Send us a text Welcome to the Elevated Entrepreneur Podcast and today, we’re taking a break from our Retail Entrepreneur series to talk about one of my most recent massive achievements in life, and that is completing my first full 42k marathon! It was definitely not an easy journey and I wanted to share with you what that whole experience was like for me. As you know, I wasn’t alone in that experience and so today, I’m joined by two of my buddies who ran alongside me, Preet Sagar and Jeetender G...
Apr 05, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 26
Send us a text While most entrepreneurs, founders, and business owners struggled to cope during the pandemic, there were also those who thrived and grew because they were much more willing and open to adapt to a changing world. Thanks in large part to their networks, they were able to adapt with the help of other businesses through knowledge-sharing and support. In today’s podcast, I’m talking with Sridhar and Umesh, who started One Retail Connect during the lockdown, a networking platform where...
Mar 22, 2021•53 min•Ep. 25
Send us a text With the ongoing pandemic and changes to the entrepreneurial landscape, more and more retail business owners are looking for new ways and platforms to sell their physical products. The rise in popularity of online selling has made it clear that e-commerce is here to stay. But there are still some entrepreneurs who get confused as to the WHAT, WHY, and HOW of setting up an online store along with their physical store. Fortunately, I’ll be walking you through what you should do befo...
Feb 22, 2021•27 min•Ep. 24
Send us a text Hey, elevated entrepreneur! This week we’re starting our Retail Entrepreneur Series where we interview entrepreneurs from the retail business industry. And I’m so excited to have the owner and CEO of Wolfi’s bike shop, Wolfgang Hohmann, more lovingly known as Wolfi, on the podcast with me! Today's episode is all about how Wolfi started his bike shop, how he moved from Germany to Dubai almost on a whim and what made him so successful here in the region for the last 20 years. We als...
Feb 08, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 23
Send us a text As a business owner, you're always dealing with filtering so much information from everywhere, and I can understand how overwhelming it can be. I also know the importance of choosing the right software to use in your business, one that fully supports your needs and solves your problems. While every business is different, the crucial things remain the same, such as hiring the right staff, understanding and catering to customers' needs, and creating powerful systems that can easily ...
Jan 25, 2021•18 min•Ep. 22
Send us a text Hope everything is doing well and you’re enjoying the New Year! In today’s episode, I’ve decided to dive into what I think is next for the hospitality industry in 2021. While 2020 has been such a transformational year, we can expect some great and bright things for the food and beverage industry soon! The way people eat and dine is changing and restaurants and food business owners must learn to adapt to these changes if they want to thrive. Are you excited to learn what these tren...
Jan 10, 2021•12 min•Ep. 21
Send us a text Hey, Elevated Entrepreneur! Don’t you just love fresh starts, clean slates, and a New Year? While 2020 will be far from forgotten, I’m grateful for being able to turn over a new leaf and set new, inspired, and intentional goals for 2021. In today’s episode, we’ll be talking less about the accomplishments I want to achieve and more about the mindset and actions I’ll be doing in the coming year. You’ll also learn how I’m setting myself up for success using my 3-2-1 Method. Curious t...
Dec 29, 2020•26 min•Ep. 20
Send us a text My, my, what a wonderful year 2020 has been! Despite all the turbulence and unexpected circumstances this year has brought us, I still choose to see this as the best year that has ever happened. With that, I invite you to wrap up 2020 with me as I talk about how I spent this year and how I’m looking forward to 2021. In this episode, I’ll share with you my 2020 highlights, lessons learned, best books and podcasts I’ve read and listened to as well as some episodes from the Elevated ...
Dec 14, 2020•31 min•Ep. 19
Send us a text Do you believe that it’s possible to eat a healthy diet and still enjoy delicious and nourishing food? Well, this has been made a reality by Seva Experience, a wellness centre with a yoga studio that offers meditation, yoga, and also houses a cafe in its garden! Opened in 2014, this Dubai’s plant-based cafe offers healthy, organic and plant-based food. Seva Experience has indeed transformed the narrative of healthy food being boring. This gorgeous cafe with aesthetically pleasing ...
