From Dh1,836 salary to multimillion-dirham deals: One Dubai resident’s rise

Dubai: When Russian expat Nikita Protsenko first moved into the world of hospitality as a young worker earning Dh1,836 a month, he had no idea those early lessons in dealing with people, reading the room and staying calm under pressure would shape the way he leads teams and makes investment decisions today.

Now 33, he lives in Dubai with his wife, four children and their dog — and oversees real estate portfolios worth up to Dh1.28 billion for private investors. He heads Percent&Co, a Dubai-based real estate agency and investment club launched this year with funding from Mira Developments. The company generates about Dh367,250 a month with a tight, specialised team.

Protsenko arrived in the UAE in 2019, drawn by the pace, ambition and multicultural energy of Dubai. He says the city gave him the space to start again — and to think bigger. What began as a modest step into real estate eventually became a full-scale business operation spanning brokerage, investment advisory and technology.

Percent&Co plans to introduce AI tools that offer personalised investment guidance and streamline processes across analytics, marketing and operations. For Protsenko, the goal is simple: “Scale results, not headcount.” His team of eight focuses on high-impact work, supported by a growing monthly operational budget that has climbed to roughly Dh330,500.

If you ask him what changed his trajectory, he returns to one idea: talent makes the difference. “The most valuable investment any founder can make is in people,” he says. “You can buy systems and ads, but the right people build the business.”

His early costs — Dh183,625 a month — went into branding, legal setup, and high-quality production to establish credibility. Today, marketing takes the biggest share of the budget. He doesn’t view it as promotion, but as a long-term equity play.

Managing significant capital brought new pressure. He says handling other people’s money forces clarity and discipline. “You can lose your own money. But when investors trust you, every decision matters,” he says. A wrong forecast or emotional decision could affect the financial future of families and individuals who rely on his judgement.

Over time, he learned to treat pressure as training — a way to sharpen discipline and think long-term.

Before any of this, he learned basic money skills as a schoolboy. His parents gave him Dh1.84 a day to manage as he wished. Saving for small goals taught him how to prioritise and plan.

After university, he worked at Russia’s largest bank, handling customer enquiries before moving into sales and eventually branch management. In 2017, he ventured into hospitality with a boutique hotel in St. Petersburg and later joined a major real estate agency, eventually becoming Head of Sales.

Those years, he says, built the foundation he uses today: structure, discipline and an ability to understand how people make decisions.

Protsenko says founders often slow themselves down by trying to control everything. His approach now is to set the vision, then step back. “Empowering people, not micromanaging them, is what makes a company scalable,” he says.

He believes in investing ahead of growth. Hiring top agents and expanding into new markets was expensive but, he says, revenue followed. “The more you spend — wisely — the more you earn.”

From stretching his budget to rent slightly better apartments to choosing long-haul business class seats when he could barely justify it, he found that changing his environment changed his mindset. “Your income eventually catches up with the life you grow into,” he says.

Travel is a big part of his life. Since 2022, he has visited more than 20 countries with his family, exploring cities, islands and local culture. He loves trying new foods — sometimes unusual ones — because he believes cuisine reveals how people live. He also enjoys live experiences, from football matches in Europe to spontaneous road trips.