Upgraded skills help Axiom ride out storm

Dubai: Having survived and expanded aggressively since the financial slowdown of 2008, Axiom Telecom, is now one of the region's biggest players. Faisal Al Bannai, CEO of Axiom, describes what strategies were put in place to push through and survive the crisis.

"Between 2001 and 2005 our turnover increased by around 30 times in size. At the end of 2005, we realised we needed to move on to our next phase in operations which at that time sounded like a good decision, and when you look at it now, it was the best decision we've done.

"We realised that even though we grew a lot, there was still a lot of potential in the market. We realised that we needed to do four things in order to be able to become key players in the market. Firstly, we spent two to three years dramatically upgrading our management team. Secondly, we invested in our back-end infrastructure from our reporting systems, to CRP. We live in a fast-paced industry and having the most up to date information at your finger tips becomes crucial. Thirdly we revised and upgraded our system in terms of how we do mergers, our controls and policy. This allowed us to catch up and set the charter for the next couple of years. Lastly, we concentrated on diversifying our income streams. One new introduction was our micro distribution stream. There are 1,100 telephone kiosks in the UAE, so what we did in that regard was cater directly to the shops and delivered to them as little or as much stock as they wanted. This worked well during the downturn because it helped some of these independent retailers who couldn't hold much inventory survive the crisis.

"During this period there was still a boom. Most of our competitors were still growing and riding the wave of the good economy and didn't spend much investing in the above. When the slowdown hit in 2008, it affected everyone including our company. But what you saw in 2009 when the dust had settled was a certain time of consolidation. The crisis made the strong, stronger and the weaker, weaker. The companies who had not diversified their revenue stream, strengthened their base did not make it. Most of our regional competitors collapsed.

"We, however, were able to bounce back aggressively because the market was clearer. Profitability-wise, 2009 was our best year since starting the company.

"This crisis wasn't good overall but it really separated the companies that had a strong foundation and set up from those that didn't.

"Looking back in hindsight investing in the infrastructure was one of the best decisions we made. We didn't focus on the short term but invested in building a strong foundation to last the length. Today we are the largest player in the Middle East and Africa region in terms of size which is a good feeling to have shortly after the crisis."