Centre for female entrepreneurs gets down to business

Academy at Dubai Women's College teaches those with acumen how to take it further, and provides valuable assistance on finding finance and beating red tape.

"Young people need jobs," says Nao Valentino, manager of The Entrepreneurship Centre. "It's small businesses that will employ them."

DUBAI // Budding entrepreneurs could soon be in business with the launch of a centre aiming to give young people a much-needed lift up the jobs-market ladder. Since opening its doors with a soft trial late last year, the Entrepreneurship Centre at Dubai Women's College (DWC) has proved hugely popular, counting 80 aspiring entrepreneurs among its alumni.

The centre hopes this is just the beginning, and expects many more when it officially launches after Eid in September. Projects so far include a film proposal and a project to help women in rural areas to work from home as bakers. The centre caters to men as well as women, and benefits from 35 faculty members from the Higher Colleges of Technology, each with different areas of expertise. Students enjoy access to expert consultants who offer guidance on all aspects of business and industry.

With 34 permanent and semi-permanent offices for use, the centre offers courses in essential business skills, running workshops and seminars in finance and marketing. Nao Valentino, the centre's manager and a faculty member at the DWC, part of the Higher Colleges of Technology, said: "Eighty per cent of businesses in Dubai are small or medium enterprises. We can't rely on the Government to absorb the population any more. These people are young and need jobs and it is small business that will employ them."

The centre offers an initial few consultations free, and then charges Dh500 for a year's membership and unlimited use of its facilities. Participants have so far been helped to secure loans, business licences and office space and to navigate the long list of procedures in the lead-up to launching. Adel Jabri, 21, an Emirati student, used the centre to formulate a business plan and to put together a funding proposal for his film.

Mr Jabri, who is studying Applied Communications, is still working on securing the funding, but said he found the centre indispensable. "It helped me to build contacts and to know how to approach people in the right way," he said. "I didn't have any of these skills." So far, the centre has formed working relationships with the likes of the Licensing Authority, the Dubai Economic Development Department, and Emirates NBD bank, which has funded many of its young entrepreneurs in fields as diverse as fashion, graphic design, health and charitable work.

Although its main aim is to help the young Emirati population, the centre also counts non-nationals among its proteges. Lina Salhi, 26, who was born in Syria but has spent her life in Dubai, gained a bachelor's degree in business from the American University in Dubai and has spent the past three years developing a charitable project to help women from low-income areas in Ajman and Umm al Qaiwain to go into business as a biscuit bakery co-operative.

The women in the project - known as Rayhana, meaning "basil leaf" - bake their biscuits at home and sell them to both individuals and corporations. One company last year ordered 1,500 of their confections as New Year gifts. What started as one mother baking gifts for Ramadan grew to include three families, and expects to expand once more when Ms Salhi secures further funding. "The centre has been vital in acting as a consultant, offering expertise I did not have myself," she said.

Naveed Kashif, a management consultant at DBA Business Advisors, said: "Entrepreneurs need a significant amount of support. Starting up a business can be extremely stressful." Going into business is a growing trend amoung young Emiratis, according to Ms Valentino. "It's in their culture," she said. "Dubai is a trading hub so it lends itself to this economic landscape. "People are losing jobs, or want to start something else on the side to earn extra income, or just want to do something they're passionate about. These people want to work. Training them to run their own businesses in turn creates job opportunities for other people."

Lubna Qassim, a lawyer and campaigner for legal reform in finance, who has pressed to make the path for small businesses easier under law, said: "Entrepreneurs are the force that help us to renew society's hopes for tomorrow. "We should provide these people with the right platform and facilitate their requirements to flourish. Such a centre is a great step in the right direction." Dale Murphy, a senior research fellow at the Dubai School of Government, said: "Small businesses are the hub of innovation and creativity.

"The centre will be seeking to develop the untapped resource of a young, creative generation of Emiratis." [e-mail]