Intelligent SME Issue 16

Issue: 16 | Oct. - Nov. 2013 AED 10

26

Success is all about organising well

Tony Jashanmal, executive director, Jashanmal group, walks us through the rich legacy of his family business.

Exclusive report

40

32

SME 100

Placing Dubai on travellers’ map

Gerald Lawless, president and group chief executive officer, Jumeirah Group, has redefined leisure and luxury in hospitality.

A curtain raiser of the rankings for 2013.

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Contents October - November, 2013

all about organising well 26 It's With four generations together in the workforce, generational conflicts and

succession plans have hardly changed the dynamics of Jashanmal group. In an interview with Tariq Qureishy, CEO, Vantage Holdings, Tony Jashanmal, executive director of the group, shared his life’s experiences, challenges in a family-run business and what inspires him to be a part of it even today.

11 Rare & Fabulous

High-end luxury products for CEOs and decision makers.

16 Business Announcements

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

Skiing as a management tool?

Gerald says, of course!

18 biz-group honoured best place to work in SMEs

The Great Place to Work Institute Gulf evaluated the level of credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie within an organisation, with two-thirds of a company’s score dependent on feedback from its staff.

38 The ingredients of a Great Place to Work

Interview: Camila d’Abov of Dabo & Co gives a lowdown on what makes a public relation company a huge success in this region.

Redefining architecture, design and standards in luxury hospitality, Mr. Lawless, president and group chief executive officer of the Jumeirah Group, has been credited for placing Dubai on the international travellers' map with creating history in Burj Al Arab. In an interview with Tariq Qureishy, CEO, Vantage Holdings, Gerald elaborated on how the chain has inserted itself into the Dubai's urban landscape more quickly and craftily than any other luxury hotel company in history.

44 Experts' take on the perks of 40 The countdown begins for 2013… earning a rank

With just about twenty days to go, the battle for SME 100 ranks has already begun. Nearly 3,000 firms, accounting for four per cent of Dubai’s total SMEs employing approximately 95,000 people have been nominated for the 2013 ranking. An ISME report.

The SME 100 initiative serves as a valuable tool for fostering entrepreneurial culture and creating a competitive SME sector for businesses to grow into larger, internationally-focused businesses, elaborate experts.

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7/28/13 9:26 AM

52 Growing beyond borders

Expanding into a new market can be an effective model to grow your business. A disciplined process will assist you perfectly evaluate the potential of each growth opportunity, elaborates V Ramkumar.

60 Building good governance behaviours

46 The strategist behind SME 100's success

The rankings are a means to an end, where each enterprise can identify the gaps and pursue strategies to close them, stated Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO, Dubai SME. In an exclusive interview with ISME, he provided insights on how the initiative will evolve Dubai’s economy into a much better place for entrepreneurs, investors and other businesses.

48 Teaming up – the importance of building a strong team

It is said that talent helps in winnning games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.

Alyson Baynes, assistant director at Deloitte details how teamwork builds trust and brings speed.

50 Sell benefits, and not features

The primary goal of corporate governance is to enhance the value of a company through ethical behavior, espousing a policy of openness and fairness and ensuring informed decision making throughout the company, endorses John Merrigan.

64 Service that sells

A recent study has revealed that emotions have six times higher influence on consumers to purchase any product than rationale, explains Zed Ayesh.

68 Bridging the chasm between conception and execution

Possessing a great idea or vision is a start, but bringing those concepts to life is the true measure of leadership, writes Neil Petch.

70 Leadership Trust: The Ten Million Dollar Question

People hardly care about what features a product offers because those features are all about you, not them, writes Simon Hodges.

Business men who go out of their way to underpromise and over-deliver will quickly establish valuable deposits of trust in the 'Karmic Bank of Reputation', elaborates Michael J Tolan.

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Editor’s Note SPI Group

Running and sustaining a family business is never too easy, especially beyond the first generation and, even more so, into the third generation and further on. For various reasons family businesses, as they grow in stature and size, these tend to become vulnerable, and unless these find strong leaders they falter, fail or are broken up into many pieces.

Invariably, however, those that remain intact, have a great story to tell. The Jashanmal Group is one such family business that finds its way into this edition of our magazine.

www.spigroup.ae www.robustrak.com www.theintelligentsme.com www.appsmena.com www.appsglobal.ae www.dubai-gbs.com www.smeworld.ae Follow us on twitter: @intelligentsme Facebook: facebook.com/theintelligentsme

Publisher & CEO Shantanu A.P. Account Director Vijay G. Editor Samar Manzar Asst. Editor Nikhil Pereira Consulting Editor Utpal Bhattacharya

Expert Contributors Alyson Baynes Mark Fisher John Merrigan Michael J. Tolan Neil Petch Phil Bedford Sandi Saksena V Ramkumar Zed Ayesh

Art Director Aneesh Varghese Web Developer Raj Shekar Reddy Photographer Arzai Zafar Response and communications

Response Executive Evelyn V.B. MIS Executive Yolanda Pedemonte

In the eighth edition of Emirates NBD global Business series, Tony Jashanmal, executive director of the group, shared his valuable insights on how their family business responded to external and internal challenges, while constantly adjusting and adapting to new realities to survive, consolidate, expand and then establish leadership in the very competitive market where they operate. On Page 26 of this edition, Tony Jashanmal takes us through the three generations of their family business. Another interesting interview featured in this edition is that of Gerald Lawless, who had such an important role in taking the Jumeirah Group to such great heights, as he redefined leisure and luxury for travellers coming to Dubai.

We also reported on things that SMEs closely follow like the SAP MENA SME summit organised in Turkey. We also featured a curtain raiser on the 2013 SME 100 rankings in this edition. The SME 100 initiative started in 2011 has managed to become quite a phenomenon in just a matter two years, with the SMEs in the UAE queuing up to feature in the latest ranks. We have done an in-depth feature on what one should look forward to in the next rankings, scheduled for release on November 9, 2013. We have taken a close look at the history and the making of these rankings, constructing a report on how companies have benefitted from being ranked, as hard data is really hard to ignore. Happy reading.

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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.

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

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Rare & Fabulous

Unveiling Tonino Lamborghini’s luxurious L2800 tablet P AED 8,000

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aris Gallery announced the launch of the Tonino Lamborghini L2800 tablet, a device that runs on the Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Tonino Lamborghini reinterprets the historic value and iconic symbols of the Lamborghini brand, a name synonymous with Italian style and class.

The L2800 has a 1.2 GHz dual core Qualcomm chip, a 9.7 inch LED-backlit scratch-proof sapphire crystal display with a resolution of 1024 x 768, 512MB RAM and 4 GB of internal storage. It has a microSD card slot supporting up to 32GB, 3G, wireless WCDMA and wi-fi connectivity, two- and fivemegapixel cameras front and back with flash lights, and four capacitive buttons. The tablet incorporates a 7000 mAh battery. Weighing just around 850g, this sleek-looking tablet with an AED 8,000 price tag has a two-speaker Yamaha 3D sound system and sports a luxurious titanium chassis with an enviable Lamborghini logo at the back.

Paris Gallery is a leading luxury retailer in the Middle East, which is the eponymous flagship brand of Paris Gallery Group, with over 3 million sq. ft. of luxurious shopping space and 50 stores located in prime retail addresses spanning across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. The stores offer a premium collection of over 500 international brands across several product categories including perfumes, skincare, makeup, watches, jewelry, fashion apparel, sunglasses and accessories.

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Intelligent SME

Rare & Fabulous

AirTrack brings powerful sound to your TV experience

S

amsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, has launched a range of wireless surround systems designed to revolutionise home entertainment.

The Airtrack range comprises of four models that offer unbeatable audio and wireless connectivity with a sleek sound bar and matching subwoofer, connecting with each other automatically once powered on.

All models feature Samsung’s Soundshare technology, the first of its kind, enables the user to operate both the TV and Airtrack simultaneously from a single remote control using Bluetooth.

The sound bar emulates surround sound from a single speaker, with a digital amp creating a smooth and steady sound, and a vacuum amp offering rich and natural audio as well as

599 AED for

to F355/120W r the fo D 2499 AE .

F751/310W

reducing unnecessary distortion.

Featuring 3D Sound Plus, Samsung Airtrack delivers incredible 3D audio that cleverly matches the sound to the motion and depth of the image on the screen. A built-in installation sensor also identifies the position of the system in the room and calibrates sound to appropriate speakers for maximum output and optimal sound quality.

Available in four models that range from 120Watts to 310Watts in total power, boasting sleek and simple design, it is a powerful addition to any home entertainment system that will immerse the viewer in flawless vertical surround sound.

The system range is available across major retail stores in the UAE and is priced from 599 AED for F355/120W to 2499 AED for the F751/310W.

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Intelligent SME

Rare & Fabulous

Accessorising with Saint Honore’s glam pieces T hough Saint Honore has long been established as an outstanding watchmaker, the establishment is also recognized for its savoir-faire in fashioning writing instruments, cufflinks and leather articles. While it might not be affordable to everybody, the collection of elegant gift boxes holding a pen, cufflinks and a wallet are an ideal companion for executives and CEOs.

The new Coloseo set is the perfect gift for giving or receiving.

Black lacquer, a sign of distinction, graces the pen barrel and cufflinks.

Red gold adds harmonious elegance to the pen’s “grooved” décor and the delicate lines of the cufflinks.

The wallet boasts the subtle play of contrasting leather textures: a finely grooved exterior and a smooth interior.

The new Coloseo clockworks pens can also be found in this unique 2013 collection, with their decorative features resembling the components of a mechanical

watch movement. This unique and exclusive collection gives the Coloseo pen pride of place centre stage, drawing welldeserved attention to the historic watchmaking origins of Saint Honore.

The black pen is the cheapest of the accesory collection at AED 1275, where as the rose gold pen is priced at AED 1475. The set of wallet and cufflinks will set you back a resonable AED 2,490.

AED 2,490

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Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Business Announcements

DMCC scores UAE’s largest free zone position

T

he Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) Free Zone has now become the country’s largest Free Zone accommodating over 7,330 active registrations, said a press release. Earning an average of 200 companies’ preference to join DMCC every month and a 94 per cent retention rate, DMCC is also considered the UAE’s fastest growing free zone.

“We are well on our way to achieving our target of 10,000 companies by 2015, at which point we anticipate to be almost at capacity.

“Our expansion plans,

including the DMCC business park and the world’s tallest commercial tower, will cater to large corporations looking to access new markets and will be the next phase in DMCC’s and Dubai’s growth,” said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman, DMCC.

As the requirement for commercial space within the DMCC Free Zone continues to grow, with over 74 per cent of the development already occupied, DMCC recently announced plans to build the world’s tallest commercial tower in order to cater to this continued demand. The

construction of the tower and business park will add an additional 50 per cent of commercial space to the existing 2.9 million square metres of built up area.

“We continue to innovate and complement key trading hubs across the globe to further support Dubai’s ambitious economic development programme.

Currently, we are concentrating on serving markets along the new Silk Route and have become a strong facilitator of trade for producing countries in African and consuming nations in Asia, Asean, Europe, South America and the US,” Bin Sulayem elaborated.

In terms of member demographics, a third of DMCC member companies are from South Asia, a third from the Middle East (including the UAE), and a third from Western Europe and North America respectively.

UAE kick-starts direct debit banking system

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he central bank of UAE has announced that all banks and finance companies are now ready to embark on to the first phase of using the UAE direct debit system (DDS) starting

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October 5, 2013.

A direct debit is a safe and convenient method of making payments and is ideally suited for regular payments with fixed or variable amounts electronically.

An individual or corporate can set up a direct debit instruction by submitting a signed Direct Debit Authority (DDA) to the service provider.

Once a DDA has been successfully setup, then, the payments are made automatically by the customer's bank from the account

designated by the customer in the DDA upon receiving a request through the UAEDDS from the creditor.

A senior official of the central bank said, "Introduction of this system is yet another strategic initiative from the Central Bank.

The initiative will save time and effort for both clients and banks.

Given our focus as a regulator we believe it is necessary to have a prudent, robust and solid economy. Our current intention is to establish a more convenient retail banking system that will create more efficient and progressive economic development. The introduction of the Direct Debit System is a step in the right direction towards increasing the efficiency of our banking system, and elevating it in line with the global best practices,

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Business Announcements thus strengthening the country's status as a global financial hub."

The official further added, "The Federal Government Strategy requires adopting technology to enhance electronic systems and improve services to banking customers. In this regard, the apex bank continually strives to improve the efficiency of the payment systems in the UAE."In the near future, the adoption of this system will be mandated for all loans and finances being advanced by

banks and finance companies. A gradual implementation approach is envisaged to achieve this, commencing with all post dated cheque backed loans and finances to individuals moving onto DDS starting 5th October 2013.

The facility is designed to eliminate the need to sign several post-dated cheques for installments upon obtaining a loan/finance, allowing banks and finance companies to reduce their reliance on post-dated cheques. Monthly

installments can be claimed by the lending institutions by using the direct debit request.

Furthermore, the central bank indicated that the next phase of the DDS will facilitate payments towards services such as electricity, water, telecom, credit card dues and insurance premiums. With the proper adoption of this service, a substantial reduction can be achieved on the need for paper based payment instructions for recurring payments.

European halal foods make entry into Dubai

D

ubai FDI, the foreign investment office in the Department of Economic Development (DED), along with the Austria Business Center has facilitated the establishment of a European halal foods company in Dubai. It is a first-of its-kind launch in Dubai since His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, announced the initiative to make Dubai a hub of Islamic economy.

European Food & Beverages (EFB), which aims to be a major supplier for the growing halal foods market in the GCC and the wider Middle East from its Dubai base, has also concluded a deal with the Consumer Co-operative Union in the UAE and is further negotiating with other regional and international retailers.

“The Islamic economy is a

wide-ranging sector that holds immense potential and opportunities.

Dubai’s focus on this sector and its central location will break new grounds for companies, especially those in Europe and North America, aiming to capitalise on the growing demand for halal foods in and around the Middle East,” said Fahad Al Gergawi, chief executive officer of Dubai FDI.

He further added that the company’s successful take off in Dubai would further boost investor confidence in Dubai and its Islamic economy initiative across strategic overseas markets. “Dubai FDI, in its efforts to achieve His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s vision of an Islamic economy, is expanding its partnerships as well as awareness and attraction programmes to enable foreign investors and companies to benefit from Dubai’s business advantages. Dubai as a hub for new sectors such as Islamic economy and clean technologies adds substantial traction to our attraction plans and the impact they would generate among investors,” elaborated Al Gergawi.

EFB was set up in Dubai as the

regional office of Landena Wels KG, the leading Austrian manufacturer of culinary convenience products.

The firm has done extensive market research in the GCC and put together an appealing range of halal certified culinary convenience products to enhance retailers’ private label portfolio.

“Dubai FDI and Austria Business Centre have been tremendously supportive of our business during our set-up phase and continue to be invaluable partners in terms of networking and providing an impeccable service for our operations base here in Dubai,” said Gerhard Machtlinger, managing director EFB.

Josef Kleindienst, CEO of Austria Business Center, pointed out: “Dubai is today the Middle Eastern trade hub and hundreds of companies would like to tap into this tax free business market and take advantage of the competitive opportunities. Setting up their operations in Dubai becomes a goal and this is where we provide the necessary assistance. Austria Business Center takes care of their clientele by offering cost effective business set up and office solutions.”

A global network of state-ofthe-art business centres offering flexible start-up solutions, the Austria Business Center has been working with Dubai FDI since 2010 helping a growing number of Austrian firms set up in Dubai and target high growth markets.

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Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Get Informed

biz-group honoured best place to work in SMEs Trust. High energy. High optimism. Never a dull moment. That's what Bev Mileham, general manager of the company reasons why employees love working with them. The Great Place to Work Institute Gulf evaluated the level of credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie within an organisation, with two-thirds of a company’s score dependent on feedback from its staff.

An ISME report.

C

orporate consultancy firm biz-group has been ranked by the Great Place to Work Institute Gulf (GPTW) as the best small company to work for in UAE, recognising its sound and peoplecentred workplace practices, especially in hiring, inspiring, welcoming and thanking staff.

Combining more than 25 years of proprietary research, GPTW in association with Dubai SME, revealed the inaugural list of ‘Top SMEs to Work for in the UAE’ for 2013, studying the level of credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie within an organization. Only companies that scored 75 points or more in the research were recognised by the institute. The benchmarking study surveyed 6,000 companies with 20 to 100 employees.

Addressing a press conference

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on the SME results, David Robert, CEO, Great Place to Work Gulf said: “We would like to thank all the participants in this year’s program.

We are really pleased to find some extraordinary HR programs and practices among the country’s small and medium companies (SMEs), which businesses of all sizes can learn from.”

“With approximately 230,000 SMEs registered in the UAE, there is no doubt that this is an important sector to the local economy. By celebrating workplace excellence, we aim to show how strong organisational cultures can actually strengthen these companies contribution to GDP,” he added.

