Plans and engineering drawings line the walls of Marwen Hmissi’s office, located in the Jendouba Business Incubator. His construction business, We Care Enterprise, was born out of a passion for repairing and restoring the region’s buildings and roads. Since its launch in 2017, the firm has gone from strength to strength. The civil engineer has already won government contracts and is managing various projects to improve the local infrastructure.
“For the Ministry of Education, we’re restoring all the primary schools in Jendouba,” explains Marwen. “We’ve just finished a fire station in Bou Salem and we’re also currently repairing several main roads in Jendouba – filling holes and fixing cracks.”
After graduating as a civil engineer in 2013, Marwen worked in engineering firms in Tunis, Sousse and Jendouba where he oversaw the completion of several construction projects. Deep down, however, he always knew he wanted to start his own business. So he began putting aside a portion of his salary each month and then quit his job to focus on developing his business plan and turning his idea into a reality.
Marwen discovered Mashrou3i, a public-private partnership project between USAID, the Italian Cooperation, the HP Foundation and UNIDO, through the regional Business Center. After completing the courses on the HP LIFE e-Learning platform, he was invited to attend a Mashrou3i training workshop to improve his entrepreneurship skills.
“HP LIFE e-Learning helped me improve my marketing and communication skills,” says Marwen. “Entrepreneurs are often afraid to talk about their ideas and to confide too much in others. But the Mashrou3i experts helped me to step out of my comfort zone, to trust in my project and to develop my networking skills.”
Inspired by networking opportunities in his region, after the training Marwen established a trade association with three other companies including an architect, Yathreb Fardhi, who is also supported by Mashrou3i.
“By joining forces we meet a demand in the market and have quickly established ourselves in the local construction sector,” says Marwen. “Through the trade association, we can more easily win large construction contracts in Jendouba and other regions.”
In April 2018, Marwen took part in a Mashrou3i communication workshop to strengthen his presentation skills. After the coaching he went on regional radio to raise awareness of We Care Enterprise. The engineer is currently expanding the business and recently made an application for an additional loan of 80,000 Tunisian Dinars from the Tunisian Solidarity Bank.
“I started my business with 5 full-time employees. Today We Care Enterprise provides employment that supports 11 people and their families,” says Marwen. “Thanks to Mashrou3i I feel confident that I can overcome my challenges. The company is growing and I plan to recruit more people in the future.”