Dec 01, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 18
Send us a text Thinking of giving juicing a whirl? It is the easiest way to incorporate more fruits and veggies into your diet! A few years ago after having her two children within the span of 14 months, Meenaxy had a constant backache that could not go away despite taking medication. Juicing saved her life and gave birth to something amazing - Go Organic. As someone who has experienced the stunning health benefits of drinking organic juice, Meenaxy now offers a customer-centric product that imp...
Nov 02, 2020•49 min•Ep. 17
Send us a text People are always looking for healthy snack items, especially wherever there is foot traffic. And even though they may look simple, the snacks business has a lot of moving parts. While some snack concepts are just fads, there are some snack ideas that have stood the test of time, offering entrepreneurs exceptional business opportunities. One of them is Freakin' Healthy. Founded by Roy Koyess, Freakin' Healthy offers a wide range of healthy snacking options to everyone. Armed with ...
Oct 19, 2020•58 min•Ep. 16
Send us a text As an entrepreneur, sometimes the psychological weight of being the sole decision-maker can weigh you down. From figuring out how to stay accountable for organizing your time and making everything happen without losing your mind, entrepreneurship isn’t a walk in the park. Not having someone to bounce ideas around with can be the hardest part of running your own business. For this reason, many entrepreneurs (including me) have resorted to joining mastermind accountability groups th...
Oct 04, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 15
Send us a text Ever felt like leaving everything behind to open your own business or start new projects? That’s what Nooran Al Bannay, the founder of Coffee Architecture did! Nooran left a senior architectural engineering position in a major company to open her own coffee shop in Abu Dhabi. Despite Nooran’s salary being decent and her corporate career path being clear, her personal and spiritual journey led her to a different path. A path that saw her opening Coffee Architecture, a place that se...
Sep 21, 2020•44 min•Ep. 14
Send us a text In today’s episode, I speak to Orit Mohammed, founder of Boon Coffee. After finishing her Masters of Arts in Economic Development in the United States, Orit spent a few years working for some international organizations. In 2008, after getting married to a fellow Harrar native, she moved to Dubai where she and her husband continued to establish their business in the UAE and start a family. After having three children and raising them for a couple of years, she decided to reconnect...
Sep 07, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 13
Send us a text In today’s episode, I had the privilege to speak to Maria Eduarda Becker Pavani, the founder of Três Marias Coffee. Três Maria Coffee prides itself in being a perfect mix of high-quality whole roasted coffee beans that has brought a whole new meaning to coffee in addition to making specialty coffee easily accessible to all coffee lovers. The Três Marias Instant Specialty Coffee is available in three flavors: from the citrusy and fruity flavor of Rwanda coffee, the caramel sweetnes...
Aug 23, 2020•48 min•Ep. 12
Send us a text I published my first episode five months ago. What a journey in producing this content and sharing it with YOU, this has been! Following a year and a half year of planning - and the pandemic - deliberation, thinking and dreaming, I was finally hitting the record button. It’s been an exciting start! Why did it take me that long? Well, I could attribute this to a long list of excuses. Some of them included being too busy, not sure whether I’d sound professional enough, and not havin...
Aug 10, 2020•15 min•Ep. 11
Send us a text In today’s episode, I am talking to Namita Ramani, the founder and CEO of Above Digital, a leading digital marketing agency that helps small businesses reach their goals and generate qualified leads through pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns and social media marketing. An avid reader and learner who consumes almost 5-6 hours of content every day, Namita is also the host of the Successful Marketing for Small Businesses in Dubai podcast, a platform where she indulges in inspired conversa...
Jul 26, 2020•53 min•Ep. 10
Send us a text In today’s episode , I’m talking to Wayne Richard, Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Bean Ninjas, one of the world’s leading accounting firms and an expert in helping small businesses with accounting and bookkeeping. Aside from being Bean Ninjas’ resident e-commerce expert, he is also the author of a book called, “A Detailed Guide to eCommerce Accounting” and Host of the Bean Ninjas podcast. Wayne had a 15-year career with Hewlett Packard before starting his own cloud account...