Another five SMEs were also acknowledged by the Institute for their best people practices and strong HR programs. The companies honoured with a

David Robert, CEO, Great Place to Work Gulf, honours biz group for their best people practices and strong HR programs

“Distinguished Mention” were: DABO & CO, Emitac Healthcare Solutions, Eton Institute, Leminar and Paramount.

“I am extremely pleased to

know that our SMEs have not been left out of such recognition by an acclaimed international institute that measures great places to work,” commented Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO of Dubai SME. “SMEs, especially, face acute human resource challenges that hinder their full development potential. I congratulate all SMEs that have been recognised, and to spur them to achieve greater heights developing their human capital. I encourage more SMEs to participate in this initiative. I am particularly proud that biz-group, a Dubai SME100 company, is named the top SME to work for in the UAE.”

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Get Informed A: A lot has happened in the past

Five other companies were honoured with a 'Distinguished Mention': DABO & CO, Emitac Healthcare Solutions, Eton Institute, Leminar and Paramount.

The research company conducted an evaluation of each participating company, where two-thirds of the score is based on the results of the Institute’s Trust Index survey, which is sent to the employees of the participating firms. The confidential survey asks questions related to their attitudes about the management’s credibility, employee engagement and job satisfaction. The other third of the scoring is based on the company’s responses to the Institute’s Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs, and a series of openended questions about hiring, communication, and development.

In an exclusive interview with ISME, Bev Mileham, general manager of the biz-group, shared the company’s ethical and professional standards, what inspires the employees to stay focused and positive and the challenges companies face in attaining success.

Q: What is your overall impression

of the ‘Great Place to Work Awards’ initiative?

A: It is an excellent tool for

companies to measure their workplace culture and learn from the best practices of top companies. We have always wanted to participate in their main survey for the Top Companies List, but the size was a constraint (possessing less than 50 employees). We have still always recommended our clients to participate and are delighted that the SME category has now been introduced.

Q: Do you think this victory would have an impact on the company’s

growth and development?

A: Yes, it would have an impact. It

would be exceptionally motivating for our team and we would be proud to share the news with our clients too. We are proud of our company culture. It’s also important for us to be seen as a role model when we are working with clients to help them improve their people and team performance. We believe it’s not organisations that succeed, it’s the people that do and important for us to practice what we teach.

few years and we attribute these achievements to the people in the organisation. We have added new world-class training programmes to our portfolio, formed new partnerships with leading regional organisations, expanded the team, increased our revenue by our targeted 20% year on year and will be celebrating our twentieth anniversary in the UAE this year.

Q: Do you believe this initiative can contribute to the development of the SME sector? If, yes, how?

A: Yes, I do. All organizations

including SMEs should work towards becoming an ‘employer of choice’, but it is often the most challenging for SMEs to attract the best talent in the region.

This initiative not only helps to highlight excellent people practices followed by SMEs, but also helps them to become talent magnets by being recognised as a ’great place to work’.

Q: What do you think are the major

organization?

challenges for SMEs in this part of the world?

A: Combining strengths, genuinely

A: Establishing the disciplines that

Q: What are the values binding your

care about delivering results, believe anything is possible, act with biz-energy, tell you what you need to hear, supporting people’s personal growth-these are six core values. Each person in biz-group lives and breathes these values.

They are essentially in our DNA. We hire on these values and we would fire on them too.

Q: How would you define the DNA of your corporate culture?

A: We are filled with energy, and

you can experience the magnitude once you step into our offices, and it’s contagious! We are also a very strong team, built on a high level of trust. In fact, we are more than a team and consider ourselves the biz-family.

Q: What do you characterise as proud achievements in the past few years?

And what advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?

will help you grow and making the right decisions in four areas of business – people, strategy, execution and cash.

Q: And what tools/measures would

help them in graduating into larger companies with global presence?

A: We have been using the tools

created by growth guru and author of internationally best-selling book, ‘Mastering the Rockefeller Habits’, Verne Harnish. Harnish’s One Page Strategic Plan specifically helps mid-market companies to accelerate growth profitably.

These tools have given us a framework for business strategy and the discipline to execute our plan. It has also helped us shape our culture and create the right ‘rhythm’ that aligns your whole team to your strategic plan. These tools have a proven track record of growing businesses from small to medium and graduating as global giants.

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Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Get Informed

SAP to the rescue of SMEs While technology is widely acknowledged to be a boon wherever it intervenes, SAP Middle East emphasises on helping SMEs to streamline the functioning through automation and proper management of data. An ISME report.

SAP

Luis Murguia, SVP Ecosystem and Channels, SAP Europe, Middle East and Africa

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recently organised a one-day summit for small-tomedium enterprises (SMEs) across the MENA region in Istanbul (Turkey), highlighting several facets pertaining to the usage of technology in day-to-day operations. The use of software across all businesses has become a mandatory exercise, and SAP being a prime enabler offers a wide range of software solutions.

Identifying the potential of SMEs’ contribution to the economy, SAP has broadened their offering to this particular sector as well.

"SMEs are the engine of growth of the region’s economy,” said Luis Murguia, SVP ecosystem and channels, SAP Europe, Middle East and Africa. “They are adopting innovation faster than ever, they are surpassing larger companies more than ever before. Hence, we need to partner with them and empower their businesses with the right technology at the right time,” he added.

Considerable challenges are being faced by the SMEs in this part of the world, and lack of financing is one of the major woes.

The IFC notes that only a fifth of the MENA region’s firms belonging to this category have a bank account or loan, which showcases the cloud of uncertainty looming over their future. .

Murguia explained that business software can play a significant role in addressing these challenges, from providing banks with more accurate, analytical overviews of investment prospects, to furnishing SMEs with rapidly deployable solutions that enhance both performance and profit.

“Whether it is enterprise resource planning, mobility,

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Get Informed analytics, the cloud or inmemory computing – or all of these elements combined – the companies now have access to an unprecedented set of tools to truly mark them out as forces to be reckoned with. It is up to companies like SAP to help these companies better realize their potential.” SAP has an interesting model, the software solution remains the same, but local partners add a few tweaks to opitmise it for a particular region.

He further elaborated on SAP’s longstanding commitment to SMEs. More than 80 per cent of the software solutions provider’s customers worldwide are SMEs, 88 per cent of new business clients are small and 35 per cent of sales come through indirect entrepreneurs.

Turkey is the ideal example of a thriving SME community, which has been one of the only countries to register continuous growth while the rest of Europe battles economic crisis. The small and medium enterprises in Dubai share similarities with those in Turkey, as they, too, have posted impressive numbers over the last few years.

SME-specific SAP solutions include SAP Business All-in-One (a customizable and extensible solution for midsize companies with deep industry best practices built in) and SAP Business One (a single integrated solution for successfully managing small businesses and for managing subsidiaries of large corporation).

Version 9.0 of the latter running on SAP HANA was announced at the SME Summit. The new version offers more than 50 features that are only possible with the use of in-memory technology, enabling access into structured and unstructured information within seconds instead of days. With deep insights from the predictive analytics capabilities provided by the SAP HANA platform, SMEs can optimize business planning, operations and decision making, while simultaneously gaining insight into new consumer trends and behaviour. SAP Business All-inOne can also be powered by SAP HANA.

One of SAP’s most recent SME customers in the UAE is Modern Bakery. Established in 1975, the company currently produces

Various aspects pertaining to SMEs were discussed at the SAP SME Summit in Instanbul, Turkey. The panel session (above) witnessed an insightful discussion about taking SMEs Global.

more than 2,800 products for distribution across the GCC region.

To help cope with ambitious expansion plans, Modern Bakery enlisted SAP to implement a mobility solution as well as Business Suite on Hana (BSoH).

The latter is the only solution in the world that successfully

combines transactional applications with analytics in-memory. The innovation dramatically simplifies IT architectures and processes, empowering businesses to achieve unprecedented speed and real-time predictive analysis.

Conducting business real-time

SAP Hana is an interesting new product from software

giants SAP. Hana eliminates the CPU and the hard drives and allows the business to communicate real-time, hence, it could be concluded that Hana eliminates the middle processes. The solution also enables for mobile involvement thanks to the real-time applications that can be accessed from the cloud. SAP HANA combines database, data processing, and application platform capabilities in-memory. The platform provides libraries for predictive, planning, text processing, spatial, and business analytics.

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Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Get Informed

Bridging the funding gap The Fourth Annual Middle East SME Forum focused on understanding the need to cultivate entrepreneurship for bringing about change in industrialisation fostering economic growth and creation of job opportunities.

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n a bid to nurture entrepreneurship, support innovative and globally competitive best practices, the Fourth Annual Middle East SME Forum was held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) – Abu Dhabi.

The two-day forum gathered over 200 entrepreneurs, financial experts, banking professionals and governmental officials who grasped new opportunities and learnt the flourishing entrepreneurial culture

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of the Middle East market, which is working towards the facilitation of economic development. In order to enable the SMEs interaction, learning and collection of business intelligence and strategic insight from the large enterprises, over 30 speakers were brought on board for knowledge-sharing sessions, panel discussions and networking opportunities with industry peers.

His Excellency Abdullah Saeed Al Darmaki, CEO, Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development,

inaugurated the event and presented the welcome speech.

Moreover, the conference was opened by Colin Fraser, executive vice president – head of wholesale banking group, ADCB.

Likewise, Sudarshan Seshadri, vice president- business banking, ADCB and chairman for the first day of the forum, honoured the conference with his address, followed by the first keynote speech delivered by Howard Gaunt, executive vice president-head of

Oct. - Nov. 2013

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corporate and business banking group, ADCB.

Highlighting the bank's contribution towards developing the region's SME sector, as Gaunt said, “The UAE and the Middle East region by extension, are witnessing unprecedented opportunities for existing and rising entrepreneurs.

The growing economies, coupled with the ever-changing demographics across the region, are fuelling the opportunities for business diversification, with SMEs having had a very strong early start here. ADCB has been a pioneer in the SME space in UAE, and has been leading the charge on offering SMEs relevant value-added products and services.”

He added, “We are committed to supporting the growth of SMEs in the UAE and this is reflected not just through our products, but also our active participations in forums like the Fourth Annual Middle East SME forum and others. Our strategic relations with the likes of the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development and Dubai SME in developing and supporting home grown SMEs, are testament to our close involvement in the sector. We

believe that forums like these will help shape thoughts and actions that will positively impact SME growth in UAE and in the Region.”

Besides, an impressive

line-up of speakers triggered stimulating discussions with their presentations. The Forum proved to be a valuable platform for SMEs to gain deep business insights.

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Meet the CEO

It's all about organising well The roots of Jashanmal group date back to 1919 with the setting up of first departmental store by Rao Sahib in Basra, Iraq, post the First World War. With four generations now together in the workforce, generational conflicts and succession plans have hardly changed the dynamics of this group. Today, executive director Tony Jashanmal leads a UAE-based corporation with multi-channel activities across the GCC and India. In an interview with Tariq Qureishy, CEO, Vantage Holdings, Mr. Jashanmal shared his life’s experiences, challenges in a family-run business and what inspires him to be a part of it even today.

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We didn’t work hard, but we organised well. A lot of people have worked for us to ensure everything is in place. And, your central focus should be to give back to the community.

TQ: What was the defining moment in

your early days of life? Or, who was the source of influence in shaping your personality?

TJ: My grandfather had the

most significant impact upon me during my childhood. I was born in Kuwait, and went to India (Bombay) after the first five years as the country did not have English language schools. Meanwhile, my grandfather retired to India in 1948 with an objective to carry forward his social service activities, and his sons were already positioned well to run the business and generate enough revenues to support his beliefs in serving the community. Now, my grandfather lived in the countryside, which was about three-and-half hours’ (train) ride from my place, and it was an obligation for me to meet him once every month over the weekend.

In these meetings, he would share his life’s thoughts, principles and values with me.

TQ: You spoke about serving the

community as the underlying value of

your organization-could you tell us more about it, and how you went about in constructing them?

TJ: This was one of the main concepts my grandfather had established. Everybody is a part of the community, the job that you have is your working role in a community. Now, we build and offer goods/services, what the community needs. If a person does his job properly and fairly, then he’s fulfilling the role in the community, where “properly” and “fairly” means getting the right goods, offering a fair value to the customers and growing. Growth in a business is directly proportional to a society’s development.

One needs to act fairly by not taking undue advantage of an opportunity i.e., for instance it’s suddenly very cold and you’re the only one to possess heaters and competitors don’t; you don’t shoot up the prices alarmingly to make the most out of the situation and act fairly in your business. Once all of us perform our tasks in this way, then, the community gains and you eventually gain yourself.

Besides, the community also needs joint services, and therefore, one needs to take time out for referring, advising other members of the society in order to bring about development. This is one of the reasons why we have been extensively involved in promoting education and sports in all the countries where we have our presence.

TQ: Did you face any hardships

despite your privileged family background? Could you share with us any challenges or failures that have defined you?

TJ: My grandfather used to ask

me, “Do you know why you live in a nice house and travel in a good car? I would reply, “It’s because you’ve worked a lot, my father and uncles have put in their efforts.”

He would strongly rebuff my answer and add, “No, we didn’t work hard, but we organised well.

A lot of people have worked for us to ensure everything is in place.

And, your central focus should be to give back to the community.” He was a strong believer in giving and

not just taking.

Talking about personal experiences, I was in Kuwait with my family when the Iraqi’s invaded and seventy years of work was destroyed, washed away in just a matter of two days. And, I am talking about just the physical part of it, and not the emotional conflict that lingered on.

TQ: During the invasion in Kuwait,

you had said that there were two types of people: (a) one willing to come out and help, (b) having money, but went into a hiding. Could you tell us more about it?

TJ: Some people see others’

problems as their own, and come out to help. These people, I believe, have a self-confidence that they will survive. There were a lot of young girls, from school-going to working woman, and old people who were stranded with no police and army to help them. Hospitals and other facilities were not easily available. So, we were helping out in the entire evacuation process.

In this scenario too, a whole set of selfish people fought with us to try and be the first ones to get the evacuation help. You’ve different sides of life, and you see such people everywhere.

TQ: Moving on to your professional

journey, you left your PHD incomplete in 1971 to help the business after your father’s demise. Could you share the details of this incident?

TJ: It started with my decision to

never come back into the family business. I wanted to work for an international organisation and all the preparations to achieve the same were in place, but my father suddenly passed away at a young age of 59, and I had to return as per the legal procedures. I left my studies half way to join what I considered as an uninteresting business, and 43 years later, I am still here, waiting to complete the degree. But business life has not been boring at all in the last fortythree years (smiles).

TQ: You started off as a retail venture, moved on to distribution and, now, two-third of the business comprises of

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Intelligent SME

Meet the CEO the latter. How did you adapt to this change?

TJ: Well, the history of our business is that my grandfather, Rao Sahib, travelled to Iraq with his brother and friends post the First World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and realised that the sea trade between these regions would offer good business opportunities. In those days, there were no ports in the Gulf other than Basra. The next port going east was Karachi and going west was Aden. If anyone took a boat, they would not see civilisation for eight days, and, hence, there was a big demand for newspapers, magazines and books. Thus, my grandfather established the first department store in Basra (1919).

When more oil was found in Kuwait, and expatriates (Britishers and Americans) migrated to work in the oil industry, the British asked my grandfather to set up a similar store in that country.

Consequently, wherever oil was found, we would go. This is how the expansion started, which eventually became a blueprint.

In every country, we were either hired by the British administration or the ruling family to set up our stores; for eg., we came to the UAE (Dubai & Abu Dhabi) on the request of Sheikh Rashid.

Meanwhile, as the towns expanded with the flourishing prosperity in these regions, we added more stores, but we had a lot of products that people needed and other stores too, which pushed us in the distribution business. Many of the products that were sold in our departments stores eventually became distribution products. So, as the cities grew, the distribution became bigger.

TQ: So, how did you resist the

temptation of diversifying your business? You’ve always remained focused on your business s, which is a very tough thing to do in today’s time?

TJ: The grass always seems greener on the other side, with a temptation overwhelming you to believe that what the other person is doing is fairly simple and he’s making a lot of money out of it as well. Since the start, we had it in 28

principle to be a specialist in our trade, expand and develop with the society’s needs, and not be a jack of all trades. Another important idea was that making money is not the entire objective, but to have a proper business in place where you can look after the family, run the business and be in a position to expand. But it doesn’t really

mean that you join a race of doing everything your competitors do before the second one does it.

The grass always seems greener on the other side, with a temptation overwhelming you to believe that what the other person is doing is fairly simple and he’s making a lot of money out of it as well.

TJ: My grandfather retired early, handing over the responsibility to his two eldest sons. His three other sons were summoned into the business once they came of age. However, in 1973, the eldest of the five sons, my father, died.

With an ever-expanding family and business, the time had come for a constitution. Over the course of two days, a plan was drawn up, whereby the Jashanmal brand became a shareholding company.

I received my father's shares, while the four remaining brothers were all given their 20 per cent each. Moreover, family members were permitted to trade, sell or give away shares as they saw fit.

