The ultimate guide to start CCTV & VOIP store in The KSA

Over the last five years, Saudi Arabia's economy has grown to be one of the top twenty economies in the world and the largest one in the Middle East with many revenue resources mainly oil and since the Saudi government has launched its Saudi Vision 2030 to gradually shift or reduce the dependency on oil and to diversify their economic resources. It’s a potential market for entrepreneurs and local and international traders, and they provide many facilities in terms of papers or taxes to encourage business owners and entrepreneurs.

 

One main aspect that’s gaining a huge focus on the KSA market, is the technology and its applications. Technology can transform a country’s economy or make it suffer. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a need for technological solutions for businesses to remain and keep their operations. The county went on lockdown, meaning businesses weren’t able to open their offices, and they had to find solutions to enable their employees to work remotely and keep the business running which represent a huge opportunity for VoIP and CCTV store to push their products into the market.

Solutions like a cloud call center, and VPN services are essential these days even in this post-COVID time, so if you’re thinking of getting into the business of telecommunication and opening a store for communication devices, this is the right time to do it.

 

In this article, we’ll go through all procedures required to open your VoIP tech and CCTV store in the KSA. 

Steps and Procedures Required to Open a Store in the KSA

 

• Issuing a Commercial Register

The good news is you can issue this commercial register online through the official website without having to attend any of the Ministry's branches, and it’s an immediate service. It only costs SR 200 Main (one year).

 

How to use the service? [As mentioned on the website]

1. Login (http://cr.sa) and sign in with your username and password.

2. Click on My C.R.

3. Click on "Issue a Commercial Register"

4. You will see three options for the trade name (Reserved Name - Existing Name - Personal Name).

5. Choose the activity at 1, 2, 3, …etc

6. Choose the number of years the register will be valid for

7. Fill in the data relevant

8. A payment bill will be issued and sent to your mobile through SMS.

9. You can pay through various payment systems (Refer to the website)

10. You can print and use your Commercial Registration

• Issuance of Business License

This is also an e-service that allows citizens to immediately issue a license to practice commercial activities in accordance with the specified requirements for obtaining an instant license through an online portal.

 

Prerequisites 

• Identity card for the license issuer

• Commercial register

• Ownership or rent paper for the building or property (rent at least for 6 months)

• An outside picture of the store with the banner

• An inside picture of the store 

• A picture of security cameras installed in the building

• A contract with a trash cleaning service provider

• National ID for the 

• Official papers for the non-Saudi investors besides the investment license

Civil Defense’s requirements, which includes:

• Do not store flammable materials.

• External walls between buildings should be fire-resistant.

• Interior corridors should have adequate space for ease of movement.

• The building should not have an annex or apartment with a separate entrance.

• All electrical wiring should be isolated, not random, and connected to an automatic cutter.

• The water heater, if any, should contain a safety valve and has no leaks.

• Gas cylinders should be kept safe from flammable materials and should contain a leak detector and a self-locking valve.

Deciding on Products, Devices 

There are three main metrics you should consider when deciding on a device or a product.

1. Demand for the product or the device

2. Margin for profit

3. Product quality

 

When you decide on a product, you have many vendors or manufacturers for this product or category of products, and you should choose the one with the highest demand, for example in the KSA there are many VoIP and Network devices vendors; Avaya, Grandstream, Fanvil, Cisco, Yeastar, DrayTek, Ruijie, and more.

 

Each brand offers a different set of devices for different purposes, and you as a VoIP and CCTV store should choose the one that offers the highest quality and the most suitable prices. In all cases, it depends on the business requirement, if it’s a small or a medium-sized business (and they are many) you pick the vendor that serves this sector well and offers the best support.

Conclusion

Saudi Arabia's economy is booming, and it’s one of the top twenty economies in the world and the largest one in the Middle East, with many revenue resources, there’s a huge movement shifting from oil towards technology investment. Technology can transform a country’s economy or make it suffer. In this article, we tackled all the steps and procedures required to open a store in the KSA.