Date: June 2, 2019
Muscat: As part of its ‘Tajribati’ dialogue initiative, Zubair Small Enterprises Centre (Zubair SEC) organised a session that highlighted the success stories of various small businesses in Nizwa. The special ‘Tajribati’ session was held as part of the four-day exhibition for small businesses organised by Bank Muscat Najahi and Zubair SEC at Nizwa Grand Mall recently, and featured actual participants in the exhibition.
The ‘Tajribati’ initiative, organised by Zubair SEC, a social responsibility initiative of The Zubair Corporation, serves as a unique platform to connect industry experts with small-business owners and entrepreneurs to exchange views, discuss common challenges and share best practices.
The session in Nizwa, which was held on the second day of the exhibition, was attended by established SME support stakeholders, aspiring entrepreneurs from interiors, along with the participants at the exhibition themselves. The session was moderated by Abdullah Al Jufaili, Head, Retail Enterprises, Bank Muscat.
Zubair SEC members Aliya Abdullah Al Nahbani, owner of Al Rawaye Al Shamikha, a modern poultry farm in Nizwa; Sultan Salim Rashid Al Sha’ei, founder of Al Diwan Dates in Nizwa; Naser Saleh Al Broumi, founder of Al Broumi National Enterprises company which specialises in honey products; and Zaima Saif Nasser Al Salami, founder of Grandma’s Mixes, along with Bank Muscat Najahi members Intisar Al Sulaimani, owner of Ayanz Boutique, and Salem Al Ya’rubi, owner of Shatha Al Oud, were key speakers at the session; they shared with the audience how they started their business and managed to overcome several challenges in order to achieve sustainable and scalable businesses.
The speakers demonstrated the significance of inculcating dynamism, innovation and excellence in attitude and approach. They shed light on the importance of having a clear plan, understanding of the market and laws, and always demonstrate perseverance.
Abdullah Al Jufaili, Head, Retail Enterprises, Bank Muscat said, “The idea of ‘Tajribati’ initiative conceptualised by Zubair SEC is an incredible one and over the few couple of years several budding entrepreneurs have benefited from it. The centre has been playing its part in providing a wealth of opportunities to small businesses for setup and expansion in a wide range of sectors and market segments. The focus of this particular session is important because there is a lot of merit in knowing and contemplating on what others have achieved and how they have done it.”
Adel Hubaishi, Senior Advisor at Zubair SEC said, “The session in Nizwa highlighted remarkable success stories of Zubair SEC and Bank Muscat Najahi members who were also participants at the exhibition. There was a lot of engagement and the session garnered a lot of interest from attendees from in and around Nizwa who aspire to become entrepreneurs. The objective of holding the session in Nizwa was to instil an interest in entrepreneurship and capitalize on the momentum that was building up throughout the organised small businesses exhibition there. There are some incredible small businesses in the interior region that deserve all good opportunities to be featured and promoted.”
Zubair SEC’s monthly ‘Tajribati’ discussion sessions have been picking up and gaining very good momentum year on year. Members and non-members alike await the Tajribati sessions to share insight with their fellow entrepreneurs, discuss matters of concern, share knowledge and experience, and network in a friendly constructive atmosphere.
Zubair SEC has held several sessions covering a variety of topics pertinent to SMEs. Given the importance of such topics, the Centre plans to keep holding similar sessions to keep building capacity of its members in all critical areas.
‘Tajribati’ sessions are run in a friendly environment that allows for discussing diverse points of view. It provides a platform for interaction and dialogue between various stakeholders from different sectors and different sizes of business, which further enriches the debate.