Dubai: Entrepreneurs passed on their top tips for starting a successful business to students from the University of Wollongong Dubai, at the first of a series of conferences on Wednesday.
The university hopes the series will boost an entrepreneurial and start-up culture among its students.
The series, StartUpSecrets, intends to cultivate the skills of aspiring entrepreneurs by giving students a chance to meet start-up founders.
“A lot of students here want to do something for themselves but often lack mentorship. With events like this, they learn from already successful entrepreneurs on what it takes to execute ideas,” said Ammar Al Mamri, organiser of the event and president of the student representative council of the university.
Speakers discussed their personal experiences with setting up a company as well as giving insight on the various funding opportunities, support institutions, and the regulatory framework present in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the country.
Sahar Abdullah, senior manager at Dubai SME, discussed its initiatives aimed particularly at students wanting to start their own businesses, such as the annual Young Entrepreneurs Competition that allows students in the UAE to run their own business through a stand in a shopping mall for a number of days.
She also answered questions about the funding framework and membership criteria about their SME incubators and incentive schemes.
“I think this is a very exciting time to be a start-up in the UAE. There are a lot of support institutions and opportunities present for aspiring business owners in the country — but not enough knowledge about them, and we want to fix that,” said Dr Ritu Sehgal, Assistant Professor from the university’s Faculty of Business.
Other speakers at the conference included Aman Merchant, co-founder of Impact Hub Dubai; Mona Tavassoli, co-founder of Mompreneurs Middle East; Sarmad Al Zadjali, co-founder of 82 Event Organisers; and professors from Wollongong Dubai’s School of Business.
More than 90 students, primarily from the schools of business and engineering, attended the event.
Rabiya Shabeeh is an intern with Gulf News