Dubai engineer at 23, boss of a fire safety business at 33: An Indian expat’s tale
My entrepreneurial dream came true at a young age in the UAE: Indian expat reveals how
Dubai engineer at 23, boss of a fire safety business at 33: Indian expat Pushkar Thakkar reveals how.
Pushkar Thakkar, 39, was a young engineering graduate from India when he came to Dubai in 2006. Earning a monthly salary of Dh2,500 at his first job, Thakkar achieved his dream to be an entrepreneur in 10 years after starting a firefighting business in the UAE in 2016.
From a very young age, Thakkar’s vision was always to be a successful entrepreneur, someday.
“My first job in Dubai was at a swimming pool construction and maintenance company, had nothing to do with my educational background, but it suited my desperate job-related needs at the time.
“Soon after, I joined a fire fighting company in its sales division and learnt the challenges of the market and the knack to deal with those. This laid a solid foundation to realising my goal of being an entrepreneur,” Thakkar added.
“This opportunity helped me set my foot in this city and understand the market. It also helped me develop many contacts, many of whom I am still working with today. I was confident that this industry will always have the potential to flourish since it falls under necessity and not luxury.”
In about four years, Thakkar decided to venture out on his own. “It was always my dream to become an entrepreneur, and once I was confident about my market knowledge in this city, I decided to take the leap of faith.”
Thakkar’s colleague, a technical expert in the same field, decided to join hands and together, they started Delmont Fire & Safety in Ras Al Khor Industrial area in 2016.
Entrepreneurial beginnings of a fire and safety business owner
Hailing from a middle-class family, Thakkar’s entrepreneurial journey began by learning a few critical lessons from his father – a small business owner – and his mother, who taught him how to use and invest money wisely.
“In my growing years, whenever I asked for money, I would only get it if it was well within reason. I don’t think the term ‘pocket money’ ever existed with any middle-class family back then,” said Thakkar.
“My dad owned his own business, we have seen both the ups and downs, and so somewhere we were well prepared to deal with the success and challenges of business.
“My mother was very strict since I was an extremely naughty kid and would keep demanding new things all the time. But, she would give me Rs5 (25fils) every week to buy my favourite snack at my school canteen in Mumbai, India. What I learned from this was when you wait for something you love, the value only increases multifold.”
The business was self-funded by Thakkar and his partner Murugan Rajaraman; they invested Dh140,000 to launch the company.
How did you manage funding for initial expenses to set up a business in Dubai?
The business was self-funded by Thakkar and his partner Murugan Rajaraman; they invested Dh140,000 to launch the company.
“When we started, we knew we had to be very mindful about our expenses as we were putting almost all of our savings into this. We had decided to have a small office set up, visa expenses for our first five technicians, investing in some machines to thread the fire-fighting pipes and so on.”
“The money we put in the business was from our respective career savings, amassed while working at our previous jobs. Since I already had a plan of starting my business someday, I was anyway saving 40 per cent of my income in various verticals. My partner, too, was of the same ideology when it came to savings and investments. So this helped us when we decided to start our own business.
Besides that, there were also expenses for obtaining the trade licence. These include trade licence and office set up cost (Dh30,000 for the first year), visa expenses for the team (Dh40,000), machinery expenses (Dh20,000), and other requirements such as office van for transportation etc., which came to Dh50,000, Thakkar revealed.
Here are a couple of critical money lessons Thakkar shares from his entrepreneurial journey:
Lesson #1: Don’t pocket profits in the starting years of business; instead, invest the money you earned back in your business.
Thakkar stated that one should not expect profits for at least the first three years from a new business.
“The rule I learnt from my father was to keep investing the money you earn for the first few years in your business itself. Set aside money for taxes and other unforeseen expenses. And keep your overheads as minimal as possible.”
From his first job in Dubai at a swimming pool contracting and maintenance company, Thakkar earned merely Dh2,500 monthly salary back in 2006.
FOUR MONEY LESSONS THAKKAR ACQUIRED FROM HIS PARENTS
• Taking loans was a big no-no in his family. And if you need to take a bank loan for whatever reason, repaying that should be your priority. It was basically to reduce liabilities as much as possible, a precious lesson his parents taught him unknowingly.
• Always make wise investments and do not invest all your saving in the same place. Scatter your investments and never invest the money you cannot afford to lose.
• Always be honest. Be honest with your money, and it will only bring you luck. Earning cash by stepping on someone else’s feet will never get you profit or happiness. You should be able to go to bed with a clean heart and mind.
• Climb up the ladder slowly and steadily. Just because your business is flourishing right now does not guarantee it will never see a downtime. Always be prepared for tough times and keep aside enough to help you fight the challenges and bounce back.
