As Chief Executive Officer, George Hojeige heads the mainland and free zone divisions of Virtuzone.
George Hojeige has a vast array of business experience in different industries. He began his career in the telecoms industry in Canada as a process optimization engineer with Harris Microwave Communications. Later on, he assumed the role of Sales Director in the Northeast U.S. with Savaria Corporation, the largest manufacturer of accessibility equipment globally.
In 2004, he moved to the Arabian Gulf to head the family business in electromechanical contracting. He worked on prestigious projects such as Burj Khalifa, Dubai Airport, and Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi. His latest role before Virtuzone was Group Commercial Director at ITP Media Group. It’s the largest media publishing house in the Gulf where he headed the sales teams for titles such as Arabian Business, Esquire, CEO Middle East, and various B2B titles.
George has lived in the UAE for over 15 years. He has built a wide network of business and government acquaintances while being very familiar with the region’s cultural and business practices. He is fluent in English, French, Spanish, and Arabic. George holds a Bachelor in Industrial Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal. Let’s get to know more about his work and think in his words.
Explain the background of you and the company in detail.
Virtuzone was established in 2009 to address a gap in the business formation market. The company specializes in helping entrepreneurs, SMEs, and international conglomerates set up their companies in the UAE and establish their footprint in the Middle East and GCC regions.
Virtuzone provides mainland, free zone, and offshore company setup, in addition to a broad range of business support services, such as visas, accounting, payroll, bank account opening, VAT registration and management, IT support, receptionist services, PRO services, mail management and more.
Virtuzone has enabled more than 60,000 entrepreneurs from 180+ countries to establish their businesses in the country.
What are your goals?
At the heart of Virtuzone is a mission to make entrepreneurship easier, simpler, and more accessible to anyone who wants to start their business in the UAE. It takes on all the burdens and requirements of the business setup process, allowing its clients to dedicate their 100% focus, time, and resources to running and growing their business instead.
The company also seeks to use its pivotal role to advance initiatives and programs that can help create a pro-entrepreneurship ecosystem in the country. As such, Virtuzone proactively collaborates with both private and government organizations to develop and launch projects that serve the changing needs of startups.
What do you feel is the biggest strength of yourself/company right now?
Virtuzone possesses industry-leading expertise and in-depth local market knowledge of the UAE company formation process: free zone, mainland, or offshore. Over the years, it has built an extensive and strategic partnership network with key jurisdictions in the UAE. Though it works closely with many free zones and mainland jurisdictions, Virtuzone always provides its clients with unbiased advice on company setup and does not favor any specific jurisdiction.
Additionally, its comprehensive business support services suite provides clients with a holistic business ecosystem where a single service provider meets all their business requirements. This business model provides clients with the following advantages:
- Having a single point of contact that ensures streamlined communication.
- Enjoying a consistently high level of customer service.
- Accessing top-tier business solutions in one place.
The company has a team of over 100 employees, enabling it to seamlessly respond and attend to the different needs of its clients.
What was the path you/your company took to get to where you are today?
Since we started, we have always made our clients our number one priority. Our initiatives, projects, and programmes are designed to serve their best interests. We also continuously look at opportunities to innovate, be it our processes, our people, or the technologies we use.
Why did you start (or wanted to be the head of) this company?
I wanted to be a part of the UAE’s thriving startup industry, and I want to be in a position where I can enable and empower other entrepreneurs.
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome?
 The pandemic has been the biggest challenge we have faced so far. Still, we followed the UAE’s agile leadership and resilient governance. It allowed us to keep the pandemic’s effects to a minimum, find and maximize market opportunities amidst the economic challenges and discover even more ways to innovate, expand our market share and grow our business locally and internationally.
Give us one word that describes you the best.
Forward-thinking
What makes you excited about Mondays?
We start work on Sundays – and what makes me excited the most is the new opportunities and challenges that await me and our team. You can say that I thrive on facing challenges head-on and leading our company to overcome them.
George Hojeige, what do you value most about your culture and vision?
We are pro-people. We champion the interests of both our clients and our people, and we consistently think of ways to make their lives better.
Tell us about a project that forced you to be innovative and creative.
When there were widespread lockdowns during the pandemic, and face-to-face meetings were restricted, we had to develop ways to digitalize our operations and processes to ensure our business remained uninterrupted and that we could continuously assist our clients. This acted as a real eye-opener for me on human resilience and what we can achieve under duress.
What are your company’s strategies, and how do they stand unique from your competitors?
We are continuing to lead the way in the industry. We are the first company to accept cryptocurrency payments for business setup. We have started investing in tech-related startups such as HotDesk, and we have joined a USD 50 million venture capital fund for investing in regional startups. We have recently launched our e-commerce accelerator program, the first of its kind not just in the UAE but across the MENA region. As I’ve said, we always find ways to innovate and introduce new solutions.
What key values helped you overcome the roadblocks/challenges in your career? Tell us something about your memorable incident in your leadership?
I am always looking towards the future. I opt to keep an eye on the market and anticipate where trends will go and prepare a strategy early on. I keep my mind open to developments in the industry, including crypto, blockchain, AI, etc., and aim to take advantage of any opportunity or market gap. Furthermore, I am not afraid of challenges but quite the opposite. As an engineer by education, I love problem-solving.
George Hojeige, How do you see the company changing in two years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?
We will continue expanding our market reach and increase our joint collaborations with the government. We are also looking into more opportunities in the tech and e-commerce sector, as we believe these are the areas with the biggest potential for growth in the near future. A bigger focus on business support services is also key. People nowadays want a one-stop-shop for business services.
Where is your leadership going? What benefits are your clients getting from your company in this competitive world?
Virtuzone will definitely continue to evolve. Our clients can benefit from our growth because they will gain access to the new business or market opportunities that we will be offering them. As we expand our partnerships with the best service providers in the country and with major government agencies, they will benefit from the exclusive privileges that we can present to them.
George Hojeige, What services/solutions or products are offered by your company at par with the current industry standards? Tell us something about your upcoming products or services?
We manage the business setup process – from start to finish. We also go beyond the initial setup by providing our clients with complete business support services. At the same time, our partners give them access to different solutions, including office space, payment gateways, logistics, digital banking, digital marketing, investment, photography, car rental, CRM platforms, mentorship, insurance, and more.