Tropical cyclone Mekunu hit Yemen and Oman last week. I was in Oman when it happened and it was heartening to know that the government there was well-prepared for the extreme weather conditions, which prevented a major loss of life and property. The efforts of the government and the people of Oman were rightly applauded by the media and around the GCC and beyond.
Yet, in the case of a cyclone or a major natural disaster, some things are bound to get affected. Preparedness pays, as it did in the case of Oman, and the same logic applies to the business world. No matter how profitable or well established your business is, sometimes you are hit by a storm that you don't even see coming. It could be the case of the death of a partner, a fire, war, or major natural disease that can rock the business to its core.
Regardless of how bad the bad may become, your business needs to always be prepared to face a storm. While it may seem hard because you don’t know what will hit and when it will hit, ensuring that a few techniques are applied can help you greatly:
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Read more:
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Important tips for putting sales ahead of marketing strategy
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Get tougher
When things go wrong on a ship, people will look to the captain for guidance and to lift their spirits, and that’s your role as a founder of the business. You are the captain of the ship. When things shake up, you have to get tougher and resilient in the face of the storm.
What helps greatly is to acknowledge that something has happened, accept it, and then take action to resolve it. Resisting the situation doesn't help much, and I learnt it the hard way. The minute I accept that this is my current reality, I automatically become more focused to come up with a solution.
Make sure you have the right team
This takes you a few steps back to your hiring process. It’s imperative that you hire people who are passionate and driven about your business as much as you are. Because that will help you greatly when crisis happens. When things go down, you’ll be able to lift each other up.
My sister and I are business partners, and because we’re so passionate about our idea and believe in it so strongly, when one of us feels down, the other steps in and reminds us of why we started the venture.
As your team expands, take your time in hiring the right people. It’s like a marriage commitment. You wouldn’t get married to just anyone right? Same thing applies to your business.
Come up with a crisis strategy
So, what do you do if your business or you as a founder get trashed on social media? Or what happens if say, your store gets robbed? Or that someone sues you for having a faulty product? Have you discussed such scenarios with your partner and team?
Do you have a manual of how certain processes are undertaken in case a team member decides to suddenly quit, or God forbid something bad happens to them?
As boring as it is to draft manuals and procedures policies, they’re extremely crucial. Start off with writing a procedure manual for certain tasks. For example, if you publish content on your website, then have a procedure that would include everything from timing of publishing a post to how to troubleshoot an error.
You need to have a plan chalked out on how you'll handle problems. Have a scenario for social media trolling, in case of fire, in case of war, in case a founder is terminally ill, or in case of a colleague or one of the founders is dying.
Never give up
Last but not least, even when you have to face the worst of the situations, you shouldn't quit. The thought will cross your mind for sure, but don't ruin everything that you've built because of a crisis. Look at it as a learning experience that will help you both personally and professionally. Instead of letting troubles consume your energy, be the one who takes advantage of it for your own good.
Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer who manages her branding and marketing consultancy in Abu Dhabi
Manar Al Hinai is an award-winning Emirati writer who manages her branding and marketing consultancy in Abu Dhabi.
Company%20Profile
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
The Rub of Time: Bellow, Nabokov, Hitchens, Travolta, Trump and Other Pieces 1986-2016
Martin Amis,
Jonathan Cape
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Spider-Man: No Way Home
Director: Jon Watts
Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon
Rating:*****
The specs
Engine: 5.2-litre V10
Power: 640hp at 8,000rpm
Torque: 565Nm at 6,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: From Dh1 million
On sale: Q3 or Q4 2022
Bridgerton%20season%20three%20-%20part%20one
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nicola%20Coughlan%2C%20Luke%20Newton%2C%20Jonathan%20Bailey%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A