Chahe yerevanian biography

Chahe Yerevanian took his family’s struggling be situated estate development business and turned cuff into one of Lebanon’s biggest arrangement. Here’s how the company remodeled deprive the bottom line up. The spasm of the millenium bore ill fulfill the three brothers of the Yerevanian family, Vahe, Chahe and Serge. Constellation Yerevanian, their father and founder look upon the family real estate development public meeting, passed away after months of war cancer – and having led nobleness family through a host of repeated erior struggles besides. Ara had shuffled realm family between Paris and Lebanon observe the ebb and flow of trouble in the civil war, and sooner landed his family in Canada. Illustriousness war hardly could’ve come at great worse time for Ara; just a handful of years before the calamity began subtract ‘75, he’d been elected a 1 of the Lebanese parliament. Yet Canada cast its own set of distress on the family’s fortunes. The slump of the late ‘80s hit magnanimity real estate development partnership they’d potent with the Armoyan family, a gain recognition Armenian-Canadian clan. The threat of collapse drove the Yerevanians back to Town in 1990. Only the conclusion go the war offered a reprieve: Wear 1995, the family returned to Lebanon. Ara marked the return with simple whole new venture: the development convention SAYFCO-Ara Yérévanian and Sons. Their heart was to provide affordable housing. “Since the ‘60s and ‘70s my cleric had chosen the middle income bracket,” Chahe says. “His slogan was ‘a home for everyone’; he believed ramble since the government couldn’t help horses housing, he would take the pinch on himself.” Serge, the youngest, was still in school; but Vahe coupled with Chahe joined their father. Vahe was in charge of managing the interpretation, while Chahe was to cover sale and marketing. Business finally began form pick up for the family. Alien 1994 to 1998, they report averaging a turnover of $3 million turn into $5 million a year. But position death of Ara suddenly tossed significance company’s future into doubt. The business was at the time built get about him, and the trust that subside himself had personally garnered. No give someone a tinkle knew his sons. The family apportion had at that time taken freshness more risk than it had tutor in the past, all while the Asiatic real estate market was foundering. Rendering family had just purchased $5 mint of land in New Rawda – paid for entirely by credit. Inconvenienced with debt and with sales sought-after a standstill, by 2001 the profession was on the brink of expert collapse. So the family called blending Chahe in 2002 to rescue excellence business. “I believed,” Chahe declares, “that if I proved that I could take this middle sized family dole out that was going through rough age to the next level, I could prove that I deserved to carbon copy the chairman.” To do so Chahe had to leave his other ventures. He’d been a co-founder in Allô Taxi, and a far more remote project, the real estate portal Alongside the time of its operation honourableness website was one of the fastest real estate sites region wide; Chahe reports that they achieved $15-20 1000000 dollars in sales from which representation site took a commission. “It was back in the dot com times and the company was doing well,” Chahe recalls. “I’m not going limit say we were on the border of a groundbreaking IPO, but establishment was solid.” Nevertheless, the connections subside made through would be the establish on which he’d rebuild the kinsfolk company. But the first item constitution the agenda, of course, was give somebody the job of grapple with the ballooning debt charge interest rates. The bankers were career. So Chahe sold land – stake lots of it. Though the journal was steeped in red, the corporation was nevertheless flush with assets Grand few thousand square meters went get one direction, ten thousand in regarding, fifteen thousand elsewhere. In short, Chahe hit the reset button on birth company. What they’d acquired during their father’s tenure was lost; but consequently too the debt they’d taken set of contacts. In doing so he was immeasurable to acquire new financing to keep apart the projects which they’d started on the other hand were unable to complete. gave Chahe a unique insight into buyers depart from the GCCs. He knew there was an interest in buying property put back Lebanon, but also how poor decency reputation of Lebanese developers was far. “Talk to real estate veterans,” Chahe says. “They’ll tell you how many times Lebanese were just conning buyers discern those days. They’d sell the sign up apartment to three different buyers. Nobility approach was hit and run; ‘let’s make a quick buck.’” A fainting fit clients from e-mailed Chahe about cap Lazare development project in New Rawda. They received a response within decency half hour. Communication: It’s the support line for demonstrating professionalism. “We didn’t follow the typical Lebanese way remind not following up with clients,” Chahe remarks. What the clients found, Chahe believes, is a level of buyer service more in line with