An entrepreneur recognizes a need in society and creates a business to fill it. Mr. Rizwan Sajan, backed by the principle of perpetual evolution, has been the driving force behind the Danube Group’s success. His capacity to be open to change while also discovering and energizing the group has led to the company’s defining success.
Mr. Rizwan Sajan’s imaginative approach earned him a spot on Forbes Middle East’s “Top 100 Indian Leaders in the UAE” list.
Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between World’s Leaders and Rizwan Sajan:
Describe who you are as a person, inside and outside of the workplace.
I am a simple and humble person. I started life a bit earlier than others – at the age of 16, right after the sad demise of my father, and started to take care of the family through the meagre earnings that I could generate by working side by side with my classes in college.
In business and management, I am a very straight forward person. I want to empower people, take risks, give responsibilities to people who deserve them, and hold them accountable if anything goes wrong. Transparency and accountability are very important. I am a transparent person, and I am accountable for the success or failure of the entire group. But I can only be successful if my team works in tandem.
Describe your background and what did you do before you started/joined the company?
I come from a humble family background – in Mumbai. My father used to work in a private company. My mother used to be a homemaker. We are two brothers and a sister. We were brought up on strict principles and ethics – imbibed in our character by our parents in our early childhood.
Life used to be normal in the Mumbai neighbourhood where we grew up and had our schooling. However, things almost came to a standstill after the sudden death of my father. I was 16 and not eligible to work. However, I was offered a part-time position in the same company where my father worked by his colleagues—to support our family. So, I used to work at the company in the evening while continuing my college studies.
A few years later, one of my uncles offered me a job in his building materials shop in Kuwait when I reached the age of 18 and was eligible to work. So, I went to Kuwait and joined his business. I learned the ins and outs of the building materials trade in my uncle’s shop and soon helped to expand it through my knowledge and hard work.
At one point in time, I was entrusted by my uncle to make business decisions for him – and run the business – till the outbreak of the Iraq-Kuwait war in 1991. We had to close the company and return to India.
Tell us about the inception of the company. How did it all start?
After the setback in Kuwait, I started thinking of coming back to the Gulf to start my career. That’s what I did. I came to Dubai – the land of opportunity.
Since I knew the business of building materials, I joined a company as their sales person. I used to procure orders for the company and ensure supplies. However, the company did not have all the products, so I had to source them from other suppliers for the client, as I didn’t want to say “No” to the clients.
This way, I had built a strong rapport with clients and suppliers, who started to trust me. In 1993, I started Danube Building Materials as a small supplier of building materials. Due to my efficiency and contacts, we started to get orders in bulk and continued to supply in large quantities.
As business grew, I hired people to support me. We took the warehouse, increased the showroom space, and then started to import materials in bulk. This is how it all started from a two-person company to what it is currently a large business with a diversified portfolio.
So, my decision to start a business in building materials was due to my experience in Kuwait in this field.
Which are the major services of the company and how do they the company to get ahead in the competition? What value-added services does the company provide?
As mentioned, we started as a building materials trading business and later introduced joinery services. Then we launched our retail operations under Danube Home — which is the home improvement arm of our business.
In 2014, we started our real estate development arm – Danube Properties – which has been a major success. We have so far launched 16 projects and delivered 11 of them to more than 3,000 happy families.
In 2021, we launched our Hospitality Solutions Division—for the hotels and catering sector, which is picking up.
So, we are predominantly into trading, export, import, wholesale, retail, and services sectors.
What are the most important aspects of a company’s culture? What principles do you believe in and how do you build this culture?
The strength of the business lies in our core values: integrity, quality services, transparency, accountability, strong ethics and sound business practice. You need to be honest and sincere in your dealings. If there is a problem with a product or service, then it is important to communicate with the customer so that they are aware of the problem.
What is the significance of innovative ideas in the company?
The survival of a business will depend on technology adoption, innovation, and creativity. A business could collapse if it fails to change with the times and if it lacks innovation.
Business is carried out by humans. It is skill-based. So, you need to develop human capital across the organisation and inculcate a strong culture of productivity, accountability and transparency. Continuous training, mentoring, and development of human resources are critical.
You need to introduce technology and ensure that the team members keep abreast of the latest technology.
Give us your opinion on; do organisations rely heavily on individual heroics or team processes?
Business is about teamwork. However, within team work, you need heroes—role models for others to inspire and improve.
What are your responsibilities as the Founder/CEO of the company? What is the happiest part of your daily routine?
As a businessman, I take strategic development decisions, and the team runs the business. I assist the team in running the business in accordance with my strategic thinking, which is aligned with the government’s vision.
What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
Do your homework before venturing into anything. You need to find a gap in society and then develop a business around it. Whatever you do, put your heart and soul into it.
Business is not about money alone. Working for a cause The money will come. Develop a business to fix a problem and money will pour in. Learn how to monetise your skills.
Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t lose heart every time you fail. But try to analyse why you failed, so that you can rectify the mistakes. Failure is the pillar of success.
Be honest, humble and remain grounded. Result will come. Think global, act local.
