‘Calculate it right’ workshops kick-off

A series of ‘Calculate it right’ workshops kicked off last week at Al Nahda Resort in Barka and Crown Plaza Hotel in Sohar. These workshops come as a result of a cooperation agreement signed between National Finance Co SAOG (National Finance) and the Fund for Development of Youth Projects (Sharakah). The 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 workshop in Sohar was presided over by Hilal bin Nasser al Sadrani, Sohar Representative of the Majlis Ash’shura, who handed over workshop completion certificates to the participants.

Abdullah al Jufaili, Sharakah, General-Manager, explained the challenges many startups face when starting a business. He added that in many cases it 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,” Al Jufaili added.

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. The ultimate objective of the workshop is to help those who are planning to start a business understand the exact requirements they will need and to project realistic financial (sales & expenses) figures.

Mohammed al Marzouki, Senior Manager, National Finance, said in appreciation of the cooperation agreement between Sharakah and National Finance: “We are delighted to partner with Sharakah in conducting these workshops. We believe that it highlights very important aspects related to managing a business.”