It’s a shareholding company. If the company records profits, the dividends are distributed as per the board’s allotment. And what they do with their money and shares is completely their choice, which eventually avoids leading to jealousies and other problems. In

TQ: In 1973, the entire family got

together in Bahrain to find a solution for running the entire business, and you came out with one in two-three days. Can you share details about this episode?

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Meet the CEO terms of structure, the company has a lot of new partners because of the buying and selling of shares.

About the structure, the company constitutes four senior executives: the chief executive in charge of retail, the chief executive of wholesale, a chief financial officer and the group president and chief executive. And none of these positions are open to family members. They are meant for the professionals who have the educational background and experience to efficiently execute these responsibilities. Family members, nonetheless, can join the company and climb the success ladder by being on the board.

TQ: What is your advice to young entrepreneurs?

Vikas Thapar, head of business banking, Emirates NBD, felicitates Tony Jashanmal at the eighth edition of Emirates NBD Global Business Series.

TJ: While setting up a business,

a lot of people are hesitant to start off on a small scale and are worried about how they will compete with corporates and other business giants in the region.

Small businesses grow into big ones, and if things don’t work out, one can always do something else. Some people are specialised in setting up small businesses, which they eventually sell off to large organisations and kick start another venture with a new idea.

TQ: One of the biggest problems in the Middle East is unemployment, which eventually leads to people setting up small businesses. What actions have you taken to serve this community?

TJ: Every culture has to produce activity according to its own character. I believe a community should be encouraged because with our help and, of course, others too, these companies will produce activities which will form the part of our culture and would be appreciated locally as well as elsewhere.

TQ: Where do you see the growth for

the Jashanmal business? How do you look at this region in terms of business for the sectors you are active in?

TJ: As they say, money in your pocket burns a hole. So, people

what would it be based upon? What would it be called?

In the next five-six years, you’ve your 100th anniversary. Would you like to make a movie on your life?

want to spend as long as they earn.

We have not seen turmoil just once, but several times. In terms of capital funding for businesses, it’s available from government bodies or banks. Moreover, I don’t see people leaving the country to set up their business elsewhere for better opportunities. Political instability, commercial and legal issues are prevalent in every economy. It makes more sense to invest in a place where you are as you know the place better. If the risk appetite is too high, go for smaller investments. We are not looking at migrating to Europe or the USA because our basic business knowledge is of this region. And we still find a lot of opportunities and ideas that we can groom to flourish the business.

TQ: Moving on to the next stage of your life, if you were to write a book,

TJ: Unfortunately, I lack the

humour to make it light, and, hence, it would become too serious (smiles). But I would like to write about the family as there’s a lot of history in various places (countries). We have seen the development of each of the countries we are present in right from the scratch.

TQ: In the next five-six years, you’ve your 100th anniversary. Would you like to make a movie on your life?

TJ: My son has studied cinema and I remember he coming to me for financing his movie. And I said that I am not financing any of your movies, but this happened when he was quite young. Maybe, I’ll now give him the project to make a movie once we complete 100 years.

TQ: Just imagine for a second that

this is your hundredth birthday, what all these people present here should be celebrating? What is the legacy you would like to leave behind?

TJ: Firstly, that the business was

done fairly and diligently on the professional side. On the social parameter, you’ve done enough to live your aspirations. It is more like we are living our legacy.

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Meet the CEO

Skiing as a management tool?

Gerald says, of course!

Redefining architecture, design and standards in luxury hospitality, Mr. Lawless, president and group chief executive officer of the Jumeirah Group, has been credited for placing Dubai on the international travellers' map with creating history in Burj Al Arab. In an interview with Tariq Qureishy, CEO, Vantage Holdings, Gerald elaborated on how the chain has inserted itself into the Dubai's urban landscape more quickly and craftily than any luxury hotel company in history.

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My father was a dairy farmer, and I am glad not joining him because it was a hard life. He has been through times where work demanded attention throughout the year without a day off.

TQ: Did you imagine yourself coming over to UAE?

GL: Not at all! I started my career

with a renowned hotel company, Forte. However, during a hostile takeover in 1996, the company’s working landscape changed entirely, and that didn’t suit me and I moved on. I was fortunate enough to meet the right people, being offered this (position), and set up the company (Jumeirah), where the journey started with the opening of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. I have always fantasised about finishing one job, having a month off with no responsibilities, returning and taking on a new challenge.

I shared the plans of my new venture with Jumeirah with Michael Parker, who recruited me in Forte. He said, “Don’t be ridiculous, we need you now.”

Forte and I parted ways and thus began my journey with Jumeirah on the following morning at 8 am. Over the months, I used to drive past the Jumeirah Beach development, which was quite

close to the Chicago Beach Hotel, and I used to wonder why they were planning to build such a huge place of this stature, and then they came up with the Burj Al Arab, and I was sure this would never work!

Thus, you can see, I had absolutely no clue that I would be here today.

TQ: What would you consider as the

happy moments in the first few years with the Jumeriah Group, as the group started unveiling landmark properties one after another?

GL: It’s funny at times that you

don’t realise precise moments!

However, one of the most defined memories has been the implosion of Chicago Beach Hotel to bring the Jumeirah Beach Hotel into existence. On June 26, 1997, we stood on the sixteenth level (equivalent to 32 storeys) of Burj Al Arab to see the demolition of the former. Another aspect is when you work on the openings of hotels, you experience a great feeling deep down in the heart while putting a part of yourself into that hotel. I remember coming on the site, and working seven days a week. And I said, “You guys shouldn’t complain because it’s only a five-and-a-half day week.

You go home at 6 pm on Thursday, finish work by noon on Friday (chuckles), and that was the way we used to work. These moments are memorable: the opening of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, my first day at Jumeirah, working closely with the ruler of Dubai, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister- His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and of course, the Burj Al Arab. It might not be in that sequence, but, these were the happier moments.

TQ: You grew up in Ireland- any memorable moments?

GL: I’m not going to tell you about

Ireland (Laughs). On a serious note, parents do make an impact because their life and the examples they set are always crucial for children. My father was a dairy farmer, and I am glad not joining him because it was a hard life. He has been through times where work demanded attention throughout the year without a day off. He was a tough

man and my mother was the softer of the two. So, my soft heart comes from her.

I went to Shannon College of Hotel Management and it comes across as a modest hotel school looking back. It was a four-year course with a Swiss principal, who always told us that this moderate hotel college was the best in the world. We did not know whether that was true or not, but believed it. While interning in Geneva (Switzerland), a colleague asked, “which hotel school are you from?” and I answered back immediately, “The best hotel management school in the whole world, Shannon College.” He expressed dismay at the reply and said that it wasn’t the best college at all. Our principal’s words instilled tremendous selfbelief in all the students. These little things put together have shaped the success achieved over the years.

TQ: Where did you get the inspiration to join the hotel industry?

GL: It’s a part of the Irish culture.

We love people, telling them stories and overall we are engineered for the hotel management industry.

TQ: You first landed in Dubai in 1978 as a young adventurous Irish lad, how did you go about your career?

GL: I had been all around the UK,

traveling from Southampton to Swindon and also Glasgow of all places. But I always wanted to work and live abroad. I strongly believe that behind every successful man there is a surprised woman. I got engaged at the age of 18, married at 22 and both of us aspired to work overseas. I repeatedly requested my head office in London to transfer me abroad.

Finally, after I turned down an offer in Manchester, they said, “Gerald will you go to Dubai?” I pounced on the opportunity and said, “Yes”, wondering where Dubai was located on the map (Chuckles).

Thus, I arrived in 1978 and Dubai was a great place even during those early years. The development around the Creek area, which was bustling with energy, was His Highness Sheikh Rashid’s vision and is there for all to see. There

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Intelligent SME

Meet the CEO were several new areas under development, the Jebel Ali port was under construction and the dry docks were also being made.

One can easily see the investment and vision the ruling family have always had for Dubai. It is absolutely amazing.

TQ: Let’s fast-forward to today. Dubai

has continued to grow despite all challenges- how do you find yourself in this transformation?

GL: Take a look at how our

industry- the travel and tourism industry- reacted to the 9/11 attacks. All entities working under the Dubai government- the hotels, airlines and travel and tourism operators- got together and decided to market their services differently. To begin with, Emirates gave away hundreds of free airline ticket and free rooms to stay in.

In an effort to bounce back, the DTCM budgeted US$ 20 million for promotion purposes. These initiatives proved that Dubai is a lot deeper and stronger than people actually thought, which can be seen even till today. It is a strong public-private partnership, looking at the efforts we have made for 2020 as everyone wants to be part of it and all want to succeed.

Hence, it is that “everybody” concept that makes Dubai successful.

TQ: Going ahead, what is your

strategy for Jumeirah? Do you want

34

There’s hardly any point in having cookiecutter hotels, and, hence, we encourage innovation amongst the general managers of our hotels. The essence of the community should be reflected in the hotels and surroundings. to own more hotels, establishing as a worldwide brand in the bargain?

GL: Our strategy has always been to develop our own properties.

We have a platform of hotels here in Dubai, which our CFO calls out battleship hotels. Nevertheless, they are very important to us. We have always said, like Emirates, we want to build a brand out of Dubai. And we can only add value by running other people’s hotels, which is a continuous endeavour from us. But, we want to build a luxury brand of world class hotels at the end of day.

We ensure that it’s not limited to growth for growth’s sake, a quality luxury brand isn’t always built on marketing, but constructed on the quality you (as SMEs) offer.

We go around the world, interacting with people and asking them whether they would like us to manage their hotel and often receive a reply, “Well, we don’t really know Jumeirah.” We then invite them over to Dubai, and rarely fail to impress. When prospective clients come to Dubai and see what we have done to the city. It really helps.

Would we grow in other ways with a second brand? I don’t know.

We certainly have developed a lot of restaurants. We have ambition to be recognised as a company with excellent food and beverage.

This particular service is a crucial aspect of any hotel. Almost 20 to 30 years ago, you would not have people dining in the hotels, but things have changed today.

TQ: The tagline of Jumeirah, stay

different, is simple yet speaks volumes.

What does it mean to you and the company?

GL: We came up with this (tag

line) approximately seven years ago, not long after joining Dubai Holding (DH). After receiving amazing support from DH for development and expansion to reach our full potential, we added, “Jumeirah – Stay Different”, which is not a grammatical error. It simply means: You, as a guest, are unique and we want you to stay with a company that recognises your needs.

We also understand the fact that each luxury hotel needs to have its own individual identity.

There’s hardly any point in having cookie-cutter hotels, and, hence, we encourage innovation amongst the general managers of our hotels.

The essence of the community should be reflected in the hotels and surroundings. For example, we used art to connect in the Jumeirah Creekside hotel. Each hotel is unique in how it is being managed.

We don’t tell our management team that you need to use the same bathroom amenities in every hotel; however, we would like to incorporate the golden thread

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Meet the CEO GL: I have always advocated that

present in our logo across all of the hotels. We have certain hallmarks that serve as guiding principles and they’re non-negotiable, which should be a part of every single hotel.

Dubai needs a sound vocational education in travel, tourism and hospitality. Not every youth wants to go to the university and we should be able to offer them a job with us, which is regardless of whether the person is an Emirati or an expatriate. We will provide opportunities for young scholars to study for about a year or more and work at the same time. We are in talks with the Australian vocational institutions to set up in Dubai. The beauty of this system is they can choose the department they want to join: chef, accountants or book keeping, etc. This is one of the great initiatives we have begun, which is already started for the locals so far.

Also, we visited the higher secondary schools, not just the universities and picked up 17 Emiratis who are working with us now. We work closely with the Emirates Academy of Hotel Management, wherein students work with us for a few days in an area of their choice, and then go back to the institution to polish the various skills and gain knowledge in that particular field. Eventually this programme will be extended to the vocational colleges as well.

TQ: How do SMEs engage with a

grand brand like Jumeirah as they tend to feel intimidated by the enormity of its size?

GL: I am one of those who gets

intimidated by them. I have immense respect for people who have started their own business, irrespective of whether they have succeeded or failed. The important point being that they have tried. I consider myself as an entrepreneur; of course enjoying the security of working within a system and drawing a salary every month. And I do believe that any business community owes to the small and medium enterprises to support them. You (SMEs) are the backbone of the business community as you make things happen. This year, we have had almost 400,000 transactions done until date in purchasing within Jumeirah, and I am sure, many of you in this room are probably suppliers of ours- through tour operators, or furniture and the other services. Certainly, we always look within the community while setting out on new projects to procure several services.

TQ: With your stake in the tourism

industry, how does the exposure in this particular sector lead to a multiplier effect?

GL: A general consensus suggests

that it comes up to three or four times, but it is quite interesting glancing through the numbers.

Every tourism company can create nearly 35 jobs. Tourism is a very interesting concept, which is very similar to export. As every tourist coming into this country will bring his own currency, injecting straight into the economy, which creates phenomenal ripples across the business community.

TQ: Do you have any initiative

that engages directly with the local entrepreneurial community?

If you want to survive in the modern era, you have to keep up with the technology.

Today, people are extremely knowledgeable about your hotel before they actually visit.

TQ: You were early adopters of

the digital services, taking lead in embracing online booking system, what inspired you to do that?

GL: If you want to survive in the

modern era, you have to keep up with the technology. Today, people are extremely knowledgeable about your hotel before they actually visit. The guests are on Tripadvisor, engaging, discussing and posting what they see and experience while their stay in the hotel, hence, it is very important. We had some success from the website because it is inconceivable that you are not digitally connected in today’s world. Even our cars from many of the hotels have wi-fi connectivity, which enables you to enjoy Jumeirah internet while sitting in the car too. It’s a similar case in the hotel lobby. We used to charge everybody for these services a few years ago, but today it is a human right to be connected. We are pleased that we spent a lot of

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Intelligent SME

Meet the CEO money on updating our websites, which are now available in Arabic, German and Mandarin languages.

So, we are looking closely at all the avenues bringing business to us and how communication needs to be established with them. It is quite a marketing challenge, as we often wonder whether to do it in a magazine, or online.

Helipad have become legendary, Roger Federer and Andre Agassi locked horns in a lawn tennis match, etc. How do you conceptualise such ideas?

ten years ago, they would be of the view that I was a control freak. But, with age you realise one fact that if you don’t employ people better than you, who can challenge you, the business will never take off to the next level. You also have to be ready that a day would come when you will have to say, “That guy is more proactive than I am, hence use his capabilities.” Irrespective of whether you are a large or small enterprise, you have to give employees space and see that they themselves can achieve their targets.

GL: It’s an outcome of the inputs

TQ: What kind of attributes are you

TQ: The stunts on the Burj Al Arab

received within our organisation, along with paying attention to our guests’ suggestions. We have quite a task on our hands incorporating comments and suggestions from a base of 14,000 employees. In fact, we had done this exercise some time back, wherein we invited forty CEOs from Dubai to come and spend a day with us.

We asked them what they hated about Jumeirah the most. One of them said, “The second hallmark you have, never say no as your first response. However, you have to empower the juniors to make a decision to say ‘yes’ to me.

You don’t empower your junior people.” It was a crucial learning that came out after engaging with the community. We have also had these initiatives where we invite our colleagues to share their thoughts with us. We have set-up colleague consultative committees, where a person is elected from each department to spend time with the management once every six weeks to discuss areas of concern, and, also, come up with new ideas and concepts.

TQ: ‘Empowering

people all the way down’, is that your management style?

36

GL: If you asked my colleagues

looking for when you hire someone?

GL: First and foremost it is the

attitude. You have to be ready to work hard. My son, who is a lawyer and works in Abu Dhabi, comes down every Friday to meet his girlfriend. But, he ends up working in her study, sometimes till 2 or 3 am. It’s not just restricted to the hotel industry, but, you have to be ready to always work hard in any stream. Integrity goes without saying- it’s a quality you simply must have.

I always tell my children if you work in the hotel industry, you will never feel lonely as you are always surrounded by happy people.

TQ: I wanted to use one last metaphor

here: You like skiing, is management a bit like this sport, as you get into gear and go down the slope navigating through all the obstacles along the way? Is that you’ve led life?

GL: I was supposed to go on

skiing trip with my wife, and, thus planned to have some practice. We went Ski Dubai, invited a friend along (who was not a very good skier), and I decided to show-off a little to him. There was a little hump at the bottom that threw you in the air slightly. I tried it a couple of times successfully, and my friend was genuinely impressed. I tried it the third time, and took-off six feet in the air and came down on the side, breaking my hip. Next day I got a new hip, and, skied only twice ever since. But skiing is a good metaphor for business, as you are always challenging yourself.

TQ: As we sign off, let’s get to know

the legacy you have planned. It’s the year 2040, how do you see Jumeirah, what do you see yourself doing?

GL: That’s quite far away, isn’t

it? All I can say is: our country and this incredible company will achieve its full potential. We don’t know where we will be, but we can only imagine where we want to be.

