Transforming Homz with Mahmoud Ibrahim

empowerME Conversations

Feb 9 2021 • 48 mins

Key Takeaways:
0:00 Intro
0:59 Mahmoud shares a little background of what made him choose the path of founding startups
3:18 Mahmoud talks about the challenges that he and the company faced especially with regards to the market
5:29 Mahmoud also shares some of the lessons he learned in Pakistan and how that market developed in terms of e-commerce in those early stages
7:59 Mahmoud shares his thoughts on why he thinks Alibaba were attracted to the Daraz as a marketplace
11:11 Mahmoud talks about success in startups and if he has seen a ripple effect of success stories in the case of Daraz
12:52 Mahmoud talks about what made him start Homzmart, the three factors to starting a new business, why he chose that particular industry and why in Egypt
18:45 Mahmoud talks about the difference between when he operated Jumia versus now Homzmart specifically with regard to government
20:42 Mahmoud talks about digitization and the common thing that he has noticed in the e-commerce markets that creates a business opportunity
23:17 Mahmoud explains how the positive government regulations of making it easier to do business has made young people want to be entrepreneurs
25:00 Mahmoud talks about what he perceives now as his biggest challenge to scaling his business across the region
26:51 Mahmoud explains how talent has played part in the success of his business
30:07 Mahmoud talks about the experience he has had with Homzmart when it comes to women and women inclusion in the business
32:42 Mahmoud shares his point of view as a CEO on women moving up the ladder within Homzmart and taking on leadership positions
36:05 Mahmoud talks about the one thing that policymakers could focus on that would really move the needle in terms of having more companies started
39:32 Mahmoud explains how he finds the financing environment to be and at the various stages of startups in Egypt
42:35 Mahmoud talks about how easy it would be to start a business especially for the youths especially in Egypt
45:36 Mahmoud talks about the next big area that he would tell a young entrepreneur with a million dollar seed funding to focus on
48:36 Mahmoud shares the vision of Homzmart in the next 12 months

Shows Mentioned:
Jumia is an online marketplace for electronics, and fashion among others targeting several African countries.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited, also known as Alibaba Group and as Alibaba.com, is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology.

Amazon.com, Inc. is an American multinational technology company based in Seattle, Washington, which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.

Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate headquartered in San Jose, California, in the center of Silicon Valley. Cisco develops, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software, telecommunications equipment and other high-technology services and products.

Daraz is an online marketplace and logistics company which operates in markets of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It was founded in 2012 as an online fashion e-commerce marketplace in Pakistan by Muneeb Maayr & Farees Shah at the based venture builder, Rocket Internet.

Tesla, Inc. is an American electric vehicle and clean energy company based in Palo Alto, California. Tesla's current products include electric cars, battery energy storage from home to grid scale, solar panels and solar roof tiles, as well as other related products and services.

Quotes Mentioned:
“There are two kinds of people alive, which are, people embracing change and people creating the change.”
“After the currency dilution in 2017 in Egypt, they had to allow a lot of like fundamental changes in the way the economy operates and one of the core industries that Egypt is good at is furniture.”
“Change is coming and we have to adapt to it and cope with it.”
“Just learn before getting up your startup, is not that easy.”
“When there's a good supply and a good demand, then the company is growing faster than its people.”
“For guys to get on the ground more, you need to take it from scratch.”
“Business owners need to understand you would never find the 100% fit for the business except the 60, 70% and work on the other.”
“It just takes the courage to think out of box.”
“An idea itself is not just enough to kick off a business.”
“Anything can be successful.”

Guests Social Media Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahmoud-ibrahim-889ab553/?originalSubdomain=eg
Website: https://homzmart.com/

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