OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK- Every Tuesday, Founder of the Week looks at how a successful member of Egypt’s startup community got their big break, asks about their experiences running a business, and gets their advice for budding entrepreneurs. Speaking to us this week is Mohamed Medhat (LinkedIn), CEO and co-founder of Tradeline.

My name is Mohamed Medhat and I am the CEO and co-founder of Tradeline, the largest chain store in MENA dedicated solely to Apple, with 25 locations — all of which are authorized and monitored by Apple. That makes Tradeline an authorized destination for Apple users and Apple shoppers in Egypt.

We have different kinds of locations across Egypt. They differ in terms of size, number of employees, and variety of services. From smallest to largest are the Apple Authorized Resellers, the Apple Premium Seller, and the Apple Flagship Store. We only have one of the latter, located in Mall of Arabia.

We started Tradeline In 1993 by pure coincidence. I was looking for a computer for my graduation project for my Bachelor’s in Hotel Management at Helwan University, and I happened to buy a Mac from a local dealer. I fell in love with the product and later approached my brothers to build a business based on it.

We started selling Apple computers from a small office at first. At the time, and until 2006, Apple was just called Apple Computers because that’s all they manufactured and sold. We relied on word of mouth as marketing because other forms, like newspaper ads and TV commercials were too expensive for us. It wasn’t until 1998 that Apple reached out to us and we became an authorized seller. We then switched from a B2B business model to a retailer.

Apple needed to target the youth. Those companies that existed before us — like the one I bought my computer from — were old-fashioned and only targeted large companies. There was a gap in the market for small and medium businesses that we filled, and that is why Apple decided to reach out to us.

Tradeline stands out from the competition for selling a quality service rather than just being an average retailer. We are always keen to provide shopping advice, technical support, and after sales service, which are the values Apple built their stores on in the first place.

There was a moment when we realized we were becoming successful. We started with very limited resources, so I would often do 10 to 15 physical door-to-door calls a day, driving around with a printer and a computer in my car, knocking on the doors of publishing houses to sell the products. The moment that customers we never approached started knocking on our doors, we knew we were on the right track. It took two years, maybe a little less, but it started happening.

Apple looks at Tradeline as an individual entity. They refer to us as a model for other partners to follow in their international meetings. It's very rewarding.

We want to keep our expansion local for now. We are always pushing for more releases, programs, and products that we don’t have here in Egypt. We keep getting invitations to expand beyond the borders, but I think we still have more work to do within the country. The goal is to eventually go international when the time is right.

The recent devaluation was the most difficult phase we’ve experienced since we started. We worked through the 2011 revolution and Covid, but nothing compared to the past economic challenge. It felt like we were a start up again. Decisions were being made quickly and executed even faster. But as business people, we adapted to become more aware and sharper in our roles. We are now more connected, and faster and lighter.

There were restrictions on importing mobile phones. The CBE had to approve a shipment of identical phones, which made things difficult. For two years, we were basically unable to sell iPhones, which caused a 58% drop in our revenue. We had to focus more on other lines of business and expanding XPRS, our multi-brand electronics seller brand.

The largest issue we have in our industry is the gray market, which is unauthorized product selling. It's hurting both the consumer and the brand because the experience is ruined by the lack of technical support and after sales service. They make up 60-70% of the market. We invest so much in in-store and out-of-store training, and we feel like retail management courses available to others would greatly improve the industry all-around.

The most rewarding aspect of this business is receiving a thank you email from a single customer and hearing about their experience at the store. Getting to see how much we are growing and changing the lives of our coworkers is a close one too.

A balance between work and home can’t really be achieved, and I’d be lying if I said I was doing it. But the pressure cools down over time and you get used to the challenge. What used to shake you, now feels like a mosquito bite, but more issues will always arise. So the goalposts for balance keep changing. You go home with your issues most of the time, so your best bet is having an understanding partner.

If I hadn’t been part of Tradeline, I think I would be in the investment banking industry analyzing numbers. I’m obsessed with numbers. You can trust what they tell you — they never lie.

If I were to speak to my younger self when Tradeline was in its early days, I would say take it easy. Things will happen as long as you’re working hard. Don’t get too tense. Entrepreneurs should be passionate about what they’re doing. This will give them the edge in the industry and the capability to keep doing it without complaining. They need to expect failure but not go along with it. Keeping the fear of failure as a drive is how you get yourself to keep going.