DOHA: In a bid to promote home based businesses, Qatar Development Bank’s (QDB), in collaboration with Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MOLSA), Social Development Centre (SDC) and Qatar Chamber, yesterday launched Home-based Business National Programme (HBBNP).
“We are very proud to launch such a programme that relies on six principles that are: equality in importance of both home-based and commercial projects; promoting home-based businesses; preserving the nature of the economic project; respecting the privacy of the household; and sharing the responsibility to improve home-based projects,” said Hamad Al Kubeisy, Executive Director of Strategy and Business Development at QDB at a press conference.
“For almost two years, we have been working closely with our partners SDC and MOLSA to empower home business-based projects and to overcome any potential challenges that the owners might encounter,” said Kubeisy. “We have reached out to home-based business owners and identified the nature of their projects, their needs and the challenges they are encountering, this resulted in launching the Home Business-based National Programme. We are also communicating with all the appropriate parties on all levels to improve all sectors that will contribute to the economic resources development in Qatar,” he added.
QDB had earlier initiated a survey launched under the title ‘Home-based Business projects: Realities and Improvement Mechanisms.’ The survey, covering 535 home business owners, was carried out in partnership with SDC and MOLSA and it took over three years of hard work done by the three partners.
The results showed the majority (more than 95 percent) of home-based project owners are females. Also46 percent of the owners have current jobs, 11 percent had jobs and 43 percent did not have jobs at all. About 28 percent of these projects work in food catering preparations, 26 percent in handicrafts, 24 percent in sewing and eight percent in business. About 65 percent of them established projects as hobbies, while 18 percent of them established projects as a ‘source of income.’
Moreover, 55 percent of respondents highlighted their need for shops with low rentals, 29 percent expressed their need for facilitated funding and 18 percent needed support in sales and marketing. Funding was a problem facing the home-based business community in Qatar (42 percent), followed by 28 percent noting sales and marketing problems. Of those who were questioned that had unsuccessful projects, claimed financial issues were the main reason for its failure followed by domestic problems, 33 percent and 25 percent respectively.
Nora Ghanem Al Hajri, Head of Productive Families Department at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs underscored the importance of this program, as her department aims primarily at supporting women and families in creating development projects.
Al Hajri also said the Ministry is providing all support to ensure the success of the project, with the main goal of developing home-based businesses in Qatar.
Munzer Al Dawood, Director of Projects and Investment and Deputy CEO of Social Development Center, said: “SDC has been supporting home-based businesses since the year 2000, as it believes in the vital role this section plays in enhancing the wellbeing of Qatari families on all levels.”
