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Rasha Nashaat Hassani does a fine balancing act

dubai - The entrepreneur has successfully dabbled in the property, art and health foods sectors

Driven by an impeccable business acumen, deep-rooted values and a keen interest in providing career opportunities for women, Rasha Nashaat Hassani stands out as a successful entrepreneur responsible for establishing several homegrown brands in the UAE. She is a member of the Entrepreneurs Organisation and a steering committee member for both the United Nations Global Compact as well as the Women Empowerment Programme under the same organisation.

Rasha was one of the original founders of Landmark Properties in 2003. She took on a variety of roles through the years from managing partner to board chairwoman, before selling her majority stake in the firm in 2008. She also co-founded Artspace, a gallery dedicated to the promotion of contemporary Middle Eastern art and artists.

Adding yet another feather to her hat, Rasha co-founded New Age Beverages - a leader in distributing functional drinks within the UAE sourced from around the world.

With her roots firmly set in real estate, in 2012, Rasha launched listaproperty.com, a portal that allows private sellers and brokers across the Middle East to advertise their properties in one place.

With more than 15 years of UAE real estate experience, she has a vast knowledge of consumer trends in the Middle East and international experience in real estate portals.

Property listings
"The idea to create listaproperty was not novel, it was something that was trending globally and I wanted to bring it to the Mena. I found that at the time of the launch, information on real-time property listings across the Middle East was hard to find. I wanted to create a platform that connected our target end-users, and that was not only available for agencies and developers, but also for homeowners. Listaproperty was developed as a regional site for property listings, open to anyone wishing to list their property and gain visibility across the geographic target markets of the website," Rasha said.

She said the launch of listaproperty gives its users a clearer picture of pricing and availability, as well as the power to connect and negotiate directly with agents for their chosen property, without having to commit endless time for face-to-face meetings.

"Through listaproperty, our users can consolidate selected properties and make informed decisions from the comfort of their home or office," Rasha said.

She said that marketing in real estate is evolving and an industry that was once heavily reliant on print advertising for listings has now been revolutionised by platforms such as listaproperty.

"The real estate section of a newspaper was once of paramount importance to stakeholders in the real estate market. Searching through pages of listings and reading the small print to check if your requirements were met is now a thing of past. Today's listings are generally found online, with print advertising used more often for branding purposes," she said.

Philanthropy
Rasha, who was honoured by CEO Middle East as one of the 100 Most Powerful Arab Women in 2012, admires businesses that manage to be successful while maintaining a philanthropic understanding.

"It is important that part of a company's profit is invested into supporting the community. I also look up to anyone that is hardworking, has a love of learning, maintains their humanity, humility and values [professionally and personally] and understands their life purpose," Rasha said.
Equipped with an MBA degree from Pepperdine University, Malibu (California), Rasha has earned an admirable reputation for her contribution in industries such as real estate brokerage, digital real estate marketing and the health beverage industry.

Rasha said the UAE start-up environment is expanding very quickly and organisations involved have demonstrated an ability to support and mentor start-ups.

"This sector will continue to grow, giving entrepreneurs a viable solution to turn their ideas into reality. Start-ups are an integral part of any growing economy, spurring creativity, new ideas, innovations and jobs. The UAE has acknowledged this important sector and we are proud to have www.listaproperty.com based here," she said.

Driven by passion

Rasha believes that an entrepreneur should always be passionate about the business they are creating.

From her own experience, she has learnt that success in business is always attributable to the whole team and not one person. "I empower my team to improvise, create and execute great ideas. We have a regular rhythm and include one opening meeting once a week where ideas are shared and all members of the team contribute actively to the growth and improvement of listaproperty," she said.

Rasha said she has no interest in creating an empire, instead she is keen on creating a viable business that serves the community.

"In line with that, the health food sector is of importance to me as we are all aware of the benefits of using natural foods to maintain a healthy lifestyle. A few years ago, I began a small beverage/food company with a few partners dedicated to bringing delicious alternatives to sugary, unhealthy drinks to the market. NAB Middle East was created with this ethos in mind. Today, NAB Middle East offers a selection of beverage and food brands that cater to this niche market within the UAE, offering products such as Vita Coco coconut water and Alo," she concluded.

- riaz@khaleejtimes.com