Tarek Mounir, who spent many years as a corporate executive, admits he has always dreamt of being an entrepreneur. The former head of Deezer’s Middle East operations invested in several ventures before eventually branching out on his own.
From restaurants to wellness technology, Mr Mounir exhausted all options before taking the plunge to full entrepreneurship.
“I burnt my fingers quite a bit before getting to a place where I thought, ‘here's a good idea’,” he says.
“But I always knew I was going to own a business. There was never a doubt in my mind that that was going to happen. I only needed to have the right timing [and] the right idea.”
I burnt my fingers quite a bit before getting to a place where I thought, ‘here's a good idea'
Tarek Mounir,
chief executive, Enhance Fitness
It took Mr Mounir 15 years before he homed in on that perfect idea: to digitise fitness. It all started when Mr Mounir, a self-confessed fitness enthusiast, could not find a good personal trainer to meet his exercise needs.
“I figured that if we provide a service with quality personal training, a convenient selection, a competitive pricing strategy, and we put it on an application … we would create a proposition in the market that will be very competitive and prove high in demand.”
The entrepreneur is focusing on a multimillion-dollar industry. The UAE’s fitness sector is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 10.9 per cent to more than $600 million by 2025, according to Ken Research. Meanwhile, the online health and fitness market is forecast to contribute $36.5m in revenue by 2025.
In 2018, Mr Mounir founded Enhance Fitness, which allows users to book personal training sessions through an app. The company offers a variety of sessions for individual and group users, with monthly packages starting from Dh2,268 for a standard 12 sessions. It also provides more flexible packages, which tend to be slightly more expensive than a regular subscription.
Training can be done in people’s homes, their community gyms or in gyms that collaborate with Enhance Fitness in the UAE.
The app has thousands of monthly users, according to Mr Mounir, who did not provide exact figures.
Although Enhance Fitness experienced a direct hit to revenue caused by temporary movement restrictions during the Covid-19 outbreak – a period Mr Mounir jokingly refers to as “an acid test” – membership increased in June 2020 when the UAE relaxed restrictions when infection numbers began to fall.
“There has been a lot of improvement for services that are being delivered differently after Covid-19. But if you see gym attendance, for example, it literally skyrocketed after Covid,” Mr Mounir says.
“Our month-on-month growth has been [in the] double digits.”
The regional trend is in line with other countries. About 37 per cent of fitness club users polled by US investment bank Harrison Co in 2020 said they would work out more after Covid-19 while 50 per cent said they were motivated to do so owing to a renewed appreciation for their well-being.
Gym membership has also benefited from the return-to-office trend as economies open up.
Digitising fitness is not an entirely new idea, particularly after the pandemic where measures included physical distancing – often a deterrent to the appeal of sweaty gyms and exercise machines.
But unlike other on-demand platforms that aggregate offerings only from freelance trainers, Enhance Fitness works on a business model in which the company employs its own trainers and generates revenue from training. All personal trainers are on its payroll.
“Your personal trainer is potentially somebody that could see you three to four times per week. It is a very repetitive type of business and not a one-off. Therefore, when you rely on freelancers to offer such a service, there are challenges with that,” Mr Mounir says.
However, managing an in-house team of 200-plus trainers is not easy.
“It requires a lot of rigorous systems, discipline and operational efficiency,” Mr Mounir says.
Having its own team of fitness trainers has helped the company to provide support to corporate or third parties, effectively diversifying its customer base.
“A lot of entities such as hotel and commercial gyms are coming to us … asking us to supply and manage the full personal training experience to them because it is hard for these entities to manage the personal trainers.
“They do not plan their careers, they do not invest in training them. We literally draw a career plan for [personal trainers]. We empower them with technology so that their service becomes a lot more efficient.”
Enhance Fitness also uses technology extensively to create a smooth fitness experience, Mr Mounir says. Trainers are given access to an app that has software that helps to design a customer’s training regimen after taking into account the fitness requirement of the user.
That would mean the trainer can spend more time on the execution of these programmes, monitoring the breathing, posture, technique and engagement in the actual workout, in addition to motivating customers, Mr Mounir says.
“There are a lot of soft skills required for this business. Empowering the trainers with technology really is a key to delivering a superior service, allowing the trainer to really focus a lot on the soft skills and, you know, on the improvement of their clients and the results.”
There are a lot of soft skills required for this business. Empowering the trainers with technology really is a key to delivering a superior service
Tarek Mounir,
Enhance Fitness
As demand for on-demand fitness rebounds, Mr Mounir and his team are preparing to expand beyond the UAE, where they operate in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The entrepreneur is finalising plans to enter Saudi Arabia this year as the company aims to establish a presence in Riyadh and, later, in Jeddah.
Although Mr Mounir bootstrapped the venture in the initial years, he was able to benefit from private investors. In September, the start-up closed a $3m series A funding round from Global Ventures.
“The main utilisation of funds usually is to ensure healthy and sustainable growth. There have been more people hired for the technology piece, more spending on marketing, more people hired as trainers and there has been geographical expansion,” Mr Mounir says.
Q&A with Tarek Mounir, chief executive of Enhance Fitness
What new skills have you learnt in the process of launching your business?
I think the greatest change for me has been the direct link to the consumer business, where we really have to take care of each client. It is a service – a repetitive one. And, you know, it is humans and humans can make mistakes sometimes. So, it is very delicate and I think the greatest skill is being absolutely determined to achieve excellence in customer service, no matter what. That was pretty new to me. That was a part I have always dedicated to my teams [in my previous roles]. For example, in the broadcast industry or the streaming industry, your clients are in the millions. So, you are not really touching the client one by one on a customer-service level. Here we are and it only adds a lot of humility and empathy to anyone's skills.
