 I used to live in four different countries. I was really working hard and trying to save as much money as possible. The cost was very high for the first company. I think it was like almost 90 something, so almost 100 000 dirhams to set it up. Hey guys, welcome to OxyVlogs. First of all, I want to say thank you for watching my first episode with Dubai experts. And thank you for your support. I really appreciate that. And in this video, I'm going to interview a young entrepreneur who sold his first business in Dubai at 21. So let's get started. What did you do before you came to Dubai and why did you decide to come here? Okay, so that's actually very simple in my case. I played football professionally in several countries. And some things happened, some injuries, problems with the agents. It's a very long story. But then I've just cut and I've decided not to be in that industry, be in sports. And I always had, I think I have talent for marketing and for business in general. I have that feeling for entrepreneurship and that really drives me. I like it. It's really my passion. So I've just took a call and in 2013 I moved to Dubai and definitely it was a right choice. You know when you have inner feeling and it's a very strong one, I think you need to follow it. How did the Dubai journey start and what's been the biggest change? So it started December 2013, if I'm right. Before I came to Dubai, I already had a contract with Abercrombie and Fitch, which is a very big American brand. So I was working as a model. I was in, let's say in the beginning in the fashion industry, even though I didn't have an experience. But I'm never afraid of new things. I was working for them. I was freelancing on the side with a lot of agencies, doing a lot of modeling jobs. Plus as I have a sports background, I was doing personal trainings. Then for let's say about six months, one year, I was just doing that. I was really working hard and trying to save as much money as possible. And then because I saw the opportunity that I can set up a fitness company. So then it was a big demand for personal training services. And I saw an opportunity since the idea came, since I had enough money to start it with two of my friends who were my partners. We just kicked off. So it took me about six months, six good months to find out actually how to set up a company. Should you do a Dubai main land license? Should you do a free zone license? So it was a big mess in the beginning. If I'm doing that now, I would set it up probably in seven days, two weeks. But over then it was literally six months. So it was quite tough in the beginning. But you know, you're young, you're hungry. What challenges did you face? So I think I was maybe a bit different than other people because I came extremely well prepared. I knew everything. I knew the prices of the apartments, of the food, the areas. I really came prepared because I knew what I want to do and what's the goal. I think that's really important. When you come here, some people are quite lost. I was not. Maybe it's because of my previous experience that I had with living abroad in different countries. For sure it's that because I was very young. I was 21 when I came. But still I knew what I wanted. So what I would say, definitely one of the challenges was just the high cost of everything. You need to find a way how to earn good money if you want to afford everything what you need in this city and have a nice life, have a nice apartment. You know, go out, invest in a business, invest in some idea. Meet new people because meeting people means you need to go to different events, public places, maybe a good gym, right? All these things cost. So this was my thing, how to overcome that. So you can build your network here that I'll build right now. And you want to build a good network, you know? So you want to move and go to nice places, places where people go to. And in Dubai that's expensive, as I said. So maybe I find that as a challenge. Was there something like a culture shock to you when you arrived? A culture shock. Not by, let's say, Arab people and the Middle East itself. Because I lived in Qatar. My first culture shock was there. I was really shocked. Oh, so many things happened. It was really actually funny. So as I said, I came prepared. But the other maybe shock adjustment that I had to make is just being, you know, kind of politically correct with everyone. Because here I think we have, I read somewhere, I think there is 60 different nationalities in Dubai. So everyone is different, right? Like everyone has a different religion, beliefs, skin color. You know, you need to be, it's a very diverse situation and a place. So I would say that adjustment, it takes time, you know? Because it's not the same how you deal with, let's say, business, right? It's not the same how you deal maybe with Asian culture or European culture. The approach, the meetings, you know, things like that. I would say that was a little bit of a shock. But you get used to it. And I don't see it as a very bad thing. What do you like best about living in Dubai? What do I like the best? So I like this time of Dubai. So now when it's not too hot, obviously, I like that it's safe. I like that there are endless opportunities that you can earn money, do whatever you want to do. So here if you want to be a waiter or you want to be a pilot, there is a possibility for you in this city. So it's full of opportunities. This is what I like. This is what drives me in this city. What do you dislike about living in Dubai? Business-wise, I don't like, maybe if I can choose, but market is like it is. So market is very challenging. Why? Because it's really crazy. There is a lot of ups and downs. For example, 2013, 14, 15, 16 was amazing. Then 2018 was very bad, at least in the businesses I was at. Meaning the markets change, people change. The