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Dubai expat builds online marketplace to support young mums with small businesses

The website now boasts a database of 800 small businesses, adding 100 new brands every month

A British mother living in Dubai has introduced an online market aimed at supporting young mothers who are navigating the challenges of balancing career and parenthood.

Dubai-based MINT Market began in early November as a passion project for Sally Maddison. She launched the venture driven by her goal of empowering fellow young mothers to achieve a fulfilling career while staying actively involved in their children's lives.

Today, it features 26 homegrown brands that have recently expanded their presence online.

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With Christmas just around the corner, shoppers are exploring this e-commerce platform dedicated to sustainable holiday shopping, featuring handcrafted jewellery, one-of-a-kind home décor, and stylish clothing, all created by small businesses and local artisans.

Empowering young mothers

Driven by the aspiration to work independently and on her own terms without being accountable to a boss, Maddison partnered with four other mothers to establish a platform designed to support a demographic frequently facing challenges with traditional employment structures.

“When I started doing my research after Covid-19 I realised there was a gap that revealed a pressing need for flexibility, and empowering work opportunities for parents," Maddison, a resident of The Sustainable city, told Khaleej Times.

“I want to be there for my children—to tuck them into bed, attend their sports days, and be fully present as a parent. At the same time, I aspire to have a flexible working lifestyle that allows me to balance my career with motherhood. However, I realised that such opportunities are rare unless you work as an entrepreneur, which naturally offers more flexibility," she said.

This highlighted a gap in the job market. “It also inspired me to focus on empowering women—though not exclusively, as we also have men in our network. With 91 per cent of our owners being women aged 35 to 44, we’re catering primarily to young mothers, providing them with opportunities to work, manage their own businesses, and still take care of their families,” she added.

The British expat shared that what began as a small café initiative to attract more visitors and provide a platform for local marketers to showcase their products, quickly evolved into a more structured venture, continuing to foster a close-knit community.

The website now boasts a database of 800 small businesses, adding 100 new brands every month, with more than 50 per cent of the products proudly made in the UAE.

Backing small, local businesses

During her research, Maddison discovered that, in line with a global trend, over 57 per cent of UAE consumers were increasingly seeking to support small, local businesses, particularly those offering sustainable and personalised products.

She said: “After events like a Ripe market or a Popup market, people would message me on Instagram, saying they loved the market and asking for details about the brands. I’d always have to connect them manually, like, ‘Oh, that’s Penelope’s brand, here’s her Instagram.’”

Maddison explained that most of the small brands didn’t have websites or marketing budgets. “I thought, why not create a marketplace to house all these amazing limited edition, high quality, bespoke products in one place? Instead of playing the middleman, I could just say, ‘Here’s the URL, go shop!’ That’s how the idea for the marketplace came up," she added.

"It’s for our local community—supporting small businesses, especially before Christmas and making it easy for people to shop locally. We also offer average prices ranging from Dh100 and going up to Dh1,000 but the average price of an item would probably be Dh250. So, it's affordable,” said the owner and founder of MINT Market.

Notably, the UAE's e-commerce market has grown by 300 per cent over the past five years as per the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and continues to expand, with online purchases accounting for 73 per cent of retail transactions in 2023 as per Global Media Insights.

Home workshops

One of those who showcase their products on this platform is Ceri Jewell who after moving from the UK, wanted to launch her aromatherapy candle brand, and quickly realised there was a need in the market for high-quality, hand-crafted candles at an affordable price.

The founder and business owner of Coppertop Candles said: “Having grown my business in England, I was eager to introduce it here, believing there was a real demand. It was at a networking event that I met Sally, and we instantly connected. As we talked, I shared my frustration with the lack of a marketplace where businesses like mine could engage directly with customers, understand their preferences, and build a genuine relationship post-Covid. I do everything in my home workshop. I do it around my children which means I have the flexibility to work and then still look after them. It also means that it's truly homegrown. It’s what you would call a cottage industry.”

Small businesses support a ‘real’ cause

Similarly, three years ago, James Hamilton and his daughter embarked on a journey to create something unique, driven by a simple idea — there was a shortage of well-tailored, eye-catching, colourful shirts in the market.

“All the shops were similar so we thought we’d make our own. That’s how our project started. Then we started looking at the Ripe market and we started with just five shirts. It’s very original and we realised people like to support ‘local’. Since then we’ve only grown. Now we have a store in Town Square and a website. We sell different types of shirts. Earlier, we expanded our collection of funky shirts by introducing a distinctive ‘Keffiyeh Watermelon Shirt’ to show support for Palestine. It has quickly gained popularity, with people from both across the country and abroad purchasing it. We sell our shirts to hotels as well where we sell under their labels,” said the founder and owner of CPTN and Dubaiian.

“We also showcase our items on the MINT Market. Sally promotes and sells it on our behalf. It’s all about supporting local vendors. That’s because the majority of them are small vendors who appear a bit confused about how to set up sites and handle social media. She takes it off their hands and does it professionally,” added the Australian expat.

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