They provide spaces to business holders and in providing such a unique service, they are in the process of creating a niche for themselves in the online market. BTW speaks to Mohamed Fayez Al Sadek and Ebrahim Ahmadi, co-founders of Makaani, an online platform for temporary vacant commercial spaces booking to know how a unique business idea attains fruitition and success through dedication and hard work.
Tell us briefly about yourself.
We are Mohamed AL Sadek and Ebrahim Ahmadi, friends and co-founders of the startup Makaani, an online booking platform that helps SME owners/individuals book unused vacant commercial spaces on a temporary basis.
Give us a brief summary about your educational and professional background.
Ebrahim has a degree is computer science and engineering, 11 years experience in IT industry and launched three startups. Mohamed has a degree in Computer Science and Economics, 8 years in Banking and Project management.
When and how did you get around to developing Makaani?
It was end of 2015 while attending startup weekend Bahrain and connecting with the participating startups. We noticed many of them shared the need of a temporary space for work or promote their business. From here the idea of Makaani was born.
‘Makaani’ is an interesting name. Tell us more about the business and how did this business idea strike you?
‘Makaani’ means ‘my space’ in Arabic. We wanted a name that reflects what our startup is all about. A user using our platform can find needed space and utilize it as his/her own for the period of time needed. You can consider us an equivalent of Airbnb for commercial real estate. Our goal is to offer users a variety of temporary vacant spaces whether it is office, retail, event, or art spaces.
What have been the initial challenges and how did you overcome them?
Finding talented developers to join our team. Building the right team is the most difficult challenge any startup faces. You have to search and search until you build the right team.
How can Makaani qualitatively assist entrepreneurs and startupers better than the various incubation centres here?
We are eliminating the membership model that restricts a user to use one space for a limited amount of time. A space seeker can search and book any available temporary space on our platform for the period of time that he/she wants.
Our platform allows users to rent spaces by the hour, day, week or month and reduces search time and costs and utilize the space as they need.
We allow space provider to list and manage their spaces through our platform. We are not the owners of the space being provided, but we are the middleman.
Where do you see Makaani in the next 5 years?
Our goal is to be the Go-to platform in GCC region for new businesses and creative individuals looking for much needed temporary space. Our goal is to help users to establish their brand/startup turn ideas into realities by offering them a vast selection of available spaces.
If you were to list 5 essential qualities of a successful entrepreneur, what would they be?
-Focus
-Perseverance
-Passion for the idea
-Learning from failure
-Open-mindedness
In this age of virtual spaces, do you think real estate office spaces have a prospectful future?
There will always be a need for physical space. We believe that the demand for physical space will change as the nature of businesses change with time. The changes in how businesses operate and how people work will change how workspace is utilized. It is longer limited to a particular place or time.
A young entrepreneur can book any meeting room for a day to meet with a potential investor or book a cubical space for work. An Instagram shop owner can book any popup space for a couple of days to display his/her products.
What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs of Bahrain?
Creating a startup is a learning process and being an entrepreneur is more than a 9-to-5 job.
If you have an idea go for it. You’ll never know the result if you don’t try. Get involved in the startup community in Bahrain and attend as many events as possible to raise awareness about your startup.