Transforming a challenge into a chance

How Ascentia Services maneuvered through 2020, a stormy year for SMEs 

With 2020 coming to an end, we are all reflecting on an unprecedented year. We at Ascentia have connected with many SMEs throughout the year, and many have repeated the same mantra “2020 hasn’t been about making a profit, it’s about survival. We respect the strength in this statement, especially for those who have struggled through and are somehow still standing.

At Ascentia, this was our second year in operation; a year when we had begun to pick up speed and assert our place in the consulting and delivery services market. But like it did to so many, the pandemic brought a moment of stillness, quiet, and concern. We saw the challenges coming at the SME sector and they came at full speed. They were challenges that were tough to forecast in the short term, let alone the long. But we could forecast one thing: that despite the pandemic, some truly extraordinary success stories would arise post-Covid.

How could we transform these challenges into chances? As cliche as it sounds, we made it our mission to find out. Working during the pandemic was the first challenge to maneuver through, but we managed to ensure the smooth flow of operation for all staff through our advanced technical capabilities. A solid tech infrastructure became a win for all SMEs during 2020, and luckily, it was something that Ascentia had placed a huge emphasis on developing in the year prior.

At the start of 2019, we had expanded our core team and launched in India, while also venturing into a new line of business – delivery services. At the year-end, we closed our revenue at 100%, added nine new logos to our portfolio, among them two international clients, and had increased our employees significantly. At the start of 2020, our plans were to continue expansion in both reputation and size. We realized the year would continue to throw hurdles, but we believed that our products would remain integral and essential to many businesses in the UAE and across the region. The delivery business boomed due to the lockdown, which was an opportunity for Ascentia to capitalize on, while the reliance on IT allowed our company to support many clients in need of a tech infrastructure boost. We also handled third-party logistics, as part of our entire contingency plan for the year. In mid-2020, we set our eyes on our initial pre-pandemic goals and realized that pushing forward now would not be something we would ever regret. We made the move to expand and proudly launched our Bahrain office. Through the support of a single, determined vision that is felt across our business, alongside robust offerings that our clients still needed amid the pandemic, we were able to rise to the challenges of 2020. We at Ascentia wish all our business partners, and all those within the SME community, a brighter 2021 and an outlook that pinpoints how to transform obstacles into opportunities.

Ascentia Services is a UAE-headquartered provider of Consulting Services and Delivery Solutions.