All is harmony for Dubai music school proprietor

Tala Badri, an Emirati musician and entrepreneur, pursues her dream career despite odds.

The Center for Musical Arts has 1,300 students on its books. Jeff Topping / The National
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A bachelor’s degree in music from London was not enough to secure Tala Badri a career in her chosen field in Dubai.

So the Emirati musician returned to the UK in 1993 to study a second degree in business and languages, securing a credit risk analyst position at Barclays Bank two years later.

But her first calling was always music and 13 years later, the accomplished flute and piano player turned her passion into a business by opening the Centre for Musical Arts (CMA) — an academy teaching western orchestral string, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments as well as voice, piano and guitar lessons.

Today, the business — based in Dubai Gold and Diamond Park — has 1,300 students on its books including 600 pupils taught by the centre across eight Dubai schools including Jumeirah English Speaking School and Dubai College.

But Ms Badri, who won the Emirati Business of the Year category at the Gulf Capital SME Info awards this month, says her journey to success was far from easy, particularly in the venture’s early days.

"The challenge was getting financing because it was an SME and as a woman, at that time, you needed a male guarantor," she recalls.

Walid Cherif, the managing director for credit partners at the Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Gulf Capital, says traditional sources of financing may still be an issue for many start-ups, even Emiratis.

"One of the major factors that affects the chances of start-ups in getting a loan is the lack of proper documentation and a business plan, which most aspiring entrepreneurs skip, in their desire to get started right away," he says. "This is something that they need to exert more effort on, as this will help them secure bank loans."

Ms Badri overcame the financing challenge in 2006 thanks to a Dh500,000 loan from Emirates Bank under its Al Tomooh finance scheme for small national businesss, which she used to hire six staff members and set up five studios at Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre.

A year after launch, CMA had exceeded its 175 target student number of by 25 and had a waiting list of 500. The company expanded to a second site at Dubai Gold and Diamond Park to meet demand, later consolidating the business at the second location because of rent increases.

However, while the business grew rapidly, the company broke even only for the first time 18 months ago, perhaps because CMA began life as a not-for-profit venture, a decision reversed in 2010 after the economic downturn.

“People were leaving and the majority of the student base is expatriate,” says Ms Badri, 41, a single mother of two children, aged eight and 12. “Moreover, we were relying on government and corporates for sponsorship and that dried up.”

Today the centre has 16 studios and 22 music teachers.

While the company made a loss of Dh4,000 in 2011, it secured a profit of Dh2,500 last year after paying salaries and upgrading carpets, flooring and ceilings to soundproof the studios. This year, Ms Badri expects profits of less than Dh50,000 as she hopes to raise staff salaries.

“We have not changed fees for the last two years but might have to now, to keep the business running,” she adds.

Step into the CMA in the morning and the studios are generally quiet. But after school hours, the centre is abuzz as young minds learn to master the instruments.

Among the most popular instruments are piano and guitar, even among the Emirati students.

“I thought of introducing Arabic or eastern classical instruments but there hasn’t been a demand for them, and I would rather focus on what I know best, which is western classical,” says Ms Badri, who also teaches piano and flute at the centre.

While Emiratis make up 20 per cent of the student body, the remainder are expats — a combination of Arabic speakers, Britons, Americans and Indians, among others.

Ms Badri says she is proud the company is supporting itself but adds it cannot grow as much as she would like.

She says licensing fees for a student recital in a hotel or a public space are the same an international artist would pay, making it costly to host events

“I would like space to expand but it’s expensive,” Ms Badri adds, “and government or philanthropic support for performing arts is non-existent.”

ssahoo@thenational.ae