Secrets of my success: Sulaiman Al Fahim

The CEO of Abu Dhabi based Hydra Properties only founded his company two years ago, promising "to be different".

Two years on, it appears that being different has paid off. Hydra has signed over US$2 billion worth of projects, and has become one of the region's fastest growing property companies, with major projects planned in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. And now, the foreign expansion plans are coming to fruition, with a big new project in Mexico just announced.

"You have to do what you believe is right, even if everyone else tells you it is wrong. I said that as a company we would be unique, and everyone said you can't be unique in property development. If you try, you will fail. Well, we are unique and we are successful," says Al Fahim.

He says that apart from hard work, it is vital to know your industry inside out, and not just parts of it. "A lot of people say they want to be property developers but they actually don't know that much about property. They might know a little design, maybe they are good at financials, or maybe they understand the engineering aspects. But I think it is important that you know everything, and that you are very good at it."

Fahim insists that the inside of every single apartment and office he builds is different. "That's what I mean by unique. People told me we couldn't do it because it would be too expensive. We have proved them wrong," he says.

As for the future, Al Fahim says he has only just begun. "This is the first step on the ladder. We have had success and the easiest thing would be to say we have now achieved all our goals. But if you think that way you will become complacent and fail."

There is no danger of either happening to Al Fahim.