• 12 hours ago
Insight into the journey of serial business man and CEO of fam Properties, Firas Al Msaddi
Transcript
00:00So I come from an amazing small family in Syria, in Homs.
00:05And so basically it's me, my brother, my younger brother, and my older sister, and obviously my parents.
00:11And since I was a kid, I was a very, very competitive kid.
00:15So I always wanted to be the best, and I was always hard-working.
00:19Whether it was to do at what I did with my dad in one of my dad's shops, selling shoes,
00:26or even I used to play basketball, or I used to go to the gym, or even at class,
00:30I was always one of these kids who wanted to do the best and to be number one.
00:35And of course as I grew up, I felt that there wasn't enough opportunities for me in Homs,
00:46and I wanted to go out.
00:48And of course every summer I see people coming back from the GCC, or people coming back from the States,
00:53and I see that they have completely different caliber and experience,
00:57and I decided back then that my plan is to leave, basically,
01:02and to go abroad and to start a new page, basically.
01:07I took many interviews, and I was accepted in one of the interviews to Qatar
01:12to act as a security in one of the malls,
01:15because I knew I had this deep, deep belief as if I can touch my future,
01:22that I know the minute I put my foot out, I would definitely go to places and work my way up.
01:29So I was ready even to go to the extent of accepting a job as a security in a mall,
01:35although back in Homs we live in one of the best areas in my city,
01:40and I really didn't have to do it unless I knew that there was a much bigger future behind it.
01:47I took one more interview to Dubai to work as a salesperson in one of the fashion shops at Armani,
01:53and I was accepted, so obviously I decided on this one,
01:57and I arrived to Dubai on 15th December 2005.
02:01And the minute I hit the ground in Dubai, I was impressed with all the towers,
02:05and all the offices on Sheikh Zayed Road,
02:08and instantly my next step was, every day coming back to the GCC where I used to work in the shop,
02:16I wanted to have my next step as basically to go to an office and not to stand in a retail shop,
02:23to go into a different era of business other than being surrounded with four walls in a shop.
02:33I did one year and a half at Armani,
02:39and from the minute I stepped into the shop to the minute I, I think, finished my first year,
02:46I did double shifts.
02:48So I would come in the morning, I was asked to come at basically nine and leave at five like everybody else,
02:56or I come from, I think, four to ten.
02:58But I did straight shifts.
03:01I honestly don't remember that I took a day off.
03:05Maybe I did, but now I don't remember that I took a day off.
03:08And my first year, I got number one salesperson across the UAE for Emporio Armani,
03:16and I was gifted the Bulgari watch, I remember, from the company.
03:24Of course, I started to get my grip on English,
03:27and I even learned a little bit of Russian to the extent that I can communicate with Russian clients,
03:32because back then there was a lot of Russian clients coming to the shop.
03:37And in between, I met my amazing wife.
03:44Don't ask me when did I have the time to meet my wife,
03:48because it was basically, I think, halfway through, I wanted to go to pursue my study here.
03:59Because in Syria, I studied English translation, and it was extremely basic.
04:06And when I came here, I realized that English is just a no-brainer.
04:09I decided to take up business study, so I joined one of the institutes in Knowledge Village.
04:17Basically, the institute was linked to Middlesex University,
04:21and through friends there where I met my wife.
04:26So I spent all my time either at the shop, or at my class in the institute, or basically gymming.
04:39And I met my wife there. My wife did her university in Bristol, so she was back and forth to Dubai.
04:47And I think a year and a half later, I really felt that I can see the ceiling in the shop,
04:56and it wasn't good enough for me.
04:59I mean, even the position of my manager, or even his manager, was not good enough for me.
05:03So I started taking interviews, and then I was accepted.
05:10I mean, I was accepted in insurance and in real estate, but without a salary.
05:14Only commission-based job.
05:16So I took the interview in one of the companies in Dubai Marina.
05:19I was accepted, but I could not leave my job because I didn't have financial backups.
05:25So leaving a salaried job at 5,500 dirhams per month and going to zero salary was a big jump for me.
05:33So I took my vacation.
05:36I had, I think, 23 days vacation or something, and I went to this company.
05:42I worked, and the minute I hit the ground there, I looked at the people around me,
05:46what cars they're driving, what caliber they are.
05:49And I just felt like, oh my goodness, I can really take this over and beyond.
05:57So during 23 days, I closed a few leasing deals, and then I decided to resign from Armani.
06:02So I went back, I resigned, and I joined this company.
06:09And in between, I was, of course, I was very new to the industry, to be honest.
06:16When I joined, I was almost like a headless chicken because everyone was running, the market was booming.
06:22And I was approached by one of the investors who actually was closing down his company in Dubai.
06:32And he said, why don't you come and try and take this off again with me?
06:40So I went there, it was just me basically, and they had, I think, a few months remaining on the rent.
06:45I can't remember exactly, six, seven months.
06:48And I thought, okay, I'll try.
06:50So I started hiring people, and I built a website, I did a few transactions.
06:56And during the first year, I sold the company to two investors, one Lebanese, one Armenian.
07:02And I remained the GM of the company.
07:05And basically, the company went to, I think, 35 employees.
