RIYADH, 29 July 2007 — Even when equipped with money, motivation and feasibility studies, no one can start a business and expect immediate dividends, or even long-term success.
For Saudi women, who are faced with unique (and not so unique) challenges related to workingwomen, starting a business can feel lot like entering uncharted waters without a compass or a map. Some women interviewed recently by Al-Eqtisadiah daily discussed the challenges of women entrepreneurs.
Hassah Al-Nashmi a small-business owner, said she decided to sell her beauty salon after only a year in operation.
“I was so excited about the business that I wasn’t careful,” she said. “I sold it to the first bidder and noticed later that the price was less than what the business was really worth.”
Sara Muhammad, who started a coffee shop which she later had to sell because she was moving to another city, said she too was caught off guard and under-sold.
“I didn’t realize that my coffee shop had a reputation that merited a higher price,” she said.
Maha Al-Khalifa said she got into a mess because she wasn’t careful enough in monitoring the person she hired to do the books of her beauty center.
“I discovered that she was cooking the books,” she said. “So I fired her and hired somebody who turned out to be fairly incompetent. But by the time I realized that, I had to get out and so sold the operation at a loss.”
Rowaida Al-Ibrahim, a professor of business management at King Saud University, said women would be faced with a learning curve in Saudi society for the time being as they slowly enter the workforce. Because of the relatively low amount of opportunity to be employed in workplaces, many Saudi women are taking the self-employment route, but, according to Al-Ibrahim, they aren’t prepared for what it takes to start a business, such as doing a lot of feasibility research beforehand.
“The majority of them tend to imitate other successful businesses,” said Al-Ibrahim, “instead of being careful and creative.”
Al-Ibrahim said it was important to do a thorough evaluation and create a complete business plan before making any investment. And Saudi women must be in it for the long haul, she added, avoiding any lofty expectations of quick returns.
She said that women who are seeking to go into business for themselves should also be careful about being duped by fake advisers who are unqualified to provide consultations for a fee.
The professor recommended that would-be businesswomen should expect to overcome more obstacles than their male counterparts, and should do an enormous amount of research before starting any business venture.
