Suparna Goswami Bhattacharya

August 24, 2015: Entrepreneurship is a great equaliser. Across the globe, entrepreneurs may come from varied backgrounds, but the language of entrepreneurship unites them. And testimony to this is the story of Startup Oman, a one-stop shop community for SMEs. The founders — Canadian entrepreneur Sherry Colbourne and prominent Omani businessman and entrepreneur Ali Daud — though from dissimilar backgrounds, share the same passion —to be the guidebook for SMEs in Oman. Startup Oman enables Omani SMEs to connect with the stakeholders and resources needed to start, grow and accelerate their businesses. Whether that be training, mentoring or funding, this online platform enables Omani SMEs to connect with each other via their My Mujtama community. The platform will be launched on September 5.

Sherry Colbourne

“Two-and-a-half years ago, I landed in Oman with my husband. As a passionate entrepreneur, I began volunteering with local incubators and met many of Oman’s high growth entrepreneurs. Soon I realised that, in spite of an amazing infrastructure, few entrepreneurs knew about the programmes and facilities that existed for them or, for that matter, how to access them,” says Sherry Colbourne who is also the director, Business Development for Omani market research firm National Poll Center.

Along the way she met Daud, the CEO of Daud Group of Companies and a tireless Omani entrepreneur. Besides being the owner of the McDonald’s franchise in Oman, Ali is also the chairman of the Oman American Business Council and honorary Canadian consul in Oman. Colbourne leveraged her Canadian connection to pitch her idea to Daud on his second day as Canadian consul. “To be honest, it was in a moment of frustration that I pitched my idea of how to solve the problem for SMEs. I was surprised to find that Daud shared the same frustration and had his own ideas on how to solve the problem,” she says.

Together they knew that Oman had all the key ingredients of a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem but what it lacked was a single community to access information about how to start a company or manage finances for SMEs. They decided to join forces to help foster a community of collaboration and bring all the pieces of Oman’s entrepreneurial ecosystem together.

As with most companies who have just started out, Startup Oman faced hurdles but the entrepreneurs decided to look beyond these obstacles to make their vision a reality. When it came to funding, they boot strapped the company with their own capital.

Ali Daud

“We spent a year meeting Oman’s many accomplished stakeholders and educational institutes to ensure the platform highlights all the resources available to Omani SMEs,” says Colbourne. Her connections in the high-tech sector meant she had a strong suite of developers to call upon to build the platform. Daud’s local know-how, his understanding of the business community and his passion for establishing Oman as an economic force within the GCC played an equally significant role in establishing Startup Oman.

“We believe in stimulating economic impact through entrepreneurship. It is the combination of experience, passion and tenacity that will transform Oman’s culture into an entrepreneurial hive,” says Colbourne. It was with this mindset that Daud and Colbourne sought to find a managing director for Startup Oman. “We needed to find someone that personified these traits”, said Daud. “We found such an individual in Mahmood Zeyad.”

Mahmood is a young Gulf national who identifies with Oman’s many SMEs. Before taking on the key role at Startup Oman, he was president of AIESEC Oman, the world’s largest youth-run organisation that develops leadership potential in young people and provides entrepreneurship training.

Colbourne says that entrepreneurs around the world are alike. “I have visited entrepreneurial hubs in places ranging from Silicon Valley to Moscow, and entrepreneurship is truly a global language. It is imperative for entrepreneurs to capitalise on their likeness and allow it to bring the world together.”

You can meet the team of ‘Startup Oman’ at the Oman SME Summit organised by IFM at Al Bustan Palace Hotel, Ritz Carlton in Muscat on September 13-14

The post Guiding light for SMEs in Oman appeared first on International Finance.

IFM Correspondent

November 21, 2014: Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) has signed Everest Industries, one of the fastest growing building solutions companies in India, as its tenant. Everest will occupy 750,000 sqft in RAKIA’s Al Ghail industrial park.

The India-based company plans to initially produce 10mn square metre of fibre cement boards used in prefabricated housing, facades, flooring, wet area lining and ceilings. The new agreement with RAKIA marks the company’s first international green field venture and adds to a manufacturing footprint that currently spans eight locations across India. Everest is expected to source raw material for its manufacturing process locally.

Probir Chakraborty, COO, RAKIA, said Everest’s presence in the industrial park is a testament to RAKIA’s ability to offer unrivalled opportunities to foreign companies. “On behalf of RAKIA, I am extremely pleased to welcome Everest Industries to our Al Ghail industrial park. Everest Industries has been at the forefront of technology in the building solutions space for eight decades. Now more than ever, RAKIA is gaining recognition as the gateway for global industry in the Middle East and North Africa,” he said.

Aditya V Somani, chairman, Everest Industries said that a lot of research had gone before zeroing in on RAKIA. “Everest is a very conservative and traditional organisation. Hence, considerable research and studies have gone into choosing a location for our first overseas venture. When we picked RAKIA, we considered the real strategic advantage of the location. RAKIA officials have also been very cooperative and ever-willing to extend all the help that we needed to set up the unit. We look forward to a fruitful association with RAKIA in the time to come.”

Everest Industries joins other global enterprises at RAKIA’s Al Ghail industrial park, such as, Ashok Leyland, one of the world’s leading
manufacturers of buses and trucks. Interest from manufacturing companies is growing around RAKIA’s Al Ghail, and the industrial park is expected to play a strong role in attracting foreign direct investment to the emirate.

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