TQM
Power Tips for Improving Communication Skill
Power Tips for Improving Communication Skill
It might sound an over-simplification, but it’s true. The best way of improving communication skill is through practice. There are some easy and fun ways that you can improve your communication skill, though, so you needn’t worry about it being too hard to do. You will probably be really glad in a short space of time that you bothered to improve your communication skill.
Remember that communication can be either written or spoken. Both of these improve with practice and here are some fun ways to do that:
1. Write down your thoughts
Just write down anything. It can be impromptu and you Don’t have to show these ideas to anyone. This helps you to be able to order your thoughts logically.
However, if you find that you enjoy this way of expressing yourself, you could join an online community or article database which will publish your articles. There are lots of opportunities like this online and some even offer payment, but what is probably more important and more gratifying is knowing that people are reading your opinions.
You may even find a site where articles are ranked by your peers. If you dare to subject yourself to such ranking, then you can be pleasantly surprised at how highly regarded your writing becomes.
2. Learn from other communicators
Watch speakers on TV or go to lectures. See how the experts do it. You can learn a lot this way, seeing what you liked about their way of putting their message across.
In improving communication skill, it’s important to have the confidence to get your own style. Getting some tips from others is fine, but no-one has all the answers and you may well have some good ideas yourself. Your communication style needs to be individual to you and you need to feel comfortable communicating in this way for it to be really effective.
3. Try the telephone
Telephone conversations take a different set of skills. Obviously, one big difference is that you can’t read body language of the person you’re talking to on the end of the telephone line. Also, without this body language to read, silences can seem much longer over the phone.
They are still important pauses to allow people to think, though, so you need to learn not to be frightened of these pauses in conversation.
4. Chat to people
Try holding a conversation with anyone you meet – the bank cashier or the man you pay for your gas when You fill up the car. Anyone. It’s the practice that matters.
5. Strike up a debate
One way of improving communication skill that you may not have considered is getting a few friends together and having a friendly debate. Pick a current topic in which you are all interested. It doesn’t have to be anything weighty or in any way controversial; in fact, whilst you are just starting out improving your communication skill, it really should be something light and fun in which everyone can participate.
Serve up the coffee and have fun with the debate. It can be casual and low-key and if you really want to have fun with it, which not switch to argue on the opposite side a little way into the debate. That’s a great way of improving communication skill. Keep it impersonal and remember not to directly attack anyone and you can have a really fun time and also learn a lot in the process.
So, try a few of these tips and see how much more comfortable you feel in communicating with other people, both people you know and strangers. You will soon be improving communication skills in all areas of your life and you should be enjoying it too.
The Simplest Leadership Practice
The Simplest Leadership Practice
Robin Sharma
Elevate Others
People crave recognition. Everyone needs to know that they are doing well, that they are appreciated, that what they do matters. It is hard-wired into us. Watch someone after they have received a compliment for their work. They shine.
Yet we so rarely call a meeting to discuss what’s going right in the organization and who’s responsible. We think that its our job to solve problems, not hand out praise. Wrong. It’s our job to act like a leader. And leaders make everyone around them better. More capable. More engaged. More positive.
Giving honest praise is one of the most powerful leadership actions you can take. (And remember: if you consume oxygen you are a leader.) No matter where you are in the organization you can find someone doing something right and recognize them. Whether it’s a vendor who is impeccably polite, a colleague who is outrageously punctual or a supervisor who listens deeply. Every one of them is a human being who deserves and craves recognition. And when you give them that recognition they will go out and make someone else’s day better. What a powerful way to spread leadership.
So think about your organization, your community or your family and try some of the following simple strategies for elevating others. Observe how people respond, the results will astound you.
1. Honest praise. Tell someone what you admire about their performance or their attitude.
2. Public praise. Share someone’s victory with the rest of the team.
3. Thank you notes. A handwritten card thanking someone for their help will be the highlight of their day.
4. Support them. Say yes to a colleague’s ideas. Find a way to incorporate their input into your plan.
Young expats can take up part-time jobs from age 16
Young expats can take up part-time jobs from age 16 By Wafa Issa, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: January 02, 2008, 17:11
Dubai: Young residents, under the sponsorship of their parents or universities, can undertake part-time work, the Labour Minister told Gulf News.
Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka’abi, Minister of Labour, has issued a decision that allows people from the age of 16 to undertake part-time job in the country.
“The decision aims to protect young people’s rights and give them the opportunity to acquire labour market experience at an early age,” said Al Ka’abi.
Earlier young expatriates, below 18 were not allowed to work in the country.
