National SME success stories showcased at DED seminar

Three successful national small business owners discussed their roadmap to success with the participants of the seminar entitled: "How I made my first million from my small enterprise."

The four-hour long seminar was a tremendous success, attracting more than 300 UAE national participants from across the country including more 180 men and 120 ladies. A huge delegation of 55 members from the Dubai Women's Association also attended the seminar in addition to representatives from Tanmia, the UAE University and Al Ghurair University.

Calling upon all organizations dealing with national SME development to join hands and develop integrated strategies to offer a comprehensive support programme, Mr. Khalid Al Kassim, Deputy Director General, Planning and Development, DED said in his inaugural address: "Increasing the competitiveness of our national youth so that they can make their presence felt both on a national and international level is a top priority and this can best be done by with the combined effort of all the organizations dealing with national SME development. The DED hopes to work closely with organizations like Al Tomooh and others to offer comprehensive support for national SMEs in terms of the three areas of training, financing and support."

Mr. Sulaiman Al Mazroui, one of the Supreme committee members of Emirates Bank's Al Tomooh programme explained the details of the financing scheme for national SME projects while Mr. Abdul Saheb Al Sajwani from the Entrepreneurs Forum gave an overview of his organization. The seminar also included a presentation by Dr. Sameh Al Namaki about the rise and fall of entrepreneurship in Singapore linking it to the specific problems in the UAE environment.

Describing the SME projects initiated by the DED, Mr. Khalid Al Kassim said: "The significant economic growth witnessed by the UAE has encouraged young nationals to maximize their benefit from the development in various economic sectors by establishing their own businesses. The SME section at DED's Business Sector Development Division has been at the forefront in developing SME-related projects and programmes that are in line with this economic growth. Training and developing entrepreneurship skills among our national youth has been the top priority in these programmes," he added.

He explained that since the inception of its national entrepreneurship development programme three years ago, the DED has held about 46 training sessions to date spanning 176 days. More than 1591 nationals including about 1175 men and 416 ladies, have received training in SME development and management from amongst a total of 3070 applicants. The DED has also provided more than 140 one-on-one business consultations as part of its mandate to develop the SME segment in the country in addition to offering consultations over the phone.

The success of the SME training programmes conducted by the DED was effectively demonstrated by Mr. Khalid Al Awar the successful owner of Model Hunt, a modeling agency, who is currently producing the first feature film from the UAE entitled: "The Other World." Explaining his business model at length, Mr. Al-Awar pointed out how his timely participation at one of DED's SME training workshops had given him a different perspective about business ventures and enabled him to change his management strategy effectively.

Another national SME success story showcased at the seminar included the development of Aroma Flower shop by its owner Ms Fatima Al Shaali, who stressed the importance of the knowledge of the market, a well conducted feasibility study and adequate preparation as significant factors in the success of a business venture.

Mr Mohammed Ibrahim Murad, a policeman turned entrepreneur spoke about the need for continuous improvement and diversification strategies in order to achieve success in a business venture. He cited the strength of the team, effective time management, adequate planning and continuous improvement as important factors of his success, adding that the first million does not come easily in a small business.

The seminar will be followed by a series of workshops to be held intermittently at the DED from April 17 to May 7, 2005. The workshops include, "Zero mistakes in managing my small business," "How to double my sales in a small project", "Reasons for failure in small projects" and "Working capital management."