Courage of conviction
The Sultanate’s tradition of enterprise dates back over centuries, we profile six entrepreneurs who are keeping that spirit alive

The importance of entrepreneurs in a growing economy can hardly be overstated – from job creation to wealth generation they fulfill a variety of roles. The opening up of sunrise sectors such as tourism, financial services, real estate, hospitality and exports is throwing up a host of opportunities for people who have the drive and ambition to succeed. The road to success, however, is paved with hardships and challenges. Here are some entrepreneurs who have walked that path and emerged triumphant.

Ali Hassan Sulaiman
Director, Ali & Abdul Karim Group
As an entrepreneur you need to have courage, positive thinking and gut instinct.” Ali Hassan Sulaiman for one has all of these qualities in ample measure. He started AATCO with his brother Abdul Karim Hassan Sulaiman in 1987 with next to nothing. Today he has built AATCO into a $30mn a year business. Eighty-five per cent of the company’s turnover comes from exports. This speaks volumes about AATCO’s efficiency and quality standards. “We have always been very export oriented as you cannot expand a business beyond a point in Oman due to the limitations of the market,” says Sulaiman.

AATCO was the first company in the region to become a supplier of food products to Burger King, a multinational company. Orders from the likes of Yum! Brands (owner of KFC and Pizza Hut) soon joined the list. “Unlike trading and services a manufacturing business needs unbridled passion as it requires constant upgradation and enhancements,” says Sulaiman.

In the late 1990s he replicated his success with AATCO in Al Khaleej Polypropylene Products (AKPP). Sensing a gap in the BOPP market in Oman, he set up AKPP. The company was sold in 2007 to Taghleef Industries, the regional leader in this field. “Our philosophy is to constantly add value to a business. Even when we exit a business we want to see it succeed further,” he says.

Sulaiman prides himself on being a pioneer in training in Oman – a small initiative which started in 1988-89 with the aim to impart English language skills later on grew into National Training Institute (NTI) and National Hospitality Institute (NHI). Over the years, these institutes have trained 25,000 people.

If he has had a great deal of success, Sulaiman has also been through some trying times. In 2005 a fire at the AKPP plant in Sohar resulted in a RO11mn loss. After ensuring the safety of their staff, the management acquired a plant in Egypt to address customer needs and production at the Sohar plant was restored in 15 days.
An aborted construction and toy store business in the mid 1980s led him to take up a job at Commercial Bank. “I have been through sleepless nights trying to put things together. When you face a setback you need to cut your losses and move forward,” says Sulaiman.

Lessons along the way
“I believe in sharing my experiences and success with others as it helps in guiding and mentoring others. When you give away you end up getting back more. Think big and think beyond Oman. Entrepreneurs can be created with the right training and upbringing.”


Saud Hamed Al Zakwani
Chairman, United Dates Factory Company
Zakwani has changed the face of the traditional dates business with his acumen and foresight. First, sensing the need to upgrade packaging from the traditional baskets, he introduced plastic bags and cardboard cartons. In an effort to make the fruit more hygienic new technology was installed to wash and fumigate dates.
To encourage farmers to grow good quality dates United Dates started giving 30 per cent of the price of the expected yield upfront. To improve quality at source Zakwani started the process of selecting dates for purchase instead of the traditional system of buying them pre-packed. The gains for farmers too have improved as instead of paying them RO120 for a basket as earlier the company now pays them RO400. “We ensure that farmers are committed to us and this has helped us to procure more dates than any of our competitors. Improved pricing is also an incentive for them to cultivate date trees,” says Zakwani. A date tree takes five to six years to grow but once it matures into a tree its lifespan can be anywhere between 50 to 70 years.

A great votary of making the business a win-win situation for everyone involved, Zakwani is constantly on the look out to add value to the value chain. The company used to sell dates in bulk packages of two to ten kilograms. To make the product more consumer friendly, United Dates introduced consumer packs in the last two years. In an effort to brand its product the company has introduced its Golden Dates brand.

