You're hired: A word from the winner of Dubai's 'The Entrepreneur'

Loulou Khazen Baz was named the winner of Dubai-based televised contest “The Entrepreneur” on Wednesday night. After quitting her part-time job last year she revealed to a local newspaper that she felt “useless” and “pointless.” 

Loulou is now one of the most hotly-tipped business hopefuls in the United Arab Emirates and has won a prize of 2 million AED.

There were 2,000 hopefuls and Loulou’s pitch was the one that proved successful on the eight-week show which is similar to Donald Trump’s highly acclaimed hit show “The Apprentice.” Having won the competition she now has 1 million AED to invest in an online portal she created which aims at allowing freelancers to find job opportunities across the Middle East. 

Winning the show has also gained Loulou a year’s free office space and expert marketing and accounting help.

Earlier in the year, the Lebanese national blogged her journey as an entrepreneur said that she had been to “hell and back” just six months into her entrepreneurial life.

The winner told Seven Days that when she reached her 30th birthday she wondered “what life is all about” and came to the conclusion that it was “now or never” if she was to make a start on her own business, she soon discovered it would not be an easy task.

“When I quit my job it was one of the toughest years of my life. I had a lot of challenges; confidence and financial and career. I had no idea of what I wanted to do.” She said. 

Being an avid social media user, the entrepreneur stumbled across a tweet which was promoting the television series.

“Even if I didn’t win, I thought the exposure I would get would be great and it would be a good experience overall, to be on TV,” she said.

She told Seven Days newspaper that she had to reconsider that attitude when she was faced with the show’s panel of judges pinned up against 99 other hopefuls during a 16-hour day to find the top ten ideas presented.

Her winning pitch with the idea of nabbesh.com is currently creating a regional pool of talented people who are hopefuls, much like Loulou was.