Forum at DAH draws lessons from failures

Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — A recent forum at Dar Al-Hekma University shared failure experiences by several businessmen and offered the best possible solutions to deal with loss and breakdowns. The “Learn from Failure” forum was organized by the Youth Businessmen Committee at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with Misk, a charity organization and DAH. Those who narrated their experiences and offered solutions were young men and women experts and entrepreneurs aspiring to start small and medium businesses. “This academic year’s theme in Dar Al-Hekma is Fostering Creativity, and there is nothing is more creative that taking a failure story and turning it into a success. There were a lot of forums that were dedicated to successes and accomplishments but this is the first one I hear of that focuses on learning from failure, because the ultimate scenario is to learn from others’ mistakes,” said Dr. Suhair Hassan Al-Qurashi, president of DAH. Muhammad Sweileh, chairman of JCCI’s Youth Businessmen Committee, said the forum focused on drawing lessons learned from each failure story. He pointed out that many studies have confirmed that the main reason for the failure of small businesses is not because of the quality of labor, capital or feasibility studies but the fear of failure. Dr. Sanaa Askool, dean of students in DAH, believed there was no creativity or innovation without failure. “If one wants to be creative and innovative, failure is bound to be his/her way — so it is okay to fail,” she said. “Our mindset determines how we deal with challenging situations, therefore we need to learn how to change it to be creative,” she said. Ali Sheneamer, chief commercial officer of Bupa Arabia, started one of the first cookie stores in Jeddah. It lasted only a year and he learned the following: choose the right time, do not open a cookie place when everyone wants cupcake; choose the location where the target audience can be found and the prices were high because of the use of the best ingredients. Nevertheless, Sheneamer said he would do it again because it gave him a chance to do things that he would never had done, like sweeping the store and rolling the dough. Afaf Al-Zaid opened a gift and gift wrapping business that closed after two years. Al-Zaid advised the audience to dedicate more time to the business because she and her partner were busy with their day job. She also advised to put everything in writing by a lawyer to avoid conflicts. Abdulrahman Alfozan opened a car wash business that lasted a whole year, though he was juggling between university, family and starting a new business when he was only 19. He learnt that one has to gain experience first, should be patient and choose the right time for the business. Alfozan said a business needs to be planned well. Finally, Taha Al-Safi, managing partner of Red Impact Communication, said he opened a restaurant — Crunchy Square — that took a traditional Saudi dish to the next level. Though Al-Safi and his partner did everything during this experience by the book but the restaurant did not survive. The lack of restaurant experience, the combination of the expensive location and a modest menu, and starting big were the main reasons the restaurant closed and causing a loss of several million riyals.