Exploring the Journey of Wessam Alsenafi Tariq: CEO of Jabal Tariq Jeneral Trading Co

In an exclusive interview, Wessam Alsenafi, CEO and founder of Jabal Tariq Jeneral Trading Co., shares her personal and professional journey. With a master’s degree in business from the University of Wales and numerous certifications, Alsenafi leveraged her education and experience to establish a successful general trading company. Specializing in women’s apparel, intimates, and makeup, the company focuses on importing and exporting products to Kuwait and the GCC, emphasizing the latest fashion trends. Read to learn more…

Personal Journey and Company Overview

We started the interview by asking, “Could you share your personal background with us and deliver a comprehensive overview of your company?”

Wessam Alsenafi replied, “Firstly, let me take this chance to thank you for interviewing me at your esteemed magazine. My name is Wessam Alsenafi, I am the CEO and founder of Jabal Tariq Jeneral Trading co. Very Briefly I completed my master’s degree in business from the University of Wales UK and was awarded several certificates in the business field from different well reputed universities across the UK in the business field. Moving forward I chose to begin my business and gather all the experiences I have gained into practice by establishing my own business.

We are a general trading company. We are franchisers of international brands mainly related to women apparel, intimates and makeup. We also work with suppliers from all over the world mainly to import and export products that targets women globally and particularly in Kuwait as well as the GCC. In the contrary, focusing on presenting the latest trends of fashion in world of intimates helped us build a good base among the targeted segment of clients.”

Balancing Innovation and Tradition

Vocal Media: How do you balance innovation with tradition in your product designs to appeal to the diverse customer base?

Wessam Alsenafi replied, “Navigating the intricate interplay between innovation and tradition in business requires strategic insight and a nuanced understanding of both realms. One of the strategies to achieve that is by a) fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptability within the organization. This creates an environment where traditional values and innovative thinking are celebrated and encouraged. Effective communication is another crucial strategy, clear communication of the company’s vision and how innovation and tradition contribute needs to be ongoing, ensuring that employees understand the rationale behind decisions and the direction the company is headed. c) ensuring that innovations align with the core values and mission of the company, thereby enhancing rather than diluting the brand and its legacy’s) employing a strategic approach to risk management Innovations, by nature, carry risk, and balancing this with the need for stability is crucial. e) Lastly, maintaining customer focus is essential. Understanding customers' evolving needs and preferences can help identify where tradition needs to be upheld and where innovation is required.”

Mastering Cultural Dynamics

Vocal Media: How do you navigate the unique cultural and market dynamics of the Middle East while maintaining the luxury appeal of your brand?

Wessam Alsenafi replied, “The dynamics of luxury consumption are not static; they evolve over time now to navigate the culture in the market dynamics in the Middle East particularly we focus on embracing cultural intelligence and that is done through embracing the cultural differences and morals this understanding allows us to gain genuine respect among cultural interactions within the business. Another thing is adapting to marketing communication strategies and that is crucial to avoid cultural misunderstandings. Respecting the culture etiquette through marketing is another important factor for this type of business in this cultural part of the world. In the contrary this helps us build trust amongst customers which leads to maintaining the brand image how we want.”

Integrating Sustainability

Vocal Media: What role does sustainability play in your business model, and how do you incorporate it into your brand's operations and product lines?

Wessam Alsenafi replied, “Improper disposal of waste can have serious environmental and health consequences. To minimize that we ensure that we save the environment through minimizing waste as much as possible. In our type of business perhaps the most waste source is packaging so therefore we try to reduce the consuming of plastic bags as much as possible and we continuously use eco-friendly bags and packaging materials to pack our products. The other also tries to use less energy in a way to keep sustainable business like turning off lights and unplugging equipment when it’s not in use.”

Building a Lasting Legacy

Vocal Media: What legacy do you hope to leave behind as the CEO of this luxury lingerie brand?

Wessam Alsenafi replied, “Leaving a leading imprint example to those who will inherit my business / position after me and cultivating the right mindset for legacy and success because at the end leadership is all about influence.”

Charting the Future

Vocal Media: What are your long-term goals for the brand?

Wessam Alsenafi replied, “My long term goals is to continue providing the best we could for our clients in terms of products options, prices, quality and services.”

Measuring Success

Vocal Media: What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) you focus on to measure the success of your brand?

Wessam Alsenafi replied, “Being an e-commerce store we try to focus on the following as KPIs

1- Traffic: This includes metrics such as the total number of visitors to your website, the number of new vs. returning visitors, and the source of your traffic (organic, social media, referral, etc.). Google Analytics is a useful tool for monitoring website traffic.

2- Engagement: This includes metrics such as bounce rate (the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page), time spent on site, pages per session, and conversion rate (the percentage of visitors that perform a desired activity, such as making a purchase or completing a form).

3- Search engine rankings: Tracking your website's rankings for target keywords can help you understand how well your SEO efforts are working. You can use tools like Google Search Console or SEMrush to track your website rankings.

4- Backlinks: The number and quality of external websites linking to your site is an important factor in SEO. Tools like Ahrefs or Moz can help you track your backlinks.

5- Site speed: The speed at which your website loads can impact user experience and SEO. You can use tools like Google Page Speed Insights to track your website's speed and identify areas for improvement.

6- Mobile responsiveness: With more and more users accessing websites on mobile devices, it's important to track how well your website performs on mobile devices. Google's Mobile-Friendly Test can help you assess whether your website is mobile-friendly.

Overall, tracking these metrics can help website owners understand how well their website is performing and identify areas for improvement.”

The Ongoing Challenge of Innovation

Lastly we asked, “Is it hard to re-invent yourself every single time and have something new and surprising for the customers despite being twelve years in the industry and after trying so many different concepts and genres?”

“Not at all, being involved in any business regardless of the activity or nature of a business requires you to be re-inventing and constantly being creative to be in parallel with your competitors in the market. I personally look at it the other way round, the key is to understand the market, once you’ve reached that level over the years you actually become more creative because you are using both your creativity along with your experience.” Wessam Alsenafi concluded

Connect with Wessam Alsenafi Tariq on LinkedIn