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Mona Yousuf Almoayyed | Managing Director | Y. K. Almoayyed and Sons.

Mona Yousuf Almoayyed: An Entrepreneurial Spirit Illuminating the Family Legacy

Bahrain over the past few years has grown due to its liberal economic policies and the clear roadmap which aims to achieve prosperity for the society. Its economy continued the upward growth trajectory in 2018, with a real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimated at 1.8%. The country concluded the year with pronounced accelerations in headline growth, with its Q4 2018 real GDP estimated at 4.6%. This healthy growth pace continued into 2019 and showed no signs of slowing down. In fact, the Bahraini economy is projected to grow by 2.3% in 2019 and 2.7% in 2020.
Working along with the growth trajectory of Bahrain and contributing to its rapid expansion is a company called Y.K. Almoayyed and Sons. The firm initiated its operations in 1940 when the Founder, Yousuf Khalil Almoayyed opened his first shop at Tijjar Road. A one-man trading outlet in Manana’s main market has now turned out to be a multi-faceted organization. Today, the company represents prestigious international brands that include Nissan, Infiniti, Ford, Renault, Toshiba, Sony, Bose, and Kodak, etc. Yousuf Khalil Almoayyed and Sons have big aspirations and continue to prosper and grow exponentially.
The company’s aim is to encourage more Bahrainis to join the organization so that they can prosper and grow together. Y. K. Almoayyed and Sons are fortunate to have found some impressive young Bahraini nationals through their training program who can add value to the company in the future. Management remains in close touch with employees at all levels. Female rights are supported, and job promotions are made irrespective of background or gender in the firm.
Being a multi-faceted and service-oriented company in the industry, the directors of this mercantile organization ensure that its team works hard to adapt as per the needs and challenges of the 21st century. It allows Y.K. Almoayyed to further develop with commercial vision and integrity. “We have achieved much of what my father wanted over recent years and are proud at having settled this impressive enterprise at the top of everything we have aimed for,” says the Managing Director of the firm Mona Yousuf Almoayyed.
The Story Extraordinaire
Mona was born in Manama, Bahrain and went to a government school for education as there were no private schools around that time in the country. The government facilitated free schooling for all the children there which proved to be beneficial for her as she liked mixing with different Bahrainis. After completing secondary school, Mona’s father insisted that she finishes her education in England as there were no Universities back then in Bahrain. She felt lucky enough to go on her own to the boarding school in England because she made a lot of new friends from different nationalities. “I studied Business Administration and graduated in 1974,” shares Mona.
After graduation, she entered the family business as a part of its furniture division. Mona’s frequent visits to furniture shows across Europe and the US enabled her to improve the furniture collection of the company. In the early 90s, she got promoted to the automobile business domain of the company. Her turning point in life was when her father, Yousuf passed away and she had to handle the mantle of the Managing Director.
“My father was the biggest influence in my life and in the business as well,” reminisces Mona. She was fond of her father’s negotiation skills and liked his character a lot. “At times, he was very tough, but at the same time he was very honest,” she further recalls. Yousuf considered a firm handshake as a binding contract of a signed agreement which inspired Mona a lot. He also used to settle his debts without any delays which helped Mona in realizing the power and responsibility of commitment. Even though her father was a very busy man, he was a loving and caring person. “One of my happiest childhood memories was when my father took us to Lebanon on holiday in 1957 and it was my first trip abroad,” describes Mona joyfully.
From her mother, Mona learned that family values are also an integral part of life. “My mother’s generosity and care for the poor and the needy has taught me my first lesson towards charity work and the society,” states Mona. Her mother was a perfect housewife. She used to cook, clean and stitch Mona and her siblings’ clothes while taking good care of the whole family at the same time.
Business Dynamics
It was not easy at the beginning for Mona. “We are talking about women in the 70s. People don’t expect you to rise above basic jobs like operator and accountant,” she informs. It was very hard for her, especially when her children were young. She remembers missing a few important meetings during those times but her father and the whole family supported her decisions. They realized and recognized that being a woman, Mona had additional responsibilities. Once the children were old enough to take care of themselves, she placed extra efforts in strengthening the business. She had to work hard in order to gain the confidence of the customers and employees at the automobile division. “In business, there are many obstacles and losses, it is not a smooth ride all the way,” explains Mona.
As the company is approaching the third-generation era, Mona is planning to update the policies and procedures along with bringing in the expertise of professional management. Family members are involved only on the board level. “We have appointed a consultant to meet all members of the 2nd and 3rd generation and come up with corporate governance principles and review our family constitution,” says Mona. She wants to protect the family business and wants to retain it for many generations to come.  “We are continuing to improve our business in Bahrain in different sectors and are now concentrating on consolidation,” shares Mona. She has introduced a lot of measures to make the business more efficient.