The story of a start-up company, told by Gulf Bank’s podcast "Let's Talk Business"

 

 

• Al-Sabah: Khibra started in Kuwait and expanded to three regional markets within its first year
• Khibra started with five jobs and eventually reached 1000, targeting markets from Egypt to Pakistan
• Gulf Bank played a major role in supporting the company from the very start
• Al-Saleh: Our podcast provides the opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to benefit from their colleagues’ experiences and expertise

 

Kuwait, 24 February 2022: “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Many think of necessity as the mother of invention, but reality can oftentimes be very different. How did a young Kuwait man’s experience after graduation evolve to a recruitment company? Why did he prefer working in the private sector at the beginning of his working life?

 

The story of Khibra, the first recruitment platform in the Middle East connecting employers, universities, and young talent, answers these questions and more. To find out the details and origin of the story, Sheikh Fahad Al-Sabah, the founder and CEO of Khibra, was a guest on Gulf Bank’s “Let’s Talk Business” podcast, a program that presented by the Deputy Director General of the Economic Research Unit at Gulf Bank, Tariq Al-Saleh.

 

The "Let's Talk Business" podcast is part of Gulf Bank's overarching strategy of fostering economic and community sustainability in Kuwait. The podcast presents entrepreneurial stories within a simplified economic framework, targeting budding entrepreneurs who are considering starting businesses of their own.

 

Motivation and Returning Favor

 

Al-Sabah kicked off the discussion by touching on motivation, saying, “The duty of every person who has the knowledge and ability to give back to the country is to not hesitate. As long as I can benefit others and facilitate employment for thousands of people, why would I hesitate?”

 

Al-Saleh also agreed, commenting, “This kind of approach is what prompted Gulf Bank to launch a program for entrepreneurs, allowing them to benefit from the successful experiences of their colleagues who preceded them on this path.”

 

How did the idea start?

 

Al-Sabah says: “When I graduated from Kuwait University back in 2013, I decided to work in the private sector. At that time, I discovered that the job search process in Kuwait is difficult, and the methods of applying for a job are very traditional – you have to submit an application for employment or a CV at the reception at every company you’d like to work in, wait for someone to contact you – all without knowing what happened to your application!”

 

He continues, “That’s when I discovered the problem for the first time, and I realized that the job search process left much to be desired, with plenty of room for improvement. While I was working in the private sector, my manager asked me for help appointing Kuwaitis. I called a professor at a local university to help me out, and over the course of a whole month, I received only 14 CVs from a college with more than 2,000 students (not including those who are studying abroad). It was at that point that I started realizing there was an actual problem.”

 

He also adds: “After that, I moved to work at a consulting company in Dubai. And in 2019, I decided to pursue a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree abroad. However, in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic, classes switched to online, which is why I decided to postpone my studies for a year.”

 

He continues, “At the start of the pandemic, I began to revisit the idea of a project that would solve the employment problem. When I returned to Kuwait, we launched the Khibra in collaboration with The Taken Seat company that specialized in establishing small projects.”

 

Testing for the problem

 

Al-Sabah says, “Before launching the project, we had to make sure that the problem existed and that it needed solutions. That is why we met with many companies in Kuwait, of which many were banks and telecommunications companies, as well as regional companies and universities.”

 

He continues: “We discovered that the recruitment mechanism in companies depends on relationships, and we found that some universities have their own systems, and in return we found young people with high-level skills and competence were not aware of those jobs and systems. Therefore, we knew that having a system that would advertise jobs and attract graduates would be very important.”

 

The start of recruitment

 

Al-Sabah adds: “When the company was launched on January 25, 2021, we had only five jobs on the platform. Within a year, we reached 1,000 jobs. What this means essentially is that all those jobs and job seekers existed, but neither knew about the other.”

 

He continues: “The beginning was difficult. When you go to companies to ask if they’re offering any jobs, they tend to ask you if you have any university students in mind. However, when you go to universities, they ask you what companies you have on board. But over time, the number of participants (both job seekers and companies) increased.”

 

Al-Sabah also adds, "Gulf Bank had a great role in supporting the company as an employer, and we will always appreciate their early support in standing with us."

 

He continues: “We provided universities with a database about their graduates, which helps them to adjust curricula to suit their work requirements, and we organized virtual job fairs for them for free, with three fairs in Kuwait, two in Saudi Arabia, and one in the UAE.”

 

When asked about the reasons for restricting the service to fresh graduates, Al-Sabah said, "When you start a project with the aim of providing a service for everyone, you will lose the market. You must identify your target segment and focus on it." He added that other recruitment platforms target and serve job seekers who have experience. As for Khibra, the company focuses on recent graduates.

 

Kuwait and the Gulf

 

Al-Sabah said: “The company started from Kuwait and then expanded to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE within its first year. We aim to expand in the region from Egypt to Pakistan, and we are working on adding new services by providing professional trainers to help job seekers write their CVs, prepare for interviews, and determine the specializations they can work in. We’re also working on adding capabilities in which job seekers can upload videos in which they introduce themselves to employers, making it easier for employers to identify them.”

 

On the company's business model, Al-Sabah said: “Employers and companies pay for our service, which include helping them to market their job offers and assisting them in meeting their Kuwaitization requirements with talented hires. We also provide special rates for small and medium-sized companies, and maintain the strictest customer confidentiality throughout the entire process.”

 

On a related note, Al-Sabah said: “We have completed a marketing tour to raise capital funding financing, and we have investors from the United States, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.”

 

One last piece of advice:

 

Al-Sabah said: “Many want to jump into entrepreneurship or starting a new project. My advice for everyone is to start by learning how to manage, learn basic marketing and accounting, and identify your weaknesses.”

 

"Let's Talk Business" is Gulf Bank’s newest podcast, created in collaboration with Belmokhba, a local creative content creation and production house. Episodes air on Gulf Bank's digital and social media channels.