Hire4Baby.com is a baby and toddler equipment solutions company created by Dubai resident and mum-of-two, Jossette Naiken.
It allows families visiting the UAE to rent everything from car-seats to toys, removing the hassle and expense of travelling with their own. The site recently expanded its inventory and launched time/money saving "bundle packages" to meet the demands of surging in-bound tourism. Here, Ms Naiken, an Australian former equity trader, talks to The National about the service.
What prompted you to launch Hire4Baby.com?
As a parent, I use this kind of service all around the world; you can rent baby/toddler equipment in most major cities. It was only a matter of time before this kind of service was required here. Having said that, I knew nothing about what a parent - or child - required until I became a parent. My background is in finance prior to having Mikah (now three) and Lua (14 months). My experience from the corporate world has been invaluable building the business, as has my journey as a mother.
What gap in the market were you initially trying to fill?
Hire4Baby.com considers itself an ancillary service to UAE tourism, and the intention was to provide convenience for parents visiting the country. We have seen our market expand throughout our two-year lifespan, and adapted to suit; a large number of customers are UAE residents who use Hire4Baby.com to prepare their home and holiday lets for visitors, for example. We also rent hospital-grade breast pumps as well as wheelchairs.
What kind of parents use Hire4Baby.com?
Mainly parents of newborn to age five, as this is the age group that needs the largest travel kit. We send orders to hotel guests every day, but we are seeing more clients wanting a long list of items to build their ‘home from home’ in rented apartments and villas this year. Car seats are our most popular product; we, reassuringly, saw a notable increase in demand with UAE law changes – making car seats compulsory for children under four – earlier this year.
How does the service work?
We have 300-plus products in our inventory - that includes core items like car seats, strollers, cribs and furniture to sterilisers, bouncers, activity gyms and toys. Customers browse our site, make selections and place an order request. Our team gets in touch to confirm booking, offer product advice and arrange delivery.
Where do you store/prepare the equipment?
We have recently established an office and large warehouse in Al Quoz in Dubai due to expanding demand. Our team is growing too; we now have a person dedicated to each facet of the business - customer service, delivery, inventory management, sanitisation, business development, accounting, marketing. Via our state-of-the-art inventory management system, each employee can log into central software daily to track what products are available for rent, what orders are going out and due to be returned.
How did/do you fund your business?
By personal investment, although we have been approached by a series of investors since day one. We have purposely turned down funding opportunities as we like to preserve 100 per cent equity in the business. It’s very important to me to maintain ownership, and keep us nimble in terms of all decision-making.
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Are you driven largely by demands of parents?
We welcome customers contact us directly if they can’t see what they want on the site, and we then find the item. That naturally keeps us informed on demand. Implementing operations has been the most challenging part of the business to date. We have intentionally taken time to implement best-in-class systems - including website, rental management software, inventory barcoding, accounting software and payment gateway - which will allow us to scale the business in the future. The selection and implementation of these systems has been a long, tedious process, namely because most websites deal with e-commerce, not rentals.
How has Dubai’s tourism influx affected Hire4Baby.com since launch in 2015?
We have grown with every ‘holiday peak’, and as people become increasingly aware of renting baby/toddler equipment as an option. We are currently seeing our biggest rental numbers as we approach the festive season. This speaks volumes about the success of UAE tourism as a whole, and the ongoing developments and standards making the UAE an unequivocally family-friendly destination.
And future plans?
There is tremendous scope for growth for Hire4Baby.com. We see the business more closely aligned with the region’s most established airlines and hotel groups, and are taking steps to form partnerships. The main pillar will always remain the same, however: to offer convenience to parents visiting the UAE, while supporting the tourism industry.
Do you work with other parental-related UAE businesses?
We have close relationships with the world’s most trusted family brands, such as Maxi Cosi, Britax, Be Safe, Baby Jogger, Ameda and Medela and, on a local level, are approached by like-minded businesses. There is such a thriving community of local SMEs and family-focused entrepreneurs in the UAE; we are constantly exchanging ideas and forming partnerships, all with the shared goal of making life easier for parents living in/visiting the emirates. Parents had long been importing products for their children, and that has only changed in recent years. We now confidently say the demand for high-quality baby and toddler equipment, and wider entertainment, has been met, and the economy has responded. It’s an exciting time to be both a parent and a business owner in the UAE.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Easter%20Sunday
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Jay%20Chandrasekhar%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Jo%20Koy%2C%20Tia%20Carrere%2C%20Brandon%20Wardell%2C%20Lydia%20Gaston%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
DIVINE%20INTERVENTOIN
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
SHAITTAN
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RESULTS
Lightweight (female)
Sara El Bakkali bt Anisha Kadka
Bantamweight
Mohammed Adil Al Debi bt Moaz Abdelgawad
Welterweight
Amir Boureslan bt Mahmoud Zanouny
Featherweight
Mohammed Al Katheeri bt Abrorbek Madaminbekov
Super featherweight
Ibrahem Bilal bt Emad Arafa
Middleweight
Ahmed Abdolaziz bt Imad Essassi
Bantamweight (female)
Ilham Bourakkadi bt Milena Martinou
Welterweight
Mohamed Mardi bt Noureddine El Agouti
Middleweight
Nabil Ouach bt Ymad Atrous
Welterweight
Nouredine Samir bt Marlon Ribeiro
Super welterweight
Brad Stanton bt Mohamed El Boukhari
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Infobox
Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the next stage of qualifying, in Malaysia in August
Results
UAE beat Iran by 10 wickets
Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by eight wickets
Oman beat Bahrain by nine wickets
Qatar beat Maldives by 106 runs
Monday fixtures
UAE v Kuwait, Iran v Saudi Arabia, Oman v Qatar, Maldives v Bahrain
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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
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The specs: 2018 BMW X2 and X3
Price, as tested: Dh255,150 (X2); Dh383,250 (X3)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four-cylinder (X2); 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline six-cylinder (X3)
Power 192hp @ 5,000rpm (X2); 355hp @ 5,500rpm (X3)
Torque: 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (X2); 500Nm @ 1,520rpm (X3)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic (X2); Eight-speed automatic (X3)
Fuel consumption, combined: 5.7L / 100km (X2); 8.3L / 100km (X3)
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
