Starting a business is one thing, getting it off the ground is another and Hassan Hoteit understands this. In fact, after many failures, he now succeeds in running his young start-up and considers himself a motivator of entrepreneurs.
Hassan Hoteit is a young Ivorian-Lebanese entrepreneur, like most young people of his age, he tried to follow as best he could, what is commonly called the normal course of things, by doing brilliant studies in ‘engineer, a profession he had to exercise for ten years before embarking on the entrepreneurial adventure. And like any entrepreneur, he went through difficult times by accumulating several failures. Which does not discourage him.
After quitting his job as an engineer, Hassan set up an audiovisual company called Mariages.ci with the aim of offering photography and video shooting services at ceremonies like weddings and more. The only catch was that Hassan didn’t have the funds to finance his business, his savings were more used to pay off debts and support his family than to invest in a company.
A day when everything changed
After going through eight months of hardship, an extraordinary idea crossed his mind, it was his birthday, January 3, 2013. That day he said, “I remember having only one 100 CFA francs in your pocket. With this piece, I decide to call on a friend of mine who owns a camera to use it as my main work tool. After several hesitations and procrastination, he finally accepted. I managed to convince him to follow me on this adventure. ” His idea was to offer the bride and groom photo and video coverage services of their weddings at rock-bottom prices.
Knowing how to surround yourself well, his credo!
By founding his business, Hassan called on his friends who were in the same situation as him to share the adventure and build a better tomorrow together. Despite their interest in the project, most of them had to give up along the way because of the slowdown in the business that did not allow them to support themselves. It was in his determination to go up the slope with the rest of his team that he met a rare find, a committed young girl named Emmanuel TOSSA, a second year student at the time. At the very beginning, she was not hired but was hired to help him in her spare time, especially on weekends. It was after obtaining her high school diploma and her BTS that Emmanuel turned to working at Hassan full time. “I am always pleasantly surprised by so much commitment from this young girl. “He says, adding that” I can say bluntly that she was kind of a muse for my professional adventure. ” It allowed me to understand Will SMITH’s famous thought: “You have a dream, you must protect it. Those who cannot will tell you that you cannot. If you want something, fight, take it, period ”.
Together and with the rest of the team, they were able to succeed in adding four zero (0) to their starting piece and thus reach 1,000,000 FCFA in monthly turnover and is projected to 10,000,000 FCFA between 2018 and 2019. His firm conviction is therefore that we are able to move assemblies, but on condition that we surround ourselves with the right people who believe in our project and share our dreams.
“Inspiring people, getting them out of their comfort zone, to achieve what has never been done. A new mission for my existence on earth. ” Hassan Hoteit
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