Ahmed Al Fahim: A saviour of MSMEs amid hard times

How an Abu Dhabi-based entrepreneur has been helping micro, small and medium enterprises tide over the Covid-19 challenges through his innovative concepts

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Joydeep Sengupta

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Published: Fri 11 Nov 2022, 6:50 PM

Last updated: Fri 11 Nov 2022, 9:15 PM

Ahmed Al Fahim’s youthful exuberance belies his serial entrepreneurial streak.

Al Fahim, who belongs to a family of successful Emirati business personalities, is following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, Mohammed Al Fahim and Ahmed Al Fahim, respectively.


He is named after his grandather, who owned a shop selling electronic goods back in the day in Abu Dhabi. At that time, it was a star attraction in the fledgling UAE Capital, where crowds of people get the latest model of TV sets and refrigerators and other fancy gadgets of that era.

Business in ‘my genes’

“My father Mohammed was one of the first Emirati students from the UAE who went to study abroad. He attended university in Boston, US, in the 1970s. He earned a degree in finance and returned home to work for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA),” said Al Fahim, who has four sisters and a younger brother, including eldest sister Hamda Al Fahim, one of the leading Emirati fashion designers.


Al Fahim, 34, went to the American International School (AIS) in Abu Dhabi and later graduated from Griffith University, Australia, in human resources, followed by a postgraduate degree in international affairs from the UAE’s Zayed University.

Al Fahim chose to explore the world of business through executive certifications from the Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania — a degree that he put to good use by initially working with some of the prominent Abu Dhabi government agencies before striking out on his own as a serial entrepreneur.

On his return from Australia, Al Fahim worked with the oil and gas major Adnoc and moved on to Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) before settling down at the Abu Dhabi Executive Office for almost a decade.

Al Fahim said: “Business runs in my genes. My father ran successful enterprises such as oilfield services and mixed-used land development while working full-time for ADIA. I, too, got inspired by him while working for the Abu Dhabi government’s entities. My father is a retired government employee who exited his businesses by selling them off a few years ago.”

Besides Al Fahim’s father and grandfather, he is highly influenced by Hamda, who took the plunge into the private sector after abandoning her initial ambition to become a diplomat.

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Mass Events

At a formative age, Al Fahim, too, wanted to dabble in business and formed Mass Events for community-based entertainment activities across the Abu Dhabi emirate.

“In 2016, I got Indian stand-up comedian, actor, TV presenter and producer Kapil Sharma to perform in Abu Dhabi, which proved to be a roaring success,” he said.

Every March, he has been holding a community-based event called The Rage, which has struck a big chord with the Emiratis and the expatriates alike in Abu Dhabi.

Shot Specialty Coffee

Mass Events’ success emboldened him to expand, and he decided to open a coffee chain called Shot Specialty Coffee in 2017 because he “perceived an acute shortage in the market for the commodity that could be distributed through food trucks”.

He said: “At the outset, the Shot Specialty Coffee was distributed only through our community-based events via food trucks, and my younger sister Sara volunteered to help me out since my plate was full.”

Sara’s joining forces with Al Fahim strengthened the business model in a big way since “she is from the finance background”. Al Fahim complemented her with all the administrative responsibilities and through the years, despite the raging Covid-19 challenges, Shot Specialty Coffee has expanded to 10 branches.

Spot

Al Fahim, a loving husband to his wife Raisa Al Hajeri and doting father to his two sons Mohamed (8) and Ateeq (7) and daughter Fatima (3) — students of Al Mamoura Academy in Abu Dhabi — came up with a brainwave that critical man hours were being lost during non-event days.

It was an idea whose time had come, as the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) were in dire need of support even before the pandemic struck in early 2020.

“Why can't I create an opportunity for all these food trucks that are working with me? So, I wanted to create a mobile application (app) that would find locations all year long and upload these spots for food trucks to do roaring business,” he said.

He created an ecosystem in 2018 that allowed the food trucks to grow, thanks to the robust digital technology that was subsequently upgraded over the next two years.

Productive use of manpower through the app to increase efficiency is Al Fahim’s mantra.

Spot has emerged as the leading food and beverage (F&B) app operator in Abu Dhabi. It’s a drive-through app that has revolutionised on-the-go dining.

“Customers and food operators at Spot food truck parks can take advantage of the convenient, cost-effective app. Customers can locate their nearest food trucks through an in-app map service, pre-order meals, and get them delivered to their cars, providing an efficient alternative to long queues and waiting times.

"Users can simultaneously browse options, offers, and order from multiple chains at once, with rewards of up to 20 per cent off at several of the food trucks. Food truck operators can unlock access to the free-of-cost digital platform at a zero per cent commission rate written into the app — an industry first that is reducing pressure for operators in a highly competitive sector. The app, which is built by eight in-house software developers, is available to download on both iOS and Android platforms,” he said.

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Spot’s revenue model

“So, we take a plot from the government or from landowners. We invest in the land, create the infrastructure and we rent it out to food trucks’ owners,” Al Fahim said, amid expanding to other emirates in the UAE with 10 such Spots in the pipeline along with the existing seven.

The brand hosts an impressive list of over 70 F&B operators, including SALT, Saddle, and Krush Burger.

Data shows that the business has grown 10 times in four years, as he is weighing the options of taking it beyond the UAE to the other five Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) in the region, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the biggest economy in the Arabian Gulf.

Scoot Mobility

Al Fahim has also incubated another mobility start-up called Scoot Mobility, an electric scooter mobility sharing company owned by Scoot Scooters headquartered in Abu Dhabi. He has chalked out ambitious aggressive plans that are likely to be unleashed by early next year as the app-based mobility sector is poised to take off in a big way.

A football fanatic and ‘family fan’

Al Fahim, a die-hard football fan, whose favourite clubs are Al Jazeera in Abu Dhabi and Manchester City in England, is a supporter of Belgium in the upcoming Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

“Belgium’s Kevin de Bruyne is my favourite player. However, I’m working hard to build up my diverse businesses. But weekends are exclusively for my wife and children,” he added while making plans to watch Belgium play live in Qatar over the coming few weeks.


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