Interviewer: Tarek Refaat
“Initially my vision about Al7arefa was to establish an entity that is unique from a business and cultural perspective and is able to truly service the Freelancers and the clients not across Egypt only but across the Middle East and North Africa region as well” Nermine El Nemr
Brief Bio about the Interviewee:
Nermine El Nemr is the founder and CEO of Al7arefa an Egyptian Freelance Platform that works on connecting Freelancers with clients and the right business opportunities. And she has just recently went live with her platform.
1. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: First of all, Nermine, thank you for taking the time to be with us and sharing with us your insights! So, let us begin, can you tell us a bit more about Nermine El Nemr?
I’m a very passionate person who’s always driven by her beliefs and her passion. I’m a graduate of Mass Media and have completed a diploma in Marketing in the AUC. And I’ve worked for 8 years in the field of marketing and PR in companies like FedEx, KidZania and a marketing research company called Marketeers. And then I worked for an NGO that is focused on empowering the ICT sector in Egypt. And then I decided to proceed with establishing Al7arefa and this was 2 years ago.
2. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Why Al7arefa? What made you choose to come up with such a platform, what is the story behind this?
There is actually a story behind Al7arefa, I was working full-time up until my last job when I quit, and my company offered me to work with them on a project basis. And I realized how much it suited me and because I liked to work more at night and arrange my own time at my own pace. And then I was searching more about freelancing. And then I started to observe the scene locally and in the Arab world and realized that despite the industry is there but I didn’t feel it’s where it can or should be, I saw on social media the demand was there , the need was there and the freelancers were there but something didn’t click. So I began to become more interested, and hence Al7arefa’s idea was born.
3. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Freelance websites are one of the principal areas of business today where many companies are moving more and more into the field. Why do you think it is so important?
Freelancing is a work-style that offers a lot of flexibility to the professionals and specially this arose more in our generation , the need for more freedom , we are a generation that doesn’t like to be necessarily bound to one place, we want to be able to travel , work when we want to. And I believe it is something that is growing in the Middle East region , and the need is there and opportunities are there.
4. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Could you share with us the vision of Al7arefa?
Initially my vision about Al7arefa was to establish an entity that is unique from a business and cultural perspective and is able to truly service the freelancers and the clients not across Egypt only but across the Middle East and North Africa region as well. And I believe we are capable of doing so. We also want to create an integrated community & Data center that is able to provide our users with all the knowledge and information they need across the various industries they work with. This is something I’ve faced a lot of challenges in finding the data and how in some times it wasn’t even available. So it is part of our vision to be able to provide the necessary information to all our users.
5. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Can you tell us what is unique about Al7arefa in the business?
Egypt didn’t have an operating platform that is able to conduct the client and freelancer matching, and conduct the payments and we managed to do so. And not only that we managed to build the largest community of clients and freelancers in Egypt that is also compatible with the market, industries and culture. We also studied the market and are working on addressing the Freelancing business’s weaknesses which we have found not only on the local scale but also on the regional scale as well. And that also came from the fact that we worked closely for 1 year before having our online platform up and running and this has brought us close both to our clients and freelancers to understand not only their business needs but also their life needs and managing the relationship between both. It’s not about just matchmaking portfolios because anyone can do that today, but we want to be involved in managing and maintaining the relationships between the freelancers and the clients.
6. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What are the challenges you faced until you were able to build Al7arefa?
Challenges are actually my favorite part! Actually because no one has asked us this question before. We deal with a huge diversity of people , full time workers who freelance on the side, full time freelancers, Entrepreneurs, corporates, small business , CEOs , Managers, Directors, Employees, HR personnel , and each one of those is unique in their way of communication , their needs, their expectations and how they want things done. And this is why we spent a lot of time on the operational sides of the business with a lot of focus to understand all this and be able to run the business effectively. And this is why we focused on the operational aspect which came with many challenges whether they are cultural or business. And after having done so for a long period of time. Only now have we started to focus on our marketing to be able to send the correct messages we want our various clients and users to find , and use. A lot of people were not convinced of me going through that experience saying it would need millions to work , but I think there has always been this voice which guided me and was always reassuring me that I’m going to make it!
7. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: So the world now is split between entrepreneurs, corporate employees, Freelancers, you are somewhere between the two worlds of freelancers and entrepreneurs, can you tell how did this combination affect your thoughts and vision for Al7arefa?
I believe having worked for companies and then having done so much research and that gave me a large level of exposure and the world of startups has changed me completely and added so much to my character.
8. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Did you get criticized for deciding to go on with such a project with all its complications? Encouraged?
I was told so many things, that I was crazy , that I was bound to fail, that this is a waste of money, but my belief is what kept me strong, like I said, that voice inside of me kept me going and it still does.
9. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What do you think the challenges you face added to you?
I believe that the fact that challenges I faced were various tremendously added to my character, much more flexibility and understanding.
PATIENCE for one, when running a business you need to be extremely patient even if sometimes you want to scream from the top of your head. It made me a much more calculated person always taking the various aspects into consideration even in my personal life.
10. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Where do you see the future of freelance work and entrepreneurship in the coming future?
I think that the future of Freelance work and Entrepreneurship could not be brighter, it is a fact that despite the pandemic the world is facing, companies started to explore the options of Freelancers, remote workers and understanding the values of what services companies like Al7arefa provide, companies are now more understanding and receptive to these types of discussions. So I firmly believe we are at the steps of a lot of changes to come.
11. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Here at HR Revolution, we’ve wrote previously about how companies should build employee loyalty, could you share with us your insight on the topic?
I think this is a very important topic, and I’m actually quite happy you asked me such a questions, I’m enjoying the flow of questions as they’re quite non-traditional ones. So regarding employee loyalty, which is a very important point of discussion, I’ll speak from my own experience, at Al7arefa we’re a very small team, and when I was creating this team I asked myself a lot of questions about how I would like this team to look like, and I came up with a few key points for me. I want people who want to own their work , willing to learn, adapt and are flexible to do multiple tasks but most importantly have a passion towards what they’re doing, to feel this is their business as well, not just a part of it , or some execution arm, they need to feel this is where they belong. And I try my best to show them whenever the occasion arises through the client’s feedback or reactions we receive from the people we work with, it’s very important for me that they feel the impact of their work. I think for company loyalty any manager needs to understand what motivates his team members, some are after positions and titles and money, while some others could be after impact, I cannot say for others what to do, but at Al7arefa we are a team that wants to grow, build and leave an impact.
12. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: KPIs, Scorecard are the keywords of the working market today, how do you set your own KPIs or Scorecards for your teams at Al7arefa is it the traditional way? More creative?
At Al7arefa our business model is very different since it’s focused on three market aspects (Clients, Freelancers and Jobs) and our teams are focused on driving them and each one element has it’s own procedures and tasks to achieve it’s goals and attached to it is the KPIs per procedure and per goal, but if we want to dig down to our most important ones, is the fact that we need to have sufficient jobs and sufficient freelancers to cover these jobs and vice versa.
13. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Do you run team review or personal reviews with your team? Do you have a different approach?
I don’t run reviews per say because the team is rather very small, but we do have discussions and if there’s something that needs guidance on a one to one basis , I do it
14. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: Would you walk us through your regular day?
My regular day is full of various activities and it’s a like an emotional roller coaster, because I have to go through finances, managing the team, learning and developing my skills , keeping a close eye on the community I’m part of whether on the clients or freelancers, always asking the questions as to what’s needed to do more ? what is needed to grow more. As entrepreneur we face a lot of challenges and your project can just die in less than month. So there’s a lot of constant pressure but we are focused on growing and moving forward.
15. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: How do you view the Egyptian Market? What are the main advantages and disadvantages?
While I know there is a lot of suffering in the market according to various thoughts and opinions but I for one see that the amount of potential and work that can be done is enormous, no just within Cairo or Alexandria but all across the governorates of Egypt, there skills in the millions which the youth possess and they need guidance and perhaps customized programs and initiatives to help them. And we are focused on promoting the Egyptian Youth’s Skills and capacities. And we could start working on the youth since they are in universities. Part of what I think is important is perhaps career coaching from a very young age, I’ve come across many people who did certain jobs for years and were never happy, that is a form of wasted energy in my opinion, so I believe career coaching could start at a much younger age. We still see people who are in their thirties and forties who have no idea about what they want to do! I believe the market is huge and has so much to offer. It just needs the right initiatives and application.
16. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: What are the main lessons you learned in your career?
Never give up, always keep trying, challenges are just there to help you discover more about yourself.
17. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: It’s been quite a pleasure having you with us; would you care to share your favorite quote that inspires you?
It’s never to too late! ?
18. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: If there’s one advice that you would give to the youth, what would it be?
Persistence, keep following your dream, people will try to put you down not because they’re bad but because they don’t know any better. Try and try and try again, you will fail sometimes but you must learn and then you will succeed.
19. HR Revolution Middle East Magazine: We’ve come to the end of our interview, is there something else you would like to say or share?
I’d like to thank the team of Al7arefa for being my backbone that supports, the clients who have a put their trust in us, and the freelancers for whom we want to help provide the best service and support.
Nermine it’s been indeed quite the pleasure in having you with us as part of this interview!