JEDDAH — An organization that supports budding entrepreneurs in Jeddah presented its action plan for a first of its kind program supporting women entrepreneurs and small businesses during a media event coinciding with the recently concluded Jeddah Economic Forum 2013. The Jeddah Entrepreneurs Meet's (JEM) program aims to develop and promote an understanding of the spirit of enterprise through mentorship, seed money funding and initiatives presented by the public and private sectors to open doors for prospective entrepreneurs' business development. A competition run by the JEM last year attracted over 1,000 online registrations. After initial screening the number of eligible entrepreneurial projects and candidates was filtered down to 300 participants, from which 25 finalists were selected to take part in the business plan and development training program. Prior to a JEM meeting in May 2012, the judging committee met with all 25 finalists and rated their businesses and plans to select the top winners, awarding seven the title of JEM 2012 Entrepreneurial Winners. The report focused on the key challenges facing the growth of small businesses run by women and the ability to turn a small business into a medium enterprise. The report also featured key solutions that are under study or implementation in cooperation with various organizations that support entrepreneurial ventures to overcome such challenges. CEO of Al-Aghar Group Fahad Abu Al-Nasr, who was at the event, said: “JEM is an important program that had all its phases planned out in order for us to register any challenges that face women entrepreneurs in the Kingdom, while at the same time assessing the means of tackling such challenges. “The mentorship and followup of the entrepreneurial initiatives of the seven winners is in cooperation with leading businessmen based on their expertise and industry they are in. Key performance indicators and level of progress per winner were set within specified criteria during a workshop that was conducted by the JEM steering committee, mentors and winners.” Rida Islam, CEO of Future Waves and head of the JEM's steering committee, said: “JEM is unique with its number of benefits that are open for entrepreneurs in the Kingdom, especially with the firsthand expertise and mentorship they are gaining from leading businessmen and women in various fields. “JEM brings together the knowhow, hands-on experience and seed money for provisional funding, giving each entrepreneur the success factors to be able to work and grow her business. “I expect that the success stories in such a program will help promote the entrepreneurial spirit in a number of budding entrepreneurs, which in turn will further enhance and build the small and medium enterprise sector of the national economy.” Rania Salama, head of the Jeddah Young Businesswomen's Committee and co-chair of JEM, said: “The report culminates all aspects of JEM since its launch and up till the half year results with the winners and their mentors. “The framework of the report features all its angles from legal challenges, training and development and also showcases key findings that show the gap between the services and opportunities provided and the target audience, due to a lack of effective followup channels or challenges that face the women entrepreneurs, hindering their ability to benefit from what's available at hand.” For more information on Jeddah Entrepreneurs Meet 2013 and to register in the Jeddah Entrepreneurs competition, visit www.jem-yje.com.
