Garima Trisha Kapoor,  Xpertize United           

An alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad, Navin Kapoor first came to Dubai almost 26 years ago as the marketing manager of Jumbo Electronics. Despite having a cushy job in India with a British multinational company, he came here in search of better prospects. “The salary offered in Dubai was three times the salary I was offered in India. I was driven by the fact that I could make more money here.” To this day, he says, he continues to be amazed at the pace at which Dubai has grown.

After spending a chunk of his time working for others, Navin started Xpertize United, a company that focuses on corporate training. “We train in the area of management. We do sales marketing and strategic training for senior level executives.” Xpertize United initially had only two trainers on its rolls. Now, the company has 50.

His daughter, 20-year-old Garima, who is being groomed to take over the reins of the company, admits that her attitude towards business is different from that of her father’s. “My dad is more of a professional in terms of taking risks. I have more of a ‘Let’s go for it, Dad’ attitude. We do argue on a lot of things, but we manage to find a balance as well,” she laughs.

Garima left for Nottingham Trent Business School in the UK around the same time Navin started Xpertize United. “Whenever my father used to come to London for business meetings, I always used to attend them with him.”

Born with an appetite for business, Garima cannot call any of the adjustments she had to make in her lifestyle a ‘sacrifice’. “Being on time for work at 8am is the only change I had to implement in my life consciously.”

She explains that age is no barrier when it’s time to conduct business deals over the table. “Before my first meeting, I was a little worried that the others might not take me seriously, but to my surprise I found out that was not 
the case.”

Raju Shroff, director, Regal Traders

Raju Shroff inherited a company that began when Dubai was still a trading port. “My grandfather and his brother-in-law came here in the 1940s and opened the textiles store Regal Traders officially in 1952. My father joined them in the 1960s.” Dubai remained a tranquil town until the opening of the creek, which set the wheels of modern change in motion. What began as a one-store operation quickly grew into a large group of companies with interests in diverse fields. Apart from heading the family’s fabric business, Shroff started his own company, Regal Technology, in 1988. “We were the first company to install and sell the first satellite signal in the Middle East,” says Shroff.

The dawn of a new age brings with it new customers, competitive markets and new styles of conducting business. The company runs on experience, explains Shroff, so all he had to do was train employees to think bigger and learn the fresh tricks of the trade. “We weren’t pushing retail and now Regal is the largest retail chain store. We ventured into other businesses that are not textile-related. Like for instance, when my brother came in, we went into the distribution of luggage, lingerie and garments.”

While Shroff was still in training, the 1991 Gulf War sent people fleeing from the region and back to their home countries. “It was a chaotic time as businesses were hurt substantially. We lost a lot of money in Kuwait. Though people panicked during the war and stopped spending, they all resumed buying after the conflict.”

Dubai, he says, is a land of dreams. “I know so many people whose dreams have come true. But you should also work hard, not just dream,” smiles Shroff.

Natasha Gangaramani, director, Al Fara’a Properties

In the 1970s, when the now-bustling Shaikh Zayed Road was nothing more than a sandy stretch of road, a UK-based company, a team of dedicated constructors and a visionary Shaikh, decided it was time to deliver Dubai’s first engineering marvel — the Dubai World Trade Centre. A then 26-year-old JR Gangaramani helped construct the building as project manager. Four and a half years later, the World Trade Centre stood tall, and since 1979, it has helped to transform Dubai into a world famous business hub.

His daughter, Natasha, remembers her father telling her stories about meeting His Excellency Shaikh Rashid at the construction site. Sheikh Rashid would point at the sandy stretch and say there will be towers on this entire road one day. “He saw something that the others didn’t,” she says.

JR Gangaramani — who was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (meant for expat Indians) this year — started Al Fara’a in 1980 with 50 employees; today, Al Fara’a is a group of nine companies with 18,000 employees. Natasha joined her dad’s company in early 2006 and started Al Fara’a Properties, of which she is the director.

An electronic engineer, Natasha has also worked in California’s ‘Silicon Valley’ in the USA. Scions of business families do not have luck and fortune served on a platter, she insists. “My father told us that you should know how to take instructions before giving instructions. For one-and-a-half years, we reported on site every day at 5:30am. We climbed 80 storey buildings that had no elevators, walked on steel rods … it was a gruelling process to get into Al Fara’a.”

Natasha’s view on the recent global financial crisis is optimistic. “In a way, we were fortunate to see a market like that at such a young age — it was a growing experience for all of us,” she says. Her best lesson learnt was, “the sooner you come out of denial and get into action, the better it is for the business.”