To look back and say: Wow! We have not wasted time and sat back on our laurels. We must progress, but as we say in our hallmark, ‘with respect and integrity’.

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Success Story

The ingredients of a Great Place to Work Camila and Luco d’Abo-the brains behind integrated communications agency Dabo & Co, were recently in the news after being awarded by the ‘Great Place to Work’ agency for their brilliant human resource practices in UAE. In a conversation with Camila d’Abov, ISME’s Nikhil Pereira delves deeper to find out what makes a public relation company a huge success in this region.

T

here are many public relations and communications agencies in this part of the world. It is often a daunting exercise for a journalist to seek information and, PR agencies plug the gap with aplomb. If you are not a journalist, chances are you would not have heard of Dabo & Co. However, that does not deny the tremendous efforts these agency invest in building their clients’ brands.

“Camila and I started in the year 2004, we are coming up to a decade now, when we identified a distinct gap in the market for integrated communications solutions. We (my family) have lived in this country since 1982, unlike other expatriates we are here for the long haul, as we simply love this country” says Camila, managing partner, Dabo & Co.

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Success Story

Prior to setting up their agency, Lucy was working in PR, and Camila was an event manager.

“The beginning of the economic boom first surfaced in 2004 and we identified a gap in integrated communications. PR agencies would do the event, or send out releases, but we thought of taking it to the next level. We had a vision to cater to the corporate brands, by offering a strong all-round solution; dedicated press relations, high-quality events, and more recently, an exclusive social media outreach. The reason Lucy and I got into this business was to engage with people and create a lasting impression”.

Nine years and counting, Dabo & Co. have fortified their presence in the region, as brands look up to the agency with utmost professionalism. There is, however, more to what meets the eye, the select ingredients that swayed the jury in Camila and Lucy’s favour at the award giveaway.

The method followed by Great Place to Work is a strict and anonymous one. After a company applies for the cycle, the jury conducts random interviews with the employees. The process of gauging results based on several parameters, coupled with various other aspects such as working environment and employee benefit programs, go into strengthen a company’s nomination to win the award. Flavio was hired way back in 2004, and, he still finds himself happily employed at Dabo & Co. “We are happy that a few of our colleagues have stuck with us since the beginning, which definitely means this is a great place to work,” adds Camila, as she proudly points to her garage-styled uber modern office.

“We have four distinct weekly activities that involve the entire staff. Week one- we conduct, I spy, where everyone in the company wades through online PR and advertisement campaigns that they feel are brilliant. Everyone share those, and there is a prize for the one who has the best observations. Week two- we hold internal awards; staff is gauged on how they live up to the core company values. In week threewe honour entrepreneurial spirit, we encourage employees to come

up to the management with ideas and business practices. We then empower them to take charge and run-it as their own little business.

Whereas in the final week of every month, we conduct ‘sharing is caring’, which is all about team work, whether it is management having to stuff envelops over the

We recently had Narain Jashanmal talk about some inspiring initiatives done by the Jashanmal family, enabling a family business to go to the next level,” elaborates Camila.

“We do a lot of such activities to foster growth and, that is the reason why we won the award.

weekend. These four activities are celebrated with awards every month, culminating with an annual awards giveaway we conduct.

To top it off, the winners are decided by a live voting process by the employees itself, so, the management does not decide. We are able to do this via a special application that we deploy for the event” explains Camila.

And, it does not end there; the management brings in influential personalities from within the region to share insights with the Dabo & Co staff. “We recently had Narain Jashanmal talk about some inspiring initiatives done by the Jashanmal family, enabling a family business to go to the next level,” elaborates Camila. “We do a lot of such activities to foster growth and, that is the reason why we won the award,” she adds.

Not too long ago, Camila found mention in the 50 most influential Britons in the UAE, a medal she wears with great pomp.

“Being the only woman in that list was extremely heartening. It was an absolute honour to be up there with some great names. The recognition is a testimony to the efforts we have put in to establish this business” says Camila.

Looking at the future, Camila hopes Dubai wins the Expo 2020.

“As an agency, we are looking at growing, we have moved into our new offices premises, which allow us a lot of scope. We are actively looking at focusing on new markets around the gulf, but, we have not restricted ourselves with any specific plans as such,” Camila concludes.

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SME 100 Pre-cursor The SME100 initiative

It has been successful in inspiring local SMEs to become world-class enterprises. As the first ranking of top-performing and fast-growing SMEs in Dubai, the initiative has been able to identify SMEs that have made a difference to Dubai's economy.

Certainly, the rankings have not only served to motivate emerging enterprises, but also provided visible benchmarks, encouraging all the players in the sector to push their creativity levels and strive harder to think beyond accepted parameters.

Before the inception of the rankings, the industry lacked an effective benchmark. The rankings have made all the difference, enabling the industry to identify and address gaps in SME development.

Post starting up, we faced the prospect of competition from twelve companies already in the field. It made us realize that our survival is only possible if we succeed in making a difference. We immediately set out to make an impression as a professional enterprise. Knowing how valuable time is for our clients, we decided to offer our services round-the-clock and provide one-stop shop quality solutions for all government transactions. Above all, we presented our services as distinct, marked by transparency, performance and increased productivity. On Time made a real difference in the market when it became the only company in the field to adopt a system of evaluation of services by the clients. The ranking, meanwhile, has not only helped highlight our distinct standing among small enterprises in Dubai, it has boosted our morale and motivated us to aim higher and excel further. We now look forward to expanding this company further across the country and the region and eventually have a presence in key cities around the world. We even look forward to get On Time listed on the Nasdaq.

Proud achievements in the past one year

We have grown to become an enterprise offering over 250 government services, with more than 20 branches across the UAE. We have more than 240 employees, which constitutes approximately up to 40% from the local community.

Advice to budding entrepreneurs

To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to have passion and believe that you will succeed and establish others to believe in you. You must remember that there is always someone better than you around to learn from and exchange ideas with. Gain experiences and use them in your life’s story. You have to learn, read and experience a lot. Go ahead in life, grab opportunities, but always go through the right way.

Challenges for SMEs

In spite of the fact that SMEs in most countries in the Middle East region make up more than 90 per cent of the total number of enterprises and provide significant employment opportunities, the growth potential of individual Gulf SMEs is typically limited.

Most of them are trapped is a low-efficiency and low-growth equilibrium. The biggest challenges they face is limited access to credit and capital, which is crucial to managing operations and expansion of business.

In fact, many SMEs in the region depend on the financial resources of an individual or family circles. This must change. SME financing must be a key goal of the financial services sector. Banks and commercial finance bodies must be encouraged to devote a greater part of their funds to the SME sector for helping these firms to eventually transform into larger corporate entities. This will not only help resolve the growing unemployment problem in the region, but also speed up the march towards creation of innovation based knowledge economies in the region.

The SME100 initiative

Being one of the SME100's for the second time, I feel the whole organisation and structure has grown a lot. The identified parameters are more aligned to sustainability, and the short-listing has won in professionalism, as well. Integrating an independent assessor shows the importance and relevance of the ranking for the UAE, but also for the entire GCC market.

One of the "lessons learned" for Wilson Learning is the field of corporate governance. While we have adopted processes and sustainability measures all along, it has become more structured and impactful for us. We have integrated a lot. The other area is financials- we have always had auditors, however, we are more transparent in our own reporting to identify areas for improvement.

For our clients, The SME100 Award is a testimony of quality and success, and for making the right choice when working with us. SME100's

Exclusive coverage

The countdown begins for 2013…

With just about twenty days to go, the battle for SME 100 ranks has already begun. Nearly 3,000 firms, accounting for four per cent of Dubai’s total SMEs employing approximately 95,000 people have been nominated for the 2013 ranking. An ISME report.

approach and support with recommendations, information events, and personal advice is unique in Dubai.

Proud achievements in the past one year

One of our ‎great achievements is that we have grown to a size that is capable of accepting and working larger projects for our clients. Our expanded knowledge and skills base allows us to be even better partners for the success of our clients.

Challenges for SMEs

Amongst the major challenges in SMEs are the credibility levels. Many of them have great products and services, great people and experience, but not the global brand that vouches for their experience and quality. My suggestion: shine through actions, superior quality and high customer focus.

Do not make any compromises on quality in everything you do, even the shortest email must be perfect! One day, if you wish you were your own client, then you made it!

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

SME 100 Pre-cursor

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he small and medium enterprises have long been regarded as one the pistons driving the UAE’s massive economic engine with their significant contribution to industrial, technological and regional development.

However, increasing competition and globalisation, along with the need to produce quality products at best prices, have prompted the industry to introduce new product development methods. In their pursuit to achieve these goals, the companies are confronted with major challenges: vulnerability to market fluctuations, limited access to technology and product innovations, lack of awareness of global best practices, considerable delays in the settlement of dues/payment of bills by the large scale buyers, non-formal business practices, borrowing, lack of talented human capital, and above all a deficiency of transparent financial information.

“Fundamentally, the environment to support proven growing models is missing. In order to accelerate growth beyond organic growth levels, a certain support mechanism in financial and advisory sector is required. Funding successful SMEs with growth capital is mandatory. Traditional lending is available, but limited and costly, which is designed to support working capital requirements rather than growth. Alternative capital in form of venture capital, private equity, market place for small cap companies is completely missing for the segment,” elaborated Dr Sassan Dieter Khatib Shahidi, chief executive officer and executive director, German Imaging Technologies (GIT) Dubai LLC.

Shahidi further added that certain policy changes are required to create an appropriate investment environment.

“These aspects are included, but are not limited to full company ownership of companies, investment guarantees, permanent residency for business owners, improved (faster and cheaper) legal enforcement, and a more sophisticated corporate law that permits alternative capital institutions to freely invest in and exit their investments. This will permit sustainable profitable business models to expand and reach regional and global presence. Without such policy changes, continuous capital and brain drain will plague the path to creating global success stories. Companies will move to other markets that possess infrastructure in place supporting their growth,” he explained.

The Dubai’s SME market alone contributes 42% to the GDP and constitutes over 40% of the emirate’s employment, according to a Dubai SME data. Realising the role SMEs play in driving growth and new employment generation across the emirate, the Dubai SME (the agency of the Department of Economic Development) launched the SME100 initiative in 2011 to identify the top-performing companies in the emirate, help

The SME100 initiative

This will radically change the way businesses are run, thus setting a good standard for local SMEs to be at par with international ones, motivating them to continuously aspire for improvement and evolvement.

It is a true honour and privilege to be recognised.

My firm operates on another level after we won.

We have radically restructured and improvised a lot of systems and added on new processes, which has enabled us for by far better performance.

It has also helped dramatically in our branding and local positioning, which includes providing us good exposure.

The SME100 initiative

It is the most meaningful initiative in the SME segment across the UAE, with clear defined parameters like performance and transparent ranking. In addition, it is not only about a ranking and visibility, but actually designed to deliver tangible benefits to ranked companies. The initiative has delivered many seminars, conferences, assessments and discussions to member companies for promoting and supporting capable SME to reach the next level.

Our company has participated in the many seminars and conferences offered on corporate governance, risk management, HR, etc. We embarked on improving its model wherever possible, most notably on implementing the nine pillars of the corporate governance code. Also participated in the valuation process by Shuaa Capital and the financial assessment by Deloitte.

The ranking most notably allowed us to realise where we stand within the environment of SMEs in the country. It motivated us to professionalise our successful business model even more and strive to grow our company for the next level.

Proud achievements in the past one year

We have registered a revenue growth of over 22% (Jan-Aug) in 2013, expansion in Abu Dhabi last year, opened an additional corporate sales office in Dubai’s Business Bay, and most notably, we now have a Board of Directors in place since January 2012 that are instrumental in the management and governance of the company. We have created more than 30 net new positions in 2012 and 2013.

Advice to budding entrepreneurs

Dubai SME100 is the one and only ranking you should aspire to achieve, as it is the only based on one transparent performance ranking in the country. Use the support given by the agency to transform your business, professionalise the business model, implement corporate governance and strive to reach the next level, irrespective of where you stand.

Challenges for SMEs

Fundamentally, the environment to support proven growing models is missing. In order to accelerate growth beyond organic growth levels, a certain support mechanism in financial and advisory sector is required.

Funding successful SMEs with growth capital is mandatory. Traditional lending is available, however, limited and costly, which is designed to support working capital requirements rather than growth.

Alternative capital in form of venture capital, private equity, and market place for small cap companies is completely missing for the SME segment.

Certain policy changes are required to create an appropriate investment environment. Factors like investment guarantees, permanent residency for business owners, improved (faster and cheaper) legal enforcement and a more sophisticated corporate law that permits alternative capital institutions to freely invest in and exit their investments. This mechanism will permit sustainable profitable business models to expand and reach regional and global presence. Without such policy changes, continuous capital and brain drain will plague the path to creating global success stories.

Proud achievements in the past one year

Being recognised as the brand ambassador for ENBD bank, Tag Heuer, Masala awards for business woman, Arabia 500 .

Advice to budding entrepreneurs

Budding entrepreneurs should have dreams and aspirations. Set your aims and fire away at your hurdles. If I could do it, anyone can do it too. Work hard and never give up.

Continuity and consistency in driving a better business with a strong financial core is vital for companies to graduate into larger companies.

Challenges for SMEs

One will always have challenges (major or minor), and it is for us to perceive them as stepping stones and address them in a timely manner.

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

SME 100 Pre-cursor ThSME100 initiative

It has been a successful initiative in many aspects. First, it has highlighted the importance of the small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs in general as the catalysts driving the growth of the economy, emphasising the government support to this segment of the private sector that had been neglected prior to the recession.

Second, it has increased awareness in the business world about the contribution of SMEs to the economy, leading to increased support from banks, the media, and other stakeholders. In addition, sharing best practices between the SME 100 companies is a key benefit from this initiative as well as free consultation and support received from partners of the initiative such as Shuaa capital.

The feedback report from the Dubai SME audit was quite informative in identifying areas for improvement. Since we were ranked number fourth among the SME 100, we didn't need to launch new programmes or services to overcome the odds. However, the report did help us in prioritising improvement projects that had already been launched in our quest to continually develop our organisational structure, systems, policies, and procedures.

It has also added value to our brand equity and corporate reputation, enhancing our credibility and image with all our business partners not only locally but even on the global front. The ranking indicates high level of professionalism in the organisation and financial soundness, which helps us in approaching banks for extending their facilities at competitive interest rates.

Proud achievements in the past one year

We have completed the setup of a new manufacturing facility in Rs Al-Khaimah under a new legal entity called International Industries.

We have also implemented a new ERP system from Microsoft called Dynamics Axapta in all our companies and branches, and opened five new retail outlets in the UAE, KSA and Jordan.

Advice to budding entrepreneurs

Always 'think big' , remain focused on their vision, engage third party professionals when needed, and not let short term objectives deter you from long term strategic objectives and vision.

Challenges for SMEs

Finance is a major challenge faced by SMEs in the Middle East. Investing in MIS, advanced management systems, and the right talent will definitely enable companies to graduate into larger companies with global presence.

The SME100 initiative

them groom into bigger and more sustainable enterprises, and support them to graduate into a larger, internationally-oriented one.

The ranking system was founded under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council. Post ranking, the sector is given specialised capability development training in critical areas like investment development, corporate governance, valuation, legal support and risk management. The ranking is valid for two years.

With this brand new government package and the facility of rating enterprises for their credibility and debt repayments, the companies in this segment have begun to show signs of remarkable development. “Certainly, the rankings have not only served to motivate emerging enterprises but also provided visible benchmarks, encouraging all the players in the sector to push their creativity levels and strive harder to think beyond accepted parameters,” noted Waleid Abdulkareim, chief executive officer of OnTime Group.

Similarly, Ibrahim bin Shaheen, chief executive officer, DGT LLC endorsed the ranking initiative as an identity badge that helped in registering growth across several aspects. “It gives the impression that we are one of the best companies in the UAE, which is recognized by the government. It gives us the feeling of being like in a very expensive car driving around the town with car plate with two digit number signifying uniqueness and being very important person (VIP),” he solicited.

What benefit have these companies earned post featuring in the 2012 list? According to a Dubai SME data, approximately 100 key employees of 305 SMEs based in the region (chief executive officers, chief operations officers, chief finance officers, finance managers, HR managers, IT managers) attended the capability development sessions organised by Dubai SME on corporate governance, business valuation, legal due diligence, financial management, risk management and digital marketing seminars.

In addition, forty-five firms embarked on intensive due diligence exercises with the government agency’s partners (Deloitte, DLA Piper, Shuaa Capital and Nexus) to cover legal, insurance, business and financial due diligence, where each company had spent time with a chosen partner for a particular upgrading need and received feedback to close development gaps.

Furthermore, fifteen SMEs opted for intensive corporate governance execution by forming an independent board of directors and more than twenty participated in business valuation exercise with Shuaa capital to improve their understanding of valuation and drivers of growth. And twelve of them earned a

It gives us the opportunity to be recognized globally, which is a bridge to become a leader and a model for other companies in terms of success and recognition.

