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When you start your entrepreneurial journey in high school, it’s usually a safe bet to say that being a businessperson runs through your veins.
For Mohammed Sheikh Suliman, his first business was also the first step to a path that has seen him established as one of the equestrian world’s ‘one to watch’ faces, an angel investor and a serial entrepreneur skilled at identifying and seizing opportunities to invest, grow and build businesses in an array of industries.
Born and raised in Israel, the young Arab grew up around horses and is a dedicated philanthropist.
Why did you start a horse stud?
From a young age, I used to spend time my grandfather who introduced me to his Arabian horses. It was since then that my love for Arabian horses started.
My siblings and I were raised with horses in our lives. I credit this to our family’s religious beliefs too, since Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) also directed Muslims to learn the skill of horse riding by saying, “Learn to ride.”
So the idea of having a stud of my own is something that was always in the back of my mind, and it became reality as soon as I became financially able to make it happen.
The stud has received several high-profile accolades, how important are these to you?
I always describe accolades as the final score in your exams. When you study and do your best, you earn the results and pass the exam. This is exactly the same with what goes into working with horses.
You look after them, train them, and work hard in order to see your efforts pay off. The accolades we receive for our achievements make me happy, but I also feel an immense sense of gratitude when I look at these beautiful creatures, seeing the efforts we put into them.
Our goal, of course, is not just to gather titles or awards for Al Sheikh Stud, but to leave a legacy for years to come, whereby the stud might leave its mark in the future of the Arabian horse breed.
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The company has won more than 25 global awards since it was founded in 2016
Where does your entrepreneurial drive come from, is it something you grew up with?
I started working at a young age. Not many people know this, but I come from a humble background, a middle class family with four brothers. We had our fair share of challenges and obstacles, but ever since childhood, I have been a bit obsessed with business.
As far back as I can remember, I wanted to start something of my own. I used to come up with different ways to generate my own money as a child, making pocket money for myself. I am competitive and I like to be the first in everything I do. I freely admit that being number one is my number one motivation for everything!
If all goes well, where do you see it going in the next five years? The next decade?
With God’s will, and if everything works as planned (with both our parent company and other companies), we hope that in the next five years we would be rated as one of the Middle East’s top companies.
These upcoming five years are going to be crucial and essential for our growth, but we believe it’s the perfect timing for us to expand internationally and worldwide.
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Mohammed Sheikh Suliman wants to leave a lasting legacy with his equestrian business and his philanthropic endeavours
How do you tackle challenges in your day-to-day life?
Every business faces daily challenges. As we know, the bigger the business, the tougher the problems and challenges it faces. While you must be positive and work hard, in order to overcome challenges you must be prepared for the worst.I believe the universe was built on challenges.
When it comes to my personal definition of a strong person, I don’t think it’s someone who never loses, but rather one who never surrenders or stops trying. The winner, after all, is someone who develops a resilience capacity which enables them to cope effectively with unexpected events, to bounce back and foster future success.
Philanthropy and CSR are key pillars for you – how do you integrate these into your organisations?
I like to believe that philanthropy is a moral obligation. It personally means a lot to me. While every act of kindness should stem from a selfless place, the advantages cannot be ignored.
Not only will giving help your community, but it will nourish your personal growth, build a great reputation for you and your brand, bring about good karma and inspire others to follow suit.
My donations come from religious motives as well, as I believe that God blessed me with my wealth because He knows I will put my money in the right places and for the right causes. And that’s what I’m currently doing and will keep on doing.
Angel investing is one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of being a seasoned leader. What do you look for in your projects?
Whenever I measure an opportunity I always check it thoroughly, ask questions and study it overall. Back when the company used to be much smaller, most of the decisions were just mine.
I used to depend 50 percent on lawyers’ opinions and economical consulters and the other half was based on my intuition. But nowadays, whenever I’m interested in any type of projects especially as an angel investor, I listen mainly to my intuition and inner voice that would make the last call.
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“Nothing beautiful comes with an easy path,” says equestrian entrepreneur Mohammed Sheikh Suliman
During the past year, the world has changed irrevocably. What changes did you have to make to how you conduct business, and what is your outlook for the coming year?
I totally agree, it seems that the entire business world shifted to online very swiftly, and rightfully so since it offered an immediate solution to the many new challenges raised by the current crisis.
I think it is important, as a leader, to stop and ask myself how this crisis helped us learn in our organisation. A key lesson for us, and many others, was to realise how vital the ability to adapt quickly to change really is. It was important before the pandemic, but to be adaptable, whether in technological changes, management structure or strategy, is vital.
Personally, I believe that many of the changes we have seen have changed our lives irrevocably. At Al Sheikh group, we had already made several changes before facing this pandemic and these helped us to be ready as luckily we had invested in online solutions at the very beginning of this crisis.
Young leaders often face slightly different challenges to older ones; what have been some of yours and how did you overcome them?
The fact that I’m called a young entrepreneur is a challenge in itself, and it might not be that easy to convince older entrepreneurs or a company you are dealing with, that you are capable and mature enough to handle serious work.
This is because there is a common stereotype that youngsters are not reliable or efficient enough to lead projects. I can’t deny that today’s young leaders lack experience, dedication and many qualities that old entrepreneurs possess.
Today, one of the biggest challenges to any brand is to know how to differentiate yourself and be unique.
I am younger in terms of years of experience and I know that seasoned businessmen and women can help younger leaders navigate their new responsibilities, build on their management skills, and avoid difficult situations. Meanwhile, our generation is uniquely skilled to make it easier to swiftly find innovative solutions that save time.
Where do great ideas come from in your organisation?
I won’t take the credit for that! Al Sheikh Group has an outstanding team that is full of energy, creativity and productivity.
I owe them a lot of credit for the progress we’ve made over the past few years. Al Sheikh Group’s board comprises a line-up of experts and specialists, consultants who are specialised in different fields and can be credited for contributing to the success we enjoy today.
I dedicate most of my ‘thinking’ time to critical thinking and coming up with new, innovative ideas. My energy and focus goes towards constantly making improvements to how we operate, I think this is a key reason why we keep a step ahead and succeed.
When it comes to encouraging creative thinking in my team, I like to encourage my employees, from the newest to the most experienced, to take part in daily feedback that covers any problems, looks at new ideas, and any improvements we could implement in the company.
It could be about what area we could do better in, and what could we improve in our existing operations, or general suggestions that push us forward.
At the end of the week we have a meeting to discuss and conclude those suggestions. I think the way we take each employee’s opinion into consideration makes an impact, both to us and to our team’s motivation levels.
I can testify that thanks to this method and those suggestions, we have succeeded in making lot of improvements to our company during the past few years.
What are three characteristics that every leader should possess?
The characteristics of a good leader are wide-ranging and I don’t think that they can be put into just a few words, but I’ll give you three qualities that I believe are essential and that is being well loved, being creative and smart, and being seen as trustworthy.
What’s your greatest fear in business?
My biggest fear as a Chairman and CEO is starting a new month without making any progress or without having come up with any new initiatives and ideas from the month before. My fear has never been going back one step behind, but staying on the same pace and not moving forward.
I believe that the opposite of failure isn’t success, but remaining ordinary. If you are seeking success, you must put in effort and extra progress that goes well above the definition of ordinary.
You must look at yourself in the mirror and aim to be a better person than the one you were a month ago. That’s the main key for success in any field of work.
A childhood spent growing up surrounded by horses has fuelled a lifelong pursuit of excellence
What’s the best way to prepare for uncertainty?
At every step of our journey, we make plans and these plans allow us to know where we currently stand and where we are going. Having a clear set of plans, defining your strategy, means you have a roadmap for how to get to where you wish to go, with the tools that are available to you.
Our productivity map shows us what we need to do in case something unexpected occurs along the way.
For our company, it has never just been about taking a worst-case scenario and being ready for that, but imagining many worst scenarios! That’s how we reduce the possibility of any surprise factor.
What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?
Most people don’t know how hard it was to reach where I am today, how many hours of dedicated work I put in behind the scenes. I rely on myself for approval, and not anyone else in this world.
I had many nights, where I couldn’t sleep, because of the problems we couldn’t solve at that time, but nothing beautiful comes with an easy path. I thank God for all those hard times that made me the person I am today.
What’s one productivity tip you wish everyone else knew?
A saying I was taught when I was a kid encapsulates this for me: “Whoever sows reaps; whoever walks on a path will arrive, whoever aims high works during the night.” You can never find a person who is successful with no pain or sacrifice; you must get tired in order to reach the top.
Do you have a quote that you live your life by?
“Two wings lift a person up from earthly concerns. Simplicity in intention, and purity in feeling.”
What does a typical day look like for you? Do you follow a routine or is each day different?
I wake up every morning in time for early morning prayer, I pray, drink my coffee, and leave for work by 8am. I’m the first to reach the office and the last to leave. I put in work towards my health.
I go to gym, train for an hour, and go back home and spend quality time with my family. I usually go to sleep quite early at 10.30pm; that’s basically what a typical day of mine looks like.