The intelligent SME issue 25 by SPI Publishing

Issue: 25 | April - May 2015 facebook.com/theintelligentsme linkedin.com/company/spi-holding @intelligentsme

All set for a Global Conquest Ajay Bindroo, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner at Clasico Brands

SME World Summit 2015

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Contents April- May 2015

09 Rare & Fabulous

High-end luxury products for CEOs and decision makers.

18 A strategic game changer

Gracing the Emirates NBD Global Business Series, Mr. Bindroo shares his journey from being a marketing person to a young entrepreneur and making a mark in the industry by taking it to the next level.

24 SME World Summit 2015

Celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship…

SME World Summit is a platform to provide visibility, recognition and knowledge sharing for SMEs. SMEs gather to exchange ideas, explore business opportunities, network with peers and engage with top notch decision makers.

32 Options to grow a business beyond the start-up phase

There are thousands of SMEs operating within the UAE that have been trading for over ten years, which means that there is a sustainable market for their products or services. However, the reality is that while the owners of such businesses work very hard, very few get the rewards that they probably deserve, and that’s a shame!

34 Business Transformation - a way forward to refresh & re-build the market positioning

Every business needs transformation to remain relevant and competitive. Market opportunities come and go, and what worked in the past may no longer work in the future. In today’s competitive era, every organization is facing the critical challenge on; “How to stay Competitive & continuously re-create its market positioning”?

Contents April- May 2015

44 Keeping SMEs out of the

36 Inch wide, mile deep

Why is talent overrated? Talent actually means nothing like what we think. It’s just a natural myth of an individual and differs from one to another. What exactly is seen is the performance of the individuals in their respective areas.

‘danger zone’

38 The satisfaction conundrum

What is it with satisfaction? Should one be dissatisfied at all times if one wants to achieve a lot? Many people would say that they use dissatisfaction as a motivator. They live by the maxim that one should never be satisfied with what one has and that is the only way to achieve more in life. While this model works, there is a very big problem with it.

40 Instagram: A platform for small businesses in 2015

Whilst the fundamentals of marketing remain the same, the social media landscape changes and evolves constantly. Hence, small businesses need to step up their social marketing presence, get ahead of the trends and anticipate where their next big customer connection opportunity may be. In 2015, that opportunity is Instagram. TishTash shares a few tips to get you ready to post, hashtag and engage like a pro.

42 Danger zones for SMEs

Small businesses fail for many reasons that are largely misunderstood, not least by SMEs and their entrepreneurs. Though more and more SMEs are launching every year, most end up shutting their doors, many of them within the first year of operation. The number one reason for their failure is running out of money, and being unable to obtain further financing to remain in operation.

46 DSP for Leaders: The blinding truth behind advanced decision making

Is there a direct correlation between a good leader and a great leader based on how they manage their gifts of sight, hearing and abilities to speak? Just put your head around this for a moment to imagine a leader without vision.

48 Leadership agility – from good to great?

SME has become one of the vital sectors that majorly contributes to the economy. Ms. Anjuli through her article guides the SMEs with best practices to run their business successfully and smoothly.

What are the first words that come to your mind when thinking of leadership? Drive? Determination? Assertiveness? Confidence? Oxford English Dictionary defines Leadership as “the activity of leading a group or an organization”.

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EDITOR’S NOTE The vibrant Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) are propelling the economic growth of the country and are accountable to majorly contribute to the economy in 2015. Several banks and lending platforms identified this segment as a key strategic focus in the coming years due to its high performance last year. Most of the banks are allocating more funds and have developed special policies for SMEs to boost its vitality to reinforce a flourishing economy. According to the latest data disclosed by UAE’s Ministry of Economy, SMEs contribute an estimated 40 to 46 per cent of nominal GDP in Dubai, and over 60 per cent of the UAE’s GDP. They also host majority of employment opportunities in the country and provide 86 per cent of all private sector employment. With UAE’s flourishing SME sector, The Intelligent SME (ISME) magazine witnessed a high performance growth and is rated as a best magazine among the readers and contributors. The magazine is popular among the business community due to its phenomenal reach, cutting edge editorial content and successful events drawing thousands of people. The April-May is our special issue because we carry the glimpse of the second edition of the SME World Summit 2015 held on 18th & 19th March 2015 at Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The summit was well attended by industry experts, decision makers, government officials and known dignitaries from diverse sectors. SME World Summit is a platform to listen to global thought leaders, engage with decision makers and celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship through panel discussions, workshops, exhibitions and beyond.

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Publisher & CEO Shantanu A.P. Account Director Vijay G. Asst. Editor Jinal Chheda Asst. Editor Audrey Fernandes Expert Contributors Ashish Patel Craig Moore Michael J. Tolan Ms. Anjuli PK Menon Sachin Thombare Sandi Saksena

Salma El Shurafa & Veronique Ademar Simon Hodges TishTash Art Director Aneesh Varghese Designer Retheesh Viswanath Web Developer Raj Shekar Reddy Project Coordinator Khushbu Ranjan Response and communications

Lastly the current issue covers the motivational, inspirational articles from our contributors on various areas like marketing, finance, leadership, insurance etc. Also the issue becomes an interesting read with a special feature on “What are the danger zone for SMEs?” followed by an interview with Mr. Ajay Bindroo (CEO & Managing partner, Clasico Brands) who shares his great insights experiences and challenges as entrepreneur, at the Emirates NBD Global Business Series.

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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.

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

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

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

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Rare & Fabulous

Hyundai Veloster Turbo 2016 enters Middle East in full swing H

yundai’s eccentric, youthfocused Veloster Turbo features bold design, cutting edge technology and high powered performance The Hyundai Veloster Turbo 2016 has arrived in the Middle East shifting the Korean manufacturers’ model portfolio into top gear. Offering the sportiness of a coupé with the roominess of a sedan, the new edition will offer customer Hyundai’s signature driving experience through a high powered engine and a selection of savvy specifications and technological infotainment features. Tom Lee, Vice President and Head of Hyundai Africa and Middle East Regional Headquarters, said: “It is with great delight that we welcome the new Veloster Turbo to our Middle East portfolio. It brings new levels of sportiness to our fleet and represents the latest vehicle to feature our ‘Fluidic Sculpture’ design language and is set to make waves across the region.” Under the bonnet the Veloster Turbo houses a seven-speed dual clutch gearbox featuring shiftronic automatic technology for increased power. With a maximum output of 204 horsepower from a 1.6-liter turbo four-cylinder engine this new model is set to take pole position on the region’s roads. To deliver a sportier ride the Turbo

features modified front suspension, featuring gas-filled hydraulic monotube shock absorbers while the Motor-Driven Power Steering (MDPS) has been tuned for increased steering response. When taking a corner, large front and rear stabilizer bars are in place to reduce body roll and improve handling and control. Additional Hyundai performance features include Torque Vectoring Control (TVC) which enhances vehicle stability and safety and the seven-speed EcoShift® Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) with steeringwheel-mounted paddle shifters which incorporate the latest technology while delivering smooth and efficient power. The bold design of this new edition features a stealth 3rd door, striking LED headlight accents and raking contour lines which make Veloster Turbo instantly recognisable. Standard features also include standard 18-inch alloy wheels with 10mm-wider fitted tires, a chrome-tipped dual exhaust, sporty bodykit and a special wide-mouthed grille. The Veloster Turbo’s unique 3-door

design with glass rear hatch and optional panoramic sunroof gives the interior a spacious feel. As passengers are supported by new sportier front seats they can enjoy being surrounded by a sport-bikeinspired dashboard detailed with intricate Turbo stitching. Once on board passengers can take advantage of advanced in-car technology via Hyundai’s class-leading multimedia 7 inch touchscreen which allows easy access technology at the touch of a button. The Veloster Turbo, as with all Hyundai models has an exceptional level of standard safety features as highlighted by the Vehicle Stability Management (VSM) system. This is in place so that when a driver accelerates or brakes on a difficult surface and the vehicle wants to pull in one direction VSM detects this condition and sends a signal to the MDPS to apply steering assist to counter this force. VSM reacts the same way during sudden lane changes or fast cornering. This dynamic model puts safety first by featuring six airbags and a state-of-the-art braking package which includes four-wheel disc brakes and an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) including Brake Assist, which provides maximum force when a panic stop is detected. This system is supported by Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD), to automatically adjust the braking force to front and rear axles based on vehicle loading conditions.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Rare & Fabulous

Shoot, view and share with LEGRIA HF R series C anon unveils three new camcorders in the LEGRIA HF R Series – the LEGRIA HF R68, LEGRIA HF R66 and LEGRIA HF R606. Perfect for capturing and sharing special family moments in stunning Full HD quality, the new camcorders make it easy for everyone to shoot creative movies to be enjoyed time and time again.

Capture moments you cherish

Combining Canon’s Full HD video system with a high-quality DIGIC DV4 processor, the new camcorders ensure you capture your favourite family moments – from holidays, to parties or school events – with outstanding detail. Featuring a 32x optical zoom lens with a 57x advanced zoom, the models provide the freedom to shoot a diverse range of scenes and subjects both near and far. You’ll never lose track of your

family when using the powerful zoom, thanks to Zoom Framing Assist. Simply hold the dedicated search button and the camcorder automatically pans out to help you relocate your subject, before zooming in again. You’re guaranteed each shot will always be crystal clear, with Intelligent IS automatically reducing camera shake, giving you the confidence to zoom in on the action as it happens. To help you fit more into every shot – such as big groups at family gatherings, or sweeping vistas on holiday – the LEGRIA HF R68 includes a new Wide Attachment lens which can be quickly mounted on the camera to shorten the focal length to 26.9mm, widening the camcorder’s overall view.

Fun for the whole family

Adding a creative twist to movies is quick and simple thanks to a range of new and easy-to-use recording modes.

With slow motion recording you can cut speeds by 1/2x – ideal for capturing and reliving every detail of a child’s first goal – or speed up events by up to 1200x, great for a quick recap of holiday sunsets, or adventurous drives. To help you easily document precious family moments, videos shot in Baby Mode are automatically saved to a dedicated album, allowing seamless playback of your footage, ready to share with loved ones. To make sure your memories are safe against accidental deletion, the file lock function can disable the ability to delete or edit files, so your favourite moments can be viewed by children without risk.

