BizBahrain May-June 2017

Interview | Alliance Business Centers
One of the hottest trends globally
among startups, freelancers
and creative types seeking
community and collaboration with
like-minded entrepreneurs, today, the
shared office movement, which has
been building momentum for years, is
skyrocketing. It’s revolutionizing how,
when and where people work.
Some like ABCN with its global
reach have set the bar high. With
locations spanning the globe, Alliance
Business Centers is one of the largest
global network of serviced offices
in the world, with more than 650
locations in 45 countries, and counting.
With customizable support tools and a
dedicated team to help you take care of
business, Alliance provides solutions
to mobile workers, entrepreneurs,
small businesses and corporates.
President of ABCN RMEA (Russia,
Middle East, and Africa), Sherif
Kamel is a veteran of the industry.
Starting his career in banking, he
was appointed ABCN CEO for the UAE
in 2008, a role that soon expanded
to the Middle East region and Africa
continent, and then on the same
upward trajectory to the position he
holds today.
bizbahrain Group Editor, Reena
Abraham talks to the dynamic, gogetting
Sherif Kamel.
The sharing economy
is an ecosystem that
boosts the sharing of
human, physical, and
thoughtful resources to
create more efficient and
collaborative systems.
“Armed with 20 years of experience
and a track record of proven
performance in the banking and
finance industries, the knowledge I
gained became my stepping stone to
enter the entrepreneurial world with
ABCN. After my graduation, I worked
in the banking sector for many years.
I first started with Chase Manhattan
bank (which became Commercial
International Bank later on) for 4 years
and a half. I decided to come in the
GCC to pursue my career in banking so
I join National Bank of Umm Al Quwain
and after 4 years of experience I joined
Standard Chartered for 10 years.”
How has your experience in financial
institutions and banking helped you in
your current role?
The banking industry helped
me a lot in many areas that are
fundamentals to run a business. First
it helped me to manage the pressure
and the stress that you can get from
the outside environment. It also helped
me to be proactive and implement a
new strategy when necessary and take
the appropriate actions with any third
parties. I understood the expectations
of the Middle Eastern work market,
how to approach and deal with many
different cultures. Also, in banking,
you need to follow a lot of procedures
to get things done, it thought me how
to keep a discipline in everything I
do. If you want to get results you need
to stick to your strategy and come
up with an action plan that you must
follow step by step until your mission
is successfully completed.
What have been the main strategies
employed to expand and grow ABCN
after you took over?
It is thanks to my experience
in different countries along with
my network that I could reached
out to the people I was looking for.
I was able to identify the audience
I wanted to target and elaborate an
adequate advertisement strategy. In
this Industry communication is key,
you must propose your services in the
proper way and make sure everyone
knows about you. Second really
important element, you must make
sure that the quality of your services
is better every day. There is always
room for self-improvement and happy
clients are the best advertisement
you can have, your reputation in
this industry is really important and
word of mouth works really well in
this part of the world. The last but
not least, is to constantly stay up to
date with the global economy and
monitor the emerging markets where
doing business is becoming a serious
playground.
What are some of challenges being
faced in the GCC economy and how
are you working to overcome those
challenges?
The main challenge in the GCC
economy is to face market uncertainty
the best way possible. Even though
the market has been quite stable for a
while now, a lot of changes can happen
suddenly especially after the decrease
in oil prices. From one year to the
next, the conditions and expectations
of the market can change quickly, so
you must be flexible and adapt quickly
to the wave you are surfing on. This
means changing your strategy within a
very small amount of time and always
having new ideas to implement.
At ABCN we step into
our customers’ situation
every day and we try
to experience things
from their side… We
step through the
customer touch points
in our business and
consciously think about
them and this is how we
provide the best service
possible.
Having worked in many countries in the
Middle East and the region do you find
major differences in work culture and
business processes in each country?
What makes Bahrain different in your
opinion?
The work culture in the GCC is
different from any other country in the
Middle East but similar to Bahrain due to
a higher number of expats, so the work
flow is more eclectic and sustained. The
Bahrain Market is geographically more
interesting as it is surrounded by top
player economies in the Middle East like
Saudi, Qatar and the GCC so it makes
it a central platform to meet up with
investors. Another important advantage
is that the government makes it easier
for any International company to set
up their business in Bahrain, thanks
to adequate rules and regulations. This
makes it different.
May-June 2017
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