My Startup World speaks to Bahaa Fatairy, the Managing Director and Founder of BR Communications, about his company, the services his company offers and the future plans
Can you tell something about yourself? Your school life, your college life, your interests, your family?
My name is Bahaa Issam Fatairy from Lebanon and I’m 30 years old, born on 11th of March 1984 from an area in Lebanon named Jdeideh – Bakaata El Shouf. My Father, Issam Fatairy was working in the Middle East Airlines in Lebanon and my Mother Faeda Fatairy is a house wife. We are 3 brothers (Farouk Fatairy the older one, myself, and my younger brother and partner in BR Communications Rashad Fatairy).
I’m married to Rihab Jihad Fayad and she is working as a Clinic Manager in Mirdif Center for Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation. Rihab played a major role in setting up BR Communications and she is handling the administration and financial management in BR Communications as she has a Masters Degree in Finance.
After getting my graduation degree in 2008 and I started my career as a PR Executive with Orient Planet PR & Marketing Communications which is represented by Mr. Nidal Abou Zaki, the Managing Director, whom I really appreciate and respect. I consider him my mentor, one who played a key role in my personal life in helping me build my career.
I worked with Orient Planet for almost four years, handling governmental and non-governmental clients and other clients from different industries such as Real Estate, IT, Logistics, Aviation, and so on. During my time at Orient Planet, I learned how to be a strategic thinker and issues solver in addition to account management in terms of media activities, releases, features and being proactive in serving our clients.
After my stint at Orient Planet, I moved on to working with Genesis Consulting ME as a PR and Business Development Director. My role during my employment with Genesis Comsulting was PR and Business Development and to support Mr. Bharat Kumar the MD of Genesis to start up the agency and run it’s operations. In December 2013 I decided to setup BR Communications.
How did you arrive on the idea behind BR Communications?
After having 7 years of experience in PR and Marketing Communications, I wanted to “follow my dreams” of setting up my own business in the UAE. Moreover, I have taken up this challenge, even though most of my relatives, friends and beloved ones were against my idea of starting up something when I was not financially stable.
But I was stubborn in setting up my business and today, BR Communications is the only source of my income and it’s driven in a professional way and being successful in a very short period of time.
How and when was the company started?
I started my company in December 2013 by applying for a freelance trade license from Fujairah Free Zone – Creative City. I was successfully issued the trade license and that helped in establishing my company in a very simple way. Definitely it was very difficult when I was trying to start up.
The funding for the company came from my savings all these years, though I have had to borrow a part of funding from a close relative. But, since it’s a free zone company, it gives me flexibility in doing what I do.
Tell us about how you went about registering the company, the initial number of employees, the managing partners of the company and so on.
Initially, I tried for a Department of Economic Development license under Dubai Government. However, my application was rejected since I had a BA Degree in Hospitality Management.
So, I tried asking around and found out some good options through Free Zones. Some were very expensive and some were reasonable. I finally decided to go with Fujairah Free Zone – Creative City and I got my trade license as freelance license where I am not allowed to hire anybody on my license.
After starting up and winning some clients, I upgraded my license to have around 3-4 visas under my license and here I began effectively operating and feeling that I have somehow established my PR agency, BR Communications.
Today we have a strength of 3 people working in BR Communications, in addition to freelancers. We also outsourcing some of the work that we can’t handle now, such as event management.
How do you think will services from BR Communications change the way people look at PR?
Digital media is the speak of the town today and hence working in industries such as public relations is getting more challenging. Also, any companies confuse PR and Advertising, and think that it’s the same industry.
So here the challenge is to keep the PR industry on its right track. We offer services to our clients by dealing with them in a professional manner, delivering high quality activities, being proactive and creative by suggesting new activities, and being able to deal with different scenarios based on the client’s requirements.
Did you encounter any hurdles while setting up the company?
Yes, as is the case with setting up any business, we did face many hurdles. The cost of starting up is always a challenge initially since it will take around 6 months to 1 year to only recover the costs involved in setting up the business. Also, it takes time for your business to get accepted on the market, which will in turn help you in getting new businesses.
How do you market your services?
We use social media and digital marketing campaigns to market our services. We are active on most social media channels such as Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and so on. Winning new clients is very important through these ativities and I have found that Linkedin has worked very well in our case.
What are your future plans for BR Communications?
My plans for BR Communications is to have physical offices in the whole Arab region to serve my clients in a better way, and to have an affiliate partnership with a worldwide firm based in either US or Europe. My dream is to see BR Communications grow into one of the leading multinational PR agencies in the world.
What are your future plans as an entrepreneur?
I would like to focus on growing BR Communications, and I might go into investment in the future, especially focusing on PR, Media or Marketing industry.
What is your advice to other entrepreneurs in the process of setting up shop in the Middle East?
My advice to other entrepreneurs is never ever do over selling. Don’t ever commit to something you can’t deliver. Even if it will take time to start or begin having the ROI but be loyal with customers and build good connections first. Always tell the truth and be honest to build up the trust between you and the clients.