Jul 13, 2020•59 min•Ep. 9
Send us a text Welcome to a very special and bonus episode of the Elevated Entrepreneur Podcast! In the previous episode, which is episode number 8 , I’m talking to Surbhi from Digital Genie and we are talking about ideal customers, personas, and how they’re so important to any business. While we were recording that episode, Surbhi and I got to talking about her experience as a marketer, working for Ron Kaufman, the author of the Uplifting Service Series. I highly recommend these books if you ha...
Jul 10, 2020•11 min
Send us a text Today’s episode features Surbhi Dedhia, an astute digital marketing specialist and the CEO of Digital Genie, a company that partners with businesses to create customer personas, which is the foundation of all marketing activities to acquire and serve the targeted buyer’s needs. Before starting her own business, Surbhi’s work experience included delivering effective and value-based marketing programs for organizations at different growth phases. From building the marketing function...
Jun 29, 2020•54 min•Ep. 8
Send us a text In this episode, I talk to Mazen Aloul, an SEO expert, LinkedIn Author, and the founder of WebQuest, an SEO company specializing in English and Arabic SEO. Mazen has worked with over 100 websites across the Middle East and helps business owners all over the world in getting their website better ranked in Google. In 2013, Mazen became part of a communications consulting startup and got exposed to the world of SEO as part of the services they offered. As he became passionate about i...
Jun 15, 2020•46 min
Send us a text In this episode, I am very excited to have my amazing business coach, Warsha Joshi, who is also a mastermind facilitator and a serial entrepreneur. She has built many successful businesses and has been featured on the likes of entrepreneur.com. I’ve been working with her for the past 3 years and have learned so much. Born into a business family, Warsha started learning the ropes of entrepreneurship ever since she was a kid. Growing up in that environment, she was taught how to see...
Jun 01, 2020•38 min•Ep. 6
Send us a text In this episode, I talk to my long-time friend, Muhammed Manji who is the CEO and founder of Automyze FC, a retail fulfillment company in Dubai that offers outsourced e-commerce fulfillment services to retail and distribution businesses. Muhammed talks about his journey as a serial entrepreneur and why fulfillment is his most fulfilling job yet. Connect with Muhammed : · LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmanji/ · Muhammed’s company website – http://www.automyzefc.com Connect...
May 19, 2020•33 min•Ep. 5
Send us a text In this episode, M'OISHÎ founder and CEO, Carole Moawad, tells us how she was able to grow her business idea into a multi-store business in just three years. After discovering mochi, a delicious, Japanese handcrafted dessert, Carole realized how this well-loved product is available in other parts of the world, but had not been introduced and popularized yet in Dubai. With that opportunity, she decided to launch this product line locally, giving it a new twist, building a solid bra...
May 04, 2020•48 min
Send us a text The right cloud-based POS system for your business can be a game-changer. Today’s online programs are so powerful that they can manage almost every single aspect of your sales. Many of them can integrate with other software programs to handle everything from accounting to customer service, and they do it all via a streamlined, secure and easy-to-use interface. But this comprehensive functionality can also make committing to the wrong POS an expensive mistake. Onboarding for any ne...
Mar 13, 2020•11 min•Ep. 3
Send us a text In this episode, I will introduce the show and talk about what inspired me to start it. My name is Dhiren Bhatia, and I am the founder and managing director of Cloudscape Technologies FZCO, a Dubai-based technology consulting firm focused on the retail and hospitality industries. My professional and entrepreneurial journey has been quite fascinating on a number of levels and I love for you to hear my story and how I got started with the podcast. Key Takeaways: Why you should consi...
Mar 13, 2020•5 min•Ep. 1
Send us a text If you're passionate about cuisine, cooking & community and are looking to open a restaurant, you need to prepare thoroughly. You must be thoughtful and deliberate about your future restaurant's planning and I want to help with the top three things you need to do before you open a restaurant, Key Takeaways: The three things to keep in mind before opening a restaurant (01:22) Ensuring profitability by niching down (02:22) Getting a handle on the costs that will be necessary to ...
Mar 07, 2020•12 min•Ep. 2