A part-time labour card also gives an opportunity to university students to get work experience before graduating, he added.
“Young people can now acquire a job if they meet the legal requirements, but they cannot work full-time until they reach 18,” said Al Ka’abi.
The new decision stipulates that teenagers will be allowed to work for a total period of six hours and in all types of work except jobs where they are exposed to dangers or face the risk of harming their health.
Expatriate teenagers, who wish to join a job, will have to apply for a labour card at the ministry after getting their parents’ approval.
“Legalising their employment will help the ministry to monitor violations closely and will ensure that teenagers work in a healthy atmosphere and under the supervision of their parents,” said Al Ka’abi, adding that the decision will shortly be applied across the country after the ministry’s system is updated to accept labour card for children at the age of 16.
Some types of jobs that are categorised as dangerous for health and in which child employment is prohibited (ministerial order No.5/1, 1981):
Work in mines and quarries
Work where ovens are used for melting mineral substances
Petroleum refining
Bakery ovens
Cement, ice-making and refrigerating plants
Mirror silvering with mercury
Explosives industry
Glass melting and blowing
Arc welding
Painting
Treatment and preparation or warehousing of ashes containing lead and extracting silver from lead
Making of tin (pewter) and metallic compositions containing more that 10 per cent lead
Making of prime oxide of lead (silicon), carbon oxide of lead, the orange lead, sulphates, chromate and silicates of lead
Operations involving mixing and preparation for repair of batteries
Operating or supervising operating machines or repairing or cleaning such machines while these are working
Asphalt work
Oil pressing by mechanical devices
Work involving fertilisers, metallic acids, laboratories and chemical products
Work in tanneries
Rubber industry
Work in factories for fitting cylinders with pressed gases
Loading and unloading merchandise
Coal works when coal is made of animals bones but not the operation of separating bones before such bones are burnt
Operations involving bleaching, dying and printing textiles
Carrying heavy loads
Work in public bars
Making sure ‘we approach future in steady steps’
Making sure ‘we approach future in steady steps’ By Samir Salama, Bureau Chief Published: January 03, 2008, 01:31
Dubai: January 5 marks the second anniversary when His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum became Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE. He became the Ruler of Dubai on January 4, 2006.
The past two years witnessed ground-breaking achievements as Shaikh Mohammad took charge of improving the lives of all residents.
In the last two years, Shaikh Mohammad has issued a number of laws and decrees for the advantage of residents and ordered his administration to implement them in the best service of the country and the citizens.
Ever since he became the Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, he has been following up the concerns of his people and ordered changes and improvements in various fields, stressing commitment to national goals and policies laid down by the founding fathers.
All-round development
Shaikh Mohammad also infused dynamism that has become the hallmark of the Federal Strategy, adopting realistic and applicable programmes and well-considered plans to achieve economic, social and human development.
He has conducted inspection trips to all the emirates and ordered important changes.
Shaikh Mohammad ordered the establishment of a specialised court to deal with labour complaints. He also ordered the establishment of a special inspection unit to monitor workers’ accommodations and workplace. He ordered a stricter enforcement of laws that protect the rights of labourers and domestic workers and improve their quality of life.
The rent cap was another corrective step taken by Shaikh Mohammad to rationalise rents so that both tenants and landlords have an equal say.
The escrow account was yet another visionary measure to secure money of investors who invest in real estate development.
Shaikh Mohammad’s substantial contribution covers people around the world.
He launched the Dubai Cares initiative on September 30 to raise money to support the education of over a million poor schoolchildren through the efforts of businessmen, schools, students, their families and their neighbours in Dubai.
On May 19, the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation was launched to promote human development and provide hope and opportunity by investing in education and knowledge development in the region.
Shaikh Mohammad, in his own words, is not one to revel in past accomplishments “because life doesn’t stop and it doesn’t care about those who stop because they are content with what they have achieved”.
He has said: “The present and future generations of our country are the top priority of all development plans. We have to make history and approach the future with steady steps, not wait for the future to come to us.”
8 guidelines to make money from IPOs
8 guidelines to make money from IPOs
There are basically two ways in which you can buy shares: you can either buy them from the stock market, or you can apply for them in a public issue. The stock market is a secondary market where shares are bought and sold, whereas the primary market is one where companies issue shares for the first time.
When a company raises funds by issuing new shares or debentures for sale to the public, it is called a public issue, or an IPO (initial public offering). Such new shares and debentures are called new issues.
New issues of capital can be made both by existing companies as well as by new companies. Bonus shares and rights shares are also new issues but since they are only issued to existing shareholders of the company, they are not called public issues.
