Sadiq kassem is a kuwaiti inventor will compete with three other people for the arabic inventor title in show called “Stars of Science” sponsored and created by Qatar Foundation “akeed mo kuwait Foundation :r” you can see the finale tonight on Aljazeera and Alrai Tv.

Sadiq kassem project is “Alchemist” :

P.S : He is 26 years old . “Keep it up!”

Qatar Foundation

Update : Sadiq Kassem won the Arabic Inventor title and he is the star of 2010 Stars of Science contest .

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I think most of you noticed Harley Davidson motorcycles in the street, now it’s the third year and still Kuwait Harley Davidson store selling more bikes and I think they are making growth by attracting more customers , a friend of mine was talking to me yesterday and told me this year all new Harley motorcycles sold out and he told me one of his friend will receive his bike by the next month and before receiving it he got a call from some one he doesn’t know offering him extra 300 kd  “3ashan yetnazal 3an el harley ely 6alba” .

I came up with an idea, we have car rentals here in kuwait but we don’t have motorcycle rentals , this kind of projects might cost you a lot of money because the cost of a Harley Davidson bike around 6,000 KD plus this kind of business “seasonal” no one would rent a motorcycle in the summer! but my friend added something really good for the Idea .”Time shares” he told me it would be better if you made a deal with motorcycles owners to rent their bikes for 20 kd per day and most of them don’t ride their bikes every day so they will make money and you will make money “everyone should be happy” . you will be the middleman .

let’s see the cost and the potential profit for the project to see it in clearer view .

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I did quick cost plan for the project :

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let me explain for you more about the above plan , “Insurance” for the bike accidents “Allah yab3ed 3ana el 7awadeth :r” and sure we will take reasonable amount from our customers as insurance “mo sheghel kembyala 3ala bayath nafs el bajy hehe” and also Harly Davidson riders Tekana mo sheghel teweyel 3al ba7ar! no3hom temeshy o mazaaj o aktharhom ekbar bel 3omor not teenagers and  finally insurance will be the safety line for the bike owner ” ely ra7 en’ajer mena bel asas”  so he wont be afraid bas la eye a7ad ya3demlena seekal 3ashan ma adesh feh sejen! La J/K  don’t be afraid from accidents because latest statistics doesn’t show any “Harly Davidson rider” getting killed by accident and that should make you more comfortable. All the accidents made by Super Bikes.
We need a car to take the bike and deliver it and that’s why we need two workers. Finally we need office to make it more professional .

I did also Quick assumption Double click to enlarge the picture :

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About Total lease 15T, 25T, 40T etc .. T refers to Times not Total days so 15 under November doesn’t mean 15 days . “you might rent 15 bikes in one day” .

And This is the chart

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so the capital of the project will be 10,480 KD and you might make more or around 6,850 KD that’s more than 50% net profit, in the other hand if you didn’t rent any bike for 6 months ! you will lose only 3480 KD while you will gain more experience in the business field .

If Harley Davidson waiting list is full and there is people who want to enjoy the experience of riding Harley Davidson motorcycles but can’t afford it or didn’t had the chance to order one then why not?  also some people can buy it but they know they wont use it all the time so they wouldn’t mind to rent it.

Questions  :

1- what if some one had an accident ?

It will be solved by the insurance and we can make block on the customer credit card so we will be in the safe side.

2- It’s seasonal ! what will you do during the summer !?

once you came up with an Idea for winter sure you will find another for summer. In the worst case scenario close it and make it seasonal why not ?

3- why did you said you will lose only 3480 KD what about the car price and the office misc. ??

You can sell the car and the office it’s your Assets and you wont lose a lot of money because you used it only for 6 months o ana wayed embalegh bel 1000 KD for office misc. I think it wont be higher than 500 kd and might be less  .

4- What If some one copied your Idea ?

This is wont be a problem, you will have two options .

A- Use your mind and see what you can offer or do to beat your competitor, you have the advantage because when someone try to copy your business that means you are exist and already have good reputation plus you already know your market very well.

Once you try hard to think about what would you Add to your business you will find another business opportunity in the same field and you will make more money, for example you can organize tours for the riders “GCC – kuwait -Europe Tour”  that means you will not target your existing customers only  but you will also attract people who own Harley Davidson motorcycle “Your share in the market is getting bigger” .  don’t forget that you already have existing customers but who’s trying to copy your business have “zero Cust.” and that’s another advantage for you.

