Hailing from a city named Divandareh in the Kurdistan Province of Iran, Maziar Rajabi was an entrepreneur by birth. He belonged to that cluster of individuals who prefer to make their professional careers running businesses themselves rather than getting employed at another company or organization. They assume all the relevant risk factors and profit earning opportunities related to their business idea, the delivery and, manufacture of their products and services. Highly insightful of consumers’ needs that remained unfulfilled in the crude oil predominant market of Iran, Maziar was quick to spot the gaps. This is where the novel idea of trading in bitumen, a petroleum product heavily used in paints, construction and waterproofing industries, was born.
Words of wisdom from Maziar Rajabi’s book ‘Entrepreneurship in Bitumen’
With immense self-belief and confidence in his own research, technology, and finance capabilities, Maziar set out to become the bitumen baron of Iran, without looking back. His book Entrepreneurship in Bitumen is a delightful tale of his passion and perseverance that we all can take lessons from.
The future-forward outlook is essential for success
Maziar’s far-sightedness and risk-taking abilities enabled him to spend a substantial amount of time in market research to know the competition landscape, his future prospects in the home country, and international markets and test the viability of the product to become a high demand product to its target consumers.
Finance planning comes next
He enlightens his readers and potential aspiring entrepreneurs that every entrepreneur has to undertake the judicious calculation of finances and invest the optimal amount of raw materials, manufacturing facilities, human resources instead of investing all funds in one category or another.
The digital drive is important to remain relevant
As per Maziar, the needs and demands of the modern era have resulted in an evolving market where change is the only constant. He places significance on adapting to evolving economic trends and modern technology that transform marketing strategies and practices. While setting out to trade in bitumen back in 2016, Maziar associated with Verse Oil Service, Iraq’s best oil service company, as a senior partner and using his expertise in IT, he implemented digital strategies to make Verse Oil Company reach the top-notch spot in Google search engine results page (SERP). This garnered tremendous visibility and earned him a long-term contract with a Taiwanese company, Richland Bitumen Co Ltd which has a record of exporting bitumen to 12 countries in 3 continents including India. Knowing the target customer base and tailoring the right marketing plan will take you to the next level of your business, if done right, believes Maziar. And that is only possible with the right communication and engagement with the customers who can bring leads and potential sales conversions.
Since competition in the marketplace is at an all-time high- and is expected to increase with time, he advises budding entrepreneurs to be highly motivated about their business ideas, so that they meet all the demands of strenuous hard work and long working hours, which entail their entrepreneurial success.