (his other book is Awaken the giant within) and it's a culmination of his various experiments and studies.

Interesting concepts to build rapport with people, methods of modeling excellence of successful people, conquering phobias and fears and exploding self limiting beliefs that hold you back.

This is a book I gift to friends, individuals who are starting out in business and people whose life I would love to touch and inspire for accelerated achievement.

Sajith is the CEO and founder of Spice Holding, a multinational working with SMEs to grow their businesses using innovation. He has worked with over 1000 businesses around the world over the last decade. He is also a board member of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) and reads voraciously devouring a new book almost every week.

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February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Leadership

The best process for achieving any goal Anesh Jagtiani outlines a five-step process to effectively plan out successful and focused strategies to realise success.

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February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Leadership

H

ave you ever known someone who seems to always be able to get what he wants, no matter what?

If you do, you can bet that this person has a specific strategy, which he has developed to help him achieve his goals.

This might have been a strategy which took a lot of heartbreaking failures to perfect, and many years of hard work.

Well, thankfully you don't have to go to all that trouble because the following process has been used by millions of people over the last 95 years to help them achieve their goals.

This process has been adapted from the classic personal development masterpiece "Think and Grow Rich," which is believed to be responsible for the making of more millionaires than any book ever written.

I'm guessing that means this five step process is pretty effective, so let's get started.

Set a quantif iable goal No matter what your goal is, you must write it down in quantifiable terms in order to start workingon a plan for achieving it. If you want to make more money, determine exactly how much you want to make.

If you want to be in a better relationship, write down the exact things that you are looking for in a relationship. If you want to be in better health, write down exactly what will constitute better health.

If you're having trouble being specific at first, just write down something as specific as possible, understanding that your goal will become clearer asyou apply the next five steps.

Anesh Jagtiani is the CEO of Empowering Leaders Group (M. E). He is a professional speaker and trainer. His leadership programme helps managers motivate and retain their top people, improve their effectiveness in communication and maximise the bottom line of companies. He is also a TV anchor of a show called TOP GUNS on ZEE TV where he has interviewed the 12 most successful Indian entrepreneurs of UAE. He can be reached at anesh@elgme.com or www.elgme.com

Setting a "no matter what" timeline for your goal will keep you from being paralysed by perfectionism and procrastination. It will also provide you with a means of tracking your progress and celebrating your successes along the way.

Set a timeline Setting a "no matter what" timeline for your goal will keep you from being paralysed by perfectionism and procrastination. It will also provide you with a means of tracking your progress and celebrating your successes along the way.

But a timeline is more than just having a deadline, set small incremental goals which will lead you up toward your ultimate goal.

Also, remember that even if you miss your deadline, the important thing is that you continue the process which you are learning here and learn as you go...

What are you going to give?

If you want to get something out of life that you don't have right now, you must determine what you're willing to give in exchange for it.

Too many people never achieve their goals because they're too busy

looking for shortcuts or expecting something for nothing.

If it's more money that you want, determine what you're going to give in exchange for it. If you want a better relationship, determine who you're willing to become in order to have it.

This will set the stage for applying the most important step of your goal achievement process.

Get a simple plan Now that you know exactly when you're going to achieve your specific goal and you've determined what you're willing to give in exchange for it, use your timeline to develop a plan that you can break down into daily steps.

This will give you something to work at consistently and keep you from being overwhelmed by the sheer size of your goal. What you'll find is that consistent focused action according to a long-term plan will provide you with the momentum you need to succeed.

Rehearse and evaluate As soon as you have your specific goal and your plan written down, read it aloud every morning and every evening, and evaluate its effectiveness at least once a week.

This is important because no one ever gets their plan exactly right the first time, and your goal will probably also become clearer to you as you take action.

Rehearsing and evaluating your plan on a consistent basis will help you to make the necessary adjustments in order to use it to achieve your longterm goal.

Apply these five steps, start today, and pretty soon you'll have other people asking you what your secret is to getting what you want.