B- If some one trying to copy your Idea that means you are doing very well which mean you made a good money so you can easily shut it down without losing anything hatha in the worst case scenario .

P.S :  This quick study is only to introduce the idea .

I believe that Behind every successful product there is a Business Opportunity .

Thanks

Brief

Im a strong fan for Kuwaiti designs, i feel really happy when i see a Kuwaiti business not a franchised one, innovative and one that touched my childhood’s past. A stringent critic of business idea’s in Kuwait, Capital District was the only one that qualifies when i visited  P2BK this year. So i had to interview Mohammed Boland and make him share his experience as entrepreneur in Kuwait and what he faces from a personal and business obstacles. Below is the interview questions and a few of his products.

Q & A

1)      Kindly give a brief about your business?

Capital District is an urban clothing line, which tampers with different designs that are found around the Arab/Gulf region.

2)      What is the product that your company sells?

We started off with selling t-shirts, and it was a success so we are diversifying into manufacturing different clothing items and accessories. Some of the items, which we currently carry, are trucker caps, flip-flops, hoodies, and t-shirts.

3)      What made you think to start such a business?

I always wanted to be an Illustrator because I love art and love the way different artists make art especially illustrations. We are sounded by illustrations from different logos which we see everywhere, to the ads on billboards and car emblems. When I was in high school, I was forced into a class called Photoshop, which I really didn’t know anything about and when I got to use the program and understood its power, I fell in love and started learning everything I could about that program. When I went to university and was introduced to illustration programs, I literally spent the whole day just illustrating and becoming better and better in that field. Many illustrations were created and because I loved to design, most of my designs just stayed locked up on my hard drive. I wanted a way to showcase my work and looking at different mediums, I found that there was no Kuwaiti brand, which portrayed Arabic/Kuwaiti art so I thought of starting my own brand.

4)      How did you come up with your business idea?

As I mentioned earlier, my idea came out of not seeing this type of clothing that has to do with the Arabic mentality and culture in the market. This pushed me into getting into this business and made me always think of new ways to provide products that are very expressive in this manner.

5)      Do you see yourself as breaking the status quo of the market?

Capital district was created because we saw that there was no product in the market which catered to the Arabic/Kuwaiti consumer, so I think that we are indeed breaking the status quo of the market by introducing products which are creative and of quality to be present along side the strongest brands out there.

6)      Can you briefly describe how you first came up with the idea to sell your T-shirts?

As I explained earlier, I started out with many illustrations with no medium to showcase them on. In 2006, we had a car boot sale in my university, and because at the time I was earning some money on the side by printing designs on apparel for different businesses, I thought of printing some of my designs on t-shirts and selling them to see how people responded to them. I came up with five different designs, which were very bold and controversial, and I sold all the t-shirts after 40 minutes and left because I had nothing else to sell. The response was so good I seriously thought that this would be a good business if it were executed in the correct manner. After that, Capital District was born.

7)      Do you question your decision of opening a business?

I think that we are doing really well because we are a homegrownbusiness, and with the right people and tools, I really believe that we will be a strong brand in the country and region and also abroad in the near future.

8)      Did you discuss your idea with others before you start? And how were the responses?

As a matter of fact I did discuss the idea with my friends and family and I was faced with many doubts because many didn’t understand how such products could be marketed to the Arabic public. Many were skeptic about the use of Arabic words and calligraphy and or about the troubles that may rise as a result of using governmental emblems and signage. My parents, especially my father, were very supportive that they decided to give me the capital that I needed to start operating. My wife also plays a large role in the business and she was the first person to show faith in my products and I still rely on her taste for color combinations and final approval of designs especially designs which target females. 

9)      Did you anticipate such a demand for your products?

In the beginning honestly I was taken by surprise and really didn’t anticipate any of the responses which we received and still receive. I think that the demand is strong because we have sold our products to many different countries including Bahrain, KSA, UAE, the States, Czechoslovakia, and Italy. This shows that there is some sort of awareness of our products and demand from abroad that truly portrays the potential for the future of the brand.

10)  What are the factors that you believe are important in making you take steps to start a business?

