Dalal App, which has the largest aggregation of salons in Bahrain, makes it easier for women to find in advance salon prices and make appointments. Join BTW as they join the founders to know more about the app and their challenges
Tell us briefly about yourself, your team members
I am co-founder Dalal Alghasra (Salon Relations) and my team includes co-founders Wafa Mohammed (Sales and Marketing) and Osama Mohammed (Designer and Developer) and Moosa Mohammed (Sales and Marketing).
What are your guys doing for a day job? Where do you work?
We have an office on Rukn on Batelco building from BDB. I manage the the team work, co-ordinate relationships with salon managers, schedule meetings, participate in events, test the app and get customers’ feedback. Wafa promotes the app to new salons, collect data on them, does social media marketing and trains salon managers and staff; Osama is in charge of developing the app, social media design and testing and finally Moosa takes care of marketing in Bahrain and Saudi.
When and how did you get around to developing dalalapp?
We have been working on the app from last year but we launched it two months ago. To some extent our developer programmed the app but some of the functions we needed external developer help.
‘dalalapp’ is an interesting solution. Tell us more about the application and how did this idea strike you?
As Bahraini women, we know that in Bahrain, most find it difficult to find salons and get the prices in advance, that’s why we came up with Dalal App solution; to connect customers to salons, and find locations easily. Dalal App has the largest aggregation of salons in Bahrain in one platform. This will gives you access to all the salons and beauty centres that you are interested in and gives you best offers that can change your thought, with the ability to book any service with a click. Dalal is an online application to find and book salon appointments. Dalal offers its users free reservation for beauty salons and spas, manage the booking process and allow the users to find services price and choose the staff, beside finding the salon’s special offers and discounts.
What have been the initial challenges and how did you overcome them?
As for our financial issue, we took a loan and now we are looking for investors. Another challenge was the IT awareness of salon managers and sent them manuals, explanation videos and have a dedicated support section.
Where do you see dalalapp in the next 3 years?
Dominating Bahrain’s market regarding the number of salons, number of downloads and bookings. We will also extend our services to GCC starting from Qatar and KSA.
We will also add men salons, cosmetics, makeup artist and hair stylist sections.
If you were to list 5 essential qualities of a successful entrepreneur, what would they be?
A qualified team that complete each other. Innovative ideas that fills social needs. Good marketing plan so the product reach a wide audience. Flexibility, being able to change when the market needs and hard work, understand that having your own business is not easy and needs a lot of work.
How has dalalapp developed so far?
We are in pre-revenue stage. We’ve been working on the app for a year and launched it to customers two months ago. In these two months, we got more than 655 active users and 85 Salons.
How did you find Ch9 Bahrain?
I find it a great place to get experience, learn from each other, work and compete with other startups, and for networking. It is good place to introduce ourselves and share knowledge. We learned so many things from the trainer, they gives us some comments that will improve Dalal App.
Being the winner of Women Entrepreneur, how do you feel?
I am so proud of myself and so proud of the team achievement. We are so happy and the victory gives us more confidence and motivates us to achieve our goals.
List three things you have learned from Ch9
1. Lean Canvas Business Model
2. Unfair distribution advantage and initial customer/user acquisition strategy.
3. How to make a 5-minute pitch presentation
What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs in and around GCC?
Don’t give up at first obstacles you face. Being a woman entrepreneur is not easy but you have to live for that. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea to success.