From a humble shop worker to retail magnate: Yusuff Ali's amazing journey

When M A Yusuff Ali first landed at the Dubai port 44 years ago, the Arab emirates were vast swathes of desert. After the ship from Mumbai anchored at the port on December 31, 1973, he travelled for five hours to reach Abu Dhabi. He wanted to be a businessman.

He started off as a worker in a family-run shop. He said that he used to sleep on the roof terrace of the shop. He said that he had to pour buckets of water on the concrete to cool off before he could sleep. His ambitions were sky high though.

Today, Yusuff Ali presides over a business empire spread over three continents. He owns two aircraft and a fleet of premium cars. Still he is thinking of ways to expand his business.

He said that he drew inspiration from Prophet Mohammed who said that an honest and sincere businessman should always be with the people. An honest businessman is one who never cheated, stole or tampered with measures. A sincere businessman always respected commitments in transactions.

Yusuff Ali said that he was also inspired by Mahatma Gandhi who famously said that the customer was the king. A businessman has to cater to the taste of the customer.

Yusuff Ali has access to live data related to his retail business. He can tap into his keyboard and know how many people visited each of his shops. Speaking from his office in the Y Tower in Abu Dhabi, he took a look into his computer screen and said that 2441 people had visited the Lulu Hyper Market in Kochi the previous day. As many as 5714 people had gone to a store in Malaysia, resulting in sales of about Rs 1 crore.

Read Part - II: Nurturing a business empire rooted in humility