December 2012 - January 2013 <strong>Intelligent</strong> <strong>SME</strong> Out & About Pitch<strong>in</strong>g for a cause Loulou Khazen Baz, w<strong>in</strong>ner of The Entrepreneur reality television show organised by du, spoke to i<strong>SME</strong> recently on the show and her future plans. Her onl<strong>in</strong>e project, Nabbesh (www. nabbesh.com), is a resource for <strong>SME</strong>s who want to take on a specific project, without need<strong>in</strong>g to recruit on a full-time basis. 30
December 2012 - January 2013 <strong>Intelligent</strong> <strong>SME</strong> Out & About Khazen Baz’ w<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g title and much-coveted prize <strong>in</strong>cludes a guaranteed office space for a period of one year, media exposure, the chance to grow her company value, and recognition, add<strong>in</strong>g up to another AED1 million <strong>in</strong> prize value. I<strong>SME</strong>: How did Nabbesh come to life? LKB: When we created the brand, we wanted someth<strong>in</strong>g friendly, because our target audience is <strong>in</strong>dividuals with skills, so we wanted to have a very amiable feel to the website <strong>in</strong>stead of becom<strong>in</strong>g corporate and rigid. When <strong>in</strong>troduc<strong>in</strong>g a character, we had an owl <strong>in</strong> m<strong>in</strong>d because it denotes wisdom, knowledge and vision. “Nabbesh” means search <strong>in</strong> Arabic. We went live <strong>in</strong> April 2012 and we’re a very small team - four of us on full time basis. My co-founder who is also the CTO Rima Al Sheikh as well as two other people are work<strong>in</strong>g on the development of the platform. We also have about five freelancers who work on other aspects of the bus<strong>in</strong>ess. The freelancers provide us with the skills that we need for specific tasks and work around six hours a day so they are quite committed to Nabbesh. The idea is to stay agile. As a start-up, cash is critical to susta<strong>in</strong> the bus<strong>in</strong>ess, we want to grow <strong>in</strong>crementally and we do not want to burden ourselves with overhead costs. I<strong>SME</strong>: Why did you choose to be an entrepreneur after work<strong>in</strong>g for 10 years? LKB: The last job I had was <strong>in</strong> a venture capital (VC) firm. Throughout my career I met so many entrepreneurs, came across so many ideas. That sector is so excit<strong>in</strong>g. It’s full of young, ambitious people who want to change the world and make a difference. To borrow a phrase, I was bitten by the entrepreneurship bug. And, over the years, I felt that this is what I was born to do. The market conditions were right. Entrepreneurship is the focus of the day because it leads to job creation, which leads to a better economy. The time was right because there were a lot of VCs com<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to the region and even <strong>in</strong>ternally more money was be<strong>in</strong>g spent <strong>in</strong> the region. The culture was chang<strong>in</strong>g because people are beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>in</strong>vest <strong>in</strong> the youth of this region to create greater opportunities. There is a big focus on the role of women and the fact that they are not <strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>in</strong> the work force lead<strong>in</strong>g to a huge gap <strong>in</strong> the market. So, all these elements - the time, market conditions, culture of spend<strong>in</strong>g, and focus on women, comb<strong>in</strong>ed with ten years of work experience <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>vestments, market<strong>in</strong>g and work<strong>in</strong>g with entrepreneurs - helped me decide to set up a bus<strong>in</strong>ess. I<strong>SME</strong>: What do you like about entrepreneurship? LKB: Be<strong>in</strong>g your own boss is obviously a great motivat<strong>in</strong>g factor. But it comes with a lot of responsibilities. I found a gap <strong>in</strong> the market, and Nabbesh was set up. I had the passion to fill the gap. So I thought I should go forward and do it. I<strong>SME</strong>: What was the gap you saw <strong>in</strong> the market? LKB: There is no platform at the moment <strong>in</strong> this region that helps people with skills to get exposure and f<strong>in</strong>d project-based opportunities. I decided to create that platform because people have the right to work and we have vast unemployment <strong>in</strong> this region. The need is so clear. I’m provid<strong>in</strong>g people with a basic need, which is a chance to work, be productive and make money. There was no one else do<strong>in</strong>g this for to jo<strong>in</strong> them, so I set about creat<strong>in</strong>g the platform. I<strong>SME</strong>: How is the response at Nabbesh s<strong>in</strong>ce you began operations? LKB: The journey has been very excit<strong>in</strong>g. There’s learn<strong>in</strong>g every day. The more time passes, the more I feel that the concept is fantastic and the need for it. People are us<strong>in</strong>g Nabbesh and we’re see<strong>in</strong>g that <strong>in</strong> the numbers. There’s a lot of growth from when we launched till today. We’ve been quadrupl<strong>in</strong>g our sign-ups and this is with very m<strong>in</strong>imal <strong>in</strong>vestment and market<strong>in</strong>g. I<strong>SME</strong>: What was your experience when you jo<strong>in</strong>ed for The Entrepreneur? LKB: First of all, I th<strong>in</strong>k I was applicant Number 6. I must have been one of the first people that saw it. I’m a social media person. I’m always on social media, especially Twitter. I get all my news, especially <strong>in</strong> the morn<strong>in</strong>g for an hour on Twitter. I saw this announcement as a tweet. It seemed <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g especially s<strong>in</strong>ce I was start<strong>in</strong>g up Nabbesh. So I checked it <strong>in</strong> detail. And I thought to myself, why not, I’m an entrepreneur, and I have a great idea, which not only a commercial venture, but a social project that has impact on millions of people around the region. The offer of a million dirhams was too good to pass up. At the time, I didn’t th<strong>in</strong>k I was go<strong>in</strong>g to w<strong>in</strong>, but, as an entrepreneur, I know that I can’t pass up any great opportunity. I<strong>SME</strong>: Who do you th<strong>in</strong>k were the toughest judges? LKB: I th<strong>in</strong>k the toughest judge was Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO of Dubai <strong>SME</strong>, although he was tough with all the contestants. One had no idea where they stood throughout the competition. There was never an <strong>in</strong>dication of the positives and negatives of each person. You had to be very careful while listen<strong>in</strong>g to the questions asked. Even when I was <strong>in</strong> top ten, I never did feel 31
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