Maged El Tawil, creator of Cars by Maged: For a special Ramadan edition of our weekly My Morning Routine column, which we are running through the holy month, we spoke to Cars by Maged creator Maged El Tawil (LinkedIn). We asked El Tawil the usual questions to find out how a successful member of the community starts their day, and threw in a few more to find out how he adjusts to Ramadan and what he looks forward to in the holy month. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

My name is Maged, and I’m a businessman — cars have always been a secondary thing. Cars by Maged started with me reviewing my own car, and it took off from there. I’ve been a car enthusiast all my life and I’ve done practically everything with cars.

When I started the channel, I had maybe 50 subscribers, and they were all family members that I forced to subscribe. In my first review, the photography and editing were horrific because I was learning everything on my own, but somehow it got a lot of views. It hit 70, then 100k views, and I was shocked.

I have a couple of businesses. We’ve been working with uninterruptible power supply systems since 1993, and I have my own line of work for IT support. And recently, my partner and I started a car importation company called Autoforsa.

We saw a need because the market was full of false promises. We had both been suckered many times buying expensive cars and paying hefty prices through local suppliers. We officially started the company on 25 June and we’re happy with the progress.

The most interesting trend in the industry is range-extender EVs. These are cars that have a generator to supply current to the battery system. Even with the biggest batteries, pure electric range is limited at high speeds or long distances. It suits Egypt perfectly because our charging infrastructure isn’t fully there yet. In a sprawling city like Cairo, a pure electric car is challenging and usually remains a second car. Eventually, battery capacities will increase and costs will fall, but for now, this is the practical solution.

I’m an early bird and usually wake up at 5am. I’m not a night person at all, so my workout and everything else centers around the morning. Ramadan days might start later, but they stay on longer. Clients looking to buy cars often come in around 7 or 8pm. It’s happily chaotic and my partner and I are both workaholics, so we’re always on it.

I don’t switch off easily. I’ll usually watch something monotonous on YouTube or the news, and then I’m out.

The only thing I can say with confidence is that I’m a disciplined person. Discipline helps in any situation. If you plan your day and your life ahead — even your eating — you don't get surprises.

Professionally, we are getting deeper into the car world. We’ve been developing an online platform that will hopefully change the trading scene. We’re also expanding into car services. Personally, I’m a gym rat, so I’m always chasing that rush. And I’m a curious person, so I’m always looking to be educated and learn something new.

My father told me a long time ago — because I was quite cocky back then — that I need to listen more and talk less. The more you listen, the more intel you get. It gives you time to process data and come up with something smart instead of just reacting.

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