Why IPOs are profitable?
Public issues provide you with an opportunity for picking up shares at relatively low prices. Newly formed companies usually offer their shares for subscription at par values, whereas existing companies price their new issues at levels which are sometimes as much as 20 to 30 per cent lower than the market price of their existing shares.
For example, new issues priced at Rs. 12 to Rs. 15 per share may be quoted as high as Rs. 20 to Rs. 25 per share in the secondary market soon after their listing on the bourses.
Similarly, shares issued at par by new companies also quote at high premiums soon after they get listed on the stock exchange. For example, in early 2004 public issues of Maruti Udyog, Indraprastha Gas and Divi’s Labs listed at high premiums.
Equally, most companies, which went in for IPOs in 2005 and 2006 did well. In most cases, the initial days after listing saw the stock prices moving well above the listing prices before settling down in a price range.
Many companies, which listed during this period gave double digit returns, some companies like Indiabulls, Bharati Shipyard, India Infoline. PTC India Limited, Shoppers Stop, Sun TV Limited, Suzlon Energy and Tulip IT Services even gave triple digit returns.
This is the main reason why public issues are so popular with investors; they offer opportunities for making quick money which few other forms of investment can hope to match, match particularly during the market’s bull phase.
The only snag lies in getting a firm allotment of shares. Since most good public issues are heavily oversubscribed, lots have to be drawn and only a few of the applicants succeed in getting a firm allotment. Sometimes the allotment is done on a proportionate basis.
Therefore, you should consider yourself lucky if you get an allotment of even a small number of shares. It is with this background in mind that you should calculate the pros and cons of applying for IPOs.
How to apply for an IPO?
IPOs are generally given widespread, nation-wide publicity through advertisements in newspapers and magazines well before the date fixed for the opening of their issues. These advertisements, along with the other highlights of the issue, give the names and addresses of brokers and the bankers to the issue from whom you can get copies of the prospectus and application forms. If you write to any one of them, they will send you the prospectus and application forms free of cost.
The prospectus is a document inviting the public to purchase or subscribe to the shares of the company. It contains all relevant information you may need to decide whether a company is worth investing in. It would, therefore, be in your interest to read a company’s prospectus carefully before applying for its shares.
The subscription list is required to be kept open for a minimum of three days and a maximum of ten days. Since most of the IPOs are oversubscribed, the subscription list is usually closed immediately after three to five days.
You have to submit your application form and the stipulated application money to any one of the banks or their branches listed on the reverse of the application form. Applications, whether handed personally or sent by post, should reach the bank within the period during which the subscription list remains open.
If you are lucky and get an allotment, the company will send you an allotment letter which will inform you that shares allotted to you have been credited to your demat account.
Nowadays, for IPOs with an issue size of Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) or more, shares are issued only in the demat form. For IPOs with an issue size of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) or more, shares are issued only through the book building process.
Where the IPO is issued through the book building process, reservations are made for QIBs (qualified institutional buyers), non-institutional buyers (large investors), and retail investors who apply for less than Rs 50,000 worth of shares.
What exactly is book building? Book building is a process whereby the demand for a share is ascertained so that it can be issued at the maximum price. Before the opening of the public issue, the lead manager to the issue announces a price band in which the company plans to allot the shares.
For example, in the case ONGC’s [Get Quote] public issue in March 2004 the price band was Rs. 680 to Rs 750 per share. After the issue, the cut-off price is fixed in such a manner that all the shares are offloaded to the QIBs and the public either at, or above, the cut-off price. In this way the company gets the maximum price for its shares.
Companies cannot allot shares arbitrarily. They do so in consultation with the stock exchange authorities. The principles on which allotment is done are heavily weighted in favour of large applicants.
If you are living in a city where one or more bank branches have been designated for accepting application forms, you should give in your application only on the third, or closing, day of the subscription list.
On the first two days you should visit the concerned banks for making an on-the-spot assessment of the public response to the issue. If the public response is poor, then your chances of getting a firm allotment are brighter.
On the other hand, if the public response is very heavy, then your chances of getting an allotment will obviously be very low and it may not be worthwhile to apply at all. The enthusiasm with which the public responds to a particular issue will also give you an idea of the premium the shares are likely to subsequently command after listing.
The greater the public interest in any share, the higher will be the price at which it is later likely to be quoted in the stock markets.
The gap between the issue price of a share and the price at which it is initially quoted on the stock exchange is in the nature of a windfall gain. Should you get a firm allotment in any issue, don’t miss out on the opportunity to encash these gains unless you want to retain the share as a long-term investment for tax purposes.
