Embracing the entrepreneurship life is not an easy task to do, especially in Egypt, where the whole economic situation never really seems to be in your favor. But not everyone succumbs to their ill fates, in fact, some are known to hold their grounds in the face of adversity.
Ezz El-Damak, Flat 42’s Strategic Planner and CEO, is one of those people. Having quit his job as an Account Manager at Ninteen84 Management to help his father start his new business back in his hometown of Dumyat, El-Damak couldn’t help but notice the lack of innovative marketing and advertising strategies in this particular region. “They are not aware of the endless opportunities the digital world has to offer them, aside from just having a basic FB page that gets some likes and shares,” he tells us.
El-Damak saw an opportunity to revolutionize marketing and advertising strategies in areas in Egypt that were still lagging behind. This is where the idea of Flat 42 came into being. “So, I decided to start Flat 42 to be the first marketing agency that serves SMEs around Upper Egypt and the Delta Region. Flat 42 focuses on making sure those businesses adopt the right strategies combined with the appropriate marketing plans to ensure steady growth and solid brand infrastructure.”
Influencer Shahd El Lamei during one of Flat 42’s projects — Via Flat 42
He emphasized on the importance of strategy structure, asset management and marketing positioning as the three main components to form a successful business, but the acceptance of these new ideas in Upper Egypt and the Delta Region were not easily welcomed in the beginning. “To be honest, it is still a challenging journey that requires time, but they are slowly understanding what we do. Here, very few understand what we do because only very few of the SMEs actually do have business strategies. The rest of the businesses are purely dependent on the normal economical traffic and the free market flow.” But thankfully, El-Damak states that after a couple of months of operating, word started to get out regarding the impact of their work which helped people open up to the new ideas.
Of course, operating in two different regions that are miles apart from each other can sometimes be draining, but not for an entrepreneur with a dream. Since challenges and hardships are an inevitable part of entrepreneurship, El-Damak is not one to shy away from his failures; actually, he takes pride in them. Prior to the huge success of Flat 42, his dream of establishing his fashion-tech premium bespoke men’s classic wear brand collapsed after working for nine months straight and spending all his life savings on the project. “I went back to point zero both financially and spiritually at the time.” El-Damak, however, rose like a phoenix from the ashes; his dreams didn’t stop there. “I am truly proud of all the failures I’ve experienced, because first of all I am a crazy risk taker, so they were fun as hell,” he adds.
Flat 42’s Founder, Ezz El-Damak, on ground for one of their campaigns in Nubia — Via Flat 42
As a matter of fact, he just completed one of the biggest campaigns he’s ever worked on. His latest #GOSOUTH campaign for Anakato Nubian Houses that aims to promote Nubia as a summer destination was a huge success that in a span of one-week Anakato’s Instagram account went from 3,000 followers to 8,000 followers. Not only that, but they also got 87 booking inquiries and got fully booked! “Anakato just launched the first Nile river beach in the history of Egypt, and the water there is literally very refreshing and stress relieving. Once we returned to the office, we set the strategy, planned for the campaign, took action and went all out!”
Flat 42, being one of the first successful businesses of its kind operating in Upper Egypt and the Delta region, is bound to become an example for all small businesses out there.
A picturesque shot of the Anakato Hotel in Upper Egypt — Via Flat 42
Naturally, we were curious if the mastermind behind Flat 42 was able to spare some advice for all the people out there who wanted to follow in his footsteps and this is what he had to say: “make sure you are passionate about your ideas and that you truly believe in them, because you will face a lot of dark days that only passion and faith will get you through them.
