We have heard your vision as bringing the best real estate practices from your international experience to Pakistan for property development, let us know what you mean by that?
Trust, transparency, sincerity, commitment and doing good.
These are the five tenets we stand on. I have lived most of my life for the last 22 years outside of Pakistan. As an Overseas Pakistani, I am here to give back and improve our country. We have suffered from brain drain of the talent moving out of Pakistan, hence, I am here to support our countries growth back into Pakistan.
In the USA and UK, property purchase methods are extremely transparent. Everything is documented and is open book with purchasers and developers sticking to their commitments and obligations. We are a development company with offices in Houston, New York, London, Dubai, Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. Our USA/UK offices are mainly for sales and customer service for Overseas Pakistanis. We don’t do balloting, we don’t do files, we don’t play games, we just give the best property at the best prices.
We deliver. We do good. We give back to our community. Our vision is greater than just property development, our vision is to ‘be good and do good’. Our Overseas buyers purchase from us as we are professional and bring top quality developments to Pakistan.
How do you Manage So Many Global Offices?
We have a world-class professional team globally. It is the team that makes the organization, and our people are our biggest strength. On average, each person in our organization has over 15 years’ experience in the property development field, and this experience is what ensures perfect delivery. Over the years, we have learned and improved, and now we are aware of what works. Turnkey solutions is what we try to provide our purchasers, where they can sleep well knowing they are working with a reputed, professional organization.
Delegate and empowerment is the key to success. I have seen others fail due to this simple issue, they are control freaks, and they can never grow. Delegation and empowerment is the key to growth.
Tell us about what differentiates you at Hexagon Developments?
Hexagon Developments is our brand, but we have been operating for the last 15 years in this space delivering projects globally. We focused on creating value, dreams and different solutions for our buyers, at Hexagon developers we have projects across Pakistan / Middle-East and we are expanding globally within the US. We are about to launch one of our buildings which is completed and ready for investors. We wanted to bring the brand into the market with a delivered property to instill confidence and trust in buyers. This further tells our investors, we mean business and with us, they can be assured of delivery and quality.
We work with the top best international consultants and brands from the US and the UK, bringing their expertise into Pakistan. In the end, the quality of our product reflects the company’s quality.
How do You Feel the Current Political Environment Effects Pakistan Real Estate?
It makes property more expensive in Pakistan and astute investors profit from purchasing at these times. The political situation is a little tense in Pakistan, however, it does not change the facts of the Nation. The facts are we have one of the largest housing shortages anywhere in the world, currently at 10 Millionhomes. Tense political environments only add to the shortage of property supply in Pakistan, whilst the demand for new homes is 1 Million new homes required every year.
We have a country where our population is majority under 30 so you can only imagine when 110 million people require homes in the next 10-15 years, what exactly will happen in the country. Purchasing property in Pakistan is by far the best investment in the country.
Political environments come and go, but the 250 Million + population of Pakistan continues to grow, and the country is the 6th largest country by population globally, and that requirement will always drive the economy on the right track, regardless of whomever is in power. The private sector of Pakistan is significantly improving its efficiencies and things will continue to move.
What Do You look for When You Identify Land?
Location, location, location. Quality, quality, quality. We feel there is a huge shortage in Pakistan of quality, world-class product. By adding that quality at the right price and right location, we ensure our developments enjoy huge capital appreciation over the years.
We do extensive studies prior to our land purchases, which involve 36 point processes, which entail all current and future factors such as environmental, traffic impact studies, population growth in that area, demand factors, supply factors, legal and many others. Once our team is comfortable with the land purchase, then the legal due diligence is the most extensive and the most important part of purchasing land in Pakistan. Once completed, we go to closing the transaction.
Then we complete the construction and either hold and rent, orsell developments. We currently have industrial assets and commercial buildings which we hold, and others we are launching.
You have received education from the best institutions of the world, how has your journey been and how did you enter your professional life?
My education was based on finance and entrepreneurship, I studied in Babson College in Boston where I attained an undergrad degree. During that course of 4 years I learnt a lot about finance, banking and entrepreneurship, I learned how to start and sustain a business. After which I joined a private equity firm which was based around the world focused on investing in the emerging markets such as Africa, Middle East, South America, South East Asia & South Asia. My journey started off from a very corporate background which moved onto entrepreneurship, which was always my passion I always loved finance, numbers and the stock exchange. In Private Equity, I worked in multiple industries such as FMCGs, Healthcare, Hospitality and education. Through which I got a good lens and scope on different business around the world and different industries. After that I soon started my entrepreneurial journey which started off with real estate development, hospitality and technology where I actually focused on technology and real estate.
What is your entrepreneurial philosophy?
My entrepreneurial Philosophy is 24 hours! Everyone has twenty hours you need to maximize that time and make sure you work most efficiently. A lot of people work hard however you must work smart with the right direction and know where you have to go.
Where do you prefer working in Pakistan or abroad? What hurdles do you face in Pakistan that aren’t faced abroad?
Post Covid we are working everywhere, I work in three different time zones anywhere I am in the world therefore I can say that Pakistan is a very unique place to work and that is very interesting because it’s a very young market which is essentially maturing very quickly compared to the west.
There is a grand and positive legacy attached to your family name as one of the richest families of Pakistan, how do you maintain the standards attained?
The standards attained within my family most importantly is values, the most important thing is to follow your values as you are working. We have to be much more careful in everything we do and be risk averse to ensure that legacy is protected. We have lots of disciplines, a family charter, and processes in place. These do’s and don’t’s are very important for family-ownedbusinesses.
What is your motto in life?
My motto in life is essentially having discipline and knowing what you are doing therefore a lot of people like multitasking. It is great to multitask but as long as you what you have to get and when you have to get done that’s the most important thing. The other most important thing is discipline, it’s very important to have discipline in terms of work schedule, personal life, family life and social life. It is very important to compile those issues and make sure you are following that discipline in that schedule.
