I have been organizing Webpreneur meetups in Bahrain for quite some time. In fact I just scheduled a few more for the upcoming months together with my partner in crime Hasan AlDoy. These are meetups for entrepreneurs that want to setup and sell services and or products on the web or on mobile devices through mobile apps. And I can tell you, being a Webpreneur in Bahrain has never been more exciting!
Webpreneur Scene Bahrain
For a relative small nation I have met budding webpreneurs almost every meetup. I have been really impressed! Not only during webpreneur meetups, but also during the general Bahrain Webtech Catchup meetups. Many here and in neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, can’t wait to start their own business. To breath life into their own baby and make it bloom.
There are also many people out there that are willing to share knowledge through workshops. Many have been organized by great people like Hasan AlDoy, Husain AlRadi, Husain Abdali, Nadine Zein and others. And more in the months to come I can assure you.
Webpreneur in Bahrain – Where to Start
Most conversations we bump into is on how to get your SaaS (Software as a Service) started or how to get going with this great mobile application idea. Where to get started? Where to find a team or partners to work on the endeavor? Who to discuss the business idea with to make sure it is sound and you are not reinventing the wheel? What tools to use? What business types are there in Bahrain and which one is good for my online e-commerce, SaaS, PaaS, mobile app,.., business? What kind of budget will I be needing? Many, many questions.
Come to the Bahrain Webtech Meetup
This I cannot stress enough. You should leave your home, your office, your safe and well known environment and get out there and meet like minded people to test your ideas, to ask for advice, to give advice, to find out about what resources are there for the taking and perhaps to find a partner for your business / startup idea. And Bahrain Webtech Meetup is a great place to start!
But before you do please work out a few basic things. A basic Webrepeneur in Bahrain checklist so to speak before you join us int the flesh.
Put things on Paper and Sketch them out
Do not just do online research and dream about your startup. Start working out the details on paper and make sketches of your web app or mobile app. Even though you may not be able to develop it yourself and or design the app yourself you can and should work out the business plan and or functional design. There are great tools out there to help you setup your business plan for you startup and there are other great tools to sketch out your idea and or to do pitches once you have worked out all the details.
Business Plan
Having a basic business plan setup is also highly recommended. There are many business plan or business canvas templates out there you can use. Just Google a couple until you have found one for yourself. Good business plans should cover all options to set up a solid business and later on if need be answer all questions venture capitalists may have. A few pointers I think should be in it are:
- What problem are you helping to solve?
- What bundles of Products and Services are you offering?
- What is your business model – ROI setup
- How will the business scale
- Who are your competitors ? How will you distinguish yourself / do better?
- What resources do you have? What do you need to make your startup a reality?
Might adjust this list or add more in the future, but these are items I think are really important. So this is by no means a complete business plan. I will write a separate post on this some other time. Will probably base it on my own Startup. Would love to hear your feedback on this either way.
Wireframing
For wireframing or sketching out your web or mobile app I can recommend Balsamiq. It is a wonderful easy to use tool to sketch up or the views of your app. It can be made interactive and all source files can be stored as pdfs that can be easily shared with a designer, developer or webdesign agency. There is no better way to explain an idea than to visualize it. And Balsamiq is the right software for that!
Should you just share all?
Some of you may be worried that someone else will take your idea when you share it all. Well, to move on with your startup idea. To make your web or mobile application a reality, you will have to share information. Either to make sure your idea is solid or to get people on board, or to get people to build your dream for $.
This does not mean you have to share all, but you will have to share enough to get the advice you need. How far you want to go and can go depends on you and your business idea. If you have the network and or most skills for it you should not fear competition too much. If it can be done by pretty much anyone you may have to keep a lot of information to yourself. But still come and gather information, partners and or a team. Just let them sign an NDA before you share all. But remember, trusting people and doing the proper research into possible partners or teams trumps an NDA anytime.
See you soon at the Webpreneur Meetup Bahrain!