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The Gulf Finance SME Cup at Emirates Golf Club

Entries for the inaugural Gulf Finance SME Golf Cup are now open. Dubai’s SMEs are invited to enter this exciting corporate team golf event taking place over the coming months at Emirates Golf Club, offering SME companies a unique platform to establish new business opportunities.

Corporate teams of four, compromising of a minimum of two employees, select two of the four qualifying rounds to try and secure a place in the Grand Final, where the top 24 teams based on the aggregate total of the two qualifying rounds will compete. Each team member must have a valid handicap.

Fixture Qualifying Round One Qualifying Round Two Qualifying Round Three Qualifying Round Four Grand Final

Location Faldo Course Faldo Course Faldo Course Faldo Course Majlis Course

Date Monday 19th November 2012 Monday 17th December 2012 Monday 14th January 2013 Monday 18th February 2013 Thursday 18th April 2013

Time 1pm shotgun 1pm shotgun 1pm shotgun 1pm shotgun 1pm shotgun

Tournament Fees AED 3,500* per team of four and AED 3,200* for companies registered with Dubai SME *entry fees include two qualifying rounds (eight green fees), four team shirts, dinner buffet on the Clubhouse terrace at both qualifying rounds as well as four places at the Gala Dinner regardless of qualification.

For further information and to enter your team, please email JDanby@dubaigolf.com Official Magazine Title Sponsor

in collaboration with

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December 2012 - January 2013

Intelligent SME

Emirates NBD Global Business Series

3rd Edition Dr. B.R Shetty Founder & CEO, NMC Healthcare

23.01.2013

Dr. B.R Shetty, founder and CEO of NMC Healthcare, was the guest of honour at the Emirates NBD Global Business Series.

Dr. Shetty spoke about his early life and learnings that shaped his character

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December 2012 - January 2013

Intelligent SME

Emirates NBD Global Business Series

Tariq Qureishy, CEO, Vantage Holdings was the moderator of the session. He gave the audience an experience of Dr. Shetty's professional journey from being a salesman to a billionaire.

Dr. Shetty was felicitated by Vikas Thapar, head of business banking and GM of Emirates Money, Emirates NBD.

Dr. Shetty also took questions from the audience.

Entrepreneurs gathered at the event were told to be passionate about their businesses and not to be worried about failures.

77

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Events Calendar

Networking opportunities Important business events across the globe MIDDLE EAST ELECTRICITY & LIGHTING Date: February 17-19, 2013 Venue: Dubai International Exhibition Centre Middle East Electricity is positioned as the meeting place for international companies to showcase their products and services for the power, lighting, renewable and nuclear sectors to a proven audience of key decision makers from over 100 countries worldwide. www.informaexhibitions.com

NATIONAL CAREER EXHIBITION Date: February 20-22, 2013 Venue: Sharjah Expo Centre, Sharjah

National Career Exhibition is the dedicated platform aimed at providing career opportunities for national graduates in the UAE. Held under the patronage of H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Member of the UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, the event reflects the strategy of the country’s leaders in carefully moulding the national human resources.

GULFOOD EXHIBITION Date: February 25-28, 2013 Venue: Dubai International Exhibition Centre This food and hospitality show covers the following topics; Food and Beverage, Hotel, Refrigeration and Food Service Equipment, Hotel Supplies & Services, Food Processing achinery, Bakery and Confectionery Products and Equipment, Disposable Items, Hospitality Info Systems and Food Packaging. www.gulfood.com LED CHINA Date: March 03 - 04, 2013 Venue: Guangzhou, China 78

LED China is a trade event solely dedicated for the LED industry. LED China exhibits range from signage to lighting, display to applications, chips to packaging and equipment to components. www.ledchina-gz.com

HEDGE FUNDS WORLD MIDDLE EAST Date: March 04- 05, 2013 Venue: Jumeirah Beach Hotel The hedge funds Middle East seminar will help in answering all your fund investment opportunities. www.terrapinn.com

PAPERWORLD MIDDLE EAST Date: March 05- 07, 2013 Venue: Dubai International Exhibition Centre, Dubai

