Operating hair and beauty salons in Oman
stefano@virgilli.com Last week I shared the conversation that happened with Ms Hanna with regards to her enquiry about launching and operating an online store selling traditional Omani...
Key factors for planning a successful business
I am always happy to receive positive feedback for one of the articles that I wrote on the Oman Daily Observer. Even more happy if such a testimonial comes from a young Omani entrepreneur. This time...
The costs of scaling up a marketplace
Scaling up an online marketplace is a challenge that many startups and investors have faced. Before Covid-19 it was certainly more difficult, but in the post pandemic era we could safely say that...
Not all that glitter is gold in Silicon Valley
Startups could be a fun ride for enthusiastic technopreneur all over the world, but sometimes they end up being on the news headlines for the wrong reasons. The case of Theranos was somehow shocking...
Making money with chess
I admit it: I am obsessed with the game of chess. And I am sure I am not alone. First of all, it is something that started recently. Of course I played chess when I was a child. The very basic way,...
The struggle of F&B business during the pandemic
Do you remember the time when opening a restaurant or any F&B related activity was the safest business investment for any small entrepreneur? Well, that seems to have become a memory of the past...
Crypto art as a form of investment?
In late December I wrote a column about investing in art. As always, I must and I want to clarify that I am in no position to give any investment advice to anyone. The content of my articles are for...
Brief introduction to shorting
On Wall Street the talk of the month was Game Stop. Many readers might already be familiar with the bizarre case that shook the American stock market through a collective action coordinated on the...
The endless opportunities in web development (Part 2)
This is the second part of an article meant to get anyone started with web development. If you have read the first article last week, you should have done your homework and learned the foundation of...
The endless opportunities in web development (Part 1)
A friend in Italy lost his architecture job due to Covid-19 and within a month learned how to make websites. He shared with me last week that he is now generating a full income by making websites for...
How much is worth a preschool? (Part 2)
Preschool is not a business that will make you rich overnight. But if you work on building a community a step at the time, the cumulative effects of that effort will snowball over time. Preschools are...
Business evaluation: Auto repair workshop (PART 2)
Let us continue — with the help of my friend Bharat R Kanodia — evaluating pros and cons of owning an auto repair business. In the previous article we have learned about 2 ongoing trends in the...
Business evaluation: Auto repair workshop (Part 1)
People used to say that the three best friends you can have are a doctor, a lawyer, and an auto mechanic. The doctor keeps you healthy, the lawyer keeps you safe and the auto mechanic keeps you...
COVID-19 and other new trends in shopping
Around June 2020, economists started wondering what kind of effect the pandemic would have had on the shopping season, most notably on 11.11 (particularly in Asia), Thanksgiving (mostly in the US),...
The truth behind ROI in art investment
After my latest column on art investment. I received a few emails from some of the Oman Daily Observer readers asking me to be more specific with numbers about the profitability of investing in art...
Checklist for beginners in art investment
Recently, I have been contacted by a friend who asked me what I thought about a painting that he bought from a not so famous artist. He told me that he was confident that in a decade it would have...
Budgeting marketing during COVID-19 recovery
As I started working on the marketing and communication budget for 2021, I realised how much the pandemic and post pandemic effects are still casting a shadow of uncertainty on the economy. Before we...
Omani tourism sector shows signs of recovery
There are some optimistic signs of recovery for the Omani tourism sector. Although the percentage sounds and looks intimidating — with a sharp drop by 97.4 per cent in October 2020 incoming tourists...
‘Zombie’ companies on the rise
Ever since the ‘80s, a small number (4 per cent) of publicly listed companies began being classified as ‘zombies’. The core criteria are that (1) such companies are unable to pay the interest...
How banks are helping Africa cope during the pandemic
Lower commodity prices and scarcer demand have been pushing some African countries into deeper recessions, especially those heavily depending on the export of metals and oil. According to Global Trade...