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Rahul Preeth
Doha
Having worked with Ooredoo for 24 years as a planning and performance coordinator, Aisha Mohammed al Hamar is determined to spend the reminder of her retired life experiencing the joys and challenges of being an entrepreneur.
Hamar shares this enthusiasm with at least two other Qatari women, including Wesam Abujbara. While Hamar wants to set up a centre that would enhance the skills of house-maids and help them better understand the Qatari way of life, Abujbara wants to open a studio that captures the “first photos” of newborn babies.
There is one more common factor that binds these middle-aged women together — Qatar Development Bank’s (QDB) QR100,000 cash prize given to the three best startup ideas by retired Qatari professionals.
Hamar and Abujbara were among the three winners of the recently held Khutwa Retirees Entrepreneurship Programme, which pitted the entrepreneurial ideas of retired Qatari professionals after giving them a three-week crash course on almost all aspects of establishing a startup.
From idea formulation to feasibility assessment to presentation skills, the Doha-based Ghaya Management Training has provided the coaching to the contestants. The programme was organised in partnership with the General Retirement and Social Insurance Authority.
The female trio emerged winners after outshining the entrepreneurial ideas of at least 10 other retired professionals.
Besides the QR100,000 cash prize, each of the winners would get free consultations and services worth more than QR300,000 from the QDB, said its Acting Executive Director of Advisory, Ibrahim Abdulaziz al Mannai.
“We are going to offer them services to conduct feasibility studies and develop business plans. We are also going to offer them auditing and book keeping for a full year, and legal services from drafting contracts to establishing the companies,” Mannai added.
The purpose of this programme, he added, was not just to impart skills to them, but also to take them through the full journey of becoming entrepreneurs, Mannai said.
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18/03/2019
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