Rizwan Sajan: The 1 % Man of Dubai, Danube properties

Rizwan Sajan is an outstanding Emirati businessman honoured for his exceptional vision, unwavering leadership abilities, and consistent devotion to the Middle East region. As a founder and chairman of Danube Group, he is famous for being “the 1% man in Dubai”. Recognized for his visionary mindset and innovative approach, Rizwan works tirelessly to push the boundaries, enter new domains, and challenge the status quo. 

As a leader, Rizwan Sajan depicts a hands-on approach and leads as an idol by promoting a culture of ownership, innovation, partnership, and continuous improvement. The primary reason he is experiencing success in everything he does is his decisive aim to become the best leader. 

Rizwan Sajan Biography

A complete journey about the company

With a vision to form his business empire, Rizwan Sajan shifted to the UAE from Mumbai, India, in the early 1990s. In 1993, he established the Danube Group, a small trading firm primarily concentrating on building materials. Under Sajan’s leadership, the Danube Group experienced immense growth, expanded its domains, and had diversified partnerships with different industries. The flagship organization, Danube Building Materials, offers construction components across the area, with over 50,000 products under a single roof.

Moreover, Danube’s diversification into various industries, such as home furnishing, hospitality solutions, and media, represents Sajan’s business sense. One of the significant real estate arms is Danube Properties, which has been a game-changer in the reasonable luxury segment of property development in the UAE. He realized that 80-90% of the foreign individuals were still on a rent basis, which he wished to convert into property buyers as a part of his strategic plan.

The journey of founder and co-founders

Rizwan, founder of the Danube Group, has faced immense hardships. His father passed away when he was just 16, and life became very hard because there was no one to help with money.  1981, he asked his uncle for help and started working as a trainee salesman in Kuwait. He worked so hard that he quickly moved up in his job.  In 1990, Kuwait was attacked, and Rizwan had to leave and go back to India. He returned to Mumbai, but he didn’t give up. He was determined to succeed, so he started looking for work again. Finally, he got a job at a company in Dubai that sold building materials. 

The Vice Chairman of the Danube Group, Mr. Anis Sajan, is one of the visionary leaders who began his journey as a sales executive at Eureka Forbes in Mumbai. Talking about his current position in the Danube Group, the role signifies his resilience and business sense. His brother, Mr Rizwan Sajan, has contributed substantially to shaping the Danube Group portfolio in the MENA Region as the leading provider of building materials and home improvement services.

Mr.  Anis Sajan’s love of cricket has resulted in notable contributions to the game, such as owning corporate teams and launching programs like “Cricket Unplugged” his major priorities are still business and leadership. The company’s success is still supported by Mr. Anis Sajan’s leadership and dedication as Vice Chairman of the Danube Group. His dedication to his family, community, and personal well-being is an example to everyone.

What is the Ingenious New One % Plan? 

As a part of his 1% plan, Mr. Rizwan Sajan wanted to convert renters into property buyers. Shifting the approach of foreign residents who have rented in Dubai was difficult as most people were on a salary basis. After adequate brainstorming, he devised the 1% plan and the small down payment. Under this plan, the monthly payment was set at just one per cent, with the balance accumulated once the building was constructed.

As per this plan, Mr Sajan rapidly transformed Dubai real estate and emerged as a hit individual who helped individuals navigate an affordable market. He presented extremely competitive prices that anyone could afford to pay. The studio apartments were priced at AED500K to AED600K, a 1BHK at AED800K to AED900K,  and a 2 BHK apartment priced at AED1.3K to 1.5K. This was also suitable as rather than paying rent, you could own your home in this dynamic city of Dubai.

What was the Strategy Behind the 1% Plan?

The one per cent plan was an overnight success, attracting long potential buyers’ queues. Rizwan Sajan is grateful for the bank’s support, which allowed him to implement such a profitable strategy. He detailed the plan by explaining that once the development reached 60% completion, banks were ready to finance the remaining 40% of the property price. This was also developed to benefit customers, banks, and the Danube. However, this strategy also helps customers as they do not have to stand in long queues at banks for approval procedures and uncertain interest rates.

How Mr Rizwan Sajan Planned to Enter the Luxury Market

With the launch of Fashionz by Danube and FashionTV, Danube Properties has entered the luxury real estate market. Understanding the latest property trends, Sajan took advantage of FashionTV’s arrival in Dubai, which perfectly caught the city’s luxurious feel.

“Fashionz is designed by FashionTV’s designers, with interiors made especially for us, and these designs are not available anywhere else in Dubai,” Sajan shares. He explains that the unique selling point (USP) is to create something new and exceptional for the market every time. Fashionz by Danube redefines luxurious living with over 40 extraordinary amenities.

The residents of Fashionz can enjoy impressive features like an indoor swimming pool, medical services available around the clock, a play area for kids, and much more, which sets a new level of luxury living in Dubai.

What is the Remarkable Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) implemented by Mr. Rizwan Sajan

Sajan’s first CSR initiative focused on blue-collar workers, which offered them English language and computer skills training. The goal was to help these workers, as their incapability to speak English often limited them to tough labour jobs, even though they had the skills and drive to do more. Compared to several other enterprises that let employees go during the pandemic, Danube Group chose to keep all its staff. This decision by Sajan boosted the workers’ motivation.

What’s Next in the pipeline for Danube Group

Mr. Rizwan Sajan shares that Danube Properties will continue with its current approach. “Our strategy has always been simple: launch one project at a time, sell 70& of it, then begin construction, once that is done, we start the next project,” he said. This strategy is seen with the recently launched Fashionz, which is already 70& sold, and Viewz, which is 100% sold. “If I don’t sell, I will not start something new,” Sajan adds. Their next project will be Elitz 2 in JVC.

Sajan mentions, “We won’t move on to the next project until this one is sold. The market can change quickly, so I prefer to earn a little less but focus on one project at a time.”

Danube is not just great at helping investors buy properties, but they have also started a new company that focuses on managing and selling properties. This new business allows buyers to rent out and take care of their properties easily. This company is unique because it guarantees a 6-10% return on investment. Danube has created another company that handles all property management tasks to make things even better for investors. This includes everything from furnishing the property to regular maintenance. Property owners can enjoy a hassle-free and smooth experience with this full-service approach.

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