Saturday 07 / December / 2024
To hear Ramin Jafarizadeh talk about returning from adversity is to receive a priceless lesson in the importance of resilience and determination when you are at your lowest.
In his new book, titled ‘Bounce Back to Success: How to Overcome and Steer through Adversity’, co-authored with Brian Tracy, considered an icon in the field of sales and management , Ramin shares his experiences of how he rose above the challenges of his failed business in Oman, and emerged stronger.
In 2016, Ramin and his partners had set up a signboard business which specialised in creating advertising hoardings. Earnings during the first year were good, but the income soon dried up.
As he decided to investigate, he realised he’d been played right from the start, with the company bleeding for events outside the control of him and his partners.
“For some reason, our customers were not paying us, and there was little to no revenue coming in,” he writes in his book. “I eventually figured out that our customers had formerly worked with one of my partners who owed them money, and he hadn’t even bothered to tell me about it.
Compelled to use his own funds to save the business and let go of his local sponsor, Ramin was bankrupt, and faced with the immense challenge of paying his employees, suppliers and creditors. Having reached rock-bottom, he knew there were two options open to him.
The first was to sue his former partner, enabling him to settle all his dues. The second was to start from scratch all over again. Most people would’ve gone for the first – it is only natural for you to seek restitution for what is rightfully yours. Wracked by doubt over which path to take, Ramin spent nine months sorting out all of his existing money woes before returning to this fork in the road.
“Finally, after much thought and reflection, I pulled myself together and decided to go for the second option,” he reveals. “I decided to forget what people owed me and started from scratch. I knew that if I chose to start from ground zero, I had to focus on the future and not ruminate about the past. I could hardly imagine how I would be able to erase all those memories, and simply think about the future.”
Slowly, Ramin’s plan inched forward, making a little progress in the beginning, before steadily gathering momentum. He awoke at five every morning, doing what he needed to do to turn his life the right way up once again.
When he was at his lowest ebb, help came in the form of a friend, Mostafa, who offered him a job at his company. Tasked with boosting sales, Ramin was singled out for praise Along with other big names from the MENA region when he increased them tenfold and doubled this size of his team in just a year’s time.
“This tremendously helped get me back on my feet,” he recalls. “Around that time, I decided to re-enter business and start a freight-forwarding company. Presently, I co-operate the freight business with some like-minded colleagues who are currently doing very well in sales. I’m now venturing into the tech-based startup world to take advantage of a global fast-growing market.”
If there’s one message Ramin wants to share through his struggles, it’s to not let your current circumstances stop you from pursuing your ambitions. While this is definitely a message of inspiration, particularly apt during the current climate, let us not forget that Ramin speaks from experience: he’s overcome these hurdles not just once, but four times, and has returning stronger every time he faced one of these setbacks
“I can’t express in words how difficult it was each time,” he shares. “If starting from scratch in my past endeavours felt like a headache, this time, it felt like losing one of my hands. “Just like any other major decision in life, I made it and stuck to it.” – [email protected]