demographic of the people they go and they leave. So I think it's very challenging, let's say, to find a cost of like a lifetime value customer. Because here you have a customer for six months or one year, then they disappear. Literally they don't exist anymore. They change the country. So these things. What are you currently doing in Dubai? So I am a marketing director from one mobile app. But next to that I have my own agency. It's a digital marketing agency. And I have so basically a lot of clients from here and other parts of the world they outsource us. So agency is based in Serbia. How many businesses have you run in Dubai? So far this would be my third business. The first one was a fitness company. And I would say that was my first baby that I had with my partners. And that was, I would say, very successful because this company still exists. I think it's going well and I'm glad about it. I sold my shares of that company to my partners. So I've exited that business. I would say I started in the best moment and I exited in the best moment, in my opinion. Then I moved to a different business which is kind of related to fitness which is a meal prep company because whenever I was doing fitness I kind of, actually what I do always is I see where can I solve a problem for people. I think if you can solve something and you can charge for it is it a product or a service, I think that's the best thing. The second business was a meal prep company because I saw on the way that so many people suffer with food. First during the fitness industry itself but then I saw on a daily basis all industries, all people, all working people, it doesn't matter if it's retail or whatever it is everyone is eating so many junk food, a lot of fast foods, etc. And I just thought how can I make something affordable, something which is a monthly package where also people because they don't have time, everyone works here a lot, right? And a lot of things take your time, not just the work but coming to work, going from work, things like that. So I was like how can I make something that people don't need to spend a lot of time and effort and money to and this is where the idea came from. That was also especially in the beginning very successful. Then it's slowly so many people saw opportunities so many other entrepreneurship, my colleagues they saw an opportunity to set up the company actually. So literally when I started, maybe after a few months 20 more companies opened, imagine. So you know how I said before that the market is crazy? This is what I mean. Slowly maybe I was running a meal prep company for about two years then I've closed it down. I just didn't see a big opportunity in terms of scaling that business, I saw that I would be very limited and I've just decided to move on. And what was your next step? This is also related to my first two businesses because I was always doing the marketing part of my businesses. Whenever I had partners I was in charge of marketing. I just like to handle that and because marketing is so closely connected to sales as well. The way how you market yourself and then the way how you sell it and I think my skill of communicating, connecting and networking is high. So then I was thinking, OK, so if I was doing this successfully for myself for two times, why I wouldn't do it and provide the service to other people? And you know, especially in Serbia, the country itself now is outsourcing so many services because we have really good quality of people like the working force. So I've set up the agency, I have people over there. We have a really nice setup, we have a really nice office. I've decided to go ahead with it and it was pretty simple to set up that business because I have a good network of people, of potential clients. And you know, like in terms of ROI, it's very high because you just have a cost of your services and salaries and your license and you pay the tax and then everything else is the profit, right? So it was very easy. It was a win-win situation for me and I've decided to do it and it's working for now. So I'm happy. How do you find clients? OK, I mean several things, as I said. So I've been on the market for six years if we are talking only about Dubai. So there is a lot of word of mouth, a lot of networking. So I go to several events. I became a little bit lazy, I don't have the time for it but I should really kick off with that more because I have an opportunity and I think I should use it because they call me to so many summits and conferences, etc. Also I think definitely social media bringing value, putting up a good content, you know, good stuff that you work on. I think it's not just putting the content itself but I think that does one more thing. Doing a PR around your agency so people find out about you and also because the market is very saturated, there are so many people doing digital marketing now, right? So you kind of need to be different, right? So the way how you differentiate yourself is exactly that. Doing PR around you and investing in ads for yourself, for your own agency, visiting events as I said and then doing a good job for the clients that you have now so they recommend you. I mean that's the strongest point by far. What do you think about digital marketing in the UAE? It's a very interesting niche that is happening now, especially in Dubai and because it's such a big entrepreneurship hub and there is a lot of VC funds here. So it's, I would say, not pretty easy but quite easy or easier than Europe and US to raise the funds here, the money. So there's a lot of startups, a lot of apps. There's a lot of successful apps that we have here, Talabah, Zumaro, Uber Eats, I mean so many things. There's a lot of apps present here, Sook who was sold right to Amazon. There is so many success stories. Luxury closet comes to my mind, entertainer, massive. So when you