If you sell a share at a premium soon after it is allotted to you, your money is freed for recycling in other new issues and you can maximise the returns on your investments in public issues.
Guidelines for investing in new issues
New issues can be divided into two broad groups:
New issues of newly formed companies, and
New issues of existing companies.
New issues of existing companies are, by and large, very good investments. They provide an opportunity for acquiring shares in ongoing profit-making companies at relatively low prices. On the other hand, all new issues of newly formed companies are not good investments.
You have to be careful in selecting a new company to invest in, as the incidence of failure among these is quite high. We give below some guidelines, which should help you select the right new issues for investment:
Don’t invest blindly in a company having unknown and untried promoters. First study the performance of other companies set up by the same promoters. If these have done well, then chances of the new one doing well are also high.
Don’t invest in a company, which is not ready to start business operations. This will help you avoid investing in companies, which may have long gestation periods before business operation can commence.
Invest in companies that have something new to offer. Companies introducing a new product or industrial process for the first time, companies proposing to manufacture a product which is currently being imported, companies introducing a technologically advanced or better quality product, or companies venturing into new areas are likely to be better and more remunerative investments.
Invest in companies that operate in high-growth sectors of the economy. The incidence of failure is likely to be lower for such companies.
Avoid investing in very small companies.
Check the reputation and market standing of the foreign collaborator, if there is one. For example, new issues of Vesuvius India [Get Quote] and Birla Ericsson evoked a very good response from investors because of the excellent international reputation of their parent companies.
Companies where the foreign collaborator has an equity stake are often good investments. Foreign collaborators do not readily opt for an equity stake in any company unless they are confident of its bright future prospects.
Do apply for the mega issues of well-known profit-earning companies. The sheer size of such issues ensures better chances of getting a firm allotment. This is what happened in the public issue of the State Bank of India [Get Quote]. The bigger the size of the issue, the better will be your chances of getting a firm allotment.
Excerpt from Profitable Investment in Shares by S S Grewal and Navjot Grewal.
S S Grewal was a practicing investment consultant with an educational backgrand spanning science, engineering, literature, and economics. Navjot Grewal is a specialist in industrial psychology and a keen investor on the stock markets
Twenty Steps to Successful Time Management!!
Twenty Steps to Successful Time Management!!
from CiteHR by Manju
1. Clarify your objectives. Put them in writing. Then set your priorities. Make
sure you’re getting what you really want out of life.
2. Focus on objectives, not on activities. Your most important activities are those
that help you accomplish your objectives.
3. Set at least one major objective each day and achieve it.
4. Record a time log periodically to analyze how you use your time, and keep bad
time habits out of your life.
5. Analyze everything you do in terms of your objectives. Find out what you do,
when you do it, why you do it. Ask yourself what would happen if you didn’t do it.
If the answer is nothing, then stop doing it.
6. Eliminate at least one time-waster from your life each week.
7. Plan your time. Write out a plan for each week. Ask yourself what you hope to
accomplish by the end of the week and what you will need to do to achieve those
results.
8. Make a to-do list every day. Be sure it includes your daily objectives, priorities,
and time estimates, not just random activities.
9. Schedule your time every day to make sure you accomplish the most important
things first. Be sure to leave room for the unexpected and for interruptions. But
remember that things that are scheduled have a better chance of working out than
things that are unscheduled.
10. Make sure that the first hour of your workday is productive.
11. Set time limits for every task you undertake.
12. Take the time to do it right the first time. You won’t have to waste time doing
it over.
13. Eliminate recurring crises from your life. Find out why things keep going
wrong. Learn to proact instead of react.
14. Institute a quiet hour in your day – a block of uninterrupted time for your most
important tasks.
15. Develop the habit of finishing what you start. Don’t jump from one thing to
another, leaving a string of unfinished tasks behind you.
16. Conquer procrastination. Learn to do it now.
17. Make better time management a daily habit. Set your objectives, clarify your
priorities, plan and schedule your time. Do first things first. Resist your impulses
to do unscheduled tasks. Review your activities.
18. Never spend time on less important things when you could be spending it on
more important things.
19. Take time for yourself—time to dream, time to relax, time to live.
20. Develop a personal philosophy of time – what time means to you and how time relates to your life
Top 10 tips to save money for your start-up
Top 10 tips to save money for your start-up
Before you turn to the bank for a loan, think about creative ways to finance your business without raising start-up capital from external sources. Here are 10 top tips:
Start small: Even if you have a grand vision for your business, concentrate on generating short-term revenue to get enough cash to fund the long-term business idea.
