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Friday, March 29, 2024

Raman Dua built Rs 18K cr turnover Save Max Real Estate biz in Canada after landing there with a return ticket

Raman Dua has built a Rs 18,000 crore turnover real estate business in Canada. He is a child of the American dream whose company Save Max Real is involved in buying, selling, renting and leasing of properties.

Raman, who was born in the small town of Rohtak, Haryana, was 28 years old when he arrived in Canada with no notion what he was going to do. In September 2003, he arrived in Brampton-Mississauga with a return ticket to India, ready to depart the country if nothing worked out.

“But after a fortnight, I liked the place and decided to stay,” Raman recalls, recounting his extraordinary journey from rags to riches in a country where he has established a Rs 18000 crore (CAD 3 billion) turnover real estate business.

Raman now lives in an upscale area of Mississauga, in a luxurious 18000 sq ft house on the bank of the Mississauga River. His home, which has a tennis court and a swimming pool, is estimated to be worth over Rs 100 crore.

His real estate company, Save Max Real Estate Inc, was founded in 2010 and specialises in housing purchasing, selling, renting, and leasing.

he company employs over 700 employees and operates 50 locations across the country.

Raman’s battle against the odds began at a young age. Raman was born in 1975 to Madan and Sushila Dua. He is the eldest of four siblings. He has two sisters and an older brother.

In Rohtak, Raman’s father ran a tea shop. Even if the income from the tea shop was meagre, his father’s alcoholism exacerbated the family’s financial difficulties.

Raman attended Dhanwantari School, a Hindi speaking school managed by the priest and located on the grounds of a shrine.

“We shared a small home with our maternal grandmother. My father was an alcoholic and a chain smoker, so whatever little money he earned never made it to us “Raman explains.

However, he slipped into bad company at school and received only a 55 percent on the Class 12 board exam. He then joined in the BSc Medical programme at University College, Rohtak, where he continued to misbehave.

He says, “I was in gangs, had street fights, and voted in college elections. I used to sneak out late at night with my gang.”

Reman didn’t drink or smoke, but he felt at ease with the gang. Then something happened in his life that would utterly transform him.

Raman achieved 65 percent in his last year. He then completed his MBA (1996-98) at Maharshi Dayanand University, where he graduated as the batch topper.

“However, we had to sell our gold in order to pay my approximately Rs 50,000 MBA costs,” Raman explains.

His first employment was as a medical representative for GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical business, in Mumbai in 1998. His salary was Rs 20,000, and after paying for rent, food, and travel, he was able to save some money. He relocated to Udaipur in 1999, and then to Jalandhar two years later.

Many Punjabis were departing for Canada at the time, and people would ask him, ‘Have you applied for Canada?’ A close friend took Raman to WWICS Immigration Consultancy for assistance with the immigration procedure.

“However, because the price was prohibitively expensive, I applied on my own and successfully completed the process,” Raman explains.

He asked his pals before leaving for Canada what he could possible bring from India to sell in Canada, and they suggested leather coats. In September 2003, he arrived in Brampton-Mississauga with a bag full of leather jackets acquired in Ludhiana. He had a return ticket to India with him and was prepared to leave the nation if things did not go as planned.

“I didn’t have a job, so I printed some visiting cards as a leather product trader and sold the jackets. I would ask Indian friends to bring me leather jackets. On weekends, I worked at the gas station. I also worked as a security guard at Group 4 and sold jackets and belts at flea markets.”

He afterwards worked at the local WWICS Immigration Consultancy office, where he managed documentation processes. He began with a CAD 30,000 salary but quickly earned a commission that exceeded his pay.

Raman arrived in India in November 2004 to marry Nidhi, a Chandigarh-based girl who had completed her M.Ed and was teaching computers at her brother’s computer training institute. Nidhi began working with Raman in Canada in May 2005.

The pair began their lives in Canada in a basement apartment, but Raman told his wife he would buy a house within 90 days and kept his word.

Raman made good money as a consultant and earned a profit of USD 40,000 by selling his residence in 2007. The transaction opened his eyes to the possibility of real estate, and he decided to get into it. Nidhi also joined him in the venture. In 2010, they founded Save Max Real Estate Inc. from the basement of their home.

They moved into a 1500 sq ft office two years later and haven’t looked back since. They continued to expand year after year.

In 2018, the company made CAD 2 billion in revenue, and it expects to make CAD 3 billion in 2020-21. They just launched their Indian operations in Gurugram.

Raman Dua intends to visit 11 nations around the world, beginning with the United States, Australia, and Pakistan.

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