My Dubai Salary: ‘I earn up to Dh5,000 a month as a start-up founder’

Abdul Qadir, founder of travel company Chataway, reinvests all his income into his business

Abdul Qadir, founder of travel start-up Chataway, has set a long-term financial goal to buy a property in the UAE. Antonie Robertson / The National

Abdul Qadir, an Indian living in Dubai, decided to take the leap of faith and become an entrepreneur this year, after acquiring experience and contacts in the travel and tourism industry.

The 30-year-old launched a travel company called Chataway after identifying a niche.

However, the start-up founder is experiencing the challenges of running a fledgling start-up and reinvests most of his income back into the business for growth.

His long-term financial goals are to buy a home and an office for his company in the UAE.

Mr Qadir, who hails from the west Indian state of Gujarat, hopes to eventually grow his business on a large scale so that he will not have to depend on other sources of passive income.

He lives in Al Rigga area in Deira and holds a diploma in tourism.

What was your first job and salary?

My first job was as a travel consultant in an Indian online travel agency, Goibibo.com, in 2013, where I earned 10,000 Indian rupees ($119) a month. I worked there for two years.

At the end of 2015, I moved to Dubai looking for better opportunities in travel and tourism.

It took me only 10 days to find a job in Dubai. I started working as a holiday consultant with online travel agency Musafir.com and the job paid me around Dh2,500 ($680) per month. I worked there for two years and at the time of leaving the job, my salary had increased to Dh3,500.

Later, I worked for multiple companies in travel and tourism in Dubai. My last salary as a business development manager in a Dubai-based travel company was approximately Dh10,000 per month in 2023.

Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?

I decided to become an entrepreneur because whenever I worked in a company, I had many ideas in terms of changing things or growing the business. But you are not allowed to have a say until you reach a certain position.

That frustrated me. It occurred to me that if I had been an entrepreneur, this would not have been a problem.

My love for travel and the aspiration to create something unique led me to start my travel company, Chataway, in January this year.

I identified a gap in the UAE travel industry for a specialised company that makes tailored holiday packages with a seamless interaction model. There are multiple companies in the market that organise group tours.

The business idea of Chataway is based on providing customised holiday packages through a chat-based interaction model whereby we enable travel planning in a personal and seamless manner.

I built Chataway from scratch, starting with the website, acquiring clients and reaching out to people. My eight years of experience in the travel industry enabled me to handle various aspects of Chataway.

The venture was a leap of faith, based on my industry knowledge and contacts. This journey has taught me resilience and the importance of not giving up.

How much do you earn currently?

On average, I earn about Dh4,000 to Dh5,000 per month now. However, the struggles are very high since it's a one-man operation.

There are challenges because I singlehandedly look after the accounts, social media marketing, sales as well as business development.

I'm trying to earn the same income from my entrepreneurial journey that my salary provided. I have set a one-year timeframe to achieve this.

I currently work with a couple of corporates and plan to partner with more in the future. These corporate clients provide recurring income to Chataway, which helps me manage my monthly expenses.

Do you manage to save?

As of now, I don't manage to save a lot. Whatever I earn, I re-invest into social media marketing for my business.

I had some savings that I used to pay for the licence and business set-up.

Have you started investing?

Not right now, but my long-term goal is to buy a property in the UAE. I also wish to get an office.

Have you purchased property in your home country?

No, I haven’t. I live with my father when I visit India.

I lost my mother a few years ago. Both my parents were entrepreneurs in the textile industry. They ran the business for almost 30 years.

Do you have any debt?

No, I don't have any debt now and don't plan to borrow for my company either because I believe in slow growth.

As a Muslim, I believe that that whatever you earn should be sufficient. There is no requirement for debt.

Growing up, were you taught how to handle your finances?

Both my parents were entrepreneurs, so I have seen how they used to handle their income and expenses.

Although we didn't have a lavish lifestyle growing up, we were able to make do with whatever they earned.

What are your major monthly expenses?

For now, it's my house rent, which accounts for 50 per cent of my monthly income, and personal expenses in the UAE.

How do you budget your salary every month?

At this stage, I'm still learning how to budget my expenses.

My fiancee, who lives in Abu Dhabi, helps me budget my income. I plan to get married next year and my fiancee will join me full-time as a co-founder of Chataway. She works in the hospitality industry, too.

Abdul Qadir used his savings to pay for the company licence and set-up. Antonie Robertson / The National

Have you started saving for retirement?

As long as my mind is working, I don't plan to retire.

If I have a home and six months’ worth of emergency expenses, that is the ideal concept of retirement for me.

Do you have an emergency fund?

No, but I’m working on it. I’d like to have at least six months’ worth of expenses in my emergency fund.

What do you spend your disposable income on?

Mostly going out and socialising with friends and family because there's so much to do in Dubai.

Do you worry about money?

I worry that I don't have an emergency fund. What if my start-up doesn’t work out in six months and I don't have an emergency fund to fall back on? That worries me.

What are your best money saving hacks to offset inflation?

Start investing a portion of what you earn, even if it is a small amount. If you are able to save Dh1,000, buy at least Dh500 worth of gold every month.

That is a short-term hack to cope with inflation. I have bought small quantities of gold.

What are your financial goals?

My short-term goal is to save enough for an emergency fund and my long-term goal is to buy a home in the UAE.

My dream is for my business to be the go-to travel brand in the UAE.

Do you earn passive income?

No, the only income I currently earn is from my start-up. My plan is to grow this business so big that I don't have to worry about passive income at all.

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