Support Female Entrepreneurs in Palestine

In’am was born and raised in Jamaa'en, Nablus. She studied mathematics at An-Najah National University and has been working with the Jamaa'en Governmental Municipality for over nine years. In'am needed an additional source of income and decided to transform her long time hobby into a sustainable business.  With the money she saved from her job at the municipality, In’am decided to purchase three calves. Initially, she focused her business strictly on the process of fattening and selling her calves. In’am would buy the calves when they are one-week old, feed them for six to eight months, and sell them once they weigh 300 kilograms. As In’am generated her first profit, she used it to purchase more calves.

In’am’s interest in Tomorrow’s Youth Organization’s entrepreneur program for women was sparked when representatives from TYO visited the Jamaa'en Women’s Association to present the project and recruit entrepreneurs from her village. While In’am had been running an effective, profitable business, there was always a chaotic element. She had never created a business plan and had only operated her business on a day-to-day basis. She needed assistance to identify the source of the chaos and address it.

When the training began, In’am was eager to learn how to develop a business plan. She learned how to develop sound and comprehensive business, marketing, and financial plans. During financial planning training, she began to understand the purpose behind documenting all of expenses and income of the business. She also learned through psychosocial training that she must document the money spent paying family for their labor as an expense. Through the Idea Sourcing and Product Development Learning Module, In’am learned creative ways to increase her business’s profit. The process of fattening and selling calves takes approximately eight months, resulting in profit generation every eight months. After the Idea Sourcing and Product Development training, In’am purchased cows in order to make milk and cheese and generate a more consistent profit stream. Through the Small Enterprise Center's (SEC) marketing training, she also learned to strategically pick a market and customer base where there is minimal competition. After Ina'am's participation in the Entrepreneur and More exhibition, she was able to expand her customer base. Now not only does she have customers in Jamaa'en, she also has a market in Nablus and its surrounding villages. Her customers constantly show their satisfaction of Ina'am's products and continue to order dairy products on a regular basis.

In’am’s business is her primary focus in life. She believes in taking risks, loves the action her business brings to her life, and is fully confident that if and when she takes risks, she will succeed. In'am started her business three years ago with only three calves, but she now owns eight cows and three calves. In the future, In'am hopes to further expand her business by buying additional calves and cows which will enable her to increase her productivity. She hopes her products will become nationally well-known and sold in every supermarket in Palestine. In’am’s work is historically categorized as “man’s work” and she could not be more proud to take the proverbial bull by the horns and break the sector’s glass ceiling in her village.

It is with no doubt that starting a business comes with many different challenges. For Palestinian female entrepreneurs, starting a business in Palestine means overcoming a number of difficulties such as limited access to financial assistance, restriction of movement imposed by military occupation, and gender based stereotypesAs a way of addressing this issue TYO runs a female entrepreneurship program, in hopes of elevating the position of women entrepreneurs in the Palestinian economy.

We are proud to introduce Howaida, the founder of Meera Soap and one of our hardworking female entrepreneurs at TYO! Howaida spent the majority of her career working in production and manufacturing in soap factories in and around Nablus. In 2011, she decided to take the skills she had acquired and start crafting her own products.

Howaida shared with TYO's Women's Empowerment Program Coordinator her experience as an ascending female entrepreneur in Palestine and her steps to gradually growing her business in hopes of encouraging fellow female entrepreneurs

"My name is Huwaida and I created Meera Soap, a soap business named after my daughter. I make soap from olive oil, honey, goat milk, cacao, salt, and lavender. Whenever a customer wants to order soap with a specific product, I happily make it for them!

This project not only gave me additional business management skills, but it has provided me with confidence to proudly state my mission and achieve my goals. To help grow and legitimize my business, I registered with the Chamber of Commerce and opened a bank account with Bank of Palestine.

Registration with the Chamber of Commerce is a critical step for any entrepreneur who is serious about business. I highly recommend registration to up and coming businesswomen. Registration with the Chamber of Commerce allows me to apply to sell my products across borders and also allows me to use official channels to import and export products for my business. Additionally, a business appears more legitimate and trustworthy to customers and other business people when registered with the Chamber of Commerce. Registering has also given me more confidence and allows me to tap into my personal power as a Palestinian woman entrepreneur.

I also opened an account with Bank of Palestine. When working with international customers, I will be viewed as professional because they can transfer payment directly to my bank account as opposed to through Western Union or money gram.

My business and experiences continue to expand day by day. I recently purchased two beehives with a business partner. He is keeping the bees and we are sharing the honey. I am making soap from my own honey now! In January 2017, I had the opportunity to participate in a five-day bazaar held in Amman, Jordan. I was able to showcase my handmade Palestinian soap products to many new customers, grow my business network, and access a new international market. I am currently expanding my business to reach additional markets overseas. My products have been sold in England, America, Germany, and Jordan, and I am in the process of reaching both Denmark and United Arab Emirates. Hopefully one day Meera Soap becomes a worldwide brand."