YEN Egypt

In a nation where entrepreneurship is increasingly recognized as key to economic advancement, starting your own business is about as acceptable and mainstream as it gets — unless you are part of the 48% of society who happen to be female.

In that case, the announcement that you intend to go it alone and become an entrepreneur will often be met with raised eyebrows or condescending encouragement.

The 2007 Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) found that women make up only 22% of non-agricultural paid labor in the country. When women do work, their salaries are sub-par: Men earn four times as much annually — $6,817 per year as opposed to the recorded female average of $1,588. Women still struggle to advance within their fields, according to the report’s findings.

There aren’t many high-level government role models, either. The WEF reported that women’s representation in Parliament is nearly non-existent, and only 6% of senior officials are female.

Despite ranking 120 out of 128 countries surveyed, there is hope; the booming economy and government’s easing of regulations for starting businesses means females with an entrepreneurial spirit are taking action. Numerous studies have found that reducing inequality enhances economic growth, meaning the more that women are educated, empowered and employed, the better off Egypt will be.

For three young female entrepreneurs, the challenges and prejudices they faced in opening their own businesses were outweighed by the rewards: financial independence, personal satisfaction and a demonstration of the power and potential of passionate young women in a changing society.

The Right Chemistry

Sara Talaat has managed to build a successful pharmacy in the busy Heliopolis district of Ard El-Golf, and credits her success to a combination of passion and commitment.

“I love this field, and I’ve always loved chemistry,” she says. “I believe that to establish a successful pharmacy business, you need to have a strong base of knowledge and the desire to succeed.”

Talaat’s family encouraged her entrepreneurial spirit, and her father was happy to match it with financial help. During her studies at university, Talaat was able to focus on developing her skills, knowing she would have the financial support she needed to start her own business.

“During college, I worked in pharmaceutical companies on vacation periods, but I eventually decided to pursue a career in pharmacies,” she explains. “After my graduation, I worked in the Ali and Ali pharmacy for four years, until I became the sales manager. Additionally, I worked in the Child Care Hospital of Abbasiya, which put me in contact with a very different social class — that is really what diversified my experience.”

Talaat found the right location for her business in an old, rundown pharmacy, which she managed to turn into a successful venture — in part by making it a pleasant shopping experience for her customers.

She studied the area around the pharmacy and built relations with local physicians, the two medical centers, as well as her neighbors. Pushing for a strong start, Talaat held a big opening ceremony and invited all of these people, offering a 20% discount on all products that day.

“Medicine. The priority is for the medicine, and this means all kinds — local as well as imported medicine and [medicine given with] chemotherapy treatments. I wanted all types of cosmetics to be available, but I also wanted customers to enjoy shopping.”

She develops that rapport through quality service, solid relationships and healthy dose of natural sociability.

Plenty of obstacles stood in Talaat’s way, chief among them the fact that she was a 25-year-old woman. “It was not easy, as a young female, to make pharmaceutical companies trust me, in addition to some routine problems with the municipality.”

Apart from the business challenges, there is also the social pressure, particularly with family and cultural expectations of marriage. Can a woman successful in business be lucky in love, or will men find it hard to accept a wife who is as good or a better breadwinner than himself? Sidestepping the question, Talaat defers to fate when it comes to issues like marriage, believing that the perfect man will love her regardless of success and money.

For the future, Talaat wants to expand her business into a big chain of pharmacies and establish her own pharmaceutical company — all under her management.

Growing at a Good Clip

The coiffeur known simply as Naema believes that ‘unemployment’ is not at issue: “Who wants to work will do so; youth claim that they do not find work, but actually they do not want to find work.”

At the age of 22, after three years working in other people’s beauty salons, Naema opened her own coiffeur with less than LE 10,000 — all from her own savings.

“At first, when I was 19, I worked for others just to gain experience. I used to sweep the floor, make coffee, and do the supplementary work, but opening my coiffeur under my management was the major objective.”

Naema’s family didn’t welcome the idea of using her entire savings to open a business; they thought she should avoid the risk and enjoy the comfort of a steady job. “They did not want me to fail,” she recalls. “It’s not only about the money, but failure.”

