It was when Mera Horani became a working mother that she first identified a gap in the market, that of information on child-rearing in the Arabic language, and decided to do something about it.
What started as a personal project in 2015 evolved into Ummahat, a platform offering expert content on “all aspects of a working Arab mother’s life,” said Horani. Initially free, Ummahat introduced paid content in February 2021 and has over 30 service packages offered to 50,000 users.
In an interview with Arabian Business, Horani recounts how Ummahat evolved, describing her funding journey and giving advice to other female-led start-ups in the region.
How did the idea of Ummahat come about and what is the market need for it?
In 2015 I was pregnant with my first daughter and working at a marketing agency in Dubai. I needed information in Arabic which would be relatable to my circumstances being a working expat Arab mother. For example, information and help on the baby’s sleep training and with breastfeeding. I searched online and couldn’t find the answers I needed.
It was then that I made it my mission to develop this business to serve mothers like myself, starting by creating content from books I read. It was only in late 2019 that I launched the online booking service with experts within their fields.
With the global pandemic, I realised how online businesses can help me and my users; I don’t need to travel to other countries to meet an expert and in turn the experts don’t need to rent a fancy office or hire staff to attract clients. We have brought on board experts based in Australia, Europe, the Levant, the GCC and Egypt in one place to serve working Arab mothers around the globe.
These expert consultants – who are in the majority working mothers too – are all passionate about supporting Arab working mothers and bring both theoretical and practical knowledge to the table. There are business coaches, psychologists, counsellors, life coaches and style coaches all with years of experience and education.
What is its competitive edge?
As far as I know, there are no direct competitors in the UAE. We have built Ummahat in a way that it covers many aspects of a mother’s lifecycle from pregnancy to when the children go to university. We provide the help that mothers want and need, from their inner beauty to their mind, their home, style, marriage, kids and career.
We have managed to drive more than 170,000 visitors in 2021 among which 70 percent are returning users and 20 percent growth in sales in the past six months.
Describe your funding journey
Yes, Ummahat is 100 percent self-funded. We have been in business officially 10 months now, and have managed to build a successful product and generate revenue.
The next step would be finding the right investor to take it to the next level. This could be translating the content into several languages or hiring more back-office staff to manage customer service and technical support. The marketing of key courses is a huge potential to reach more users and needs focus and strategic planning – for which key personnel would need to be hired. For me, this stage will be about finding the right partner who shares the same values and beliefs as I do and not just an investor who is motivated by profit.
What are your expansion plans?
We are looking to hire full-time expert consultants dedicated to Ummahat to offer instant consultations on the spot, expand the services covered by Ummahat and also grow the audience to cover more regions. I envisage a platform such as Mindvalley but geared towards working Arab expat mothers – one that understands their culture, their mindset and their needs and offers them the services and products that will ensure they have a successful happy life.
What advice would you give other female-led startups?
Hire a coach! And that is heart-felt advice to all start-ups not just female-led ones. I would not have reached this phase myself without having had amazing coaches by my side guiding me and helping me deal with my emotions and limiting beliefs.
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