I think that the most important step is having a feasible idea that is unique in a way, or a new product that is a breakthrough in its realm or which has some important significance. The second step should be having a strategy to run the business and knowing how the competition works so that you may provide your customers with what the competition is not satisfying. After that you should have a source of which you will get your capital to start your business and to be able to provide information on how your investors will benefit from this investment. The last and important step, as trying to get into business with partners who have certain skills which will help run the business like analysts or accountants, or partners who will contribute something along their money.

11)  What problems did you face when starting your business?

Some of the problems that I faced were mainly when I tried to register my company and brand name. It was very hard for me to communicate with the government and results came but were very late. Other problems were that the people in charge of registering the brand had no knowledge of the type of business that I was getting into because no body ever tried to register a clothing brand in Kuwait and so they had to send me up the line to get approved. Of course there were some sectors of the government which were up to date technologically and which I didn’t struggle as much with.

12)  What feelings did you go through when you launched your business?

To be honest, I was very worried at first because I didn’t know what to expect form the market when I first launched my goods. Thankfully I was surprised with the outcome and how people responded to my goods which made me very happy because I really did give my blood, sweat and tears to see this idea come to life and I still do take advise from everybody around me to help me decide what to produce next.

13)  Why and how do you think some people act and turn their ideas into business opportunities?

I think that there are always opportunities in different markets, which need to be explored. Sometimes you may encounter a situation, or see something and think that you could introduce an item, service or product that may help this situation and so you may start to act upon that idea. In other cases, such as mine, I saw a market for a product, which wasn’t introduced, and because I had the capabilities of introducing such a product with sufficient quality and customer care, I went forward with my business.

14)  Do you think the context (family, external environment, friends) has influenced your decision to open the business?

Of course I think that these factors helped me to open up my business, especially that I’m married because I always think of the future of my wife and children.

15)  How do you think your previous knowledge plays a role in starting such a business?

I think that your experience in the field, which you intend to open your business in, is a major factor, because if you don’t have the rite tools you may not go far with your venture. I for example had the two main factors that helped me star and run this business and those being good designing skills, and some knowledge in the apparel/textile and printing business. I think that those two factors were very important for me to start my business and to continue in the future.

16)  What do you think is the cause of your ideas? Is it a deliberate search? (I.e. on purpose or accidental search)

Because we are involved in design, I think that there is a little of both. I sometimes have an idea from my surroundings or from a piece of art or logo that I see. Other times I may accidentally create something and carry on until I have a strong design. In most cases, I do have an idea of what I want to design and how the end result should look like and then start from there. I always do take suggestions from customers or friends or even from people who appreciate our work through our facebook group.

17)  Did you ever think that one day you would open up a business?

To be honest, I have always been aware of the opportunities that a business would bring to an individual, and always wanted to own a business but I never thought that I would be in the clothing business. It came up accidently and hopefully this will not be the only venture that I go into, but many more down the line. I believe that I’m creative and that guides me in the process of coming up with new and different concepts that may turn out to become strong businesses.

18)  What would you like to say to people who have an idea but did not start a business yet?

The best advice that I would give is to always believe in your self and your idea/concept because no body will ever believe in your product as much as you will. Always be focused, set goals to follow, and know that there is nothing that is impossible, if you really want it bad enough then you will have it/make it happen. Every problem, which you encounter, will teach you something, and will make you stronger. My true advice would be to go personally to every Ministry and do everything you need to at least for the first year of business and never solely rely on another person to finish your work no matter how small the job is (Mandoob) because believe me you do learn a lot and know the ways that will eventually lead you to what you want done, especially when you have to register your company and/or your goods.

Always think outside the box, and never let anybody put you down just because you think differently.

19)  Why did you choose an online approach to sell instead of something else?

I chose an online approach for a few reasons the most important being that its easier to set up an online store, and the second is being able to sell your products to a wider audience and to a universal audience. Other than that, I think that in today’s commerce, its very old fashioned not to have an online outlet because it will help people have an easy access to get to you and or your products and also will prompt your customers to give feedback so that you can see what your audience is asking and how they react to your products.

Hopefully in the near future we will set up a store so that people can come and see the goods for themselves before buying and for the people who are still not up-to-date with e-commerce to also be able to get in touch with us and have an opportunity to buy our goods.

It’s still in it’s infancy stage, they are just conducting their first voting sessions this month.

