BC: Rema Menon

In 1998, Rema relocated to Dubai with her family, bringing with her 10 years of experience working with child-centered non-governmental organizations in India.

She had to persevere for months before finally securing a position. In her first role as a counselor at the Indian High School in Dubai, she worked with young adults and discovered there was a genuine need for career counseling in higher education in the UAE.

Some time later, an American education entity approached her for a marketing role. Rema took it up, but she didn’t like their aggressive sales approach.

“My heart was in counseling,” she says.

However, she did learn a lot about setting up a business and building a brand. With her family’s support and disregarding those who said she was not cut out to be an entrepreneur, Rema decided to “fly solo” and launched Counselling Point Training and Development in 2005.

At the time, it was difficult to register the company because counseling was not a recognized business activity in the UAE. “It was also difficult to convince people to pay for counseling because they thought I was just talking and giving advice,” she recalls.

Her passion kept her going.

Her husband’s regular income provided her with the security she needed to guide students. She continued her pro bono work. She taught herself to think like a businessperson. She grabbed every opportunity she could to share her views with the wider community. She began publishing, including articles for Notes, Gulf News’ higher education supplement. She began to get more clients and referrals.

Today, some of the students she counseled work as counselors themselves. Rema continues to support new practitioners and facilitates workshops through the Counselors’ Forum. She even brings out a publication, ‘Head Start for Higher Studies’.

Despite a full calendar, she manages to find time to travel and reconnect with old friends. Rema attributes her success to her “3P approach”—patience, persistence, and positivity—and keeping an open mind.

Her advice to anybody wanting to become an entrepreneur: start small. “Do your due diligence by conducting market research, utilizing your core competencies, and using mentors as sounding boards,” she says, adding, “Finding the right niche can take time, but it’s a journey worth embarking on.”