Rizwan Sajan, the Founder and Chairman of Danube Group started it as a small trading firm in 1993 which has evolved and expanded, over the last 25 years, into a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate. Danube Group’s operation is dominated by two main segments- Building Materials FZCO and Danube Home (Home Interior/ Décor Solutions), which brings together a variety of state-of-the-art products available at showrooms strewn across the MENA region. Under Sajan’s leadership, the company has charted a path that transformed from being just one shop with one employee to an employee strength of over 3,600 people in 50+ locations spread across 10 countries. From struggling to get a monthly job of $100 to a founder of a multi-billion-dollar venture, here is an excerpt of Sajan’s interaction with Magzoid.
You have prominently established yourself as a seasoned entrepreneur and businessman. We would like to know about your very first step in the world of entrepreneurship.
My life story is of an ordinary man whose experience has been full of adversities and hardships, which has molded me into what I am today. In my opinion, the thing that turned my goals of running my business into reality was that I never let the challenges deter me from pursuing what I desired. On the contrary, they have always intensified my willingness to achieve them. I started as an entrepreneur when I was 13 when my parents could only afford to pay for my schooling but didn’t have the money for the bus or to have food from the canteen. So, to make that extra buck, I started selling books to my friends, crackers during Diwali, rakhi during Raksha Bandhan and what not. Possibly those would be my early stepping stones which did mold me to thrive for setting up my own business. My true step towards entrepreneurship started when I raised my business empire from a two-member (me and my wife) team to the place where you can see it now. It’s a dream come true for me in every sense.
How did you choose the industry that you want to cater to and grow up to where you are now?
I started my career at a building materials trading organization in Kuwait back in the 1980s. I was hired to help the management in their day-to-day sales activities. Being a quick learner, I learnt the tricks of the trade very fast, so much, that the management started to trust me with additional responsibilities. Soon after, I started to run the business on a daily basis with the guidance of the owner. The business continued to grow and I played a crucial role in the company’s growth.
However, the Iraq-Kuwait war in 1990-1991 changed everything. We had to leave the business and Kuwait forever in 1991, and relocated back to Mumbai. Then about a year later, I decided to try my luck in the UAE – a land of opportunities.
Here, I joined a building materials company as a sales person and quickly started to obtain so many orders that the company did not have the means to handle them. But I did not want to lose the orders. So, I started sourcing supplies from other bigger companies and supplied to the buyers. This way, I accumulated some capital, which I invested in, to establish Danube Building Materials – as a small shop.
With the kind of experience that you have, I’m sure you must have come across a lot. But, would you like to talk about any specific challenging situation that you had faced and how did you overcome it?
I have faced all the typical challenges that all entrepreneurs face in general. However, the initial success in selling products and collecting cheques had made it relatively easy for me. One of the key challenges was to cope with the rising demand in building materials due to the unprecedented boom in real estate and construction. You need to have a very efficient team in order to manage the growth. Luckily, I am blessed with a very agile and efficient team that managed the growth year after year, as well as managed challenging situation when the economy slowed down.
You have been dealing with many businesses simultaneously and have successfully managed every one of them paving the path towards immense growth. What according to you were the most important things to make this possible?
I strongly believe that, in order to make any business turn profitable, you must be able to evaluate the failures you might encounter. I have seen many failures, but that has never deterred me from not pushing through. If you want to grow, you need to trust people. Many times, I have seen that when you start looking out for the people, you find them working better than you. It’s just that you need to make sure the process is controlled and the vision you have is conveyed to them and they resonate it well. For me figuring out the right people and delegating them, empowering them and training them has worked like wonders. I credit my group’s success to my team who has been my biggest strength to help me scale new heights.
As a visionary, how do you foresee the hospitality and real estate industries?
