By Rohma Sadaqat
Khaleej Times, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
DUBAI
The most common mistake that entrepreneurs make when starting their own small or medium enterprise is not having enough education, an expert on the first day of the Millionaire Summit in Dubai said.
“Many people have ideas and then they race on to start implementing them without a proper strategy; and as we know through recent statistics on SMEs, this rarely works out,” Oksana Tashakova, founder of Wealth Dynamics Unlimited, said.
“Operating an SME is not easy. Keep your knowledge updated on recent trends and how markets evolve. A business strategy can fast become irrelevant. The name of the game is agility. Focus on the moment and make decisions that are relevant now,” she told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the event.
Tashakova also felt that new SME owners focused too much on their competitors. Instead of focusing too much on their competitors, she advised them to focus on customers and their needs.
“Too much focus on competition means that there isn’t enough focus on innovation. Once you understand the needs of the customer, focus on observing industry trends and then select and look at the best-performing people in the industry. Don’t emulate them, but observe what they have done to be successful. There is a lot of competition in the industry so your best chance at being successful is by standing out from the competition,” she noted.
The Millionaire Summit is hosting a number of leading international and local business gurus, who are teaching the tricks of the trade to UAE SME owners and aspirants. The opening day saw a number of delegates interacting with top entrepreneurs and learning comprehensive and practical lessons on starting a business, sales growth, attracting investors and creating alternative income streams, among other topics. Organised by Wealth Dynamics Unlimited, the Millionaire Summit will conclude tomorrow.
“With this summit, we hope to blur the line and provide equal opportunity to those attending the sessions to rethink their strategy for a better and faster growth of their business. This is also an ideal platform for aspirants to pick ideas for start-ups and make their entry in the market as error-free and impressive as possible,” Tashakova added.
Performance expert and income acceleration coach Pat Mesiti noted that the road to success can be as straight for some as it can be twisted for others, depending on our mindset.
“A lot of brilliant business ideas stem from the way we think, and this is what can turn a dream into reality. Many ideas, if not executed properly die within our minds only, which I feel is a huge loss, since all of us as individuals have the potential to be a millionaire if we put our minds to it.”
Dr Rebel Hanna, a banking and financial advisory consultant, during his speech also spoke about the importance of knowledge in today’s markets.
“You need to deal with the market with a market-based approach. Know what you are doing, and know your business. You also need to have the passion in order to make the business succeed. If you don’t deal with your business with passion, you will not succeed,” he said.
“Let your business intelligence be the key for your business’ success. If you know what is going on around you, if you know what is going on inside your company, then you can master and get ahead of the game,” he added.
“It is no secret that profitable sales are the outcome of innovative marketing; yet, few entrepreneurs grasp the concept and apply the correct formula and use the right platform for sales pitch. In this regard given the massive reach of online forums, the power of the Internet cannot be stressed enough,” added added Internet marketing guru David Cavanaugh, who will speaking tomorrow.
“During the summit, visitors will be taught how to use Internet marketing to the best of their advantage, while increasing leads and generating sales online.”
