Family business is child’s play

Whether you’re taking the opportunity to grab an hour’s rest, stimulating your children with various activities, or bonding by experiencing something fun together, the benefits of using a play area can be huge.

But with so many out there, how does a play area stand out from the crowd?

Hind Abdulrazak, managing director of Caboodle Pamper and Play in Dubai Mall, believes she has found the secret.

“We wanted a place that combined several factors in one space. There is the children’s play area, a space for younger kids – which isn’t so common in Dubai – a café, and a pampering area.

“It’s comfortable for the children but also the parents, the aunts, uncles, grandparents, and so on. Quality time is so fleeting in a place like Dubai, so if the play area isn’t comfortable for a father, for example, that’s really going to impact the experience. We try to be comfortable, homely, and traditional, so the whole family can enjoy it.”

Having opened in 2012, Caboodle has made a name for itself as something more than just a play area. With a mission statement that identifies children as “respected and recognised individuals,” and sets out the aim of fostering “exploration, play and a lifelong love of learning,” it uses its foundation as a play area to build a genuinely beneficial centre for independence, creativity, respect, sociability, and wellbeing.

All of which stems from Abdulrazak’s own experience as an aunt.

“My sister has four children under four years old,” she said. “We have co-parented them, so we’ve been to every play area in Dubai, every event in Dubai. And we’ve traveled quite a bit as well, so we’ve been to play areas and events in different parts of the world too.

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“As an aunt, I wanted to establish a place where I would be happy to bring the children. Somewhere that did more than the usual. Play area’s are always made with the child in mind, but they often aren’t spaces for a families as a whole to enjoy. And they don’t usually focus on holistic development and entertainment, which is what we try to do.”

Part of a family business that also includes the hugely popular Sisters Beauty Lounge, Caboodle hopes to emulate its success, and while it may take time to match Sisters’ growth, Abdulrazak is confident Caboodle has been established on solid foundations.

“We are our own customers, which is a massive help. We can ask what we would want for our children. We don’t want them in front of the TV or video game, so we can ask ourselves what we would rather do. It’s much easier to start a company this way. Half the battle is won.”

She reveals it was actually Dubai Mall which contacted her family to establish a children’s venue, but that the original concept didn’t sit comfortably with them from a business point of view, leading them to adapt and change it to suit their vision.

“It’s normally very difficult to get a spot at Dubai Mall, but because we already have Sisters here, it was made easier for us. The mall approached up to open a children’s area, which is something we wanted to do anyway.

“However, we were originally asked to do a children’s salon, not a play and pamper area. We did all the studies we needed to do, and as a business it wasn’t sustainable at all. It’s a small industry and you can’t really do much with it as a concept.

“We looked at a slightly different concept that we preferred, based on the idea that Dubai Mall would like us to do something with children. We tweaked the salon concept and came up with a business where we could do several things under one roof on a much smaller scale. We changed the idea of the salon to include mothers, so it’s a ‘mother and me’ salon.

“Then we added the play aspect, the café, and so on. It seemed like the right thing to do. It’s now much more homely and traditional, and it gives more options to the families that come here. People like the fact Caboodle feels like home away from home. The mall attracts a lot of tourists who can sometimes be overwhelmed by Dubai, so it’s nice to have something homely.”

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It’s not just the traditional arts and crafts, pampering options, and food and drink on offer that appeals to people. According to Abdulrazak the hygiene of the venue is something that draws praise.

She says: “We’ve had a lot of great comments from people about the hygiene and cleanliness that a lot of play areas don’t have.

“It was always important to us that our location was clean, comfortable and a great environment. We wanted to create a place where working mothers were happy to leave their children, and for families to spend quality time. We need our customers to be confident in Caboodle, and that comes by giving a lot of care and attention.

“It’s not the same as Europe or the USA when it comes to ensuring the children’s safety – there are fewer rules and regulations. So it’s upon ourselves to make sure it’s of the highest standard, and we want to make sure we’re doing a good job.”

