Ever wonder about the logic behind redundant or questionable business offerings in your area? What about the rights of the business owner and local residents? We need better regulations, and a little common sense goes a long way.
So what do Shake Shack, Google, and the porn industry have in common? They have all unceremoniously established businesses in Bahrain, apparently.
A Shake Shack opened up a shawarma shop in Bukuwara. Google opened a sheeha joint in Sanad, and Porn Fashion is a women’s clothing store in Hoora.
We may laugh at the notion of these offerings, but all are real examples of businesses here in Bahrain, and with the lax rules we have here, things can only get worse unless someone seriously steps in and puts a stop to it.
Starting up a business can be a super-challenging, even valiant move in any entrepreneur’s life. The process becomes even more difficult if you’ve come up with a unique idea, and someone just comes in and steals it outright.
As a business owner, this should be the least of your worries…in theory. It is my understanding that the rules exist, but the implementation of said rules here in the Kingdom is far from adequate.
Another sad fact is the complete disregard for proximity of similar businesses. In my neighborhood, a small carwash opened up with the capacity for one car, as it was a one-shutter operation. It had two empty shutters on either side. A couple of months later, a car-window tint shop opened up to its right. Fair enough. A month later, an advertising signage shop opened up to its left. Three shops, one building, all shoulder-to-shoulder, so to speak.
“Starting up a business can be a super-challenging, even valiant move in any entrepreneur’s life. The process becomes even more difficult if you’ve come up with a unique idea, and someone just comes in and steals it outright.
What happened next was pretty disturbing. The window tint shop started a new line of business: washing cars! Of course, it did not have the proper equipment or water drainage requirements to start with, but they went ahead with it anyway. The third shop (the advertising one) saw that window tints were in, as it was summer at the time, and started offering that service to its customers! So, we have three shops all copying each other in a residential area, illegal parking aplenty (this is in Bahrain, after all) causing all kinds of commotion and traffic—not to mention the arguing that goes on between the three shops’ owners and staff.
Where does one start with the problems that this phenomenon brings up?
According to legend, in Bahrain, prior to a business opening up, there used to be an inspector that surveyed a given area to make sure that there weren’t any copyright infringements, instances of identical businesses in close proximity, etc. You know, the usual stuff.
I know for sure this is a myth; there is no way this inspector-in-shining-armor ever existed. There are fourteen Abaya shops over a one-kilometer stretch next to my house, and almost all of them have the same Abaya model on their signage! This can’t be right in any country, let alone in Bahrain.
If this is the kind of protection that businesses are afforded, then we are sinking fast. Why bother creating something unique when someone can blatantly steal your idea? Why think deeply about your location and do your research when someone else can set up shop right next to you, and offer the exact same product?
Don’t you dare classify that as competition. Its not really competition if you just steal my idea and squat next to my store.
These things all affect the business environment here in the Kingdom, and they scare up-and-coming entrepreneurs away from setting up anything new and unique.
“There needs to be a market data center that helps the powers-that-be to decide whether it’s a good idea to grant a business license to any given individual.
Tight controls. It’s the only way.
There needs to be a market data center that helps the powers-that-be to decide whether it’s a good idea to grant a business license to any given individual.
It shouldn’t be too hard to detect names like those in the above examples right at the commercial registration office—not to mention scouting the area for similar businesses before approving the location.
Last but not least, won’t someone please think of the residents? Giving out these licenses without thinking ahead has turned quiet neighborhoods into busy streets with virtually no parking, and the unnecessary traffic makes getting in and out of your house a chore.
