Student Entrepreneurs Grapple with Confidence and Time Management, CEO Reveals

Sheraa CEO emphasizes that early exposure and real-world experience are key to helping young founders balance business with academics.

SHARJAH (January 21, 2026) – As more students launch ventures alongside their studies, a lack of confidence and poor time management have emerged as their most significant hurdles, according to the CEO of the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre (Sheraa).

Sara Al Nuaimi stated that the core challenge is not choosing between education and enterprise, but developing the skills to grow as an entrepreneur while managing academic commitments.

“Student founders are entering entrepreneurship earlier than ever, often while still navigating their academic journeys. What they need most at this stage is exposure to real founders, real decisions, and real pathways beyond the classroom,” Al Nuaimi told Khaleej Times.

She identified three primary challenges: lack of entrepreneurial experience, mismanagement of time, and insufficient exposure. The latter, particularly early exposure, is critical for understanding how businesses function.

Building Bridges to the Real World

Platforms like the upcoming Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival, which gathers investors and established entrepreneurs, are presented as vital for bridging this gap. Such exposure, Al Nuaimi explained, helps reframe uncertainty as a learning process and directly addresses the confidence deficit many student founders face.

Sheraa, a government-supported incubator, has supported over 180 startups—more than half led by women—and helped generate over $248 million in revenue. Its model provides the structured ecosystem support student ventures need to transition from concept to reality.

As a success story, Al Nuaimi highlighted Eshara, an AI-powered Arabic sign language platform founded by students. Through incubation and mentorship at Sheraa, the team moved their academic concept into live testing and practical application.

The message to student entrepreneurs is clear: pursuing a business while studying is feasible with access to the right guidance, environments, and early exposure to the entrepreneurial ecosystem.