The international industry for office and stationery will get together for the third time at Paperworld Middle East. Get inspiration from a variety of products and initiate new business relationships at Paperworld Middle East Website: www.paperworldme.com PLAYWORLD MIDDLE EAST Date: March 05-07, 2013 Venue: Dubai International Exhibition Centre, Dubai It’s the world of kids - toys, games and children's lifestyle. Playworld Middle East is the only trade exhibition in the region of its kind. The exhibition has proven to be a great platform to enter the Middle East market for toys and games manufactures. www.playworldme.com DUBAI INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW Date: March 05- 09, 2013 Venue: Dubai International Marine Club, Dubai Experience the latest and finest collection of superyachts and boats

from across the globe at the region's largest leisure marine show! www.boatshowdubai.com JWS ABU DHABI Date: March 05-09. 2013 Venue: Adnec, Abu Dhabi

JWS is an International Jewelry & Watch Show. The latest jewellery designs from more than 120 exhibitors from around the world will be on display. There is also a luxury gift show located with JWS to discover exclusive and unique products. There will also be investment opportunities in new designs made by Emirati jewellery designers honoured with EBDA’A Awards. www.jws.ae DUPHAT Date: March 10-12, 2013 Venue: Dubai International Exhibition Centre, Dubai

Dubai International Pharmaceuticals & Technologies Conference & Exhibition serves as the convergence point for pharmacists, physicians, scientists, marketing professionals, researchers, paramedical professionals, drug developers, dealers, agents, manufacturers, distributors, medical representatives, clinicians, pharmaceutical analysts and consultants, product specialists, key decision makers, pharmacy practitioners, trade visitors and academia. www.duphat.ae

ARABLAB EXPO Date: March 10-13, 2013 Venue: Dubai International Exhibition Centre, Dubai Middle East & Africa Expo is an event for the global laboratory and instrumentation industry. ARABLAB

February - March 2013

Intelligent SME

Events Calendar

Networking opportunities Important business events across the globe is the world’s leading buying and information source for the very latest technology covering various sectors of companies. www.arablab.com

MEMTS Date: March 14-6, 2013 Venue: Expo Centre Sharjah, Sharjah

The Middle East’s premier exhibition showcasing the latest design and trends in car customisation. The latest models of luxury and sport cars. An event solely dedicated to car tuning and customization industry in the Middle East region. MEMTS is endeavouring to present the right mix of business and excitement activities to attract both traders as well as petrolheads from all over the region. www.memts.com CABSAT Date: March 19-21, 2013 Venue: Dubai International Exhibition Centre, Dubai Middle East International Cable, Satellite, Broadcast & Telecommunications Exhibition is the established and respected trade platform for the broadcast, digital media and satellite sectors across the Middle East, Africa and Southern Asian regions. www.cabsat.com

ART DUBAI - CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR Date: March 20-23, 2013 Venue: Madinat Arena, Dubai

Art Dubai is part of Art Week, the umbrella initiative that includes Sikka Art Fair (organised by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, and taking place in Al Bastakiya), Design Days Dubai, and a range of contemporary art and design events, major museum shows, and new gallery exhibitions & artists’ projects, taking place each 80

March. www.artdubai.ae

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL HORSE FAIR Date: March 21-23, 2013 Venue: Dubai International Exhibition Centre, Dubai

DIHF is an equestrian event for the Middle East, the Dubai International Horse Fair and Dubai International Arabian Horse Championship has something for everyone. From leisure and professional riders to Arabian horse owners, stables, clubs and enthusiasts www.dihf.ae GIBTM Date: March 25- 27, 2013 Venue: Abu Dhabi International Exhibition Centre (Adiec)

The International Exhibition for the Global Meetings and Incentives Industry is an event for the meetings, incentives and business travel industry in the GCC Region. GIBTM is a platform for leading business tourism destinations, venues, hotels, incentive package providers and technology innovators to explore their potentialities. www.gibtm.com CCWF MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA Date: March 26-27, 2013 Venue: Dubai

Cloud Computing World Forum for Middle East and North Africa.

