Most 13-year-olds spend their afternoons on homework or games. Hamad Abdullah bin Safwan spends his running his own café.
Café 37 sits inside his family home in Abu Dhabi. It opened in early October 2026, and it is named after the family villa number, 37.
A summer holiday sparked the idea
The idea came to Hamad during a family holiday over the summer. ‘I’ve always loved making coffee,’ he said, and he wanted to turn that interest into a business of his own.
His father has owned a café for nearly five years, so coffee was already part of family life. After the holiday, father and son started preparing the café together at home.
The menu he built himself
Hamad developed the menu and created his own recipes. One of the café’s staff members helps him prepare orders when it gets busy.
The most popular items so far are açai bowls and cheesecake. The café opens from 4pm to 10pm, so the school day comes first.
School first, then the café
Hamad’s day follows a steady pattern. When he comes home, he prays, studies for a while, then spends time at the café. After that he goes back to his studies, finishes his work, prays again and reads the Quran.
He also takes online Quran memorisation lessons twice a week. He says running the café has not affected his studies.
The hardest part is a rush of customers. ‘The hardest part is when there are too many customers at once, and I can’t do everything at the same time,’ he said.
What his father wanted him to learn
His father did not want him to wait until he was older to start. He wanted his son to learn how to speak to people and deal with customers. ‘That is more important than selling,’ he said.
Before Café 37 opened, Hamad spent weekends at his father’s café. He watched how drinks were prepared and learned how to talk with customers.
His father says the change in Hamad is clear. His personality has changed by around 70 per cent, and he is far more comfortable speaking to customers and listening to what they say.
Matcha is his favourite example. Hamad does not like matcha himself, but customers order it, and he understands that just because he does not like something, it does not mean other people won’t.
A licence, supervision and a bigger dream
The café runs under an Abu Dhabi Trader licence. An adult supervises the work and helps prepare orders.
Hamad already has his eyes on what comes next. ‘Hopefully, I’ll grow the business and open another one,’ he said.
His advice to other children who want to start a business is simple. Keep trying, he says, and he is happy to share what he has learnt along the way.
What Hamad’s café means for young founders in the UAE
Hamad’s story matters because it starts with a skill, not a pitch deck. He learned to make coffee, watched his father run a café, and then built a small version of it at home. That is a far better first step than waiting for permission to be old enough.
There is also a lesson in how the family handled it. His father did not hand him a business.
He gave him weekends behind a counter, adult supervision, and room to make mistakes with real customers. That mix of freedom and guardrails is what turned a hobby into a habit.
The UAE talks a lot about young founders, and most of the stories are about adults. A 13-year-old running a café from his villa, after homework and prayers, shows that the next wave may start much earlier than we think. If Hamad opens a second café, it will be because he earned it one cup at a time.
Key takeaways
- Start with a skill, not a pitch. Hamad learned to make coffee first, then built a business around it.
- Learn by watching and doing. Weekends at his father’s café taught him how drinks are made and how to talk to customers.
- Listen to what customers want. He does not like matcha himself, but he serves it because customers order it.
- Freedom works best with guardrails. Adult supervision and a Trader licence let him run a real business at 13.
Visit Café 37
Address: Tameem Bin Al Harith St – Shakhbout City – MSH16 – Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates
Phone: +971 56 580 0229
