Naheed Malik had dreamt of being her own boss for years before she finally made it happen. In 2018, she and a colleague left their jobs at Canadian University Dubai to launch The Loop, a communications and PR agency specialising in higher education and service providers.
“We've survived and thrived, really,” she says. “The whole idea was to keep it small, keep it manageable, get our time back – not be on the clock.”
The move required nerve. Ms Malik, 54, who has lived in Dubai for 20 years, had about Dh125,000 ($34,000) in savings when she handed in her notice – about three months' salary. She had also built a small cushion of rent income from a studio flat she had bought in Dubai Marina. Today, her income from the business runs between Dh40,000 and Dh50,000 a month, supplemented by that passive rent income.
It is a far cry from the days of selling sweets to her brothers.
How did money feature in your childhood?
“I'm one of four children – I'm the oldest, and the only girl. I come from a Pakistani family, quite traditional. My dad taught at university, so he wasn't a rich man. My mum never worked, so money was always tight. My relationship with money was: 'OK, no, we don't have enough for this, we don't have enough for that'.
“That is why I think I started earning very early in life. I was maybe in primary school when I started making little things and selling them, or just being sneaky and getting some sweets from school and selling them to my brothers. I had this little entrepreneurial spark even then. I just didn't like being told, 'you want that, but you don't have money for that'.”
What was your first job? What did you earn?
“I would say I was around 15. I was tutoring children younger than me who lived in our apartment building; I would teach them English. Then around 16, I taught at PACC – the Pakistan American Cultural Centre – which ran an English language summer school. The children there would be two or three years younger than me.
“The pay was basically just for my own shopping – I don't know, not even 1,000 Pakistani rupees in those days, which comes to nothing now, but I'm talking about the late 1980s. For a 15 or 16-year-old, having that kind of disposable income, where you have enough to buy your own little things, meant a lot.”
Any early financial challenges?
“Not early, but later in life, yes. I'm very risk averse, and my husband is a risk taker. We've lost money because he thought a business was good enough to invest in.
“Traditionally, men are the ones who run the family finances, and women don't – for some reason – and the same sort of happened in my relationship. My financial independence was very much there, but I gave up the responsibility for the family finances.
“I took it back in the past 10 years, because whatever business decisions he's making are affecting both of us. As we grow older, this is going to be our retirement pot of money.”
What was the spark that prompted the change?
“Just getting older. When you turn 40, you're like: my earning level, I hope I can work for 30 more years, but who knows – and I want it to go down, because I want to do other things with my life. For that, there have to be sources of passive income. That was always my thing. So I thought: why didn't we just be risk averse and put that money into real estate? It doesn't grow like a business would, but it would be a stable income.”
How do you grow your wealth?
“Very conservatively. Real estate. Save, save, save, and put it into small properties that give you stable rental income. I try to avoid mortgage.”
Are you a spender or a saver?
“Both – but I'm not a big spender. I'm quite careful with money. In the past four or five years, though, something has changed, and I spend more on myself, which I never used to.
I have never felt guilty about spending on travel. I've travelled a lot. But now, I also spend on things like self-development. I'm doing my Masters – Contemporary Creative Writing at Northeastern University. It's expensive, but if not now, then when?”
What has been your best investment?
“The small studio apartment I bought in Dubai Marina – the first one. That gives me rental income, it's stable and it's grown in value. My business is also an investment. I never thought of it that way, because it's a living thing – but as the clients grow and the business grows, yes, it has grown in value too.”
Any cherished purchases?
“I don't like spending money on goods. I'm not really fussed about brands. Honestly, it's my experiences and my cherished memories that I value more than anything. Now that the kids are grown up, those holidays we did every year when they were very young. The first really long, a month-long holiday was when my daughter was maybe three years old, and she's just turned 30.”
What financial advice would you give your younger self?
“Plan earlier in life. I did plan my future, but I started a bit late. I would have started planning – financially as well – when I was 20 or 21, and worked towards it. Be more conscious about money coming in and going out, and be more responsible about financial decisions, even if those decisions are with your family or your partner. Take more responsibility for them.
“And I would tell younger women: keep a separate bank account. I think that's crucial. I talk to many women who are going through a rough phase in a marriage or relationship, and the first problem that arises is they have joint accounts for everything, including for salaries. Just keep a separate account, be independent and understand money. I think a lot of financial decisions get handed over to men because women feel, or somehow make themselves believe, that they don't understand money.”
What luxuries are important to you?
“At this point, the luxury of time, really. To do my own writing, to do my own thing. And health. When I hit 50, I became very health conscious. Going to the gym is non-negotiable now. And the ability to continue to travel as long as I can because travel requires both health and money.
“I want to get to 80, be mobile, be happy with what I'm doing, and have enough in my life to live happily and comfortably.”
