When I launched Suncart in Qatar, I was juggling two very different lives: banker by day, entrepreneur by night. Balancing the demands of my job in banking with the early days of building a startup was both exhilarating and exhausting. As a solo founder, managing product development and operations felt like an uphill battle. Yet, those tough moments taught me invaluable lessons that have shaped my approach to business ever since.
Customer-first thinking: I spent hours interviewing potential users and validating pain points. The first lesson was the importance of a customer-first mindset. I dedicated hours each day, often in the local Costa Coffee, speaking with potential users and validating their pain points. I quickly realized that understanding the problem from the customer’s perspective was essential. By actively listening to their needs and feedback, I was able to shape the product to truly address real-world issues, not just ideas in my head.
Scrappy go-to-market: I didn’t have the luxury of a big marketing budget or a fancy team. So, I got creative. I distributed flyers in mall parking lots, connected with people directly, and even delivered the first 30 orders myself. The hustle was essential, and I learned that if you want to make it in the early stages, you need to embrace every task, no matter how small, and keep moving forward.
Iterate quickly: Another key takeaway was the importance of rapid iteration. In those early months, revenue grew from $1.6K to $15.2K in just six months. The secret? Relentless focus on feedback and optimization. Every interaction, every piece of feedback from customers, helped fine-tune the product. We made adjustments quickly, testing and refining to meet user expectations and needs.
The biggest lesson I learned, though, was that products don’t succeed in isolation. They succeed when they genuinely solve real problems and are backed by relentless execution. It’s not about a perfect idea; it’s about execution, iteration, and constantly adapting to the market. This mindset continues to guide me today in all my entrepreneurial ventures.