It also allows the members to move smoothly to the global market.

Furthermore, corporate governance has made a good impact in the improvement of our business. This has given us the opportunity to share our experiences at all occasions or events. It has also allowed us to adapt in the new cycle of SME 100.

Ranking initiative has helped us grow in many ways: (a) It is like a badge, an identity, (b) helped us gain recognition. (c) Gave us the impression that we are one of the best companies in the UAE, which gives us the feeling of being like in a very expensive car driving around the town with a car plate having two (2) digit number, signifying uniqueness and being very important person (VIP).

Proud achievements in the past one year

In the past year, the special support, attention and recognition received continuously from the government distinguishes us from other non-SME members.

Advice to budding entrepreneurs

Our advice to the promising entrepreneurs is to have a high quality of the management that will help improve their company. Aiming to be on Dubai SME100, will be an inspiration for them to standardize their company. It is indeed a very tough work, but worth the effort.

The confidence to realize the goal, and see every challenge as an opportunity to compete. Aim high and think high should be the attitude.

Challenges for SMEs

To be constantly in the race track and making it big. Graduating to larger companies is possible and can be achieved through proper planning,

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

SME 100 Pre-cursor special package to join the Capital Club (DIFC).

“One of the greatest learning experience has been in the field of corporate governance. While we have adopted processes and sustainability measures all along, it has become more structured and impactful for us. We have integrated a lot. The other area is financials- we have always had auditors, however, our reporting has become more transparent areas for improvement have been identified,” stated Stephan Melchior, chief executive officer and managing partner of Wilson Learning Middle East.

Following the positive response to the rating system, the Dubai SME have now planned to launch their new list in November. Nearly 3,000 firms, accounting for four per cent of Dubai’s total SMEs employing approximately 95,000 people have been nominated for the 2013 ranking. It represents a 171 per cent increase over the 1,092 SMEs nominated during the first phase in 2011.

So, what is the strategy going forward? Dubai SME’s chief executive officer, Abdul Baset Al Janahi, pointed out that a subranking on corporate governance in the 2013 list will give further importance to the aspect of corporate professionalism. “The success of the first and second rankings encourages us to explore other related rankings for different stages of an enterprise growth and development. For example, we plan to launch the Dubai Start-up 100, and another ranking covering larger corporates that may want to benefit further from our development advisories.

These rankings are a means to an end, that is, by being ranked, each enterprise is able to identify its gaps and pursue strategies to close them. With more ranking initiatives, more content, knowledge and best practices by these enterprises will emerge, which will certainly make Dubai a better off place for would-be entrepreneurs, investors, and other businesses,” he emphasised.

The clear understanding of primary needs like knowledge, access to new technology, adequate financial aid, high levels of R&D and adaptability to the changing trends in their respective industries, makes this rating a perfect design for facilitating progress in this sector.

Registrations for the ranking were opened in January 2013 and since then they have been witnessing a high level of interest and response from the SME community. Sector-wise, fifty-three per cent of the SMEs nominated are from the trading sector, thirty six per cent from the services sector and eleven per cent from the manufacturing sector.

In this race for rank, a long queue of companies are holding their breath for the next release to achieve the government aid.

Let’s wait until the next issue to find out who the chosen one are!

The SME100 initiative

It gave us a lot of exposure to the market within UAE, as more people gained knowledge about services.

Moreover, SME 100 team has provided us with a lot of training sessions, seminars and free consultation.

The report provided by the agency, which is like a SWOT analysis, to understand the parameters for improvement, what is our strength, etc. This has helped us bringing about good improvement, and this is the reason why we have been selected again this year.SME 100 has introduced us to many companies which have helped us, providing free services. Although it hasn’t helped us financially yet, but it did help in increasing our brand awareness. For example, they gave us a great opportunity of participating in one of the most prestigious exhibitions in Dubai-The Global Entrepreneurship Summitwhere we were given everything for free. Additionally, we have found that having ranked for SME100 provides a good reference to our stakeholders, giving us an advantage over other companies.

The SME100 initiative

It has been extremely professional, providing access to thought leadership and insights SMEs can’t normally afford. They have highlighted the importance of strong governance and continue to promote the value of the SME business sector.

It has provided clear indications of the best practices companies should be implementing.

It also served as a great challenge to push ourselves for a better rank.

Received advice from SHUAA Capital, Deloitte and attended many learning workshops. The team at Dubai SME 100 continue to bring us thinking and advice that we couldn’t normally tap into.

It has given us the confidence to drive our business plan, knowing we had a strong financial structure and the right governance in place.

Proud achievements in the past one year

We have introduced new business simulation products by signing a new franchise, welcomed two new consultants into the team, grown the revenue by our targeted 20 per cent and enjoyed celebrating our 20th year in business in the UAE.

Advice to budding entrepreneurs

Even when you are small, discover the core values that you want as the rules of your culture. Hire for them, fire if they are broken and be prepared to pay to build your companies’ culture. Companies don’t succeed, people do. People want to work in a company where they connect, believe in the purpose and are valued. Create your company so that people want to work for you, not that they have to work for you.

Hire smart people in finance who look after the cash. Grow your business without overstretching your cash flow and build a cushion of at least six months of payroll.

We’ve been using the tools created by author of ‘Mastering the Rockefeller Habits’, Verne Harnish. These tools have given us a framework for strategy and the discipline to execute our plan. It has also helped us shape our culture and create the right rhythm that aligns the whole team with strategic plan. These tools have a proven track record of growing businesses from small to medium and then medium to global giants.

Challenges for SMEs

Establishing the disciplines that will help you grow and making the right decisions in four areas of business – people, strategy, execution and cash.

Proud achievements in the past one year

Having received the ISO certificate has so far been the greatest achievement in the past one year. Nevertheless, we have closed really good deals with big companies.

Advice to budding entrepreneurs

Believe in what you are doing, love your job and do it yourselves.

Secondly, participate in programs like the SME 100 as it is a good platform to learn from others, network and expose your businesses.

Challenges for SMEs

The major challenge for an SME is the financial support. Usually, entrepreneurs cannot do everything on their own and they find it difficult to implement new ideas due to lack of financing. Banks should think seriously about financing SMEs as they make up to more or less 80% of the GDP in the UAE.

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Intelligent SME

SME 100 Pre-cursor

Experts' take on the perks of earning a rank The initiative serves as a valuable tool for fostering entrepreneurial culture and creating a competitive SME sector for businesses to grow into larger, internationally-focused businesses, stated experts.

F

our stars, two thumbs up, a must read- Rave reviews like these do influence our dilemma whether a service/object needs to be picked or ignored. But, that is essentially how things work in the business rating industry, too.

The ranking initiative launched in 2011 by Dubai SME (an agency of Dubai Department of Economic Development) for selecting the top 100 small-to-medium enterprises in the emirate has seen a

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tremendous positive response from the sector, turning into an identity badge for ‘top performers’ across the region.

The selection of these companies is based on a host of criteria and upon complete submission of financial statements, management interviews and site visits to ascertain the merits. The ranking services play a crucial role in the markets by rating everything from plain-vanilla to structured investments. The Dubai SME too have a wide range of advisors (Deloitte, DLA Piper, Shuaa Capital, IFC and Nexus) carefully gauging the various

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

SME 100 Pre-cursor pre-defined parameters, and providing specialised capability development training in critical areas like investment development, corporate governance, valuation, legal support and risk management post ranking.

SMEs are posed with major challenges in this part of the world: lack of awareness of global best practices, considerable delays in settlement of dues/payment of bills by large scale buyers, borrowing and lack of transparent financial information.

Alyson Baynes, assistant director, Deloitte, says, “Accessing and raising finance continues to be a key focus for SMEs in supporting their growth. Whilst some fault lies with lenders that may, despite outward claims of assistance, impose onerous and expensive terms, SMEs must also accept some responsibility for being seemingly unprepared. An SME that can demonstrate appropriate controls and structures in place to support good financial and operating practices, a clear and consistent business plan, and a proven and explainable track record, has a much higher likelihood of success than those which don’t.”

Karim Schoeib, chief executive officer, Shuaa CapitalInvestment Banking, emphasises that the contribution of SMEs is approximately 50-60 per cent of the GDP, constituting almost 80-85 per cent employment, but they capture only four per cent aggregate funding available.

Karim further explains, “Over the past years, we have seen more efforts from banks and financial institutions to provide tailored financing solutions for SMEs. Nevertheless, access to capital remains a persistent challenge for many SMEs in the UAE and a collaborative effort from all key stakeholders is required to bridge this gap.

Solutions include more active lending from commercial banks and consumer finance companies as well as the public sector backed initiatives such as Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development and Mohammad Bin Rashed SME Fund.”

Combating challenge

Across the board advisors echo that the Dubai SME100 initiative

Over the past years, we have seen more efforts from banks and financial institutions to provide tailored financing solutions for SMEs. Nevertheless, access to capital remains a persistent challenge for many SMEs in the UAE is an inspirational way of ranking high-performing businesses, sharing best practice, encouraging other business start-ups and supporting business growth in a wider economic sense. They consider it as a valuable tool for fostering entrepreneurial culture and creating a competitive SME sector for businesses to grow into larger, internationally-focused businesses.

“It provides evidence to the external market of an SME’s financial and operational credentials – raising their profile and helping to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Even for those SMEs who do not make the top 100, the rigorous assessment process is a valuable exercise for any business to go through and helps provide the concerned companies with areas for future development,” Baynes acknowledged.

Besides, Karim explained that it provides the companies access to the leading financial services institutions that provide value added services and tools at SME friendly costs, which they could have not access on their own.

So, what makes these big giants associate themselves with this initiative?

Baynes believes that this initiative provides a fantastic forum for SMEs to engage with large corporates and professional services providers to share experiences and work together to support the growth of the sector.

She adds, “…across the world, Deloitte has been supporting SMEs and entrepreneurs through

its various initiatives, including the Growth Enterprise Group, Entrepreneurial Business Group, and the Deloitte Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (partnership with the London Business School). Deloitte’s decision to partner with Dubai SME100 is just one more way of demonstrating our commitment to this important sector of the economy.”

On the other hand, Tim Watkins, legal director at DLA Piper is of the view that companies in the emirate often find the raft of regulatory issues complex to navigate. “And hence, we to lend our support to the SME100 in shedding light on ways that can help businesses to understand the legal framework as a means of developing and growing, as well as creating competitive advantage,” Watkins says.

Dubai SME has managed to record remarkable achievement in rolling out an initiative to support SMEs in Dubai and help groom them into bigger and more institutionalized enterprises.

“Based on a memorandum of understanding with Dubai SME signed last August, we have provided corporate finance expertise in the form of valuations to over 20 SME companies and advice in one-on-one knowledge sharing forums, which helped them further understand how business plans may impact their company’s valuations. We appreciate the opportunity to work with Dubai SME and continue to remain keen on partnering further support for sustained expansion of this important sector in the UAE,” notes Karim.

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Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

SME 100 Pre-cursor

The strategist behind SME 100's success The rankings are a means to an end, where each enterprise can identify the gaps and pursue strategies to close them, stated Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO, Dubai SME. In an exclusive interview with ISME, he provided insights on how the initiative will evolve Dubai’s economy into a much better place for entrepreneurs, investors and other businesses.

Q: What has been the response for the second cycle of the Dubai SME 100 ranking?

A: The response has been

overwhelming. More than 3,000 SMEs applied or were nominated to apply for the ranking. This shows that Dubai SME and the Dubai SME100 initiative have been successful in reaching out to the wider SME segment, which is gradually earning us recognition.

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The nominations represent a 171 per cent increase over the 1,092 SMEs nominated for the 2011 ranking. Considering industry averages, the 2013 nominees represent an estimated output of AED 53.3 billion, estimated value-add of AED 16.2 billion, and a workforce of around 93,500.

Sector-wise, 53 per cent of the nominated companies are from the trading sector, 36 per cent from the services sector and 11 per cent from the manufacturing

sector. With more firms applying, the competition increases, and we will have more quality SMEs in the top 100.

Q: Have you revamped any categories as compared to the last cycle? In what sectors, and why?

A: We have made a major change

to the evaluation matrix in the second cycle by including a category on corporate governance,

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

SME 100 Pre-cursor as SMEs need to show their effort/ potential in this critical area.

It helps in differentiating their professionalism and maturity of development as against their peers.

SMEs that adopt good corporate governance practices are able to distinguish and differentiate themselves in the market and industry, and be noticed by suppliers, clients, customers, financiers, investors and even future employees. The level of corporate governance in the region is an issue and we wanted to encourage Dubai’s SMEs to develop a positive mindset and attitude at an early stage in their corporate governance journey. It is vital for their business and organisational well-being, and even long-term survival. Hence, we hope that the sub-ranking on corporate governance in the 2013 ranking will give further importance to this aspect of corporate professionalism.

Q: What was offered to the 100 SMEs post ranking?

A: Our main philosophy behind

the ranking is that it is a means to an end. The key is growth and development to the next level.

Once SMEs have been ranked, we offer a suite of capability upgrading and professionalisation programmes in critical areas like corporate governance, legal, risk and financial management. While many SMEs may be doing well from the commercial perspective, many good SMEs need help in their corporate and organisation development to enable better performance. A good example is our corporate governance programme to help SMEs understand and embrace corporate governance as a foundation for sustainable growth. Having good governance will also help SMEs improve their access to external financing from banks and the equity markets (public and private), as credit risks are reduced with better information and transparency.

Q: What impact has been created among the first batch?

A:

The impact has been very

2013

major initiatives in corporate governance.

We are grateful to our esteemed partners – IFC (World Bank), Shuaa Capital, Nexus Insurance, DLA Piper, Nasdaq Dubai and Deloitte - for committing time and lending their expertise to SMEs who are keen to upgrade and advance their development. Their partnerships have made a difference to the initiative.

Q: What improvements have been

made for the second cycle, learning from the experience of the first?

Once SMEs have been ranked, we offer a suite of capability upgrading and professionalisation programmes in critical areas like corporate governance, legal, risk and financial management. positive. Each of the SME100 firms participated in at least one of our upgrading seminars, event or due diligence exercises. More than 300 executives attended our events in 2012.

Forty-five of the SMEs engaged in intensive one-on-one due diligence exercise with our partners in the areas of business valuation, corporate governance, legal and financial management. These SMEs have benefitted tremendously as they shared their financials and development plans in detail with our capability advisory partners. They also committed their time to attend and work on the due diligence exercises. At least 15 of the SMEs have implemented

A:

In terms of execution at the evaluation stage, we simplified the process by requesting the applicant to upload their financial statements. This reduced the errors in entering data, especially financial data. We also improved the scoring methodology and ranking process by having better evaluation forms. As more data were collected, we also improved the analytics of the application and ranking data. We learnt a lot from all aspects of the first cycle, and believe that we are better-informed now. Nevertheless, we will continue to evolve and improve in our future cycles.

Q: What is the future strategy of the ranking initiative? Do you plan any other related initiatives?

A:

Indeed. The success of the first and second rankings encourages us to explore other related rankings for different stages of an enterprise growth and development. For example, we plan to launch the Dubai Start-up 100, and another ranking covering larger corporates that may want to benefit further from our development advisories.

These rankings, I reiterate, are a means to an end, that is, by being ranked, each enterprise is able to identify its gaps and pursue strategies to close them. With more ranking initiatives more content, knowledge and best practices by these enterprises will emerge, which will certainly make Dubai a better off place for wouldbe entrepreneurs, investors, and other businesses.

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Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

SME Finance

Teaming up – the importance of building a strong team It is said that talent helps in winnning games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships. Alyson Baynes, assistant director at Deloitte details how teamwork builds trust and brings speed.

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hilst for SMEs, the corporate equivalent of a $280m golden handshake, as extended

by Real Madrid to Gareth Bale, maybe out of reach, the principal of building a quality team remains.

This time of year is used by many corporates to critically assess their human resourcing needs; pick up fresh, new graduates and refocus teams in meeting their objectives for the busy months ahead.

For SMEs, a number of challenges exist in relation to their human resource position: • Without the “big name”, how can an SME attract strong individuals who often have the pick of the corporates?

• From its inception, the entrepreneur has typically been the engine for growth and innovation for an SME. However, as a company grows, continued reliance on just one individual may limit a company’s potential.

How do you reduce reliance on the individual without compromising the entrepreneur’s ideas and aspirations?

• In the absence of a large bonus pool, how can SMEs provide

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incentives and reward the team members to drive performance and loyalty?

Underlying all of these issues is the need for an individual to consistently operate in the company’s best interests. By establishing a team structure where individuals have direct responsibility and accountability provides a foundation for ensuring all employees feel they are a contributing to the business at large.

But whilst responsibility and accountability can be stated in a policy, it is the state of mind associated with it, which is harder to create. What practical steps, therefore, can an SME take to engender these types of behaviour?

Roles and responsibilities

An individual must clearly understand their role and what is expected from them, in order to establish a sense of responsibility.

