Survival of the Fittest

Bayt.com's marketing vice-president Mona Ataya agrees that success as an Internet business comes from not thinking like one. "You have to follow a traditional business plan. Being a dot-corn does not make you an exception," she says firmly. The reason Bayt, a regional recruitment site that counts 6,500 businesses and more than 275,000 job seekers among its customers has survived is because it has always thought of itself as a normal company with a product it needs to sell to make money, rather than looking towards an acquisition or IPO to make its fortune, she says. As a result, it is one of the few that has not had to change its business or revenue plan along the way.

When Bayt launched in June 2000, it was looking to address a real business need, says Ataya - providing talent to a geographically fragmented region where networking and travelling to job interviews is costly. It also recognized the importance of providing physical back up to its online offerings. Bayt has eight offices in the Arab World, which allows it to have a one-to-one training relationship with corporate clients, who may be using online recruitment for the first time. Every office is a profit maker, and any that don't make the grade, such as a content office in Cairo, are closed within months.

It is notable that the startups that attracted the most outside investment were the first to struggle, while others that began with less, attribute this factor in their success.

The company has been profitable from the first nine months, exceeding its own projections, and its top line is gaining 20 per cent revenue month on month, according to Ataya. Bayt received a first and second round of funding from a US company, but recently refused an offered third round. "We didn't need it; we are very healthy financially," says Ataya.