Kuwait's Festivity Offers Everything You Need To Plan For A Party In One Platform The platform makes event planning simple and convenient by gathering all services related to events ranging from private occasions, family gatherings, birthday parties, and all the way to wedding ceremonies, within a click away.
By Pamella de Leon •
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This article is part of a series on pioneering entrepreneurs in Kuwait that Entrepreneur Middle East has built in collaboration with Kuwait Finance House. Kuwait Finance House is considered a pioneer in Islamic finance or Sharia'a compliant banking, with it being the first Islamic bank established in 1977 in the State of Kuwait, and is today one of the foremost Islamic financial institutions in the world.
Launched in 2015 by Nasser AlTowaijri and Abdulwahab AlOthman, Festivity makes event planning simple and convenient by gathering all services related to events ranging from private occasions, family gatherings, birthday parties, and all the way to wedding ceremonies, within a click away. Saving time and effort to deal with multiple vendors and suppliers, the platform includes options for chairs and tables, dedicated staff and related entertainment utilities. The co-founders had the idea when they hosted a dinner reception for a mutual friend and realized a need for an online platform to find and book options for catering, entertainment, valet parking, and even heaters. At the time, there wasn't an online solution, and after conducting research, they decided to the financial and technical analysis to debut a premier marketplace delivering event and gathering services.
The result? Co-founder and CEO AlTowaijri credits Kuwait's young and eager market space that made entering the events sector favorable for the startup. Compared to traditional event planning services wherein you must pay various services providers, Festivity offers a fresh approach as they provided transparency in pricing and accurate pictures and videos of the item, with payment options available, all in one platform.
With the aim to become the go-to online platform for anyone planning an event, AlTowaijri says they're aiming for geographical expansion for the year ahead, plus growth targets and adapting advanced technologies. And his tip to fellow entrepreneurs? "Personally, I'd search for opportunities in the B2B. My advice would be to research the market precisely and fight any kind of despair during the journey."
Excerpt from a conversation with Nasser AlTowaijri, co-founder and CEO of Festivity:
What has been the most negative feedback on your services that you have received and how did you go about it?
We don't name them negative feedback; we see them as points to be enhanced and fixed to give better customer experience. For example, one of the companies decided to use the platform for an internal employees' event, they refused the idea of online payment and it must be processed through their financial cycle. After that incident, we decided to introduce the B2B model which covers this part and much more.
What are some of the main considerations that entrepreneurs should keep when starting up a business in Kuwait and why?
Entrepreneurs should keep in mind governmental procedures. Sadly, Kuwait's startup ecosystem is poor and needs a lot to be enhanced. A lot of approvals required, no connectivity between departments and ministries, everything should be done manually. As a small society, the opinion spreads very fast in both negative and positive way.
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