A professional, yet passionate, journey of a Saudi business woman through experiences of managing an event project in Canada to a successful relaunch of Saudi legacy brand.
Ten Years of Making The Difference. What we learnt from the past, and what's the plan for the future!
This year, we have completed our first decade in AWN Enterprises. Since our establishment in 2009, we had achieved a sustainable and steady growth despite the many challenges that we have overcome.
In our founding year, we launched MABconsult in a small office of 3 employees. The year after, we acquired Pattis Restaurant et café; a small restaurant in the second floor of Tamimi Supermarket complete with a handful of employees and a struggling business. Today, AWN Enterprises is a group of companies with above 300 employees and several international partners across different business sectors, and the future have never looked brighter!
"I see in each one of you an enterprise for development"
- HRH Prince Saud bin Nayef to the young Businessmen & Women
During our exciting journey, we have had very good years and a few challenging ones as well. Lately, the Saudi economy have gone through unprecedented structural reformation. It came at a time when the economy was descending into a financial downturn. Now, as we emerge in our 10th anniversary into a new era of prosperity that is guided by a nationwide vision, I look back and say that we have learned a few things.
We’ve learned that to achieve sustainable success, we need to specialize. And so we did. As an investment company, we chose to be operationally-active only in the sectors of HORECA and Professional Services. Otherwise, our ‘passive’ investments; those that we could advise and support but not lead, we made sure that our partners are the experts in the field. By fostering specialization, we support our goal to become the most qualified manager for our owners’ wealth.
We’ve learned that in our best ventures, we couldn’t have done it on our own. Partnerships are vital vehicles to excel. And for partnerships to succeed; ‘alignment of interest’ must be appreciated and sought after by all parties. Thus, we made it a core value in our way to become the most preferred partner for those who want to grow.
We’ve learned that to be a thriving business, you need to have happy customers. To have happy customers; especially in the services sector, you need to have happy employees. This is why, as a vital pillar of our mission, we strive to become the most optimal workplace for those who want to achieve.
AWN Team Annual Gathering, 2019
And we’ve learned that, in addition to numerous studies that prove this qualitatively and quantitatively, social responsibility does have a positive impact on the business and the team when taken seriously. We call it ‘Baraka,’ others call it ‘bless’ or ‘good karma,’ and it is real. For it, we seek to conduct our business while trying to be the best neighbor to our communities and the environment.
After 10 years, and more than 15 ventures so far, we’ve learned many things. I am sure that you also had as well. This is why we are launching The Difference Magazine in celebration of AWN’s 10th anniversary, and to start an exciting platform where we all can share our experiences and learn from each other.
Cover of The Difference Magazine, Issue 1
‘The Difference’ is an exciting platform where we all can share our experiences and ideas. Every once in a while in this blog, we will publish contributions from individuals of all backgrounds and from all over the world; all written for the exclusive purpose of this magazine for all of us to benefit from. We will always be obliged and thankful to them.
HERE’S THE IMPORTANT PART! We are also keen to hear from you. The Difference is not meant to be a monologue but to incite a dialogue with you. Be it you’re a partner, a team member or a customer; current or potential, or be it you are an interested person of our community, we would be delighted to have you engage with us in topics you discover in this magazine. Send us at thedifference@awn.com.sa, and we will be happy to feature you in our next issue and share with you an exclusive printed copy of it.
For now, enjoy your read!
By: Abdulrahman M. AlBassam
CEO, AWN Enterprises