Money & Me: ‘Earning passive income will help me retire by 40’

Entrepreneur Satyen Babla invests in property, stocks and cryptocurrencies

Satyen Babla, chief executive of Zopreneurs, says he is a risky investor. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Satyen Babla, 37, is chief executive of Zopreneurs — a company that helps businesses achieve growth and optimisation through innovative technology — and the youngest executive director of BNI New Dubai, a franchise of a global business networking organisation.

The Dubai-born Indian began his entrepreneurial journey 10 years ago with entertainment company DANS, born out of dance schools he founded after becoming a choreographer.

Mr Babla, who also shares his business expertise through speaking engagements and coaching sessions, lives in Jumeirah, Dubai.

Was there wealth during your upbringing?

Mum was working as an admin person and dad was in sales to begin with. I saw them work really hard in the first few years.

We had all the basics and they took good care of us, good education, good schooling, they did a great job, but I wouldn’t have called myself rich by any stretch of the imagination.

They opened their own business, a marketing agency, and that started changing things for us, showed us the power of business.

Did that influence your future path?

Since I was a kid, I knew I wanted to get into business, that I didn’t want to work for someone else. Seeing the visible change in their [parents'] lives, when they made the transition, made me believe that was the right way to go.

I always used to believe the harder you work, the more you’ll earn, which I don’t think is true any more.

My parents were extremely hardworking and I had the same belief for the first few years of my working life. It’s different now, based on experience in my businesses.

How did you first earn?

A job in a Sharjah company that sold vacuums, door-to-door sales. It was disastrous. That was when reality hit, my parents had been doing this [working] for decades and we didn’t realise how difficult it was.

I only worked for three weeks because I had to fly back [to India] for my graduation.

I was probably 18, on commission — I didn’t earn anything. The learning primarily was that you have to wake up and go do stuff, even if you don’t want to. The biggest earning was not financial, it was educational.

In 2006, I got a job at the Belhasa Driving School, customer service. My first monthly salary was Dh2,400 ($653). Then there was an opening in the group head office procurement department. I was there for five years.

Why a dance business?

Dance became pretty much a lifestyle for about three years. I stopped when I joined my parents’ company.

But, even though I left dancing, I don’t think dancing left me. I was freelancing as a choreographer and in 2013 opened a studio. DANS was my first official business.

We grew from one studio to six, changed the model a couple of times, moved into wedding choreography and entertainment, did Bollywood shows, team-building.

We let go of our studios and now work as an agency to do larger events and help corporates integrate and promote themselves through dance and movement.

What motivated Zopreneurs?

The key words … passive income. In 2020, when Covid hit, our revenue went to zero. Nobody would come to studios, no shows, no performances. We realised we needed to diversify as a group.

We use Zoho, an Indian company that provides software solutions, and it helped us grow our business. We became a distributor here, an affiliate partner. We sell Zoho licences, people renew on subscription and we get commission.

What is your savings outlook?

I’m a big believer that saving doesn’t make it happen for you; you have to invest what you’ve got. And I’m quite a risky investor.

I have my insurances, my retirement fund. Once that has been taken care of, whatever I earn, my objective is to keep a minimal portion aside for a rainy day and invest everything else.

I’m not a big spender. I don’t have any fancy wishes. Technology is my weakness, be it the latest phone, laptops — beyond that I’m not into fashion, jewellery or watches.

How do you grow wealth?

We have family properties, good rental yield coming in Dubai and a building in India.

I invested heavily in stocks, cryptocurrency, massively in businesses. It’s quite spread out but whatever I earn from the businesses, I invest in riskier assets.

Satyen Babla says he spends a lot on travel because it opens his mind to new opportunities and learning. Chris Whiteoak / The National

My third business is BNI New Dubai. I bought the franchise this year, the largest investment I’ve done so far. That network runs on a membership fee, members renew annually by themselves.

The whole objective is clear — passive income. My goal is to retire by the age of 40, all the businesses running on autopilot so I’m not actively involved in making money, I can just enjoy life.

What does retirement mean to you?

Not having to work for money. I can still work for my passion. I love teaching, mentoring new entrepreneurs, I can be a consultant, go and dance if I want.

I want to challenge the whole perspective of retirement; a lot of people feel they can retire when they’ve accumulated a big amount of surplus money and then have returns coming in on that.

I would rather invest whatever I have, have a machine running that gives you X amount every month through passive income, so you can retire as opposed to working to build this big mammoth fund. Things have changed.

What recent splurge do you cherish?

Last year, a personal challenge: “If I do 12 trips, can my businesses still operate without me?”

I did 15 trips, the businesses were still profitable. I was out for more than half the year. It was my test run.

I’m a big believer that saving doesn’t make it happen for you, you have to invest what you’ve got

Satyen Babla,
chief executive, Zopreneurs

How do you view money?

Money makes you more of what you already are. If you are a snob, it makes you a better snob, if you are a giver, it makes you a better giver.

Money is just an enabler, it doesn’t have its own existence, it kind of creeps on to you and becomes more of what you are.

If you are a mentor, you can mentor more people, you can provide more opportunity with more money.

So the philosophy of money is purely your philosophy of life. It enables you to do what you want to do.

I believe there is abundant money in the world for everyone to have. I also believe money makes money … you have to use it to make more. Idle money is a waste of money, so I’m using it well.

Any financial regrets?

The only thing is helping people with money without assessing their capacity to return it. I’ve done it multiple times and feel like I need to learn.

You’re helping someone, doing the right thing. Their heart is in the right place, they want to give it back but they’re just not doing the right things to get it back.

What expenditure brings you joy?

I spend a lot on travel. It’s absolutely worth it; it opens your mind, so many opportunities crop up and there’s so much learning out there. I spend much more on travel than I would spend when in Dubai.

It’s been mostly economy [air tickets], but I love spending on good hotels and experiences … whatever it takes to experience what I need to experience.