Time Control Technologies helps firms by automating their internal processes thereby boosting productivity. Its Director Hawra Alsaffar shares with BTW her vision of improving productivity in light of a background of sunken oil prices.
Tell us briefly about yourself, your team members ?
My name is Hawra Alsaffar and I am the Director of our company Time Control Technologies
Team members:
- Jesus Alvarado – Chief Operations Officer
- Jhony Leyva – Senior Planning Lead
- Edwin Hernandez – Software Architect
- Jhonnatan Chaves – Lead Developer
- Andres Florez – Hardware Specialist
Give us a brief summary about all of your educational and professional background.
I studied in the University of Bahrain, and have great experience with local business management activities. My team has broad experience in Business Management, Operational Management, Site/Field Project works, Planning/Scheduling, HR/Finance Management, Software and hardware development.
What are your guys doing for a day job? Where do you work?
Right now we are working in an Outsourcing Oil & Gas Company in Bahrain, however, we are very eager to begin working 100% in our startup!
When and how did you get around to developing Time Control Technologies?
Back in 2014 when the oil crude price was at $100/barrel, companies did not worry too much about becoming more efficient and effective. Today when the oil crude value has dropped in more than half, the industry cannot afford to lose money in low productivity of their employees. Today, 1% loss in the annual productivity can determine if a company is successful or not. We noticed that many HR/Operational/Accounting processes can be made more efficient by automating many functions in the day to day HR duties.
‘Time Control Technologies’ is an interesting solution. Tell us more about the application and how did this idea strike you?
Our objective is enabling more efficient and effective functions for corporate clients in their HR & Accounting departments. In essence we want to avoid long tedious approvals, creating a system in which it will be processed automatically, allowing the Corporate managers to take action on time. No supervisors, no approvals and no messy paperwork. We came up with the idea when working on very repetitive and tiring operational works every month, if there was a way to automate and introduce the Internet of things to our processes.
What have been the initial challenges and how did you overcome them?
As all startups we have had many challenges and many yet to come! Finding the right team was a bit of a challenge, since we are working from different parts of the world. Good developers are very scarce, and those that are good are very expensive! Likewise, finding a good Software Architect to design a robust, scalable and secure platform is very difficult. However, we have managed to succeed in these challenges by having a very solid team. We are searching for additional developers, hence the need of getting investors onboard.
How is Time Control Technologies unique?
We were able to consolidate an international experienced team in both software development and construction projects, directly related to time control management, therefore giving us an advantage to identify and resolve bottlenecks of the daily job operations. We are applying the highest standards in projects planning and management, along with Agile methodologies and cloud servers in order to build a time tracking software that corporate clients will actually use. We understand very well our client’s needs.
Where do you see Time Control Technologiesin the next 3 years?
Time Control Technologies will be a fully functional and profitable company, referenced by GCC corporate clients as a time & money saving IT system. Also with very solid links with GCC universities, supporting students, and forging strategic alliances with other local entrepreneurs.
If you were to list 5 essential qualities of a successful entrepreneur, what would they be?
Your response:
- Passion
- Proper planning & scheduling skills
- Be aligned with market demands
- Be open to change and criticism (lots of it!)
- Be able to manage and analyze risks properly
How has Time Control Technologies developed so far?
It has not been easy, but we have managed to develop our idea despite having a multicultural team located in different parts of the world. The important aspect, is that we have established a proper methodology using SCRUM and other Agile techniques for doing our work.
How did you find Ch9 Bahrain?
Great! Excellent! The attention from their team is very attentive, cooperative and makes you feel like part of one big family.
Being the winner of (Best startup ), how do you feel?
Extremely happy and excited that our idea was re-validated with an excellent group of evaluators. It is the product of many months of very hard work and sacrifice of all of our team. We are also very grateful for the opportunity given by CH9 and the excellent training provided by YoStartups.
Ch9 how has it helped you?
List us three things you have learned.
1. The facilities and the environment is great, it helps stimulate the flow of ideas.
2. The other startups involved at CH9 are really collaborative and help you integrate to the startup atmosphere in Bahrain and the GCC.
3. CH9 team and events helped us refine our business idea and better user understanding.
What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs in and around GCC?
Find great people who believe in your idea, that you can trust and that are just as passionate as you are for developing your Startup. The GCC is an emerging market full of opportunities, have persistence, experiment, participate and explore!