I recently spoke at the Youth Forum at Tawdheef 2015 — the annual Emirati employment exhibition. Emirati students attended to hear what professionals had to say about their work experiences. As part of the Forum, students were also asked to participate in a live survey about their career and entrepreneurial ambitions.
What impressed me was that many of the students planned to launch their own businesses one day. As someone who manages her own consultancy, nothing feels more rewarding than watching your venture grow and inspire people’s lives.
Additional perks include managing your own office and watching that office expand. But before moving into a lavish workspace, you may need to work from home for a while or from a business centre until your business picks up.
Over the past year, some of my friends who have gone down the entrepreneurial route have changed their routines. Instead of complaining about being late for work or struggling to beat the rush hour traffic, they simply roll out of bed, make themselves some coffee and turn on the computer in their home office.
The idea may sound like a dream. After all, it is tempting for anyone to work from home, in the comfort of your pyjamas with access to your own fridge and bathroom, but that dream also comes with its challenges. In fact, it may be harder to work from home than from a traditional office.
The following tips are helpful for start-up entrepreneurs trying to find the right working environment for their needs:
• Try working from a business centre. This will get you into the office mood and prevent you being distracted by family members or other issues at home. Library cafes at hotels are a good example, but other arrangements work too. There are numerous business centres in the UAE that provide entrepreneurs the opportunity to rent a desk, a shared workstation or a private office. They also come with benefits such as printers, meeting rooms, fax machines and a dedicated office receptionist, plus a PO box. Not only will this help to increase your productivity and efficiency, but it will also offer a good opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs.
• Set regular call and meeting times. At the start-up phase, you may have one or two team members on board and the lack of office space may mean that you do not meet them every day. If you are an extrovert, you may find this arrangement bothersome. In addition, it is very important to interact with your team members. With technology, a Skype video call will help otherwise arrange to meet up once or twice a week. Even though you may email each other all the time, one-on-one meetings are important to strengthen the relationship and discuss matters not covered by email.
• Dedicate an office space at home. Sure, you can always work from the comfort of your bed, lying against your favourite pillow, but that could increase your risk of back, neck and even wrist pain in the long run. Also, you need to have a separate workspace to get you into the work mood. If possible, turn a spare room into an office. If you are challenged with space, dedicate a corner. Have it in the most quiet and comfortable corner of your home, preferably with natural sunlight coming in. It is important to be in the zone, to feel that you are in an actual office.
• Set work hours for yourself. Because you are your own boss, you may want to sleep for an extra hour, or to postpone that meeting or task to another day. But because you are your own boss, you need to be firmer with yourself to avoid such situations. Working from home can be distracting and you can easily lose track of time. Set dedicated working hours and ensure to include a lunch break to give yourself some downtime. This will ensure you return to work refreshed to tackle the rest of the tasks for the day.
Starting a business is rewarding, but it also comes with its challenges, especially when you work from home and remotely from your team members. However, with a little bit of discipline and organisation, you could go a long way.
Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer and communications consultant based in Abu Dhabi. Follow her on Twitter at @manar_alhinai.
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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TEACHERS' PAY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