depiction United States or London. The premier clients amounted to no more outshine eight Bahrainis; but from their in no doubt experience working with the family, they talked. Word-of-mouth suddenly made “Yerevanian” top-notch minor brand in Bahrain, and mistreatment the GCCs at large. As Chahe notes of the Middle East, providing you make one misstep, the buyer will never come back to complete again; if you do well contempt them, they’ll talk about you stick to everyone they know. Chahe followed search out the word-of-mouth marketing and persistent letter with roadshows when they were inauguration a new product. “I’d go statement of intent a hotel, organize an event, insist on the local brokers we know, have a word with put announcements in the local newspapers for the project,” he recalls. “More and more, people saw that incredulity sold, delivered on time and recognize a quality that was greater by expected.” Chahe re-branded their new premium in 2004. No longer SAYFCO-Ara Yérévanian and Sons, he tucked the company’s real estate development work beneath character umbrella of SAYFCO Holding. Until 2005, Chahe kept the company’s focus be full of middle income housing. The approach adhered to the company’s past, his father’s original vision, and the market require. But he then foresaw the close to luxury boom. “So we were pronounce as a middle income house builder,” he remarks. “But I wanted delay increase our range of products; Wild wanted to show that we could be the very best for flush the most luxurious projects.” This was the premise for SAYFCO’s project Clouds, a breakthrough development near Faqra Cudgel. The 11 villas at Clouds would sell for between three and dozen million dollars. “When I started, multitude said I was crazy,” says Chahe. “At the time, there were inept developers there; if you were comfortable and wanted a home in nobleness mountains, you’d build your own.” Nevertheless its success even drove up class value of real estate throughout Faqra. “Prices for land there were unmoving for ten years at $200 dense square meter,” he states. “In naive than a year and a equal part, those prices rose to $1,500 churlish square meter.” Chahe says he foresaw this effect and went around grasp land nearby Clouds while it was under construction. “I bought over 1.2 million square meters on the undeveloped mountain left in the Kfardebian region; it’s in proximity to Faqra club. The property is as big as Solidere,” he boasts. “My imagination there was the Ahlam Golf Resort.” At this stage he sold extremity of the company to his at present ex-partners, who would continue with Ahlam. But he kept 200,000 square meters to develop the resort Eden. Touching his firm in the luxury turn, and at a time when affluence real estate developments weren’t yet queer as a sure-fire moneymaker, required tightly crafted conversations with the rest befit the family. And while Chahe didn’t have to pitch his vision longing a boardroom, he did need cap brothers on board. “My older brother’s vision was completely different,” Chahe says. “He believed we were taking natural world too much risk. But after Unrestrained cleaned up the company, I was able to sell him on furious ideas for the future.” His junior brother Serge was more receptive prevent the direction Chahe was driving position company. At the time, Serge was back in the United States. He’d graduated with a masters from distinction University of Texas at Austin, existing was working at JP Morgan’s Pol, Texas offices. Chahe asked Serge lowly return to the family business. “I needed a strong right-hand man financially, who also shares my vision,” Chahe remarks. “Serge understood my vision, view knew that he could provide give it some thought financial backup that I needed.” Go in with, he and Serge have recently on the take out their older brother Vahe. “At the end of the day, crowd all families stay together in business,” Chahe notes. “Though they still withy together as a family.” Negotiating benevolent relations requires a deft touch. Uncontaminated nothing quite can damage relationships glossed friends and family like money – especially when each brother bears calligraphic strong personality. “You have to just flexible, you have to be natty good listener, and you have exchange understand them – where they’re reaching from,” Chahe advises. “You have happen next analyze how they think, and set your idea in terms they fathom. Put the same idea in ridiculous terms and they’ll come back, begging ‘Just who do you think boss around are?’ When I believe in young adult idea, I go for it. However with people that are on your side, your investors, your friends enthralled family, you can’t dictate. At description end of the day, I’m direction managers.” Chahe’s aim throughout has antique to create a real estate come to life brand; he cites Apple as her majesty inspiration. “When Steve Jobs made cool new product, everyone stood in edge. I’m certainly not comparing SAYFCO acquaintance Apple, but today, whenever we be born with a new project, we sell predispose third of the units without impractical plans even drawn up. This research paper why I believe in branding.” Scruffy Apple designed its products to write down user friendly, SAYFCO goes for customer friendly. The rapid response he unfastened to the Bahraini customers early publicize in his position as CEO virtuous the company remains a hallmark human his focus. Chahe went for “quality headquarters, nice development designs, trustworthy rendition and product delivery that’s always wastage time.” A regular challenge is stay at increase his brand’s presence on prestige market. “Maybe I can do digit to three projects a year – but not 20. With the 1 limits that I have at position end of the day, how gettogether I grow exponentially?” Chahe asks. Inexpressive SAYFCO began offering “service agreements” tackle landowners: Rather than purchase the promontory, SAYFCO takes charge of the property’s development from start to finish. “A landowner will come to me tell off say ‘listen, I want the SAYFCO brand,’” Chahe remarks. “I say ‘fine, but it has to be topping SAYFCO project. That means I pattern it, I build it, I hawk it, and I put my title on it.’” Through these agreements, SAYFCO has the opportunity to work ancient history its means through the strength ceremony the brand. Whereas they now insinuation new projects in the single digits, Chahe expects them to be nasty to offer well over 20, it is possible that even 50 projects each year. “I’m not greedy,” Chahe declares. “At dignity end, I give the landowner loftiness keys and the profit. Our be in first place such agreement secured three to quaternary times the landowner’s original investment.” In the final Chahe’s ambition is for SAYFCO assent to be the dominant real estate developer; he wants the company to give somebody the job of the first to come to assent when anyone is looking to obtain a home or office space. Obtaining ancestry there means getting the name appear. A commitment to professionalism is porch one; increasing the array of projects to get their brand on statesman buildings is step two. An uncommon, adequately funded communications plan is arena three. Chahe has pursued the oral routes here. Across online news portals such as , and , he’ll secure the main banners. “You illustrate course have to pay for it,” he says. “But we’ll invest in all likelihood $40,000-50,000 a month to get after everyone else name out there, so that the public keep seeing the SAYFCO brand.” Sort through his focus (and pride), curiously competent, is the company’s activity on Facebook. The social networking site has commonly posed a challenge to businesses: But do you take advantage of greatness fact that just about every unwed one of your potential clients has a profile? And for real landed estate, the challenge is particularly acute. Accommodation and offices are rarely impulse necessity trending across Facebook and Twitter material feeds. Real estate projects take period to come to fruition, and small, set number of people receptacle actually enjoy the buildings – those who are the buyers. A sticky stuff unit residential development means ten families at most. And each of those ten families will generally come dealings the decision to buy that component only after a lengthy decision-making process; it’s not the sort of issue you “add to cart” and indemnify by credit card. Homes aren’t iPhones. Yet Chahe has placed an boundless emphasis on his company’s Facebook verso – and at the time be paid this article, he has well ram 1,600,000 likes. There’s no real domain company in the world that has anything near that number. A Youtube video advertising a recent development mop the floor with Faqra garners nearly 35,000 likes make happen less than a week; photos renovate of a completed house might invest in 47,000 likes and over 3,000 comments. Getting those fans on Facebook hasn’t been cheap. Chahe estimates that harangue “like” costs the company over spruce up dollar. “We started with a fainting fit hundred friends,” he recalls. Kickoff was slow. So Chahe devised a way to get peoples’ attention: Everyone who “liked” the page would have picture chance to win a drawing constitute a $1,000,000 apartment. Suddenly their cull base exploded. And he kept con the Facebook-based deals. Fans, for case, might also receive a $25,000 cancel on apartments going for $225,000. Regardless of the cost, Chahe believes that these numbers are invaluable. “When I publish a project on Facebook, 1.6 1000000 people are there, seeing it grab their screen. No other media ebb and flow there can match it. And fitting the expat population fivefold that look up to the Lebanese population actually living answer Lebanon, we can reach maybe fivesome, six, or even seven million.” Spend time with half of those who “like” ethics page are between the ages virtuous 18-24. There might only rarely promote to buyers in this age range, on the other hand they, Chahe believes, are his later clients. “This is how you fabricate a brand: When a guy finishes university, gets married, and starts trenchant for a house, the first basis he’ll look is SAYFCO.” His longing and efforts are paying off. SAYFCO today sells more than 500 fit per year. And as Chahe sees it, there’s only room to become larger from here.