GCC Doing Business Rankings

So I was reading the 2012 Doing Business Rankings. Kuwait has apparently improved!

But we are still way behind all the other GCC countries, which is a real shame :( Saudi Arabia has apparently been putting a real effort to improve over the past few years, but according to some friends that live there the ease of doing business is more related to foreign business and large corporations. Small and medium businesses still struggle. 

But some improvement is still better than none, so lets not be discouraged! :)

If you want to read the full report, you can find it here.

Go! Go! Vimto!

According to Arabian Business everybody's favorite drink Vimto did really well last year. Sales were up 18% for 2011, and the MENA region crossed the 30 million bottle mark for the first time ever! Apparently the Middle East has been drinking Vimto for more than 80 years, I didn't realize that it was that old!

I was pretty impressed by the numbers, but considering how my neice and nephews chug the stuff down like its going out of style I'm not surprised.

I found some amazing pics done by an artist Hythem Daham on Khaleejesque which are definitely worth checking out.

Hmmm...now I'm thirsty :)

Angel Investors in Bahrain

I thought this Bahraini company called Tenmou was a really cool idea, its basically a company that helps start ups by providing them not only with the financing they need to start their business but with mentors (all who have real business experience) that will help them throughout the difficult early stages of starting their new venture.

If your idea gets accepted you get some start up capital on average 20,000 BD ( approx. 15,000 KD) and a 3 month mentorship program with experts from different fields to help you get your idea of the ground, then you get to present to a group of investors on specific "Investor Days" incase you need more capital to take your business venture to the next level. I would love to be able to attend one of those Investor Days and see all those presentations it would be like watching an episode of Dragon's Den :D

I think something like this would really work in Kuwait. We have methods for financing start ups like the Kuwait Small Projects Development Company, and a couple of banks have programs for small businesses. We have mentorship programs like The Proteges and Small to Big (both of which I think are awesome!). But we don't really have anything that mixes the two together in a cohesive way, at least none that I have heard of.

Phew, first real post done!

Mishaymish out!