Power couple: Building a legend' from humble beginnings

KOCHI: He is a living legend  considering his humble beginnings and the heights he has now reached as a young entrepreneur.  Perinthalmanna native Joji Mathew is the CEO and managing director of Dubai- based ‘Legend Group’ which is a $500-million conglomerate consisting of over a dozen companies with diversified business interests spread over 27 countries, including the Gulf, India, China, USA, UK, Taiwan, Korea and Turkey.

Giving him ample support in the business is his wife Sisy Mathew who functions as the director of the group. The group has diversified divisions like construction, general trading, electro-mechanical services, electronic division, security systems, HR consultancy services, marine engineering, healthcare, hospitality management, real estate, general contracts,  solar and wind energy and marine engineering.

Hailing from a middle class family, Joji started his journey  landing in Mumbai in the early 1990s and then moving on  to the Gulf where he struck it rich after some years of hard work and planning. He learnt  Arabic after he first landed in Saudi Arabia and later in Dubai which helped him  a lot in later years to grow his business.

Being an employee first, he was driven by the passion to do something on his own which catapulted him into the big league of entrepreneurs. A BA (History) graduate from Manjeri NSS College and the son of a planter, Joji has now turned to doing business in Kerala. His Arabian Legend Realtors Private Limited is constructing the first hybrid natural power backup apartment complex at Tripunithura, which offers wind and solar energy.

Sisy, a native of Varapuzha in Ernakulam, became his life partner  in 2002 when she was working as a nurse in Oman government service  in Muscat.  Later,  she quit the job to join him in Dubai and assist in his businesses. The couple have  two children, Josna and Jeswin, who study in  ‘Our Own High School’ in Dubai.

The first job of Joji in 1992 was with Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB) as a market research executive. His first venture was a Keralite hotel named Kalpakavadi Restaurant at Mulund which was hugely successful. His first foray into the Gulf was as an employee of Saudi Oberoi Group near Jeddah but the assignment did not satisfy him. He came back to Mumbai and then left for Dubai on a visiting visa.

He remembers securing bed space to remain there where he joined a multi-level marketing company. He laid the base for starting a business there by joining nearly 3000 people in MLM. He started his first venture M/s Al Marai General Maintenance in Dubai in 1998.  

From his school days, he learnt  karate and took karate black belt while studying in Plus-Two. He has so far taught karate to over 3,000 people from places like Mumbai, Delhi and Dubai. Of late, he got interested in  yoga and has passed a yoga course  from Sivananda Ashram.  He also functioned as a physical education teacher for a while in Delhi.

The hobby of Sisy is gardening in their house in Dubai where she grows a lot of vegetables after setting the soil bought from the market. She affirms that women have the potential to be entrepreneurs. Joji says he was helped by friends in his initial days as an entrepreneur. He started the Legend Group in 2001-02 and added one or two companies each year after that.

The supply of workforce for projects was one of his activities in the middle period.  Now the companies are into manufacturing of CCTV cameras, solar panel, security systems and inverters and the plants are mainly located in China.
He says dreaming big is the first thing needed to reach great heights. “You should take hundred percent risk. A system has to be put in place for an organisation to function like a well-oiled machine,”  says Joji who has received three awards, including Brand Icon 2015 Award.