Nader Habib listens to some online business success stories Sit with any group of Egyptians and, unless they are discussing football, they are likely discussing big business. Everyone dreams of making their big break and getting rich, or of coming up with an idea so smart that they will become millionaires within months. Plenty of debate happens at Egyptian cafés, with regular folks dining sandwiches, getting up early in the morning the next day, making sure to be at their desks on time. For most people, making it big is only a dream. But for some, the dream of starting a business and actually making it is a reality. Some people have actually taken the plunge and survived. Many of these entrepreneurs started off as salaried employees, before they turned into successful businessmen and managers in their own right. Their companies attract thousands of clients and they make good money. Some of these projects were on show at "The Rising Tide of Entrepreneurship", a conference held last week at the Smart Village on the outskirts of Cairo. Khaled Basiouni is among the entrepreneurs who ventured into business in pursuit of something new. He graduated from the Engineering College of Cairo University in 2003 and got a job as an ICT specialist in a multinational company. A few years later, he decided to follow his dreams. A cinema fan, Basiouni dreamt of creating a comprehensive Egyptian and Arab film Internet database. Now his project, elcinema.com, is one of the region's biggest websites. Listed on a government-run technology incubator programme, Basiouni's company has closed successful deals with local and foreign businesses. In one such deal, it allowed a mobile phone services company to use its electronic content for two years while keeping the intellectual property rights to that content. "Anyone who has a winning idea can start a new business," Basiouni believes. Finance should not be a problem so long as the core idea works. One way of sorting out financing is to recruit experienced individuals and get them involved in the project, thus reducing the initial costs of the project. "It is smart not to try to start a project alone," Basiouni notes. Cooperation among equals is crucial at the early stages. Also one should keep overheads, such as rent, electricity and water down until the money comes in. A good formula for start-ups is for all partners to contribute to the company and share ownership on the basis of their contribution. What matters most, though, is to create something new and different. Then, as soon as the product is developed beyond a certain stage, financing becomes easier to obtain. Partners may then choose to sell some of their assets or borrow money to finance the expansion. Chairman of me3almobile.com Zeyad Ali is an ICT specialist and a former employee at one of Egypt's three mobile operators. He decided to quit his secure job to start a company that provides mobile phone services, a line of business with which he was already familiar. At the Smart Village conference, he convinced some participants to join his website services, thus making profit while lecturing. "You cannot make money without taking risks," he said. Take elcinema.com for instance. The company is a website providing information about Egyptian and Arab cinema, while making profit through its advertising sales and by leasing its content to mobile phone service companies such as Ali's. Basiouni also says piracy is not a problem for his company. "If your team is motivated and you have something new to offer, you'll stay ahead of the game," he noted. The conference at Cairo's Smart Village was part of a drive to reinforce Egypt's position as a global player in technological innovation and entrepreneurship. Egypt aims to use its competitive advantages to formulate a successful strategy in technological innovation and ICT. During the conference, a cooperation protocol was signed between the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre (TIEC) and Global Technology and Innovation Partners (GTIP). The protocol envisages the creation of an international centre for technology incubators, one that will be managed by the US-based Plug and Play Tech Centre (PnP). The centre will be situated at Egypt's Smart Village. The agreement is part of the efforts exerted by the US-based GTIP member TechWadi to create a technology incubator similar to Silicon Valley's in Egypt. The incubator centre is expected to host nearly 80 Egyptian start-ups in the next three years during which time PnP would provide finance, management, expertise, and technology transfer in ways designed to accelerate the growth of the participating companies. Managers of promising start-ups will also be given a chance to train for three months at the PnP headquarters in California. Within this effort, Egyptian start-ups will be introduced to prospective investors at home and abroad and Egypt with a view of raising capital and streamlining their marketing plans. Egypt's Minister of Communication and Information Technology Tarek Kamel said the protocol is a boost to the TIEC which recently began its activities with the aim of developing the technology innovation structure and promoting a culture of entrepreneurship among youth.
