Shabbir Mithaiwala, managing director of Glass R Us Industries in Dubai, grew up in the UAE before moving to Mumbai to put himself through university. He worked night shifts at a call centre to fund his studies and eventually enrolled for a chartered accountancy qualification.
In 2013, he returned to Dubai to rescue his father’s struggling picture frame business, which was carrying almost Dh1 million in debt. He pivoted the company into architectural glass, built it into a supplier to five-star hotels across the UAE, and today takes a monthly salary of Dh40,000 while reinvesting the rest in the business.
He has big ambitions for the future.
Tell us about your career path
I was working at a call centre in Mumbai for a UK bank, taking calls for Barclays clients. I was doing that because my family couldn’t finance my education, so I was working at night and studying in the morning.
I was pursuing chartered accountancy at the same time. Morning college until 11am, then chartered accountancy coaching classes from noon until 6pm, then the night shift from 10pm until 5am – about 18 to 19 hours a day. It was that way for about five years, and that experience shaped me.
When I was about to finish my CA [qualification], I got a call from my mother telling me my father had lost his sight in one eye. My dad had been running a picture frame business here in Dubai since 1984. By the time I came back in 2013, it was almost about to die – struggling to survive due to cash flow problems and the financial pressures of supporting my younger siblings through college. To my surprise, there was close to a million dirhams of debt to pay off.
I chose to leave my chartered accountancy career behind and help the business. The five years in Mumbai had taught me how to build from scratch, and it gave me the courage to start all over again.
I came back and worked the same 19 to 20-hour days. I started going door to door in hospitality. The business had glass in the picture frames, so I shifted the focus entirely to glass: tabletop glass, mirrors, bathroom showers.
I had two clients at the time: Dubai Creek Golf Club and Movenpick. I provided them with whatever they needed, whenever they needed it, because I understood that service is the most important part. They connected me to every other five-star hotel group from there.
What was your first salary?
About 18,000 rupees a month – around Dh690 ($187) at today’s rate – when I was at the call centre in Mumbai. Over three years it grew to around 25,000 rupees, roughly Dh980. It was enough to feed myself, pay rent and pay for my education. It got me disciplined at an early age.
And now?
I take Dh40,000, although there is more available. I could draw a bigger figure. But I calculate my overall overheads and my personal expenditure carefully, and I set my limits based on that. The rest goes back into the business.
Do you manage to save?
Yes. I have SIPs – short-term investment plans – where I invest a fixed amount every month. I also invest in an insurance policy that will pay out at maturity. And I have a couple of mutual funds running alongside those.
Do you have any debt?
It took me six or seven years to pay everything off. After that, my journey of building the company into a luxury brand really started. I am extremely averse to debt now. The principle I made for myself is that I should not take a debt or a loan that will again create chaos in my life.
I saw what it did to my family. Once debt starts multiplying, it becomes very hard to stop. I would rather work more and find a way forward step by step than fall back into that situation.
Growing up, were you taught to manage money?
While growing up, I was always told limiting beliefs about money – how it works, what is possible. But when life gave me a chance to look at it practically, when I started earning and making it myself, I was evaluating every dirham: how much hard work it took to earn it, and how to make the next bit. That helped me change my limiting belief to a limitless potential of what I can build and what I can have.
What are your biggest monthly outgoings?
My health. I spend a lot on health and fitness – food, healthy food, lifestyle. This came about a year and a half ago. While I was working to build the business, I lost my health.
When I did a full health check-up, every parameter was too alarming for someone my age – I’m only 33.
In close to a year, I lost about 30kg, and all my parameters came back into a normal range. It gives me more motivation to build and go further with my vision.
What are your financial goals?
I want to take the brand international and become a public speaker – to be known by my name as well as by the company, and to be paid for my name.
In terms of the big picture financial goal, I will tell you honestly: I want to be making $1 million per day. That is my north star. I don’t say it to be ridiculous – I say it because that is how you scale your thinking.
You give me an empty wall, I will build a monument out of it. You give me a dead business, I will build a masterpiece. I don’t limit myself in anything.