The women’s majlis: Taking a leap into the business unknown

Ramadan Mubarak. I’m very happy this Ramadan for a number of reasons. Firstly, I’ll be launching my business before the end of Ramadan. I won’t reveal any details now until it reaches its final stage, but I never knew how much potential I had until I exposed the holes in the walls.

I never dreamt I would embark on an entrepreneurial journey. These days, it’s common to see Emirati women starting up their own businesses. I always wondered if I’d ever be fit to be an entrepreneur. Now I believe I can – even though I doubted it before – because I have obtained that title.

When an opportunity knocked on my door a few months ago, I seized it without delay. You don’t necessarily have to have expertise in every field. Sometimes, finding the right – and genuine – people to work with fills the missing pieces of the puzzle.

Fraud is one of the most common problems facing small businesses. Too often, lack of communication creates friction between business partners. This scared me the most in the beginning.

Initially, I didn’t have the confidence to be involved in a joint venture. But when I met my business partner, we clicked immediately – we both had the same vision. “The relationship is more important than profit,” said my partner. “Money comes and goes, but when trust is lost, nothing can replace it.”

I was overwhelmed to hear that from her over and over again. Her wise words still ring in my ears. We often visit our business vicinity to make sure everything is going according to plan. We keep in touch every day and update each other on all details. The best part is when we both ask each other: “Are you happy with my performance? If not, do tell me.”

Perhaps one of the best days of our lives was running after the business progress and designing the shop with our own ideas. The place looked haunted to us, at first. Then we delegated some trustworthy designers to renovate it. We didn’t want to rely only on designers, so we did most of the decoration ourselves. With modern technology and the influx of online designing websites, we managed to add our personal touch to our enterprise.

This reminded me of my geography teacher, who would say: “No one is stupid in this world. Everyone is born with some aptitude. It depends on the person how far he goes to unearth that piece.”

I’m happy that I constantly try my best in everything I do. As a result, I get to reap the rewards.

Now, when I visit our shop, I’m surprised at myself. “Is this real?” I ask myself. Last time I was there, I roamed the place over and over again like a child, looking at the same floor and roof, and laughing to myself.

Asmaa Al Hameli is a features writer at The National.

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