Share the memories you’ve recorded

Once you’ve captured all the day’s events they can easily be shared to other devices via NFC compatibility¹, including smartphones, tablets and Canon’s newly announced Connect Station CS100. It’s also easy to upload content to social sites and cloud services, for instant sharing with people around the world. Additionally, the LEGRIA HF R606 is compatible with FlashAir² SD cards – allowing you to share, store and play your footage on your smartphone or tablet, without a dedicated internet connection.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Rare & Fabulous

Casio steers on an innovative path, unveils a Lamp-free projector X J-V1 will bring benefits of lamp-free design within reach of wide market segment Casio, pioneers of Laser and LED hybrid light sources for projectors introduces the unique XJ-V1 Lamp-Free Projector that will for the first time bring consumers the benefits of path-breaking lamp-free design technology at an affordable price. The next-generation XJ-V1, with a high-brightness quotient of 2700 lumens, is ideal for all those who need a bright projector for both business and educational needs. The innovative projector, which will be on view for the first time in the Middle East, at the upcoming Global Education Supplies and Solutions Exhibition in Dubai later this month, will hit the market in the second quarter of 2015. "With the XJ-V1 becoming available the regional markets, it will bring the benefits of affordable lampfree design to a whole new segment of the market. The new projector is ideal for both educational institutions and commercial operations and we expect a good response from prospective customers across the Middle East," said Tsuneo Nagai, Managing Director of Casio Middle East. Since developing a Laser & LED Hybrid Light Source that enables high-brightness projection without using a high-pressure mercury lamp, Casio released its first projector equipped with that design in 2010. Since then, Casio has continued to hold a leading share of the market for Laser & LED hybrid light source projectors, and as a market pioneer currently holds an 87.8% share. High-brightness projectors equipped with Laser &

LED hybrid light sources were until now restricted to the high end of the projector market due to their advanced technology. Casio has successfully developed a lamp-free projector at an affordable price, made possible by designing a new light source and projection lens among other innovations. The XJ-V1 promises to finally make Laser & LED hybrid projectors accessible to a much wider user base. Casio has designed the XJ-V1 so that users can easily replace their projectors equipped with a conventional high-pressure mercury lamp. The XJ-V1 mostly mounts using existing universal standard ceiling mount hardware to minimize investment and installation labor, meaning that the projector can be used the very day it arrives. The body has been refined to resist dust and further shield the light source, in consideration of dusty environments. With a Laser & LED hybrid light source that has a lifespan of 20,000 hours without needing to replace a lamp, and drawing approximately half the power, the XJ-V1 offers superior value with a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than a projector equipped with a high-pressure mercury lamp. Unlike a high-pressure mercury lamp, there is no wait time for the light source to become bright, nor is there a need for a cool-down period before turning the projector on again. The XJ-V1 reaches a maximum brightness in as fast as 5 seconds from the time the power is switched on. The projector completely powers off with just a touch of the button, and can be used right away when powered back on.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Rare & Fabulous

New OSN Wwe® Network Hd launched W WE Network will now be available in the Middle East and North Africa exclusively through OSN, the leading payTV network in the region, as a premium, linear channel cobranded as OSN WWE Network HD. The launch of the channel, included in OSN’s Platinum HD package, comes just before WWE’s biggest event of the year, WrestleMania®, which airs live on Monday, March 30, at 3am GST. OSN WWE Network HD offers one-of-a-kind programming including all 12 WWE pay-perview events live at no additional charge, groundbreaking original series, including Legends’ House and Monday Night War® and reality shows including Total Divas™. Additional programming includes documentaries, classic matches and exclusive coverage of special events. “OSN has a long-standing relationship with WWE, and we are now expanding that relationship further by launching OSN WWE Network HD exclusively in the region,” said Andy Warkman, OSN Vice President, Sport and

Production. “This is great news for WWE fans in the Middle East and North Africa.” “As WWE’s popularity continues to soar, we have expanded our footprint in the region, adding more live events, television programming and now, OSN WWE Network HD,” said Gerrit Meier, WWE Executive Vice President, International. “WWE is committed to growing our brand globally and bringing the WWE experience to our many passionate fans around the world.” The all-new OSN WWE Network HD channel will be available free of charge beginning today through Sunday, March 29, via OSN. On Monday, March 30, subscribers to the OSN Platinum HD package will automatically receive the channel. Non-Platinum HD package subscribers will have the option to upgrade to the package to enjoy the channel, or they can select it as an add-on for only US$9.99 per month. In addition, all subscribers to OSN WWE Network HD will have access to special WWE video-on-demand programming in their OSN Plus HD Box.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Get Informed

Free Zone local gate pass system launched by DWC

n line with its commitment to apply advanced solutions and transform into a smart city, the Logistics District at Dubai World Central announced the launch of a modern electronic system that regulates the process of issuing entry permits of local goods to the free zone and reduces the time necessary to issue these permits. The activation of the new system comes in line with DWC’s commitment to applying smart solutions across all of its districts, corresponding to Dubai’s strategy which was launched last year by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to transform Dubai into a smart city. DWC’s Logistics District is the first free zone in Dubai to invest time and money in developing such a smart system, in cooperation with Dubai Customs and Dubai Trade and exploring customers’ feedback to learn their needs and determine the best new technologies that will enhance the efficiency and speed in issuing permits for the entry, storage and exit of local goods to and from the free zone. "We are proud to be the first free zone to launch this advanced

electronic system and contribute to the transformation of Dubai into a smart city. We extend our gratitude to Dubai Customs and Dubai Trade for their valuable contribution and active role in the success of this new smart system that provides a range of electronic services through an integrated and user-friendly website designed to facilitate a smooth flow of transactions,

Mohsen Ahmad, Vice President of the Logistics District at DWC

meet all customer requirements and achieve optimum customer satisfaction," said Mohsen Ahmad, Vice President of the Logistics District at DWC. "There were some issues in controlling and following-up on the entry, storage and exit of goods to and from the free zone. Now, the new smart system offers unprecedented smoothness in the inventory and monitoring of goods electronically and the ease of issuing entry permits online around the clock. To enter the free zone, customers need only to present the number of the entry permit they get when registering online," Ahmad added. Abdullah Mohammed Al Khaja, Executive Director of Clients Management Division at Dubai Customs, said: "We are delighted to cooperate with DWC in launching this new smart system that will provide us with more control over local goods entering the free zone for temporary storage, assembly, distribution or re-export. The system will also simplify the process of issuing entry permits, avoiding the possible loss of the necessary documents or entry permits, which used to be issued manually. Al Khaja stressed that Dubai Customs is keen on strengthening ties of partnership and cooperation with all its strategic partners, in line with government initiatives, including the strategy to make Dubai the world’s smartest city, which was launched a year ago by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. As part of its efforts towards achieving the goal of transforming Dubai World Central into a smart and sustainable city, DWC is committed to strengthening ties of cooperation with government entities, especially in designing and developing services and electronic systems that aim to keep up with the growing demand from customers and government stakeholders for modern technologies and smart solutions.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Get Informed

Inspire, empower & encourage, UAE youth to choose science as career

hink Science Ambassadors Programme inspiring leaders of tomorrow Science, technology and innovation are vitally important to the future of the UAE. However lack of means deprive the Emirati youths from cultivating and horning their interest in science. Educating the youth and triggering a curiosity in scientific careers is a vital step towards building the UAE’s youth capacity and enabling them to become the next generation of world leaders and decision makers. Research shows that many professional scientists can point to an experience that inspired them to enter a career in science. Role models are also known to play a critical role in building and sustaining student interest in science and science careers, as well as changing perceptions of scientists. For this reason, aspirational mentors, with strong experience in the industry, are vital to pass on accurate information and career guidance to help young Emiratis understand the world of work, choose their preferred path and seamlessly transition from school to employment. "A surprising number of students have little interest in science believing that most scientists are men in lab coats carrying out mundane tasks,” says Maytha Al Habsi, Chief Programmes Officer at the Emirates Foundation. “Through the Think Science Ambassadors Programme we aim to provide youth with that critical spark by introducing them to role models in the field. By connecting with mentors, and exposing youth to different extracurricular activities in science, we enable these young people to see the world of science through the eyes of their peers and learn just how exciting and rewarding a career in science can be.” The Think Science Ambassador

Programme inspires and encourages young scientists, aged between 15 and 24, in recognition that the path to a sustainable future for the UAE lies in the power of talented youth. As role models mentors are empowered to encourage further exploration and development of knowledge, analytical thinking and skills in their peers as they cooperate to solve local and global technological issues. At Intel ISEF, awards are based on students’ abilities to tackle challenging scientific questions, use authentic research practices, and create solutions for the problems of tomorrow, where doctoral level scientists review and judge their work. Think Science Ambassadors are equally motivated by their fascination with the world and their commitment to the empowerment of young potential scientists. Hayat Abu Alhassan said, “The Think Science Ambassadors Project has opened doors for us, connecting us to the right people from the global technology community. Our success at ISEF signifies that hard work and the determination to succeed will soon see the UAE attain leadership in science and we are proud to be part of the story.” The Think Science programme was launched in September 2012 as part of Emirates Foundation’s efforts to inspire and encourage UAE youth to embrace careers in science. It aims to inspire, encourage, and empower Emirati youth to choose science as a field of study and career path and respond to the nation’s demand for science talents. Think Science has a threepronged strategy in its goal of helping young Emiratis fulfil their potential in the field of science and respond to the nation’s demand for science talents. In addition to the Think Science Ambassadors Programme, the “Think Science Connect” is an

interactive platform connecting young people who are interested in science with representatives from science-related industries, creating a database of Emirati science talents accessible to relevant key stakeholders. “Think Science Competition” is a nationwide science competition that engages UAE youth to develop, design and build science-based innovations that respond to society’s most pressing needs. Think Science Fair is an annual fair held under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Emirates Foundation, which attracts thousands of young people coming from different schools and universities, parents, academics, investors and private sector representatives to a platform where the youth showcase their brain power and innovations in the field of science and technology. It comprises the Think Science Competition were youth compete and display their innovations, and interactive hands-on activities in Science, Engineering, Oil and Gas, Energy, Aviation and Technology sectors provided by think Science Connect participants. The Think Science Fair is one of the biggest events of its kind in the region and encourages cooperation and interaction between young scientists and science and technology business sector. This year’s Think Science Fair will take place from 5-7 May at Dubai World Trade Centre. The exhibition programme includes capacity building workshops, motivational sessions and scientific entertainment focusing on physics and chemistry to develop youth’s science skills. It also features panel sessions, which help competition entrants upgrade their inventions and transform them into investment projects with a social value.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Business Announcements

Best private bank for philanthropy and social Impact investing - Emirates NBD

mirates NBD, a leading bank in the Middle East, has been named “Best Private Bank in the UAE for Philanthropy and Social Impact Investing” by preeminent international finance magazine Euromoney. The awards were presented at the 2015 Euromoney Private Banking Awards Dinner in London. On presenting Emirates NBD with the award, Clive Horwood, Editor of Euromoney Magazine, noted: “Each year through our survey the industry recognizes the brightest and the best institutions in global Private Banking. In a challenging and competitive market, this year’s winners have continued to invest in the people and resources necessary to service their clients’ needs. “Social impact investing, the art of putting money to work for both profit and positive social impact, is still in its infancy as an industry, but it has the potential to become part of the fabric of financial markets. Through

the survey respondents, Emirates NBD won the award in recognition of its commitment to driving this industry forward.” Speaking on the award win, Saod Obaidalla, Head of Private Banking for the Gulf Region at Emirates NBD, said: “Emirates NBD is among the first banks in the region to recognise the power of impact investing. The private banking team is committed to furthering this concept among clients that will better serve the community while providing a healthy return on investment.” Emirates NBD Private Banking division is currently the leading private bank in the UAE, and has several achievements to its credit. The Private Banking division has expanded regionally and internationally with dedicated Emirates NBD Private Banking centres being established in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London, Riyadh and Singapore. Since its establishment in 2007, Private Banking has achieved significant growth in combined assets and liabilities, as well as in client portfolios. Regarded as the benchmark awards for the global private banking industry, the Euromoney Private Banking Awards are now in their 12th year. The survey provides a qualitative and quantitative review of the best services in private banking, by region and by areas of service. It is an informative guide for high networth individuals on the range of professional wealth management service providers that are available. Factors such as assets under management, profitability, ratio of clients to relationship managers, and services offered, among other things, are all considered in developing the ranking of top private banks.

MoI provides driving licens via smart App

he Ministry of Interior (MoI) has launched a driving license issuance service via its app UAE MoI. The new app is to benefit those who have passed their driving tests through the federal traffic and registration system. Major General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, Chairman of the Ministry of Interior’s E-transformation Higher

Committee, said that this service is among a suite of services that the MoI has provided for the public that require the user to follow simple steps to obtain the service. He also highlighted the quantum leap that the MoI has achieved in the field of smart applications in order to address the needs of citizens and residents alike.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Business Announcements “The smart transformations of MoI services are a part of the Smart Government’s framework that aims to seamlessly provide the best services to the customers in a way that is simple and achieves their satisfaction. The MoI is continuously following the developments made in the fields of technology and smart applications in order to provide further smart services,” he said. He also noted that the MoI smart applications center effectively employs nationals who provide all of the electronic procedures in a way that contributes to the accessibility of the services to all He also encouraged the public to

contact the MoI customer service center via 8005000 or mobile@moi. gov.ae where a technical team is working round-the-clock to answer inquiries. Brigadier Ghaith Hassan Al Zaabi, Director General, Traffic Coordination Directorate General, Ministry of Interior, said that through the provision of driving license issuance service via UAE MoI app, citizens and residents will save both time and effort. This system will provide the user with the application file on the federal traffic and registration system, and is adopted across the UAE wherever the application terms are met. The driving license issuance

is done via completing the simple steps on the app, and the license will be delivered to the beneficiary via First Lieutenant Mohammed Darwish Al Balouki, Project Manager, said that the service is available through the smart app for all applicants who have a drivers’ test file and have passed the final test. The service will be automatically available once the beneficiary enters the ‘traffic section’ and presses on the ‘driving license’ button. The file should be registered in the federal traffic and registration system that is available across the UAE.

