I was just 17 when I started my first business. It was a women’s salon and the idea bore out of my love of beautiful places and the lack of good ones for hair and nails in the UAE at the time. I rented out a space and didn’t know where to start from, so just winged it.
First, I bought the equipment I needed for the space, and then I placed an advertisement seeking beauticians. Back then, the internet wasn’t as readily available and only the weekly magazines had a classifieds section, where you could advertise at a certain fee. The salon didn’t have a name until then and there was no paperwork in place, so it took me a while to sort that out. I was managing this while pursuing my education, so it was no easy feat and, not to mention, extremely stressful.
Guess what? It was a complete failure. I had no entrepreneurial experience back then and simply went by what I had heard my father and other men discuss about business management. I managed the place for two years and then was able to sell it to a beautician at cost price. After this, I thought to myself that I’d never be able to become an entrepreneur like my father. I gave up on the idea and continued with my education.
Two years later, an opportunity knocked at my door. My friend gave me a ring from another country and asked me to send some fruits for her. It sounded strange to me, considering that I was asked to send fruits as common as bananas, apples and oranges. I honestly thought she was joking.
I went to the nearest supermarket and asked for a dozen of each and sought help on how to ship them to another country. The boxes were delivered and exactly 10 days later, I got a call from my friend, saying the people in her village loved the fruits, and she’s planning on selling them with her father.
This marked the beginning of my importing business – my friend and her father now own the biggest supermarket chain in her country, and my company still supplies products to them and to many others. I could’ve never imagined that what I did as a small favour to my friend would culminate into a full-fledged, successful business. Today, I’m running a diverse range of businesses, including real estate, retail, education, publishing, and food and beverage.
Moral of the story? For those of you contemplating starting a business or struggling with an existing one, I’ve put together a few lessons I’ve learnt from my own journey as an entrepreneur:
