Member-only story
It was a hot and humid day in Dubai, the year was 2012. This was a day when my life had turned upside down. My first entrepreneurship venture had burned down to the ground.
A company called iTunes LLC had been established at Gargash Centre,, Nasser Square Dubai. This was a hub of Mobile Phone business for the Middle East, and it still is to some extent but those days had been different. A man called Haji with a big team had been trading consumer electronics, mobile phones and other commodities in major volumes.
Their modus operendi had been standard. Buy goods on cash for the first few transactions and build the trust of the market. Then, request short-term credit and then pay on time for the next transactions, once the trust gets established then make your move and buy major volumes on credit. This stock gets sold to an insider in the market for a discounted price and then abscond.
This wasn’t a one-off but a standard practice in the market that still kicks in after every few months. When everyone is trying to sell the same product to the same customers in a shrinking market then desperation drives traders to take unnecessary risks of providing unsecured credit.
Haji with his gang disappeared with $15m from the market. It broke a lot of people and I was among the broken together with my partner. The shame &…
