Behind Makan: Our MVP was a PDF shared with friends. Push it to the market fast.
Youssef Sekkat, the co-founder of Makan, is sharing the story of building #1 furniture rental company in the UAE. How it all started, what's next and how they got first customers without a website.
Welcome to the 44 new subscribers, that joined us recently 🎉
Today’s founder story is with Youssef Sekkat, the co-founder of Makan. If you moved to Dubai in the past 2.5 years, you might have heard about them. With over 3000 furniture pieces rented, Makan is the #1 furniture rental company in the UAE. In this story, Youssef is sharing how it all started, how they got their first customers, investors, their hiring struggles, the importance of a good co-founder, and more.
Enjoy the story, and Youssef, thank you for making time to talk to me and for sharing your story and learnings with the community.
What made you start Makan and go for the life full of uncertainty as a startup founder?
I had always dreamt of becoming an entrepreneur, even before beginning my studies. I had this voice in my head, constantly reminding me about building my own company. So, at one point, it felt natural to leave my corporate job and start this.
The biggest fear I had to overcome was the uncertainty and instability, but I knew even back then that the excitement of building my own company would compensate. And I was right.
I had moved many times in my life as part of my previous jobs. It was so frustrating to find reasonable furnishing options, and the worst part always came when moving out and getting rid of the furniture. My co-founder and I felt the pain, and that was a key moment - having a strong problem to solve.
Finding the right co-founder is very tricky but crucial. How did you two meet?
We have known each other for a long time, Othmane Saifaoui and I are very good friends. We travel together, do sports, and I believe this can be truly beneficial. Being co-founders and friends works well for us. You really have to maintain an open relationship, and communication is key. There shouldn't be any hidden topics, taboos, or friction. Anything can be discussed.
Othmane has set up the entire operations and processes, so make sure you leverage each other's strengths and allocate tasks between the two founders properly.
Prop-tech is quite a competitive business in the UAE. What made you choose it, and how is Makan different?
The furniture rental business is relatively small in the UAE, but it's booming in Europe, the US, and India. We believed that pioneering this model in the region made sense due to the demographics, with a constant influx of expats that will continue to grow.
Our main competition is the standard furnishing retail, not other rental companies (which are few at the moment). Ultimately, the customer decides whether to buy or rent.
So, our role is to educate about rental options, especially when it's suitable, like when you're waiting for your furniture from your home country to arrive by ship or when you're uncertain about how long you'll stay in Dubai.
Over time, we have made many changes to the rental duration, and nowadays, we start from 3 months. Additionally, we design our own furniture and gather a lot of customer feedback to create pieces that customers fall in love with.
Customers can either buy out the furniture at the end of their rental period or it becomes theirs after 24 months of renting.
How did you get your first customers?
We didn't even have a website when we launched, as it got delayed. So, we shared a nice PDF with our friends, and they shared it with theirs, and that's how we acquired our first customers.
We tested the design, pricing, rental periods, and we have been doing that ever since. You have to listen to your customers and validate every idea.
Your business is inherently operations and logistics-heavy. Did you have investors right from the beginning?
In the first six months, we validated the idea and gained traction. Without that, it's difficult to attract investors, especially in the region. They usually don't invest in ideas; you need to have at least an MVP and ideally show traction.
However, after the initial validation, we secured investments from angels and also Flat6Labs. Like many rental businesses, ours also requires debt to grow. So having the right partners is crucial for us.
What are the biggest lessons you've learned from your business so far? Any failures you can share?
Thankfully, we didn’t experience major fails, but as all startups, we also had many “oops moments”. Our biggest challenge has been hiring.
I think we didn't always hire the right people, especially in the early stages when we didn't have internal processes. For example, we received thousands of applicants for a single job posting, and it was overwhelming to manage them. We also took too long to fill certain positions. Overall, hiring is difficult, but I believe we've learned a lot and sought help where needed, such as in filtering applications and setting up and complying with our processes.
Initially, we relied on freelancers and part-time help, but I'm glad to see that our first hire, Ruel, is still with us. He's in charge of operations and is doing an excellent job.
What's the craziest customer feedback you've ever received?
There are no crazy customers, but interesting customers.
Maybe at the beginning, we had very interesting requests, like same-day delivery, people wanting to pick up furniture at our warehouse to speed up the process. I think at first, we allowed this a couple of times - when you’re starting, you’re trying to please every customer. But we wouldn’t allow that now.
What’s next for Makan?
We’re focusing on expanding the B2B side of the business. Before considering geographic expansion, we want to broaden our presence with different types of customers and different types of apartments. Currently, we have great partners who can enhance their services to their customers through us.
We’re currently available in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah, but for example, Saudi Arabia can be very interesting in the future, with cities like Riyadh, Jeddah or Neom in the future.
What tips do you have for founders just starting or growing their business in the UAE?
Push your MVP to the market really fast.
Enjoy the process, including the ups and downs.
Find the right co-founder from day one (I wouldn’t have done this alone); make sure you don't jump into this with just anyone. Do it with people that you trust, that you communicate well with, and that you enjoy spending time with.
Talk to other entrepreneurs; utilize startup communities like In5, AstroLabs, and many others. It can genuinely help you and speed up many things. We’re all tackling the same problems - how to open a bank account, build a website. We've all experienced the same struggles.
How do you keep up to date, interesting resources, people to follow?
I listen to tons of podcasts. When I'm interested in an idea or a market, I would search for all the podcasts of the founders or experts in those areas in recent years. You often learn a wealth of information.
I don’t have any local podcasts on my list, but I can definitely recommend:
Masters of Scale - by the ex LinkedIn co-founder
The Pitch - I listened to this one a lot when fundraising
Thank you Youssef for the interview. I wish you and Makan many happy customers.
If you enjoyed this interview, please share it with others.
Kristina
Check my e-shop with super detailed and structured resources that will help you to:
1. set up your Freezone company without overpaying for an agent
2. connect with the best VCs and investors in the UAE
Want to support my work in other way? Buy me a coffee☕️