Will it grow to become a stand alone ‘market watch’ type of non-profit NGO? Not sure…

Will it really provide real un-bias feedback that this market needs? Not sure…

I’m not exactly sure consumers here are at that stage, the opportunity cost of price, value & service comparisons is still unrealized.

It’s an interesting start though… Thought I’d share…

www.servicehero.com

One weird idea i stumbled upon, dinner in the sky   I’ve seen this before but never knew it was a world thing now. Most major cities now have it there, wala could be done here over the gulf road maybe, where you can dine and see live accidents:P  

Here are some entrepreneurship Video’s you can enjoy on Youtube, these are major CEO’s in the UK mostly owners of Pret and Coffe Republic. Enjoy

Below is  the link of Dragons Den, a great show of idea’s and innovation and how to deal with getting harassed:P produced by the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/

Watching Discovery one day, i see an engineer wearing a hard hat that was customized with some NHL team.

Then i started thinking how nice they would be if you customize these hats into, Nadi el Arabi, Qasdsia, Salmiya etc then maybe rainbow gay colors for the salmiya gay pride:P and maybe start branding them into Zain, Viva, Wataniya then you see people coming up with their own designs. Then designs into Kuwaiti flags, Kuwaiti sadu design wai3:P

There is potential in the idea, and these can be imported cheaply to Kuwait. Then i had a Eureka moment, what if these hard hats get designed by some Kuwaiti designers like Mohammed Boland owner of Capital District. That would be a nice twist, i enjoy his T-shirt designs and how he uses old Kuwaiti stuff but turned modern. Will discuss his business in a later post.

I have posted earlier about a Juice company and said will discuss the market potential. So i don’t know if you guys have seen the Fresh Juice Company plastic bottles that get sold in the Coop’s mostly in front of the main entrance or next to the cashier, so i made some research and get this; its a huge market out there!

This small company that has about 4 small trucks to deliver the drinks all over Coops in Kuwait and Sultan center sell about 2500 bottles a day with 10 employees, will get to the numbers in a minute. Their operation is very primitive but efficient and do sell a lot of fruit. They have no large machinery to chop the fruits but more manual labor. With true honesty i thought that it would be dirty and i would blow into oblivion in this post but the what i found out is the opposite. Clean employees and a sanitary work place, all the employees have their heads covered and wearing thick gloves. Fruits are all well packed and cleaned well and then all stored in large fridges (can be seen in the pic).

The company has great potential to grow, from a branding perspective to new products. With such reach the company has, they can educate the customer base they sell to about anti-oxidant drinks and immune booster, and many more examples (the one i would like to see is dates drink). The plastic used and the sticker that introduces the product need change. New markets can be approached like the government school cafeteria instead of these kids drinking soda all day. They claim that the best selling outlets are the ones outside Kuwait city, like Qurain and Subahiya Coops and all Sultan Center outlets.

Selling 2500 bottles a day is fantastic and surprising, they sell their products at about 350 fils. Lets do some rough calculations.

350fils * 2500 = 875KD a day lets say half is their cost at 437.5KD with a net profit a day of 437.5KD and * by 26 business days = 11,375KD for a months work, thats nice.

There is a market out there and huge potential for many business idea’s other than cupcakes and khalageen:p think about how the market is untapped and is filled with juices that are not fresh and have to be delivered all the way to Kuwait and priced much higher (snapple, tropicana).

Very interesting product to see one day, you can switch the information on the magnetic card to read from different accounts. Meaning you can carry one card for multiple accounts and the card is interactive where you can display your card details only when putting in the password, check it out from Mashable. (Sent by Ali Z, thanks)

I’ve always enjoyed the Juice market, healthy, cool in the summer, sells well so i had an eye for it for a while. When visiting the UK i fell in love with innocent smoothies. I said to my self why not open a smoothie shop in Kuwait, it must work well. But after researching and comparing financials of many juice companies abroad i started thinking whats in a smoothie, and after reading and seeing the ingredients i was shocked to know thats what we have all around Kuwait. 3aseer khala6 its all that it is!! ok the ones sold abroad are bottled because of the nature of the market their.

 See the ingredients in th pic, i can see my self telling the dude “abee manga, ow frawla bas fresh haa!! ow ebser3a”  but still there is a possibility of a market or to sell such products. Remember when entering most co-ops you see this disgusting bin filled with ice that sells fresh bottled juice? ahhhhhhh. Their is a market, will talk about it in later posts.