Phinests Wants To Become Kuwait's Leading Creative Professionals Hub Launched in April 2019, Phinests is an online platform that helps connect creative and media professionals to their customers in accessible and convenient way.

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 April 2019, Phinests is an online platform that helps connect creative and media professionals to their customers in an accessible and convenient way. The platform gives access to local talent and experts specializing in photography, website and application design, copywriting, TV commercials, videography, illustrations, marketing, social media content, branding, graphic design, animation, and voiceovers. It also features cloud-based scheduling as an easy way to schedule meetings with professionals, as well as allow users to start projects, transfer files and make secure payments.

Founded by Hamad Alroumi, Sara AlRabiah and Hamad AlGhanim, the co-founders wanted to highlight the works of talented local freelancers in Kuwait, and connect them with businesses looking for creative service providers. The team initially created an MVP to validate the idea, after which was followed by a successful period of operating the MVP, and then they launched with a website. Acording to Alroumi, Phinests' website was designed wherein "the creative's portfolio is showcased for the purpose of being contacted by business owners with specific needs, as it provides business owners with what they can expect from working with such professionals."

The startup is driven by the mission to simplify the process of matching talent with businesses, provide career opportunities to individuals offering creative services and raise awareness of opportunities in the market for creatives. Alroumi also says, "Professional [in the creative field] are extremely busy creating valuable content for their clients. This results in failure to advertise their own work directly to prospective clients- signifying the importance of having a platform where they can be recognized for the work they have done and use that to attract new clients."

Initially, some found that the website had too many steps to reach the desired service on their platform, which they remedied quickly. They simplified the process of contacting a service provider by creating a project page for both parties to send messages, exchange files, and pay as well through the platform. And the feedback for the platform has been favorable- Alroumi says that businesses point out how the Phinests has helped avoid the hassle of going through the tedious search-and-filter process, plus have the convenience to be able to look for all their needs in one place.

"With the Kuwaiti market lacking a digital director of professional service providers, our platform makes the process of looking for professionals, comparing their work and seeing who matches their business the most extremely easy," says Alroumi. With the aim to become a one-stop shop for all business requirements, the team is now looking to increase the number of services available on the platform. "Kuwait provides several opportunities for software-as-a-service companies to thrive," Alroumi adds. "The market provides several opportunities to improve and simplify processes. There are also several governmental initiatives that support SMEs financially, making it even more attractive My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is to invest in themselves and continuously strive to learn new skills so that when an opportunity arises, they would be ready to grasp it."

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