Lesson #2: Do not splurge if it’s not necessary.
From his first job in Dubai at a swimming pool contracting and maintenance company, Thakkar earned merely Dh2,500 monthly salary back in 2006. He stated that the “greatest lesson learned at that time was to spend wisely and still manage to save whatever you can”.
Thakkar said he practises the same norm in his business today, adding that “even if you can, do not splurge if it’s not necessary. My mantra has always been spend and save wisely. We give in our temptations once in a while but are also very mindful of our expenses and liabilities”.
What has been your go-to savings and investment strategy?
Thakkar always believed in diversified savings plan; as follows the norm to not put all eggs in one basket.
“I believe having some savings here in Dubai and to have an equal amount of savings in your home country. We have invested in real estate back in our country, so there is a certain kind of security at the back of our minds. Apart from real estate, I have saved in mutual funds, stocks with a small portion in cryptocurrencies.”
Retirement is still far, far away for him for now, but he is ultimately keen to retire in Dubai. “As per the laws, whatever investments are required to make my retirement in this country smooth, I will go for it,” he said.
In the biggest tragedy that struck Fujairah on January 22, seven siblings belonging to Al Suraidi family died in their sleep after suffocating when a fire broke out in their house. The rooms, according to their mother, were filled with smoke in no time that claimed the lives of the children.
Dubai: For your own safety, always close your bedroom doors.
This may be general knowledge but many residents still go to sleep with their bedroom doors open or left ajar that could put them in danger if a fire erupts somewhere in the house.
In the biggest tragedy that struck Fujairah on January 22, seven siblings belonging to Al Suraidi family died in their sleep after suffocating when a fire broke out in their house.
Civil Defense officials later revealed that faulty living room lights caused the fire. But the rooms, according to their mother, were filled with smoke in no time that claimed the lives of the seven children.
Read more:
‘All my children died…I could do nothing’ – mother of the 7 children
What you should do in case of fire
One bedroom door, in particular, was left open so light could come in from the living room. But it wasn’t just light that did.
Most fire-related deaths are not caused by burns but by smoke inhalation, according to the US’ National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
This also applies in the UAE as most of fire-related deaths happen due to inhalation of toxic fumes from the burning materials inside the house, according to the Ministry of Interior in a Gulf News report last year.
The UAE recorded 0.023 deaths per 10,000 people in fire-related accidents between 2010 and 2014.
Timely action such as alerting Civil Defence and residents and evacuation are always key to surviving a fire.
But what if a fire happened in the dead of the night when everyone is asleep?
Pushkar Thakkar, founder and CEO of Delmont Fire and Safety LLC, said doing one simple thing before going to bed could help save lives.
“Closing the door can help prevent smoke from spreading into your room easily. If the doors are open, it will [quickly] spread all over the house,” Thakkar told Gulf News.
“Smoke if inhaled over a period of time affects the body, especially (that of) kids,” he added.
The simple act of closing the bedroom door before going to sleep is not without scientific basis.
A research by UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute (UL FSRI) showed that a house on fire with two bedrooms on the upper floor — one with a closed and another with an open door — had different rates of heat, smoke, and fire transfer. (See infographic)
Manoj Felix, a fire safety trainer at Al Salama Fire Safety Training, told Gulf News that most of the people they train don’t know the importance of closing their bedroom doors when they sleep.
The difference a door makes in a fire
According to tests conducted by the UL Fire Safety Research Institute, a room with a closed door makes a life-saving difference in a fire.
If a fire starts in the kitchen, oxygen from another room may fuel it. Closing the door prevents fire, heat and smoke from spreading to the closed room and gives the person inside a few seconds to call for help or look for another exit.
How it works
If a fire erupted in your kitchen, for example, even if your bedroom door is not a fire-rated one, it can slow down the process of fire, heat, and smoke transfer to your room. Working interconnected smoke detectors in your house can alert you even before the smoke spreads so you can evacuate.
Felix said a standard room without proper ventilation can be filled with smoke within approximately two to five minutes. But if the fire is massive and given the right conditions, it could spread faster. That is why the standard evacuation time is three minutes.
“Smoke is very light. It will always occupy the top part of the room and then move downwards as it fills the room. Fire needs fuel, a medium to transfer, but smoke doesn’t need any medium; it can cover an area immediately,” Felix explained.
Fire feeds on fuel and oxygen is one of them. It consumes the oxygen in an entire room and feeds more from any opening such as an open room.
“If you have closed the door, which means the fire will take time to enter the next area because there is something standing as a barrier for the fire and smoke to spread. This means, you have valuable time [a few seconds] to evacuate [your flat],” Felix said.
