The Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa) recently organised a community roundtable for Emirati entrepreneurs across diverse sectors to identify opportunities and gaps in venture building and gain a better understanding of the innovative measures required to create sustainable value in globally competitive markets.

At the Community Roundtable, Sheraa engaged directly with the entrepreneurial community to gain better understanding about the challenges they face as entrepreneurs and to help develop founder-first programmes and solutions that empowers them to fulfil their aspirations. The roundtable, held ahead of the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival, also ties in with Sheraa’s goal to bring together changemakers from diverse sectors to connect, grow, and promote positive change in the region’s leading entrepreneurial hub.

Held in the presence of Najla Al Midfa, CEO of Sheraa, at the entity’s headquarters at the Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park (SRTIP), 15 Emirati founders in the SME sector shared their unique challenges including gaining access to target markets, availability of capital, opportunities to showcase their ideas, and connecting with the right collaborators to build and grow their ventures.

Founders operating in various sectors including sports, entertainment, beauty and fashion, F&B, wellness, and events management, also discussed the challenges of developing a customer base, managing workflow, financial planning, and strategies for scaling, amongst others. The founders called for greater opportunities to raise brand awareness and showcase their products and services to generate better interest in their ventures, in addition to securing potential investments to help them expand and grow.

Founders in early and growth stage companies at Sheraa’s community roundtable emphasised that facilitating access to target markets will help in developing agile solutions in response to market changes and the changing needs of consumers.

The Emirati entrepreneurs also highlighted the crucial role of universities in underpinning innovation and called on the need to tap into their talent and resources to foster fast-growth entrepreneurial ventures that transform industries and open completely new markets. The founders further discussed ways to enhance collaboration amongst SME entrepreneurs to ensure growth and sustainability in a highly competitive environment.

Following the roundtable discussions, the entrepreneurs were introduced to Sheraa’s Membership Program to facilitate the transformation of their impactful ideas into successful businesses.