To set up a business, one needs to have extensive knowledge about the nuances of that particular market, the level of demand for the product or service that is to be sold, and the pertinent legal and regulatory requirements.
There are instances where an entrepreneur seeks guidance regarding the aforementioned aspects. This is where Keren Jadhav and her My Business Consulting DMCC comes in.
In the following interview, Keren share insights into the business consulting niche and how her company has gained a strong foothold in the UAE market.
Below are the highlights of the interview:
Brief our audience about your professional journey as a business leader.
Almost 20 years ago, I started my career path as a sales manager. I grew amazingly fast into the regional sales head as I truly cherished my work – for me sales process was never about closing the deal. It was more about serving people and providing them with the best solutions for life and business. This way of thinking alongside devotion to building and growing high-performance teams eventually brought me to success in the sphere of capital investments and real estate property management, where I have been managing multi-million projects for more than seven years.
Eventually, my focus on providing five-star customer service and tackling complex business issues via utilizing top-to-bottom knowledge of the local market have led me where I am now – Owner and Managing Director of two Dubai-based management consulting firms. One of these companies is My Business Consulting DMCC, a multi-award-winning corporate service provider and a business advisor of choice for foreign entrepreneurs willing to set up their businesses in the UAE.
Tell us more about My Business Consulting DMCC, its vision, and mission.
My Business Consulting DMCC is widely known in the UAE market as a provider of hyper-personalized business setup solutions and high-quality corporate services at a justifiable cost. We help investors of various levels: from start-ups, SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises), multi-nationals, publicly listed to government-owned companies, to establish their business in the UAE, advising on the most suitable free zone, company ownership structure, business activities, involved costs and required documents. Further, we handle the business licensing process from A-to-Z, assist with bank account opening, UAE residence visas, provide cost-effective accounting and admin services.
For my Business Consulting DMCC, since company foundation in 2009, quality, not quantity was the measure. Till the date, we have assisted more than 5,000 entrepreneurs set up their business in the UAE, though what we are proud of, is that about 80% of our existing clients stay with us longer than 5 years already, doing business with us and recommending us to their friends, and such trust is our greatest compliment.
We believe that trust is extremely important in business. You have to feel secure with your business advisor, safe in the knowledge that both their experience and vision will keep your business safe and compliant with UAE laws and requirements. Many of our clients consider transparency to be our key to success as we list our prices openly, don’t have any hidden fees, do not support bureaucracy or impose unnecessary services; we only provide the solutions entrepreneurs need, to grow their businesses across the UAE.
By the way, the excellence of our business and customer service approaches was proven by 21 local and international awards. Among most valuable recognitions are ‘Top Performing Consultant’ by the World’s #1 Free Zone – Dubai Multi Commodity Center Free Zone (DMCC) for 4 consecutive years, ‘Best of 2019 Professional Services to the Businesses’, ‘UAE Most Innovative Business Advisory Firm’, ‘Best UAE Business Consulting Service’, and many others.
Being an experienced leader, share with us your opinion on how the adaptation of novel technologies has transformed the world of business and what more could be expected in the near future?
Notwithstanding the growing trends towards digitalization of business, most of SMEs globally had to slow down or even stop their operations when their employees were under lockdown during COVID-19. Hope this tough lesson was well learned, and soon we will step into a new era where only the most adaptable to change and technologically developed businesses will survive and thrive.
I feel that in 2021 almost all business owners will reconsider the business model they have been utilizing for the past few years, the transformation will be mostly related to exploring digital channels of communication, product and service delivery, marketing communication, and of course remote operations as it has already been proven that WFH (work from home) mode can not only raise performance of some employees but also immensely cut company expenses. We are just stepping into the era of real innovations that will completely reshape the global business world in the upcoming years.
Taking into consideration, the current pandemic, and its impact on global economies, how are you driving your organization to sustain operations and ensuring safety of your employees at the same time?
One of the most important factors of our success on the market is the high adaptability to change and an extremely professional team. We are complying with all safety guidelines issued by the UAE Government and took all precautionary measures to ensure a safe business environment for our staff and clients.
COVID-19 has forced entire industries here in UAE to rethink their operational processes what took them months to transfer all activities to the remote mode. But we were ready to fully operate just in 2 days! And here is how we did it:
- Our company is a proud owner of a well-designed exclusive Project Management System (PMS) which allowed all employees to work from the comfort of their homes during the lockdown.
- Also, our company has a shared system of database which is accessible for all employees from anywhere in the world. Yes, during the pandemic we had employees stuck in their countries, but our well-established work processes and remote communication tools have affected neither their performance nor the quality of our services.
- My Business Consulting DMCC has well-organized external operations procedures which allowed all parcels and telephone calls to be diverted to a database controller or employee in-charge. So, all customers’ queries were processed immediately and without any delay.
- Our company is composed with extraordinary team of management and employees who are positive-thinkers and hard achievers ready to embrace changes, hyper automation, and agile business.
What would your advice be to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to start their own ventures?
I believe that even the most difficult times always create opportunities for entrepreneurs who can embrace the change. Now is the time when businesses and solo entrepreneurs should have a closer look at business opportunities of the United Arab Emirates as the pandemic has clearly shown us that UAE is among the safest countries in the world.
The government of Emirates is protecting UAE nationals and residents, not just by taking all measures to improve the epidemiological situation in the country, but also by implementing a support framework at both federal and individual Emirate level focused on protecting businesses.
Despite the global crisis caused by the pandemic, the total number of business licenses issued around the UAE in Q2 of 2020 totaled 652,885 according to the statistics from the National Economic Registry of the Ministry of Economy. This means that the UAE remains as attractive as it was in the pre-crisis period.
My Business Consulting DMCC, in its turn, can ensure that the company formation in UAE can be a smooth process when you have our experts supporting you with all the requirements for business setup in accordance with UAE laws and requirements.
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run and what are your future goals for your company?
I can clearly see my company keeping pace with social and technological progress of the UAE and serving our clients at the best level possible to help them find their business grounds and second home in the UAE. The highest quality of our service delivery and high-end customer service commitment to current clients will continue to be our “Job One”. Our main motive is to provide excellent service, helping entrepreneurs succeed in the United Arab Emirates and guide them to a brighter future:
- We will continue to develop the necessary skills of our staff, as well as improve our internal procedures to maximize customer satisfaction rate.
- We will be expanding our corporate services requiring a modern approach to opening and doing business in the UAE.
- 24/7/365 support offering will be presented to all our existing and new clients.