For marketing, Naema did nothing. As a service provider, she relied instead on word of mouth; if she was good, people would refer her to their friends and those friends would refer her to others and her salon would blossom into a known and reputable business.

Naema is married to Ayman, also a hairdresser; they have two children, Mustafa and Yusuf. The couple has a nanny who minds the children at the shop, so they can be near Naema.

“This is hard, it’s really hard. When I opened the coiffeur I was keen to make it a perfect place. Similarly, when I got married I took care of my house to make it also perfect. I believed that if work came at the expense of home or vice versa, I [wouldn’t] be able to proceed in both. This is the problem for every woman.”

One thing that she doesn’t find hard is working in the same profession as her husband. “I’ve never felt that someone competes [with] me in my work, therefore I don’t feel that Ayman is my competitor. We are at the same level of success, and I am actually used to not comparing myself with anyone else; I just focus on what I’m doing.”

When you taste success, you want more, and Naema is anticipating expansion for her business in the future. She is looking forward to transforming the coiffeur into a beauty center, adding more services like a spa, comprehensive skin care services and a Moroccan bath.

Naema believes she succeeded at such a young age because of her passion for her business. “With our job, if you love it, it will love you and give you awesome results,” she explains. “People trust me because I have confidence in myself, and that’s what builds my good reputation.”

Shaking ‘n Shaping a Market Niche

Noha Hassan had been working as a business developer for one of the biggest telecom companies in Egypt, but she was never able to leave behind her interest in aerobics and fitness. Finally, she decided to open her own studio in December 2006. The first of its kind, the Shake ’n Shape studio offers fitness and dancing exclusively for women.

“I’ve always loved sports. I stayed in fitness, playing just as a hobby until I opened this place.”

Hassan used to be a regular customer at many of Egypt’s gyms until mixed gyms didn’t suit her needs anymore.

“When I put the veil on seven years ago, it was very uncomfortable to exercise in a mixed place. I felt that it’s my right to enjoy my hobby, but I did not find a nice place with a quality service — and I mean by ‘quality service’ to have the best trainers, not a luxurious place or real estate [large, expensive] equipment.”

The main challenge Hassan encountered when she entered the business was headhunting the best trainers, an obstacle she still faces today, “because we don’t have professional universities or institutes that teach fitness in Egypt, good trainers are not easily found.”

“First of all, I tried to minimize the risk as much as I could by calculating everything. I come from a business background, so I used all my marketing experience to study my business. I believed that you live life once, and it is worth it to give this a try; even if I fail I will never regret that I’ve tried it. I did not want to live and die and feel that I could have made something and it could have grown big, but my fear prevented me.”

Hassan believes that the culture actually aids female entrepreneurs: Women will never be asked to save their money to pay for marriage—a duty traditionally allocated to men. This, she reasons, should be an encouraging factor when women think about investing.

That said, Hassan’s family had mixed reactions to her decision: While her mother was supportive and encouraging, her brother was always sarcastic and belittling to her.

Hassan developed the project while still working in telecom. Looking back, she says that she has no idea how she managed to do both. “It was extremely hard, especially in that my job was very demanding. I used to finish at six, head to the studio and return home at 11, so it was crazy. I did not have any personal or social life. I was not enjoying my success or having fun because I was too tired to do so.

“Even when I attended [the studio’s aerobics] classes — which are a lot of fun, you want to give the people energy, and enjoy and share it with them ­— I was out of energy. My mind was always busy with payments, salaries and installments.”

Recently, Hassan decided to take another risk and leave her old job, although her business is in a position where it still requires investment in order to grow.

“I realized that I can not manage a place without knowing how it is going professionally, so I decided to study fitness.”

Noha hopes to move to a bigger location, and perhaps add a sauna and jacuzzi so members will stay longer to pamper themselves after their workouts.

But these entrepreneurs have no easy battle ahead of them; while the World Bank’s Doing Business report for 2008 named Egypt as its top reformer for the year (see “We’re Number One,” in the November 2007 issue), benefits for women, who work predominately in the informal sector, remain limited. As the red tape surrounding opening a business is cut, it has become easier to obtain licenses and employ workers, meaning many more women may soon find themselves in a position to join Hassan, Naema and Talaat as business owners.


Business Today Egypt