Emirates NBD named the most valuable banking brand in the UAE

mirates NBD, a leading bank in the region, announced that it has been named the most valuable banking brand in the UAE with a brand valuation of US$ 1.78 billion, an increase of 40% from 2014. Ranked third among all banks

in the Middle East and Africa region, and 106th globally, in The Banker’s ranking of top 500 global banks, Emirates NBD has moved up 24 places from the 2014 rankings. The Brand Finance Banking 500, conducted by leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance, and published in the February edition of The Banker, is a league table of the world’s biggest banks, ranked by their brand value. “Being ranked the most valuable bank in the UAE is testament to our continued efforts to deliver the most simplified banking solutions to customers in the UAE, and beyond. The overall ranking also reaffirms our vision to be globally recognised as the most valued financial services provider based in the Middle East,” said Shayne Nelson, Group Chief Executive Officer, Emirates NBD. “With a 50 year history, Emirates NBD continues to grow in reputation, not only in the UAE but also in the wider region. This recognition is a fitting tribute to all our staff who work hard to retain our leadership position, whilst

setting benchmarks for the banking industry,” Nelson added. Emirates NBD is the largest banking group in the UAE by total income and branch network. The bank continues to deliver excellent financial and operational performance. It recently reported record earnings with net profit of Dh5.1 billion for 2014, up 58 per cent compared to 2013. Total Income for the year 2014 grew by 22 per cent to Dh14.4 billion. Net interest income grew 17 per cent to Dh9.5 billion. Emirates NBD became the first bank in the UAE, and for the first time in its 50-year history, to report an annual operating profit before Impairment in excess of Dh10 billion. The impressive results reiterate the bank's solid financial foundations as well as its leadership position in the UAE banking sector. The bank is well positioned to grow further and deliver outstanding value to its shareholders, customers and employees. The Group has operations in the UAE, Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore, the United Kingdom and representative offices in India, China and Indonesia.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Meet the CEO

A strategic game changer Ajay Bindroo, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner at Clasico Brands, shares his life’s experiences, challenges and inspirations, at the Emirates NBD Global Business Series. Ajay Bindroo shares his background with the audience.

AB: It was in 1994 when I landed

in this country, oblivious to the fact that I would spend more than half of my life here. I’ve travelled to over 100 countries and am yet to come across a country like UAE, where an entrepreneur is provided a robust infrastructure to set up a SME and pursue entrepreneurship. Throughout the course of my career journey, one of the lessons learnt is that if your business venture isn’t a success in the UAE, then aiming the global market is futile. I’m grateful to the ruling family for building a corroborative infrastructure that enables entrepreneurs, like me, to pursue their dream. The powerful leadership and diligent execution of an all-embracing vision by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is remarkable.

MC: From the land of solitude that is Kashmir, to the land of abounding opportunities Dubai, give us a rundown about your odyssey? AB: Kashmir is till date known

to be “the heaven on earth”. Having being born and brought up in the scenic Kashmir valley, life was definitely calm and slow paced. I grew up going to the market place with my father, trying to understand the trade as I was always fascinated with the number game. In my family, a child was expected to either pursue medicines or engineering. In 1989 when I was in school, my family had to leave Kashmir due

to severe turmoil in the region and life took a drastic turn. We then moved to Delhi and had to start our lives all over again. Destiny then landed me an opportunity with a family owned business from where I started my career and from thereon moved to Dubai. Our ordeal in Kashmir turned out to be a blessing in disguise even though it scattered the community. But I pride in stating that a lot of us from the community have done well for ourselves and are able to accredit numerous achievements all over the world.

MC: From a peaceful environment

as a “Marketing Executive’ with Vidyut Metallics Pvt. Ltd., (SuperMax) a family owned business and the rest they say is history. I thank my previous employer for providing me a platform, which acted as a pedestal to my entrepreneurial venture.

MC: Share with us your definition of an entrepreneur.

AB: In my personal experience an entrepreneur needs to be a dreamer. He has to dream big. Unless he doesn’t do so, the sense of achievement will never set in.

you had to adapt to the bustling lifestyle of Delhi. Where did you find the determination to get accustomed to a fast-paced city life?

MC: There is an interesting story about you selling in Murshid Bazaar? Share that story with us?

AB: My family owned Apple

trading business for the Khalid Al Attar family in Murshid bazaar was my first client. I remember, it was a tradition to drink ‘disco’ tea before we commenced the discussion on business. The discussion always followed some invaluable advice from him. Once he said that the key to success is providing supplies to a single distributor. As the brand establishes and amasses loyalty, success follows. At this moment, it dawned on me that a person is a student of life. Perfection is a misconception that is nurtured by humans.

orchards, therefore we travelled back and forth between Kashmir and Delhi. The weather in Delhi was a far cry from Kashmir. After my graduation, I received INR 80,000 (AED 4,720) from my father to pursue engineering in Bangalore, India. Within a month I realized engineering was not my calling. I dropped out of college, requesting the Dean to reimburse the fees. He tried reasoning with me but I remained adamant. Obviously, my parents were enraged, disappointed and more over worried about my future, when they were informed, so much so that they stopped talking to me for a while. It was a rather restless period of my life where all I wanted was a hand to guide me. In such a time of despair, I got my first break

AB: Well, Mr Hameed, who ran the

MC: We are all keen to know how a billionaire’s brain operates. How are you able to transcend from an average individual to a successful legend? AB: Selling is secondary to a

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Ajay Bindroo Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner at Clasico Brands.

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Meet the CEO

business venture. An entrepreneur needs to meticulously map every step and execute his plan with great caution. Every entrepreneur is born with ingrained curiosity that urges him to explore other ventures worldwide, so exploit it. After I decided to set up my own venture, I grappled with concepts like risk-taking and exploring opportunities elsewhere using the tried and tested formula in hand. An entrepreneur needs to remember that his calibre and limit cannot be influenced. Whether the vision involves global or regional expansion, it entirely depends on the entrepreneur.

MC: Entrepreneurial icons are a combination of operational prowess, marketing acumen and abounding creativity? How do you identify with them? AB: I’m not an avid reader but I

admire the achievements of Steve Jobs and Richard Branson. It was a great idea that helped Steve Jobs

attain success. He was criticized for his unconventional perspectives, until he perfected his idea and presented it to the world in a new light. On the other hand, Richard Branson is a risk-taker and is known to play his cards right. The process of assessing and calculating risk needs to be a part of the business framework. Uncalculated risks can lead to grave losses. Both, Steve Jobs and Richard Branson advocate the same doctrine – business is for the ambitious risktaker who doesn’t hedge his bet.

MC: From being an employee to

becoming an employer, what failures did you encounter?

AB: Failure to deliver is the biggest setback of being an employee. In such scenarios, the employee can be laid off without any intimation. On the contrary, the company ensures the employee is present for the long haul, if he delivers the desired output. The workforce is driven by monetary satisfaction.

If the company fails to satisfy the monetary needs of employees, they will never go the extra mile. However, throughout my 22 years of employment, I never focussed on monetary gains, I merely concentrated on working hard and success followed.

MC: What drives someone to pursue an inspiring entrepreneurial vision?

AB: Most people want to

become entrepreneurs because it sounds fancy and trendy. It is of great importance to deduce the essence of entrepreneurship and the nuances it entails. The strong desire and yearning to achieve something motivates an entrepreneur. In my own words: “any idea without the desire to make it happen would be futile”. It is the desire that compels you to take smart steps to translate your idea into action. Defining an idea and aligning it to the expertise is the first step to success as it aids in nurturing the ultimate vision.

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Meet the CEO The inspiration was partly taken from a well-known FMCG company who are doing a business of over USD 15 billion i.e. Reckitt Benkiser â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they have achieved this by introducing innovative products to consumers, excellent marketing tactics and strong supply chain network. Once you have managed to bring together the core competences required to run a business, success is but obvious. The moral of the story is that entrepreneurship isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t about running a one-man show, instead it is envisioning the goal and empowering the right people to help build the business.

Subsequently, calculated risk and passion add value to the vision. The entrepreneur is entitled to set the rules of the game to bring his vision into fruition. The last characteristic to imbibe is a rebellious streak. Be persistent, if you fail shake the dust off your feet and head towards the goal with equal determination and precision.

MC: How did you make the jump to the first $100 million? AB: Being an entrepreneur, the aspiration was to create a niche in the consumer business. Having started my career in the FMCG segment it was obvious for me to take up the challenge in the same segment. When I started the new venture, I was aware of the fact that I did not have huge funds to invest hence it was imperative for me to devise a business model that is simple yet comprehensive. Having travelled the globe in over 20 years, I had observed that there was abundant production capacity available worldwide therefore rather than focusing on setting up a manufacturing base, I thought it would wise to instead reach out to those untapped capacities and utilize my expertise in marketing, supply chain and distribution and offer consumers value for money products. The next big challenge was a solid team that would drive the execution strategy. It is essential to get liked minded people on board who wanted to venture in an entrepreneurial business. Here the goodwill earned in last two decades came to my aid and I brought together the top industry experts as my core team. And this was a win-win mantra as I brought together all the expertise as partners to drive the business and provided a common platform for mutual success. And in less than 18 months we were able to set a barrage of product portfolio with an innovation streak with the help of manufacturing excellence and put together a strong execution strategy in all 5 continents with my team so we can drive the volume from day one. And now we are at the helm of touching the first 100 million dollars in next 12 months to 18 months of the operations.

MC: What were the core competencies you depended on whilst designing the strategic plan for success?

In my 22 years of employment, I never focussed on monetary gains, I merely concentrated on working hard and success followed.

AB: Every business model is driven by a vision. And the vision of Clasico Brands is to become the preferred choice of the value and quality seeking consumers globally. We aim to do this by continuously developing innovative products and making them available to our consumers at competitive price points. With this vision in mind, the next step was to understand how do we deliver innovation and competitive prices together? This is the point where I had my Eureka moment! All I had to do was take the unutilized capacity already available on the supply side and utilize it to fulfil the most basic unfulfilled demand in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s market place; a high quality product at a reasonable price point. The key was collaboration. Collaboration with the owners of this unutilized capacity and technological competence to propel them onto the global landscape. Collaboration with motivated entrepreneurial professionals, giving them the perfect selling story along with the ideal product to sell in the market. Collaboration with the customer who wanted one sourcing point for all his FMCG product requirements. Collaboration with the end consumer who wants nothing but quality at value. The cycle was complete and at every stage, there was value being created for each person involved in the chain. 21

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Meet the CEO That’s why the corporate tagline “Value Creation through Collaboration”!

MC: What is your mantra of brand positioning? AB: There is a ‘sweet spot’ in

every industry, which consists of aspirational consumers willing to change their buying pattern. In the lower segment, the cutthroat mark-up pricing makes it impossible to compete and there is a compromise on product or packaging quality to achieve that cut throat pricing. At the higher levels there are big players who have very deep pockets waiting to destroy any new brand that appears in the market place. While these two segments host aggressive activity, the mid-level market remains inactive. This mid-market is what caters to the aspirational consumer who knows the difference between a cheap product and a value for money product and also knows that if he can get the same product benefits for less, there is no reason to pay more.

That is the brand positioning that Clasico Brands takes by asking the aspirational consumer one simple question: Why Pay More? And that is what our Brand Mantra is.

