Abu Dhabi: She had always wanted to set up her own business but Alia Al Mazroui, 35, never imagined that one day she would have diverse interests like a food business and a children’s nursery in her business portfolio.

After graduating from university, Al Mazrouei went on to work in the oil and gas industry but the idea of having her own business was always in her thoughts. After four years of being in a job, she decided that she wanted to take a break as she was pregnant with her first child.

“When I got pregnant, I said to myself, ‘I am going to resign and enjoy motherhood’ but it didn’t work out for me,” said Alia. “I realised that I can’t sit at home and do nothing.”

In 2006, while she was pregnant, a childhood friend suggested they start a food and beverage business (F&B) together. So Alia teamed up with her friends Reema Shetty and a third partner, Mohammad Bitar, and came up with the concept of a falafel business. They called it Just Falafel.

“Walking around in Abu Dhabi, you would find falafel in every corner but we decided to give [the traditional food] a twist in flavours.”

The next step was to find the right location and get the relevant licences and permits. “Finding the location was difficult because there was a lot of demand but not much [supply of] commercial space.”

Another challenge was understanding the regulations to be met for obtaining the required permits and licences, as none of them had any previous F&B business experience.

The journey took them from civil defence to food control authority to the Abu Dhabi municipality.

There was also the need to market their concept. Alia said they felt uneasy about spending “on old fashioned marketing” through leaflets and magazines, so they took to Facebook and social media.

Finally, a year later in 2007, Just Falafel opened its first store in Abu Dhabi’s Hamdan Street.

“We started with four or five [falafel flavours] which were; the original falafels, Greek falafels, Indian falafels and baked falafels,” said Alia.

The idea was an instant success as people from different nationalities who would perhaps normally shy away from falafels started to try it.

A year later in 2008 Just Falafel opened its second store in Abu Dhabi and the success of the business let to the opening of new stores.

“When opening more stores, we started to invent more flavours to cater to other palates.”

The success of Just Falafel led people to approach Al Mazrouei about opening similar concepts in the UAE and abroad, which led to the idea of turning the business into a franchise.

“We took the opportunity to flip the concept into a franchise concept — we own the franchise licence and we have franchisees operating the stores.”

“When we started franchising, we started expanding, so we had to build our offices and we had a CEO and CFO on board and a full team.”

In 2011, Just Falafel opened its first franchise store in Amman, Jordan.

Today, the franchise is in 18 different countries with plans to expand.

But this journey of success also necessitated a rebranding of the franchise.

“Somewhere down the road, we realised we had expanded too much and had lost focus on quality. So we revamped the concept of Just Falafel to JF Street Food. We are introducing shawarmas, manaeesh and we are also developing more of street foods.”

The new concept, Alia hopes, will draw in a more diverse range of customers.

The falafel concept however was not the only business idea for Alia. In 2013, she opened another business venture, Little Haven Nursery, and left her full-time government job to join her father in the family business, Al Mazrouei Holdings.

The idea of Little Haven Nursery first came to Al Mazrouei after the birth of her first child in 2006.

“After having my first daughter and going back to work, I wanted to find the perfect nursery setup for her. I wanted a nursery with open spaces, child-led education… at the same time, I wanted my child to be taken care of and have the full support of the staff.”

In 2012, Alia, now a mother of two, got serious about opening a nursery. Once more, she had to take up the issue of obtaining permissions, etc.

It took her about a year to get the relevant approvals and licences. The Little Haven Nursery incorporated everything she as a mother could not find in nurseries for her children — large open spaces indoors as well as outdoors, a central kitchen that makes fresh food for children daily and child-led education.

“It took a year and two months to get the final approvals. And now I have parents calling me thanking me for having such a nursery. It makes me happy,” said Alia.

Looking back on her journey, Alia feels a sense of pride. “I never thought I would go international and here I am… It’s an achievement, being Emirati and being able to build an Emirati brand out of the UAE.”

So how does she manage being a Chief Operating Officer of Al Mazrouei Holdings, co-founder of Just Falafel, a UAE-born international franchise, founder of Little Haven Nursery, and a dedicated wife and mother, all at the same time?

“I make sure there is time for my children because my family comes first. I have a supportive husband who is there with the kids [when I am busy] and I really thank him for this.

“It’s about how you manage your time and having a proper team in place,” Alia added.

She is looking at expanding her nursery business by “building a purpose-built nursery” in Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa City.

Al Mazroui’s advice to other entrepreneurs:

“Start small, test the market and make sure you are doing it the right away.”