My Entrepreneurial Journey "so far"

If you happen to order KFC in Egypt between 2012 and 2015, I most probably was the veterinarian that gave that chicken its vaccination shots!

This is exactly how I kicked off my entrepreneurial journey back in 2012. I was studying Veterinary Medicine in Cairo University where I joined my big brother and role model who worked as a scientific representative in a Veterinary Pharmaceutical Company. During that time, I came to notice a huge gap between Vet Pharma Companies and Poultry Hatcheries. This realization marked the birth of my fist company, VaxxiNation where we were vaccinating an astounding 250,000 chicks each day!

In parallel to my work at VaxxiNation, I also launched another company, PetsNation. PetsNation was the first Mobile Veterinary Clinic in Egypt and possibly the MENA region! We served celebrities, aired Radio ads, and raised billboards all over Cairo. You can say we were thriving!

It had always been a dream of mine to build a myriad of companies, place them under one holding company, and call it TheNation.

Unfortunately, my thriving businesses came to a halt in 2015 when I was scammed for almost 200,000 US dollars. Crashing to the ground after taking a risk and selling all what I have left me with a staggering debt of 700,000 EGP. An unseen benefit appeared however, as I had in my hands a complete database of PetParents.

Without a shred of hesitation, I set out to start yet another company, Vetwork. Having no money of my own, Vetwork would run on an UBER model.

As 2016 unfolded, I had to enlist in the Egyptian Army where I labored relentlessly to balance between my service in the army, and running Vetwork. My efforts were unfortunately unavailing, as my business soon enough dwindled.

A couple years later in 2018, I had just finished my service in the Army, and 2 years into my marriage, I had to figure out a way to generate money. This led me to channel all of my focus on Vetwork for 3 months and look hopefully forward for its future. Mind you that Vetwork was making $40 USD in total sales every month back then.

Three very challenging years later, years of pitfalls, lockdowns, storms, a pandemic and more, we had arrived to what we are now. Operating in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE with more than 40 team members, more than 400 service providers on our platform, and serving more than 10,000 Pet Parents, we made it. We save countless pets, provide extra income for providers and bring promising investments to our beloved country!

Vetwork started out as a business, but in fact transformed and shape shifted into a hub for users. A space that helps solve their issues as they grind in an infamously unregulated and chaotic industry.

The decisions we take are taken primarily to serve more, optimize quality and provide real value to our work, and this is our main value proposition. We solve problems. Profit is not a target, but merely a byproduct of tackling real problems, with the right mindset to find solutions. This mindset manifests in the minds of all our team as we take on problems head-on, making Pets healthier and Pet Parents happier!

We work on making PetParents look at Vetwork as their Pet Advisor.

The main and obvious challenge that we face with our actual customers, the animals, is that they cannot speak. They are voiceless. Vetwork sees just that as an opportunity for innovation! Vetwork is working on a wearable device, like an apple watch for example, but for pets, that is going to change the way Veterinary Medicine Practitioners operate. With this product, we will be able as Veterinarians to make much more informed decisions relying on factual data. The more data we collect, the better our understanding of disease becomes, to a point where we will be able to predict and diagnose diseases ahead of time. Think of receiving a notification on your phone saying, “your pet is sick”, but better! You will receive a notification saying, your pet might become sick in a week. It will only be a matter of time until we reach high levels of accuracy and reliability.

The wearable will also enable Veterinarians to perform remote checkups, analyze real time data, and deliver the appropriate diagnosis and treatment.

Based on the supply of this marketplace, our mission is to provide both flexible income and education to all our service providers, through domain experts and income opportunities that support their needs. The aim is to transform this industry and push it forward in our region.

Our Key Accomplishments are:

1.    Introducing the concept of Home Visits to the Egyptian Market

2.    Expanding the Concept to the GCC

3.    Providing Flexible income to the neglected PetCare service providers

4.    Placing AnimalTech in the startup scene and encouraging investors and fellow founders to invest in it

5.    Providing medical care to animals after midnight

6.    Joining 500 Startups, the famous Global VC firm & Accelerator

7.    Building the VetsCircle community on Linkedin

8.    Earning the support of KAUST (King Abdullah University for Science & Technology)

With that being covered, I aspire to empower entrepreneurship within our youth to overcome any early-stage challenges that might hinder their progress, and I'm currently working on something that will Prevent early founders and wanterpreneurs from unforeseen failure and pitfalls. Stay tuned....