MC: Any advice you would give to the

young entrepreneurs based on personal experiences?

AB: There are 4 pillars on which

entrepreneurial ventures can thrive. Calculated Risk, Discipline, Legal Advice and Financial Acumen. Top of the list is Calculated Risk and Discipline. Being your own boss is a big responsibility and if you are a strict one, you will be in a better position to elevate your idea to the next level. Second in the list is Legal advice. Irrespective of the size or the scope of your business, it is important to have your due diligence and compliance in place. And just like medicine, even in matters of Law, Prevention is always better and economical than Cure. Finally, financial acumen and precision. According to a US Bank study, 82% of small businesses fail because of mismanaged cash

flow. Assess your opportunities and convert them to revenues with absolute precision and realism. Lastly, be optimistic and have faith in your business. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing”.

MC: Imagine we are in the year 2050. What would be your achievements within a span of 40 years? AB: Well, 10 years into the future I’d like to create a legacy for the people accompanying me on that journey. My life has been a typical tale of rags to riches, so my aim is to share my experiences and insights to benefit people. Also, I intend to enjoy my work and most importantly spend quality time with family. In contrast, my wife wants us to own a restaurant, wherein she will cook and I will serve. I pray her dream comes true. To conclude, I believe that even with little money in your pocket, a person tends to live a simple life. As for me, my ultimate goal is to live life.

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SME World Summit 2015Celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurshipâ&#x20AC;Ś SME World Summit is a platform to provide visibility, recognition and knowledge sharing for SMEs. SMEs gather to exchange ideas, explore business opportunities, network with peers and engage with top notch decision makers. 24

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Shamma Mohammed Bin Hammad Director, Governance Department

ubai Expo 2020 is a golden opportunity which allows SMEs to expand their consumer base from a local platform to an i nternational one. 2nd edition of SME World Summit 2015 showcased the best enterprises from diverse sectors, offer exceptional experience and insights, knowledge sharing, quality networking opportunities and much more. SPI Group offered a unique opportunity to listen to global thought leaders, engage with decision makers and celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship. The summit aims at rewarding every effert contributed by each of the entrepreneurs to transform the industry. SME World Expo was all about sharing a common platform and taking the industry to next level. An initiative of Intelligent SME -SPI Group of Dubai, the event was scheduled on March 18th and March 19th 2015, at The Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The summit witness the presence of 50 exhibitors, 4 keynote panel discussions, 13 empowering workshops, speed networking sessions, driving the 3000+ attendees to the highest level of hierarchy in the industry.

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Day 1 kick started with the fantastic concert by the Empire stage performers with their drums and stick who with their unique performance set the ball rolling and made the audience happy. The welcome remarks by H.E. Hani Al Hamli, Secretary General, Dubai Economic Council was informative and interactive. He also tweeted about the summit on the SME World Summit Twitter page. Shamma Mohammed Bin Hammad, Director, Governance Department, The Executive Council shared her thought providing ideas on SME in the vision of Dubai plan 2021. Mr. Shantanu A. Phansalkar, Founder & CEO, SPI Group thanked all the dignitaries and said that this event boasts of a powerful agenda which includes insightful panel discussions by the most illustrious business magnates, government dignitaries of Dubai and entrepreneurs, followed by empowering and enriching workshops conducted by top industry leaders and the Expo showcasing top SME service providers. The first panel discussion for day 1 was moderated by Alexandar Williams, Director, Business Development, Department of Economic Development and the panel was shared by Abdulaziz Istaitieh, Economic advisor, The Executive Council, Mohamed Trabelsi, Senior Economist, Dubai Economic Council; Satyajeet Roy, Head of business banking, Commercial Bank International (CBI); Majed Al Suwaidi, Managing Director, Dubai Internet City & Dubai Outsource Zone; Shant Oknayan, Head of SMB Marketing, Google MENA; Shabana Karim: Representative of SME community. The panellists shared their views on Vision 2021: How would the big, bang plan transform Dubaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy?

Panel 1 shared their insightful views on Dubai Plan 2021-a plan which has been created and takes an important place only because of our people and society who have and will alwys contribute to the growth and development of this nation. The plan also addresses the urban environment including both natural and built assets, also social services provided. A highly regarded tourist choice with exceptional facilities developed by the UAE government for its people,

togother contributes to Vision 2021.

The second panel discussion was

How to make home-grown brands globally competitive? moderated

by Professor Christopher Abraham, Head - Dubai Campus , Sr. Vice President Institutional Development, S P Jain School of Global Management, Dubai. The panellists include Omar Obeidat, Partner & Head of Intellectual Property Department, Al Tamimi & Co; Ambareen Musa, CEO and Founder of Souqalmal; Ashish Patel, CEO, Euphoria Consulting; Ramkumar Venkataraman, Partner, Cedar Consulting; Kara Gouyez Benallel, Senior Legal Researcher, Dubai Economic Council.

This panel discussion was an enriching one and delved into the opportunities and challenges for local brands to go global. While the 21st century world is abundant and rife with opportunities, it also poses strategic challenges for SMEs in the region to grow their brands globally. While the image of the Middle East region is perceived differently in other parts of the world, Dubai and UAE as brands have grown to be recognized and respected globally. Leveraging on this, local SMEs can use social media and other online marketing platforms to build their brand. While doing this,

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care should be taken to ensure copyright and IP legalities. In the last decade, there have been many excellent examples of local brands being recognized in other parts of the world. These include brands like Emirates, Jumeirah Group, Etihad, Emaar, Masafi, UAE Exchange, Lulu group and others Dubai and UAE being attractive destinations for expatriates from different countries across the world, the possibility of transferring the brand equity of local brands to expatriate regions is also an opportunity worth considering. One should not forget the growth of popular local online brands like souq.com, dubizzle, souqalmal and similar others. All the panel discussions were followed by Q & Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s from audiences on the issues related to SMEs. Followed by luncheon and networking, the summit moved forward for the knowledge sharing workshops conducted by top notch industry experts which took place simultaneously and witnessed power packed audiences.

Mastering LinkedIn + Twitter for SMEs:

This beneficial session on two of the most highly regarded social media platforms (Twitter and LinkedIn) kicked in by getting to know the attendees and address them with a tailored knowledgebased approach relative to their fields. While beginners found the

information to be very useful & a bit advanced, intermediate users agreed that it added something new to their knowledge and provided new insight. Advanced users of LinkedIn found it helpful to review some of the well-known strategies, yet they benefited from the new proposed techniques and still enjoyed the Twitter portion.

Creating a winning marketing plan for SMEs.

The marketing plan workshop was focused on helping entrepreneurs to understand what the few activities lead to the greatest results for their business. The session was interactive and

there were plenty of questions from the audience, such as 'How do I attract more prospects to my business?' and 'Where do I start when it comes to marketing my business?' The audience left with a one page marketing plan, with ideas they could use immediately after returning to their office.

Working smarter, not harder.

This session was about learning from failure lessons and fast tracking your way to success. It emphasised on learning how to smartly capture, package and deliver your ideas for greater commercial success. In the 21st century where everything needs to happen at lightening speed, P.K. Menon looked at how entrepreneurs can quickly unpack what they know so that they can share their ideas with greater impact. As entrepreneurs, you may start off with a great idea, but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not enough, you need to have the drive, the focus, the passion and active commitment. It is also important to be productive; the session highlighted the mega productivity secrets of super achievers. These techniques assist busy people in staying focused and on track, setting them up for success.

Personal branding strategy for CXOs.

Personal Branding for CXOs began with an aim to inspire attendees to Dream, Dare and Do what it takes to build an Iconic

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Personal Brand which celebrates their thought leadership, and in turn Ms. Tanvi Bhatt who conducted the workshop was inspired by the stories and dreams of the participating Entrepreneurs and Executives. She was delighted to see around 50% of the participants were young women entrepreneurs who are passionate about building a business and a legacy which creates a lasting impact on their communities. Tanvi felt privileged to have had the opportunity to inspire them to ‘discover’ their innate thought leadership, ‘design’ a strategy to communicate their unique brand value to their communities and ‘deliver’ an inimitable leadership experience-time after time-such that it builds an irresistible brand experience- for their personal as well as corporate brands.

Unveiled: Sales techniques that business schools won't teach you!

The group of participants that attendee the training interacted brilliantly. There were questions still being asked 40 minutes after the session had finished. With the room packed, along with many trying to look in from outside, it was clear that understanding why customers only buy value was a very popular topic. The key area that seemed to get most attention

Professor Tony Buzan Inventor of Mind Mapping

was to understand why people negotiate. It became clear that in the majority of cases this is merely a tactic and the customer is ready to buy. The group realized that if the value had been made clear, any objective after that was simply an attempt to reduce the price, and in most cases this is not required. The participants were from a variety of industries and most of the questions were related to real situations and challenges they faced in today’s market. The end result of the session was clear, it is up to companies, and the commercial staff within these organizations, to demonstrate to the clients the value to their business of their products and services.

Speed Networking Session was

organised by the organiser of the Summit, Mr. Shantanu A. Phansalkar, Founder & CEO, SPI Group at the end of the day 1 summit. A very interactive session especially organised for the exhibitors. The aim behind this session was to help all exhibitors get to know each other and explore business opportunities.

Day 2 of the SME World Summit 2015 commenced with the opening remarks by Aladdin Deesi, Head of Acquisition & Distribution, Emirates

NBD. Followed by keynote speech by Professor Tony Buzan, Inventor of Mind Mapping on “Unleashing your intelligence – currently you are using only 1%” grabbed the audience’s attention. His conversation with the participants generated the keen interest in the topic and keep them engaged during the discussion.

The first panel discussion on Day 2

was “What are the high voltage/danger zones for SMEs?” moderated by Aziz

Merchant, Director, Brandz International Inc., and the panel was shared by Jean Mark Peaufique, Head of Marketing & Events MENA, Thomson Reuters; Richard Pudnar, Chairman, Beehive; Anjuli Sivaramakrishnan, Partner, Kochhar & Co; Aly Rahimtoola, Managing Director, Harmony Cosmetics; Umbreen Meenai, Solicitor, Pinsent Masons LLP. The Session opened with demystifying the term Danger Zone, as this was important to set the tone and expectations. Some of us defined it as 'Challenges' - some said 'Acute Challenges' some said 'Stumbling Blocks' and then we all concluded that Danger Zone is a phase or a scenario for a SME in which there is a high risk of harm, especially where this risk has been officially identified in previous phases. The Session then deliberated upon defining the danger zones for SME and concluded as follows: · Sourcing of Funds - for starting up and supporting cash flow issues · Recruiting & Retaining Talent (Human Resource) at the right price · Strategizing and Planning Founders getting to involved in details and missing the overarching goal setting and scaling up to new levels · Qualifying for Bank Finance very stringent terms · Flexibility to adapt to the changing environment (for e.g. online marketing) · Adhering to high standards of Corporate Governance (policies, procedures, systems, legal framework, etc) The session concluded by defining strategies that SMEs could adopt to avoid the Danger Zones, which are as follows: · Qualify to look for beyond the banks - beyond traditional

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Modern v/s traditional global HR practices.

methods of sourcing funds · Financing from Friends & relatives - on smart terms · Smart Hiring; Founder should pass the survival phase and then take to strategy and planning role · Building of pre-requisites to qualify for bank finance from the start · Using technology to source critical information and use adopt on-line solutions · Constant review of policies and structures; company formation options; safeguarding stake holders in place.

The second panel “The Problems of being Super Successful” was

moderated by Tariq Qureishi, CEO, Vantage Holdings, Dubai and the panel was shared by Yogesh Mehta, MD, Petrochem MiddleEast; Avishesha Bhojani,

Group CEO, Bates PanGulf; Mishal Kanoo, Deputy Chairman, Kanoo Group; Aladdin Deesi, Head of Acquisition & Distribution, Emirates NBD. The key topics emphasised during the discussion were: What is super success? How do you cope with sustaining at the peak and scaling higher? The other side of success-which we generally miss out. It ended up being the interactive session for the day. All the panel discussions were followed by Q & A’s from audiences and the workshops were entertained by the spectacular performance by drummers. Followed by luncheon and networking, the summit moved forward for the knowledge sharing workshops conducted by top notch industry experts which took place simultaneously and witnessed power packed audiences.

