An Interview with Shadi Banna, CEO & Founder of Potential.com

Please tell us more about Potential.com and what inspired you to start the business?

Potential.com, established in 2005, is an education technology (Edtech) company on a mission to find the most efficient and effective way to empower communities around the world. We believe that everyone should have an opportunity to do what they love and become economically empowered while they do it. Since we started Potential.com in 2005, we continuously explored new ways to focus on practical learning that is linked to the real world. We give individuals and organizations the tools they need to succeed. Our online empowerment platform and learning content works hand in hand to deliver that goal.

Can you tell us about the recently held Tattawar event and how this was shaped?

Tatawwar is one of the many programs that we have developed over the years targeting 15-18 year-olds to help them to come up with and develop social innovative solutions to global challenges. The program, funded by HSBC, is running in 7 countries across the Middle East and North Africa region. We found a great partner in HSBC given their deep rooted belief in sustainability and the development of future job skills. By putting together our joint experience and efforts, we have developed a scalable and impactful program that puts the student community at the center of the development.

In the program, we also bring together teachers, parents, professionals and other stakeholders to support the students. From a total of 4650 students that participated in the online program this year, nearly 200 were shortlisted to take part in physical workshops and then shortlisted further to a top 20 that went through an acceleration program. The talented individuals that made it to the finals were exceptional with the star – the winner, Bader Al Sarraf – coming from Bahrain. Bader won $5,000 in cash and will be supported over the coming year to develop his prototype further to showcase it in the Expo 2021 in Dubai.

How is real-world education the key to an organization’s, nay, a community’s success?

Real world education is a phrase we came up with to drive home the fact that we all expect more from education these days. The education system that schools and universities still follow has been in place for hundreds of years and was well suited during the industrial revolution. It is not well-suited for today’s fast paced world where all information is a click away. We need to evolve education so that it is in line with the opportunities and needs of the real world. We need the education sector to help promote more creativity, innovation, business skills, problem solving and other life skills. The real world of jobs and entrepreneurship should infiltrate the schools and the corporate world should be infiltrated with continuous practical learning opportunities. That’s real-world education.

Can you tell our readers about Potential’s Enterprise solutions?

Potential.com provides enterprises and organizations with access to an empowerment platform and content to help launch programs to develop and empower their community and ecosystems including partners and staff. Enterprises subscribe to the platform and content through a software as a service (SaaS) model and pay based on what they use. We also offer customized platforms and content for specific programs like we did for Tatawwar.

Do you have any advice for aspiring startups and entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurship is one of the most fulfilling careers anyone can get into. It’s also one of the most important professions to develop. Developing an entrepreneurial mindset allows us to see the world’s challenges as opportunities. The process allows us to enrich the lives of those around us and have a sense of fulfillment in following our passion. However, entrepreneurship is tough. It needs resilience, it needs a tolerance for failure and rejections. Developing those skills and being able to persevere in the face of adversity is crucial for everyone, especially in the post COVID-19 world.

My advice to entrepreneurs is that you should always be in it for the long term. As long as you are working on something that you are passionate about – the boundary between work and play will blur. Even if you put in the hard work that is needed to succeed, you will not feel it as hard work, but rather enjoy it. The motivation and drive that you will get from following your passion will help you to succeed. So, plan well, take solid steps forward toward your goals, and don’t look for shortcuts. Doing so will help you succeed financially in the long run and also help you in fulfilling your purpose.

for more information :
www. potential.com