The Cloud World Forum MENA is the only place to discuss how cloud computing is transforming telcos and the enterprise across the region. www.cloudcomputinglive.com GULF PRINT & PACK Date: April 08-11, 2013 Venue: Airport Expo Dubai, Dubai Gulf Print & Pack is an important

commercial and package printing event in the Middle East and North African region that's held every two years. www.gulfprintpack.com

WOODSHOW Date: April 09-11, 2013 Venue: Dubai International Exhibition Centre, Dubai

The Dubai WoodShow is the foremost exhibition that offers you a chance to meet wood and woodworking professionals and develop ideas for increasing the range and quality of your business and learn up new techniques and sources of supply. www.dubaiwoodshow.com WETEX Date: April 15-17,2013 Venue: Dubai International Exhibition Centre, Dubai

WETEX is a water, Energy Technology and Environment Exhibition. WETEX will focus on the advanced technologies in the areas of energy such as fossil fuel, nuclear, renewable, power generation, smart grids, efficiency and conservation. The event has been organised by Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA).

GITEX SPRING EDITION Date: April 03-06, 2013 Venue: Dubai World Trade Centre

GITEX Shopper will be held twice a year from 2013 onwards.The first event will take place from 3 - 6 April at Dubai World Trade Centre www.gitexshopperdubai.com SAUDI MEDCARE Date: April 14 - 17, 2013 Venue: Riyadh International Exhibition Centre, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Medcare is an international health care, hospital supplies and medical equipment held once a year. ww.recexpo.com

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December 2012 - January 2013

Intelligent SME

Column

Conviction and more conviction

Summing up

A combination of positivity, right attitude and optimism are a must for entrepreneurs to keep going even against all odds, explains Utpal Bhattacharya.

E

ntrepreneurs are of many hues, but one trait that I have mostly found common in most of the successful ones that I have come across is that they are a very optimistic lot. They always have so much of positivity in their midst that even a very cynical mind starts to feel good and hopeful.

In one of my recent sojourns, I came across a young, first generation entrepreneur who was undertaking a USD200 million project. He had not executed any project one-tenth of that size before. And when I was speaking to him, clearly he was having funding issues on the current project. However, there was no dearth of optimism or cheerfulness. It is all about finding ways to do things, he explained to me.

And tomorrow is another day, a way will be found, he added. When I left him, I did feel convinced by his positive energy, but I did not know how he was going to make it all happen.

In one extreme outlook, some might compare entrepreneurs with gamblers, taking their chances. But in most cases that’s not the case, as most entrepreneurs carefully weigh their risk reward benefits. Most successful entrepreneurs are also those who have fierce self-belief; their convictions combined with their positive energy 82

A winning attitude is a must to be a successful entrepreneur. Even when you are taking a few solid punches, there is no time for countdown, you have to keep going with the belief that it will work out in your favour at the end. does sometimes push them overboard though, as I found out recently with another new entrepreneur, who had won a government tender to supply food related materials to a local government. In his zeal to complete the project and move to the next one, he did not complete all formalities required on the first one. He had to pay a penalty, and it was one costly learning experience for him. Most people would react to such loss of money by chiding themselves for not paying attention to details. However, when I spoke to him about it, he, like any typical entrepreneur, had accepted the incident

as a bonus to his experience. His answer was: “You have to pay a price for learning; we don’t learn such things in MBA classes. You have to learn it on the run, and nothing comes free.”

A winning attitude is a must to be a successful entrepreneur. Even when you are taking a few solid punches, there is no time for countdown, you have to keep going with the belief that it will work out in your favour at the end. In fact, there is no time to think about failures in an entrepreneur’s life, even when things have gone wrong, as it happened with a friend, who had borrowed from his family to invest in an asset, which he thought was a unique investment. He found out later that it was not, but by that time he had invested millions of dollars. He would have been in a soup if his family had demanded the money back. They did not, although family members expect him to pay back at some point. But then why do you have families, if they do not support you? Undoubtedly, he has been lucky, as not all families are alike. But then, an entrepreneur has to have that luck as well along with his conviction and optimism, as my friend has, and he believes that his next investment will more than cover his losses and everybody will be happy once again.