see that, I'm always kind of trying to be different and see if there is so many people doing digital marketing, so many agencies and they're heading to same things. I'm always trying to find a niche that works. So I think, for example, that's a very interesting niche. Marketing for apps itself. It's a little bit of a different structure but I would say that's maybe something to go ahead with. Can you share your experience with setting up a company in Dubai? The first one was very tough, I would say. So it took me about six months to set it up because I didn't have the right information. So I used Google and I typed in how to open a company in Dubai and from that day it took me literally six months to set it up because I was going around and there was just a lot of unknown things. For example, should I do a Dubai mainland license which is issued in DED or should I do a free zone license? I didn't know what was I allowed to do. How can I provide the service? Am I 100% legal? So it was quite hard in the beginning. When you're starting something, when it's your first time, you're a little bit scared because you want to be obviously responsible and you want to set it up in the right way and tomorrow if you hire people you want to end then how the contracts work because the law is different in different free zones, different areas of Dubai. So this was the struggle that I faced and then the cost. The cost was very high for the first company. I think it was like almost 90-something, so almost 100,000 dirhams to set it up without visas and stuff. So I would say that's a very high cost because I didn't know. So I think I took even the stuff that I don't need, some activities, some licenses, insurance, third-party liability. I mean I can go so on, right? So I did so many things. If I can start from the beginning then I would definitely do just a free zone license and probably it could cost me 36,000 and that's one third of it. So if you calculate, I would have more money let's say for marketing or something like that. So for someone who is starting a company I would say just check all of your options or go to someone who did it, someone who can advise you on, right? So I just came to Dubai so I didn't have the right person to ask, I would say. If you had to start over again what would you do differently? I failed badly a few times so the things that I would do differently maybe the first one would be I would recruit more slowly. Maybe you like someone the first time a lot but maybe he or she is not the right person for your company. Maybe you should go through several interview processes because this affects your company because if you want to scale your business you need to invest in people and I mean this is the only way to scale it. So and then do something and make your company successful, right? So it would be that then managing people. I think I was, when I had several people working for me in the beginning I think I was too nice to be honest. I think on the way definitely I've changed that because you need to put that barrier between friends, family and business let's say. So I actually, when I struggled with that I got a very good advice. It's like a small rope, like a string, right? So whenever people are pushing really hard for you the rope will break in the beginning, right? So whenever they are pushing, if these are the people you should release the rope a little bit. Whenever they are doing, you see they're losing up they do it easy then you kind of make it more straight and you push them. So I think the balancing thing is really important. That's from a perspective of employees I would say. Then from a perspective of going into new business maybe rushing it up, setting it up, let's say for example especially because first two businesses I was successful at. So you know you're young then I thought I know everything. I thought I was the smartest and I don't have a problem with admitting that and that's so not true. I'm definitely not the smartest, not even close. So what happened is I thought if I knew marketing, if I knew the sales I thought I know operations as well for example. And then at one point with my meal prep company at the point when I was doing it alone when I had my own restaurant I had massive problems. I was not really clear on what's food wastage, what's this, what that. So I was burning a lot of money, I was losing a lot of money in the beginning. So I would say whatever you don't know you should hire someone who knows it better than you. So there is no ego in the business. You need to accept what you and you need to be very realistic to yourself and real. So I would say this is also one of the things I've learned. Then from a perspective of raising funds, having partners especially having partners who are investors slash partners. So they're putting the money into your business. So I would say I would definitely choose the ones who are not just giving you the money but they're bringing the value to the business. Maybe with their contacts or whatever else is the situation. So from that perspective also you should not rush, you should not think just okay I'm just going to get the money and cool company will work because that's a very short term thinking. If you're into business you should always think for long term because that's the only way you have. I mean I think it's 0.01% of the companies who scaled like this and they just blew up you know. What does your daily life look like? Very hectic. This is also one of the things that you face in Dubai that you don't face anywhere else really because the city never sleeps. So obviously it's very crazy. So I wake up around 5.45 I would say. Obviously alarm wakes me up. I'm always so tired. So by 7 a.m. I'm in the gym. 7 to 8, shower, going to work. Then the first call as of now, as of today for example as well. First call was at 9 a.m. That's