• Job descriptions: With SMEs, the growing nature of the business can mean it is difficult to pin down a closed set of tasks for each role. However, establishing job descriptions that cover the mandated activities and articulate an expectation of how any remaining time should be spent (for example, on ad hoc projects or strategic initiatives) will ensure the employee approaches

the role with an open-mind, the right level of flexibility, and feels empowered to go beyond their day-to-day tasks.

• Skill sets: It is important to identify the type and mix of skills required for each role. These are the hard, tangible skills – IT systems knowledge, accounting qualifications, basic numeracy and literacy – and the soft, intangible skills – people management, strategic thinking, and negotiation.

Typically, the more senior the position, the greater the emphasis on soft skills.

• Experience requirements: More experience is not always better!

As an SME, having someone with a willingness to learn and a clear aptitude for problem solving can sometimes be more beneficial, and cheaper, than a more experienced, but less flexible individual.

Organisational structure

An organisational structure helps define reporting lines, provides clarity over how the business operates, and serves as a roadmap for employees in terms of promotions. For SMEs, the organisational structure will likely evolve over time, which provides a useful measure of the company’s progress. The organisational structure need not be complex, but should

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

SME Finance take account of the following: • Reporting lines: To drive accountability, individuals must understand the internal reporting lines and who their direct report is. Depending on the nature of the business, the organisational structure may require more “height”, with multiple hierarchical levels, or more “width”, with control over a broad, crossfunctional set of individuals/ activities. Either way, the structure should always converge to the senior executives (Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer) and be fit for purpose given the operations of the business. Care needs to be taken to avoid creating an overly cumbersome structure or too autocratic an environment.

• Centralised activities: Centralised activities, such as human resources, legal or IT, often span the breadth of a business and as a result, can be difficult to align to one individual within the executive team. To assist in determining the most appropriate reporting line, consider the nature of the centralised activity, where their current focus is and which executive would be most impacted by their output. For many businesses, the Finance function becomes the central focus for reporting performance.

• Promotion track: An organisational chart helps to educate employees about how the business operates and where they fit in within the wider organisation. It provides visibility of the promotion track to motivate employees to take on more responsibility and propel their own careers.

Incentives and reward

Performance management is key in retaining the best people for your business, attracting new

To maintain integrity and consistency, all personnel should be assessed against a single appraisal framework at least once a year, via a structured process. talent, and, legitimately letting go those who no longer fit with the business’s longer term goals.

Performance management can be a strong tool in driving better operating practices and overall business performance.

• Appraisals: To maintain integrity and consistency, all personnel should be assessed against a single appraisal framework at least once a year, via a structured process.

This framework should be underpinned by a broad set of core competencies, identified by the business, which all employees are expected to demonstrate although the relative importance of these may vary across functions. These competencies are then applied to each employee type and level by establishing clearly defined, individual objectives (SMART objectives – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound) to ensure progress can be tracked over the course of the year.

• Align with KPIs: To drive performance of the entity, consider linking certain key performance indicators (financial and operational) to the individual’s targets. For example, cash

collection for members of the sales team, or maximum system downtime for IT personnel.

• Reward: Whilst the financial rewards associated with a job make up a significant part of any individual’s decision to accept a position, other nonmonetary rewards can also act as a motivational factor and should not be discounted, especially for SMEs where the ability to pay large corporate equivalent salaries may be limited. There are countless employee surveys that consistently indicate that pay is not a strong positive motivator; interestingly, if staff think they are being underpaid this is a much greater negative motivator.

Consequently, providing flexibility over working hours and location (i.e. from home or from the office), hosting occasional team building events to allow employees to get to know each other outside of a work context, or periodic recognition forums, may be more effective in helping employees feel more valued at work and engender a deeper sense of loyalty than monetary reward alone.

For an SME, much of its future success hinges on the strength and commitment of its employees. Taking time to ensure the business has the right team who are engaged, motivated and aligned with the company’s goals, is a sound investment and something that policies and procedures alone cannot create.

That way, you stand a better chance of protecting your best players from transferring the next time Carlo Ancelotti comes knocking!

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Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Sales and Marketing

Sell benefits, and not features People hardly care about what features a product offers because those features are all about you, not them, writes Simon Hodges.

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he better you educate customers and clear away any nagging, “why should I buy from you?” thoughts that can easily be lingering in their hearts and minds, the fewer obstacles you’re likely to face in convincing them to buy from you.

Where perhaps many sellers, even experienced ones, are most likely to make a fatal blunder is by concentrating the selling activities on the features of their product or service rather than the benefits to their customers. A feature and a benefit can be one and the same thing, but most often, they are not.

It’s a mistake for a seller to assume that some wonderful aspect or feature of his or her product will do the selling. Often it will not!

A feature is a physical aspect of a product

benefits

SALE 50

features

Before we say more, let’s clarify the difference between a feature and a benefit. A feature is most often some physical aspect of a product -- its colour, the size of its engine, power, quality, and so on.

Most often, a feature is “a thing.”

A benefit is what the customers gets from the product

A benefit, on the other hand, is something more subtle. A benefit is what the product can do for the customer - how it can make his or her life better, how it can save time.

Benefits come from features, which are often confusingly considered as one. For example, let’s say a car has a 230 horsepower engine. That’s a feature. But what does this do for the person who buys the car? A powerful engine helps the driver accelerate with ease on the motorway and easily merge with traffic. It gives the driver the power

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Sales and Marketing he or she needs to pull a heavy boat. It gives a feeling of pleasure to have all that mechanical power at the command of one’s fingertips. All of these are benefits -- something the customer feels, gets or is satisfied by.

A benefit can be perceived or real

And this is what you should sell - the benefits. Benefits are what people really care about. They want to know how their lives will be made better by the product more than what the product is made of, or what its design specs are. When you spend too much time talking about your product’s features, you run the risk of “me oriented” selling rather than focusing on customer needs. You can't assume that a potential customer will naturally see how they benefit just because you describe your product physically.

It’s much smarter to keep the focus on the customer - on his or her needs, desires, longings, problems, demands - and then paint a picture that clearly shows the customer how they can get all of the above if they buy your product.

When you only list details about features, you don’t do that, even though it may seem like you are. Look at the following example:

“Our premium chair is

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.

clearly benefits - physical comfort, no back aches from sitting too long, gaining a feeling of pride or prestige from guests who admire your excellent choice of home furnishings.

“Never list, use or describe a feature without also telling potential buyers just how that feature will affect them in their real lives, how it will improve their lives, how it will enhance personal comfort, deliver a feeling of pride, satisfaction, gain, and so on.

Complete a "You get" list

A great way to discover what your product benefits are is to make a “You get” list. Write down “You get” 10 times on a sheet of paper, and then name specific benefits to follow each “You

upholstered with the finest mountain ram’s leather which is hand-selected and hand-stitched to an all cherry wood frame.

“It sounds pretty good, but it’s all features. Ram’s leather is great, and cherry wood is nice - but how does the customer benefit?

You can’t assume the customer will know, so you have to spell it out for him or her by describing benefits, as in:

"Our ergonomic chair is designed

with your comfort in mind - the 56 degree reclining position gives strong support to your lower back, meaning you never experience back pain and are able to rest for hours on end without the need to fidget, adjust or change seats. Our fine mountain ram’s leather upholstery feels like heaven against your skin - you experience relaxation with a sense of luxury, and your guests will be impressed by the rich look and sense of style afforded your living room .”

Here we see how the customer

You can't assume that a potential customer will naturally see how they benefit just because you describe your product physically.

get.” If you write, “You get a 230 horsepower engine...” you have listed a feature. That’s not enough.

Complete the process by also saying, “You get a powerful 230 HP engine that never leaves you stuck or sluggish at a roundabout and thrills you when you take tight curves on a carefree drive in the desert.

Think about how to present offers or sales

In today's market many businesses offer highly publicized discounts. All stock must go 20% off, without giving a reason why they are making such great offers.

This strategy can be not only ineffective and counterproductive but also very damaging to profitability. The fact is that many buyers today are highly suspicious, skeptical and outright cynical about such offers.

Often if your price is very low, the result can be fewer sales because even though people love bargains, they may be suspicious.

They think: “If it’s that cheap, there must be something wrong with it.” But if you tell them: “We need to reduce our inventory now because we don’t have enough room in our warehouse for the new stuff that is coming in,” that can be a logical explanation that sits well with the prospective customer and therefore be viewed as a good opportunity and a bargain.

Finally, you can often get a clue to what the most important “Why?” questions are by simply listening to your customers when they come in to look at your product and ask questions about it. If you notice a common theme or pattern, why not include the answer for them up front. And by the way, the same principles apply to those of you who are providing a service rather than a product.

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Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Business Exports

Growing beyond borders Expanding into a new market can be an effective model to grow your business. A disciplined process will assist you perfectly evaluate the potential of each growth opportunity, elaborates V Ramkumar.

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very successful large corporate today was a budding small-to-medium enterprise (SME) at some point of time. Growth is inevitable, not only to expand the organization but in many ways even to sustain your position.

When everyone around you is moving, you would need to keep pace with the environment, just to maintain the position you already have.

The world, as they say is getting flatter by the day, and geography is soon becoming

52

history! Sustained growth cannot but be sustained unless the contours of growth are unlimited by geographic borders. As an SME, it is inevitable that there is a constant search to reach out beyond borders – for more cost effective suppliers and more lucrative customers. However, even while new markets bring new opportunities, they do come with new challenges as well. An appropriate assessment of market is a pre-requisite before any investment is made – be that of effort, time or money.

There is always more than one option at any given point of time for an organization to explore expanding into. The key here is to determine the right market for entering, the best strategy and ensuring the business model is appropriate.

Choosing the market:

The five-force model usually adopted in market assessment evaluates the bargaining power of the customers, suppliers, potential entrants, barriers, threat of

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Business Exports substitutes or competitors and the industry players. The best situation, of course, is where there is an unmet demand with limited competition. In most SME situations, the barriers to entry are relatively low, unless driven more from a regulatory or unique sourcing strategy. Invariably, the primary determinant in the choice of market is that of a demand identified in a new market.

It does help to confirm a few

questions before making the deep dive, especially since new markets can be deceptively attractive.



Is there a growing demand for the product, what are the drivers?  Are we competitively positioned compared to key players addressing that market?  What is the market share of players and whether it possesses a clear share of market to address?  Are the regulatory norms and industry practices favourably positioned?  Are the threats to industry model from a medium-term standpoint surmountable?

Entering the market: Even for the most attractive markets, ensuring that the appropriate mode of entry is critical. While having your own office setup in the new market is an option, it may not always necessarily be the best alternative.

In most situations, you will always have an option to identify a partner for operating in a given market. This is, however, tricky.

Typically, the choice of a partner is made after a careful analysis of the players in an existing market, with a detailed analysis of their profile, the business model, and most importantly the complimentary nature of the potential partner in the new market. The nature of the partnership is also key, multiple operating models exist, and choice needs to be made based on what’s in best interest of the enterprise in the new market - is it a transactional arrangement, or is it a joint venture or is it a long-term strategic investment.

This also drives the nature of the business model for running the establishment.

It helps to validate with a few

V Ramkumar is senior director at Cedar Management Consulting International LLC, a US based management consulting firm whose heritage includes being part of the firm founded by creators of the Balanced Scorecard.

Ram has over 17 years of management consulting and strategic transformation experience. He can be reached at v.ramkumar@cedar-consulting.com

questions, specifically if you are to go with a partner:  Is the value proposition that the partner brings in relevant and attractive?



Does the business model provide a sustained opportunity for both parties?  Have there been similar success models that have been proven in that market?

Driving the business model: This is the

beginning of things getting difficult. Even in situations where no partners are involved, most companies find it difficult to establish in a new market. And the reason, in most situations, is almost the same: when you try to approach a new market the same way as the existing markets, without aligning with the needs, demand and cultural aspects of the new country, it usually does not take off. In most situations, the new entity is not an isolated venture, but gets to complement the mother ship with extended operations, and also gets to leverage from the goodwill created over the years. It gets even more complex when the person heading the new office is not oriented enough – the need becomes a careful balance between the traditional approach adopted by the company, and addressing the need of the new market. When the establishment is a joint-venture, then aligning with the practices of both the parent firms becomes a critical success factor.

The key questions that help validate our direction and approach are the following:

 Is the business model

sustainable for us from a medium to long-term standpoint?  Have we identified the right person to lead the unit? Remember this need not always be a person from the HO, can also be a local recruit – depends on context  Is the operating model well defined, especially when the reporting lines are dual?

Having got all of the above right, if you are still looking for that extra comfort that your growth in the new market is indeed moving in the right direction, here are a few quick validations, using the ‘balanced scorecard’ framework:  Financial: Is the new entity meeting its financial objectives – in terms of revenue, profit and operating efficiency?  Customer: Have we got the customers & the segment right?

Are the initial responses to our positioning as expected, and reflected in the kind of sales?  Process: Is the functioning of the enterprise as smooth as we expected – is there clarity in the process for performance of activities across marketing, sales, supply chain, finance & operations functions?

 Organisation: Is the sufficient clarity in structure, roles and KPIs for the team that delivers in the new market? Where there is partnership model running, is there sufficient clarity in the reporting lines?

It’s hard to get all of them right in one go, and it does take time and a focused effort to get them aligned. And of course, if the answers to above questions are all affirmative, chances are that you have indeed got the model right, and its time for greater goals and further expansion plans!

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Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Fit CEO

Powered by:

It’s never too cold to work out Winter is no time for hibernation – VLCC shares exercise routine to keep you strong and looking great come spring.

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s winter approaches with the climate turning cozy, it becomes extremely difficult to keep aside the warmth of a blanket, and choose the grit of working out. While the former might seem more alluring,

with the proposition of enjoying a piping hot coffee sweetening the deal. Is it worth abandoning our exercise routine?

If the desire is to stay fit, then, fitness should never be the compromising factor. Focus on

how you'll benefit if you keep up your exercise routine throughout the spring. In fact, exercise can actually help shake off those winter blues. It always improves your mood, increases your energy levels and enthusiasm, warding off frustrations and stress, allowing you to sleep better. And you'll be in a better shape for the summer clothes when the weather warms up.

Exercise does not have to be outdoors if the weather is inclement.

You can exercise just as effectively indoors, both at the gym and also at home. And by taking simple precautions like dressing properly and heeding weather safety tips, you can exercise outdoors, too. The combination can result in a rejuvenating experience.

VLCC has some expert tips to go about winter maintenance.

Working-out in the outdoors:

For some people, cold air can trigger chest pain, allergies or asthma attacks. Hence, it is advisable to seek a thumbs-up from your doctor, and ensure the temperature wouldn’t do any harm to you. Before heading out, a proper warm-up is critical (it can be done indoors before heading out). Our body muscles tend to contract in cold temperatures leading to severe injuries, hence, you need to follow these tips:

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Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Fit CEO

Powered by:

Insulate your body. Drape yourself with several thin layers of clothing rather than a single thick one. Layering provides the most effective heating method as it is not only light and flexible, but allows you to remove the top layers if you start feeling too hot. The mantra to be followed here is the layer closest to your skin should allow moisture to be wicked away.

The top layer should be both wind and water resistant.

Closest to your skin, wear thin garments made of polyester or polypropylene. These pull sweat away from your skin, helping you stay dry and warm.

Don't wear cotton or wool against your skin, since both hold moisture. For your second layer, focus on insulation. Fleece works well.

For the top layer choose a windproof and waterproof jacket with goose down or poly-filled lining to retain body heat without weighing you down.

Tight shoes or boots reduce circulation and make your feet and toes colder. Footwear should have good traction soles since roads may be wet and slippery.

Head covering is a must for retaining body heat. Pick wool or fleece hats. Be sure to cover your ears, too. On cold, windy days, people who have breathing problems, including asthmatics, wear face masks to keep inhaled air warm and humid.

Drink up: Drink water

or sports drinks to stay hydrated even though you might not feel as thirsty. Cold air has a drying effect, which can increase the risk of dehydration.

your body rapidly loses its heating stores.

Working out in the gym

The cold weather often takes all the fun out of outdoor exercise and the gym offers a cozy covered space. While doing cardio, your only concern is getting your heart rate into your target heart rate zone and keeping it there for some time. Try some of these ideas to make your workouts more fun. Separate your workout into 5-minute segments each, focusing on various aspects such as speed, incline, resistance, steady state, etc. By changing the exercise every five minutes, you get variety, effectively beating away boredom.

Make a cardio medley: Instead of exercising on the same machine repeatedly, pick different machines and workout on each of them for around 10 minutes.

Be creative: Look around the gym and see if there are other methods of broadening your cardio workout. Do the stairs rapidly or break monotony by using the skip-rope in short bursts. We all have our favourite equipment, the machines we gravitate to every

Even if you get only 10 minutes of activity, it’s better than sitting-down watching TV.

time we hit the gym. But, winter is a time best used to experiment with a completely different one.

Working-out at Home

If you're a home exerciser, it may seem even harder to get in your workout mood since you may not have access to all the equipment available at a gym.

