D4D: A Story Of Sheer Passion And Impressive Analytics

To possess great diligence and impressive analytical and reasoning skills are admirable. That is what Haneef Rahman and Haseeb Abdurahiman teach. Two partners, who came long ways since they ventured a new industry with sheer passion, have a lot to teach us.

Haneef shares their journey of now thriving business with Timeline.

An app for offers still sound unique, even though it’s been a while since D4D has launched. The app, which is basically based in GCC countries, was launched in 2016. However, the story goes way beyond 2016 – almost 9 years back.

After finishing his MBA from Kerala’s Cochin University of Science and Technology, Haneef flew to Bahrain, the economic hub of Middle East back then. He bagged himself a job which might appear a hassle, but he enjoyed nonetheless. His job was to sort out mails. Nah! Not the emails. He was talking about the statements.

Up to 2013, Bahrain was the economic hub of the region, until the Arab revolution. It was home to several global banks like Standard Chartered and American Express.

Before everything got online, the method of sending mails was a little fuss, and required man power. The mails came as statements. Haneef’s job was to segregate the mails according to the nations it is to go. Back then, Gulf Airlines delivered mails to respective countries.

From one bank, they would receive thousands of mails, which require sorting. And there are many companies who had mails to deliver. Haneef had hundreds of workers under him.

Haneef Rahman and Haseeb Abdurahiman

“If we give all these to the Gulf Airlines, they won’t take it. So we segregate things. It was a work that required heavy man power. There were hundreds of workers under me”, he said.

In order to reduce the workload, they decided to sort while printing itself. After making it happen, a huge data came to his hand. From the data, he knew who seeks what.

But, everything got online very quickly, and the business started to collapse. The demand for 100 workers quickly reduced to half.

However, Haneef and his partner Haseeb – a Bahrain national – have something else in mind. It was also a time when hypermarkets are starting to pop up in the Gulf countries.

“The hundred something workers I had earlier, I only needed half of it…so I thought if I use the other half for something else, it would also be useful. That was how I started flyer distribution”, said Haneef.

The idea was simple. To print the offers from the hypermarkets and distribute. Expatriates in the gulf countries lived-off with the help of offers. Things were too expensive for most of them to afford otherwise.

While it was challenging to distribute the flyers in the harsh climate of the gulf nation, the duo had a good team ready for the work. While a part of r Haneef’s earlier workers engaged in printing, others involved in distributing the flyers. They had a business of some 100,000 from one hypermarket, and there were quite a few hypermarkets as their clients. One hypermarket demands for the flyers three – four times a month. So, the business was floating good.

Analysing data is one among the team’s favourite things to do. With the memory of facing the crisis once, the partners pondered what could pose threat to their flourishing business.

Team D4D during Onam celebrations

“We got a good understanding about the industry. So that industry grew in 10 years. Every industry dies after reaching around 15 years. We have to foresee that. Everything changes. So when we look into what could be our company’s downfall, we saw the most perilous threat to our company could be ‘Apps’. So if we create that app ourselves, on one side we will destroy our business, but at the same time, we will also become a next generation business. That was how we started with the app business”, Haneef recalled.

The businessmen lived the quote “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great”.

In the beginning, it was hard. The biggest resistance came from inside. From a company that had more than 100,000 printing deal from one client, the figure went down to 1000 or 2000. During the first two – three years, they had to do it for free. But the company still managed to thrive.

The visionary partners had their eyes set on the increasing number of hypermarkets in the gulf countries.

“The fund we used to get was 100,000 from one printing. When it comes to app, it was only 1000 or 2000. What was our benefit was that, there were around 400-500 hypermarkets in the gulf region that time. If we are to get orders from all of them, obviously our business will grow”, said Haneef.

“So, by taking our business to online, we made it extremely simple and easy for the customers to look up the offers online. We have not introduced e-commerce and all. Nobody can buy anything through our app, but at the same time, if they have an app, and they have offers, we will redirect the customers there”, he added.

They killed their own business to climb up the ladders of success. While the COVID 19 pandemic ensnared the world as a curse, it benefitted some. D4D is one among those rare teams.

The pandemic unlocked new fear. None dared to touch things. This fear and aversion led people to their gadgets. And guess what! D4D was the only app where they could look for offers.

The transition was huge. Today, the app has over 13 million viewers. It is spread across all GCC countries, and Egypt, with over 300 staffs. The company also have back-end offices in Kerala. Two offices are in HiLITE Business Park in Calicut, and one is in Thalassery, Kannur.

Speaking to Timeline, Faheem, data analyst at the company’s Calicut office said they enjoy great freedom in the company. “There are no issues. It is a comfortable and free space. No pressure. We can do our work on our own ideas”. Faheem has been working at D4D for more than two years.

Data entry specialist Sharmija also echoed the same. She said the work atmosphere at the company is nice and free. No hassle and great team.

The story of Haneef and Haseeb is awe-inspiring. Without making any commotions or giving in to any profiling games, the two took greater steps with their passion. Keeping low profile, they enjoy their privacy. After hitting the zenith, many have approached to buy D4D. It was all million-dollar deals. But they were not ready to let go of their beloved company.

This is not the only business the partners have. They have their footprints on several other industries. It ranges from trading divisions to online laundry.

Haneef believe that when one follows their passion, they might not realise how big the fall was. Keeping eyes wide open for the possibilities of the company’s downfall, the two are pondering over the next transition of the company.

“The next threat I see for my company is the AI. Obviously ‘offer’ may not be available. With the AI revolution, people will only move towards a more systemic lifestyle. To be honest, I don’t have any idea what will happen. No idea at all. Data analysis is my passion. So what we are doing through this app is data analysis. The system is growing beyond us. How much human intelligence is needed…I don’t have any idea on that”, said Haneef.

Speaking of expansion, D4D is eyeing Asian countries. The company have clients in Europe. While it is not a big deal for them to start in Europe, the potential they see is for India, and other Asian countries.

(This story is part of a Timelinedaily.com series – HiLITE Business Park 50)