National Finance inks pact with Sharakah to support SMEs

A cooperation pact was signed between National Finance Co SAOG (National Finance) and Fund for Development of Youth Projects (Sharakah) to conduct a series of workshops named “Calculate it Right”. These workshops are aimed at making business owners better understand how to calculate project cost, sales assumptions, required resources, operational expenses and the cost of capital.

The agreement was signed by Ali Abdullah Saleh Al Tamimi, General Manager, National Finance and Abdullah Al Jufaili, General Manager, Sharakah. At the signing, Al Tamimi said: “National Finance is committed to ensure that its operations leads to community development. As such we have partnered with Sharakah given its positive track record in SME development to launch a series of workshops aimed at developing the capacity of SME business owners.”

One of the challenges many face when starting a business, is related to lack of proper understanding of how to build their financial model and sales assumptions. Business plans in general are built on very optimistic assumptions which are in many cases neither realistic nor directly related to the capacity of the company to produce/provide a service.

Calculate it Right is a half-day workshop that takes the participants through a challenging yet informative session of how to plan their business financial model.

“We will deliver 10 to 12 workshops across the sultanate in coordination with National Finance branch managers. Business owners who are interested to participate can contact Sharakah or National Finance to get more information,” said Al Jufaili.