Both these industries are going to see a new dawn of light very shortly. Dubai, in specific has been marketed so well across the globe, to instantiate, the current handling of the pandemic by the government, a lot of people are looking forward to relocate to the UAE. This will definitely boost the economy which will in turn see a rise in the commercial activity across the board. Hotels and commercial establishments would need to scale their operations and refurbish their existing venues to match the inflow of demand. We, as a brand, saw this gap in the market 3 years back and launched Danube Hospitality Solutions, which will cater to the hospitality industry. As for real estate, we are budget players and our offerings are now being tapped by 1st time buyers and even investors who are looking for a well-known budget proposition to invest into.
Pandemic has been a major setback for many. What is your take on that?
We have navigated through a number of crises in the past. Having an inherent culture of managing business more pragmatically, I believe there are opportunities within every challenge and you need to have the foresight to understand that. In a crisis, one door might close, but multiple doors open. Besides, we are financially a conservative organization with almost zero leverage. We do not bite more than we can chew – so the risks remain manageable.
However, COVID-19 was like no other. It has a different magnitude. It changed the way we operate. We were quick to take a hold of the situation – our inventory, order backlogs – and above all, employees health, safety and well-being.
To sustain business, we temporarily reduced their salary, and then started paying full salary as soon as the businesses reopened in July 2020. In fact, we repaid the 30 percent as soon as the income flow had resumed. Now, we are back again, growing.
With Expo 2020 nearing, there’s a lot of momentum gaining all across. How’s Danube planning for it?
Expo is going to be a big boon for the UAE’s economy. The estimate for the number of people coming to the UAE was around 25 million; but because of the crisis, I still feel 15+ million will definitely come. Imagine 15-25 million people coming over here and around 10 percent of the people decide to buy a property, which is around 2 million people. Even if only 1 percent of the 15-25 million actually buy a property, we are talking about 150,000 to 200,000 apartments or villas being bought after the expo, which is a big boon.
As the real estate market in Dubai matures, developers are faced with making choices on the portfolio and their ability to sell them, based on the market dynamics and the demand-supply situation. There used to be a limited range of choice for the developers in the olden days. However, as market matures, the option also widens.
Real estate is a long-term business. It is important to plan, build, market and sell the properties accordingly. We have launched more than 6,100 residential units in the affordable homes since the launch of Danube Properties seven years ago and sold all of them due to these four factors. Some of these projects were launched during long, hot summer time and around the holy month of Ramadan – not the ideal time to launch properties. However, we were able to sell it successfully.
So, as a developer, I will continue to bet on affordable homes.
According to you, what are the probable impacts and outcomes of Expo 2020?
Expo 2020 will definitely work well to raise the investor confidence and the demand for real estate, hospitality, trade and tourism in the region. It is a big opportunity for UAE to bring in a lot of value and touristic attractions which will provide the biggest boost to the UAE’s economy, which is way ahead of other economies in terms of the post pandemic recovery. The hospitality, real estate, restaurants, rental cars industries will benefit massively from it and will bring everything back to the pre-covid level.
What advice do you have for young and budding entrepreneurs?
Believe in yourself. Make sure your business fulfills a need or a gap in the society – and build the business around it. Be honest, be truthful and face situations boldly. Don’t be afraid of failure. Let failure not define you. You should be defined by your integrity. Work for a cause, not money. Success will come and money will flow.
What according to you are the new areas of business where you see potential in?
As an entrepreneur, I always look for business opportunities and wherever I can contribute to the UAE economy. We are always on the lookout for new business opportunities. We only engage when we are sure about the opportunities and our ability to steer that business into a profitable venture.
As I have mentioned, we recently launched and expanded our hospitality division and we would like that division to stabilize and mature before we look into any new industry. I sense the service, entertainment, hospitality and leisure industries will see a new lease of life with the relaxing of the Covid-19 protocols and we are looking at these industries with a microscope and are already making a headway into each of them.
What are the other things that you get involved in during your leisure hours?
I am at phase of life where by I believe health is wealth. I make sure I clock in a swim to get my daily dose of endorphins for the day. Also, in my leisure I enjoy entertaining friends and socializing which keeps my calendar pretty full.
What message do you have for our readers?
Life is a curveball. You do not find the happy life, you make it. So, follow your dreams, do your thing with as much love and integrity as possible and leave the rest in the hands of the creator.