The session aimed to shed light on the latest practices in managing work and projects under the modern concept of virtual organizations. Specifically targeting SMEs, the workshop explained how most types of work can be managed remotely and virtually without the need for physical offices, equipment, and full-time staff. New technologies enable this trend and make it possible to manage complex work assignments across borders and time zones which still maintaining control and quality. The workshop also targeted employees who want to adapt to this impending trend by polishing their “personal brand” and learning to take on project-based work assignments with multiple companies at once. Though the material is somewhat controversial and unsettling for the traditional work models most of us are used to, the attendees were fascinated by the session and seemed quite engaged with the content. Also the ensuing discussion after the presentation was lively and insightful, with people sharing their own experiences with similar practices within their own SMEs.

Five tools to build your teams performance.

This workshop was based on alternate psychology and gave out practical strategies to enhance human potential. All those who attended were very involved and made the workshop very participative. The concepts and tools discussed in the workshop had a deep impact on the participants and there were a lot of ‘Aha Moments’ with participants taking practical strategies back to their office. The World SME forum is a great platform for knowledge sharing and exploring business synergies. The event was very well organised and proved very value adding to all the attendees voted Sachin Thombare.

Contracting v/s employment - What is best for SMEs

William, Partner - Senior Consultant of WPB & Associates, facilitated a discussion on the benefits of employing a contractor/ freelancer to support SME’s growth

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overcome competition.

Creating an Engaging Culture on a Budget

while taking advantage of the available talent. The discussion focused on the legal requirements for hiring contractors vs employees ensuring the attendees understand the difference between an employment contract and a freelance contract including ensuring the freelancer is legally entitled to operate in the UAE. The benefits of engaging a freelancer include finding the right talent for the project/role without incurring the direct and indirect costs associated with a full time employee e.g. visa costs, holiday pay, pensions and medical insurance. In managing a freelancer it is important to ensure the contractor is seen as a member of the team with business cards, email address and a designated role. The integration is crucial to ensuring the contractor delivers a service inline with the overall strategy. The important differentiation between a consultant and a freelance is the

difference between an operational team member and an advisor. Any organisation with a vacancy should consider what type of resource best suits the organisation now.

Five steps action plan to grow an SME business by winning new customers.

The simple truth is to run a successful and profitable business in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s competitive market is still achievable but it will take a lot of consistent positive actions to stay in the game. Many business owners think they can get by doing what they always done, but this belief is fundamentally flawed as the rules have changed and small business need to work harder to have a share of voice! The session highlighted 5 basic steps strategy any SME business should consider to ensure they had the best chance of winning new business which included marketing, prospecting, sales training and how to

Company culture is very, very important. The stats say it all: 90% of professionals in the Middle East are attracted to companies that offer supportive and great work environments. Seven out of every ten professionals would also not work for a company they arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t proud of. The Bayt.com "Building Culture on a Budget" workshop was presented by Bayt.com's HR Director Suha Mardelli Haroun. In the interactive workshop, Suha guided attendees through the building blocks of corporate culture, starting from how to assess whether a candidate is a good cultural fit to an exercise on how to bring all the important pieces together. The summit ended with Final Breakout Session on Discover innovative ways to scale your start-up globally and procure like a multinational. Highlighting experiences from supporting tech start-ups as Managing Director of Startup Grind Dubai and from personal experiences as founder of mobile tech start up, Vendedy, Christine shared the 3 hubs of information (Be Educated, Be Ready, Go viral) that surrounds global scale strategy. It was a truly interactive and informative seminar. The audience was completely taken aback by the growth hacking strategies of Silicon Valley that was presented-such as proven ideas on viral marketing, organic press mentions and corporate partnerships. In the end, the session highlighted how Christine closed partnerships with IBM and Microsoft, was highlighted by the Clinton Global Initiative, met President Obama & the founders of Twitter/Linkedin, and received 32+ global press mentions within 7 months as a student in Dubai starting her company from a blog. We would like to express our heartfelt thank you to Strategic alliance partner Dubai SME, our Lead sponsor Emirates NBD Business Banking, our sole Automotive partner Al-Futtaim Motors Toyota, Television partner- B4U Aflam, Newspaper partner- 7 Days. I would like to express gratitude to our Innovation

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partner- Dubai Internet City, all the exhibitors and the attendees, without their valuable support this event would have not been a success.

The Business Transformation Session: Delivered by 8 successful women entrepreneurs on Day 1 and Day 2.

Day 1- Facilitator Sandi Saksena who set the mood introduced/ thanked the speakers inspired audience to participate thanked audience for the success of the session. The speakers include Jules Lewis, Shelina Jokhiya, Helen Al Uzaizi and Jennifer Randive

Day 2- Facilitator Sandi Saksena and the speakers were Anne Marie Martinez, Lamiaa Farrag, Bela Rawal and Sandi Saksena The Transformation Series brought together a diverse group of Women Entrepreneurs who have one thing in common Transformation -in their personal

and professional lives as teenage, student and entrepreneur. Bela Rawal Corporate head hunter now change catalyst with consciousness. Jennifer Randive Corporate Lawyer turned De Clutter bug Shelina Jokhjiya is the Rebranding agent Anne Marie Maritnez Hazel al Uzaizi who balances her corporate life with community service Lamiaa Faraag who left the Automotive industry to go back and coach them Jules Lewis who continues to transform from physical fitness to mental to zen and Sandi Saksena a middle aged entrant to the work force who continues to morph from just financial counselor to writer, speaker adventurer. This series was an invitation to all those who showed up to look inwards, tap into their internal GPS recognize their power and choose what was for them and then work towards their peak performance. To put an end to wasting time we going through clutter and junk staying irritable, confused and overwhelmed. Grab every

opportunity to learn a new skill, to ask for assistance when in doubt and look for an opportunity in every challenge. Cut the bungee chord and take the plunge invest in yourself i.e., create the brand called you and when needed recreate it, heal the relationship with yourself. Samenessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; doesn't gives you any profits. You don't have to be relevant or same but you have to lead, set the standard. Be in the moment creating YOU dynamically. The participants were open to receiving different ways of getting out of Status Quo to create more for themselves. They were involved, open to receiving and together we raised the energy vibrations of all who chose to be present in the session. Totally Awesome Transformation!!! We look forward to welcome you to our 3rd Edition of SME WORLD SUMMIT 2016 schedule to be held in March 2016.

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Growth Strategies

Options to grow a business beyond the start-up phase There are thousands of SMEs operating within the UAE that have been trading for over ten years, which means that there is a sustainable market for their products or services. However, the reality is that while the owners of such businesses work very hard, very few get the rewards that they probably deserve, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a shame! 32

What actually distinguishes a successful businessman?

o the time has come to make your mind up to change your life now. Don’t let your obituary be “It might have been” These are the saddest words ever penned. And, sadly, those words sum up exactly how many business owners will feel when they are approaching retirement, when suddenly they realise that many things within their business remain unfinished, perhaps weren’t even started at all, and a great many opportunities have gone unchallenged, until now it’s simply too late. What actually distinguishes a successful businessman? One thing to bear in mind at the outset is that they make their own opportunities. The really successful business owner waits for no one. Instead, they see opportunity where the rest of us see nothing. Yet opportunities are all around us, and it doesn’t take a genius to spot them. Owners put a great deal of pressure on themselves to continually develop their business but the perceived necessity to constantly focus on short term issues means that opportunities keep slipping by as the setting of long term goals are put off until tomorrow. Owners who continue to believe that these issues can be put off indefinitely are ignoring a simple but unspoken truth that when they leave the business it will become obvious that they have simply missed the opportunities that were available to them. So when the time comes, some owners will hand an unprofitable business over to family members, while others will discover that they have not created enough value to enable them to retire comfortably so they need to go on working seemingly for ever. Whether the business is large or small, the important point is to ensure that the state of the business when that moment comes enables the owner to feel that they have achieved their life goals. To reduce the risk of the moment coming at the wrong time, most owners would benefit from having a clear strategy that is communicated and understood by the entire workforce but just as importantly they should establish an exit plan.

First we must find an adequate definition of success before we can hope to highlight ways to achieve the things we want from life. So, what does success mean to you? The key to successful goal setting is to achieve a balance between what you want and the sacrifices you’ll have to make. So in creating a strategic and exit plan the first decision is whether to grow the business from where it is. This might seem an odd question but think about it for a moment. Growth takes two forms: organic and transformational. Organic growth requires that the owner focuses on making sure that the existing business continues to operate efficiently, while transformational growth requires that the owner makes significant changes to the way the business operates. Owners that wish for example to double their revenues or expand internationally will need to operate differently tomorrow than they operate today if they are to succeed. Making such a commitment requires that an owner accepts that they will no longer be able to micro-manage the business and they will need to develop systems and processes that will enable the business to spot and then react to opportunities. If that prospect causes concern, then the best answer might be to concentrate on organic growth, in which case it is likely that no significant changes will need to be made to growing the organisation. Although, such an approach will result in the owner shouldering all the responsibility for the success of the business, the focused nature of the business will allow this to happen, provided the owner recognises the fact. On the other hand, significantly expanding a successful business beyond the start-up phase will require the creation of a corporate function – that is a team of individuals that have the necessary skills to manage the enlarged business in areas such as finance; marketing and human resources. A corporate function is like a business within a business. Its activities are twofold: first it should focus on ways to expand the business with responsibilities for corporate transactions such

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Growth Strategies Simon is a Chartered Secretary and a Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, the globally recognized and professional body for governance professionals. He has 30 years of experience at Board level working for international publically traded and privately held companies headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, The United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Simon has spent over eleven years in the Middle East where he recently completed a 2-year assignment as head of the health funding project for the Government of Dubai.Simon has also been an adviser corporate governance issues to the ICSA and the London Stock Exchange. as raising finance, mergers and acquisitions while the second is to monitor the performance of the business and to take corrective action when that is appropriate to do so. The creation of this team is of critical importance to the success of the business so the first task is to review the capabilities of your existing team to ensure that they have the capabilities of delivering the objectives. For example the business may have a good bookkeeper but is that person able to fulfil the role of the chief financial officer? However difficult it might be, the right choice may result in a parting of the ways for certain individual. Often such activities are not necessarily skills belonging to the owner so it is time to recognize that the business will benefit from the advice of an experienced individual acting as a mentor or non-executive director. This individual should be someone who has experience of corporate activities so they can advise on the structure and objectives of the corporate team rather than an executive manager or someone who supplies a list of sales contacts. Finally, whether the team is constituted into a formal board of directors or just an informal team it is helpful to establish some rules on how the team will operate so that the owner maintains control over the process, through being the chair of each meeting.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Marketing

Business transformation - A way forward to refresh & re-build market positioning

Every business needs transformation to remain relevant and competitive. Market opportunities come and go, and what worked in the past may no longer work in the future. In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s competitive era, every organization is facing the critical challenge on; â&#x20AC;&#x153;How to stay Competitive & continuously re-create its market positioning?â&#x20AC;? 34

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Intelligent SME

Marketing

case and put up a mandate at board level to auto-run the transformation activities every 3-5 years irrespective of crisis situation. As an Organizational transformation specialist, I strongly believe that Business transformation is not a “Good to have activity” but “The most Critical Business Driver” in today’s competitive world.