a daily call that I have with all the teams. Then I have a call at 12 p.m. Then at 2 p.m. it's an international call with my different teams just to see what are they working on. Just observe the whole situation. For sure in between I have more meetings. The days are quite long and I'm a workaholic. It makes me happy. So I stay until pretty long. I have a rule that obviously like all of us right we go out and we hang out on weekends so I don't do this during the weekdays. So when I come home maybe I talk to family or something simple as that. Maybe I read a book or I check some videos on YouTube or something like that. But these are all educational business kind of orientated videos. And then on weekends I relax. I play a lot of football. I like that. That's my passion. Yeah I would say and then I go out. Yeah I hang out with friends. Sometimes it's the beach. Sometimes we rent a yacht or whatever it is right. So because now it's such a nice weather so every week there is something happening. So I would say more or less these are my days in Dubai. What are your three favorite places in Dubai? Okay for example you know in the city where I come from you know you kind of always go to the same coffee shop. So I like to do the same in Dubai. So I stick to one thing. So there is one coffee shop. I'm giving them a little bit of... I'm pushing them in marketing now. So it's called 1762. So I like to hang out there. So at least once a week I definitely go there. They have a nice terrace. Even indoors it's really nice. So I try to meet my friends there. You know have a good laugh. Have a good coffee. So this is something somewhere I like to go. Then other things. I'm really not sure you know it's so big. I always try to go to different things. And Dubai is like you know whenever the season changes year by year you have a new restaurant. You have a new club. You have a new beach. I mean La Mer right. It's completely a new thing. I've been there only a few times. It's an awesome place. Okay maybe it's not my favorite but it's really nice. It's honestly very... It would be very hard for me to pick. But definitely that coffee shop comes to my mind first. Yeah. How easy is it to meet new people and find friends here? Super easy. It's super easy because this is one of the things that I really like about Dubai. Because the city is hectic. Everything happens so fast. So the way how you network and you kind of become friends with also is very fast. I like that. But there is another part to it. So I also think that so many times I kind of became close with someone but then this person disappeared out of my life. Or for maybe it's not a bad reason. Just you know cities like that. And so... But from a networking perspective it's really easy. And everyone is so open about it. Everyone exchanges cards immediately. Phone numbers etc. So I think that's a good thing. It's very open-minded. If your friend was planning to move to Dubai what is the minimum budget would you advise him to have? You know as lifestyle is so different for everyone in Dubai and they have different reasons why they're here. Someone is really here to enjoy and spend whatever they make or someone really wants to save and doesn't want to spend or go out or buy a fancy car or whatever. But let's say my friends are coming now here. I would say they're coming for work right on a contract. I would say maybe 15,000 dirhams. Nothing less than that would really make sense for them because they would have to you know afford a car an apartment and a normal lifestyle. I would say that's the amount. I also don't want to say that someone else who makes 12 or 10,000 dirhams you know it doesn't make sense for him to come. Maybe it does because I don't know what's going on in their families or this or that. Can you share your tips to make savings here? Some tips to make savings. I mean these are not just general tips not just for Dubai. Number one thing that everyone is struggling here with is discipline. For me the way how I saved money for first business then for the second one etc. because I've never used investor money or any loans or credit cards or anything like that. So all purely for my pocket. So I would say discipline on a daily basis. Set up your budgets. Don't exceed them. Set up the budgets for you know because so many people you know they they get the good money right you know right like they earn good but then they spend it. So you need to have that balance. You need to know what I know exactly multibase is what I need to save. So once I get my paychecks and things like that I just put it on the side. Like it doesn't exist right. I have an account also back home. I just sent it there. Like it doesn't exist really. So I would say that's the thing. So you don't come in a situation when you're in MOE or Dubai Mola oh my god I like this bag or I like these shoes or this or that. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I'm not buying nice things or I'm like struggling not like that. I really actually like to have nice things to have a good car etc. So but then on the other things I'm really trying to be balanced and disciplined. If you were to describe your experience as an expert in three words what would that be? Oh as an expert. So first first words that come to my mind futuristic, safe, hot. What had this international move taught you? Okay so that's a really good question and I like it because you can always kind of self-reflect and you can see what you have done in the past five or actually six years now. So the main thing that Dubai taught me and this international experience is what I want and what I don't want. Because you need to go into things. Is it relationship like your girlfriend, wife, whatever it is. Is it relationship with friends? Which kind of friends do you want? Is it employees that you want to hire? Certain nationalities