In late 2004 I started thinking about building a business model around Yahadi so that it can generate some profits that can cover part of the cost involved. At that time I read an article about the Zayed University e-biz challenge III and started preparing for the transition to the e-business world. With the help of my teammates (Gauttam Goenka and Ruba Ayyat) and advisor (Dr.Gregore Weiche) we investigated prices, payment systems, revenue models, affiliate schemes and market segmentation among many other issues.
Now, the thing about this competition is that the judges want to see you striving to unleash your creative side; they weren't really worried about the implementation or the technicalities at this point. And so we submitted a 9-pages business plan along with a CD that contained a focus group video that we conducted to prove the market need for a product like Yahadi.
The business plan made it to the finalists list and then ended up fourth. The prestigious gala dinner (Yes, the food was great!) proved to be a trophy in its own right with crowds of entrepreneurs, media, academics and of course business investors. It was a great networking opportunity and I did my best to get the most out of it.
Thanks to e-biz challenge, Yahadi is now available online ready for sale. The only thing left is to start a proper marketing campaign. And we are currently looking for investors to help us with that.
5- I want to take it further:
Yahadi is not our first product and definitely is not going to be the last. Our field of work involves web design, multimedia, software development, 3D Animation, e-commerce and education among many others. We consider it our duty to deliver a satisfying user experience in every product so we always put quality first. However, as the complexity level is increasing with every new project; it's very important for investors to understand that the real investment is investing in our minds and not just our products. IT is the kind of business that requires patience in development and funding, but when the payback time comes, it pays in large figures!
Anne-Birte Stensgaard, Senior News Editor
Sunday, December 11 - 2005 at 11:31 UAE local time (GMT+4)
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