Since we last met two years ago, Mr Ahmed bin Shabib, co-founder of brownbag.ae, says he has moved on from his much-loved Nokia mobile phone to a Blackberry. "I'm much busier now and the Blackberry reminds me of interviews and meetings," he says, before excusing himself to answer his phone. Brownbag.ae is a pioneering online shopping experience, which promises to deliver food, drinks, movies, magazines, electronics, books and other sundries within an hour anywhere in Dubai.
It was established by Ahmed and his twin brother, Rashid. "Our strategy is one of urban lifestyle," says Rashid, as his brother indicates his phone call will last a little longer than anticipated. The Shabib brothers graduated from Suffolk University, which is located in Boston, Massachusetts. They returned to Dubai, their hometown, upon completing degrees in economics in 2004. Ahmed worked with Emirates Bank as an investment banker, and Rashid worked with the Dubai International Financial Centre as a regulator.
After a year as employees, the brothers, who are 25, decided it was time for them to become entrepreneurs. With Dh30,000 as start-up capital and support from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders, brownbag.ae was launched in 2006. Within the first year, brownbag.ae had 10,000 registered users. Rashid estimates the number currently stands at more than 25,000, with an average of 40 orders daily. Items available for delivery range from international magazines such as Monocle to a small pack of three Ferrero Rocher chocolates and electronic gadgets such as iPods and mobile phones.
"Our electronics division is most successful," says Rashid. "We always knew that would be the case," says Ahmed, returning to the interview. "With electronics the end user mostly knows exactly what he wants in terms of product and specifications after reviewing with friends or online. So if the desired product can be brought home for a minimal delivery charge of Dh10, it's a great deal, right?" He elaborates with the example of comparing purchasing an iPod from a retail outlet and ordering through brownbook.ae.
"The prices are the same except for the delivery charge of Dh10," he says. From a business standpoint the delivery charge covers their logistical costs. The company also gains a commission per item sold through their service from vendors they have partnered with. The business started off with the brothers, a driver and a dispatcher, resulting in the Shabibs making deliveries when required. "We made the first delivery, which was a Sony Ericsson phone and a toothbrush," says Rashid, adding that he remembers the contents of the order because of the "strange combination of items".
In two years the staff size has increased to 28, with operations expected to start in Abu Dhabi and Singapore this year. "We were prepared for the rapid expansion of the city and that's why our main storage space is located on Sheikh Zayed Road," says Ahmed. "It's the only place that is equidistant from the Marina and the Khawaneej area [on the Deira side of the Dubai Creek], allowing deliveries within the hour."
In order to quickly manoeuvre through Dubai's infamous traffic jams the company's deliveries are made by men on motorbikes. So far, the average delivery time is 37 minutes, and if a job takes more than an hour the fee is waived. Although the company broke even within the first year, the brothers had to continually invest profits in adding to their infrastructure, such as on refrigerators, and on additional staff and their website. They also spent a lot time and energy building partnerships with various commercial industries.
Business relationships with vendors were not easy to come by. "Being Emirati, meant we had to prove ourselves even more," says Rashid. "We would get meetings but they wouldn't always translate into partnerships. Once our first partnership was signed with Virgin the others followed." With the success of brownbag.ae, the entrepreneurs set about creating the next phase of their mandate, which they say is "to develop a new sense of urban lifestyle".
Having sealed an online presence through brownbag.ae, they sensed an absence in the print media of a publication that offered an accurate and fair representation of the urban Middle East. "There were no Dubai-based publications that were doing well outside of the local markets," says Rashid, who is the editor-in-chief of their bimonthly magazine, Brown Book, which launched in 2007. "There was also a lack of magazines that dealt with Middle Eastern-specific arts and culture. We felt that we were able to tap into this deficit while also putting Dubai on the global publishing map, and that's how Brown Book was born."
Covering topics related to design, lifestyle, travel and culture, Brown Book can be spotted in trendy cafes and boho-chic venues of Dubai's newest districts. "It's printed on wood-free paper and is the second largest selling publication in the United Arab Emirates, according to Jashanmal," says Rashid. He describes Brown Book as their "cash cow", but cautions that the initial investments required for the magazine amounted to more than Dh1 million, including expenses such as publishing licenses, distribution, office space, equipment and staff salaries.
"It's a lot of money for a magazine like Brown Book, but it has a circulation of 25,000 and is growing," he adds. "Also, we wanted to break the stereotype of the Middle East, especially with Brown Book," says Rashid. "The Middle East was either Lawrence of Arabia or Wilfred Thesiger. We are only reacting to information and we felt the need to start populating the media space with a new kind of information," says Ahmed.
Brown Book's content is neither provocative nor political, yet, says Rashid, it's interesting and simply "cool". When asked to describe the typical Brown Book reader, Ahmed, who is the publisher, says, "Between 20 to 40 years, just a young, sophisticated professional". Both brownbag.ae and Brown Book are now run by staff selected by the brothers, and though the twins are aware of the daily goings-on in the businesses, they are currently focused on their latest venture, called The Shelter.
Located in Dubai's Al Quoz industrial zone, The Shelter is an 11,000 sq ft space designed to serve as a hub for the ultra-niche segment of the city's creative professionals. "It came out of Brown Book's success," says Rashid during a walk through the space, which is still under construction. "The Shelter will function as a sort of incubation place for start-up companies or young graduates or creative individuals embarking on a career and wanting to work in the Middle East."
Better seen as a mini Dubai Media City, The Shelter aims to take care of paperwork and other formalities necessary to setting up a creative enterprise, and will charge no fees other than those required by the various governmental agencies. And since most start-ups are hampered by the high costs associated with renting commercial space, The Shelter solves that pressing concern by offering 50 office "spaces" of 1.5m by 1.2m each for a monthly rent of Dh3,000.
The charges include secretarial service, internet connection, phone line, 24-hour access to The Shelter's library and a hugely coveted asset in today's work scenario - a parking space. The Shabib brothers are confident of the success of The Shelter, which is scheduled to open this month, after which Rashid says he will plan their next project, while Ahmed will focus on running operations smoothly before moving on.
"We're a good team as brothers. Rashid builds and I manage. I think that's crucial to any entrepreneurial activity - having a good partner," says Ahmed, before checking his Blackberry for the next appointment. Then he's off.