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
If you could start all over again, what would you do differently?
Hindsight is a great thing. If I knew Covid-19 was coming, we would have done a lot of things differently. I always have mixed feelings about this question because you never have that kind of hindsight, where you can always plan for things. And you can always say, OK, here are the scenarios that could pan out and here is our plan. Coming from corporate, you learn how to forecast for three and five years and put plans that should withstand different types of pressures and different types of challenges. I think keeping an open mind to evolution – and making sure that you are at the forefront and not playing catch-up – is very important for us.
Do you have a role model in business?
I do. I think it goes back to the founders with a lot of empathy and love for their own people. Those who can combine technology with great people are probably [who I think are] the best founders. Steve Jobs is someone who always realised that the core of innovation is people. Another example is Ray Dalio [an American investor and hedge fund manager], who I think was unbelievably skilled at developing talent and caring for people and, at the same time, employing technology to empower them.
What would you tell an entrepreneur who is starting out?
If you are not working hard, ideas do not matter. Your best idea is worthless without execution. If you are already working hard, ideas are crucial. Most effort is wasted on mediocre ideas. I have seen a lot of entrepreneurs become attached to ideas and that is a very dangerous pattern to follow. In a business you need to be attached to your business, you need to find the right people to build it and you need to evolve. But if you are already doing that, then you need to keep creating ideas. Flexibility, ability and agility are at the core of what you do. You always need to think through your decisions again, you always need to make sure that you involve everybody from the team who can and is going to give you value and is going to contribute to keeping an open mind.
THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 275hp at 6,600rpm
Torque: 353Nm from 1,450-4,700rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Top speed: 250kph
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: Dh146,999
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
THE%20SPECS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
Stoke City v Tottenham
Brentford v Newcastle United
Arsenal v Manchester City
Everton v Manchester United
All ties are to be played the week commencing December 21.
What you as a drone operator need to know
A permit and licence is required to fly a drone legally in Dubai.
Sanad Academy is the United Arab Emirate’s first RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) training and certification specialists endorsed by the Dubai Civil Aviation authority.
It is responsible to train, test and certify drone operators and drones in UAE with DCAA Endorsement.
“We are teaching people how to fly in accordance with the laws of the UAE,” said Ahmad Al Hamadi, a trainer at Sanad.
“We can show how the aircraft work and how they are operated. They are relatively easy to use, but they need responsible pilots.
“Pilots have to be mature. They are given a map of where they can and can’t fly in the UAE and we make these points clear in the lectures we give.
“You cannot fly a drone without registration under any circumstances.”
Larger drones are harder to fly, and have a different response to location control. There are no brakes in the air, so the larger drones have more power.
The Sanad Academy has a designated area to fly off the Al Ain Road near Skydive Dubai to show pilots how to fly responsibly.
“As UAS technology becomes mainstream, it is important to build wider awareness on how to integrate it into commerce and our personal lives,” said Major General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief, Dubai Police.
“Operators must undergo proper training and certification to ensure safety and compliance.
“Dubai’s airspace will undoubtedly experience increased traffic as UAS innovations become commonplace, the Forum allows commercial users to learn of best practice applications to implement UAS safely and legally, while benefitting a whole range of industries.”
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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More on Quran memorisation:
FIXTURES
New Zealand v France, second Test
Saturday, 12.35pm (UAE)
Auckland, New Zealand
South Africa v Wales
Sunday, 12.40am (UAE), San Juan, Argentina
Armies of Sand
By Kenneth Pollack (Oxford University Press)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The%20specs%20
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Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier
Results
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by 12 runs
Kuwait beat Iran by eight wickets
Oman beat Maldives by 10 wickets
Bahrain beat Qatar by six wickets
Semi-finals
UAE v Qatar
Bahrain v Kuwait
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Swiss fly direct from the UAE to Zurich from Dh2,855 return, including taxes.
The chalet
Chalet N is currently open in winter only, between now and April 21. During the ski season, starting on December 11, a week’s rental costs from €210,000 (Dh898,431) per week for the whole property, which has 22 beds in total, across six suites, three double rooms and a children’s suite. The price includes all scheduled meals, a week’s ski pass, Wi-Fi, parking, transfers between Munich, Innsbruck or Zurich airports and one 50-minute massage per person. Private ski lessons cost from €360 (Dh1,541) per day. Halal food is available on request.
Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Recipe
Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo
Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
▶ Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.
▶ Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.
▶ Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.
▶ Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
The%20Last%20White%20Man
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'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
THE SPECS
Jaguar F-Pace SVR
Engine: 5-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 680Nm
Price: Dh465,071
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Fixtures
Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
England squad
Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, James Bracey, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Ben Foakes, Lewis Gregory, Keaton Jennings, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Jamie Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Amar Virdi, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
WWE Super ShowDown results
Seth Rollins beat Baron Corbin to retain his WWE Universal title
Finn Balor defeated Andrade to stay WWE Intercontinental Championship
Shane McMahon defeated Roman Reigns
Lars Sullivan won by disqualification against Lucha House Party
Randy Orton beats Triple H
Braun Strowman beats Bobby Lashley
Kofi Kingston wins against Dolph Zigggler to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Mansoor Al Shehail won the 50-man Battle Royal
The Undertaker beat Goldberg
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