However, you have even more flexibility since you can use videos, or just make up your own workout right in your living room.

High-tempo music is one sure way to get motivated, put on your favorite CD and workout to it, which doesn't need to be structured. Simply choose some basic cardio exercises such as jumping jacks, jogging in place, front kicks, side shuffles, jump rope, etc. and do each one for a minute or so. Even if you get only 10 minutes of activity, it’s better than sitting-down watching TV. You can easily step-up a workout routine with a set of dumbbells, an exercise ball and a jump rope.

If you live in a building or a villa with stairs, spend as little as 20 minutes climbing up and down for a very intense and efficient workout.

This, when it's cold outdoors, there's no need whatsoever to give up and hit the couch. With a little planning and creativity, you can step up to the challenges of winter exercise and its unique enjoyment and benefits. By staying fit during winter, you'll be able to avoid gaining weight, have a head start on the beach and summer clothes season, and avoid losing strength and stamina caused by inactivity.

Head into the wind: You'll be less likely to get chilled on the way back if you end your workout — when you may be sweaty — with the wind at your back.

Resist the temptation of taking your clothes off immediately upon getting indoors, as you need to give your body time to re-adjust. Post exercise hypothermia is possible if you take off your clothes immediately after exercising vigorously. This happens when 55

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Insuring Business

You will delay, but time may not As a business person, one should consider ‘cost of delay’ representing the highest risk, an immediate impact and the future well being of not only yourself, but everyone who’s financially dependent on you, writes Sandi Saksena.

T

he Central Bank of the UAE has issued unified forms for all types of bank loans.

However, an SME in this part of the region still experiences an uphill task while applying for a loan to fund/expand the business.

Often, many opt for the personal loan route where the working ‘silent partner’ will take a personal loan because they meet the bank’s stipulated requirements.

Now, as per the directives, banks ask borrowers to ensure all borrowings are covered by a life insurance, or, a disability insurance policy, to guarantee the loan would be paid back as the lender could use its value to regain the rest of its funds.

Recently, a prospect came up with an enquiry about a large life insurance policy immediately amounting US$ 2.5 million. Life insurance immediately, how can that happen? Furthermore, this client was 60-years old. On completing the paperwork, I was forced to ask the reason for such an exhorbitant amount and why so late in life, especially, because he had been in business for more than 20 years.

He reasoned that the company wanted and SME loan for expansion, however, banks do not want equipments as collateral (as they deemed it difficult to sell and recover in case of default or death), and no succession plan in place. None of the kids had the educational qualifications or any experience related to the business.

When questioned that why he had not considered life insurance at a younger age, he responded, “My wife does not like life insurance.”

My responsibility as a consultant

56

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Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Insuring Business

The cost of waiting isn’t just about a higher premium because you’re older. Too often it’s about health changes that can turn a good opportunity for family protection into a nightmare. was to warn him that the premiums would be very high as per the age requirements, and he would have to undergo a comprehensive medical check-up. Moreover, the chances of him being rated for hypertension, diabetes and any other age related illnesses was extremely high, which would drive up premiums. He agreed and despite being rated, he took the policy because weighing the cost of premiums against the amount of profits the expansion would bring about with the cash injection will still have him in the green, i.e. the premiums were a good ROI.

Another case that sticks with me until date was a prospect who was looking to expand his business and was also facing a cash crunch. I approached him with life insurance for two reasons: (a) help him get a loan and, (b) ensure that if anything happened to him, then,

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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).

his family would have funds that could not be accessed by creditors.

He was healthy and the cost of the insurance was great.

This dragged on for two years with the usual excuses. Though a year older, so higher premium insurance was still a good deal because of his good health. I urged him to apply, get approved and put a policy in force. On my last scheduled follow up call, I had difficulty understanding him and assumed we had a bad connection, he asked if the last quotes I had sent him were still good as he was ready to sign up. I checked his age and assured him the quotes were good as long as his health was still the same. That’s when I found out that he was just out of the hospital after suffering a massive stroke. He was partially paralysed and required 24 hour care. I was forced to tell him that there was no chance of getting him life insurance. He died 6 months later.

Needless to say that his family has no business to take over as they’re fighting a legal battle, and more importantly they’re cash strapped.

All of us have been affected by the cost of waiting, buying or selling a stock or real estate and it has cost us thousands of dirhams. Having been in the business for more than a few years, the differences in the costs can be considerable.

The following are just some of the significant categories of the cost of waiting to buy life insurance and critical illness insurance: Premium change due to age This is a given, so no arguments.

Change in health underwriting and rating

A significant factor in the cost of waiting is the change in underwriting and ratings. Here are a few statistics: A 39-year old male will have easier underwriting when applying for life cover of $ 450,000

than a 50-year old applying for just $ 100,000. Similarly, a 29-year old can usually get up to $ 1 million worth of life insurance undergoing the same blood tests and answering the same questions as a 49 year old applying for $ 200,000.

Bottom line: The cost of waiting isn’t just about a higher premium because you’re older. Too often it’s about health changes that can turn a good opportunity for family protection into a nightmare.

You’re healthy and are diagnosed with cancer or diabetes or a fatal car accident.

Is this to scare you into buying life Insurance? On the contrary, a savvy businessperson you should know what makes economic sense, the cost of procrastination and the domino effect. In this part of the world, there are those who admit that that they should be carrying life insurance, but they aren’t. It is surprising to know that these people have done their homework enough to know that life insurance especially term insurance is so inexpensive that almost no one notes it as the reason.

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Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Corporate Governance

Building good governance behaviours

The primary goal of corporate governance is to enhance the value of a company through ethical behavior, espousing a policy of openness and fairness and ensuring informed decision making throughout the company, endorses John Merrigan.

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he world of business is littered with stories of corporations collapsing or losing millions of dollars due to the failure of their governance systems through fraud, bad risk management and poor decision-making. Yet, almost always their company websites and annual reports are crammed with good words about corporate governance and social responsibility.

SME organisations often point to the fact that they have governance systems in place but after a thorough governance audit and review with key stakeholders, the actual practice is different, inconsistent and sometimes, quite simply it does not happen.

This is why the biggest challenge in corporate governance is ‘implementation’ to ensure it becomes a part of the everyday operations and culture of the organisation. A key aspect of this is to guarantee that the people in the business understand, commit to and develop behaviours that support the corporate governance framework.

Here are some tips to fine tune the soft skills of governance, and successfully stay focused on track.

Connecting Values, behaviours and operations

At the end of the day, good governance is about having good values in terms of how the organisation conducts its business and establishes relationships with key stakeholders, both internal and external. If you don’t have

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Corporate Governance values connected to the business vision, and unless they are expressed in a practical way, you will not have good governance.

Company websites are full of values and good words about governance. However, it has been said to me so often that the company values were written by the marketing department, and the governance code was written by the finance team. Seldom has the time been taken to ensure those words are effectively communicated and understood across the organisation.

In order to achieve this goal, the owners and senior team must take the time to explain the real meaning of the governance code in the organisation, and to build this into job descriptions, performance management systems and weekly operational meetings.

Have a written governance action plan

After conducting an indepth governance audit to identify gaps, a clear action plan with 10-15 key milestones should be drafted - usually this is 12-18 months in duration.

This is a separate process from the governance documents – it is focused on the actions necessary to bring the governance framework in line with the needs of the organisation. In turn, this is connected to the business vision.

The Governance Action Plan must be regularly reviewed, at least on a quarterly basis, and tested to ensure it is still valid and realistic.

For each organisation, the elements will be different and each item should have a specific person who is accountable to deliver the outcome. If there is no action plan, there will always be gaps in the governance structure and the staff will not develop a good governance culture.

Ask the reason for resistance

Frequently, there is resistance to change associated with implementing good corporate governance. This can be for many reasons, including fear of change, protecting of power and status, fear of processes and accountability, or worse still,

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.

because there is fraud or selfinterest involved.

Leaders and owners must ask honestly why there is delay or “stickiness” in implementing good governance. There needs to be an open discussion and trust for this to happen most effectively.

They must make the case that good governance increases profits, increases value of the enterprise, brings transparency and consistency in policies, and provides security of employment.

Ultimately, if the case for governance is well made, and your team connects with it personally, then the effective culture will emerge.

Walk the talk

Leaders and owners must display their own behaviours consistently with the governance framework.

If they act or talk in a way that is inconsistent with the governance code, then they are sending this signal to all those around them.

Just like walking past an unsafe act or dangerous situation in the office, project site or factory, ignoring actions in the business that are against the code means you are effectively endorsing that behaviour.

In addition, leaders and owners must talk regularly about governance when they interact at all levels. A good tip is to start weekly operations meetings or monthly management meetings with a short story or key comments about governance and to share the learnings.

Be patient

Psychological research tells us that values and actions only become consistent behaviours until they

Leaders and owners must ask honestly why there is delay or “stickiness” in implementing good governance. There needs to be an open discussion and trust for this to happen most effectively. are practised 21 consecutive times.

That means governance behaviours enter the company culture only after consistently being practised over time by you and the team.

Mistakes are a reality in the process, and leaders must be patient when this happens and take time to explain consequences and support corrective actions.

In conclusion, a strong governance culture takes time to build and it is a key responsibility of the leadership team and owners in SME companies to take the time to make this happen.

It is not about generalities on a website or written documents that nobody understands or lives. Good governance is the outcome of great leadership and a proactive, sincere approach. Start tomorrow and ask the question: “What can I do today to promote a great governance culture?”

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Corporate Governance

SMEs set sights on going public amid new mood of optimism Savvy companies are now looking to employ top notch public relations expertise not only to help manage their listing process, but promote the company's reputation on a continuing basis, explains Mark Fisher.

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s the feel good factor has returned to many sectors of the UAE economy, more SMEs are busy preparing for expansion by considering the option of raising capital on a stock exchange. Some are actively making plans to do so. Among the many reasons driving this trend, valuation plays a significant role.

The FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 index, which tracks share prices

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across all three UAE exchanges, has risen 56% so far this year. Of course, an overall increase in share prices does not guarantee a high valuation for a particular company that might choose to go public soon. But a buoyant market does create a positive environment to introduce an initial public offering (IPO).

In UAE’s economy, the mood of optimism is reflected in the

prospects of many thousands of companies based both inside and outside its free zones. The sectors witnessing active participation range from construction and property to technology and energy, as well as many others. As these companies update their business plans and revenue projections, many are seeing new opportunities for growth that were simply not available in recent years. Seizing

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Corporate Governance these opportunities often requires new sources of funding, and this need is building much of the growing interest in carrying out an IPO. A bank loan may (or may not) be easier to arrange than a few years ago, but the terms are not likely to be very different; whereas the valuation that can be expected from a share issue has, for many companies, changed substantially for the better.

Choosing advisers

Every company that goes public needs good advisors. These can include external accountants and lawyers, as well as an advisory firm or a bank playing a sponsorship role, depending on which exchange is selected. Availability of high quality advice that does not cost the earth is critical for smaller issuers, who rightly wish to keep costs down to a sensible percentage of the capital they wish to raise.

Moving to UAE, the advisory landscape has developed markedly in the past year or so, with more firms focusing their resources and fee structures specifically towards the SME market. IPO candidates, therefore, have an expanding field of advisors to choose from.

NASDAQ Dubai is working closely with many of these advisors to further ease the path of potential issuers towards an exchange listing.

Much of this activity is taking place through the exchange’s SME Advisory Group, which it set up earlier this year as part of its preparations to list more SME and high-growth companies.

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

The FTSE NASDAQ Dubai UAE 20 index, which tracks share prices across all three UAE exchanges, has risen 56% so far this year. Of course, an overall increase in share prices does not guarantee a high valuation for a particular company that might choose to go public soon.

relations expertise not only to help manage a listing itself, but to promote the company's reputation on a continuing basis afterwards.

Governance is another area that companies are focusing on.

Governance requirements vary from exchange to exchange, but the basic principles are similar. They include having a Board of Directors containing appropriate expertise and competence, clear reporting lines within the company, and proper management of finances.

Good corporate governance, like effective public relations, is often given priority by companies specifically in order to achieve a listing; but its positive effects continue to be felt ever afterwards through the efficient manner in which the company is run.

For companies that see listing as a viable option, it’s never too early to find out what needs to be done.

Raising visibility

As more companies look ahead to going public, they are preparing to take full advantage of listed status once it has been achieved. One of the benefits is higher visibility in the minds of business partners and the public, driven by the articles that the media like to write about developments at listed companies such as new business activities and movements in the share price. In the case of a listing on NASDAQ Dubai, this raised profile can be global as well as regional, in line with the exchange's international investor base. Savvy companies are employing top notch public

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Sales & Marketing

Service that sells A recent study has revealed that emotions have six times higher influence on consumers to purchase any product than rationale, explains Zed Ayesh.

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cquiring customers is neither easy nor cheap in an open and competitive market like the UAE. Availability of substitute or alternative products from different parts of the world, coupled with increasing sophistication of consumers makes it even more difficult for companies to relax, as accomplishments are always relative to the next door entrepreneur. And those companies that do not give much emphasis on the quality of service pre- and post-sales are bound to find it extremely difficult to survive the competition in the UAE or the regional markets.

As entrepreneurs, we must recognise the difference between serving and servicing. While starting a new business, a lot of attention is usually given to location, staffing, products and services on sale, accounting

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system, funds, suppliers and competition, but hardly on the degree or level of service to be provided for prospective consumers. In other words, we tend to give hardly any priority to customer satisfaction by ignoring his concerns and questions when making a sale. We hardly make efforts to make a buyer feel good about his purchase by assuring him that he had made the right decision and it was great doing business with him, especially posttransaction.

Several research have shown that emotions have a six times higher influence on consumers to purchase any product compared to rationale, and using this yardstick one can acquire more consumers with excellent odds by providing the best services. Servicing means connecting with your consumers on an emotional level, talking to their feelings and answering

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Sales & Marketing questions. Good service can help develop lasting relationships with your consumers.

Excellence in customer service represents a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs, business owners and managers in this part of the world, as levels of excellence in customer service are low here compared to sophisticated economies. Some entrepreneurs feel that offering higher service levels is an additional cost, which is not untrue. However, what they, probably, are not realising is the benefit that they get out of increased and sustained sales by incurring that additional cost.

What sets apart a market leader for the rest is how one approaches excellence in service in an organisation. Sometimes it is the differentiator between success and failure.

People will always pay a premium if they get good service and are treated well. So, it is easy for a company to ask a premium once it is known as an excellent service provider.

Following are some pointers on how to take customer service a few notch higher than generally one is used to. I hope it helps.

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.

be given special attention. .

You could be using various tools to reach out to your target audience: the first touch point for a customer can be a flyer, a phone call, shop window, signboard, advertisement in the newspaper, sales person at the counter, cashier, hostess, waitress, announcement on the radio, etc.

However, the most important of all these factors is the first human encounter, as it involves feelings, emotions and interaction between a business and customers.

Walking into an organisation, noticing an untidy service person or simply lacking the ability to show customer attention

Take care of small things

Working in the US, I learnt that you should take care of small things and the bigger picture will fall in place on its own. Maintaining cleanliness in a saltshaker on a restaurant table is a small task, but if your customer witnesses a dirty bottle, then he might never return.

Promising a delivery at noon and reaching one hour later might not be a big deal for you because many deliveries have to be made with one truck, but it holds greater value for a customer who has taken a day off from work to receive his parcel. Providing constructive feedback to complaints is also an essential factor in building loyal customer base.

First contact

It is the most important contact between a business and its prospects, leads or customers. The first impression is etched forever in the minds of people you deal with.

So, all customer touch points need

People will always pay a premium if they get good service and are treated well. So, it is easy for a company to ask a premium once it is known as an excellent service provider.

reflects a bad image that can last forever. It even can also be a deciding factor for customers to understand how things progress or not in an organisation; asking the first human contact for things related to the business offering and not getting a clear answer means lost business or lost future opportunities. First impression doesn’t happen twice, it only happens once. So, make sure that you take care of all the small things related to the first contact with your customers, big things will take care of itself.

What’s on offer for the customer

It is critical to demonstrate to customers what special features you have designed for them, what they will get from your business verses competition, what they can do if they don’t receive things as promised by the company. I always ask my clients or my students in entrepreneurial programs at the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Foundation for SMEs: why should the customer choose you over your competitor, entrepreneurs need to give their customers a reason why they should be a part of it?

Be fast:

When dealing customers, quick response can yield more positive results than being correct. The speed of recognising, addressing needs and concerns adds a large value to an organisation’s image. If a customer informs you as a business manager (owner or not) about any issue they experience while doing business with your organisation, the speed and attention of handling this concern makes a big difference between retaining a customer

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Sales & Marketing and losing him forever. In most cases, responsiveness can defuse escalating problems with customers; it also can give stronger push for them to handle unfair requests, besides providing the business an image of strength and confidence.