On board the new talent immediately and spend energy on customer retention

Design a comprehensive business transformation program to mitigate the business risk with an inclusive approach by involving key stake holders

The massive project ended on the following notes; • Company has started reusing 85 % of the capacity and re captured 8 % lost market share. • The company built it’s human resources with equal balance of home grown and vibrant fresh talent from outside • The new well articulated competency framework has allowed to create two level back up for each critical position • Built internal organizational excellence team who will continuously focus on making internal business processes to keep it agile • Resilience has been ingrained as part of the DNA in organization culture This experience has helped the company to build internal business

Ashish Patel carries with him global 18 years of experience where he has grown, built, consulted and provided scalability structure for SMEs. He strongly believes in creating “Customer Value Proposition and Building Sustainable Organization”. He has been providing mentoring and strategic guidance to around 100 plus SMEs across GCC, USA, Russia & India. He can be reached at ashish@euphcon. com or welcomes SMEs to dialogue about their current challenges.

Board Level

VA TI

e lin ct ngs u i n d r io Pro ffe e at nt ct o Tim v e u no es d et In e Pr pro ark th on m in d ce ta ad edu s d Su uil R B

R M e b Exe ap ui bo E ld cu ar xis th tio e d th ting po n e s PR cr ski itiv iti ll O ca se ity G t R l m s ES as S s

External Focus

C sk RESPONSIVE St han F ra ge or ce te T gi ea c Ce m l

ta e Bu in ve ild the nu ne Ex e C w ist re re in a ve g ti nu Cu on e sto m m od e el rs

OPENNESS

Internal Focus

f I dwell into fundamental of this question, it gets started with the past success formula which itself can become bottleneck in staying agile or bring fresh perspective to organizational reality. While a progressive organization is able to deal with this on a pro-active basis, quite a few organizations are almost hitting the “Death Curve” as they are not able to cope up with the external changes and lack speed of internal shift. I have tried substantiating my perspective with a real case study ... This company which has been into existence for more than 20 years, holding market leadership and has highest manufacturing capacity to serve the market demand. The earlier success had contributed in the company culture of working at the internal comfort and did not realize that in an external world “Go to Market” time has been reducing for any new entrant in the market. This company was hit by the crisis as one of their largest customer turned into a competition. The situation had worsened when the departed customer had poached talented team members across the levels. The company’s other facts also had become a bottleneck like retaining internal resources, encourage employment opportunity in generations, operating from remote work locations, decision making time, & already built extra production capacity. To deal with this near to death situation, company had to give a hard look to it’s current situation and draw a comprehensive transformational plan. They had to choose any one from the below two options: (Graph1) As they were known to build sustainable management practice rather than adopting the quick fix approach, they chose to work on the later option. (Graph 2) The company had to build internal change team from various functional groups and the task force was led by one of the board member. The design and implementation of Business Transformation Framework was accomplished in 5- 8 months’ time frame.

Fie

ce or

April - May 2015

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Marketing

Inch wide, mile deep Why is talent overrated? Talent actually means nothing like what we think. It’s just a natural myth of an individual and differs from one to another. What exactly is seen is the performance of the individuals in their respective areas.

ccording to the Oxford Dictionary, the term ‘expert’ is someone who is very knowledgeable about or skilful in a particular area. So from that it makes sense that as subject matter experts we are paid for our high level of knowledge about a specific subject relating to

the industry in which we operate. But to be an authority in your field (which is like being a master chef as opposed to an expert cook), you must be prepared to internally let go of the ‘expert’ tag and become a student for life. Why? Because with the world changing at an increasingly rapid pace, it has

never been more important to get out of your comfort zone and let go of old habits. Talent is overrated unless it is constantly maintained, challenged, shared and allowed to keep developing and building over time. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum articulated

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME Teaching others is a great way to consolidate learning. the importance of lifelong learning beautifully in an excerpt from his book, My Vision. He wrote, “Improving education is a constant process that has no finish line, because the world is evolving. The sciences are expanding and different tools are being invented every single day. We are participants in a never-ending race, and God willing, we will keep running.”

Inch wide, mile deep

‘Going an inch wide and a mile deep’ is a phrase that would be familiar to many of you. For those that aren’t familiar with the phrase, it simply means to develop a niche area that you specialise in (inch wide) but dig so deep to build up your knowledge in that area (mile deep) that you know it like no other. Unfortunately too many business leaders today adopt this phrase in reverse. Their network is a mile wide but their expertise is only an inch deep (shallow) meaning they’ll never have what it takes to satisfy one target group let alone all the groups they’re trying to look after. In other words they are what we commonly refer to as a ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’. It is much better to focus on learning so much about your chosen area of expertise as you can that you are known as the authority in your field. In other words, it is your niche, your passion and how you share that knowledge that separates you from the rest. Here are three tips to play an ‘inch wide, mile deep’ worldclass game in today’s fast paced, constantly evolving commercial environment.

Learn, do, teach

This is about rolling up your sleeves, getting into the detail and learning everything you can about the area in which you have chosen to specialise and the target market at which it is aimed. Once you have learnt as much as you can, reinforce the knowledge by deliberately practicing it over and over again until it becomes almost second nature. Then it’s time to start teaching it to others on your team. Teaching newfound skills and knowledge to others serves a dual purpose. Firstly teaching others is a

great way to consolidate learning. And secondly it helps your team members develop as individual professionals, allowing you to get more done through delegation and ensuring they feel more valued as contributors to the success of the business. The result is a worldclass team that’s capable of driving world-class results. Think of this process as a cyclical one in that once one topic is mastered, you start the process all over again, either on the next topic or a revision of the current one. And if you think there’s nothing left to learn about a topic, think again. By the time you’ve finished learning all you can, some new technology or innovation in the world will likely have come along, causing a need to re-educate yourself and your team on the topic all over again.

Conviction based selling

In business and in life we must all have the ability to sell with conviction. Even as parents we must earn the right for our children to listen to our instructions if we want them to grow up into responsible, mature adults who understand right from wrong as opposed to just blindly doing what they’re told. Imagine if you could win over an audience (whether it be an audience of one or many) every time you tried to sell them an idea? Times have changed. No longer can we rely on great content to sell our ideas. We must now focus on creating powerful messages based on our exceptional knowledge and understanding to connect with our audiences. No matter what job you are in, you’re either selling someone an idea or they are selling you a reason why they can’t support it. Conviction based selling is all about conveying an idea with so much passion, energy and understanding of the topic and the target market that you may find you never have ‘sell’ another day because they’ll feel compelled to buy what you’re offering without question.

Effective ways to position

Marketing

Prakash ‘PK’ Menon is one of the most influential leadership, retail and supply chain and logistics authorities. He is the author of three books – Driven - Accelerate Your Career with Smart Transitioning, Supply Chain is Sexy - Harnessing the Retail Revolution and Fail Smart - The Undeniable Link Between Failure & Success. Please connect with him on pk@thoughtleadersme.com

Positioning

There are many tall buildings in Dubai but there is only one Burj Khalifa, which is known globally (even by those who have never set foot in Dubai) as being the tallest building in the world. Similarly, there are many many subject matter experts in the world but only a few that are regarded as masters in their field. By positioning yourself as the authority in your space, you will become known as the go-to person in your area of expertise. Just be sure you are a genuine authority in your area of expertise though. Nothing will cause your credibility to go down the drain faster than claiming to be a master chef but proving to be little more than a good cook. Effective ways to position yourself as an authority include public speaking, writing a book, writing a regular column or blog and having an effective Internet presence (via your website and on social media). Learning is a gift, but you have to open the box to appreciate it As human beings we have each been given the incredible gift of being able to learn and expand our minds. But too many people merely gaze upon this gift, longing to open it but never knowing what’s inside. Without opening the box you run the risk of living a life of missed opportunities. In today’s highly competitive commercial landscape where every professional is looking to innovate, there is no room for mediocrity.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

The satisfaction conundrum What is it with satisfaction? Should one be dissatisfied at all times if one wants to achieve a lot? Many people would say that they use dissatisfaction as a motivator. They live by the maxim that one should never be satisfied with what one has and that is the only way to achieve more in life. While this model works, there is a very big problem with it. Dissatisfaction with possession and achievement is one of the requisites to further achievement.- John Hope Personal satisfaction is the most important ingredient of success. - Denis Waitley Both these statements are quite convincing and most people would tend to agree with both if read separately. The first statement infers that being dissatisfied with

what you have is necessary for achieving success while the second statement infers that satisfaction is the most important factor in your success. This is the irony and the problem arises when they are read together. Then, they start appearing to be contradictory. The problem is that the human mind is the greatest learning device on earth. Human beings don’t just learn intentionally but also learn without having a conscious desire to learn. Repeated patterns

solidify into models of how things should be and consequently drive behaviour and ultimately, life itself. By constantly motivating themselves using dissatisfaction, their mind forms generalisations. The generalisation thus made is what we might call a belief and the beliefs formed in this case could be - ‘growth happens only when you are dissatisfied with what you have’ or ‘to be satisfied means to stagnate and die’ or ‘never be satisfied’ and so on. Therefore the minds of such

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Marketing

people equate dissatisfaction as a precondition for growth and in turn this belief pattern never allows these people to feel fully satisfied and happy with their achievements. What is the use of achievement then if you are never going to be satisfied and happy after achieving what you wanted? The term satisfaction too is often misunderstood and therefore warrants an explanation. It is often seen as a passive if not entirely negative state of mind. For most people satisfaction is akin to sitting and doing nothing. Many people equate satisfaction with being in a comfort zone and an unwillingness to venture out of this zone. I have also heard statements like ‘you can be satisfied when you retire but never be satisfied before that’ or ‘people who are easily satisfied do not amount to much in life’. The oxford dictionary defines satisfaction as the fulfilment of one’s wishes, expectations, or needs or the pleasure derived from this. So if we understand this with the help of an example it would be ‘making a million dollars and enjoying the achievement’. The ‘feeling good’ about the achievement is really more important than the achievement

itself because even a million dollars have no meaning unless they are used for an objective that gives pleasure or fulfilment. However when somebody uses dissatisfaction as a motivator, their mind overrides or shuts down their ability to feel the pleasure to its fullest extent as it has learnt that not feeling the pleasure (dissatisfaction) is a pre-requisite to getting more. This method of motivation is popular and it works. The world is full of people who have attained much in worldly terms using this formula. The bad news however is that there is a down side to this achievement; a very massive down side. By never being satisfied with whatever they have achieved, these people are never really able to feel satisfied and happy to the fullest extent about achieving anything no matter how big the achievement is because there is always something bigger to be achieved. Therefore, while they achieve a lot on the outside, they have very little to show for it on the inside. Emotional fulfilment by way of feeling satisfied and happy is missing which ironically is the ultimate aim of any achievement in the first place. What is the way out of this trap then? Is there a solution where one can achieve and grow a lot in life and at the same time retain the ability to feel satisfied and happy? The answer is yes! It is possible but takes a little understanding and practice. One has to cultivate the ability to enjoy the PROCESS of achievement. This is possible when one does not go after achievements thinking of the process as the dark tunnel with light only at the end of it. Enjoying the process is possible when one is truly going after what one loves doing and is passionate about it.

To start with, happy and satisfied people are generally more resourceful and productive than their unhappy or unsatisfied peers.

Sachin Thombare is a hypnotist, a master practioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming and Gestalt therapy. He is the creator of the Subtle Skills™ training platform and trains corporate clientele on enhancement of human potential. Sachin is also an intervention based coach who specialises in turnaround strategies. There are many advantages of doing things this way. To start with, happy and satisfied people are generally more resourceful and productive than their unhappy or unsatisfied peers. There is a lot of research which shows that being happy or satisfied in many ways makes a person ‘fire on all cylinders’ and thereby greatly enhances ones potential and ability. Secondly, one is better able to deal with any problems or stumbling blocks that may come up. Lastly but most importantly, the feverishness that may be associated with the outcome is greatly reduced or almost eliminated. This way the mind does not learn to equate satisfaction with stagnancy or complacency. It is difficult to let go of deeply engrained patterns and learning’s that have been instilled and reinforced since childhood. However if you are somebody who has been using dissatisfaction as a motivator and have faced the consequences and have felt the void by never really feeling satisfied or happy about your achievements, maybe it is time to start changing your model and start doing things differently from now on. A simple thing to begin doing would be to start celebrating the little victories that you have while on course to a bigger goal. While this sounds simple, it can have a profound effect on how you go after your achievements and has great self motivational potency. A celebration is a small reward you give yourself for having done well. This is turn makes you feel good about what you have done and makes you want to do more or even better. Go on then. Celebrate!