you want and you don't want. Someone is more hardworking, someone less etc. Things like that. So I've learned massively from dealing with banks and opening and setting up the bank accounts and the companies and traveling around the world because when you're here you have a different perspective. So I would say the main core thing is I've learned so many things and the most of the things I've learned came through failures. So that perspective for me changed. Now I know this will sound weird but I'm actually looking forward to a failure because I immediately know, okay so that's wrong so I know what's right. I definitely know this is wrong so I know what not to do and I think sometimes even that is enough. And before I was always so scared of the failure. I was my very big first failure with the business I was so anxious about it. It really hit me big but I'm so grateful for that because I would not be able to scale. Because now I'm into very serious business and we are handling with 7 digits and things like that so if I didn't have the experience of failing I wouldn't be there. I wouldn't be here, sorry. So that's definitely... So it's this game of winning and failing and learning from your mistakes. Especially when you're abroad you don't have anyone so I didn't have mom and dad or no one to help me or some friends or whatever family, right? So I had to deal with everything on my own and I think this Dubai and international experience really makes you a grown up much quicker than everywhere else because it's a tough market to be at. Do you have any quote you live your life by or think of often? I don't have a specific quote. Everyone is now all about quotes. Whenever I go on Instagram I see 1000 quotes. No, I don't live by quotes. I live by something that I always have in mind. Almost every day it comes to me and that is only one thing. I don't even need to be extremely successful even though that's my aim and my target. So I don't need to be as long as I've tried everything to... and I've used my potential. So what I'm saying is to regret the game. I don't want to regret that I didn't give my 300% of my contacts or my working hours whatever it is, opportunities. So I would say I just don't want to be old and have regrets. That's all. How long are you going to stay in Dubai? I think no one knows that. I've had so many people saying I'm gonna live next year and then they stay 10 more years. So as of now my feeling is I will definitely stay 4-5 years more. I think so. You know I'm single so this is how I'm thinking now. So before I let's say start building my family or maybe I can even start building it here. But if I can choose I wouldn't let's say like my kid to go to the school here. I don't know I just prefer maybe Europe or somewhere else. But as of now let's say 5 or 4 or 5 years more for sure. The only reason where I would live immediately would be if something happens with the market itself. So let's say economic crisis or something like that. What advice would you give to those who are planning to come to Dubai? I actually think the way how I came is the way how most of the people should come. So what I want to say is being extremely well prepared. And it's so easy now. We live in an age and era of social media. It's so easy to make contacts. So easy to make friends. So easy to find out anything what you want to know. So before I came I had a job. I was only dealing with all the agencies. I knew the deals. They knew I'm coming. And as I said I researched everything. I've booked my apartment before I came here. Everything, right? So I came and everything was kind of ready. So I was not dealing. I was not going through stress. And I would say social media is a key thing. Why? Even if you... I think everyone in this world has some friend or friend of a friend who is in Dubai. So I think it's so easy to get connected. So I would say just get in touch. Find out as many info as you can. And just do it. Just explore. That's it. Come well prepared. That's the best thing. What do you make you go back home? Let's say extremely good opportunity. Back home in terms of business and work. So if I can make good money and be home with my family, with my friends that would be definitely one thing. Second thing would be... Let's say something happens with this market. The market crashes. There is no more good opportunities to work, scale your business, etc. That would be a second thing. And I don't know, maybe a third thing would be... Even though I'm single now, but you never know. So maybe, I don't know. Maybe I move because of my future wife or something like that. Because the way how I see it, if I can choose, I wouldn't stay in this country to have a family here. For example, as of today, I can even stay 10 more years. But in a very long, long, long term, I wouldn't like to stay here. I would like to live somewhere else. So let's say something happens and let's say, I don't know, I get married and I want to have kids and I want to move to another country. Maybe that would be a third reason. These are the first few things that come to my mind. Nothing else specifically. As I said, I'm very happy with this city. This city offers so many things. I know so many people complain about it, et cetera, but I think we just... Especially for the people who are here several years, we just became spoiled. I think we should all self-reflect, go back a little bit and think about it. You know, how actually nice is here and what this city offers and what is people, local people who come from here and who've set everything and all these amazing things for us. We should just appreciate more, to be honest. Thank you for watching this video. If you have any questions to Marco, leave them in the comments below and we will reply to you. And don't forget to subscribe to my channel so you will not miss my next episode. See you soon!