Yogesh D Vaya, managing director, Mohanlal Vallabhdas & Bros. LLC

Yogesh remembers a time when ‘Dh50 per gold bar’ was a reality and not a cruel advertising gimmick. This was in the 1950s and 60s when his uncle, Mohanlal Vallabhdas and his younger brother travelled across the Arabian Sea to set up their own gold business. The two brothers fell in love with the scene that greeted them — there were no roads and the main mode of transport was the camel. “The front of their small shop was dedicated to retail while the back was a manufacturing unit,” remembers Yogesh. His father joined his brothers shortly after. Mohanlal Vallabhdas & Bros. LLC was established in 1960.

“My dad told me that he had to carry 30 kilogrammes of gold on his back. It was a lot of hard work, but my father and uncles thoroughly enjoyed the experience,” says Yogesh. “Back then, jewellery and designs were all handmade.”

Designs engraved on beautiful silver jewellery would be shown to jewellers — so that they could replicate the design in gold. Soon, the brothers shifted their focus to retail in the 70s and 80s — and with the new gold souk opening in the late 80s, the timing was perfect.

During summer vacations while at high school, Yogesh, who was born in Dubai, and his cousins would be allotted various duties like cleaning the jewellery or observing cash dealings. He remembers his childhood with nostalgia. “Back then, there were no malls or any other forms of entertainment, and it was really hot.”

He took over the family business in 1997. Yet, he does not shy away from seeking the advice of his father from time to time, such as when it was time to make some tough decisions during the recession.

“My father advised me not to take any decision that involved spending the capital that was hard earned over the years. Now, all we can do is sit and watch the market. But in the gold business, you don’t really have to worry about stock. It’s not like textile where you have to worry about your stock going out of fashion. If there is a new design, you can always melt your gold and change the design.”

Harjeev Kandhari, executive director, Al Dobowi Group

Harjeev hails from a family that has been involved in the tyre and automotive products industry for almost four generations.

“My father, Surender S Kandhari, moved to the UAE in 1976 and set up the business as it is today,” he says. 

Harjeev explains that Al Dobowi means ‘The man from Dubai’ — a name the family is very proud of. His brother, Jasjeev, moved to Dubai almost a decade ago, while Harjeev came here seven years ago from the UK — after having worked there in the banking and private equity sector. “My father asked us to work and learn abroad and bring something new to the business. So, we came back to the business as qualified professionals.

“Do we have it easy? Well, I guess in certain respects. But, you can do two things — either rest on your laurels or use your platform to grow.”

Harjeev recalls a time when Jumeirah was once considered to be the middle of nowhere, as opposed to the high-end image attached to the area today. “Almost 20 or 22 years ago, when my family were looking to move to Jumeirah, people said we were mad. When we were looking at getting a house by the beach, we didn’t take one actually facing the beach as there was no breakwater and the water could come and wash it away.” It was the desire to give something back to the country that gave them everything that inspired the Khandhari family to construct a Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) in Jebel Ali.

“Many from our community are labourers, carpenters … not people from the higher strata of society. As you know, building a Gurdwara in a Muslim country is not easy, but Shaikh Mohammed asked us to go ahead and build it. We asked for the licence and he gave us the land for free. All he asked was that we build one of the best temples in Dubai. That’s when you realise how great this country is. The temple is going to be constructed in 100,000 sq feet. We are going to build a temple on par with some of the best in the world,” says Harjeev.

Piyush Mahesh, director, National Food Industries

National Food Industries, the manufacturer of popular snack brands like Mr Krisps, Emirates Pofaki, Bakeman’s and Sindbad, was started in 1977 in Al Quoz by Lalchand Valabdas and his brother Mahesh. Their father, Valabdas Muljimal, is an old hand at the business: he had set up a trading office in Bahrain in the early 1900s.

“Back in the 70s, getting raw material was difficult… the infrastructure was also limited,” Mahesh Valabdas’s son Piyush — the current director of National Food Industries — says. “No one knew about Dubai. So we had to import everything. The cartons and actual packet for the chips were all imported from the US and Europe. But today, Dubai is self-reliant in its supplies to the industrial sector. It makes me proud to see how much Dubai has grown.”

The early 80s brought with it a huge boom in the industry, Piyush remembers. Demand for their products skyrocketed and to meet them, the family had to import machines from the US and Europe.

In 1988, when Piyush was 13, a tragedy befell the family when his father and uncle died in a plane crash. They were just about to set up a first-of-its-kind in Asia manufacturing plant in Ahmedabad (India), along with a few of their partners. “My grandfather had to come out of retirement and take over the reins of the business. I remember, after school, I would work with him to gain insights into the complex world of FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) manufacturing and distribution.”

In 1994, at the age of 18, Piyush officially joined his grandfather and brother, Chetan Lalchand, as a full-time director of the company.  “I had to do my college and work side by side. That way, I got to learn the business both theoretically and practically.” With his grandfather as a figurehead of the company, Piyush, Chetan and their management team are always on their toes. “My grandfather is almost 90 now and still has a passport that was stamped by the British in India years ago,” says Piyush proudly.

anu@khaleejtimes.com