What starts as a temporary financial support can become a family business.
That is the idea behind the Community Market launched by the Abu Dhabi Social Support Authority (ADSS), where 21 beneficiary families are showcasing everything from handmade Emirati crafts and crochet creations to stuffed vine leaves, chocolates and specialty coffee in a bid to build sustainable incomes instead of relying solely on financial assistance.
The three-day market, which opened on Friday at Nabdh Al Falah Centre and runs until July 19, is the first edition of what ADSS says will become a recurring initiative as part of its wider economic empowerment programme.
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“We provide temporary financial support, but we also provide programmes that help beneficiaries become economically empowered,” said Qasim Alhashmi, Executive Director of Beneficiaries Affairs at ADSS.
“The entrepreneurship programme came as a result of the growing interest among beneficiary families. We selected participants, trained them and today they are here showcasing what they have built.”
Alhashmi said the authority deliberately opened the programme to a wide range of businesses in its first phase rather than focusing on specific industries.
“You can see the diversity: food businesses, handicrafts, artistic products. The first phase is about giving everyone an opportunity to demonstrate their skills. Later, we will become more specialised.”
Rather than measuring success by immediate sales, he said the programme is designed as a long-term journey towards financial independence.
“This is a journey with different stages. Today we are focused on the exhibition, but there will be future stages where we continue working closely with these families to develop their skills further.”
Traditional crafts with a modern twist
Among the entrepreneurs is Mariam Al Nuaimi, founder of Rowayb, whose stall blends Arabic calligraphy with traditional Emirati sadu weaving in contemporary designs.
Originally trained in Geographic Information Systems, Al Nuaimi began learning Arabic calligraphy seven years ago before expanding into handmade crafts around four years later. What started as friends and relatives asking her to personalise gifts gradually evolved into a business.
Today, she handwrites on pottery, fans, medals and other surfaces while also transforming traditional sadu weaving into colourful bracelets, keychains and accessories.
“Older women usually practise sadu, but I wanted to present it in a modern way with different colours that appeal to younger people,” she said.
Her business is less than a year old, but already attracting attention for combining heritage with contemporary design. She credits the social support authority with giving her the opportunity to exhibit her work free of charge after obtaining her home-business licence.
“My daughters help me too,” she said proudly, pointing to handmade bags created with her daughters, aged 15 and 11.
Finding therapy through crochet
Just a stall away, crochet has become much more than a business for 45-year-old Amna Al Mheiri.
The founder of Amoon Crochet describes it as therapy.
Al Mheiri, who has ADHD and is also a person of determination, said she struggled with focus throughout her life and stopped working in 2018 after going through a difficult divorce while raising four children, including a son with autism.
Everything changed when she and her sister-in-law, a cancer survivor, decided to learn crochet together about a year ago.
“I wanted to bring happiness to her, so we bought yarn and decided to learn together,” she said.
Within a year, she had turned the hobby into a business producing colourful handbags, baby blankets and accessories using premium Egyptian cotton yarn that she imports herself because she could not find the quality she wanted locally.
But the biggest transformation, she says, has been personal.
“It taught me how to focus. It reduced my anxiety and my anger. It gave me good company, people who are always learning something useful.”
She now describes crochet as a form of therapy that helped rebuild her confidence while creating a source of income.
“It helped me become calmer. Even untangling threads taught me patience.”
Al Mheiri also hopes more people begin recognising the true value of handmade products.
“People sometimes ask why handmade items cost more, but they don’t see everything behind them: choosing materials, creating the design, making every stitch by hand. Every piece is made with time, effort and love.”
From struggling to find work to serving 60 orders a day
For Suhail Al Mazrouei, entrepreneurship began after months of struggling to find a job.
Unable to secure employment, he decided to create his own opportunity by opening a small cafeteria in Al Ain selling burgers and fast food. But the business never took off.
“I realised people wanted food that reminded them of home,” he said.
He made the difficult decision to scrap the original concept entirely, relaunching the business as Suhail Mahashy, specialising in stuffed vine leaves, cabbage rolls and other traditional dishes.
The gamble paid off almost immediately.
Daily orders jumped from around 10 to 15 as a fast-food outlet to as many as 50 or 60 after switching to homemade traditional dishes.
“It taught me that sometimes you have to change direction instead of giving up,” he said, adding that he now hopes to expand beyond Al Ain.
Family brainstorming session becomes national brand
If there is one business that truly reflects the idea of a family enterprise, it is Chocomail.
What began as homemade chocolates prepared in a family kitchen has grown into a brand stocked in Adnoc Oasis stores across the UAE, with products now also available in Qatar and a recent expansion into Saudi Arabia.
Co-founder Mohamed Al Hosani said the business was born not from a formal business plan, but from a series of family gatherings.
“We all sat together as one family,” he said. “Everyone contributed ideas.”
One relative, despite having no formal culinary training, had an exceptional talent for developing and tasting chocolate recipes, while another family member regularly travelled to Switzerland and Belgium to study new flavours and techniques before bringing ideas back to the UAE.
“It was really a family effort,” Al Hosani said. “Everyone had a role.”
Even the name took weeks to settle on.
The extended family drew up nearly 20 possible names before voting them down one by one until Chocomail emerged as the favourite. The winning concept was inspired by handwritten letters, with the chocolates packaged inside vintage envelope-shaped boxes complete with postage stamp designs — a nostalgic tribute to the days when messages arrived by post rather than on phones.
The chocolates were initially made from home and sold online without a commercial licence.
“As demand grew, we realised we needed to make it official,” Al Hosani said.
Six years later, the company operates its own production facility in Abu Dhabi and supplies products to ADNOC Oasis stores stretching from Fujairah to Al Sila, while continuing to develop new flavours and packaging.
Mother’s flower shop inspires son’s first business
Just a few stalls away, 15-year-old Saif Al Jeadi proudly demonstrated the latest addition to his family’s business, colourful 3D-printed toys, keychains and customised accessories.
The idea came after travelling with his mother, Samira Al Blooshi, to China.
While she searched for new floral designs and gift ideas for her flower business, Lemas Flowers, Saif found himself fascinated by rows of 3D printers producing intricate models.
“I saw the idea there and wanted to do the same,” he said.
After returning to the UAE, he bought a 3D printer and spent months learning how to design, modify and print products, from miniature aircraft to personalised car accessories and decorative pieces.
The Community Market is the teenager’s first public exhibition.
His mother said entrepreneurship has always been part of her life.
She started arranging flowers while still in primary school, winning school competitions before fulfilling a childhood dream of opening her own flower shop immediately after graduating from secondary school.
For the past 15 years, she has run Lemas Flowers in Al Ain, regularly travelling to China in search of new ideas and products.
“I took Saif with me, and he found something completely different,” she said. “Now we help each other.”
Today, the family’s stall combines two generations of entrepreneurship: traditional floral arrangements alongside technology-driven creations dreamed up by a teenager inspired halfway across the world.
Source: Khaleej Times