Focus on sales: Get on the phone and start cold calling. Go for quick wins — contracts that bring in cash and will lead to other sales. Generating cash flow is the immediate goal in order to start building your business.
Concentrate on networking: Don’t waste money on expensive advertising which can be a hit or a miss. Concentrate on networking and building up contacts, as word of mouth is the most effective form of promotion.
Keep overheads to a minimum: Work from home if you can and borrow or lease rather than buy expensive equipment. It’s easy to get carried away resourcing a new business, but only buy what you really need to get the job done.
Choose wisely: Open a company bank account that offers free business banking for start-ups for at least the first 12-18 months. Internet banking makes it easier to keep a close eye on transactions.
Control debt: Utilise a 0% credit card for essential expenditure, — but be careful to keep debt under control and either pay it off or transfer to another 0% card well before the interest rate goes up.
Invoice your clients in stages: 50% at the half-way point and 50% on completion. Make sure you have clear payment terms in the contract and on the invoice.
Retain cash in the business: Take as little out yourself as possible. This might mean going without a holiday or you may need to start your business whilst still in part-time employment to cover your bills.
Try business bartering: Offer your design services in exchange for goods and services you need. This saves you spending cash and can be a good way to develop relations with a new client base.
Put time into PR: Think of an unusual hook and write a press release or article. Conduct a survey about a topical or controversial issue with your potential customers. Publish the results as a story to attract free publicity for your business.
Excerpts from bytestart.co.uk
Ravi Mathai the living legend
Ravi Mathai the living legend
IIM Ahmedabad turned 46 earlier this week. This is as good an occasion as any to recall the services of its legendary founder-director Ravi Mathai.
Ravi Mathai, son of John Mathai, finance minister in Nehru’s Cabinet, was appointed the first full-time director of IIMA in 1965. (Vikram Sarabhai had been honorary director until then). The choice of Mathai was in itself remarkable. He was not an “insider” — the Institute had been set up earlier.
He did not have an advanced academic degree — he was a corporate executive who had only recently joined IIM Calcutta as professor. In a country that is still gerontocratic, he was obscenely young — he was 38.
It is a tribute to Sarabhai’s own leadership qualities that he made absolutely the right choice. By 1972, when he stepped down as director, Mathai had not only put IIMA on the national map, he had laid secure foundations for its continued success.
If IIMA has since gone from strength to strength, it is very substantially because of the strategic decisions taken in Mathai’s time as well as the culture, systems and processes he put in place.
In my nine-year association with IIMA, I have often been struck by the abiding impress of its founder-director. I remember attending the then director’s welcome address to the incoming post-graduate batch soon after I had joined. In the course of a 20 minute address, the director invoked Mathai’s name four times.
In the initial years, I noted with astonishment how almost any significant process would be traced back to Mathai. (“Oh, that happened in Ravi Mathai’s time”). Heads of institutions fade into oblivion within weeks of demitting office. Mathai is remembered at IIMA all the time.
What explains Mathai’s success and his profound impact on IIMA? First, a clear sense of purpose. IIMA’s concern, as Mathai put it, was “with the application of knowledge”. This meant that the Institute would be involved in teaching, research and consulting. The impact “would be greatest if it were the combined result of all activities”, so faculty must engage in all three activities.
Mathai saw clearly that to focus merely on business would limit IIMA. It would also expose it to charges of being elitist in its orientation. IIMA’s ambit needed to be wider: it would be an institute of management, not just a business school. It would develop expertise in important sectors, including agriculture.
Secondly, Mathai’s conviction that academic activities can flourish only when faculty are given the fullest freedom. In an academic institution, excellence cannot be ordered. It springs forth when people are given the space to grow and to express themselves freely.
Thirdly, the idea of a faculty-governed institute where decision-making rests primarily with the faculty and not with the director or the board. An example is the admissions committee that is independent of the director. The mechanism has been crucial in insulating admissions from unhealthy influence.
Fourthly, what is, perhaps, Mathai’s greatest bequest to IIMA: the principle of a single term for the director. After six years as director, Mathai stunned the community by announcing his decision to step down and stay on as professor. He gave two reasons for doing so.
One, leaders of academic institutions tended to use their positions for career advancement; this was not good for the institutions. Two, it was important to establish the principle that the director’s position is not hierarchical; he is only first among equals. You are professor, you become director and then you become professor again.
