Majed Zambaraji, CEO and Managing Partner of Time Express, discusses the logistics industry and becoming an entrepreneur.
Key trends and disruptors within logistics
When discussing the current trends and disruptors within the logistics industry, Majed Zambaraji, CEO and Managing Partner of Time Express, highlights e-commerce as a key trend. “In the logistics industry, e-commerce is the largest current trend, reaching US$1.3trn. It is an industry that is changing radically. The global parcel market is currently worth over US$343bn, of which MENA consists ofUS$25.7bn. We are living in a retail revolution driving new trends in courier logistics as digital reshapes the industry. With the retail space becoming multi regional, larger competition arises and old norms need to change.” Zambaraji further explains that, “the retail revolution we are currently living in, where customers are quick to adopt new technologies and convenience at the click of a button, is creating new norms. With retail stores often considered slow to adapt these new logistics trends combined with recent technologies, new opportunities are being created for entrepreneur’s to solve the complex demand and merchant expectations.”
The challenges of becoming an entrepreneur
Speaking from personal experience, Zambaraji reflects on the challenges he faced when establishing Time Express. “There are many challenges I faced when we established Time Express. In particular, getting new business is hard as a startup. Clients want low prices, excellent service, references, and secured vendors. So it is important to gain trust based on your knowledge.” Zambaraji also highlights the challenge of juggling time consuming admin with building a strong business revenue. In addition to these financial challenges, Zambaraji also explains that fierce competition can be a challenge. “You need to think out of the box to get into a market segment. We looked for niches, under penetrated and under served areas such as e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, and telecom.”
When it comes to the challenge of operating in multiple regions, Zambaraji highlights the importance of understanding numerous regulations, dynamics and policies of each area. “We currently cover 19 emerging countries,” says Zambaraji. “The challenges are the numerous regulations, norms, customs, language, traditions, localisation, employment policies, free zone legislations, company registration policies, and import and export ministry requirements. The dynamics and complexities of the Middle East, Africa, and India region makes know-how and knowledge on how to operate locally critical.”
The best strategy for establishing your own company
“The most important aspect in building your business is to not be a ‘me too’. You need to have a strategy of differentiation and innovation,” says Zambaraji. “Look for what uncovered areas you can take advantage of. Look at what is missing for consumers or what can make an industry or service better and more practical. Ultimately, you want to be enhancing and improving the way trading works.”
To create a good business model, Zambaraji believes the importance of being able to have a vision of where an industry is moving or getting disrupted. “Once you know this you can position your model to take advantage of new upcoming waves.” Giving an example of applying this mindset to his own business, Zambaraji further explains that Time Express experienced consumers becoming flex shoppers who do not see a difference between physical space and virtual space. “With this shift to e-commerce, parcel courier shipping is growing rapidly and at Time Express we engage with large retailers to meet new consumer expectations and price points for fast and cheap delivery.”
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When asked what makes a good leader, Zambaraji discusses the importance of motivation. “A good leader is someone who picks employees that are better than themselves and ensures that they stay motivated. The challenge however, with a startup is often these people’s salaries are too high to absorb. So you need to give a sense of mission to your team to keep them motivated and see the light at the end of the tunnel. For your best players you need to let them be part of your ship and give them shares in your company.”
Who is Time Express?
When asked to define his company Zambaraji describes Time Express as a “provider of an online integrated API platform to connect retailers in the UK, Europe, and USA internationally.” Time Express enables retailers to ship internationally in an economic way, resulting in lower costs versus integrators. “Over the last four years, Time Express has tripled in size and is the number one leader in e-commerce last mile fulfilment in the Middle East, India and Africa, with a presence in 19 countries.”
Reflecting on establishing his own company, Zambaraji attributes the company’s success to his drive to wanting to learn more, hard work, commitment and the willingness to go the extra mile to get things done. “Thinking out of the box and looking for new solutions as well as different ways to address a problem have been key to my career advancement,” says Zambaraji. His advice to others looking to radically transform an industry is, “the world is overcrowded. There are many competitors in every industry. As an entrepreneur there is no room for mistakes. You need to work in an industry that you know inside out and excel in it. Entrepreneurship has no room to learn, you must be more knowledgeable than others in your industry. But most importantly, you need to have patience, cash to survive, be very persistent and believe in yourself,” concludes Zambaraji.
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