From Fading Frames to Luxury Glass: How Dubai Entrepreneur Shabbir Mithaiwala Revived His Father’s Business with His Brothers

With that spirit, he moved to Mumbai in 2009 to pursue a Bachelor of Commerce degree while simultaneously enrolling for Chartered Accountancy studies.

Did he sleep at all, I ask, while he laughs. He sketches out a relentless schedule: College during the day, followed by CA classes and then working night shifts at a call centre.

But, Mithaiwala asserts that the grind was just a stepping stone and helped him shape his mindset. “That was a tough life that I went through and that’s what my pace. MY passion grew more bigger which helped me look towards a bigger perspective and a vision in life to do it,” he notes emphatically.

In the midst of his college years and CA classes, a call from home changed everything. He was preparing for his CA final exams when he learnt that his father had lost his eyesight. “I had to leave everything there and I had to move, come back to Dubai to look after them.”

Returning to Dubai meant making another major decision: Pursue a career as a CA or take over the family business. At the time, the picture-frame business was struggling. “It was almost at the stage of verge of dying. It was struggling to breathe,” he remembers.

For a month, he went for interview after interview. Yet, the salary offers would not be enough to sustain his family, especially as he had to support his family responsibilities. Moreover, his two younger brothers were still studying. “So, I made a decision. I realised: I have a business, which has got a trade license. And so I decided to take up my journey from there.”

Today, Mithaiwala’s company delivers luxury glass solutions for some of the UAE’s premium hospitality and residential developments. He points to projects including Bulgari Mansion and Royal Atlantis as defining milestones. The business has evolved from supplying glass tabletops and mirrors to executing large-scale architectural glass projects.

Yet, when he looks back on the company’s growth, he is quick to shift the focus away from himself. He credits his younger brothers, Ali and Sadek, saying they became key pillars as he worked to rebuild and expand the family enterprise.

Looking back, Mithaiwala sees his career as a series of unexpected turns rather than carefully laid plans. He set out to become a Chartered Accountant but returned to Dubai to save a struggling family business. That decision eventually led him to build an entirely new company, one that today works on some of the country’s most recognisable developments.

The goalposts keep shifting. For Mithaiwala, success isn’t so much about the projects his company completes, but by the people who stood beside him through its most difficult years.

“I want to repay and give them back,” he says. “That’s my purpose.”