This one contribution of Mathai’s cannot be overstated. In the present scheme of things, the director has sweeping powers. The board of governors does not quite have the monitoring authority of a corporate board. Faculty governance can work only to the extent the director is willing to let it work.
Limiting the director to one term is vital to good governance. It is the knowledge that a director’s actions can be looked into once he has reverted to a faculty role, the certainty that he will be cut dead in the corridors by colleagues whom he has mistreated that acts as a check, however inadequate, on the incumbent.
There is more to Mathai’s enduring impact than his grasp of the principles of good governance in academic institutions. He managed the relationship with government with great skill. He was a superb man-manager with the gift of drawing out the best in people. Above all, he had moral authority: he brought to his office high integrity, a spirit of sacrifice and self-effacement.
India has been fortunate in having had great institution builders. At the national level, we had people of the make of Nehru, Patel and Ambedkar. At the organisational level, we have had the likes of Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai and RK Talwar (of SBI). In that constellation of institution builders, Ravi Mathai shines brightly.
Mohammad: Ministers told to be proactive
Shaikh Mohammad with Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, during the final special Cabinet session in the garden of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s palace in Liwa.
Mohammad: Ministers told to be proactive
Gulf News Report Last updated: December 17, 2007, 00:03
Dubai: The federal government strategy, ushering a new era of efficiency and transparency, has been completed and is ready for implementation as of January next year, it was announced on Sunday.
“This historic national accomplishment ushers in a new dawn” of progress, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, was quoted as saying by WAM.
He was referring to the federal government strategy, which has been completed by the various government bodies in six months. It was ordered by Shaikh Mohammad in April.
“It is a great achievement and could not have been done without your efforts, your teamwork and your new ideas,” he told members of the Cabinet, which held its third and final special session in the garden of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s palace in Liwa, 220km west of Abu Dhabi.
Right to housing
Shaikh Mohammad told the ministers it was time for them to get out of their offices and become acquainted with the problems of citizens, offer “the best services” to them and eliminate red tape and bureaucracy.
“Our people expect more of us in education, health, housing and job opportunities, which should be available to every citizen across the country,” he added, stressing the right of widows and divorcees to have suitable housing.
“At the end of this three-day historic meeting… I would like to also thank Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan [Minister of Presidential Affairs] on his efforts to lead the meeting of the ministerial council for services which has saved us a lot of time and effort,” he said.
Eid Al Adha: 377 prisoners pardoned
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has pardoned 377 Emirati and expatriate prisoners to mark Eid Al Adha.
The amnesty is to help those who have served part of their sentences, and enable them to share the occasion with their families.
– WAM
Success storeys – Mr. Rizwan Sajan, Chairman DANUBE Group, Dubai
Success storeys – Mr. Rizwan Sajan, Chairman DANUBE Group, Dubai
By Sandhya Rajayer GULF NEWS Published: December 13, 2007, 23:17
In 15 years, Rizwan Sajan has risen from a Dh1,500 per month job to spearhead a business that is worth $200,000. Sandhya Rajayer speaks to the chairman of Danube Group to learn of his definition of success.
A lot has changed about Dubai in the last 30 years. The vast sandy stretches have morphed into a Manhattan-like skyline, the corner grocery stores have turned into air-conditioned multi-brand format supermarkets, the city roads that once saw Cadillacs and camels crossing paths are now set to welcome the metro. But the one thing that remains unchanged is the power of this city to breathe life into dreams, to reveal to the human mind the shape and size of things to come even if at that time there is no evidence that
the dream will take shape in the way you want.
Rizwan Sajan was 28 when he came to Dubai in 1992 to take up a job in a hardware store on a salary of Dh1,500 per month. Barely 15 years from then he has propelled himself on the path to success with a speed and determination that is astonishing to record. Today he is Chairman, Danube Group, a $200,000 building material company that distributes over 10,000 products, has retail outlets in the UAE, Bahrain, Muscat and India, and three sourcing centres in China and employs 400 people. But all of this was not like a walk in the park. A part of it has been like a roller coaster ride, another stretch like a trial by fire. But through it all remained intact Rizwan’s sheer grit.
This is his story:
Rizwan’s father passed away in 1980 when he was 16 years old. As the eldest son he realised it was up to him to find ways to support his family. So he wrote to his uncle in Kuwait, who ran a building material business, saying he was looking for work and was there anything his uncle could offer him? The response was in the affirmative – but, wrote his uncle, he would have to wait for two years in order to reach the legal age to work. Rizwan interpreted the answer to be a tactic in polite evasion. So he squashed all hopes of going to Kuwait. Instead, he continued his studies and attended morning college for his commerce graduate degree at Somaiyya College in Vidyavihar (an eastern suburb of Mumbai, India) and worked part-time at Nathani Steel, a company also based in the same suburb, in the evenings.
