GoDaddy’s Senior Regional Director for Turkey, MENA and South Africa, Selina Bieber recently led a digital training session in partnership with Dubai Startup Hub. The session aimed to support founders to build and enhance their online presence and to equip them with the right tools to take advantage of the digital economy and to continue to grow their ventures in the face of current challenges, such as COVID-19.

BusinessLive Middle East spoke to Bieber on the impact of COVID on businesses, tips on how businesses can manoeuvre this crisis using technology from a regional and global perspective, and to highlight the importance of GoDaddy’s first regional campaign.

Has GoDaddy seen growth or decline in registration of websites and companies since COVID-19? Would you say the time is right to launch a new business and website?
“GoDaddy is a publicly-traded company and is currently in a quiet period, so I can’t specifically comment on new websites and customer growth.
“With that said, we have seen small businesses demonstrate their resilience and ingenuity during this time by focusing on their digital presence. Having a digital presence can help small businesses stay connected with customers, whilst working through the everchanging current global pandemic crisis.
“Across the Middle East and greater MENA region, we focused our campaign to help inspire local small business owners and entrepreneurs to create a digital presence.  We are seeing small businesses across various industries innovate and use their creativity to create value for their customers. For example: nail and beauty salons now offering home care packages, fitness boutiques opting for live online training sessions, and retail businesses offering digital ‘changing rooms’ to allow people to try on clothing before they buy it. Alongside this, we are all seeing the restaurant industry adopt online ordering and different delivery options.
“Given that many small businesses’ physical locations are closed, we believe that now is a time to consider digitalising a business to help take advantage of the benefits of being online. GoDaddy’s suite of integrated online products and services are user-friendly and allows people of all expertise levels, to get started with ease.”

What visible impact have you seen on businesses due to COVID-19 in the region specifically and globally? How can struggling businesses both in the region and world navigate the current crisis using technology?
“The current situation we face is global, so behaviourally we are seeing similar trends across our international markets, with small businesses looking at ways to keep their business active. The spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has left many small business owners uncertain about their future and countless SMEs are preparing for negative financial impact.
“One-way SMEs can work to help curb the dip is to offer goods and services online. If they are selling items that are not already sold online, they can consider setting up a basic online store. Some store owners are also offering pick-up services, where customers can call or email ahead of time for the items they want, and pick up orders without entering the physical store.
“The Dubai food industry has been one of the fastest globally to respond to COVID 19, offering “non-contact” food delivery and integrating digital technology.  Of course, the strategy will depend on the type of business, however, getting online may create another channel where businesses can continue to offer services and products. With GoDaddy Websites + Marketing, a business can create a professional website to share information with customers about what the business is offering and any changes during these challenging times.”

GoDaddy launched its first regional campaign recently. What was the thought process behind launching it now? And why the region?
“The goal of the digital marketing campaign was to focus on our everyday heroes, entrepreneurs and small business owners. They are the backbone of our economy and supporting them, is extremely important, especially during this time. Our mission is to provide the tools they need to get online and show them how to do so.
“The exciting part about the local start-up and entrepreneurial eco-system is that there is a broad range of ideas that cater to several different industries, and we support all of these industries, across different levels of digital needs and expertise depending on the nature of the business. As we launched our new local marketing campaign, our focus is on learning, engaging and better supporting the needs of entrepreneurs and businesses in the region, as they look to create and manage an online presence.
“Our company is committed to supporting SMEs in the region. We have worked with several key organisations such as Dubai Startup Hub, LaunchDXB and the Women’s Xchange, to help engage more in the community.   We hope that this campaign represents our commitment, as well, be a guide to inspire entrepreneurs and SMEs here to continue to grow their ventures online and share their stories.”

SMEs are struggling and not all of them might have enough revenue to cover costs. What free tools and offers do GoDaddy have for them and individuals?
“We have a myriad of free tools and resources, for small businesses looking for ways to start or strengthen their online presence. We have launched our OpenWeStand website which is a resource centre to help businesses across the region. Through the initiative, small businesses can find free resources, tools and special offers to help them during this challenging time.
“We also are partnering with key organisations such as Dubai Startup Hub, LaunchDXB in the UAE, and Injaz in Egypt, by providing training workshops and resources to help small businesses and entrepreneurs create an online presence.”