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Digital Marketing

Instagram: A platform for small businesses in 2015

Some small business owners

April - May 2015

have recognized already the

potential in Instagram.

ocial media platforms continue to evolve, because, as users, we continue to demand an enhanced social experience. One that offers more visual content, a spontaneous flow, immediate connectivity and engagement. Today, Instagram is poised to be that platform. For one, Instagram is the fastest growing social networking site - it has reached 300 million monthly active users, who share amongst themselves some 70 million photos and videos on a daily basis, which clearly speaks to the power of visual marketing in a mobile web world. Instagram has also the youngest user base: 41% of the users are 16 to 24 years old, and 35%, 25 to 34 years old. It is quite widespread in our region – 34% of users are based in the Middle East and Africa (Latin America accounts for 33% and North America for 25%). And whilst the most followed Instagram account is @ kimkardashian (over 25 million followers), there

are many businesses – specifically retail, F&B, hospitality, design and technology - who rallied millions of followers, such as Nike, Adidas, Zara, Prada, Dior, Gucci, Starbucks, GoPro, Ben and Jerry’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Intel and Microsoft. All the more reason for small businesses to take to Instagram and learn to use it to their advantage. Some small business owners have recognized already the potential in Instagram. Take Aly Rahimtoola, founder of UAE-grown best-selling skincare brand Herbline Essentials. His company has employed already Twitter and Facebook, but because of the visual nature of the business – Herbline Essentials is an all-natural beauty brand – it made perfect sense to be on Instagram. Moreover, Aly thinks that in the near future Instagram has the potential to become a retail hotspot. So, his aim with using Instagram is not only to raise brand awareness, and engage in a more visual manner with followers, but harness a powerful sales driver. Sounds like something that is worth exploring! So, here are a few tips on how to create compelling content, use hashtags, connect directly with your potential customers, and drive conversation and even sales. Tell A Story. When you think about the type of content you would like to post, keep in mind the story of your brand. Instagram is a truly powerful tool that allows you to tell the story of your brand visually, simply by sharing photos and 15sec videos with your targeted audience. These are not mere photos and videos that you post, these are brand messages. So, think about story arcs. The photos you share can be grouped as a series to show a theme, a progression or a transformation. You could also use a collage made of several photos that, when

Intelligent SME

Digital Marketing

combined into a single image, allow you not only to share more content with each post, but also tell and make your brand message better and clearer. Create Your Own Style. As content is at the core of your brand story, good quality pictures make all the difference. First, learn how to take better pictures. This doesn’t mean that you need to buy a DSLR camera and enroll in a photography course (though it would pay off). For starters, try to get the most of your smartphone. If you have an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy, chances are the cameras in these phones will do the job. Equally important is to know how to use filters and editing apps to improve your photos, and create a signature style. Instagram offers a range of image filters to choose from, that allow you to make changes in color and saturation (for e.g. you can change a photo to monochrome with ‘inkwell’, or make it more vibrant with ‘hefe’). Later on, if you’d like to add frames, text, and effects to your photos, you can find a bevy of free online photo editing apps, such as PicMonkey, Color Splash, Lumie or Pixlr, that will help you achieve the style you want. As for the subject matter of the photos you post, aim to strike a balance between product or business specific content, and photos that showcase a lifestyle and reinforce your brand’s persona. Use Hashtags. Instagram has enabled brands and businesses to create a visual conversation with their target audience. In addition to photos and videos, another important Instagram feature for engaging with people is the ‘hashtag’. The hashtag is similar to a ‘cue’ you can use to follow conversations within your sector, and find out what people say about your business or products; it helps you look for other businesses or customers with similar interests, or find influencers; and lastly it helps you grow your Instagram following. Before posting any new content, think about the best words to describe it and reference those words on Instagram to see which hashtags are most popular and relevant, and, hence, likely to drive the most awareness and engagement for your posts.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

SME Guide / Booster

Danger zones for SMEs SME has become one of the vital sectors that majorly contributes to the economy. Ms. Anjuli through her article guides the SMEs with best practices to run their business successfully and smoothly.

f one were to trace the history of each billion dollar company, we will be sure to find an SME that was built on the bedrock of a great business idea nurtured by equal parts of passion and perseverance. Conversely, each SME today has the ability to be the billion dollar behemoth that inspires the next generation of entrepreneurial minds. According to Bloomberg,

8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months. The 30% who succeed seem to have focused on simple business basics thereby strengthening the foundations of their enterprise. First and foremost is a wellarticulated Business Plan that not only elucidates a value proposition but details proven revenue streams and sources of profits. Having

built belief and conviction in this document, it is incumbent on the SME to follow the same consistently thereby maximising the chances of success in the immediate and long term future. The entrepreneurial urge sometimes pushes him or her to ride each trend and opportunity in search of explosive growth; however, such lack of focus points not only to weak fundaments but leads to an implosion in business

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

SME Guide / Booster prospects in the short term. It is therefore of equal importance for the SME to Communicate the core idea and success path to all stakeholders, especially the employees and critical outsourced partners. Constant reiteration of the business idea will ensure that decisions taken by each and every member of the unit are in consonance with the best interest of the SMEs goals and objectives and ad hoc-ism is kept at bay. Having the right People on board is often the best way to insure the SME against external pressures and market vagaries. Of critical importance is the choice of professionally qualified and experienced managers to oversee the day-to-day functioning of the organization with oversight authority firmly in the hands of the owner or the board of directors. This will release the SME owner from the everyday operational pressures and free time and energy to work towards business growth at a strategic level by striking the right partnerships with customers, clients, suppliers and breaching new markets and opportunities. It is important for the SME owner to release themselves from the instinct to micro manage and thereby lose an objective outlook to their business. Therefore, apart from carefully choosing and selecting employees, the SME benefits in a great way in the choice of independent directors and expert board members who not only lend their reputation through association but mentor the SME by delivering sage advice, especially in times of intense pressure. Their ombudsman like presence also steers the SME onto the right path and stops them from chasing short terms gains while perhaps forsaking the long term potential. The important point being the need to build the ethos of the SME on a strong bulwark of Corporate Governance that will ensure adherence to regulatory and fiscal checks and balances, further strengthening the business case and improving the long term prospects of the company. While today’s world treats verbal contracts or someone’s word as anachronistic or old fashioned, it

Ensure that decisions taken by each and every member of the unit are in consonance with the best interest of the SMEs goals

is imperative to not just display but demonstrate probity of the highest standards in every dealing thereby earning a ‘solid’ reputation; something that often is the difference between success and oblivion. The biggest names in business today have always stood out as shining examples of quality, timeliness or a moral code of conduct that separates them from their peer group. One of the most common roadblocks faced by SMEs is in Raising Funds without having the appropriate years of experience i.e. in demonstrating a proven track record. While not easily surmounted, the SMEs that practice business per high ethical standards, and have deep rooted fiscal management policies in place are the ones that carry the confidence of delivering higher than average returns on investment, thereby attracting potential investors amongst me-too competitors. To restate this important point via the opposite frame of reference, investing is often an emotional decision for the investor and is driven by the character of the person (and hence the business) seeking funding. In summary, it will be sufficient to say that owning a latent billion dollar idea, and, attempting to propagate the same only through passion, may be a grave injustice.

If one were to draw learning from Hindu scripture, Dharma and Karma both have to be practiced with unstinted devotion in order for the SME to achieve its rightful Moksha. A robust, well understood business plan, in consonance with the right advisors, acts as a guide to business best practices and attracts committed employees and stakeholders, on its sure path to achieve success.

Ms. Anjuli Sivaramakrishnan is a partner in the corporate practice of Kochhar & Co. Her practice areas include banking, finance, private equity, mergers, acquisitions, foreign investments and securities laws. She has vast experience and expertise in project finance, structured banking transactions, syndicated loans, corporate and retail banking documentation. She regularly advises offshore and domestic private equity funds on all aspects of making an investment and portfolio management issues. She has experience advising clients from sectors including but not limited to automotive, aviation, financial services, infrastructure, oil and gas, real estate and retail. 43

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Intelligent SME

Finance

Keeping SMEs out of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;danger zoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Small businesses fail for many reasons that are largely misunderstood, not least by SMEs and their entrepreneurs. Though more and more SMEs are launching every year, most end up shutting their doors, many of them within the first year of operation. The number one reason for their failure is running out of money, and being unable to obtain further financing to remain in operation. 44

April - May 2015

Technology creates a more level playing field and is

vital in helping SMEs compete with larger competitors

here are some 300,000 Small and Medium Enterprises that contribute more than 60% to the UAE’s GDP, providing more than 42% the jobs in the country, the Development Enterprises Company reported. However, SMEs find it very difficult to get financing from banks and other conventional sources, and face a rejection rate as high as 90%. Business that do successfully get financing often face rigid terms, with some banks charging interest rates of up to 26% annually, undermining the chances of profitability. Access to affordable funding can make the difference between expansion and bankruptcy, without which SMEs risk entering the dreaded danger zone. A large portion of SME failures we have seen arise from the inability to access finance. Cash remains king for them, as it is vital to enabling SMEs to grow, succeed and ultimately create jobs that grow the economy. But things don’t have to be this way. Today, there are viable alternatives to traditional banking such as peer-to-peer financing, a field that is rapidly becoming a mainstream solution for SMEs. Beehive, the UAE’s first online marketplace for peer-to-peer financing, has brought this proven financing concept that has seen huge success in the UK and USA, to the Gulf, focusing initially on the UAE. But while initial financing is a huge challenge, the ongoing cash flow problems of a business pose another danger for SMEs. Often, businesses spend their cash on expenses before even seeing any revenues from sales, leading to a liquidity gap. Even when a business is profitable, it can face cash flow timing issues that can prevent it from covering expenses such as salaries and rent. This can significantly hamper development and restrict the growth of an otherwise healthy and successful business. In response to this need, Beehive recently launched its invoice financing service as a short term financing solution that allows businesses to get cash in advance on invoices from large companies. Invoice financing provides businesses with faster access to

cost-effective sources of funds that can be a critical lifeline that boosts their working capital or cash flow. There other danger zones, too, like failing to embrace technological innovations, losing touch with customers and failing to spot market changes, as well as failing to harness the human capital in the business. There are technical solutions designed specifically for SMEs and managers rarely even have the time to explore the solutions that exist. Technology creates a more level playing field and is vital in helping SMEs compete with larger competitors. It is essential that business owners “take time to save time” as it can help reduce costs, enable more efficient development, and bring products and services to market more quickly. Some entrepreneurs tend to retreat into their own world once they launch a business, focusing on the day-to-day operations while forgetting to keep an eye on the market. This isolation often tends to be counterproductive; how can you turn your eyes and ears away from the very market in which you identified a potential opportunity and based your whole business model and proposition? Keeping your pulse on the market and listening to your customers should be the focus of every business to remain relevant to its customers and to differentiate itself from competitors.

Keeping your pulse on the market and listening to your customers should be the focus of every business to remain relevant to its customers and to differentiate itself from competitors.

Intelligent SME

Finance

Craig Moore – Founder & CEO of Beehive. As Founder and Craig is responsible for overseeing the overall strategic direction and managing the day-to-day operations of Beehive. Prior to Beehive, Craig was the Founder & COO of Butterfly Software, a company acquired by IBM in September 2012. He has worked in numerous multinational companies such as Dell, EMC, Hitachi and HSBC with an emphasis on shaping effective go to market and value propositions.