And so it was that two years later, Rizwan was pleasantly surprised to receive a letter from his uncle in Kuwait enquiring if he was still interested in the job. Within a month, the job visa formalities were completed and he was on his way to a job in Kuwait. As he worked closely with his uncle, Rizwan began to understand the workings of the building material business inside out.
He was also sharp to build his personal assets, buy a car and over a span of 10 years, his reputation in the field turned rock solid.
He got married in 1987 and continued to work in Kuwait. But when the country was invaded by Saddam Hussain in August 1991, like several thousand other expats, Rizwan had to leave Kuwait overnight, and all that he had worked for and built up came to nought. He landed in Mumbai with about Rs150,000 in his pocket and felt as if he was back at the starting line.
Grasping at the tiniest straws of opportunity, Rizwan met up with a friend who owned a hardware business venture in Dubai. “I can still recall our meeting at the poolside restaurant (at Searock Hotel in Juhu, Mumbai) in vivid detail,” he says. “My friend asked me what kind of money I had been earning in Kuwait. About Dh15,000, inclusive of salary and commissions, I replied. ‘I can’t even think of paying you that much,’ he said. I wasn’t even dreaming of asking for that much, I responded. He offered me a job with a salary of Dh3,000 plus a 25 per cent commission on the sales. What did I have to lose? I didn’t have a job in hand anyway. I accepted the offer on the spot and he promised to send me the visa as soon as possible.”
A month later, there was no sign of the offer turning into reality. So he called his friend in Dubai only to be told that his business was lax and he could not afford to pay the salary promised earlier. “How much can you pay me?” Rizwan asked him point blank. ‘Dh1,500 plus 25 per cent commission,’ came the reply. Perhaps, Rizwan thought, it was the kind of offer that was very easy to refuse, which was why it was being offered to him. But Rizwan was desperate. He accepted the offer immediately. His only request was that he be provided accommodation and food. Fortunately for Rizwan, by the time he landed in Dubai in March 1992, the situation in Kuwait was back to normal and people had started returning to work. This meant that Rizwan’s business contacts were back in town as well and when word got round that he was in Dubai, they started placing orders with him for building material. Truckloads of cement, sanitary fittings, furniture .. all made their way from Rizwan’s new workplace to Kuwait. The friend who had offered him Dh1,500 quickly hiked his pay to the original sum of Dh3,000. With additional commissions, Rizwan began to earn about Dh8-10,000 per month.
But the whims of Lady Luck are known to none. So it was that just as he was beginning to taste success once more, his contacts in Kuwait went back to doing direct imports. Rizwan’s income stream started to dry up.
By this time Rizwan had fallen in love with Dubai. From the moment he had stepped off the plane, he had begun to feel at home. So he stood his ground in Dubai, convinced that it was worthwhile to hang in and keep trying. Eventually, it would all fall into place.
With exports to Kuwait having dried up, Rizwan was back to trading in small hardware. He realised that he had arrived at a crossroads as far as his career was concerned. He also realised that this was the moment to start thinking big. “So I suggested to my friend and employer that with my experience and contacts, we could expand the building material business and, say, trade in wood. This called for an investment of about a million dirhams. Not convinced about the returns on this risk, he refused.
“And thus it was that I parted ways with him,” Rizwan recalls.
This was barely 10 months after Rizwan had started working in Dubai and he had in his account a sum of Dh88,000 or so. His wife, Samira, was in India waiting to join him as soon as his business stabilised. “I told myself that there were two ways of looking at my situation. I could join one of the big companies that could use my expertise in the building material business or I could put my savings to good use and start my own business. Hopefully it would work, but if it didn’t, I would not have a problem getting a Dh5,000 job with a bigger company. Age was on my side, I was not even 30 at the time.”
After some hard thinking, Rizwan decided to start his own company – an indenting company – buying from a supplier, selling to a buyer and earning a commission on the transaction. However he had not reckoned with the strong resistance of big buyers. “I had a hard time for the first six months. My savings of Dh88,000 went into setting up initial capital, an office, a car and the expenses of day-to-day living even as there was no income.”