07:12When the partners decided to part ways, and they went into a legal battle, I didn't want to be part of.
07:20So I thought I'd get some, you know, corporate experience.
07:24So I joined one of the largest developers in Dubai for probably two days.
07:33And I was let go because of the financial crisis.
07:37So I tried to get a job with a few other companies.
07:42I joined actually probably three or four brokerage companies, also one of the biggest.
07:49I remember all the companies I went to, I was trying to get an interview, they didn't even interview me.
07:55Of course, it was financial crisis.
07:58And then the last company I joined, I couldn't last.
08:03I just couldn't take it to go back, to be honest.
08:06Like, I was running the show, and I started this company with a South African investor who's one of my best, best friends today.
08:15His name is AB.
08:16And then to go back to work as an agent, it just didn't work for me.
08:21So I decided to start my own company.
08:24And that was not just the peak of the financial crisis, it was the peak of the global real estate crisis.
08:32So March 2009, I bought a bankrupted license, real estate license.
08:38And then I rented an office, three and a half years, one contract.
08:45I did the fit out.
08:47I remember even the business development person at the fit out company, his name is Rakan, maybe you'll be watching this at some point.
08:57He said, are you sure you want to go into this?
08:59Like, to start a real estate company back then, it was like a little bit insane.
09:04But for me, I found an opportunity.
09:06And I told myself if there was even one square foot, one transaction to be sold in this country,
09:10I want to exercise my right like everybody else and I should be the one doing it.
09:17And I also believe that, I mean, it's real estate, it's not going to be overtaken by technology overnight or anything.
09:23And every single square foot is built to be sold or leased or rented.
09:28So I went, I went with full confidence and I took up the office.
09:34And I think November I was fully operational, 2009.
09:37I started out of a small office in Executive Towers, 1100 square feet.
09:43And then I started, you know, working again day and night.
09:49I enjoyed the challenge. I enjoyed every day.
09:51Because I believe that this is how God created life.
09:54If you work, I mean, sometimes you work with 10 clients, you put so much work and efforts, it doesn't work.
10:02And then one client buys from you over the phone.
10:04But because you've put so much effort in the universe and, you know, you've gained experience from every dealing you had.
10:13I think then 2013, 2012, I went to Istanbul. We did a lot of real estate work in Istanbul.
10:242014, I think, I started FAM Reset Global Abu Dhabi.
10:33And then I started, I think, 2014 as well.
10:39FAM Global Media, which is an outdoor media in Abu Dhabi.
10:42I started FAM Media 24x7 Dubai, which is, again, it's an outdoor media company.
10:50And then 2015, I started FAM Interiors.
10:55And all of these companies are fully operational up until today, basically.
11:02So I branched out into, you know, businesses that have synergy with what I do.
11:08And yeah, here we go today.
11:11Here we go today. Basically, I have six companies in Dubai.
11:18Started the company in London a year and a half back.
11:22I started with one of our investors in Ethiopia last year, Nadi Sabawa.
11:29And now we're heading to China.
11:31So honestly, looking back, we just celebrated our 10th anniversary at FAM Properties.
11:35Today, we're over 190 employees, five branches in Dubai.
11:41And, you know, 2017 and 2018, the company achieved, as per the Dubai Land Department record,
11:49the highest number of transactions.
11:52And at my personal capacity, I was also, I did hit the highest number of transactions as a broker.
12:012017 and 2018, so two consecutive years, we've won many awards from the top developers,
12:08from EMAR, from ERAS, from Dubai Holding.
12:12And just looking at this and, you know, the past 10 years, where I started and where I am today,
12:21I would say, if I have to mention a few keys to my success,
12:27I think, number one, I always think of the purpose of what I'm doing,
12:32whether I'm working for my own business or for someone else.
12:35Because what's in it for me is always the experience.
12:39So when you think of the ultimate purpose, so if someone, if my manager asked me to do something,
12:46I would not do it just because he asked me.
12:48I'll do it always to the best extent of my ability, because that's the only time I'm going to gain the experience of it.
12:53And that's the only time I'm going to move up to the next level.
12:57So always thinking of the purpose of what you're doing, not just because someone has asked you to do it.
13:04And of course, I'm a big believer that there's, many people won't like this maybe,
13:10but some people say hard work, smart work.
13:12I think, in my opinion, smart work is given.
13:16I mean, no one decides to wake up in the morning and work stupid today and tomorrow smart.
13:20I think hard work is a must.
13:23I mean, we can't control so much how smart we are today and how smart we are tomorrow,
13:29but we can definitely control how hard we work.
13:32Of course, to the extent that you're still operating to your optimum capacity, everyone has certain capacity.
13:38So I've really worked very hard and I think, I believe that everyone, everyone of us,
13:46you know, be an ordinary person or a king or a president or whoever,
13:53we, if I want to buy anything, I want to deal with someone who's got the right ethics and value system
14:02and someone who's got the know-how.
14:04I have to also say that, you know, being so good to others and especially to your family
14:09and especially to your parents and to your wife if you're married,
14:14forms a great part of my success because I truly believe that it's, you know,
14:19the blessing of God and the prayers of my parents and the support of my family
14:26and my brother, my sister, and of course my wife has contributed a lot to where I am today.

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