The company is looking at introducing value added products like date syrups and pastes, which have a variety of uses. The results speak or itself: Starting out with RO100,000 in 1991, United Dates turnover in 2007 stood at RO2.75mn. Staring out from a farm in Romesh with a 15 member team, the company now operates out of an 850 square metre factory in Ghala industrial area with a staff strength of 65. The company exports to India, Malaysia, Africa, Japan and the UAE. It has 70 per cent share of the export market and 60 per cent share of the local market. It won His Majesty’s cup for the best factories in 2007.

Lessons along the way
“An entrepreneur should have the right thinking and be consistent. The best way to grow is to join hands with others to help them grow. He should share his wealth with others.”

Mustafa Ahmed Salman
Chairman & CEO, United Securities
Hassan Ali Jawad
Managing Director, United Securities
The success of United Securities lies in the promoter’s ability to visualise the future and to go against the grain. It began with Mustafa Salman’s decision to trade in his job at the ministry of sports in 1989 for the position of finance manager at ‘Oman Securities Portfolio’, a brokerage firm. “People would say why are you leaving a secure job to join a securities firm. But we read the potential of the market.” It was at the brokerage firm that Salman learnt the ropes of the securities business. This came in handy when he floated Mustafa Ahmed Salman Partners and Associates in 1994. It started with a 70 square metre space in the MSM and four employees. In 1996 the company was rechristened as United Securities.

The company started off as the No. 8 broker on the MSM with a seed capital of RO100,000. “Our target was a turnover of RO20,000 a day. It was a stiff target and we realised that it would be difficult for us to achieve,” says Jawad. The company struck beginners luck and started making profits from day one. In its second year of operations it became the No. 6 brokerage company. Its meteoric growth predicated the need for more hands and Jawad who was associated with United Securities in a part time capacity joined the company in 1998.

But the company soon hit its first roadblock – the MSM crash of 1998 saw United Securities make its first loss since inception. Undeterred, the two partners decided to go against the norm. “As all brokers started making losses and retrenching people, we decided to recruit people,” says Salman.

The bursting of the US technology bubble in 2001 saw the MSM volumes plummet further. A strong belief that the drop was cyclical kept the two going. To diversify its income stream the company forayed into research and asset management and further innovations. In 1997 it went into research and in 2000 asset management. This was followed up the same year by a foray into corporate finance and private placement deals. The business model changed from being a securities firm to an investment house. Despite such odds the two partners have adhered to a few givens – what ever profits were made was left in the company. This enabled them to increase the share capital of the company from RO100,000 in 1994 to RO500,000 in 2000. The inclusion of new partners in 2007 saw this increase to RO6.5mn. The promoters have never leveraged the company to make a fast buck as this could endanger the well-being of their staff and clients. And finally, they have kept their personal portfolios out of the company’s fold.

Looking back, all this has paid off in a big way. United Securities has grown at a faster pace than the market. The company today enjoys a 26 per cent marketshare in terms of traded volumes. It has been a pioneer in the Sultanate’s markets in a number of ways. It was the first company to introduce a website helping clients to see their statements and portfolio in 1997, the first company to introduce an SMS service for customers in 2005 and the first to introduce online trading (on the new MSM trading platform) in 2007.

Lessons along the way
“The two things that are important in a business are ethics and commitment and one should not be in a hurry to make a quick buck,” says Jawad. Adds Salman, “Providing the right valuation of the market (stocks) and investing in the right people has given us an edge.”


Hassan Ahmed Jawad Ghuloom
CEO, Al Waqia Shoes
Al Waqia Shoes closed the year 2007 with a turnover of RO2mn. Now, the company has set its sights on crossing RO2.5mn in 2008. These milestones, though, have not been achieved by sudden flight. Ghuloom’s entrepreneurial journey has been marked by spectacular success and equally spectacular failures. He started off in 1996 with the manufacture of safety boots for workers in industrial sectors. Ghuloom faced an early set back when a UK based company which had promised to sell 50 per cent of the company’s merchandise reneged on its commitment. If that was not bad enough his products were soon becoming obsolete in the European market due to a change in technology.