As luck would have it, Rizwan soon won the contract for supplying galvanised corrugated sheets to a company. His product was so good that it began to attract the attention of big traders who now agreed to buy from him. Things began to move slowly but steadily. To add momentum, Rizwan contacted some of his old supplier friends in Singapore and Romania. “I was frank with them. I told them that I did not have the money to pay for goods just yet but since they knew me, I hoped they would send me material on credit. I promised to pay as soon as the sale was concluded.” His good reputation was his greatest alibi. And so his business began to expand. Soon it was on a roll.
Today Danube runs the gamut of interior and exterior building material – scaffolding, steel and cement, ceramic flooring, bathroom and sanitary fittings, paints, wallpapers, glass, door fittings … He has partnered with some of the best names in the industry such as Kingplex, Halspan, Spano, Astroflame, Dorma, Nobili and many more.
Danube is now a wholesale and retail building material company with about 10 outlets within the UAE, two each in Bahrain and Muscat and in India. It has three branches also in China which act as their sourcing office. Rizwan opted for China as he found that “the (Chinese) government encourages investment and pulls out all the stops to create a conducive climate for economic development.”
(The reason for naming his company Danube Rizwan attributes to his many business trips to Romania. “I fell in love with the river Danube flowing through the country.”)
Obviously, on a journey in search of success as long as this, there are many milestones. Rizwan recalls one particular incident with a person who is now his biggest competitor. “In the initial days (of setting up my business), I had been chasing this person for an appointment, requesting for just a few minutes of his time. Finally one day he agreed to see me at 3 pm. Those days I used to work a split shift from 8 am to 2pm and 4 pm to midnight. I would go home have my lunch and take a nap before getting back to work at four.
“So the 3 o’clock appointment was a bit difficult for me and obviously I couldn’t request for a change in the time considering how difficult it had been to get an appointment in the first place! But I had dozed off in the afternoon for a bit and reached his office 10 minutes late. He just looked at his watch and said to me, ‘You are late for the appointment, you’ll have to take another one.’ I had no choice but to begin chasing him all over again for an appointment and this time I made sure I reached on time. I learned a lot of things from him but I also learnt the importance of punctuality,” Rizwan says.
Having enjoyed a ringside view of the building industry in Dubai for a long time, what does he have to say about the exponential growth of the industry? “I believe Dubai knows where it is headed. The growth is not temporary, it is here to stay.”
Obviously the building industry means more than bricks and mortar. They need to offer solutions for beautiful interiors. Danube’s House of Laminates in JAFZA, launched recently has plugged this gap. Customers usually walk in with the idea that laminates are old-fashioned and when they see the innovative designs and finishes on offer they are surprised into buying them.
“The challenge in the building industry today is to come up with innovations every day. The variety of wood, ebony, walnut, ash, for example, in place of the old staples of rose and teak are all customer driven.
“The average man does not settle for the ordinary, he wants something different even on a modest budget,” says Rizwan. “Even bathroom fittings have been subject to this demand for innovation and if earlier we talked of only a bathtub, we now have shower cubicles in different designs. The same goes for modular kitchens and different finishes for doors. The variety is truly amazing.”
The interiors of Rizwan and Samira’s home in the Dubai Marina have been totally designed by Samira. “I haven’t hammered in a single nail in my house,’ Rizwan says. Is there a glimmer of pride? Looks like it in his smiling eyes.
“Samira has always given me the freedom to focus a 100 per cent on my business. She has tackled all domestic issues with utmost ease throughout our married life of 19 years. Even when I was travelling almost six months a year in the initial stages of setting up the business, she didn’t mind it.”
Then he amends his statement. “I think I should say, there was a bit of cribbing, but not much,” he laughs.
Like all entrepreneurs who begin young did Rizwan too make a promise to himself that he would work hard and retire early? “I tell my wife this every morning,” he laughs again. “In fact I would often say to her that I would retire at 40. That was four years ago. Now I think I should change that to 50!”
Danube has been a part of almost all reputed projects in Dubai beginning with the Burj Al Arab, Media City and Knowledge Village. Among the current mega projects are the Burj Dubai, Down Town Dubai, Jumeirah Islands, International City, The Palm …
Rizwan’s definition of success in life is measured not by the savings in the bank account but the qualities that fill up an individual’s heart. A good human being is a successful human being, according to him.
“A lot of people have a lot of money but not all of them have the respect of their fellow human beings. That I think is the true mark of success. I live by the creed of live and let live – give every person the freedom to reach his goal. And this applies to my sales staff too as they don’t have to report on their daily sales calls. They have the freedom to chart their own course of action. Of course, if there is a shortfall in performance, we have to sit across the table and discuss how to change that.” Ultimately, what matters in life, he says, is whether you made a difference or not.
ClicksandWrites 
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