Mahamood Maharoof

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 When Mahamood Maharoof,
Managing Director of Well care
passenger transport by luxury
cars and buses, landed in Dubai in
1993 little did he knew that the
vibrant economic appeal of the
United Arab Emirates would nur-
ture his entrepreneurial spirit. The
man who started his career like
any other regular employee had
never imagined that one day he
would spearhead a company that
is redefining luxury travel in Dubai.
Driven by passion he has etched
his name as a young achiever in a
short span of time.
If you are willing to work hard, grab the op-
portunities coming your way and have a bit
of luck by your side, you are never too late
to achieve greatness and Maharoof’s story is
a testament to it. Maharoof who started his
career as an employee at a construction com-
pany in Dubai has come a long way with his
perseverance and desire to succeed. The luxu-
ry car rent company that was started with just
10 cars, now has a fleet of 120 luxury cars and
includes Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin
among others. Here’s the story of his grit, de-
termination and passion…
Early Days
The only son among six children, Maharoof
lost his father at a young age. He completed
his schooling from Puzhathi Government
High School in Kannur, Kerala and decided to
skip college. He made up his mind to head to
the Gulf region to support his family.
Going down the memory lane Maharoof says,
“The early days were difficult as well as excit-
ing; I had my own share of struggles. Life was
not a smooth sail, having lost my father at a
young age made me mature and responsi-
ble very early. After completing my school-
ing, I decided to skip college and arranged
for a visa. I landed in Dubai at the age of 23. I
started working for a construction company initially,
where I earned AED 600 per month. While working
for the company, I obtained my driving license and
continued with that job for seven years and when I
left the job my salary was AED 1800. In the year 2000, I
started working for a car company and later switched
to Dubai Taxi.”
Leap of Faith
Maharoof’s giant leap from being an employee to a
successful entrepreneur is certainly a tough transi-
tion, but his will and faith in himself to take the risk
helped him grow, both personally and professionally.
Sharing the story behind the transition the young
risk-taker says, “Though I was content with the job
and life but in 2007, I came to know through a friend,
who was working for the Road and Transport Author-
ity (RTA) in Dubai that the license for a Limousine
renting business was up for grabs. The former owner
was trying to sell it as he was finding it difficult to run
the business.”
Though there was an opportunity waiting to be
grabbed, but every new venture never turns out the
way it looks on paper. It usually requires more fund-
ing than you anticipate. Similar was the case with
Wellcare, even after draining all his savings Maha-
roof was falling short of money to buy the license. At
this juncture, his friend, TP Nasir, turned out to be his
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 saviour. “Having worked in Dubai Taxi, I had
understood the business had lot of potential
but arranging cash was a big hurdle. Luckily, a
friend of mine, TP Nasir, came to know about
my problem and in order to help me took a
personal loan of AED 400,000 and handed it
over to me. I was elated and touched by his
gesture and in 2010 I secured the license and
walked away from the 9 to 5 grind.”

Trust of Loved Ones

Usually leaving the comfort of a well-paying
job is not an easy decision, but even after
days of steady paychecks gone, Maharoof
never had niggling feelings as to whether
his decision was right. Like, other entrepre-
neurs, it was the trust of his family, team and
initial set of clients that kept him going. When
asked what was the driving force behind his
decision to enter the entrepreneurial world
Maharoof instantly says it was the support of
his wife.

“My wife Rubina has always encouraged me to

push the boundaries. When we came to know
that the license is being sold it was Rubina
who insisted that we should grab this oppor-
tunity and her faith that we would succeed in
this venture gave me the courage to go ahead
with the decision. If she would not have insist-
ed, I would have never even thought about
starting something on my own.”

