Right from his childhood, sports, especially football, has been his biggest passion. Fate had it that one day he would find his way riding on technology to create an online /app business of connecting sports lovers to various sports/recreational organizations. An entrepreneur supported by Al Rawad, Ali Zayer, Founder of the Tamarran.com, speaks to BTW about his journey and dreams.
Tell us briefly about yourself.
My name is Ali Zayer. I am the Co-Founder of Tamarran.com. I am a sports enthusiast & IT professional.
Give us a brief summary about your educational and professional background.
I have a B.Sc in Information Systems from the University of Bahrain. Holding Project Management Professional Certificate “PMP” from PMI and I have more than 10 years of experience in managing IT operations and projects in the financial institutions sector.
When and how did you get around to developing Tamarran??
For the past years, whenever I and my friends wanted to spend good time together and break the routine, we were constantly struggling to find good sport venues and recreational activities. It was so annoying to find a soccer pitch or horse riding venue for example as it was taking us hours to search, ask and book. So I started thinking about a way to help ourselves and the others do that in less time and efforts.
‘Tamarran’ is an interesting name. Tell us more about the application and how did this idea related to fitness strike you?
‘Tamarran’ is an Arabic word which means ‘to exercise’. This name was chosen to reflect our mission in encouraging people to maintain a healthy and happy life style through sports and recreational activities.
What have been the initial challenges and how did you overcome them?
Building the right team was one of the initial challenges. Then convincing the sports centers to join. It took us some time to show them the benefits of this initiative to them and to the people.
How can Tamarran qualitatively improve people’s lives?
Tamarran is meant to help people have fun and enjoy their time together through sports, wellness, entertainment, and recreational activities.
The website and app make various sports venues and recreational activities available and accessible to everyone from different age groups. By doing that, people are encouraged to exercise and try new sports and activities. Thus, creating new hobbies.
Additionally, tourists can also benefit from Tamarran by finding and booking the recreational activities that they can do when they reach Bahrain.
A new interesting feature is soon to be introduced which is helping people find partners to play with or form teams and play against others.
The formula is: A happy and healthy community equals a productive and successful one. And we strongly believe in that and that’s why we offer these services to the people.
In this age of increasing online shopping websites, how is Tamarran unique?
Tamarran is a website and mobile app that is focusing on sports and recreations.
Booking.com is well known for hotel booking, tabalat.com is famous for food ordering. However, there’s nothing in the region that helps people find and book venues and activities related to sports, recreation and wellness. So we’re filling this gap now.
Where do you see Tamarran in the next 5 years?
Tamarran to be GCC’s biggest online one-stop-shop that helps people find and book all what is related to sports, recreations and wellness.
What according to you are the essential qualities of a successful entrepreneur?
Confidence, perseverance, patience & open-mindedness
What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs of Bahrain?
Do what you love and the rest will follow.