We gave featured business leaders of the issue the final word in answering “If you could offer one piece of advice for a young entrepreneur entering your industry, what would it be?”
Mikael Hedberg, Founder and CEO, ADMARES
“You need to make sure your idea will solve a problem or bring new benefits to customers. You also need to make sure that that there is a demand large enough for what you are offering. Always make it your mission to become the best in your field, don’t settle for second place. It’s not easy and there are no quick rewards, entrepreneurship is extremely hard work and you will have many gray days but believe in yourself and don’t give up and you will be successful.”
Tom Leeson, Chief Commercial Officer, HydraWell
“The thing that springs to mind is get time in the field. Being out of the office and taking a look at operations is something that I’ve found invaluable. Finding out what it’s really like to actually implement those decisions that are made from behind a desk is really valuable, and anybody who’s transitioned from being out in the field to an office job will say they wish they spent more time in the field, because ultimately they would have learnt more. To make major decisions you need to the knowledge and insight that brings value to those decision-making processes.”
Maher Merehbi, CEO, Arabian Construction Company
“Develop your communication and managerial skills. They go a long way towards a successful career in construction.”
Sherif Elmeligy, Chief Operations Officer, Dubai Refreshment PJSC
“My advice is to understand the dynamics of your market. The UAE and Dubai is one of the world’s most complicated markets for this industry because there are 195 different nationalities contained within Dubai’s population of 4.5 million people. Each and every individual has their own eating and drinking habits, so there is not one size fits all solution. We have to communicate to different segments of the population for different products, so anybody wanting to do business in food and drink here really needs to know the preferences of each part of our population.”
