Cover Story
R izwan Sajan, Dubai’s 1% Man, is an Emirati Businessman who is known for his unwavering vision, unparalleled leadership skills, and unswerving commitment to the Middle East Region. As a leader, Sajan is known for his excellent visionary approach and innovative mindset. He has always believed in pushing boundaries, exploring new horizons, and challenging the status quo. His business leadership is characterised by a hands- on approach, where he leads by example and encourages a culture of ownership, creativity, collaboration, and progressive improvement. Sajan has always believed that striving to become the best is the only way in life. Rizwan Sajan has built a diversified conglomerate that is focused on real estate — he’s making residential luxury affordable with his 1% per month payment plan by collaborating with brands like Aston Martin, Fashion TV, and Tonino Lamborghini Casa. The rags to riches story In the early 90s, Rizwan Sajan moved to the UAE with the dream of starting his own business. The first-generation entrepreneur was born in the slums of Ghatkopar in Mumbai. His journey started when his father miraculously won a ‘subsidized’ lottery, moved his family into a tiny apartment, and tried his best to look after the family. Though he managed to pay the tuition fees for the kids, it was never enough. Young Sajan, with his sisters, used to walk a few kilometers to reach school. The pocket money —₹15 in total for all the kids — was never sufficient for the young ones who could barely buy anything from the school canteen. The young boy decided to do his bit to earn some money. He implored his dad to lend ₹1,000 and started his early journey into rudimentary trading. Sajan’s low-lying fruit — call it the catchment area — turned out to be his schoolmates. He bought books in bulk, sold them to his friends at the market rate, and started making some extra bucks. The next gig was selling milk in the locality and making the most of a long tail of festivals around the year. From sourcing rakhis to selling firecrackers, he did everything to earn extra money. Then tragedy struck when he was 16. His father died, and Sajan had to drop out of school and take care of the family. Using a small kitty that his dad managed to save at the firm where he worked, he got into the business of manufacturing box files. The business clicked, but making ends meet was still a challenge. Two years later, his uncle offered him a job in Kuwait. That was his lottery. Back in Mumbai, the young founder was earning ₹6,000. In Kuwait, he got a monthly salary of ₹18,000 (150 dinars). He joined as a trainee salesman, and quickly climbed the ladder to become manager. His salary increased from 150 dinars to 1,500 dinars and he started earning sales commissions of around 50,000 dinars every month, the salary started to look obscene. That was a lot of money at that time and the salesman was living his dream. He bought a Toyota Land Cruiser, purchased a house in Bandra, and got his sister married. Soon, came a wicked twist in the fairytale. In August 1990 because of the Gulf War, Sajan’s wonderland came crashing, and he was forced to return to Mumbai. A few years later, he tried his luck in Dubai. In the late 90s, Sajan started working in a trading firm. It was a brokerage business, where he was making commissions, and in 1993 he started his building material business. Over the next decade and a half, he kept diversifying and added more heft to his business. In 2006, he started the sanitary solutions brand Milano. In 2008, he ventured into the home furnishing business with Danube Home. Four years later, in 2012, came Alucopanel, a business of aluminum composite panels. The real estate entry happened in 2014. Since then there has been no looking back. The business The Sajans aren’t new money, but the family’s growing wealth and business are now being fueled heavily by money flooding in from the subcontinent. Indians make up 32% of the Danube Properties firm’s customers in the UAE, and they are contributing to some of the largest gains for Danube. As the Founder and Chairman of Danube Group, one of the biggest conglomerates in the Middle East, Sajan has transformed the outlook of the building materials industry by supplying supreme quality products to almost all the various major projects in the Mena region. Moving forward, the group ventured into the household
Danube Properties has come a long way in perfecting the art of building a home! For more than eight years, we have delivered affordable luxury to thousands of families. From this year, we have ventured into branded residences by joining hands with luxury brands such as Aston Martin, FashionTV, and Tonino Lamborghini Casa to bring a new class of residences to our buyers. “
12 Federation of GCC Chambers
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