Human capital is another crucial enabler of any business which plays an indispensable role in steering a business’s path towards success. Hiring the right employees with relevant skills and ensuring their continuous development is a key driver for maintaining an SME’s competitive advantage. Making the bad decisions when finding, training and retaining staff can be very costly, both from financial and morale perspectives. It is therefore even more critical for SMEs to get it right as compared to larger corporates. Small and medium-sized enterprises are a fundamental pillar of a robust, thriving economy. The SME sector in the UAE, a massive contributor to the UAE GDP, will play an increasingly significant role in driving the country’s advancement and sustainable growth towards the vision of being a leading nation on the global stage. However, SMEs will only be able to deliver on their potential if they are able to access the financial resources necessary to start, sustain and grow.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

DSP for leaders:

The blinding truth behind advanced decision making Is there a direct correlation between a good leader and a great leader based on how they manage their gifts of sight, hearing and abilities to speak? Just put your head around this for a moment to imagine a leader without vision.

his does not refer to a sightless person but rather a person without the ability to imagine a bigger or better future, who ignores the signs on the wall, or who turns their head toward the sand in times of turbulence, like the proverbial ostrich. There is a Vision/Mission of the company, but what about

the vision master, the person responsible to draw the map on the canvass and share the journey they lead with their team. Can we follow leaders without vision? Could your own employees be faulted for leaving your organization if they felt that you were blinded by distractions that kept you from seeing the obvious course of opportunity or action?

Taking this string further into the sensory funnel, are their choices that great leaders make to purposely ignore obvious obstacles and make daring choices in their navigation of the company? Could not Thomas Edison not see that after 7,000 experiments in his attempt to invent the light bulb that he was swinging blindly in the dark?

Executives and leaders today that cultivate

a culture of excellence may use DSP in their everyday life to amazing results.

The truth is that many leaders today must distance themselves from the chatter and traffic of the mundane and escape to an altitude that allows them to see things from a unique perspective, something that very often is difficult for the troops beneath the cloud to see at first glance. Being myopic will at best get short-term results. The same could be said for listening practices. Should a company close its doors if they hear that some consumers are unhappy? Should they applaud the feedback and use it to course correct? Should a CEO execute anyone who has an opinion other than his or hers? How we react or respond very often will be the trajectory of the outcome. Is there a time to faint deafness when the rain of criticism or disagreement pours down? Could reacting to everything we hear keep us on tract to our ultimate journey? It makes you wonder how thick-skinned many politicians around the world must be to weather to storm of public decent over a policy or even attacking their personal lives. How great it does feel however when you have something to say and are appreciated by others when they stop and listen with undeniable attention to your every word. Imagine how far an executive could get by winning the hearts of their team or suppliers and customers when they have earned the reputation of being an attentive listener. Heard that? And finally the power of the voice, the words that are uttered powered with emotion that can boost or kill the moral or will of the person or groups it is directed towards.Are we responsible for our words? Maybe asking a former owner of a now resold NBA basketball team could give us a taste of the unspeakable that is sometimes spoken. Is it essential that we stop the car in the middle of the traffic to berate the driver in error who is driving behind us? Does it boost moral when an executive rips to shreds an employee who made an error in front of their co-workers? Do we have choices or any control of what words we speak and when we speak them? Many diplomats have long

learned that refraining from speaking from a reactionary point of view even when they feel they are right is often the better way to lead their agenda. Of course, harnessing the human reactions to everyday provocations is not an easy task. We all lose it from time to time, and we all make mistakes, within ourselves and with the people we interact or no longer interact with. The secret is therefore to master our internal communication, which is what we are ultimately going to be responsible for in the long run. The newest approach to master this discipline is now being offered in a series of workshops throughout Asia and the GCC. Most people have heard the term ESP, which is the abbreviation for extra sensory perception.

Introducing DSP:

Discretionary Sensory Perception, DSP, is a system of alertness that allows leaders to know and understand what to look at, what to ignore, when to speak, when to remain silent, and who or what to listen to or not. DSP is a tool that leaders today are able to master through a finer sense of awareness, a keener more highly tuned set of frequencies that turn AM into FM, analog into digital with a built in editor. It embraces imagineering, diplomacy, censorship, at the same time as it champions a more vocal force of conviction, a caring ear to the people that matter and insight into a newer brighter vision of the future. “DSP is a new discipline that enables leaders to retrain their behaviors and responses to stimulus that could save a great deal of pain in an organizations growth, “says the L&D director for World Class Group, pioneers of DSP for Business Leaders. “Executives and leaders today that cultivate a culture of excellence may use DSP in their everyday life to amazing results.” In short, it’s not what you hear or don’t hear, or see or fail to recognize, it makes it possible to take control of the total environment by editing to a better outcome.” The applications are endless, as they foster better relationships

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Leadership

Michael Tolan heads World Class Group as the CEO, a company that provides organizational development for human capital within companies, governmental organizations, NGO’s. He conducts Motivational and Leadership programs for enterprises with his signature events such as Mission I’ M Possible, Kung Fu Communication and is a leading authority on DSP for enterprise. with people, whoever they are, and leave the executive feeling much more in control in their everyday life. People are creatures of habit, DSP simply retrains executives to develop a newer long lasting positive habit for internal and external communication. It uses the Kung Fu Leadership model of ‘RESPECT’, an acronym that is central to managing the everyday life of the business or corporate warrior. Anyone can strike back when hearing something they don’t appreciate or saying something reactionary and most people do, but the DSP workshops and coaching rewards provide phenomenal results. Today is all about faster and faster communication, even reactions have gone very wrong to so many when responding to a text message or email, and our sense of righteousness and our right to feel righter has bungled jobs, opportunities and sadly unfairly personal relationships. What if DSP could provide executives with a built in SLO – MOTION reaction mode that gave them an extra 3 seconds to process instead of shooting now and asking questions later? If there was ever a time to embrace this tool for progressive leaders, it was yesterday. DSP is only one available skill that can be conditioned into the behaviors and responses of leaders, but whatever works, its time to take responsibility ourselves and keep winning with great personal management skills in excellent processed internal and external communication.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Leadership

Leadership agility – from good to great What are the first words that come to your mind when thinking of leadership? Drive? Determination? Assertiveness? Confidence? Oxford English Dictionary defines Leadership as “the activity of leading a group or an organization”.

part from this, there are several views on leadership- personal ones such as “leaders are born not made”, and scientific ones like behavioural theories or the more recent transactional and transformational theories. However, no matter which view or theory one ascribes to, it is clear to us that over time, one attribute remains true across all interpretations: Leaders know how to adapt to their environment. The most prominent leaders in history were always somehow a step ahead of the game. They had the incredible ability to think on their feet and adapt to changes in their environment. A perfect example of a leader who personifies this is His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed after taking the mantle from his brother, drove the incredible transformation of Dubai. This city wouldn’t be what it is today, a premier business hub and one of the most prestigious holiday destinations in the world, without His Highness’s vision, leadership and impressive adaptability. To quote His Highness: “Leadership does not need strength. Everyone gets in return what equals his efforts and what he puts in. One must be dynamic and able to change and adapt to lead and grow”. Leadership is in short supply these days. We live in a turbulent environment- the US Army College calls it a VUCA world:

Skills are imperative, differentiating oneself as a leader is most critical. • Volatility: The nature, speed, volume, magnitude and dynamics of change • Uncertainty: the lack of predictability of issues and events • Complexity: The confounding of issues and the chaos that surround any organization • Ambiguity: The haziness of reality and the mixed meanings of conditions Recently, The Conference Board and Development Dimensions International (DDI) released their latest Global Leadership Forecast 2014/2015 where over 13,000 leaders, 2,000 companies across 48 countries were surveyed. The results were significant yet far from astounding. What these findings reveal is that organizations whose leaders are capable of demonstrating agility are three times more likely to have financial performance commensurate with the top 20% of organizations. At the same time, the survey also revealed that 1 in every 4 companies feel that their leaders are not VUCA capable, in

other words, not agile enough. It becomes very apparent that going from good to great in such an environment requires something more than commonly accepted basic leadership skills. Adapting and taking action in a quick, clever and astute manner, in one word to be agile, is more relevant than ever. Agility Leadership is not the mastery of one skill but rather the mastery of a group of skills necessary to reach sustainable success in a volatile, complex and fast paced global environment. Agility is: • To have systemic thinking. A way to approach a given situation in its entirety and understanding the influence of each component as a whole and its relationship with one another rather than in isolation. • To take responsibility to act proactively instead of reacting and adjusting to a given situation or passively expecting something to happen. • To act together in a cooperative manner for mutual benefit and common sense of purpose rather than having an individualistic approach. • To be able to anticipate the consequences of one’s actions in a rational and intuitive manner in a given situation rather than reacting to them. • To innovate and change only what is needed, when needed. Being open to new ideas or solutions to deal with context and step out of the usual frame of reference.

April - May 2015

Intelligent SME

Leadership

"Well, I would have exhibited more leadership qualities if someone would have told me to." So what does this mean for an entrepreneur? An entrepreneur is by definition someone who is not afraid to take risks. They have most likely sacrificed a steady day job and pay cheque in the hope of creating something big. In order to succeed they must possess and demonstrate several skills, such as decision-making, creativity, strategic thinking, and planning. However, while these skills are imperative, differentiating oneself as a leader is most critical. Leading the creation of a successful and sustainable business requires one to act, anticipate, get out of the comfort zone and adapt to changes in any given context. Whether it is about keeping an eye on the competition or on new technology you always have to keep your finger on the pulse! In a world where the only constant is change, can you really

afford to stay still? Remember, oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success cannot to rely on what has been done in the past or the present but what is being done to foster the ability to adapt to a constantly changing environment. Thus, developing agile behaviours is no longer an option but an

Salma El Shurafa & Veronique Ademar are partners at The Pathway Project. Salma is the founder of the company and draws on her 11 years of experience as a Human Resources professional, entrepreneur and executive coach to provide outstanding tailored coaching to professionals who are navigating the dynamics of the global UAE market. Veronique has 12 years of experience as a Human Resources professional and an internal coach. She has held various regional roles such as Recruitment Manager, HR Business Partner and Talent Manager with several Fortune 500 companies in the UAE and Switzerland. veronique@pathwayproject. ae, salma@pathwayproject.ae

absolute must. So, where does your organization stand in terms of agility? Do you want to explore your teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s agility or your own? Connect with us at The Pathway Project to learn more about our Agility program, workshops and coaching.

VUCA World Volatility

Leader

Uncertainty

The most prominent

leaders in history were always somehow a step ahead of the game.

Complexity

Ambiguity

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LEASING

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Resemble Systems is an IBM Premier Business Partner and Microsoft Silver Partner, vendor agnostic Systems & Collaboration Integrator, a company with local presence in Dubai, Riyadh and Bangalore providing IT solutions that bring Business Value to our esteemed customers. We follow consultative approach in identifying the customer challenges and then map those business challenges with a unique, cost effective and secure solution that ensures Business Value, Maximum ROI and Lower TCO. Over 5 years, we have been providing superior Infrastructure Management Services and Application Development Services for resolving the IT Services challenges in various verticals and industries, serving both the local and international customers. Our associates are distinguished by their functional and technical expertise combined with their hands-on experience and technical certifications thereby ensuring that our customers receive the most effective, quality delivery and professional services on time. Technology Partners

1. Centre of Excellence (CoE) As part of key differentiation from other services providers, we have invested in proven technology platforms, built a practice and Center of Excellence, in order to bring maximum ROI and Lower TCO to our valuable customers. As experts on Professional Services and Workflow based application development and automation using Business Process Management solutions, Resemble Systems is involved in every stage from business success criteria, implementation, delivery, functional & technical support and skills transfer program. Our extensive skills on development platforms such as IBM xPages, Microsoft ASP .Net, SharePoint encompasses all aspects of implementation and operation, including business requirements definition, development of functional specifications, system design and customizing software solutions to fit specific client needs. Testimonial

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