This attention to detail in terms of health is also apparent in the food and products Caboodle uses. With a policy to bring in local and organic items, Abdulrazak says it’s vital the children benefit rather than suffer as a result of eating or using any of them.

“It’s so important everything is healthy for the children. Everything here has been looked into by experts, be it the safety of Caboodle itself, the food in the café, or the products we use in the salon.

“Organic is an important thing for us – wellbeing is a key pillar of what we’re trying to do here.

“Parents are much more well-read than ever before, and they don’t want to be in an environment where their kids might come into contact with anything that’s harmful. We put a lot of effort into making everything here organic, and people appreciate that. The nail polish, hair products, coffees – it’s all organic.

“Dubai still isn’t quite used to that kind of concept and isn’t necessarily set up for it either. The suppliers you need aren’t always there, which means the price can be a bit higher, but I would rather provide quality products at a premium price that stocking things that aren’t good enough.”

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As an Emirati herself, Abdulrazak is keen to keep as much of Caboodle as local as she can, adding that “everything here is locally made or grown”, and that the “UAE has everything we need, but you have to do a bit more research to find the best products. But we’re happy to put that hard work in.”

As with any company, Caboodle is only as good as its staff – something not lost on Abdulrazak, who admits that finding the right staff is the most challenging part of the business.

“Without the right staff it can all go downhill very quickly,” she says.

“Finding the right staff for you in this part of the world is definitely tricky, but we’re lucky to have done it. All of our staff have medical experience, or educational experience, or something else that’s relevant to the job, having worked in hospitals, schools, and so on.

“We take a lot of pride in our staff – we’re very much a family as opposed to a business. We believe that if we look after our staff, then they will look after us, and they do a very good job. A lot of the time businesses under-appreciate the qualities in a person. We try to look out for each person’s qualities that may not be on the CV, and we believe that’s the kind of thing that takes business to another level.

“We train them heavily in fire and safety, as well as first aid. That’s in all areas of our business. When you’re working with children you can’t afford to do anything less.”

Caboodle will soon be opening its second branch in Jumeirah City Walk, and is currently in talks with a handful of potential franchisees to roll the concept across the GCC.

Abdulrazak also hasn’t ruled out the possibility of growing the brand around the world.

“We would love to branch out and make Caboodle a global brand. Hopefully there will be deals in place for more branches in the Gulf next year, and then who knows? People from the US say they’ve not seen anything like this before and would love to see it there, so there’s definitely potential for expansion.”

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Having previously worked for Emaar for more than six years, Abdulrazak has experienced first hand the ups and downs of business.

She talks affectionately about her time at the real estate company, claiming it gave her a head start when it came to becoming an entrepreneur.

“Emaar was great for me. What I learnt there is what a lot of people learn in a lifetime. The company went from small to big, and then to more humble again, and I got to have a hand in various different things.

“This has helped when it comes to the family business, where you have to be able to do finance, marketing, sales, and more. When you have a start-up company, you learn a lot of things very quickly. But you don’t mind doing it. When it’s your own business you put blood sweat and tears into it.”

So what advice would she give to other budding entrepreneurs?

“You have to be a bit crazy to be an entrepreneur in the first place,” she asserts.

“Every night is a sleepless night. It comes with the territory. You have to love what you do – a lot! You have to be fully present as well. A lot of people have staff to run the business for them, but don’t work for themselves. I don’t work that way – I’m at Caboodle itself several times every week.”

Balancing Caboodle with other roles, including creative work with Sisters, indulging in her passion for interior design, and working on other projects that are “too early to talk about”, Abdulrazak may seem like a glutton for punishment. Indeed, she confesses she’s “one of those people who likes to take on too much”.

But she also says that she’s in one of the few places that can allow her to do that.

“Dubai is the best market for entrepreneurs. If you’ve got something you want to offer to the world, start in Dubai. The crowd here is open to new things, and it’s very cosmopolitan. Plus you have access to great support.

“This place definitely welcomes start-up businesses, especially if you’re offering people something unique. Of course you have to do the ground work and research everything thoroughly, but once you do that you can really do great things here.”