Tarek Azmi is the founder and co-owner of Rumble Motorcycles with his wife Sigrid. Lebanese-born Mr Azmi, 37, arrived in the UAE nine years ago with a passion for motorcycles borne from his early years living in Saudi Arabia riding through the sand on a bike powered by a 12-volt battery. Nowadays he rides an Italian retro-styled, chain-driven bike called a Headbanger. He also sells Headbanger motorcycles – luxury motorbikes with prices ranging from Dh99,000 to Dh270,000 – from his shop in Al Barsha by Mall of the Emirates in Dubai.
7am
I am not an early riser, although I have started getting up earlier since our bundle of joy arrived, Alicia (named after the singer Pink), six months ago. I work long hours so I take this time to connect with my daughter just so she knows who daddy is. Breakfast is a shake or some oats. I would like to say I go to the gym but that has fallen away at the moment. If I go to the gym it will be from 5.30-7am, but I tend to yo-yo with exercise, right now I’m gaining weight.
9am
I catch the Metro to work. I have two jobs, one that pays my salary and pays bills – the day job - and one that I hope will pay for the rest of our life – our bike shop Rumble Motorcycles. This means, rather than using the motorcycle to travel to the day job I take the Metro down Sheikh Zayed Road. I am then able to use that time to answer emails and keep across our social networking campaign for the Headbanger brand. We have a Facebook page and an Instagram site – the bikes look amazing so they work well and are easily shared on social media.
9.30am
I am a sales educator for a major brand and have lots of meetings and classes with staff. I have to be very organised for my job so I always know what I am doing, where and with who. I’m told regularly that I can’t multi-task – so I don’t try. I focus solely on the day job so Rumble Motorcycles is left in the capable hands of my wife, Sigrid, who keeps across inventory, stock and partnerships with providers from home. We like to think of the space as a boutique with top-end motorcycles for sale rather than a bike shop. We have some great boots, jackets, lids, vests and T-shirts for sale; we even have Kevlar shorts. Gabriel, our only full-time employee, is in charge of the sales in the shop.
12.30pm
Food is very important to me so I always make sure I sit down to eat my lunch. There are some great restaurants around where you can get some productive work done while eating great healthy food. I love junk food, I really love junk food, so I make a concerted effort to steer clear and eat well. I work long hours and sometimes it’s easy to slip into bad eating habits. Wherever I eat there has to be Wi-Fi as it is an opportunity to work on the business or liaise virtually with customers. I am in charge of the fun part of the job. I arrange for people to take test rides on the bikes, I have to go along of course. My wife is a keen biker herself so she got the short straw.
1.30pm-6.30pm
My job requires me to educate sales forces; these processes all have to be organised, arranged, produced and then put into practice so my day job is one of constant co ordination and motivation.
6.30pm
Our shop in Al Barsha usually closes at 7.30pm but if I can get there before closing time I will keep it open for an extra hour or so. I will be getting on with admin and the Dubai bureaucracy, so staying open is a bonus and I finish what’s needed to be done.
9pm
We eat what my wife has created, that means it will be healthy. If Alicia is still kicking, I bond with her over a bottle. When I have the time I will read books on entrepreneurship or books by entrepreneurs. I think there is always an opportunity to learn and not much time to learn it.
10pm
My wife and I love good television: Game of Thrones, Californication and the like. If it’s good it can keep us up until 11.30pm, when I go to bed.
ascott@thenational.ae
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