To salvage the situation, Ghuloom turned his attention to the regional market and was successful in selling his “obsolete” products in this part of the world simply because the upgraded products in Europe had not reached this region till early 2002. But this was not good enough – by 2001 the company’s initial capital of RO750,000 had been wiped away. The company was on the verge of closure owing to a lack of capital. A strong faith in the product and his self belief though kept Ghuloom going.

Things started to turnaround in 2002, as Al Waqia boots were approved and endorsed by the Ministry of Defence for its personnel. Being a high margin product, the sale of Waqia Shoes could recover the losses within two-and-half years. Defence authorities in Bahrain and Qatar also began sourcing Al Waqia boots. The company fulfills almost 90 per cent of the military requirements in Oman. This was a new era of growth for Al Waqia Shoes and its success story perhaps starts from here. At this juncture, the company invested about half a million rial into a cutting edge technology called Direct Injection Machine. It now started exhibiting its products at almost all the major exhibitions of safety products in the world. Waqia now had more designs in its repertoire. A designer was hired in India to fashion new brands of Waqia safety shoes.

Waqia has positioned itself at the heart of 18 export markets some of which are GCC, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Kazakstan and Australia. Since 2007, Waqia has stepped into Europe, where the majority of the boots are sold to the manufacturing industry. SATRA, a UK shoe-quality certification body qualifies Waqia safety shoes to the European market.

The company’s sales in 2005 were 230,000 pairs, in 2006, it reached 260,000 pairs. In 2007, Waqia sold about 62,000 pairs more than the previous year. The company has set its sight on growing by 10 – 15 per cent within a few years. “We hope to cross 400,000 pairs by the end of this year,” says Ghuloom. Military boots may be 5 per cent of that sale.
In the last three years the company has averaged a growth of 33 per cent. The company’s exports to GCC countries, Tunisia, Syria, Jordan, Morocco and Kazakhstan have increased from 65 per cent of the total safety boots production in 2005 to about 70 per cent in 2007. For last three years, Waqia Shoes was honoured as the five best factories in Oman.

Lessons along the way
“One should have the ambition to get to the top and the creativity or a desire to do things his own way. One should remain positive and should learn from failures. An entrepreneur should be a leader and not just a manager. A leader being a person who can guide others, while a manager is a person who can do things.”

Hassan Mohamed Habib
Assistant Director General, Mazoon Pharmacy
The pharmaceutical business in Oman has its own set of challenges like dealing with internationally established principals, low margins and price control. Hassan Mohamed Habib of Mazoon pharmacy has not just negotiated these challenges for over 35 years, but has built up the pharmacy chain into a name to reckon with in the pharmaceutical business.

Joining the business in 1973, he started working on strengthening the company’s relationship with pharmaceutical majors. “I visited a number of principals and entered into exclusive distributorship contracts with them in the early years,” says Habib. Some of these were Glaxo, Ciba-Geigy and Leo pharmaceuticals.

Dealing with such principals at times creates its own set of problems – such as in 2005 when Glaxo and Burrows Welcome merged with Smithkline Beecham, the agency for Glaxo shifted from Mazoon Pharmcy to Muscat Phramacy as the latter represented the other three brands – SmithKline, Beecham and Burrows in the Sultanate.

Pricing in the trade has also come under pressure over the years. Most principals have reduced their commission from 15 per cent to 12 per cent, “This has been compensated by an increase in volumes,” says Habib. The government’s decision to introduce price controls has further squeezed margins. “The government has mandated that a pharmaceutical product can only have a 22 per cent profit in the retail trade,” says Habib. The government’s decision to go in for generic formulations for its bulk purchases has also been posing a threat to its business as most of its formulations are from original manufacturers.

Habib has negotiated these landmines with tact and finesse. A compliance with the exacting standards set out by principals has seen Mazoon pharmacy retain a number of its internal partners. Leo has been with the company for 35 years, F of Mella Roche for 40 years and Glaxo was with it for 35 years.
The company has started looking for generic drugs to combat the challenge posed by imitators, it has also ventured into over the counter items like Tiger balm ointment, Salonpas plaster and Bigen.

Lessons along the way
“Always comply with the rules and regulations of one’s partners, and in the healthcare business there is no scope for any compromises. Second, look after
the interests of the customer and your sales force.”

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