“Besides pushing me to get the license, she is

actively helping me out with our business. She
is handling all the paper work and is the PRO
of our company as well as taking care of our
kids and home,” he adds. The couple is blessed
with two children -- a daughter and a son. “My
elder daughter Mazna is studying in the ninth
grade while my son Mifzal is studying in the
fifth grade at Our Own English High School
in Dubai. I feel I am blessed to have both the
kids,” says Maharoof pointing towards their
photos adorned on the walls of his cabin.

Dream Team
Maharoof firmly believes in teamwork, which
has become an essential part of today’s mul-
tidisciplinary world. He says the individuals
working for Wellcare have contributed greatly
towards the growth of the organization. The
company that started with just two individu-
als now has a team of 140 people working pas-
sionately round the clock to serve the guests
including VVIP’s and popular Bollywood stars.

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Speaking about the bond he shares with his team Ma-
haroof says, “The unforgettable and remarkable ex-
perience of luxury and comfort provided by the team
makes Wellcare the preferred choice of all our custom-
ers. Our chauffeurs are highly experienced about local
sight-seeing and are very punctual. We also offer tour
packages for our customers. We even have full day
chauffer driven services. All these services are made
possible because we work as a team. I am especially
happy to have Rashed as my General Manager who
ensures the smooth operation of all our services.”
Future Aspirations
Hitting milestones and watching your business ex-
pand is exhilarating. Maharoof too has set his sight at
a bigger target to elevate the stature of his company,
but he is taking baby steps to reach the ultimate goal.
He says, “With God’s grace we are doing well in Dubai.
We want to have one more office in Abu Dhabi. We are
even looking for opportunities in other gulf countries.
Recently, I tried to check the feasibility of our business
in Qatar but the laws there are different so it couldn’t
be materialized. If everything goes well we even have
plans to have an international arm in European coun-
tries. Besides geographical expansion my ambition is
to add more luxury vehicles and take the total num-
ber of vehicles to 500.” In terms of diversifying, Maha-
roof also holds a stake in an electronics shop in Deira
as well as a share in a cleaning company.
Key to Success
Whether in business or life, we often walk a fine line
between success and failure. Successful individuals
aren’t just born – there’s a lot more that goes into mak-
ing them what they are. There are a number of factors
that play a major role in making a person successful.
Maharoof attributes his success to two factors – first
is hard work and second luck. “Hard work is an impor-
tant ingredient to success but I think you also need
luck to favour you in every endeavour. I count luck as
Favourite cars:
• Rolls Royce
• Bentley
• Mercedes S-500
• Mercedes-Benz G-Class
• Cadillac Escalade
one of the key ingredients to become successful.
There is no doubt that luck has a way of enabling
things in life. I feel it is important to have the magic
touch of luck in whatever you do,” says Maharoof.
When asked about his message to the budding en-
trepreneurs who want to make it big in life Maha-
roof says, “It does not matter where you come from,
what you have or don’t have, as far as I have seen
the courage to take risks is what can make you or
break you. If you really want to achieve something
you need to take risks and as I said earlier work hard
towards achieving your goal and leave the rest to
fate. If you keep these few things in mind, you can
achieve whatever you want.”
Passion for Long-drives
From being an employee to employing people for
his firm, life has definitely taken a 360 degree turn
for Maharoof. With the increased responsibilities the
stress level has also gone up. To unwind himself he
prefers going for long drives with family and friends.
Speaking about his passion to drive Maharoof says,
“As I have climbed the ladder of success definitely
my responsibilities have increased. As the Manag-
ing Director of a firm I have to take care of multiple
things, starting from monitoring the hassle-free op-
erations of the company to paying my employees
on time. It’s a hectic schedule but whenever I get
some free time I just take my car and go for a long
drive. A perfect day for me is when I get into the car
and drive off. My most favourite drive was when I
decided to take a road trip to Kingdom of Saudi Ara-
bia. It’s one of my most memorable drives.” Besides,
driving Maharoof also loves to go on a vacation with
his family. “I like going for tours with my family. Re-
cently, we did a Europe tour which was amazing,” he
added with a smile.
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