Art of good business

There may be different strokes for different folk but talented Nadine Al Shaikh is making her mark in both the world of art and business ... with a little professional help.

She has enhanced her business venture into a viable strategic business project with the support of Tamkeen, the name for the kingdom's former labour fund.

She opened her first art gallery in Umm Al Hassam in 2007 and set up another gallery in Ghufool the following year.

"As the daughter of artist Ali Bashir Al Shaikh, I grew up surrounded by art and beauty and I guess it was natural for me to become an artist myself.

"Although I had the artistic 'knowhow' I was unable to develop the business technicalities of my venture. It was a matter of getting professional assistance to put the business on the right track."

She heard that Tamkeen was offering help to small and medium businesses by providing access to consultation with experts and she and her husband and business partner, Aref Kooheji, "grabbed the chance" to explore new avenues of development and growth.

Nadine enrolled in Tamkeen's 'Business Development Scheme' (BDS) which linked her to the expert services of Jaffari Consultants.

Together they came up with a list of 20 innovative and creative concepts that should enhance business growth such as staging art exhibitions, training courses for artists and interior designing projects. All these will be driven by a focused marketing strategy and will be implemented over a period of five years.

"This was undoubtedly a unique opportunity because not many artists or creative people think of developing a business and putting together a profitability plan based on their talent," said Ebrahim Radhi, project manager of Jaffari Consultants.

"We have developed three strategic road maps for the Nadine Gallery: Partnership by participating in promoting the art culture in the region; Theme of Art by embedding creativity and art in the entire Nadine Gallery line of products and services; and thirdly, developing Nadine Gallery as a 'Second Home' for artists and art lovers by offering events, products and services that will speak directly to their special creativity."

Out of a total of 157 beneficiaries in the BDS, Nadine is so far the only businesswoman to use the scheme to leverage a non-traditional business and tap the rich potential of the growing art awareness in the region to drive her business forward.

Nadine believes the scheme creates a culture of business creativity and helps nurture small businesses by providing them with access to expertise that they would not otherwise consider approaching.

"In the process," she said, "we are able to develop new ideas to take our business further.

"What's most important is that the Business Development Scheme gives us access not just to consultants but also assistance to translate our blueprints into robust reality."

Nadine is now looking forward to adding muscle to her creativity with a programme that will eventually build Nadine Gallery into a unique regional art centre.