Oman’s first one-stop hub for information on local events and activities is now a reality. Misbar, as the new app is dubbed, is the maiden product of Circle Software, an Omani-owned SME. So what is Misbar’s USP? A survey conducted by the new start-up found that 86.26 per cent of 422 people polled said they miss events they would like to attend simply because they are not aware of it.
According to Muzna al Sahib, Marketing Executive at Misbar, there was no such mechanism in Oman for gathering information about events under one roof for the benefit of the wider population. “The absence of such a central platform caused them to spend more time and efforts searching for events,” said Muzna. “Hence, the idea of creating a platform that serve the purpose. After months of discussions and brainstorming, we found a suitable way to tackle the problem and ended up by designing an application called ‘Misbar’.”
Misbar is an application program that pools details about activities and events in Oman under one umbrella. It was launched early this year and now the app is available in Google Play and Apple Store. It allows both events’ owners and event management companies to add their events for the public and interact with them.
Like any other business, Misbar had its share of challenges. “The first main challenge we had was only one member of the team works full-time. The other four team members are working part- time and that, of course, affects somehow the business growth. However, we overcome this managing the team members time in a way that will not have a direct effect to the business and by trying to work smarter,” Muzna said.
“The second challenge is that we are funding the business from our own income which is not enough to cover the various needs of the business.” They work towards getting funding from various sectors in the country that support SMEs.
Speaking about their business plan, Muzna said, “We plan to generate other tools which can expand the circle of awareness for any type of events here in Oman, hence, improving the overall events industry in the country. We are working towards keeping Misbar one of the most frequently opened apps in mobile phones both locally and internationally. Going towards this way need various strategies and resources which we have worked on recently.”
Plan and study carefully what you want to achieve, says Muzna. “Also, you must not give up on any challenge that you will face, as there is no business without the challenges,” she noted.
JOMAR MENDOZA
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