Date: February 1, 2016
Officials at Zubair Small Enterprises Centre (Zubair SEC), the social responsibility initiative of The Zubair Corporation, are in the process of finalizing the selection of the Direct Support Programme winners for the year 2016.
The winners of the third edition of Zubair SEC’s Direct Support Programme will be announced on February 3.
The two previous editions of the Direct Support Programme received huge response and registered remarkable success. The programme provided support and mentorship to high-potential novice entrepreneurs and young business owners.
Apprising that the 2016 edition of the Direct Support Programme has received a remarkable response, Adel Al Hubaishi, Senior Advisor at Zubair SEC, said: “In every part of the world, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hold the key to sustained economic growth. Our programme’s objective is to help young entrepreneurs pursue their passion and provide them with the skills and knowledge needed to actively contribute to Oman’s economy through their business endeavours.”
Talking about the new elements added to the 2016 Direct Support Programme, Adel added, “This year we have dedicated one winner seat for a Social Entrepreneurship Project; this comes as a first initiative in the Sultanate towards advocating for social entrepreneurship and enabling members towards further social impact through their businesses.”
Zubair SEC’s Direct Support Programme for year 2016 will provide an opportunity for a wholesale project for one winner in collaboration with Oasis Logistics, one of The Zubair Group companies.
Stressing that the aim of Direct Support Programme is to bring about long-term economic growth by selecting and mentoring outstanding young entrepreneurs in Oman, Adel said: “In the last two years, we have helped winners overcome obstacles by providing them with strategic advice, logistical support, consultancy services and access to financial grant. Additionally, we have helped them with skills and training needed to find success and provided many with business development opportunities. The increasing number of applicants this year indicates that we putting effort in the right track. The feedback we have got from previous winners shows that we have helped cultivate a culture of entrepreneurship which encouraged them to think big.”
Zubair SEC’s Direct Support Programme applies a four-stage evaluation in order to select 10 winners every year. Once applications are evaluated, applicants go through interviews and their projects are reviewed thrice.
Applications for the 2016 programme opened in early October 2015, and remained open until the end of November 2015. The number of applicants for the Direct Support Programme grew up from 94 in 2015 to 214 in 2016. A total number of 122 applicants were shortlisted for the first round of interview in 2016 while 63 were shortlisted in 2015.
In 2016, 70 business enterprises were shortlisted in the second round of review while 2015 saw 40 business enterprises being shortlisted.
With new categories being added to the 2016 programme, 12 were shortlisted for the second round of review under the social enterprise category and 13 in the wholesale business by Oasis Logistics.
As a run-up to the winners’ announcement in the fourth round of assessment, 18 business enterprises, 4 social enterprises and 6 wholesale businesses by Oasis have been shortlisted to select the 10 winners from.
Personality, business plan, product/service specifications, targeted market specifications, financial considerations, innovation and social impact are criteria considered while selecting the winners. The winning projects should have a clear strategic plan and feasibility study done which reflects the owners’ willingness to apply best business practices with the support of Zubair SEC.
Although all members of Zubair SEC benefit from advisory and training services, financial facilitation, and support, only exceptional projects are selected as winners of its Direct Support Programme. The purpose of selecting winners is to create healthy competitiveness among members and to encourage them to work harder to reach their goal.