Magzoid Magazine - A Luxury Magazine in the Creative Space | July 2021

ART OF BUSINESS
Rizwan Sajan
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.
Exclusive to 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
50 July 2021
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