Exceeding expectations

In most cases, exceeding customers’ expectations doesn’t require much more than paying attention to details, being attentive and responsive to their queries and needs. It also means doing things differently from competition or simply what others do, which could either mean giving little more time to listen better, showing the customer genuine care, demonstrating to the customer that you really care about them and what they are trying to say.

The simplest need to customers in most cases is that they want to be heard, listening to your customer if they are at your place of business or even while doing business with them can make the difference between retaining or losing.

Remind yourself:

As human beings (business managers and business owners), we tend to go through emotional/ mood swings in day-to-day life. However, customers don’t empathise most times. It hardly makes a difference to our customers how we feel, what kind of situation we are dealing with, pressure levels, stress and challenges, but they care about the outcome (product/service).

They need to get what they are paying for, their needs and wants should be fulfilled; they patronise our business to get what we offer them, and, thus, it is up to us that we provide good service in timely fashion, at reasonable price. Also, we must work through whatever situation we are in to achieve this end goal and keep reminding ourselves that we need repeat customers. Whenever things get difficult, tough, and complicated where customers get increasingly demanding, we must remind ourselves again how important it is to provide them with excellent service.

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Taking risks:

We often get worried about our bottom-line numbers, profits, and spend too much time contemplating the losses we have made before thinking of the rewards we could have got.

One should not shy away from taking risks when it comes to providing excellence in customer service- doing a little more, little better- as these seeds will yield fruits over the long-term. Hyundai cars took a risk when it first came out with its cars by guaranteeing one hundred thousand miles; no other automobile manufacturer did anything similar. However, Hyundai’s risk paid off with its high-quality of engineering. .

FedEx took a risk by guaranteeing the next day delivery of packages, when larger/older companies didn’t bother to enter, and, thus, established a whole new business around this concept. Similarly, Wal-Mart took a risk by opening its large size stores in small towns where other bigger retailers didn’t want to take a risk. To become something bigger, entrepreneurs need to take risks: what if a small laundry shop took a risk by offering guarantee on next day delivery or the quality of dry clean, what if a doctor took a risk by offering his patient to see them in thirty minutes or less, what if a car wash offered its customers with pick-up and delivery of their cars.

Spread the word:

If you are doing something good and you are successful, you should talk about it. If you are providing excellence in customer service and your customers are happy, you need to talk about it too. If you are doing something different, you need to talk about it.

If you are taking risks, you need to talk about it. Entrepreneurs need to spread the word about their business, their success stories, they need to advertise about how they are making a difference, how they are doing things differently and how all that helping customers is helping them in return. We all love success stories, we all like winners, it is up to you to make your story count.

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Leadership

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Vision

Communication

Bridging the chasm between conception and execution Possessing a great idea or vision is a start, but bringing those concepts to life is the true measure of leadership, writes Neil Petch.

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ew topics have been more passionately debated in business schools and business circles than leadership. A search on Amazon alone shows some 16,090 books on this particular subject. While there has not been much consensus on the nature of ‘leadership’ itself,

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over the years, both scholars and highly regarded business figures have outlined and examined the key characteristics of ‘leadership’; basically the manner in which leadership manifests.

Having a great idea or a great vision is a start, but bringing those concepts to life is the

measure of true leadership. In the simplest of terms, it’s the ability to successfully execute an idea and create a viable business venture that separates the dreamers from the leaders. When money is tight, stress levels are high and success is not an immediate reality, it’s the leadership characteristics that

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Intelligent SME

Leadership come into play.

I, personally, think that a good leader is made. No one starts off as an effective leader! It takes constant work and learning, and the will to improve your skills and better yourself every day. It’s about communication, vision and planning, knowing when to take risks, team-building and motivation, delegating responsibility, and much more.

Here are some key lessons I learnt, that could be a valuable reference for SMEs and start-ups:

Set your vision and your objectives

You know the reasons why you set up your business: you wanted to be your own boss and do things your way; you wanted to be the first in the market place with a new product or a service, etc. But where do you head from hereon? What do you aim to accomplish in the next 5–10 years? Knowing the answers to these questions and articulating them is as important as the reasons that brought you here.

Assemble the A-Team and learn to delegate

You can never do it on your own. So go ahead and assemble the best team you can get to help you realize your vision. Know their weaknesses and strengths, and learn to trust them with your vision. Learn to delegate. It is one of the most important skills you can develop as your business grows. The key to delegating is knowing what each team member is best at and what they like doing best. This will not only prove you trust and believe in the people you have hired, but will also free up your time.

Neil Petch is Chairman of Virtugroup, the holding company behind Virtuzone, one of the most dynamic and fastest growing company set-up operators in the region.

to maintain a positive, upbeat environment. If you are constantly learning to find the upside in your struggles, your work environment will be a healthy one that your team look forward to working in, even when it gets harder. Just remember, your key goal is to keep everyone working and moving ahead.

Communication

Ask 100 business leaders if they are good communicators, and, without a doubt all 100 of them think they are the greatest communicators! But, it takes a lot of practice to learn effective communication. Knowing what you want accomplished may seem clear in your head, but try explaining it to someone else. Being able to clearly, succinctly and efficiently describe what you want is a key skill. If you can’t relate your vision to your team, chances are you will not be able to reach your vision, just frustration!

Remember communication needs to be a two–way process

too. Make sure you enable lines of communication in the office.

Whether you have an open door policy, or you make it a point to talk to your team on a regular basis, make sure you are engaging with your team and you don’t build up any distance. I personally opt for weekly meetings with my team where we can discuss issues they want to bring up, and brief morning meetings on a daily basis where we focus on issues at hand, and daily tasks that need to be carried out.

Intuition

Despite all the planning, running a business entails uncertainty and risk taking. Some decisions will not always be so clear-cut. You may be forced at times to deviate from your set course and make a decision on the spot. This is where your intuition has to kick in. So keep on learning!

There’s no better school than your own experiences and the lessons you take along the way!

Good morale and confidence

Let’s face it; things are never going according to plan! Your server and website will crash, you will lose that major client, or your funds will dry up. Maintaining a good morale among the team in time of crisis is vital. Good morale breeds confidence and impacts on productivity too. You need to be able to guide your team through the issue without panicking, or at least not showing your panic.

Morale is linked to productivity, and it’s your job as the team leader

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Leadership

Leadership Trust: The Ten Million Dollar Question Business men who go out of their way to under-promise and overdeliver will quickly establish valuable deposits of trust in the 'Karmic Bank of Reputation', elaborates Michael J Tolan.

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tourist gets stopped on a busy sidewalk by a street seller, who whispers that they possess some authentic brand watches, and a purchase made right at the moment would help in earning an 80% discount. Are you ready to buy the watch or the story?

One of the most valuable assets

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and irreplaceable commodities any business can manufacture in the market today, which is neither silver nor gold, but something more precious, trust.

The entrepreneur, who’s built an army of clients, supporters, employees and followers from every corner of the globe, will undoubtedly spend time to

build the bridge of reliable integrity. Although many brand experts agree that trust is the number one factor in consumer buyer confidence, while some entrepreneurs remain experimental with the whole honestly topic to their own peril.

As the mature business owner realises that their management

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Intelligent SME

Leadership and staff are indeed their partners, devoted to the survival, growth and prosperity of the ship, they are quick to realise and practice with responsibility the importance of keeping their promises.

Recent market research indicates that 28% of employees attributed lack of trust in their boss or broken promises as one of the key reasons for switching jobs.

Disappointment was caused by lack of follow through on promotion possibilities, bonuses, time off, workspace seem to top the list, followed by outright betrayal of confidence, ruthless behaviour and outright lying.

Employees will never sleep safe and sound when the alarm bells have gone off that they are working for a person or company who’s not trustworthy, especially since they themselves have been entrusting their future welfare to the same people.

The brand of the effective leader in today’s business must surely include reliability as a shining part of the DNA of their character and leadership style.

Reliability in this sense is a synonym for trustworthiness.

Business owners who go out of their way to under-promise and over-deliver will quickly build valuable deposits of trust in the ‘Karmic Bank of Reputation’ from the street. As trustworthy abundance begins to build, the benefits will also begin to roll in, almost as if a waterfall had been turned on. The flow of creditors making more convenient payment terms will be one bell mark sign, the retention of employees who now proudly cling to their ship that reward them with reciprocal trust, and customers who know openly place their confident trust in the enterprise.

So why do so many people feel cheated, deceived, disappointed after working for a company or dealing with a particular business?

Well, for one, there are certifiably people throughout the world that would rather take shortcuts on the road to profit at the expense of employees or customers. Consumer protection

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).

Recent market research indicates that 28% of employees attributed lack of trust in their boss . groups cannot always prevent dishonest or unscrupulous dealers from operating when their intentions have already demonstrated non –compliance to the general code of ethics.

Joining trade associations that regulate best practices and behaviours will be one signal to the market that your business cares about people, customers, the industry and the future responsibly. However, company leaders who wear the badge of trust in their everyday behaviour, consistently and with irrevocable persistence will prosper long after the short cut over -promises have been shut down, abandoned or forced to leave the market.

The standard for trust, reliability, consistency, honestly must come from the leader of the business and trickle into the entire ecosystem of the organization.

We have all heard stories of the employee that said they could not come to work because of their uncle’s funeral, only to be unmasked as a charade when the uncle actually turns up at the office a few days later looking for them.

So how do employers protect themselves from the everyday practice of white (seemingly harmless) lies from employees?

Excuses for tardiness, absenteeism, failure to meet deadlines, answer emails, and return calls are created with some of the most incredible artistic talent, daily.

However, if the head of the company is resolute and has set the standard of fairness and honesty, they will do best to create a low or no tolerance policy that will shun anyone away from the team or company in order to protect the sanitation of quality grown honesty that their brand wears proudly.

This priceless quality is far too valuable to be taken lightly, and as a result, once lost, can seldom be restored.

In the simplest terms, the promises we make are very similar to bank checks that businesses write. They must be cashed.

Breaking a promise to employees, suppliers, and clients is similar to bouncing a check. People want to believe that the word of others is reliable and are motivated by the hope that they can count on their bosses’ word.

The domino effect that works its downward spiral on brand and management reputation is brutally contagious. Therefore, the hazards are clearly to be avoided at all costs. If one thinks that they may fall short of a promise made to a customer, supplier, vendor or member of the team, the best way to avoid nuclear fallout is proactive accountability.

Instead of playing the blame game, allow people to understand that you take responsibility as if it is actually a check you need to honour. No one expects anyone to be perfect, however, demonstrating personal accountability prevails when your word is given will usher in massive respect for you personally and imbue you and your company with sterling integrity. Ask any honest businessperson who has survived for over 10 years in business if they would be willing to risk taking a dishonest shortcut, which could result in them losing their reputation.

Not even for 10,000,000 Dollars. True story!

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Intelligent Workshops Workshop on e-Commerce strategy Andy O'Sullivan Head of operations, Innovate Payments

11.09.2013

Workshop on Optimizing Social Media Farrukh Naeem Digital strategist Andy O'Sullivan, head of operations, Innovate Payments, addresses key challenges in developing e-commerce strategies for customer demands.

11.09.2013

Farrukh Naeem, digital strategist, shared free takeaways list for business owners to hit the centre-stage nationally and globally by tweeting, facebooking, and youtubing their way to success.

Attendees involved in developing and lead on their own during the networking break.

Approximately 100 attendees gathered to participated in discussions and listening to the keynote addresses on the challenges and contributions of eCommerce platforms and the usage of social media in business optimisation.

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Emirates NBD Global Business Series 8th Edition Tony Jashanmal Executive Director Jashanmal group.

27.08.2013

Speaking about the early years of life, Tony Jashanmal, executive director, Jashanmal group, stated that his grandfather's principles, thoughts and values contributed to a large extent in shaping his ideals and vision.

He emphasized that a company's growth is directly proportional to a society's development.

In the context of his rich family business, he elaborated on how being a specialist in a trade, expansion and developing with the society's needs rather than being a jack of all trades has helped them construct a rich legacy.

Receiving an overwhelming response from the SMEs, the up-close and personal session offered insights on finer nuances of family-run business, distribution, financing, ethic, et al.

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Emirates NBD Global Business Series 9th Edition Gerald Lawless President, Jumeirah Group.

18.09.2013

Taking a trip of a lifetime, Gerald shared his life's journey from schooling years, arriving in Dubai, to heading one of the prestigious luxury hotel company.

Highlighting an 'everybody' concept, Gerald Lawless, president and group chief executive officer, Jumeirah Group, endorsed the strong public-private partnership as one of key reasons for Dubai's success.

It's important to reflect the essence of the community in the hotels and surroundings, he elaborated while discussing the factors representing brand Jumeirah.

A packed house of over 200 attendees engaged and savoured every moment of the session, which provided a one-of-its-kind platform to gain insights from a man who has redefined luxury and architecture in Dubai.

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IT’S HUGE IT’S LARGEST

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EVENT

SME Expo:

Business Olympics:

The main highlight would be the Expo, with over 150 exhibitors being divided into different sections.

Keynote Conferences:

The coveted Business Olympics will witness close to 40 corporate teams vying for ultimate glory through strategy and team building games.

Deal Lounge:

The event will kick off with a keynote delivered by a noted industry billionaire amidst thousands of entrepreneurs, participants and media.

Interested in a service you see, sign-up on the spot. A separate dedicated deal lounge to give you a serene environment for well-planned and strategic deal closures.

Speed Networking: An exclusive brainchild of the Intelligent SME, Speed Networking puts 300 qualified sellers to pitch their proposals in front of 100 qualified buyers.

Haute Couture: Stunning fashion shows showcasing Haute Couture by designers from UAE, popular personalities, glamorous celebrities from UAE as show stoppers.

“Book your booths today” info@spiholding.net www.smeworld.ae

Excel awards: The Summit will pay homage to the excellence of pioneers across different fields and their achievements.

Workshops: Sessions by top consultancy firms from all over the world to oversee numerous workshops related to latest technological trends in business.

TRAVEL & TOURISM ADVERTISING ADVOCATES & LEGAL FINANCIAL CONSULTANTS ISO CERTIFICATION WEB DEVELOPMENT & CONSULTING HOSPITALITY COMPUTERS FREIGHT FORWARDING & SHIPPING HR CONSULTANTS IMAGE CONSULTANCY SECURITY PROVIDERS SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANTS SOFTWARE INSURANCE PROVIDERS REAL ESTATE

INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR DESIGN AUTO RENTALS

International Certifications

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Company formation/ Start-up consultants

Interior Design

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Intelligent SME

Column

The cultural edge Utpal Bhattacharya argues why it is important to spend time to understand the local culture before bidding for a job in a new country.

S

ometimes we forget that after winning a contract we have to execute it to the expectations of the client and as per the promise we made in writing. Sometimes, as a contractor we take advantage of a situation or the goodness of a client and forget that not executing a contract to the expectation of a client is the beginning of an end to a number of things, including relationships, reputation and in extreme cases to businesses.

Recently I had the privilege of sitting with a self-made billionaire local businessman in the UAE who was comparing a scenario, where both client and contractor were benefiting, to a scenario where either one party was happy or when both were unhappy after a contract was awarded. He was saying that when both parties are happy, the dealings between client and customer becomes simple and the delivery inevitably satisfying, while in a scenario where either one of the parties are not happy, it becomes trial for everybody, leading to much unhappiness and negative ramifications for future.

There are a number of reasons why a client-contractor relationship can turn sour after a contract is awarded. But one of the classical ones is when a contractor tries to cut corners to save on costs; and another one is when a contractor is not paid on time or at completion of milestones. The UAE businessman was explaining how when he had given a contract for erection to an overseas company, he found out that this company had employed tractors to move

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Unless one is fully aware as to what a local market wants, one should be cautious in soliciting business. and pull stuff rather than using modern machinery. He said that trying to be penny wise and pound foolish not only reduces a contractor’s efficiency, but it could also lead to termination of the contract midway, as it happened in his case. The lesson learnt from this event by the employer, the local businessman, was not to employ a contractor that did not have local working exposure.

One should not be carried away if an overseas, reputed firm, with no local experience, gives a lower quote for a job compared to those from the local ones, he advised.

In fact, that should trigger a number of questions in the minds of the executive management of a prospective employer, he felt.

This is one of the reasons why tenders ask for previous and local experience in most countries.

For newcomers, it always feels unfair; but there is, probably,

Summing up

no other way that an employer can be protected from the risks of employing an unqualified contractor. For new comers into a local market, it is always advisable to spend some time understanding a local culture before trying to bid for contracts. Unless one is fully aware as to what a local market wants, one should be cautious in soliciting business.

The managing director of a large EPC company once told me that if by fate or fortune someone wins a contract in a foreign country in the first bid, then something that will go wrong is waiting round the corner, unless one takes ample precautions for that not to happen. He also advised that the best way to go about while trying to expand overseas is through local joint ventures or operate through consortiums in the beginning, even if it means sharing revenues, as it reduces risks of operations or sacking midway; it also increases the chances of getting jobs and be properly guided by partners that are adept with the local work culture.