“We build shared spaces that foster a sense of community across the physical and digital world” emphasizes Azaan Feroz Sait, the Founder and Chief Happiness Officer of The Hub.
While most slipped and hit a wall when they are faced with an obstacle, Azaan Feroz Sait has championed multitasking and has materialized several of his ideas from the get-go.
He is engaged in exploring the future of community spaces at The Hub by providing a platform for Digital Community Building and connecting brands and creators for collaborations. Besides, The Hub also offers co-living, co-working, and event spaces. A dreamer and storyteller, Azaan’s story begins and ends with risk-taking, creating and executing the craziest ideas out in the world. We, at Storiyaan, sat down to unearth a piece of Azaan’s wandering mind in this immersive interview.
Interview
Questions and answers
When did you first become familiar with your entrepreneurial zeal and what turned out to be the motivation for exploring this latent passion?
I grew up in an environment where everyone was a problem-solver. This helped me establish a business mindset and gave wings to my entrepreneurial zeal. I have always enjoyed and performed leadership roles with ease – I was a part of many clubs during my academic life. I also took up several internships which affirmed my entrepreneurial journey and I realized that I wished to work on my terms.
What led to the development of your unique understanding of how to leverage the power of storytelling to build customer-focused businesses?
Storytelling has been the key to our business and its expansion. It is a salient part of marketing as it helps in introducing your product to your target audience. In the last four years, we have built and expanded “The Hub” from a co-living to a co-working to an events space to becoming a creative agency and media house, all because of extensive use of storytelling.
Having started and worked with over a dozen start-ups in the last decade, what do you believe was the greatest lesson that you learned from your experiences and trials and errors if any?
My greatest takeaway was understanding and eliminating the business prospects that I had no interest in. Working on multiple varied projects gave me insight into each business and it became easier for me to remove projects that did not spike my interest.
What do you believe makes The Hub unique among all other similar platforms?
It’s the people here that make us unique, each one of us takes charge and incorporates our quirks and talents to bring products that resonate with our customers. The people behind a certain part of our business are encouraged to channelize their ideas and provide a personal touch that sets us apart.
Did you ever come across a phase in your career graph where you hit rock bottom and what did you do to overcome that?
Yes, I have faced failures, and I feel that when you are open to experimentation and innovation, you will also have to be receptive to failures. Additionally, I make sure I am not over-committing to my goals.
What are some of the amazing transformations that you have noticed in your personality and life after you came to own a dog?
The entry of Zuzu into my life is probably one of the best things to ever happen to me. He is the living embodiment of my adventurous self. As a result, his presence has acted as a morale booster for me. Apart from that, as I was responsible for his care – I learned to be patient.
During the lockdown most businesses have taken a financial hit. What were your strategies to cut down on the losses? Also, tell us about some reliefs that were given to the employees.
Yes, the lockdown had not been merciful to us but we decided to revamp and reconstruct our goals and business. As our primary focus was to keep our employees invested, we diversified from a real-estate business to a community platform and re-trained the people according to our new goals. Luckily, the plan has worked and we have been able to grow since January 2021.
What will be your message to everyone trying to dip their feet into an entrepreneurial journey?
Contrary to popular wisdom, I feel you should not over-plan. Network with the right people and keep experimenting with your ideas. Use your personal brand on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Clubhouse to share your ideas with your community, and then actually listen to the input that they give you. It’s a great way to crowdsource your ideation.
Quick 5
1. One book that motivated you – The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
2. Your latest binge – The Bold Type
3. One work ethic you stick by all the time – Multitasking efficiently
4. Your greatest achievement – Zuzu, my pet dog
5. One guilty pleasure – Milk, as I am lactose intolerant.
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